Benny’s Weblog

Settlers Seafarers: 4 player game. Great fun but I feel it’s way too long for what it is. The gold and boats add a new dimension and I love the ability to change the layout for different scenarios. I lost this badly as I do with all Settlers games.

Powergrid: This is a game I really like and enjoy playing more and more each time. Because it was everyone else’s first game I won fairly easily due to the bids not going very high with each plant auction. Early in the game my cashflow was good and I picked up enough good plants to carry me to game end easily without the need to worry about being part of any further bidding rounds.

Modern Art: Quickly becoming an all-time favorite game of mine. I won this as well due to being quite familiar with the game and some of the basic strategy. I had a lot of luck talking down the prices of the artwork I wanted to pick up cheaply. And I made sure not to monopolise any one artist. I love this game.

Age Of Steam: Wow! This started off very slowly due to unfamiliarity with the rules but later in the game when we started to get into it it flowed quite smoothly. Tricky game with many strategic options but good fun.

Red Packets (ASL6): Remember smoke, remember smoke, rem… I lost this one badly but managed to take out two of his vehicles. Armor is deadly especially with armor leaders. I gave Ryan the 9-2 AL which gave him deadly accurate shots with his main PzIII. When attacking with armor always use SMOKE… I need to remember… The scenario taught a few things about trucks, armored halftracks and motorcycles but I can’t say I liked it much. Maybe next play of this it may go a little better.

Under The Noel Trees (ASL23): I enjoyed playing this as the Americans. I concentrated my Bazooka force on one end of the setup board and placed my two tank destroyers on the other. Ryan did the correct thing and popped a heap of smoke to cover his advance. I managed to take out three of his tanks before he reached the other end of the board before I made the crucial mistake of moving my last remaining tank around the board getting it shot-up in the process. When that was gone there was no way I could move Bazookas from one end of the board to the other. I should have spread my Baz force out more. The finish was very exciting with me blocking his exit off the board with a squad and a concealed leader. The only bazooka that had a chance of taking out one of his tanks (after running the length of the board) took a shot at long-range with an improbable hit and rolled snake eyes!! The follow-up dr of 6 howevever was of no use.. it basically came down to a 50/50 chance of me winning the game right there and then. Ryan then took my bait of me forcing him to Overrun my 747 squad even though an easier way to exit would have been to bypass woods and enter my concealed leader’s hex. My resulting reaction fire however was meager and the squad eventually broke and gave him the win.

Ryan 9 Ben 5

Shklov’s Labors Lost(T4): Played this on VASL against Tomar. I played the attacking Germans with their STG IIIs. These things are hopeless for city fights considering they have no MGs. After about the 3rd and 4th turns even though my infantry had advanced nicely both of my tanks were more or less gone in CC. Inf in CC is deadly against tanks. It was a really close game but Tomar had the experience and knew how to withdraw from CC effectively and regain Concealment etc. Great fun! I tried to draw his concealed units into the open using Op fire for the first time. It kind of worked and allowed me to take a building.

Death At Carentan (A59): A good scenario that was fun to play and also quite tight. I played the American Paratroopers attacking and taking the township. I was unable to hold enough buildings to take victory and lost by one point. In hindsight there were mistakes I had made that I shouldn’t have. My radio broke the first time I tried to call in the 100mm OBA then when I repaired it I failed to gain radio contact anyway. My attempts to take a final building with a dash failed due to me forgetting to try smoke placement. I also moved a fire stack which really should have stayed in the same location to aid in breaking units concealed behind the Bocage. All up it was still a great way to learn the Wall Advantage and Bocage rules. Bocage is simply the best defensive terrain there is qithout question. After capturing his MMG in the first turn I really should have raked this game in.

Ryan 7 Ben 5

The Hedgehog Of Piepsk (D): Our first go at OBA, we started this on Thursday last week and completed it early Sunday afternoon. The scenario gives the German player a battery of 80mm MTR. Ryan placed his leader on the peak of the hill giving him very good coverage of the surrounding terrain.
I setup half of my force to enter the middle mapboard and the other half to try to outflank on the North. This turned out to be a disaster in the middle as the OBA was quite accurate and suceeded in disrupting a whole lot of my Conscripts. In hindsight it may have been better from my perspective to enter my entire force, bar a few squads, on the northern side of the map and therefore keeping them out of line-of-sight and forcing Ryan to draw chits. I conceded half-way through the game as it became apparent that I didn’t have enough firepower to finish the job. A nice scenario that with repeated play I think may get very interesting.

We started Death At Carentan (A59) on Sunday. It’s a great way to learn OBA and Bocage at the same time.

Ryan 6 Ben 5

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Terrain
- A unit in dense jungle, kunai, bamboo or swamp may not participate in a multi-hex FG if another unit in that FG occupies some other dense jungle, kunai, bamboo or swamp hex.
- A Recovery attempt in jungle, kunai or bamboo receives a +2 drm.
- Ambush may occur in jungle, kunai or bamboo just as if that terrain type were woods. However, the ATTACKER unit/stack in that hex must add a + 1 drm to its Ambush dr.
- Light Jungle is the same as woods except it’s a two-level obstacle.
- Dense Jungle has a +2 TEM.
- Infantry stacking limits are reduced to two in Dense Jungle.
- Dense jungle blocks LOS along its hexsides (Inherent Terrain).
- Normal woods entry costs (including those for path/TB if applicable) apply to entering dense jungle.
- Dense Jungle may not be bypassed.
- In a daytirne scenario, an infantry unit/stack that in its MPh is in an Interior dense-jungle hex and wishes to move to a new hex must make a Movement DR (and hence possibly a Straying DR as well) unless it has already done so in its current MPh.
- No mortar may fire from a dense-jungle.
- At the end of the CCPh, one armed MMC in each jungle/bamboo Location may make a Clearance DR in an attempt to Clear (i.e., create) a Path.
- A broken unit is not required to rout to the nearest bamboo hex.
- Infantry may enter bamboo only via Minimum Move, Low Crawl or Advance vs Difficult Terrain.
- Straying can occur in an Interior bamboo hex.
- Bamboo is a one-level obstacle and normally has a + 1 TEM.
- Palm trees are treated as orchard and are always in season.
- A hut is a one-level + 1 LOS Hindrance like an out-of-season orchard, but only if the LOS crosses one building depiction in that hex and the hut is not Collapsed.
- A hut has a +1 TEM unless collapsed.
- A hut cannot be rubbled. However, any KIA caused by a DC or HE attack vs a non-Collapsed hut Location (even vs a Bypassing unit therein) causes it to Collapse after fully resolving that attack vs all occupants.
- A Collapsed hut has no TEM but is a normal (i.e., not one-level) +1 LOS Hindrance across the building depiction(s).
- Each marsh hex that is adjacent to one jungle hex becomes a swamp hex.
- Swamp is always a two-level obstacle with a +1 TEM.

Japanese
- All armed Japanese HS break and rally in the normal manner.
- Japanese SMC have no Broken side, and cannot break voluntarily. A Japanese SMC (including a wounded leader) who suffers a break result due to any cause is instead Wounded.
- A Japanese leader who fails a MC by an amount > his ELR is not subject to Replacement.
- A Japanese Infantry/Cavalry leader increases the Morale Level of all other non-berserk Japanese Infantry/ Cavalry units [EXC: another leader] in his Location by one.
- A Japanese leader is equivalent to a Commissar for all rally and berserk purposes.
- Any Good Order Japanese Infantry unit (even one SMC) may declare a Banzai Charge.
- Good Order Elite and 1st-Line Japanese Infantry (including crews) are Stealthy, while Conscripts are Lax.
- They do not Disrupt, nor will they surrender in the RtPh.
- Unbroken Japanese treat LLMC as LLTC, and if Encircled do not have their Morale Level lowered by one.
- In scenarios set in/after 6/42, No Quarter is always in effect and Mopping Up cannot be used. (for both sides)
- Japanese Infantry receive a -2 drm for their Concealment dr.
- The Japanese player in a daytime scenario may always use HIP for 10% (FRU) of the MMC squad-equivalents in his onboard-setup OB and any SMC/SW that set(s) up stacked with them.
- In a night scenario the Japanese player may always use HIP for 25% of his MMC squad-equivalents that set up onboard, even if he is not the Scenario Defender.
- Whenever one unbroken Japanese Infantry/Cavalry unit is the ATTACKER in CC/Melee or Ambushes the enemy in CC, that CC/Melee automatically becomes Hand-to-Hand unless every such Japanese unit participating in it was Ambushed in that phase and/or is Withdrawing/ pinned.
- Immediately prior to resolving a CC Capture Attempt vs a Japanese Personnel unit, that Japanese unit - even if it had declared a CC attack (but not if it has already made that attack) - may attempt to eliminate itself using Hari-Kari.
- The opponent does not gain Casualty VP when a Japanese Full-Strength squad or infantry-crew is flipped over to its Reduced-Strength side.

Chinese
- GMD Chinese cannot deploy.
- Uses Red To-Hit numbers.
- May do human wave attacks like Russians.
- No Quarter is always in effect for Japanese vs Chinese.
- 10% FRU of squads may be secretly recorded as Dare Death squads. They may then voluntarily go berserk if in/ADJACENT to a friendly leader.

We had some ASL planned for last night. The Hedgehog of Piepsk (D) scenario which contains some 80mm OBA to test our newfound offboard-artillery knowledge. The game was all setup with Ryan’s units all HIP.
Just as we were about to start play David turned up with a few light boardgames so we ended up playing..
Euphrat and Tigris: Ryan won E & T with an empire that spanned the center of the board early.
Union Pacific: David looked like taking the Union Pacific game but Ryan conceded after an altercation over the randomness of the card shuffle.

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- If boresighting is allowed note the possibility of Night Firelanes E1.71
- NVR is specified on the scenario card. (maximum distance a unit can see)
- Only gunflash/illuminated or moving vehicle can be seen beyond the NVR
- A 6 on the colored die of the WC DR means NVR change of one hex.
- Defender may HIP setup 25% (FRU) squad equivalents and SMC/SW stacked with them.
- Defender sets up forces concealed and receives a dummy counter for each squad equivalent.
- A defending unit may move/adv only if attacked or if he sees an enemy.
- A a Search CR resulting from a successful Search is considered an “attack”.
- After the attacker makes his first attack the defender may move his best leader freely on dr <= his ELR. Units stacked with him may move too. If he fails he can check again next MPh.
- Use “No Move” counters to indicate no freedom of movement.
- Units with an underlined ML have ELR reduced to 4.
- An Infantry unit loses Cloaking/”?” at night if it uses Non-Assault Movement in a Location that is already Illuminated.
- Situations requiring a Concealment dr get concealment automatically.
- An unconcealed unit beyond a viewing unit’s NVR is never Known to that viewing unit unless the target can be treated as being within NVR as per 1.101
- An unconcealed unit beyond NVR is never “known”.
- Only the scenario attacker uses cloaking (use ? counters of another nationality to represent).
- Attacker’s infantry always start cloaked.
- Use cloaking counters in place of the units. Place cloaked units in the Cloaking boxes and refer to the ID. Cover cloaking boxes with a box lid to keep them hidden.
- One cloaking counter is allocated per squad equivalent at setup.
- Cloaking counters have 6 MF regardless of contents.
- Cloaked SW must be DM if possible.
- Cloaked units must move/adv as a stack. If attacker reveals then he can split them.
- Check overstacking if two or more cloaking counters enter same location.
- Human Wave loses cloak always when starting attack.
- Infantry must pay an additional 1MF when entering concealment terrain at night. (only Inf, not cloaking counters).
- At the start of its MPh, each onboard ground unit or stack wishing to move to a new hex in that MPh must first make a Movement DR, if colored dr = 6 then it strays (unless it sees a Known enemy unit etc. lots of exceptions).
- A broken unit does not rout normally at night, but instead, always uses Low Crawl and is never eliminated for Failure to Rout.
- A DM unit retains DM until it makes a Rally/Self-Rally Original DR <= its current printed morale.
- Jitter fire happens on doubles on the Straying DR if at least one gunflash has occurred.
- There is a +1 drm to all Recovery attempts at night.
- All units are classified as Lax, Stealthy, or Normal.
- +1 LV hindrance to all attacks. But this does not nullify -1 FFMO!!!
- Firelane residual can be placed beyond NVR.
- Multi-location FG is not allowed at night.
- Printed SANs are increased by two (max 7).
- The ATTACKER’s Ambush dr need be only at least two less than the DEFENDER’s to Ambush.
- Gunflash: units may fire at anything marked with Prep, First Fire markers etc. if in view regardless of NVR.
- MG retaining ROF are marked with “Gunflash” counter.
- Gunflash against unit beyond NVR is treated as Concealed target.
- An Illuminated Location is treated as being within the NVR of all units that otherwise have a LOS to it.
- Illuminated units can see only Gunflashes and into Illuminated Locations.
- Starshells may not be used until a friendly unit with LOS to an enemy fires one or an attack is made against an enemy unit.
- In the allowable phase, one attempt to fire a Starshell may be made per hex by one friendly leader or one friendly MMC in that hex.
- Leader must pass a dr <= 4 before he can fire a Starshell. MMC <= 2.
- Starshells illuminate all hexes within 3 hexes (EXC: Interior Bldg hexes)
- Starshells are removed at the end of each CCPh after placement of “?”.

Puma Prowls (T2): Played this twice against Ryan over the week. First time we played we made many mistakes, most of them tactical mistakes by myself. The moral of the story is that bounding fire is costly and dangerous and the only way to make it effective is to go into PBF position and cop Gun duels etc. from your opponent. Of course it didn’t help that Ryan was rolling threes and I was rolling double sixes! I conceded after losing two tanks.

Our second game flowed smoothly. We swapped sides with myself taking the Russians. I screwed up a couple of times by trying to fire my Guns while CE. It was a much more tactical game and we took good advantage of the terrain. Ryan didn’t advance much at all so eventually after creeping closer to the board edge I made a couple of last minute dashes to get some units over the line. The first tank broke down as I tried to ESB it. The other tank made it. In the end we both had equal VP so the Russian’s won! It was close, tense and exciting. Probably the most satisfying game we have played so far.

Ryan 5 Ben 5

Mila18 (ASL2): Kicked off a game of this on VASL on Monday against a guy from France. Although it’s unlikely I’ll be up again at the right time to continue the game, we at least got through the first couple of turns.
It’s an interesting scenario, basically a group of Jews setup HIP in the Warsaw Ghetto and rise up against the German SS with stolen weapons and smuggled grenades. So basically the German player is advancing into an empty map board with no idea where they are.
The Jews are able to use rooftop movement, sewer movement, movement between rowhouses, molotov cocktails and a very cool SSR that lets them increase experience when recovering inherent weapons from any killed German squads or halfsquads. The Germans meanwhile suffer a cruel ELR of only 1.
My opponent (forgotten his name) has already advanced adjacent to one of my HIP squads. My MOL attempt failed but I managed to break his leader and a squad with my PBF. It’s going to be interesting especially considering the only way the German player can make sure buildings are clear is by Mopping Up each in turn.

Fighting Withdrawal (ASL1): Played this twice against Ryan on Saturday. For our first game I played the withdrawing Russians and messed up my setup by placing my squads on the other side of the road from the Finns. So many of my squads broke at the start that I conceded at the end of the second turn. The second time we played I took the Finns and it went smoothly until we discovered Ryan hadn’t setup most of his OB so once again we finished early!

Ryan 4 Ben 4

Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 Scenario (S1): Played the Starter Kit scenario against Zoltan with the SK rules. I attacked with the Germans making it adjacent to a building then a CC attack. But my units broke and I failed to take the objective and thus the game. Zoltan pointed out a good strategy for putting pressure on the reinforcements by moving into a building near the center on the board on the first turn. I’ll have to try that next time…

Released from the East (S6): Played against Ryan. An excellent scenario. I played the attacking Russians whos job it was to take two of the three objective buildings. In hindsight I’ve realised that due to snow weather the Russians do not suffer the FFMO penalty, oops. It was Ryan’s turn to mis-read the scenario card this time He neglected to take into account my re-inforcements arriving from the eastern edge of the board on turn three. So I took one building without a fight. The second building was difficult. I managed to move a few units adjacent to the last remaining stack in the final turn but they got shot up in DF before I could advance into CC.

In the end it was a win to Ryan in the tightest game we have played yet.

Ryan 3 Ben 3