Sunday February 25

I arrived at the home of my Swedish Virtual ASL buddy in the mid afternoon. He had his American setup done for the Hatten CG. We started it as CG 1, but quickly realized that we needed to change to CG 2 at the end of our second day of playing. We are both average speed, neither slow nor fast, players. I set up my Germans. After dinner we play for a few hours.

Monday February 26 and Tuesday February 27

We spent most most of two days playing, stopping only to eat or take bio-breaks. We were somewhere in the second CG day by Tuesday evening.

Wednesday February 28

We spent an hour or so playing and then I had to travel by car, train and foot to get to the location of the ASL Scandinavian Open. I ate dinner with the other players, but I did not play that night.

Thursday February 29

This is a copy of a FaceBook post that I made about my first full day at the ASL Scandinavian Open.

I had an epic match of AP11 SWAMP CATS today with Eric Bongiovanni from France. This was my first time playing this fairly old scenario. So many neat things happened. Of course, Eric had concealed units in the steeple. I set up my four Russian Shermans to smoke that hex and in front of the hex. Two of them were successful. One the two ISU-122 came on board, I was able to keep that position in smoke for the entire game. Eric moved most of the Germans forward from their start positions, making the early going very difficult. I had to get a bit reckless with a Sherman to give my OT-34 a safe opportunity to start toasting Germans. The OT-34 was stellar; I used it on many turns to toast somebody. Its highlight was going adjacent to two broken German squads and eliminating them with fire and then being in position to eliminate two others for FTR. I sent a Sherman after a Panther; the Sherman got behind it. There was a gun duel. Both AFV had the same firer DRM so we threw our dice to see who would fire first; I rolled an eight and Eric rolled a twelve. The Panther burned. Eric had moved a Tiger into a stone building to help encircle my 9-2 and 628 LMG combo. The 9-2 eventually died, but the Tiger died one turn later to an ambush CC by an 8-0 628 assault engineer combo (ASO adjustment). The German 9-2 died dashing across a street when it was caught by FB MG. Eric’s sniper was AWOL in about eight attempts (SAN 4). My sniper (SAN 2) came up only once late in the game and I rolled a two. It went to the church steeple containing a leader HS MMG team, pinning the squad. This helped my Russian squad advance into the steeple for overstacked CC (-1 DRM for the Germans). I think my squad achieved a K result that Eric yahtze’d, causing him to lose the HS. I told Eric he could say I diced him. As usual, however, it was the timing of the good rolls that made the difference. Eric conceded with one turn left; he had practically no troops remaining. The photo was taken after three turns were played.

Friday March 1

ASO round one. J241 ITS A BATTLEFIELD versus Olav Hehe of Norway.

Elite German infantry with 7 AFV try for building hexes vs elite infantry with 2 guns, 3 AFV. It was my second playing of this scenario.

Olav was the 2023 ASO champion. The organizers gave the British and extra squad. I bid German, but Olav outbid me. I removed one of his 8-1 leaders. I set up one AT gun on board 43 in a woods hex near the seam between the two maps (the British right flank). The second AT gun was in an orchard hex in the front center of the village. I had two PIATs covering the British left flank. I put a MMG team and leader in a level one location on the British left. I also put dummies in that building. Olav started the game by driving the SPW 250 straight toward, and almost into, the village. A PIAT destroyed it during the first British turn. The right AT gun had the first tank kill, a Panther coming out of the large grain field. No other tank ever came that way. The center AT gun had a chance at a Panther while the gun was still hidden. It came on board to take a shot with a net +4 DRM. The shot missed. Olav smartly used infantry smoke to block the LOS and save the Panther. Later in the game, the gun managed to pivot right and fire at a moving Pz4 to score a CH. I played a decent game, but not mistake-free. After about five turns, Olav had taken fourteen building hexes. With the round end looming, I conceded.

ASO round two. J211 BREAKTHROUGH IN THE ARTIC versus Martin Houmøller. I believe he lived in Denmark.

Elite Russian infantry with 2 KV tanks try for 3 multi-level buildings vs mixed infantry. New scenario to me.

We both bid for the Russian attacker. I got them. I chose to bring most of the Russians on board by the left side of their entry area through a large expanse of brush (woods are brush). Only two squads came in elsewhere; they were to try to interdict German movements. Martin helped me a bit, I believe, by putting only a LMG team in the steeple location. The early game was slow for the Russians as they made their way through the brush and several German defenders. While trying to eliminate a broken German squad for FTR, I lost a tank to a HIP PSK team. Of course, some Russians were broken as they moved through the brush. The Russian MMG team with an 8-1 moved slowly forward to keep concealment until it could get a decent shot at the steeple. After a few tries, the MMG team broke the Germans in the steeple. When the Russians got into the town proper and started to break the Germans, Martin conceded.

Saturday March 2

ASO round three. J233 ROFF’S RIDERS versus Michael Hemmingsen, a Dane.

Mixed Australian infantry with 4 carriers try for 1 of 3 VC against mixed infantry. New to me scenario.

I bid A0 for the Australian attacker but received the Japanese. I made a bad setup error; I thought the second group of Australians entered on turn one like the first group. This led me to split my main body of troops too much across the two setup areas. I tried to make a game of it, but it became obvious after three turns that I could not overcome the error. I conceded.

ASO round four. J245 FACTORY FODDER versus Kenneth Knudsen, a Dane and another past ASO champion. I had played against him when I was at the ASO in 2019.

SS infantry with 3 AFV, reinforced by SS infantry with 2 Pz5 try for 5 factories and part of another building vs mixed infantry with an AT gun reinforced by infantry with 2 TD. New scenario to me.

I bid G2 while Kenneth bid A3; not a good omen. Normally, it is smart to have a small flanking force to one’s main attack. I learned that in this scenario it isn’t necessary or good because the Germans have reinforcements that have a limited entry area and they become the flanking force. So my setup was sub-optimal because I had not yet learned what I just wrote. As well, the defender moves first and they can have some HIP troops set up far forward. There was a couple of obvious places close to the German setup area, but I didn’t think to do some recon by fire during the first American turn. Of course, those HIP Americans showed up when the Germans set foot on the foot bridges. This was not one of my better ASL performances. Kenneth had played the scenario before and had it well figured out. I conceded after three turns.

Sunday March 3

ASO round five. J244 BOWDEN’S WOOD versus Fleming Christensen, a Dane.

Elite German infantry with 3 AFV try for various hexes at various turns vs mixed infantry with foxholes. New scenario to me.

I bid G3 to Fleming’s A0. The VC for this scenario are clever in my opinion. The Germans can try to avoid any AFV losses and just take the five victory locations to have 10 points. If the Germans lose an AFV, however, they need to take one of the VC locations early to have a bonus point to offset the AFV loss. Before I had even taken the first VC location, the OT AFV was recalled. IIRC, it was stunned twice; once by fire and a second time by the sniper. I kept trying for awhile to get VC hexes by the bonus schedule, but I kept coming up one turn short. I conceded near the end of the round.

After the tournament, I returned to Sweden and continued the Hatten CG.

Monday March 4 and Tuesday March 5

Once again, we spent most most of two days playing, stopping only to eat or take bio-breaks. We were in the last CG day by Tuesday evening.

Wednesday March 6

We finished the Hatten CG. The Americans won. Then I packed up and travelled by train and plane to Manchester, England.

Thursday March 7

I travelled from Manchester to Blackpool by train. Soon after arriving in the afternoon, I was in a lounge with Pete Phillips (the TD) and several other players. During the conversation, Pete mentioned that he had too many people in the main tournament (four rounds single elimination, so 16 people). I told him he could put me in the mini. In the evening, I played an open game.

J208 PANZERPIONIERE! versus Neil Brunger.

Elite German infantry with 5 Pz4, 3 halftracks try for buildings, bridge, AFV kills vs CVP Cap and mostly first line infantry with 4.5 Shermans and 3 halftracks. New scenario to me.

The dice gave the American defenders to me. The 4.5 tanks mentioned above refers to an SSR that has one Sherman immobilized. My memory is a blur on this one. I think I set up to cover the easy ways into town for the Germans. The German attack started slowly. One of my Shermans was the first to go. Neil, a very pleasant fellow, felt a need to speed things up because of the increasingly late hour. He drove a halftrack through the middle of the board to park it on a bridge worth VP. One Sherman tried to get it, but missed. He followed it up by a Pz4 that was taken out by a bazooka. When my fourth Sherman was eliminated, I conceded. Neil brought up an interesting question during the game. Are infantry leaders elite for the purpose of HOB? Do they need to be elite or Elite? I asked around online when I returned home. They are Elite according the Index and Glossary.

Friday March 8

Both the main and mini tournaments scheduled one long round on this day.

I was matched with Frazer Greenfield in J178 OLD FRIENDS.

Mixed American infantry with 8 AFV try for 7 multi-hex stone buildings OR 38 CVP vs infantry with 5 AFV. 

Frazer was a returning player to the hobby. I asked for the German defenders because I had won it once as the Americans. I conceded the first bunch of buildings to the Americans. I had only a squad and HS on the American side of the stream and both were very close to the stream. The best leader with a squad and LMG covered the bridge, as well as a Panther. The other Panther was on the small level one bump on the right. The Pz4 was in a middle woods hex. The flak halftrack was in a different woods hex covering an opening in the line of woods on the right. The Stug covered the left road. I had a platoon with the 8-1 leader on the left, a platoon with the 8-0 in the center and a over-strength platoon with the 9-1 on the right. I put a HS with the MMP in the steeple. Frazer started the game right by putting WP on the level one Panther, allowing some of his vehicles to cross the American hill safely. I think four AFV, some carrying infantry, went towards the German left flank. A couple went to the centre to challenge the Germans and everything else went to the buildings that the Germans had conceded. The Germans were able to repulse the Americans as they got close to the stream. The center tanks died to the Pz4 and a Panther. The American riders on the German left were knocked off of the tanks. Frazer forgot to BU once or twice and I was able to inflict a couple of stuns, one of which let a German squad move up and faust a tank. Frazer had some difficulty getting his smoke assets to where he needed them. After mounting casualties, Frazer conceded after about five turns.

After a wonderful dinner at the Zest Of India restaurant with some other Heroes players, Martin Vicca and I played the scenario BG11 JUST ANOTHER DAY, from Broken Ground and using the Broken Ground map. I have played Martin twice before; once in the VASL league and at ASLOK the year he visited. I asked for a scenario that was simple and short without vehicles. This was perfect. A small group of British first line infantry try to take a few buildings from a smaller group of second line Germans. The dice gave the British attackers to me. Martin used the bocage to regain concealment soon after shooting my troops as they tried to approach. Eventually, the Brits got close enough to make that difficult. It took all 5.5 turns, but the Brits took the required buildings.

Saturday March 9

My opponent was Bill Finlayson, another returning player. He asked to go off-list to play scenario “S” THE WHIRLWIND.

German first line infantry with a Wirbelwind AA AFV try to clear the center of a town against first line American squads.

I looked at its ROAR record and suggested to give the Americans the balance (a third Baz 45) and dice for sides, which we did. Bill played the American defenders when can set up all HIP in concealment terrain. You can guess how many American units I saw: zero. I deployed a lot and approached the town. For the first half of the game, I kept the Wirbelwind out of Baz range. As the infantry discovered the Americans, the Wirbelwind would move safely up, unbutton, take a shot from six hexes and then move away and stay in motion. I was half way through the town when I decided to send the Wirbelwind on a wide flanking maneuver where it found the last HIP Baz that was almost out of the game. No more Wirbelwind. There was a interesting melee during the game. To secure one of the rowhouse buildings, I needed to eliminate a 7-0 leader in an upper level location. I sent enough for a 4 to 1 attack. I rolled too high. Next CC phase, I rolled too high again. I added another HS for a 6 to 1 attack. I rolled the same number, but this time it eliminated the 7-0 leader. I used a captured Baz to place WP, something I had never done. Bill had placed one HIP unit so that it could run back into the victory area at the end, but I had left HS here and there to defend against that. He conceded in turn six or seven.

The second match of the day for me was also the final for the mini-tournament. I played against Bob Eburne. He also asked to go off-list, sort of. He thought it preferable to play one of the shorter scenarios from the fifth round of the main tournament. I agreed. We played CH41 TEST OF NERVES.

Elite British infantry with 4 tanks, OBA and an AT gun try to have LOS to a hex vs elite German infantry with 3 Tiger1, 1 Pz4H.

We both wanted the German side, so we gave the British the balance (an extra 8-0 leader) and diced for it. I played the British. This scenario is different. All four German tanks can set up HIP. They have two armour leaders: a 10-2 and a 9-1. The British can set up three of their four tanks HIP. Only one of their tanks can kill a Tiger from the front. The British have 9-1 and 8-1 armour leaders. When I saw the German setup, I thought I would have set up closer to the British. I placed all four of my tanks so that they could see the VC hex; two were relatively close (two hexes) and two were relatively far (four and six hexes). I placed the AT gun in a roadside building just to the left of middle where it could get a side shot on a passing Tiger. I was positioned for the Germans to come to the British. I think that wasn’t what Bob expected because when the German tanks appeared on the map, they were behind the German infantry in no position to fire at the British during the first German turn. I was a bit lucky with my OBA. It destroyed the Pz4 and some infantry in the centre building that were trying to move forward. I had two fire missions in a row before the Germans broke my observer. Bob had trouble moving the infantry forward without taking casualties and he couldn’t find the HIP tanks with his tanks. He was generally using the Area Target Type to search them out, and generally missing the TH. As his tanks moved forward the real drama began. My AT gun miffed its side shot, but the Tiger was later taken out by my Firefly. The AT gun then did a decent job of shooting up German infantry before the crew was eliminated in CC. The Firefly took out two of the Tiger tanks. I think Bob still had one Tiger when he decided to concede on the last turn. I had three tanks left and one of them was still HIP.

Sunday March 10

After packing up and checking out, I played a game of A32 ZON WITH THE WIND.

American paratroopers try to exit vs German infantry with 2 88 flak guns, trenches.

My opponent was Andy Bagley, one of those names I have been seeing for years. He reminded me that we were on the same “team” for a Norway based VASL tournament during the pandemic. I last played this scenario in 2011 and 2004 so it was almost like “new to me”. I think we diced for sides. I had the Americans. Andy showed me something that I didn’t remember: the Germans can place the flak 88 guns so that they can hit some of the American entry hexes.  I had a platoon with the 9‑2 seriously beat up on the left entry point. Most of my units came in on the right and some used the gully on the right; more should have. After a few turns I was making progress on the right, but the Germans were able to retire to the exit area before the Americans got there. I conceded because it was obvious that I would be lucky to exit anyone.

Pete made name cards for participants, something I appreciate.

He also used a neat board to track pairings and progress.

Although I enjoyed this extended ASL experience, I don’t expect to repeat it. Of course, I made the experience more busy by doing the Hatten CG as well as the two tournaments. The experience was a bit like being at ASLOK, but a little crazier.