- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
We had 14 players in attendance for our SoCalASL Game Day at Guild House's new store in Bellflower. With the exception of my games with Dave Nicholas (see below), it was a bad day for the 3rd Reich;
Gerard Unterreiner's Russians defeated JJ Ma's Germans in “Shklov's Labors Lost”.
Fen Yan's Russians defeated Tracy Wood's Germans in the classic Deluxe scenario “Guryev's Headquarters”.
Eric Visnowski's Russians defeated Dave Lewis' Germans in “Hohenstaufen Hootenanny”.
Larry Reinking's Russians defeated Blair Bellamy's Hungarians in “Extracurricular Activity”.
Dan Plachta's Americans defeated Stance Nixon's Germans in “Capital of the Ruins”.
Ric Hammond has been teaching ASL to one of his co-workers, Guy Jimenez, and they paired up for “Clearing Cloville”, with Ric's Americans defeating Guy's Germans.
And Dave Nicholas and I paired up for “Roasting Rossner”. Blair and John Lehman had a blast playing this scenario last week, so we both wanted to give it a try. I took the attacking early war Russians against Dave's SS troops.
The Russians get 16 elite and 1st line squads, but with low ELR, led by a 9-2 and a 9-0 (only). They are supported by seven T26 tanks, one (or optionally two) of which are FT armed. The Germans get eight 4-6-8's with decent leadership, and a 50L AT Gun. They have an 8-1 leader that can direct fire for the AT Gun and modify repair rolls. The Russians have to capture 7 of 13 hill hexes. If they choose to take the 2nd flame tank, they need to take 9 hexes. The Germans have the option of summoning a PzIIF and a PzIIIF, but doing so reduces the number of hexes the Russians need to take by 2. So if both sides choose their armor option (which we both did) the Russians need to take 7 hill hexes.
This scenario is only 4 turns, so there is no time for subtlety. The Russians have to spread out and attack across open ground. The Germans have to set up front to stop them. I pulled four tanks up into the open, only then realizing there was only one good location for the AT Gun, and all four tanks were in its sights. Sure enough, Nick went on a rate tear, killing 3 in the D-Fire and the 4th in the following Prep. I held my other tanks back until I could drive off the AT Gun crew. But while my tanks were getting burned, my infantry made good progress, and by turn 3 they were on the hill, with the AT Gun out of action. I sent my remaining tanks over the hill in my final push, but came up with only 5 of the 7 hexes I needed. It was exciting and fun, and we decided to flip it around and try again.
In the second playing, as the Germans, I decided to put the AT Gun in the same place as Nick. It is just too perfect a position. Nick guessed (correctly) that I would do that, and sent a powerful attack around the German right to avoid the Gun. Consequently he lost only one tank. Unfortunately for Nick, that end run was too channeled into a narrow front, and I was able to roll a couple of squads, and my PzIII around to that side just in time to stuff the attack and take the win.
So in two playings we had 2 German wins. We've concluded that this one is probably a bit hard on the Russians. I would like to try it again, but I think the Russians need the balance (an extra 4-5-8.) Also, we both thought taking the 2nd flame tank in exchange for adding two more hill hexes to the VC's is probably a sucker's bet. If I were attacking with the Russians, I'd hold all the armor back until the AT Gun was found and neutralized. The Russian armor can get into the fight quickly. But the German armor will take at least two turns to get into position. So the German really has to choose his armor reinforcements no later than turn 3 (and really by turn 2.) If the Russians can trick the Germans into making that commitment and not take the extra flame tank, they only need 5 hill hexes for the win. That is an entirely doable proposition. It's a fun scenario, and I'd happily try it again as either side.
The new store looks great; with plenty of room and light. Because we had so many guys, they were kind enough to set up an extra table for us. There are tons of restaurants within walking distance, and we chose a pizza place just a few doors away for lunch. We discovered the pizza place also does basic pasta dishes for a very reasonable price. We were all pretty pleased with it. For our traditional late dinner, the survivors chose Hambone's, a barbecue place across the street. We were blown away by the food quality, service and affordability. It was just awesome. We will definitely be returning there for dinner next month.
Starting next month, the store is going to charge $2 per person to play, unless you spend at least $5 in the store. We all thought that was more than fair. Over the previous 2 years, our Bellflower venue has become our most popular. 14 players tied our record for highest attendance there. At this point, we're drawing as many players as a lot of multi-day ASL events in other cities.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.