Michael and I started on the Starter Kit #3 scenarios today with Joseph 351, an action from 1944, which featured some poor Germans (played by me) surrounded by Americans, Free French and Russian POWs. I had to set up first, and I placed my men around the hill in what cover they could find; a number of troops behind (to the left) to stop the … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S20 Joseph 351
Originally published in Operations #50 and now available on the MMP site, Purple Heart Lane features a situation shortly after D-Day where the Germans were trying to hold the town of Carentan whilst American paratroopers attempted to take it. ASL has quite a few scenarios of this sort, but this one is made quite special by the victory conditions. The basic victory conditions are for … Continue reading ASL Report: S19 Purple Heart Lane
Michael and I played through another of the Operations Magazine scenarios today, the first to combine two different starter kits. This game was set in Stalingrad, during the battle of 1942-3. It was quite a surprise to be back in the heavy industrial centre – and with the Russians – after playing through nine straight scenarios without them, as SK#2 has no Russian troops in … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader: S18 Baking Bread
We’re back with the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits, and Michael and I were playing S17 A Ridge Too Far this time around. Set on the 8th of June, 1944, it takes inspiration from Lt John Alderson of the 1st Special Service Brigade’s 6 Troop, whose men ran into a lot of Germans as they defended a road junction. Historically, they routed the German troops … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S17 A Ridge Too Far
Italy had a terrible time during World War 2. In 1943, Italy attempted to sign an armistice with the Allies, only to have the Germans invade. This scenario took place in June 1944, by which time the Allies were attempting to neutralise the Germans in Italy as well as those forces still loyal to Mussolini. A small number of men from the French Foreign Legion … Continue reading ASL Report: S16 Legio Patria Nostra
16th December, 1944, and the Battle of the Bulge was beginning. In Bleialf, Germany, the Americans of the 106th Infantry found themselves under attack by the 293rd Volksgrenadier regiment. They had courage, and they had anti-tank guns – not great against infantry, but perhaps enough. Michael and I played a scenario based on this situation the other day. Michael chose to take the part of … Continue reading ASL Play Report: S15 Hammer to the Teeth
Operation Market Garden. It’s a legendary operation, although possibly legendary for all the wrong reasons. The idea – capture a lot of bridges simultaneously with paratroopers, and drive up the length of a long road to gain a “back door” into Germany – sounded great, but actually pulling off the operation required entirely too many things to go right. And things, it turned out, could … Continue reading ASL Report: S14 88s at Zon
On the 26th of April, 1941, British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek forces were retreating down the Balkans, slowing down pursuing German forces and attempting to evacuate the bulk of their forces. The German command attempted to capture a bridge which would be used to send more troops in pursuit, but accidentally destroyed the bridge instead. During the fighting, a major goal of the attack … Continue reading ASL Report: S13 Priority Target
Although Michael was eager to play another game of Nations, I’d cunningly not brought it in today. Actually, I hadn’t expected to play any games, so having my ASL Starter Kits in the car was pure luck. However, given no Nations, he was more than happy to have a game of ASL, the first one where he controlled counters properly labelled as “Guns”. And what … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S12 Over Open Sights
As I was browsing the internet (a dangerous activity, for sure), I came across this wonderful blog entry on Rise and Decline of the Third Reich. Avalon Hill was the major player in War Games for much of its history, and as I get older, I find that investigating its older offerings to be quite rewarding. This is not to say that they’re better than … Continue reading Rise and Decline of the Third Reich and other Avalon Hill wargames
