ASL S "The Whirlwind"

Robin came over to my home this morning for another ASL FtF playing. Robin is keen to obtain more experience in armored warfare, ASL style. Lately I've taken a new approach to teaching AFVs. Basically, I've categorized AFV scenarios into 4 categories, in order of complexity:
1. Infantry Support
2. Infiltration
3. Armored Duels
4. Combined Arms

Infantry support is the most simple to grasp, so we'll spend a few scenarios doing those before moving on to Infiltration, then Armored Duels, before finally arriving at Combined Arms.
Today's choice of scenario was ASL S "The Whirlwind", with Robin as the German attacker, and myself as the (entirely HIP) American defender. The first picture shows my American setup. I wasn't sure if a Baz'45 in P3 was the best idea, but the ability to advance (concealed) to Q3 or Q4 meant that I could cover a lot of ground. The Baz '45 is quite accurate, and must be respected even at range 5 (especially considering that the FkPzIV is a large (-1 TH) target). I put the other Baz'45 in reserve, and put squads in Y2 and AA6 to dig foxholes so as to make defending the rowhouse blocks of board 10 a little less of a rout deathtrap (1st photo).




Robin deployed heavily and set about finding the Americans. Civilian Interrogation was in play, but Robin and I got no information from the civilians at all. The FkPzIV enjoyed some good early shots, KIAing a HS and breaking a couple of other squads, too. But when it stopped in U7, I advanced the P3 Baz team to Q4, and roasted the FkPzIV with a Critical Hit (C3.7). By the end of turn 5, the intensity of the (now infantry only) battle had drawn out the last of the HIP American units, and it was a race against the clock for the Germans to grab the final buildings. But this became a likely reality, as my fire more often than not pinned German units, which was fine in the short term, but left me trapped in my following turn , forcing me to have to try and shoot my way out.

Robin had by far the better of the firefight (his  9-2 and LMGs giving him a good advantage), I managed to escape a few times, but fate eventually caught up with me, especially in my last turn when an encircled squad escaped its encirclement (A7.7), but took a Heat Of Battle (A15), went Berserk (A15.4), and then charged the wrong halfsquad !! After this, the Germans only needed to overwhelm a lone 7-0 in their final turn to claim the last building, BB3 (2nd photo).




So congrats to Robin, he gets his first ASL win vs me. I think he enjoyed this scenario (what's not to like about getting a FkPzIV in an infantry support mission ?), too.

John.