ASL5 – IN SIGHT OF THE VOLGA
Legion defending as the Russians
KC attacking as the Germans
ROAR (R:G – 58:33) – 19th June, 2007
Played on VASL from June 2007
The first and last time I played this Scenario I did so as the Germans and got absolutely slaughtered. This was in my very early ASL days and I am willing to accept that my rules knowledge in those days was poor enough to contribute to this defeat. However, the memory of it was strong enough to ensure that I never chose to play this again.
I played about half of this scenario for the AAR site about a year ago, but my opponent had a busy home life and the game started to fall off the map, in the end it was abandoned (I have a standing policy of abandoning AAR games if there is less than a log-file a month without good reason). I was playing the Germans in this one and obviously the year had been kind to me, at the time we had abandoned the game I was on the brink of storming the factory with the Russians in disarray. My tactic then was a classic city-fight 2 prong attack with support on the flanks and attackers leapfrogging buildings and roads to keep momentum whilst also using the cover as much as possible.
This latest playing is against KC as he continues to explore the new aggression in his tactics. He chose to attack, which gives me a great advantage in terms of the trend in the game’s results (almost 2:1 in favour of the Russians) as well as my own experience. However I think this will provide an interesting AAR as well as a great learning opportunity for him.
Initial Thoughts
This is really a tough ask for the Germans. Although they start off with a relative parity in units which is assisted by the Russians being under Ammo Shortage and having to cover a lot of terrain, this can quickly turn around. The main problem comes from SSR4’s reinforcements, these can be anywhere from 0-6x 628 per turn, and can also end the Ammo Shortage. The reinforcements can enter anywhere along the East edge which allows them to move straight into The Factory (20C7 building) where they can directly assist in stopping the Germans from winning.
The Germans have a great advantage through their leadership; they have 10x leaders for a total mod of -9, those leaders include a 10-2 (Cpt. Meunch) and a 9-2. The Germans also have 2x MMG and an HMG, but no FTs or DC, nor do they have any Assault Engineers. Against this the Russians have only 5x leaders (-2 total) though they can receive more leaders through reinforcement via SSR4.
The terrain is that of the Bd1 and Bd20 cities, but is also mixed up through some SSR placed Rubble.
Victory is determined through control of The Factory. The side with the most units with an LOS off of the East edge is the winner.
Russian Setup
My setup is based around the idea of using my troops and dummies to create confusion and nervousness. I want him to assume that my dummies are troops and visa versa. I have chosen to HIP my most powerful forces in the hope of knocking off (in order of importance) his most important leader, or the most numbers of troops. With my SAN being 7 I am also hoping for some good rolls here – the more he shoots the more chance I have.
Board 1
C2 Trench
D2 HIP LMG 447
L6 447
P3 2x 447
P5 2x Dummies
Board 20
A4 Trench
B4 HIP MMG 447, 9-1
E7 HIP 76* INF 228
G8 2x 527, 8-0
H10 3x 447, 7-0
I3 8-0
I7 HIP MMG 447, 8-1
I9 3x 527 & Trench
J4 2x 447
K4, K5 Trench
L6 447
M10 447
O5 2x Dummies
O9 2x Dummies
P2 HIP LMG 447
P8 2x Dummies
Q2 527
German Setup
KC has chosen to spread his line across the board. He is aware of the SSR which allows him to exit men to stop my reinforcements
Board 1
R1 3x 467, 2x LMG, MMG, 8-0
R7 247, 2x 467, 8-1
S9 467
Board 20
R3 2x MMG 467, 10-2
R5 247, 467, 8-1
R8 2x 247, 467
S4 247, 467, 8-1
S6 3x 467, 9-1
S9 3x 467, 8-1
T2 247, 2x 467
T3 3x 467, 2x LMG, 9-2
The Game
TURN 1
KC comes out firing and the first shot of the game breaks a 527 but then he misses a shot at a stack of dummies and exposes another stack. KC is very aggressive with his initial HS movements. His men rush forwards to attempt to cut my broken units Rout paths and to hunt out my fire positions. Surprisingly he also uses the HS rush to expose 2 of my Dummy stacks which is a new tactic and a new standard of aggression for my opponent. By the end of his initial HS rush he had exposed 1 Dummy stack through fire and 3 Dummy stacks through movement. I expose a HIP LMG 447 combo to break a leader and Squad but the Final Fire shot against a HS fails to hit and this leaves me with no place to go with my broken 527 except to Surrender to the HS.
My men pull back where they can, I want to draw him in closer to my attacks so that he doesn’t gain from Concealment or cover. He attempts to attack me with a HS who is guarding a Squad of Prisoners and the dice are awesome, luckily for me he had neglected to check the Guards rules and was unable to take the shot – which only reminds me why I so rarely take Prisoners. Little else happens, i have given him few shots and as many red herrings as possible. I am able to KIA a 467 in an Ambush against him on the far Northern flank 1:1 with -2 (Ambush, CX) made it a 50% chance of a good result.
German Losses: 467
Russian Losses: (527 Surrenders, 4 dummy stacks lost)
TURN 2
Unhappily for me one of KC’s broken 467 HOBs to a 468 in Rally Phase. KC has really learned to attack aggressively and with a few units right up front from the beginning of this turn he puts the question to me. I am forced to reveal a 447 to take a shot at a HS who is about to enter my front line but the shot goes wildly astray. Luckily, when he later makes the move across my HIP covered street with the 10-2 and a MMG 467 I am able to hit him with the 9-1 directed MMG and break both his units! He forgot that I had ROF with the MMG in all the excitement and has a 467 Pinned out in the street as well thanks to my next shot. KC is being a bit rash at the moment and this level of attrition is going to hurt him in the end, especially when he attempts to CC a Concealed 447 with a HS and has the HS Eliminated. Also, since I have allowed my lines to be a bit porous he has entered my kill zone with some of his units while others have barely left their jump-off line.
My only loss last turn was a LMG to a Malfunction, this LMG is Eliminated through a Repair roll. I open up with a bunch of 8FP shots with +2/+3 and all of them miss horribly, it is only towards the end of Prep that some of my hits bite home and I do enough damage to his squads which are closest to me to make sure I have blunted his assault. A Berserk 467 is created right over against the Southern side of the battlefield and this has been enough to stop me from having to reveal my other HIP MMG in 20B4. His return shots all miss as the SAN 7 weighs on his mind and I have avoided his kill-stacks to keep moving along his flanks or back towards my defences. His forward-most HS bites the dust as I declare No Quarter. CC claims another 2x 247 as I use my Concealed units to advantage and gain some handy Ambush results.
German Losses: 4x 247
Russian Losses: LMG
TURN 3
His 10-2 Rallies and brings the Squad up with him, then, without any Prep Fire KC continues the attack. The first to move is the Berserker and this 467 falls to a 2MC shot which ends up rolling a 6,6 for it’s MC. I felt terrible as it was me who rolled these dice(bot) and I know how I would have felt seeing this come up. My apologies to KC again here. His men are closing in but the defence has enough FP to hit them as they are forced to cross roads of use low TEM cover.
His men continue to press in and I am delighted to see that he is leaving a number of my units BEHIND his line of advance as he presses on towards the Factory. Once I get some clear movement I shall use them to harass his Broken units and distract his attack. There are no losses and only a few Breaks until the CC phase when I mop up a broken 467 and a 8-0 as they attempt to Withdraw from last turns Melee but lose my 447 in the process. My biggest loss this turn was from the 2x 447 in the 20H3 building courtyard as his 10-2 unites with a 2x MMG 467 stack.
I receive the first of my reinforcements, a single 628. My Prep Fire is fairly accurate for a change and I see a number of important Breaks and Pins. His numerically superior attack in the centre of the battlefield is momentarily blunted thanks to 2 stacks getting affected by Pins of Breaks and importantly I score a ridiculously lucky 6,6 result (his second of the game) on the 467 who had penned in my 447 right against the Southern edge of the battle.
German Losses: 247, 2x 467, 8-0
Russian Losses: 447
TURN 4
The Germans dither around in the thrust towards my MMG position as a few units stop them form exploring their attack options. On the Northern side of the German attack I am able to break a number of his forward units and thus slow these guys up as well but a SAN is called which adds to the Break given to me by his HMG and leaves me with 2 of my units in his rear Broken, I now only have units flanking him. I also lose a 447 when he charges the 20H3 building to CC me.
No reinforcements this turn for the Russians and my only Leader led Rally fails again which is a bit of a disaster as I now have no option but to desert this unit in an attempt to save my leader. My Prep was terrible but I suppose that balances out the excellent Defensive Fire Phase I just had. I manage to break just 2 units, though one of those is an ELR fail, however, in doing so I also leave 6 units in the firing line. Movements are just to ease myself in to slightly better positions and condense the defensive cordon. My sole loss is the broken 447 in the 20J4 building which had failed to Rally (twice) in the previous turns who was killed by Boxcars off of a MC; though he was all but lost to me anyway.
German Losses: 247
Russian Losses: – 2x 447, (2x dummies)
TURN 5
Without Prep to slow them down the Germans rush into the Russian front lines. The first unit to enter the hornet’s nest (which is the Factory yard) is ELR CR-ed by a second-line-of-defence stack of 2x 527. After that, despite getting some great hits I am unable to capitalise on my shots thanks to the MC rolled until KC calls into play my other HIP MMG. This MG nest (20B4) 3KIA’s an 8-0 with 467 but leaves the MMG un-destroyed. From there another KIA result against a forward-charging 447 see’s it KIA-ed in the street. After that my Defensive Fire is only able to capitalise on his exposed positions by CRing a 247, the rest of his men are generally kept back on the the other side of the street from my main defensive positions. I lose a HS from a CC result.
KC suffers a 247 lost thanks to a 6,6 results in his Rally. Since his men have pulled back and are avoiding my MMG positions this allows me to concentrate my fire on the few units in LOS, and this causes even more pain. I charge forward with one of the few leaders i have (an 8-0) to force his remaining MMG Squad to turn and run, he leaves his 10-2 behind though which is a surprise. This Turn 5 has been a costly one for the Germans as my Russian defence managed to easily hold fast against his probing attacks. The Germans have failed to bring enough men together to forge a hammer-blow which can knock a hole my defences.
German Losses: 3x 247, 447, 467, 8-0
Russian Losses: 447
TURN 6
The Germans again throw their men at the Russians with abandon. A 467 is CR Broken in the street as he finally attempts to do something about my central MMG position. This is followed up by a sneaky attack with 2x 467 and a leader that sees the leader and a Squad Pinned and a SAN called to kill the German’s 9-2 in his backlines. He continues to expose his men to -2TEM shots in the hope of pulling a conclusive attack together but all this does is allow the dicebot to go to town on him. An 8-0 is Fate damaged down to a Broken Wounded 7+1. A 9-1 is KIA in the street form a 8FP -2 shot and this breaks the stack he is with which then causes 2x HS lost through LLMC. Interdiction claims another 247 as the losses mount. My entire losses for the turn are an 8-0 killed in CC.
Things are going from bad to worse as the Russians pick up 4x 628 with an 8-1 and one of my 447 Self-Rallies deep in his back lines. My men are all pulling back or moving forward to safe positions, this includes the men who rallied in his back line over the past turns, they pull up Adjacent to one of his stacks of Broken men and eliminate a HS before killing the Wounded 8-0 here in CC.
German Losses: 237,4x 247, 467, 9-2, 9-1, 8-0(wnd)
Russian Losses: 237, 8-0
TURN 7
The Germans get an early surprise when they try to sneak a unit around the back of my forces and end up Adjacent to my final HIP… the k/3 result leaves his 467 as an unbroken 247 thanks to a spectacular MC roll. Another unit tried to thread past them to create a FTR trap for this same unit but in doing so is broken and ends up FTR eliminated instead. CC sees us trade off a 447 for one of his 467 and i lose a 8-1 to his 9-1.
The Reinforcements are just a single 628 this turn but with it i am able to sneak around and surround a good quantity of his men (3.5 CVP) as well as kill a 8-1 of his in CC. It was here that the Germans offered their Surrender and I accepted, there was nothing more to be gained from fighting on.
German Losses: 2x 327, 3x 247, 3x 467, 9-1, 2x 8-1
Russian Losses: 447, 8-1
The Germans Surrender
RUSSIAN VICTORY