I give a big Thank You to MMP for holding this event. I had last attended in 2014. It is one of only three events that I know where there is no fixed scenario list. They provide subsidized beer and soft drinks and a raffle with a range of prizes ranging from a T-shirt up to ASL products for a year. I thought the hotel was pleasant and clean. There is no schedule for the rounds, but I never needed to wait very long for an opponent. I wasn’t at the event to be a serious competitor for the trophy, however, which can limit who and when you play. I was there to play scenarios new to me and hopefully people new to me.

I brought nine scenarios with me and only the gear I needed to play those scenarios. I had never played any of them. Some of them have been on my “to play” list for so long that I forgot why I picked them. Estimated playing time ranged from 3 hours to 5.5 hours. All used either Germans, British or Soviets.

My first game at WO was with Larry Rolfing from California. Gotta love a guy who sees my folder of nine scenarios that I brought to play and without looking past the top one says after one minute “lets play this one”. RBF-13 NEUBAUER BATTALION: German SS and Luftwaffe infantry try for buildings vs elite Soviet infantry in Extreme Winter with Deep Snow. We chose sides at random. Larry had a good defence and I failed to focus my early attack enough. I made a game of it, but in turn five of seven, I suffered several reversals that caused my concession.

On Friday morning, I played J193 THE VALLEY OF GLORY at Winter Offensive with fellow Canadian David Garvin.

Based on ROAR, we gave the Soviets the balance and diced for sides. This was a mistake. There really wasn’t enough reported games to justify giving the Soviets the balance, and they do not need it. We chose sides randomly.

Soviet infantry with 3 light AFV try for control of two hills OR building clearance vs elite infantry with a medium mortar. I had put this on my list because of the long awaited board 77.

David made a cautious attack but still won in five turns out of 5.5 . My MGs managed to destroy two tanks; my mortar broke after a few shots. The crew died to a twelve on a rally roll. The Soviet attack threatened both hills and the buildings at the start. I had defended the buildings and one of the hills strongly. The Soviets won by taking the central buildings. Chad Cummings had commented to me later that an aggressive Soviet attack could win this one quickly.

Fun fact: we did not consult the rules once.

My game on Friday afternoon coincidentally had me playing another Canadian, Alex Colic from Hamilton, Ontario. He had driven down with J.P. Hoekstra, someone I had met at an ASL tournament in Burlington Ontario a long time ago. J.P. was playing a non-ASL game at WO, but we eventually got together for a chat.

Alex is returning to the hobby after a long absence, so this was a teaching game. I enjoy helping players like him; it feels like an extra use of all that ASL knowledge that I’ve accumulated in many years of playing. Just don’t ask me how to win scenarios.

We chose J185 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. Elite German infantry with 1 gun, reinforced by more infantry, try for 3 buildings vs HIP mixed Soviet infantry, reinforced by NKVD and mixed infantry. Alex chose the German attackers. The scenario has Soviets setting up first and moving first. Alex neglected to set up to interdict the Russian reinforcements, so all of them made it to the victory buildings. We played for about four turns of six at which point Alex decided he did not have enough time left to win. I taught him about blind hexes, smoke, searching, bump scouting and other things.

I forgot to take a mid-game photo, but here is my Soviet setup before going HIP. The damsels in distress were marking the German setup area.

I played a rare-for-me third-scenario-in-one-day on Friday evening with Ed Barnes, a former marine living in the area. “Balls to the wall” aptly describes Ed’s style of play that I saw while we played MM39 BICYCLE RACE. British commandos on foot and bicycle with 3 DD Shermans try to push through mixed German infantry with a PaK 36. I remember that I had this scenario on my list because of the bicycles, a rule section that is rarely used. I had not noticed that there was a high SAN of 6 for the German defenders and 4 for the British attackers. Ed had put his record sheet in the “available” area, but he was involved in a board game with his son. He suggested I pick any scenario and set up a defence; his wife was coming for his son.

Ed took advantage of the free deployment to deploy all (maybe) of the bicycle troops. He brought the rest of the infantry with the tanks on turn two. I had two squads and a leader defending far forward with everyone else back in the town. Those forward troops dished out a beating to the bicycle troops. The SAN of 6 also hurt him often, although it never hit any tank, all of which he kept CE to use the AAMG. He didn’t give up easily, however, and we played most of the turns before he conceded. We had an unusual experience of a wounded leader traveling six road hexes on a bicycle.

Six half squads and a leader on bicycles.

On Saturday morning, I played a game with Paul Schaeffer. We had met a few times at ASLOK, but this was our first match. We also had in common that we had both visited Magnus Rimvall in Sweden for several days of ASL. We played BoF23 ANHALT PANDEMONIUM. Soviet infantry with 4 AFV try to get more units north than the defending infantry with 2 AFV have on the board.

Paul had lived in Germany for awhile and wondered what Anhalt meant. He looked it up. It was the name of the district in which the battle took place. We diced for sides; I received the German defenders. I defended strongly on the German right. Paul obliged me by attacking mostly in that direction. He was unable to break through before time ran out. We played all 4.5 turns of the scenario.

Paul Ling and I got together just before the MMP free pizza arrived. Paul said he was a local area player who occasionally played with the DC Conscripts. We both wanted something short. I told him he could pick anything from my list (he didn’t have a list) and that if I had played it already, I would take the side I hadn’t played. He picked J185 THE HAUNTED CASTLE, so this time I played the German attacker. Paul had told me he was a newish returning player, but not completely inexperienced.

I helped the Soviet cause by being silly with the German gun that needs to provide smoke and firepower for the Germans. There are two level two locations from which the Soviets can interdict the German reinforcements. I smoked the first one and decided to try intensive fire for another smoke; I rolled boxcars so goodbye gun. I was able to interdict some of the Soviet reinforcements to the victory buildings, but more than half made it. My reinforcements reached the building area quickly because Paul hadn’t thought of using the level two locations. My troops moved slowly through the orchards towards the buildings. I took one of the single hex ones, but I was unable to take the three hex two storey building, nor the other single hex building. I had so many failed 16 FP +2 DRM attacks and they always failed with a DR of ten. The was also one particularly stubborn NKVD unit that refused to break. The game ended as a Soviet victory.

I had a very enjoyable three days of ASL at the Winter Offensive. I wish it was a little easier for me to reach from Montréal. I was surprised when Alex and J.P. told me that they drove from Hamilton. The chance of a winter storm makes me leery of ever trying that. I purchased Journal 15 and the Winter Offensive Bonus Pack while there, as well as this great ASL mug that would have been stupid to buy if I had to pay for shipping.