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For those who might be interested… an ASLOK AAR:
I arrived in Cleveland on Wednesday (10/5) late in the afternoon after a four day trip to Boston. The extra time on the east coast worked to my advantage, as I was already adjusted to the 3 hour time change by the time I got to ASLOK.
Almost immediately after I arrived I connected with my long time friend Ray Wolozsyn, whom many of you know as a former SoCalASL member and frequent attendee of SoCalASL functions. We chose “Order 831†from the new Friendly Fire pack. This scenario pits a group of 5-4-8 SS defending a bridge on board 3a against an elite Russian force of 6-2-8’s and 4-5-8’s with T-34/85’s and Lend-lease Shermans. Ray is a world class player who exploits any mistakes his opponent makes. In this case I had the SS and conceded too much of the board by defending too far back. Ray made me pay for that mistake and handed me my head in short order. It was a hell of a warm-up. But Ray and I have played many times and always enjoy our games together, and this was no exception.
Starting Thursday I followed a new strategy this year for ASLOK; skip the mini’s and sleep in, then get down to the game room around 11:00 am just as the initial games are finishing. That worked pretty well, and I was able to immediately connect for a game with Trent Dobbs from Michigan. Trent and I had played once before about 2 years ago. We chose “Capital Punishmentâ€, another scenario from the new Friendly Fire pack. This scenario is also played on board 3a, but this time I was the attacking Russians and Trent had the Germans. The Russians get a small bridge head across the river and must reinforce with an additional group of Russians. The problem is there are only two boats and 10 squads, requiring most of the force to swim (with a dr v ELR to avoid being turned into an unarmed squad.) The situation called for the Germans to set up along the river to kill the Russians reinforcements. But that answer isn't particularly obvious on the first playing, and Trent chose instead to set up in the village and conserve his force. My Russians crossed unopposed and rolled into the village in strength. It was over 3 turns later when the last of the Germans died in the village.
I stalled a bit at that point, waiting for my good friend Darrell Wright to wrap up his game so we could catch some dinner and a scenario. After dinner we chose “Chaos Crossing” from the new Schwerepunkt. This scenario pits a decent size Russian force supported by 4 JS-2's attacking a late war gaggle of Germans and Hungarians supported by a couple of Stugs. Strangely, this was my third scenario in a row that involved a river crossing. Darrell played a great game, and systematically hunted down my Hungarian infantry on the far side of the river, but when we wrapped up the scenario at 3:00 am I had just enough points for a win.
After playing so late I needed to sleep in again on Friday, and got down to the game room in the early afternoon. I immediately got in a game with Ed Fritz Sr. from South Carolina. Ed and his son Ed Jr are well aquainted with the Raleigh crew that I usually hang out with, though we had never played before. We chose the new Schwerepunkt scenario “Doppelganger” because the situation was too cool to pass up. It pits a force of Ukrainian SS attacking a group of German SS in France. Yes, you read that correctly. The Ukrainian SS had been deployed to France to fight partisans, but soon defected, and were now fighting alongside the French against their former comrades. The Germans use the black SS counters and the Ukranians use the blue ones. To top it off, the fighting centers on board 24, one of my favorites. The dice gave me the defending Germans. Ed set up very strong on one side, with only a small flanking force. He easily drove my troops out of the village, but I managed to crush the small unsupported flanking force, and then retreat deeper into the woods to avoid casualties and score a win. This was a very fun scenario and we had a very pleasant game.
I had signed up for Pete Shelling's playtest mini on Saturday morning, so I knew I needed to get some sleep. Instead of getting in another game I opted to join the Raleigh guys on a road trip to a nearby German restaurant for dinner. We had some great food (and of course beer) and got back at a reasonable hour for me to catch some 'z's.
The Saturday playtest mini “A Little Night Music” was run by Pete Shelling and featured a two part night scenario named “Christmas Cancelled” that would take all day (and evening) to play. The winner would be determined by points scored. I drew Jim Sarafin, a long-time player and friend of Rob Feinstein. Jim and I had never played before, and I was glad to get a game in with him. Part 1 of the scenario has a very strong German force rolling through one of the many villages along Skyline Drive on the morning of the Bulge attacks. My Americans put up a pretty stiff fight and I felt I was in good position for part 2, which is played on the same board, but with different troops. Part 2 has American paratroopers counter-attacking a weak German force. My para's attacked boldly, but nothing went right and they got cut up quite badly. Luckily for me, casualties didn't count in part 2. When the smoke cleared late that evening, I bested Darrell Wright by a mere 2 points to score the mini-tournament plaque.
I opted out of a Sunday game, since I was leaving around mid-day, and went out for a great breakfast with Darrell Wright and Chas Argent. Perfect for a long day of travel. I finished with a 4-1 record overall and one mini-tournament win. I played less than my previous ASLOK's, but I think the combination of adjusting for the time change in advance, and getting enough sleep at critical junctures, paid off with my best winning record to date. And I had just as much fun as ever. It was great to see SoCalASL member Bruce Kirkaldy, who made a surprise appearance, and catch up with former SoCal members Ray Wolozsyn, Chad Cummins and Chuck Hammond. I also got to meet VotG designer Tom Morin for the first time (his first trip to ASLOK.) As always there was plenty of good food and beer, interesting conversations and a ton of laughs.
I’m pleased to say, based on the number of attendees, the quantity and quality of the products being sold and the usual enthusiasm of guys who were there, our hobby is alive and well. Actually better than that; alive and thriving. As I’ve said before, I believe we are living in the Golden Age of ASL.
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