VOTG2 AAR - Part One - Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...

June 2010 TABSCON saw the Master and the Apprentice square off yet again on the bloody soil of that city on the Volga. Stalingrad, ah Stalingrad... Our scenario of choice was from Valor of the Guards seeing as our last one (from it) was such a frickin' good time. Andy noted that VOTG2 Russe! Drown in the Wolga! was all about machine-gunning hapless Soviet troops trying to reinforce General Chuikov's city defenders. And the map was nice and cramped. (If you missed me waxing eloquent about the history of the scenario click here.)

We diced off for sides and the high roll got the Germans. I lost so I got quickly familiar with the OOB and the map set-up. Funny thing because now that I re-read the scenario card I realize I once again read the set-up instructions wrong*. This is getting to be quite the cock-up for me. As I frequently tell my students, literacy is a valuable skill. Anyways here's the map:

Not quite the tight quarters as VOTG19 nor were we starting off in the same bloody buildings. However, you'll note the nice blue river hexes on the right (east) side of the map. My troops literally had their backs to the wall here. The scenario revolves around the dusk of September 15th 1942 when STAVKA releases the 13th Guards Rifle Division to General Chuikov's control. The Germans are already having a hell of a time prying the 62nd Army out of Stalingrad so it was critical that they interdict the flow of reinforcements.

The white circled buildings and piers indicate the VC. Andy had to control ALL five of them to win (barring an exception that didn't come into play in our game I don't think...). The red line indicates the westernmost set-up the Russians could have. Now here's the stupid part. I only skimmed the set-up notes depicted here:

I mistakenly thought that the road I had to set-up on was the easternmost north-south road closer to the shore. I only realized my mistake while writing up this AAR. If I wasn't so dumb Andy might have had a chance...

Couple of other things in that picture above: (1) note the board configuration -- again, it's a tiny subsection of the whole VOTG map; (2) dusk effects start on turn 3 where hindrance starts affecting shots so that by the last turn there's an automatic +2 on shots. You know where this is heading... close combat!

So, Andy left me for about 10 minutes as I set-up my forces waaay back. Now to be honest I probably would have left a squad or two up front a bit to slow things down but I generally prefer a reverse slope defense anyways and it sort of applied here. Well except that reverse slope is better when the enemy doesn't have three MG nests on the top of the slope looking down on you... [Pro Tip 2 kids! While you're setting up? Look at the opponent's set-up instructions too!]

Whatever, I'm sure Vasily Zaitsev would show up and take them all out anyways (hehehehe...). My set-up included 12 ? markers which I tried to do better with. I'm sure I don't really cause much consternation to Andy when I haphazardly place them in sub-optimal positions. At position (A) I put a stack of 4 of them down. It was a fairly conspicuous house with some very good sightlines on the northern flank. Again, I'd normally put an MG in there but this time I was playing waaaay back. I meant for it to slow Andy down for a turn at least and I think it did its job.

At position (B) was my larger leader-led stack of fun on Level 2 (third floor kids!). I didn't realize it at the time but I was a sitting duck for prep from the MG nests on the top of the hill. Regardless, their main purpose was to make taking their building very difficult and to be the biggest speed bump. At position (C) was my INF Gun led by one of the Commissars. I was not allowed to set it up in HIP but it had good sightlines and would be something to reckon with. Finally at position (D) I put a 6-2-8 squad with MMG HIP'ed in hex LL24 Level 2. I think it was a nasty surprise...!

Here's a pic of Andy's set-up. Note the three MG nests up on the bluffs (when am I going to remember that the pink terrain is a level up?!). These guys made it incredibly painful for my guys. In retrospect it was probably a good idea not to set my guys up the west -- I have a feeling that they would have been shot-up, routed and interdicted by the MGs all day long and as it turned out I would need every able-bodied man on the last turn.

The Germans get the first moves in the scenario and they had to make hay. They only get 2 turns without dusk hindrance on shots, then Russian reinforcements (and ammo!) start rolling in off Assault Boats(!) from the east. The reinforcements increase as the darkness starts to fall.

As expected, Andy had to respect my INF Gun and hit both flanks: the north wing hindered only a half-turn or so by the fake stack (who soaked up a 16FP attack); the south wing running, unknowingly into a HIP'ed MG nest. German progress was generally good.

I can't lie, I thought that I was in an excellent position on Turn 3, midway through the game. Andy had only so far controlled the northernmost pier which I didn't bother to defend and he was having difficulty rolling up the northern flank. The advance in the south was stymied and the Gun was popping anyone trying anything close to the middle. What is more, Zaitsev did show up and took out the southernmost MG nest. Woot!

Of course, as ALWAYS happens in ASL, the swing of fortune cause my INF Gun to malf. Uh-oh. There really wasn't anything stopping them now when you consider the pretty impressive firepower still being projected from the German MGs in the rear.

At least one good thing happened on Turn 3 for the Reds... Chuikov himself showed up! Well, Major Chuikov... I took it as a good omen when he disembarked from his Assault Boat to "shore" up the defense on the south flank. I was able to find a shadow in the MG fire and beach the reinforcements without trouble. (Alas, Chuikov was to spend much of his time blowing his craptacular morale checks late in the game... I'm not sure he survived close combat.)

A little note about Assault Boats. A pretty common comment from ASL players to their ASLSK brethern is that there is no need to memorize the monster-sized ASLRB. For the most part you only read up on the rules particular to a specific scenario just before you play. Assault Boats is one of those rules. I literally read the rules on them (about a quarter of a page) on Turn 1 and didn't really have a problem incorporating them into my play. So again, if you feel the leap from SK to full ASL is going to be a bear, stop being silly.

Andy was starting to feel the time pressure as we eased into the second half of the game. The north flank was stubbornly holding out and applying ridiculous amounts of defensive fire. He even traipsed a unit into 8FP residual (I rolled crap!) to get where he needed to go. But as all things in Stalingrad, hex LL18 eventually was put down to a combination of MGs, CCs and failure to rout. Those fine NKVD boys will be missed *sniff* *sniff*. :P

This is a shot from Andy's perspective up on the bluffs above the Volga. I can imagine that his frustration was quite in keeping with the history. The Germans could see the mighty river from many vantage points across the city but they couldn't ever push enough Russian into it: "Bul-bul!!!"

On Turn 4 fortunes swung haphazardly again. I was sure that I had enough reinforcements now to at least keep ONE VC building from the Wehrmacht... So of course what happens?

Andy shoots up one of the Assault Boats, you know, the one with a 6-2-8, DC and 8-1 leader in it? Yeah, that one. So, it was going to be close...

Here's a nice low angle picture of the odds facing Andy on something like Turn 5.

Of course the game would be decided in deadly close combat. It's Stalingrad!

Here's another view, close up, of the carnage.

In the end, it wasn't quite enough. There were 4 Melees going into the last half-turn and I actually won one of them. The shot above are the stacks on the final few buildings blown up for analysis. I think in the end, Andy ended up taking 2-3 of the 5 buildings he needed and I heaved a huge sigh of relief. It's the first game of full-ASL that I've won and it wasn't decided until the last half-turn. Nothing is quite like ASL to get your blood pressure going.

Here's a shot of the whole board at game's end. I think it took us 4 hours or so? Andy will correct me if I'm wrong. That's a whole lot of cardboard carnage.

---

Highlights:

1. My ASL notebook had the British wartime slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" on the front cover. Lo and behold, Andy wore a T-shirt with the same slogan. It was a hilarious moment.

2. My overall strategy was to delay bits and pieces of the German forces at a time. I had no illusions that I'd get a huge game changing shot at a killstack but I tried to pick a bit there and a bit here. I held off shots as long as possible on defense til I had at least the x2 PBF mod.

3. A big equalizer to the MG nests? The Russian SAN of 5. That number comes up a LOT.

4. Major Chuikov was a 10-3. Andy remarked that he'd never seen a more useless 10-3 leader ever. Brutal. You are a disgrace to the name sir!

5. The game closely held to history. Like their counterparts in 1942 the Germans got close. But close is not nearly enough in Stalingrad.

Good times. Once again, a hearty thanks to Andy for being a great sport and supplying the kit. Thanks to TABSCON for hosting the space for our game. Thanks to MMP for Valor of the Guards especially designer Tom Morin -- daaaamn this game is fun.

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* - New rule:

ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK THE SET-UP INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOTH SIDES!!!

A nice summary from the CSW discussion...

Well I've caught up to the current posts on the MMP folder. [See last post made minutes earlier!!!] It only slightly deviated into stupidity near the end. Here's a nice post I cherry-picked from Todd Pytel (he was quoting Mark Pitcavage as well). I think it a nice succinct post and summarizes some of my thoughts as well:

---If you have played all the way through ASLSK3 and you are still afraid of ASL, then it is not for you. Stay satisfied with ASLSK or seek out some other game. Don't look for endless baby steps.---

Perhaps I could rephrase Mark's point more diplomatically and provide some further justification for it. To those people that want SK4+: You want to play ASL.

Great! Now, here's the thing. Nobody knows every ASL rule by heart. In fact, there are a bunch of relatively common ASL rules that I'd guess only maybe the top 10-25% of ASL regulars remember completely - stuff like Airpower, Deep Snow, Spreading Blazes, Canister Fire, etc. They're not that far-out or difficult as ASL rules go, butyou just don't use them every game. I'd say that nearly every scenario I play has at least one thing in it that I don't know off the top of my head, and often that I've never seen before. If you want to be an ASL player, this will happen to you. So, you're going to have to look them up. In the ASLRB. And understand them well enough to apply them in the scenario. This is an unalterable fact of playing ASL.

Now, there are only a handful of significant rules in a basic full ASL scenario that aren't in SK3. Those rules are your first test. You have to be willing to find them in the ASLRB and spend some time and energy parsing the sentences and understanding them, because that's what we all have to do nearly every game. If it makes it easier, trim that step down a little more and choose to ignore some rules. For example, play a full ASL scenario without HOB and Snipers so that you can focus on Concealment and Bypass movement - the scenario isn't going to come crashing down around you.

But at some point, you have to come to grips with the rulebook. There is no other way. If you can play SK3, you're well, well past the point of dealing with dozens of interlocking, fundamental rules. You can play scenarios and learn just one or two more rules at a time, just like the majority of regular ASL players do when they play a scenario.

When Mark says that ASL is "not for you" if you can't go from SK3 to full ASL, it's really not an "are you tough enough?" comment. The nature of the game is that you're always learning something new about the system. You simply don't "know how to play" full ASL in the same way that you "know how to play" SK3. You're always using the ASLRB to improve your imperfect knowledge. An SK4 would only delay your recognition of this fact. It wouldn't make dealing with it a lick easier.

If you're truly uncomfortable with digging into the ASLRB to learn something new, then (sadly) ASL is probably not the game for you, because that is, to some extent, what ASL is all about.

Nicely said sir.

The "Future" of ASL...

There has been a mini-tempest brewing up in the MMP folder on Consimworld.

A gentleman by the name of Lonnie Anderson has posted a short and impassioned plea to MMP about the accessibility of ASL. Here is the start of the discussion:

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@159.ZIKhelRE3XJ.384@.ee6d502/70746

As of this moment there are approximately 200 responses and counters to this posting. It's so long and involved I'm only halfway through it. (To be honest, it's been good discussion so far -- the occasional lapse of CSW into unremitting trashtalk has not yet occurred.)

Of course, I asked myself what I thought and here it is so far:

1. I think the idea of a ASLSK4 is awesome. I love ASLSK and the idea that it could extend in perpetuity is exciting but, in the end, is not realistic. ASLSK will continue in action packs and HASLs -- but honestly, if you want more you're not that far from full ASL and the great stuff available there. If MMP never does more for ASLSK I still think it's enough for us to go on.

2. HOWEVER, MMP must see the merit of perhaps doing something about reducing even more the Herculean learning cliff that getting in full ASL entails. MMP must have another mind-think and ask what could ease the transition from ASLSK3 to full ASL? I suppose they could wait for another Jay Richardson-type to show up and do it for them but really, why not a transition product. There's no question it would sell like hotcakes.

3. Newbies to the hobby, it's not that hard to learn ASLSK. Really it isn't. I've said this before and I'll say it again... In the event you can't find a mentor, the richfam tutorials are your tutor. There's no way anyone with any wargame experience or who can handle the intricacies of the more complex Euros can't handle ASLSK. Having now been more immersed into ASL I can see that just a leeeetle bit more effort from the new player to learn will work wonders. Stop expecting the beauty of ASL to magically manifest itself for you within seconds of pushing a counter across a hexside. Play a few games before giving up.

4. Hardcore/Grognard ASLers, do yourself a favour and don't make getting into ASL harder than it is. You certainly aren't expected to grow the hobby or be evangelizing or even friendly. But seriously think before you put down a newbie on CSW, BGG or wherever. I'm positive many have taken up the challenge of ASL(SK), then having found a literal wall of opposition to their presence on a forum or convention, decided that this stuffy old hobby didn't need them crowding out everyone else's style. Now that I think about it, yes, BE FRIENDLY. You don't have to mentor anyone but being nice costs you nothing.

5. As for the ASLRB2... in my humblest of opinions, that rulebook is a fantastic gaming achievement. It's a reference of epic proportions. But as I've said before, it's a dictionary for when you're learning a new language, not a bloody instructional course of study. Stop expecting this thing to teach you ASL. That's not going to happen.

Secondly, as good as it is, there's something wrong with having to learn ASL from a person rather than a manual. There must be something that can fill the gap between pushing cardboard around and approaching the ASLRB2 without having a personal tutor around. Alas, brighter minds than I need to solve this problem (or has it already been solved?).

Blah, back into the CSW stream...

[UPDATE: I've found that the posts I'm still reading are a fascinating cross-section of the kinds of people and learning experiences that would be interesting to anyone who enjoys ASL... as nutty as CSW sometimes is, this is a golden moment here.]

Just some musings about full ASL...

Things are kind of in a lull right now with my ASLSK games. The Prawn and I are stuck starting up a new semester at school (we are the teachers though...) and my VASLeague game is still stalled at the start of turn 3 (I see now why it takes 2 months to play a game!).

So, what am I thinking about?

Full ASL.

There's a bit of chatter on the ASL forum on ConsimWorld about the utility of ASLSK and the possibilities of an ASLSK 4-type product that takes the final leap between full and SK-level. There are some old timers who can't make the cognitive leap back to SK-level and to be honest, why should they? If they are good with full ASL they should teach it. If you have to go about it on your own, you grab ASLSKs.

Regardless, my own thinking is that I've always had full ASL as my eventual goal. ASLSK is awesome, edge-of-the-seat excitment levels of awesome. But part of the interest I have in ASL is in grokking the whole shebang. Is this ego? Is this just the need to say, "Hey you there, playing Agricola! Play a real game -- Advanced Squad Leader!"? Do I just feel the urge to wear an imaginary badge of smugness on my chest that says I play the world's most complicated game?

The funny thing is, once you get a few games under your belt, ASL doesn't seem that hard. Granted I could plop the ASLRB in front of my Eurobuddies and they'd cringe in horror, crossing themselves but I personally don't see it as an obstacle -- it's just an interesting challenge.

A question I sometimes see posted on BGG or CSW or GS is whether a newb could ever comprehend the full rules or should they buy the full rulebook or where's the next step after ASLSK3? My opinion is simply this: if you are satisfied with ASLSK as a full and complete wargame unto itself and don't want to climb the ladder, don't. However, having personally bought the full rulebook and starting to read parts of it I can see that the "gap" between ASLSK and full ASL really isn't that big. At least the divide is no bigger than that between "real" ASL players and us SK newbs.

Let me give you an example. There are holes in ASLSK-level rules. Sorry, I said it. The Tiger tank counter in ASLSK3 has a red movement allowance number. In the ASLSK rules and vehicle notes I found nothing that elaborated on this except that Russian T-34s with the red number required a start-up check and on a DR of 11-12 had to stall for DR MPs before restarting again. [Aside: if you can understand what I just wrote you're ready for full ASL.] Well the Tiger had no notes on this, or at least I couldn't easily locate them. Nor were they in the full ASL Chapter H notes. Instead I had to consult the ASLRB2's section in chapter D (I think NRBH) on mechanical reliability and lo and behold there it was in plain language - mechanical reliability was the same as the T-34s but the DR check was 12 (not 11-12).

This is not an exclusive example. If you have a problem or gray area in the rules in ASLSK, the ASLRB2 pretty much answers it -- fast! The rules are clear, organized and the glossary is terrific. I read a great comment on the rulebook on BGG (I'll try to find the author but BGG is down right now); the writer made the analogy of learning English as compared to learning ASL. You'd use the dictionary as a reference, not a course of study. Just so with the ASLRB2. Learning ASL by reading the rulebook starting with Chapter A, section 1.0 onwards to Chapter D/H's last section is ridiculous. The ASLRB2 is your reference when it comes to learning the language known as Advanced Squad Leader.

So, read the ASLSK rules, richfam's tutorials, get the cardboard down on the maps and just shoot a couple of squads against each other in some terrain following the great SOP playaids out there. Play a scenario. Take it slow, do it solo. Teach it to a good friend. Re-read the rules. Pick up the ASLRB2 if you want to upgrade to full ASL and use it as a reference, not a bloody novel. Enjoy. Challenge yourself.

Off the top of my head, here are some other reasons to get the ASLRB2 if you're just a SK newb:

1. Chapter K. The original training notes that came with the original starter kit (module 2: Paratrooper) is included now with the ASLRB2. It's great. I'd argue that it's a great companion to the SKs.

2. If you have the ASLRB2 this programmed instruction method to get to "full" ASL becomes applicable. Some people taught themselves ASL with this programmed instruction set before the luxury of SKs.

3. Chapter H notes are cool. I find this chapter as fascinating as everyone else. The level of detail boggles the mind here. As a wargamer who loves historical and designer notes Chapter H is like pure gold.

4. The ASLRB2 is basically the result of almost 2 decades of refinement in Squad Leader. It is the "Bible" and its word is law. And you can pretty well depend on it where in certain situations in SK you'd be kind of on your own.

5. This is ironic but it should be obvious that having the ASLRB2 should make you fully aware that you don't always need every part of the rulebook for every scenario. You don't need the majority of edge cases when you play any given scenario. No one, not even the mighty gods of ASL (whoever they may be), memorize the whole book, but use it as the reference it was supposed to be. Dictionary::English - ASLRB2::ASL. It's super well organized with some great illustrations and examples, well worth the $80 or so.

I'll shut up now. Let me know what you think if you're out there.

[EDIT: some interesting posts already. It's nice to hear from readers about their thoughts. Though I don't want to splinter the discussion I also posted a request for comments here on Gamesquad and feel free to post there too if you want. I think it's an interesting question as to whether there needs to be any more SK-level support.]

Prep Fire! Getting Set Up Part 1

Alrighty, your ASLSKs just got plunked into your mailbox and you're ready to play. Hold up there partner! There are some things that you probably want and should do to help increase your enjoyment. (Read: time to spend more money!)

Firstly go through the contents of the box, there should be a small slip of paper that MMP uses as a manifest. Make sure everything is there. I've heard some people have missing items but I've heard even more that MMP and wargame companies like them have excellent customer service. Just give them a phone call or email explaining the problem and they'll rectify it quick -- just one of the advantages of the hobby that is so small.

Next, get out a hobby knife (XActo or whatever) and carefully run it along the die cuts in the counter sheets so they will detach easier. Some thought should be given to where to store these guys ranging from "throw them in the box" to "custom-made storage solutions". The most common method is Plano brand tackle-boxes. Model 3701 is the box of choice here as they are cheap (about $4-5 each), have a lot of space and spaces, stack, and generally are perfect for the anal retentive wargamer. You might want to sort by nationality and separate out the informational counters.

Now, go read the rulebook.

Back? Ok, so you're going to have to push counters around on a geomorphic mapboard while consulting a few charts, the rules themselves and a scenario sheet. How are you going to get organized? Well, after about a half-dozen solitaire scenarios through which I learned the rules I have a nice system all ready to show you:

Here it is all on the dining room table (mental note: must get wifey to OK purchase of new dedicated gaming table...).

Starting at 12 o'clock and going clockwise we have (1) informational counters in a small tackle box resting on top of a binder with richfam's ASLSK Tutorials all printed up insider, (2) the Plano boxes for the US and German orders of battle (OBs) from the Starter Kits only, (3) Starter Kit #3's rulebook as the latest and greatest SK ruleset, (4) the Quick Reference Display Chart from SK3 in a page protector, (5) miscellaneous player aids printed up from the Internet (like the ASLSK3 Sequence of Play chart from BGG), (6) the other SK rulebooks and charts for reference, (7) a binder with all the published and downloaded scenarios I own in page protectors, (8) and my recently acquired ASL Rulebook 2nd Edition, of course in its own binder and custom front cover art and page protected contents, (9) and finally, the map I'm playing on in its own little display sleeve/condom with some two-coloured dice in the middle. Let's go through these and you can decide what's worth doing and what's not for you.

The Binders

To be perfectly honest you probably don't need these things around. I generally keep the red scenario binder somewhere away from my toddlers and remove only the ones I want to use/play when I need to. The page protectors are a good piece of mind thing for the investment you've made into the game. With the three SKs you're already looking at around 25 scenarios plus any others you've been able to download from MMP.

With the green binder is the richfam stuff and any articles and learning examples etc. I find on the Internet printed beside my bed for a little getting-to-sleep reading. Other stuff I've shoved in there includes the full examples of play from Tom Repetti's personal site, Tuomoland, here. Check out the infantry-only example first if you're a newb and move from there. I treat it like my own little syllabus of learning for ASL.

The full ASL second edition Rulebook was basically an extravangance for me. You don't honestly need it at the Starter Kit level. But if you plan on getting to the full ruleset someday just keep a lookout for it -- better yet, get your FLGS to order you one and when it comes in use it as a sort of "super" rulebook or reference when you play SK scenarios. I've found it a lot less intimidating that way and especially fascinating when you see what we're missing "down here". And yep, it's in page protected glory. I don't keep this around when I play; it sits with the green one upstairs and the original RB binder holds the original Paratrooper training chapter K and sits on the shelf.

Storage

Storage is a fun topic of conversation amongst ASLers, as some of you who frequent GameSquad's forums are aware of. One man's storage is another man's signs of impending mental disease. Here's what I'm doing storage-wise. As you see above, I've divided the nationalities of the SK armies into their own Plano (model 3820 if I can remember right). So far that's been doable since the OBs for the SKs are much smaller than full ASL. The infantry and guns and AFVs all fit into one Plano. Key things to look for in your storage solutions: enough dividers and a rounded bottom so you can easily swipe counters out of their little cubbies. On the right are the Starter Kit Germans.

On the left are the informational counters. Again, these are easy to keep in a smaller than normal Plano because SK games don't use the full info counter set. These you want to keep very handy while playing with the very commonly used counters easily in reach, or better yet, stack a half-dozen or so next to the map for both players.

All closed up, the tackle boxes are quite easily stackable together on a shelf somewhere.

Once again I've written waaaay more than I wanted to be able to fit into one post (and Blogger is starting to have fits with all the pictures I've shoved in here) so I'll split this Getting Set Up post into two and finish the write up tomorrow.