[PRogman]

Hi all,

Here is an AAR of the First Stockholm ASL tournament which was during
the last weekend.

This one was kinda obligatory trip for me, since I had continuously given
hard
time to the Swedish ASL players I've met about organizing a tournament (we
can do it in Finland they have been doing it in Denmark, why not is Sweden).
I flew over on Friday morning together with Veikko Hyyyrynen and Antti
Westerlund. Here is a short summary of the games I played:

Round 1 Friday afternoon

I was paired with Daniel Quarfordt whom I had previously met in several
tournaments but we had never played. The scenarios for the firs round did
not exite me that much. We chose to play Commando Schenke. I bid G1 to get
the Germans (The Tournament used ABS created by the organizers) since I
wanted to play with DCs and 838s..... but Daniel bid G1 too and the dice
gave me the
Russians with an extra MMG. Ok, quick setup and off we go. I set
up few squads too forward and thus lost them early on without achieving
much. During the mid game I managed to slow him down and I also wound his
10-2 and break the two accompanying 838s, but the next try gives him a
foothold in the victory building and then I malfunction one MMG and one LMG
with the same shot at a critical moment. This turns the rest of the game to
a mopping up operation whit me hoping for some kind of miracle that does not
happen. Good use of infantry smoke and DCs is the key to Daniels victory.
(0-1)

Round 2 Friday night

For this round I sit down with Johan Lantz and we decide to play scenario
from the newest MMP module operation veritable called Bewildered and
Belligerent. This time I bid successfully for the attacking Germans. In this
scenario both players alternate placing rubble counters before and after the
British setup, and after the setup the German player gets to choose freely
the board edge he enters; this makes the scenario highly replayable and also
a quite challenge for the British to set up. Especially the placement of the
57 mm ATG is really hard because of the limited LOS available and the
uncertainty
on the German axis of attack. I decide to enter from the west edge and make
a board edge creep along the north side of the mapboard. Firs two movement
phases go well, and I notice that if I drive my PzIV forward enough I have a
shot on a quick victory on turn 3 with driving the tanks offboard for enough
VP. There is rubble in W2 and it is the only place which is a serious threat
for this move. I move my Panzers forwards, and in final fire Johan reveals
the gun in W2! PzIV goes down and now I know I need to exit some infantry
along with the Panther. I spend two turns trying to break the gun crew, and
when it goes down my infantry is pinned on the board edge and the situation
turns out to be hopeless. Well, that is how it feels to run straight into a
trap. This scenario seems to have a lot of replay value, altought the
defensive setup for the British is quite a challenge. (0-2)

Round 3 Saturday morning.

This round I meet Klas Malmström, and we decide to play scenario called a
new boy from the Wacht am Rein pack. I get the US. in early turns I have
some good chances against the Germans including a 838 squad which walks into
a BS location of a M36 90mm gun only to become fanatic and create a hero. I
manage to make the game to go until the last US movement phase but I really
can not do any real damage or delay to his German attackers. This game and
Commado Schenke have made me hate German 838 assault engineer squads with
the smoke exponent of 5. (0-3)


Round 4 Saturday evening

This round has some serious Chinese vs Japanese action. My opponent, Hakan
Marklund and I settle for Tiger Of Toungoo. In the early turns there is not
that much of action as I clear board b from Chinese. The real action starts
at the board edge, but Hakans Chinese fail to do much harm as I press
forwards and by turn 7 all Chinese are cleared from the buildings except for
a few melees, and we decide to call it a game. Whew, I managed at least one
victory after all. (1-3).

Round 5 Sunday morning

The last game of this tournament is Liebstandarde scenario Usual Nerve
against Martin Svärd. I get the Russians. In the early turns I manage to
make the ATR shot of the lifetime when a HIP squad nails a Stug with a rider
548 squad, and both the tank crew and the rider do down. (one ATR shot -> 8
CVP). The game turns into a all out combined arms brawl on the overlay 6
hill village,. with Stugs, 76L russian guns, T-34s, HMGs and fortified
building locations. Martin is able to win by breaking the last Russian squad
on the last possible shot. I need to make a MC for four or less to win the
game, and of course I roll high and the game goes to Martin. But this was
the best and most tense game I played during the weekend. (1-4)

Despite the medicore reults I had a very enjoyable weekend in this
tournament. Funnily enough to most enjoyable games were the ones I lost
because they all were quite tight games. I hope that they make it next year
again. I'll be back and the trip to this tournament is highly recommended.
Oh yes, and I won a prize too; there was a competition on most HoBs during
the tournament and took it by rolling 9 of them, getting the excellent new
Onslaught to Orsha module by HoB back home with me.

Last I'd like to than Peter Roghneholt and Mel Falk for an exellent
organized event. I'll hope to see you in Finland in August!

Tuomo Lukkari

[PRogman]

Hellohello!

As promised, I also have an AAR for the LOGCON tournament that was organised
in Stockholm last weekend. The organisers were Melvin Falk and Peter
Rogneholt, and with Peter being a regular VASL PBEM opponent of mine, I
decided to give it a go. Especially since air fares to Stockholm are not
all that pricy with Virgin Express...

Due to flight hour limitations, I landed on Thursday evening meeting Melvin,
Peter and Andreas, whom all turned out to be nice guys . So there I was,
in Sweden, about to play my very first FtF ASL game... So far I had
thirteen completed or partially completed VASL games under my belt, combined
with a hell of a lot of SASL play. Yes, I am one of the people who can
really enjoy SASL...

Now since we were there anyway, we decided to have a warm-up game with one
of the FireFights scenarios. Andreas had a look at the scenario cards, I
had a look at the maps. We both liked what we saw for FF4, so that was the
one.

GAME 0: FF4 against Andreas Carlsson.

In this scenario, there's a two level hill in the middle of the board
running norh-south and an elevated road lined with orchards, which counts as
an EmRR for LOS purposes running east-west. Crags and orchards, some
buildings as well.

The Germans have to exit I don't remember how many CVP worth of units in the
west, entering from the east. They have some infantry, two Tigers and some
kind of Pz IV IIRC.

We diced for sides and I got the defending Americans. I set-up in a
complete reverse slope defense, HIPping all the Bazooka guys, as was said in
the SSR, and setting up everyone in Foxholes as in the SSR.

Andreas approached the hill very carefully, as he thought I would have a HIP
bazooka guy up there somewhere for an early shot, which I didn't. Now when
he got over the ridge, the mess started... He had skillfully chosen the
side of the elevated road with the least troops as his main attack vector
and I never really stood a chance of stopping the tanks. In addition, his
variable reinforcements was a HT with a squad, which he almost drove through
the board in its turn of entry, over the road, it was barely killed in the
last hex. I got a squad and a HS/MMG as reinforcements, but was unable to
stop Andreas from exiting enough VP. Score: 0-0, this wasn't for the
Tournament .

On Friday, the actual tournament started.

Round 1: A 7: Slamming of the Door against Veikko.

My preferred scenario was Commando Schenke, but Veikko had this listed as
'No Play', so we got my second choice. I bid Russian 2, he bid Russian 1
and so I got the Russians with four of my six AFVs having inexperienced
crews.

The setting is a Russian unit springing a trap for a German unit, with
infantry and six T-26s on my side, infantry on his. He also has three STuGs
entering in a random turn.

Since the only thing that mattered was the CVP count on German side, I
decided to approach carefully through the woods, set up a human wave and
charge, using the six tanks in fire support.

The troops advanced into charging position well, the tanks drove in a
classic pincher movement towards the German troops. And then came German
turn 1... He needed a 1 to get the STuGs this early, and he rolled a 1.
All of a sudden, my right flank tanks had three vastly superior AFVs in
their back, which turned out to get very very messy... His dice luck was
average over the whole, until off course I launched my Human Wave... Then
it went wrong, his dice went into 'good' mode, and none of the wavers made
it to his infantry positions. I knew before I started that this plan would
decide the game quickly, either way. It did, in his favour. With too many
infantry broken and my tanks getting shredded by the StuGs, I decided to
play an extra turn to try some tank experiments and get more used to FtF
play. After that turn, I gave up seeing no way I could still win.

So the score is now 0-1. I didn't mind. I had noted quickly that Veikko
was good (you can tell from set-ups :p) and, since I have little experience,
my goals for the tournament were at least one win, two if possible.

What I should have done in this scenario??

1) Not getting the German AFVs on board on turn 1.
2) Waited with the Human Wave one more turn, so my little tanks could
vehicular bypass freeze the German defenders.

At least I learned.

Things learned: Human Wave is a big risk. Minimize the risk. Use anything
you can to do so, especially VBM.

Phrase of the game: "Sneaky bastards!" whenever a Russian gained or kept
concealment


Round 2: Again my second choice, SP83: Boeinked, against Fredrik.

I wanted the Germans in this one, so I bid G1. My opponent bid G0, and I
had the Germans . The ABS level gave him a 9-2 instead of a 9-1, but I
got the Germans!

I had infantry, two 76L PaKs and two StuG IIIGs to stop a British armored
force (6 Churchills of various types and two Carriers + infantry) from
cleaning out a village. One live MMC in one of four victory buildings was
enough for me to win...

The only tough decision was were to put the guns... In the village ? Or up
front hidden in the woods and brush for rear shots at the Churchills ? I
decided to keep all the troops close together, so the PaKs would be
supported by the infantry once they were revealed. A screening force went
onto the right board (two squads + LMG and a StuG) in case he tried to
attack from that side as well. Either way, I would have time to reorient
defenses if he concentrated the attack on one board.

He started with almost all his troops as riders on the Churchills, which I
found marvellous . The two tanks on the right were killed in two fire
phases by the StuG I had there. Killing most of their riders as well...

While his right flank that headed toward the village was out of all my LOS
(except for the leader/MMG in a level 2 location), I sent the two squads
from the screening force back to the village, and started shooting at the
riders with the MMG. The MMG got some ROF, killed the FT squad, wounded the
leader that picked up the FT and succeeded in shooting the riders of two
Churchills... In the meantime he got close.

SuperStuG attacked his tanks from the flank, whilst the other StuG engaged
them from the village, eventually aided by the Paks. The Churchills died
one by one, all I suffered in the meantime was the MMG squad breaking under
constant pressure from Churchill HE shots.

As time went by, his infantry was nowhere close, and only three Churchills
still worked... Time for... SuperStuG! SuperStuG drove adjacent to the
side of a Churchill, braving shots from a PIAT and a FT in the process.
Then killed the Churchill needing a really difficult shot to hit, his third
that scenario, all on 5 or less difficulty shots. Not counting the infantry
he wasted... At the same time, one Pak got a ROF tear, took out another
Churchill needing 4 (with smoke hindrance etc) TH. I looked for more
targets and noted the PaK could hit a Carrier on a two... Die roll? Guess
what... 1,1. I tended to roll exactly what I needed whenever I fired at
AFVs that game. The other fire or my MCs weren't exceptional, but most AT
fire was...

The last Churchill and the remaining carrier drove around the extreme left
of the board entering the village as a last ditch effort... The Carrier was
killed by a PF hit (needed 4 there), the Churchill lived a bit longer and
then got killed by the other STuG.

With 2 turns to go, I had lost a HS due to backblast from the PF (and not
much more), all my troops were holed up in the village again and he had no
tanks left, only Infantry of which a decent part was not really close. So
Fredrik conceded, since there was virtually no way he could drive me from
the village in the two remaining turns. My conclusions ? StuG IIIGs rule.
I know how to use AFVs a bit now. Dice Towers like me. And I was happy
with myself, because even though I did have some luck shooting at the
Churchills, I believe I played a solid game in this one.

Things learned: How to use tanks offensively. How to setup solid defenses.

Score: 1-1 Hurray!

Round 3: WamR 1: The New Boy against Mats.

Again, I really wanted the Germans. I bid G2, which was enough. That cost
me 2 DCs and an LMG, which I felt I could afford to lose. No StuGs (now my
fav AFVs ) but I did get 838 assault engineers with FTs, aided by well
armed 548s and two 81 MTRs. The goal of the scenario is to have no good
order American MMC's and/or AFVs with functioning MA within two hexes of a
certain hex at end of game.

Mats set up as expected, covering the whole approach to the village up
front, with back-up troops behind. His M36 GMC (He got one at start, one in
reinf.) set up in the rear area, apparently in order to drive to wherever I
attacked strongest. To my surprise, he set noone up in a level 2 location,
not even his HMG...

Partially due to this, I decided to do a concentrated attack on the right
side, moving slowly up to the hedge there and then assault. (The other
options were concentrating on the left behind the cover of the Overlay
orchards, or using the whole front). Only a very small force would be used
to keep his few troops on my left occupied. So after some time I arrived
completely concealed at the hedge, with almost my entire OB and the second
MTR in position in the woods to the right to shell his positions. His AFV
had moved up to the front as well, threatening me with the 2 ROF 90L all
across the open ground section. His HMG was also moved to a second level
position now...

I tried to smoke the AFV with the MTR on te right, no smoke. I used the
left side MTR to put down a smoke screen to protect my infantry from the
force he had on the left (especially that MMG), and got off two shells
before I ran out of smoke... Not too bad, I needed three for it to be
perfect, but two would do. Two problems remained, the serious punishment
the tank could dish out, and the HMG... I opened fire with the at least -1
lead MMGs, obliterating his front line positions in the woods, and also
triggering my sniper which broke the HMG squad. So far so good... Next
problem, the tank... I decided to swarm it! An 838/FT, an 838/DC and a
548/PSK could all get within firing range, so I charged them towards the
tank making it spin and shoot... It KIA'd the DC carrier, broke the FT
guys, but the 548 arrived two hexes away, CX, but in good order... The rest
of the troops started advancing on the village as well, crossing the open
ground relatively unscathed, protected by the smoke and mist hindrances.
Advancing fire more or less decided the game, when the PSK hit the AFV
(needing 4 again) and blazed it...

The rest was a standard village attack. I used the smoke from the 838s
extensively (5 smoke exponent rules!), used the cover provided by the
blazing wreck, etc. As people keep saying, ASL is about maneuvering... It
sure was here! One of his MMGs caused a lot of trouble, but the Germans
steadily advanced into the heart of the village, breaking, ELR'ing and
capturing Americans all over the place. With normal dice rolls this time
.

There was a scary moment when a 666/Baz dropped HIP in the middle of my
troops, but his fire was rather ineffective, however that 666 did distract
my fire from quite a lot of troops for a player turn, then it broke and was
captured as well.

When the game was judged eventually (we both played relatively slowly in
this one), all Mats had left that could stop me from winning was the second
M36 GMC, and a single stack with a 10-something, a hero and two Green squads
just inside the VC Area. We still had to finish one American movement phase
(the tank hadn't moved yet) and the rest of that turn, plus my final turn.
Peter, Melvin and Tuomo judged the game in my favor.

For the record, Mats and I played it to the end later... He started the
tank, so I went for PF's with everyone in range. First squad? Six! Pin.
Second squad... No PF. Third Squad... Yes! I have a Faust... I didn't
need a low number, but the tank was HD to me... I rolled, 1,4 turret hit
and obviously a kill. It could have been a dud of course, but still
Blazing Wreck again...

The last shot of the game was a 20+3 against the stack that could still have
ruined my day, I got a low MC, but still broke and disrupted the Green
squads. They surrendered in rally and thus I really won, since he needed
Good Order MMCs in the VC Area.

Things learned: How to use smoke. How to kill tanks without tanks or AT
Guns.

Score: 2-1

Phrase of the Game: "Gimme smoke!"



Round 4: A 110 Shanghai in Flames against Daniel.

The round I feared. The round I didn't want to play. The round that gave
me nightmares. The round with... Japanese...

I got the Japanese. I can be short on this one. Chinese troops have to
keep the Japanese from capturing a factory. Due to his bidding C1 (I bid
C0) he could not fortify it, which was good, but... He rolled well, set up
incredibly well, and played a very strong game.

I now know I can't do Japanese. The advance up to the factory went
satisfactorily, with relatively few casualties. Daniel fell back to the
factory itself and the rowhouses in front of it, whilst I steadily advanced
and setup for the banzai charges.

When I eventually charged, the banzais always got shot up so badly that the
ensuing CC's were in his favour. In the end I had basically no troops left,
he was was still in very good shape. Short game, and a bad loss for me.
Basically, I was far outmatched here and the game was only a bit of fun in
the beginning while I maneuvered towards the factory. The end game seems a
pure shootout to me though, and this is the only scenario I played at the
tourney I definitely don't recommend.

Things Learned: How to handle Banzais technically. All the modifiers and
target numbers for spreading blazes.

Phrase of the Game: 'Just one more Banzai and then I surrender. Oh and one
more...'

Score: 2-2 Ah well, I came to Sweden hoping for 2 wins, and I knew before
the Japanese round would be very very hard.

Round 5: HS19 Bewildered and Belligerent against Andreas

This scenario was actually in round 2, but round 5 had all monster scenarios
and Andreas wanted to leave early, since he had an 8 hour drive to do to go
home. I liked doing a small scenario as well, this meant I might be able to
go home on Sunday afternoon instead of Monday. Which I eventually did, just
barely catching the only plane that flew back to Belgium that day

And I was happy to play Andreas again, he's a very nice guy and I wanted to
play against him in the tournament anyway, from before I left for Sweden.

Bids were G0 for him, G1 for me, so I got the Germans.

The English set up in a half board city, where each player places a number
of rubble counters, which can create falling rubble as well. The thing is,
the British player doesn't know which side the Germans will come from, so
setup is very difficult.

The Germans have to exit 12 CVP, minus half of the CVP (FRD) my troops score
against the British. I had some 548s, a Panther and a PZ IVJ to do it with.
Since exiting the tanks alone is enough to win, his most important assets
(in my opinion) were the two PIATS and the AT-Gun.

I had decided beforehand I would take the long road (i.e. the length of the
half-board, not the 10 numbers up or down) because the short road means
exiting 17 CVP, and getting on board only in turn 2, with half MP/MF. This
gives the British time to adjust in the turn I have no troops on board which
I didn't like...

So I went for a board edge creep alongside the edge where a lot of the
rubble was put, or fell.

Turn 1, an MMG put down a firelane on the one hex I was vulnerable in while
moving that turn. I knew the LOS was there and hoped there wouldn't be an
MG on the other side of it. He believed this would deterr me from the board
edge creep on that side, but I was determined and charged through. Took a
broken 548, but that worked, putting 'Task Force Exit' where I wanted them.

Eventually I fanned out more with 'Task Force Harrass' to interdict his
infantry from moving too freely, duking it out with the troops near the
board edge with 'Task Force Exit'. Task Force Exit took quite a bit of
shots against it, the tanks provided a lot of Sn smoke, I discovered the
hard way that Panthers can't fire smoke when I tried to shutdown the MG
nest, some CC happened where a lone British hero stopped a 548 for a
while... A tense city fight the way I like them .

At that point, in my turn 3 (of 6), part of Task Force Harass ended up
moving past the HIP AT gun way on the other side of the board. The AT Gun
dropped HIP (having no hopes any more of ever seeing my tanks) and much to
our surprise only broke the 8-0, not even pinning either one of the 548s.
The 8-0 surrendered and the British invoked No Quarter! The 548s jumped the
crew in CC and killed it, as a revenge for shooting their good old sarge as
he surrendered. In that same turn I was in doubt what to do with the
Panther and used it as a sN smoke device, staying in motion in the smoke.

His turn 3, I picked up the GUN with the intent of destroying it in a fire
phase to prevent Andreas from getting those two CVP back, however his
machine guns (that were now up on level 2 dominating a large part of the
board) broke the squad. He also dropped HIP on one squad AND moved the one
PIAT I had found so far in a position from where it could fire at the
Panther.

My turn 4, I picked up the AT Gun with the other 548 and destroyed it.
Having killed 6 CVP I only needed to exit the Panther for the win now...
The PZ IVJ smoked the machine gun nest. The Panther dropped fresh sN smoke
and the PIAT fired and missed... So the Panther drove back to the board
edge in the vicinity of the PZ IV. All I still saw as a real problem was a
stack of '?,?,?' along the path to the exit... It could be the last PIAT...
I ran a CX HS past that stack to see what would happen. No reaction...
I started the same with a 548... And Andreas dropped HIP on a squad/PIAT/-1
leader in a rubble hex right in the path of my Panzers! Now I was certain
the other stack were dummies, so... Advancing fire was concentrated on the
PIAT guys and after fire from the now stopped Panther and two 548s, the
squad broke and routed.

His turn 4: The smoked up MGs fired at the almost escaped HS, doing no harm.
The 8-1 grabbed the PIAT and came into open ground ready to shoot at any
tank driving by...

My turn 5: The two 548s shoot at the 8-1/PIAT and break him. The tanks
cannot be hurt by anything any more on their path and drive off board,
accompanied by that sole HS. Another Win!!

Things Learned: Sometimes the tanks are very important! Be careful with
them. Weigh the risks, sometimes running through a FL is really worth it.
Check whether your tanks have smoke and how much BEFORE game.

Phrase of the game: "The tanks ARE important." Also, on both sides on many
dice rolls: "Aarggh!"

Final Score: 3-2

All in all, I was very much pleased with this result. It was better than I
had dared hope for, and I feel two of the wins were really fought for, one
did include quite a bit of luck. But hey, my loss with the Russians
included quite a buit of luck for Veikko as well when he mauled my Human
Wave :p

And the people I met at the tournament were great. The Swedes and Finns are
really nice guys, the tournament was very well organized and the whole thing
was a blast (EXC: Shanghai in Flames, not because of Daniel of course, but
IMHO that scenario sucks. Big Time.)

I'm very happy that I went all the way to Sweden for this event, I learned
quite a bit of ASL, I had a lot of fun and I am definitely planning to go
back.

Thanks again to all my opponents for their sportsmanlike behaviour, the good
games they gave me and for putting up with my incessant chattering, and a
very big thanks to Peter and Melvin for organising the Tournament and for
always being prepared to answer any rules questions that popped up...

Roll low,

Björn "I gotta warn you, my first FtF game was Thursday night..." Doolaeghe

[PRogman]

Gentlemen,
This is a pure newbie AAR, so enjoy!
I went to Stockholm to participate in my very first ASL tournament with one
goal only - to lay my hands on the consolation price, well aware of my lack
of rules knowledge and lousy tactics. My experience so far was three or four
(lost) games ftf with Lars Thuring and Klas Malmström during the last couple
of years and one VASL game against Pete Wenman still going on (OK Pete, my
last, shivering move will soon be in your e-mailbox. Please finish me off
without more pain ...)
Thusly equipped I dashed right into
ROUND 1
This was against Andreas and we agreed on A7, Slamming of the door. Andreas
got the Germans since I bid for the Russians, getting two inexperienced
crews in the deal. This was the only scenario that I had had a chance to
look at before the tournament and my tactics was clear: To combine an
armoured assault with a human wave and wipe out the Germans in a fast,
merciless attack from the woods of board 5 down the plains of board 4.
Of course that didn't work out.
I don't know how Andreas did it, but he succeded in stalling my attack
before I had left board 5. Someway I got stuck during my attempts to get the
infantry in under the tanks between 5O1 and 5S1. Hmmm. It didn't seem that
hard to do in the rulebook ...
Meanwhile Andreas random reinforcements showed up from the west edge of
board 4. He drove CE and I at least succeded in stunning two of the tanks
with well aimed fire from my Russian comrades. But that was about it.
Anyway: realizing my time was running out I charged wildly with two of my
T28:s down to the farm on board 4, at least breaking a couple of German
squads before the game was over. That's 0-1.
What to say? Well, this was August 1941. Andreas, just you wait a couple of
years and I'll crush you in the winter ...
ROUND 2
was against Fredrik. We agreed on HS19, Bewildered and belligerent. Fredrik
wanted the British so bad that he gave me (Germans) an extra LMG and an
extra PSK.
I've nevere really liked board 45, but this scenario was something extra:
The Germans should cross the board, starting from an edge of his choice. Now
here's a lot of opportunities!
After rubbling quite a lot of buildings (SSR4) and Fredriks setup, I choose
to move in from the east with one battlegroup on the north part and one on
the south part of the board. I held the panzers for a while, just to give my
infantry a chance to find the hidden AT gun before their entry.
Fredriks 9-2 ldr with a 457 and a MMG in 45Y6 stalled the southernmost
battlegroup for a while but with tank support I managed to get my infantry
across the road DD2 - Y10 in a breakthrough on the northern part. At that
time I had inflicted lots of damage to Fredriks infantry. I just had to exit
the board with parts of one of my panzers to win - and succeeded. The hidden
AT gun was in the "wrong" end of the town and never came to use.
And this, ladies (?) and gentlemen, was my very first ASL victory. I'm very
proud. And greatfull to Peter, the "Newbie advisor" who spent a couple of
hours at our table. Since both Fredrik and I are newbies, I guess we
would've been playing still if it wasn't for Peter ...
That's 1-1.
ROUND 3
was against Björn, the Belgian guy. He looks quite innocent, smoking those
Marlboro menthols, but don't let him fool you! He is quite dangerous ...
WamR 1 - The new boy became our choice. Björn gave up a LMG to play the
Germans.
As you can read in Björns AAR he did not choose to assault through the
orchard overlays on board 43 to reach the town and the church on board 46,
wich really came as an unpleasant surprise for me. With a couple of smoke
rounds from his mortars to protect his advance, he instead closed in on me
on the northern part of board 43. And I hadn't even thought of that
opportunity! My mines were thus misplaced, and whats more so were my
foxholes. They are not to be placed in paved road hexes, at least I'm aware
of that now. Hastily rearranging them took away my chances to withdraw part
of my forces from the 46V8 building without moving in the open.
Meanwhile, Björns Germans closed in on the church.
I succeeded in revealing my 4 dummy stack by mistake, moving him up to 2nd
level in the steeple (OK, OK. But I think it's better to tell it myself than
hearing it from some other guy out there ...)
Still, my HIP was left. He lured in the woods of 46Z8, prepared to step
forward as a GO unit in the victory area at games end. However, things were
getting critical around the church in the last gameturn, and I had to reveal
him earlier. A 666 with a bazooka could be really mean to an adjacent enemy
in a building!
Of course I mean other 666:s with bazookas, not this particular one. After
firing a couple of 11:s and 12:s he surrendered to the Germans. Weakling!
That was about it. I prefer not to mention the part with my tanks, burning
close to the church and that last unit surrendering when Björn turned the
heat on in his last player turn.
Now some of you might think this ruined my day, but far from it. Our game
was the most exciting game ever for me! It was very dense and quite dramatic
- this must be ASL at its best (at least from my humble newbie perspective).
It was really great playing against you, Björn! Thanks a lot!
And 1-2.
ROUND 4
against Robert took place in the Far East. Robert choose the japs, I the
chinese, no bidding.
Since the flames landed quite concentrated in and in the neighbourhood of
building 20H3, I placed my chinese defense in depth east and west of the
centre. This was a good choice - after some playing the complete building
was on fire, severly harming one of Roberts killer stacks and forced him to
withdraw. On top of that, the weather suddenly offered wind from the south
with the smoke causing trouble for his HMG and MMG LOS from the factories on
board 1. He was stalled for quite a while - with the fire in his back and a
couple of firelanes in front of him, his units where decimated one by one.
I think this is were I played at my very best. Robert really was in trouble!

Of course Robert managed to breakthrough in the last part of the game. With
a couple of leaders and the remainants of some 447:s and 347:s he closed in
on the victory building in 20D8 from the east and could finally achieve
victory. But to a very high price.
Where did I put my fortified locations? Please, don't ask ...
This was a good game too, and I really look forward to meeting Robert again!

In spite of 1-3.
ROUND 5
took part on the East Front in -43 and was against Olle. We choose SP79, The
Mius trap.
Olle bid for the Germans and got them. My Russian defense was split on the
two hills of board 11, 3 foxholes around X4 somewhere, the other 3 in J5, J6
and K6. Olles mission was to take 3 of the foxholes and either 1 foxhole or
1 building. Olle started to attack the northernmost defense area. At start
this looked like a very easy operation: his 548:s advanced along the
hedgeline and after a short while almost wiped out my infantry in the
foxholes. This should be over pretty soon, I thought. But no - at this time
Olles dicing started to f-ck up in a way you hardly dream of. He would have
won any boxcars competition, they came up all the time. I've never seen
anything like it! (He uses a dice tower - could that be why?).
And the attack on the northern flank was halted for a while. One of my T70:s
set a StuG on fire, and, thanks to the dicing, another one malfd the MA.
Olle succeeded in repairing it - and fired a 12 as his first shot. The next
repair attempt ended up with a 6. It wasn't Olles day ...
Of course Olle took the northern hill after a while and closed in on the
southern hill.Too late I realized that the building in O7 wasn't defended
enough, and whats more - the defenders were in CC with one of the German
units at very bad odds.
But as I said: it wasn't Olles day. That melee lasted for at least 3 full
gameturns, and ended in the very last dice roll of the game. Olle had
reinforced the melee unit and needed to roll anything but 12 to win. With
his dicing that day, I'd say I had a 25 % chance of winning. But I didn't,
luckily enough. Otherwise I could never se Olle in his eyes again ...
Anyway - I learned a lot from this game, which was great to play (at least
that's what I think, hardly Olle). One thing: take prisoners! I started not
to, because I thought it was easier to play without them. I had lots to
think of anyway, I thought. But this could have costed my winning the game -
Olles badly hurt melee units had to rout from the melee hex (as mine had to)
in one player turn. With no quarter in effect he could use the low crawl,
otherwise he had surrendered. After rallying he could reinforce the melee
hex and change the figures from 1-1 to 1-8. That makes quite a difference.
SOME FINAL WORDS
about this weekend. I learned a lot and definately improved my playing. The
guys that all the time repeats: "go to a tournament, play against better
players" are definitely wright!
Go to a tournament - play against better players!

Best newbie regards
Matts Dagerhäll