As predicted, I got to play my first game of ASL last night. Don Holt was kind enough to be my tutor as we played Scenario 19 - Backs to the Sea. He even agreed to play the Americans, which was good as I had no real confidence I could run that defense.
We started late - there was some miscommunication about where we were playing, but the initial setups are in the picture. My attack plans were pretty straightforward. On the left was a covering force of 3 squads, one MMG, one LMG and a leader. Their job was to get into the woods at 16H9 and restrict movement on that side of the map. My center had six squads, the mortars and a couple LMGs. They would take the forest in the center of board 19 and advance to the bocage in the center of board 16 as circumstances allowed.
The bulk of my force was on the right. Two MMG stack were supposed to end up in 16X10 and 16Z9 to isolate the right side of the map. Then I should be able to advance screened by the bocage and get my squads on to board 7.
It even almost worked that way. Turn 1 saw the left stack move all the way into 16H10 without incident, advance into 16H9 only to have the revealed half-squad withdraw prior to CC [Lesson learned: units under "?" are hard to pin down], the center started moving into the woods in good order. On the right, MGs advanced to the edge of the shellholes and started firing at the Americans in 16Z9 without much effect.
Turn 2 & 3 saw some consolidation. The left keep trying to nail the "half-squad that would not die" with 20FP shots, while the center worked through the woods and eventually up to the bocage. One the right, the unit in 16Z9 eventually withdrew rather than end up in CC with a platoon of angry Germans. On both turns, Don did a great job of working the Americans towards my main thrust.
Turn 4 was when things broke open. All of the American units in the center had broken and were routing towards the shellholes at 16O3 and 16O4 where a leader was waiting for them. With a great amount of effort, I managed to get a couple squads into 16O4 [later advancing to O3] to force the Americans to keep routing. With stacks on 16O3 and 16N4, the center was well controlled and those squads could start advancing into the woods on board 7. On the right, I had worked all the way to 16Y4, but the Americans had consolidated in the eastern patch of woods, so advancing could be hard. I did get a squad into 16Y2, which could have been the start of something good.
We started late - there was some miscommunication about where we were playing, but the initial setups are in the picture. My attack plans were pretty straightforward. On the left was a covering force of 3 squads, one MMG, one LMG and a leader. Their job was to get into the woods at 16H9 and restrict movement on that side of the map. My center had six squads, the mortars and a couple LMGs. They would take the forest in the center of board 19 and advance to the bocage in the center of board 16 as circumstances allowed.
The bulk of my force was on the right. Two MMG stack were supposed to end up in 16X10 and 16Z9 to isolate the right side of the map. Then I should be able to advance screened by the bocage and get my squads on to board 7.
It even almost worked that way. Turn 1 saw the left stack move all the way into 16H10 without incident, advance into 16H9 only to have the revealed half-squad withdraw prior to CC [Lesson learned: units under "?" are hard to pin down], the center started moving into the woods in good order. On the right, MGs advanced to the edge of the shellholes and started firing at the Americans in 16Z9 without much effect.
Turn 2 & 3 saw some consolidation. The left keep trying to nail the "half-squad that would not die" with 20FP shots, while the center worked through the woods and eventually up to the bocage. One the right, the unit in 16Z9 eventually withdrew rather than end up in CC with a platoon of angry Germans. On both turns, Don did a great job of working the Americans towards my main thrust.
Turn 4 was when things broke open. All of the American units in the center had broken and were routing towards the shellholes at 16O3 and 16O4 where a leader was waiting for them. With a great amount of effort, I managed to get a couple squads into 16O4 [later advancing to O3] to force the Americans to keep routing. With stacks on 16O3 and 16N4, the center was well controlled and those squads could start advancing into the woods on board 7. On the right, I had worked all the way to 16Y4, but the Americans had consolidated in the eastern patch of woods, so advancing could be hard. I did get a squad into 16Y2, which could have been the start of something good.
Unfortunately, that is when we had to call the game on account of time. Things were still up in the air - I could get 5-6 squads onto board 7 fairly easily from the center, but would have needed a few squads from the right flank to make it against the remaining 4 squads of Americans. Not an easy road, but a possible one.
What did I learn tonight?
Overall it was a good night. I got to finally push some counters around and didn't make any really foolish mistakes. Should be the start of something good.
What did I learn tonight?
- A 6-6-7 squad can put a decent amount of firepower a very long way. I really need to start thinking of them as 3-12-7 squads with double FP at half range.
- With good use of bypass movement, woods are not as much of a blockage as one might think.
- I've got to go over the concealment rules better - how to get it and how to keep it. a lot of my firepower was blunted by Don's concealment.
Overall it was a good night. I got to finally push some counters around and didn't make any really foolish mistakes. Should be the start of something good.