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We had 8 members in attendance for the May edition of our ASL Game Day at Emerald Knights.
Eric Visnowski's Russians defeated Larry Reinking's Finns in the classic scenario “Fighting Withdrawal”.
Dave Nicholas' Germans defeated James Quinn's Americans in the classic Night scenario “Taking the Left Tit”.
And because their game got over fairly quickly, they set up “Gavin Take”, with James taking the victory over Nick.
Ed Esparza's SS defeated Sal Palaez' Soviets in “Fields of Black Gold”.
And Dan Plachta and I paired up for “Nehring's Roving Cauldron” from ESG. The dice gave me the attacking Germans against Dan's defending Russians. The is a big scenario; with a powerful late-war German force that includes a reinforced infantry company supported by 3 StuG lates, 2 Brumbars, 2 SPW 251-1's, 2 Pumas, 1 JadIV, a Flk Pz and a late StuH42. The Russians get a company of infantry supported by an SU-57 and SU-76M. On turn 2, they get additional support from 2 T34M43's and an SU-85. The Germans win immediately if they capture 3 multi-hex buildings, or at game end of they capture a large multi-hex building in the rear and clear all level 4 hexes of Russian AFV's.
This is my favorite type of scenario to attack in, with plenty of tools to get the job done, but lots of well-covered open ground to cross. The SU-57, though it is open topped and almost unarmored, has a 57LL Gun with APCR and a ROF of 3 that has to be respected. It can tear through all the German armor except the Brumbars. Dan put the SU's in exposed positions on the high ground, and put his infantry where they could do the most damage on the Germans as they came in. That SU-57 proved to be deadly, and led a charmed life for 4 turns in spite of its exposed position.
I brought the Brumbars and the StuH in on a level 3 hill, where they could engage the Russian armor and dominate the battlefield with firepower and Smoke. I loaded the StuG's with 4-4-7 riders, and the 251-1's with passengers. This force was intended to be held back as a quick strike force; once the Brumbars made short work of the Soviet armor and the German infantry rushed forward, the Brumbars and StuH would lay a Smoke screen and the quick strike force would swoop in when an opening developed in the Soviet lines. The problem was that SU-57. It wouldn't die…
Normally, a 150mm Gun, firing Area, will make sort work of an open-top vehicle, but at 18 hexes a BU AG firing a * Gun against a small target with a height advantage needs a 4 TH, and my AG's couldn't lay a glove on it. My infantry went forward, but got cut up by long-range shots, and it was obvious they would need some Smoke to get forward without taking too many casualties. My over-watch panzers were still preoccupied with the Soviet SU's. Time for a change of plan. I sent the StuG's in with their SN's to create some Smoke coverage, hoping they could slip through the Soviet AT fire with their small size and Motion. I sent the 251's in with them, to overwhelm the AT coverage. But that damn SU-57 kept ROF and couldn't miss its targets. I lost two StuG's and a 251-1, plus the StuH42 was immobilized, and still I couldn't kill it. Then I rolled snakes with one of the Brumbars on the SU-57. You'd think a 36 -3 (heavy payload) would get it done… Nope. I boxed the results, and Dan easily shrugged off the collateral 3 MC.
I Smoked it in the next Prep phase, and rushed it with two platoons of infantry and my remaining StuG. Meanwhile, one my Brumbar's rolled another crit, this time on a T34, and blew it to pieces, while my JadIV picked off the other T34, and my much-reduced infantry pushing forward on the flanks. The SU-57 finally met a flaming end from a PSK shot, and after the SU-85 killed my Jad, it too met its end, from a PF shot. That left the Brumbars, 1 StuG and a Flkpanzer unopposed with 3 turns to go. It was 9:00 PM at that point, and all the other games had cleared. Dan and I were burned out from a hard day of playing (really) and knew we couldn't finish before the store closed. We both thought we couldn't win, so we called the game a draw. This is a fun scenario and, we think, quite balanced. We both thought it was well worth the effort and both of us said we would happily try it again as either side.
We had our usual chili dog lunch at Veronica's, and (probably because of the heat) had the place to ourselves. The survivors adjourned to Bob's for our traditional late dinner. It was a fun and well ended day at E.K., as usual.
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