VIEW FROM THE TRENCHESB r i t a i n ' s P r e m i e r A S L J o u r n a l

Issue 14/15 September '97 UK £3.00 US $6.00

IN THIS ISSUETHE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL - PTO terrain training ALL AMERICAN - review and Design Notes

JUNGLE WARFARE - Tactics for fighting in the green hell GEMBLOUX: THE FEINT - reviewed

2 VIEW FROM

EMOTICONSWith the growth of the InterNet, emoticons have originated to allow people to show

expressions in text. I find these very useful for the printed word in general, so you'll seeplenty of them in View From the Trenches.

An emoticon is created with keyboard characters and read with the head tilted tothe left. Some typical emoticons are:

:-) humour or smiley;-) winking:-> devious smile<g> grin:-( sad:-o shocked or surprised#-( hung-over

IN THIS ISSUEPREP FIRE 2

INCOMING 3

THE CRUSADERS 4

NIGHT-TIME AT PEGASUS BRIDGE 5

ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTES 8

ALL AMERICAN 9

PLAYING WITH MYSELF 10

AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 11

HOW TO SPOT A YANK 12

THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL 13

IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY... 15

THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPEROR 16

JUNGLE WARFARE IN ASL 20

JUST A MATTER OF COMBINATION 24

NON - COM-MUNICATION 28

DEBRIEFING 29

GEMBLOUX - THE FEINT 30

ON THE CONVENTION TRAIL 31

TRADEMARK NOTICE : Most products are trademarks of the companies publishing them. Use of a product name without mention of the trademark status should not be construed as a challenge to suchstatus. Advanced Squad Leader, Beyond Valour, Paratrooper, Yanks, Partisan, West of Alamein, The Last Hurrah, Hollow Legions, Code of Bushido, Gung Ho!, Croix de Guerre, Streets of Fire, HedgerowHell, Red Barricades, Kampfgruppe Peiper I, Kampfgrupper Peiper II, Pegasus Bridge, Solitaire ASL, ASL Annual, and The General are registered trademarks of The Avalon Hill Game Company.

PREP FIREHello and welcome to the LONG overdue new issue of View

From The Trenches.Many of you have no doubt been wondering why you haven’t

heard from me since May, and may have perhap begun to wonder ifI’d drank all your subscription fees. I have!!, but that had nothing todo with the delay. Days before issue 14 was finished at the end ofMay my laser printer broke down. Three weeks later the replace-ment part arrived - broken :-( After another three weeks a secondreplacement part arrived - broken :-( Finally, in mid-August a re-placement part arrived in good condition, putting me back in busi-ness. So a couple of days later I went on holiday for a week!

On top of that I had to pick up a new toner cartridge andreplace my keyboard (they don’t like being dropped onto floors!) acouple of days ago, delaying me again:-(.

All in all this issue has been VERY frustrating to produce.

Anyway, as you will have noticed this issue is twice as big asnormal. With issue 15 due out in September, I decided early inAugust to combine the contents of issues 14 and 15.

By dropping the redundant pages (EX: covers, multiple PrepFire, Incoming, and Crusader columns), I was able to include someextra material.

I have also upgraded my PC over these past few months, so Ican produce much clearer graphics now.

Overall, I hope you’ll find the extra material and the crispergraphics make this double issue worth the wait.

Especially as I am taking the opportunity to raise the price ofVFTT. As of next issue, VFTT will cost £2.00 per issue (£3.00 over-seas; US $4.00). I hope to add 4 more pages per issue in the nearfuture (certainly within the next six months), but I also want to risesome funds to produce additional back issues and for a couple ofVFTT projects which are in the pipeline.

One of which is a Platoon Leader module based on Opera-tion Neptune, the British river crossing of the Seine in August 1944.Designed by Andy Saunders (designer of the scenario “VFTT1 HighDanger”), playtesting is well underway, and Andy hopes to be fin-

COVER: British glider troops in Normandy prepare to headinland having unloaded their jeep from the glider.

Back issues are available at the followingprice:VFTT '95 £3.00 (overseas £5.00)VFTT 7 - 9 £1.00 (overseas £2.00)VFTT10 - 13 £1.50 (overseas £2.50)

All comments are welcome. Even better,contribute. Write an article. Design a scenario.Share your ASL experiences with others. VFTTallows you to communicate with other ASLers.Don't be a silent voice.

VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES49 Lombardy RiseLeicesterLE5 OFQ

E-mail:Pete_Phillipps@compuserve.com

World Wide Web Home Page:ht tp : / /ou rwor ld .compuserve .com/homepages/Pete_Phillipps

VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES is the bi-monthly British ASL journal. It costs £2.00 perissue (overseas £3.00; US $4.00), with a year'ssubscription costing £10.00 (overseas £15.00;US $20.00). Payment should be in pounds ster-ling, with cheques made out to PETEPHILLIPPS. Readers are reminded to checktheir address label to see when their subscrip-tion ends.

Issue 16 will be out in November.

Continued on page 26, column 1

THE TRENCHES 3

INCOMING

At the US GENCON convention inJuly, Avalon Hill president Jack Dott men-tioned that they plan to release two ASLmagazines by the end of the year, the first acollection of classic scenarios, the other con-taining material from out-of-print annuals.There may also be another Action Pack is-sued this year. Blood Reef: Tarawa shouldarrive in the first quarter of 1998, with thelong delayed HASL module The ThirdBridge following that. Finally, it appearsthey have decided that the minor countrieswill be issued in two modules, with the firstexpected this time next year.

Also speaking out has been StuartTucker, editor of The General: over rumoursof ASL’s demise in volumne 31 number 3:“I cannot accede to pleas for more coverageof ASL within these pages”. It appears thatsome have mis-read this to assume that ASLcoverage with The General will diminish .In an online message he clarified: “The pointhere is ‘more’ within a single issue is notpossible. I’ll publish 2 ASL scenarios plusarticles in each issue so long as the hobbykeeps generating them for me. If ASL-play-ing subscribers drift away from the maga-zine, then and only then will The Generalcease to publish on this system which sodivides my readership.”

The Tampa ASL Group will be releas-ing Schwerpunkt Vol. II at the American ASLOktoberfest convention next month (it willalso be available at INTENSIVE FIRE ‘97the following week). It will again feature12 orginal scenarios along with a booklet ofdetailed scenario analysis and designer’snotes for each scenario, and will cost $12.00.They can be contacted at Sherry Enterprises,PO Box 3, Ruskin, FL 33750, United Statesof America.

Critical Hit! Inc. have begun shippingScroungin’ ASL News, the Aussie ‘97 sce-nario pack and the ASL News Pack 1.

Critical Hit, Inc. have Korea 1950 -Tank vs. Tank currently undergoing playtest.An eight scenario set, it will feature newmounted counters, an historical guide andseveral never before published photos. It isexpected to be on sale by Christmas, andcost about $12.00.

Beyond that they also have GENESIS48: Arab Israeli War Pack 1 in the pipe-line, as well as modules based on the actionat Ruweisat Ridge (by Gavutu-Tanambogo

Dear Prospective Playtester:Critical Hit! Inc. is looking for some new playtesters. The kind of guy we

want to have an ongoing working relationship with meets the following criteria:1. Can work with Steve Pleva (he’s nice).2. Reliable (I’ll find you and gouge your eyes out if you make me send you

free stuff and never reply again without a good reason).3. Mature (no cranks that are going to embarrass us with flaming weird-

ness, no former SS members without archival photos).4. Enthusiastic (we’re going to have fun).5. Not playtesting for anyone else (we’re going to ask you to put that in

writing but then we’ll let you in on some good secrets!)6. You have at least one friend in hex and he/she/he-she plays ASL (Sorry

no solitaire playtesters needed right now).

What you will receive:1. Free beer at ASLOK (But then, so does the general public). If you don’t

go to ASLOK, we just hoist toasts to you on my back porch.2. One free copy of your playtested item, product, etc. (i.e., a free copy for

EACH playtester) even if you playtest partial or portions of said finished prod-uct.

3. One free issue of EACH issue of Critical Hit magazine as long as youare an active playtester (no fooling us by propping up dead bodies to get the extrahead of cabbage).

4. The opportunity to bounce your ideas off of our gang of historians, sol-diers and ex-cons.

This is a serious offer and apologies to the humorless are hereby issued.Please E-mail Ray Tapio at Critical_Hit@compuserve.com (hey, you knew that!)and mark the subject “PLAYTESTER...ME” or via snail mail at Critical Hit, 88Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY10509, USA.

Ray. Tapio

Continued on page 30, column 3

4 VIEW FROM

THE CRUSADERSPRODUCT PRICES

The following price list is effectivefrom 1st September 1997.

For the latest on stock availabilitytelephone The Crusaders on (01258)459851, or by email atNeilSStevens@compuserve.com.

Time On Target #1 £8.00Time On Target #2 £14.00Time On Target #3 £17.60March Madness Scenario Pack T.B.A.WCW Colour Scenario Pack £8.00Critical Hit #1 £6.80Critical Hit #2 £8.00Critical Hit #3 £8.00Critical Hit #4 £8.00Critical Hit #3-1 £11.00Critical Hit #4-1 £12.50Critical Hit Xmas Special £13.60SS Schwere 102 £5.60Jatkosota £10.20Soldiers of the Negus (CH Edition)£12.80All American £19.00Platoon Leader (2nd edition) £9.60Armored Stand (PL2.0) £ 8.00Paddington Bears ’96 Scenario Pack£8.00Rout Pack I £6.80Rout Pack II £8.00OAF Pack I £8.00Leathernecks £8.00Gembloux: The Feint £14.40Defeating Enemy Armor £7.20Schwerpunkt £8.00Schwerpunkt II T.B.A.Baraque de Fraiture £12.75God Save The King £16.00King Of The Hill £16.00ASL News #28 £8.00ASL News #29 £8.00

All orders should have 10% added forpostage and packing [EXC: Crusaders areexempt P&P charges] and be sent to NeilStevens, The Crusaders, 4 MonktonDown Road, Blandford Camp, BlandfordForum, Dorset, DT11 8AE.

T H ECRUSADERS

ASL Oktoberfest, held in ClevelandOhio, (ASLOK for those in the know) isapproaching fast. INTENSIVE FIRE ’97 isclose behind it but in Bournemouth, UK.Rencontres continues with its four one daytournaments per year in Brussels and Idaresay the renegades in the north of En-gland are already considering BERSERK’98 in Blackpool. Yes, you guessed it; forthis issue’s column I would like to talk alittle bit about ASL conventions.

I expect there are some of you outthere reading this column who don’t feelconfident enough to attend an ASL conven-tion. Maybe you have only just got hold ofthe ASL Rulebook and don’t have many ofthe modules. Maybe you don’t have a regu-lar face-to-face opponent and so the major-ity of your gaming is carried out solo [I knowTHAT feeling - Pete]. Maybe you are at astage in life where your passion for ASL isbeing subsumed by other more worldly con-cerns and you just subscribe to VFTT to keepin touch with the ASL scene. You might evenbe someone who picked up this newsletterfrom Leisure Games out of idle curiosity,just to see if it shed any more light on thatmonstrously expensive rulebook, sittingthere on the shelves. If so a BIG welcometo you.

I want to make a personal appeal toall of you out there reading this, who havediscounted attending a convention in thenear future, to seriously reconsider. Okayso you might lose all of your games, hell Ilost my first four games at BERSERK inMarch this year. You might feel that you donot have a full understanding of the quirksof the rules, especially if you have been gam-ing solo for a long time. This is no reasonnot to attend. I don’t know anybody whodoes know the rules fully yet and each of usforget aspects very quickly (remember theon about MG firing as Ordnance againstArmoured Vehicles not being able to scorea Critical Hit; even with rolling a Kelly’s*).The thing is, if you don’t make the effort toattend you will never meet all those other“Berserkers” who share your passion aboutthe greatest game in the world.

We all play to different standards, weall have our own favorites within the sys-tem (in case you are wondering I love toplay the Russians; Commissars, HumanWaves, T34s, Conscripts everywhere - thechallenge of it!) but, and a big but, we allENJOY it. Everybody at any of these Con-

ventions seriously loves playing ASL. Theywant a friendly game that both players willenjoy and, whatever your level of play, youwill learn something new.

However, undoubtedly the greatestaspect of ASL, in my opinion although I amsure this is echoed throughout this reader-ship, is the circle of friends that you willquickly develop: not just from this countrybut from all over the world. After attendingtwo or three conventions you will find thatyou will look forward to the next conven-tion mainly because it is the opportunity tomeet and greet all of your new found ASLfriends. You will soon be exchanging greattales of daring do; probably in the bar if pre-vious conventions are anything to go by!

So, if you think that an ASL conven-tion is not for you may I ask you to seriouslyreconsider. Just make that little extra effortto attend one, even if just to appear in aspectator capacity. You will be made mostwelcome and I promise you that you will bemost amply rewarded.

Right, off my soapbox! Thank you forall of the INTENSIVE FIRE proformas thatI have received to date. Do keep them com-ing in. Philippe Leonard has indicated hewill yet again be attending this years eventand Ray Tapio, the editor of Critical Hit , isalso planning to make the trip from Americaover to Bournemouth - so don’t tell me thatScotland is too far away!!! And a big thankyou to all of you renewing your subscrip-tion to the Crusaders, despite the price hike.It really is most gratifying to see peopleresubscribing. I think you will all agree thatthe improvements we have seen, and arecontinuing to see in VFTT, have been worththe investment and the Crusaders in par-ticular have all made this possible by theircontribution to the hobby. If, by somemiracle, you have not received informationabout INTENSIVE FIRE ’97 please give mea call at home (01258 459851) or drop me aline and I will rectify the situation immedi-ately.

Yours in gaming,Neil Stevens

p.s. A crate of beer to the first person atINTENSIVE FIRE ’97 who can tell mewhere the “8-1 Nobo” Leader is representedin the game system (except you Phil!)<Manic Cackling!>

* Snake-eyes for our Colonial cousins.

THE TRENCHES 5

NIGHT-TIME ATPEGASUS BRIDGE

German strategy for the Night Actions at Pegasus Bridge

is to have these areas connect to each other(or to overlap).

Take a look at example one, whichassumes that a British unit is in both 23Q2and 23M8, and all other Locations are Un-controlled. The unit in 23Q2 may set upanywhere within two hexes of 23Q2; thesame is true of the unit in 23M8. Note that23L7 is not part of the British set-up areabecause a Strategic Location can only be partof your set-up area if you Control it or it issurrounded by your set-up area and not en-emy-Controlled.

In example two British units are alsoin 23M5 and 23N5. Their presence linksthe 23Q2 and 23M8 set-up areas, allowingthe four British units to set up anywherewithin the larger set-up area. in this examplethey do also gain Control of 23O6 eventhough they do not have a unit in it, as it issurrounded by their set-up area.

Of course, the enemy will try and havea say over your set-up areas.

Any hex that is within two hexes of a

Strategic Location of both sides is consid-ered to be No Man’s Land, and neither sidemay set up there.

In example three, German units areassumed to be in 23J1, 23J2, 23J3, 23K4,and 23O6. Primarily as a result of the latterunit, there is a large area of No Mans Landaround the 23M5/N5/O6 area.

Any unit which cannot trace a routeto a Friendly Board edge via friendly hexesor Uncontrolled hexes (No Mans Land hexesare Controlled by neither side) is Isolated.An Isolated unit suffers from set up limita-tions and Ammunition Shortage in the nextCG Scenario, which usually puts it in a deli-cate position.

For example, if hexrow Q is the Brit-ish Friendly Board Edge, neither the unit in23Q2 nor the unit in 23M8 are Isolated asboth can trace a line to hexorw Q. Howeverthe units in 23M5 and 23N5 are both Iso-lated because they are surrounded by NoMans Land (the same would also be true ofthe German unit in 23O6).

EXAMPLE ONE EXAMPLE TWO EXAMPLE THREE

At 0015 on 6th June 1944, 3 Britishgliders carrying a highly trained assaultforce attacked and captured the bridge overthe Canal du Caen in the first operation ofD-Day. They subsequently held on againstrepeated German counter-attacks until re-lieved late that evening. This is the subjectof Pegasus Bridge, the latest Historical ASLmodule from AH.

STRATEGIC LOCATIONSThe small size and scale of the battle

makes Pegasus Bridge an ideal introductoryCG. With this in mind it is perhaps worthlooking at the importance Strategic Loca-tions play in a CG.

Strategic Locations play a vital rolein a CG, as they define your set-up area atthe start of each CG date.

In general, a Strategic Location is ei-ther a building Location or a hex contain-ing an entrenchment (others exist, but areless likely to be encountered). Any hexwithin two hexes of a Strategic Location isconsidered to be part of your set-up area.

The key to expanding your set-up area

6 VIEW FROM

THE OPPOSING FORCESThe table below should give a rough

idea as to the relative size of each size’sforces as the CG progresses. Although theassumed losses could quite easily turn outto be wild guesses, the table can be used togive a player a rough idea as to the size ofthe opposing forces during the CG.

From the table, it is clear that theBritish have to hold out for a long time,making them very vulnerable to attrition.Although the Walking Wounded rule willbring some eliminated units back, a few badCC results could be very ugly for Britishlong term prospects.

The Germans look to have their bestrelative positions in the Day I and Day IIIscenarios. This suggests they should be thetimes of maximum German effort, with DayIII looking particularly good.

LANDING ZONESThe most obvious landing site for the

British is the natural runway formed by thebrushes to the south of the bridge. However,the subsequent approach to the bridge issomewhat difficult here, as the wire,trenches and the bunker are facing this di-rection.

Landing in the Open Ground hexesbetween the irrigation ditches to the northoffers easier access to the bridge, but land-ing is slightly riskier to the gliders if theLanding DR fails; with crash drms of +1for night, +1 for not landing in the IntendedLanding Hex, and +1 for an irrigation ditch,rolling as low as a 4, a 50% chance!!

NIGHT IDuring Night I the German forcess are

under “No Move” counters and are restricted

by CG4 (as opposed to E1.21). This meansthat they will not be activated except by anon-Sniper attack, or by having a LOS to aKnown enemy moving/advancing/routingwithin 3 hexes; even the presence of a leaderwith “Freedom of Movement” willl not suf-fice.

Things are compounded by their in-ability to fire during the British GT1 ex-cept in TPBF situations, which makes itdifficult to stop the British landing safely.You could pray that all three gliders crash,but this is not a recommended strategy tobase a defence on!!

Assuming they land safely, the Brit-ish are likely to target the pillbox, the ATGun, and the bridge itself on GT1. With theforces at their disposal, they are unlikely tohave any problems taking all three.

Since no Gunflash is placed due toCC, this will be the preferred method ofattack for the British (to ensure your unitsretain their “No Move” counters for as longas possible). With a maximum of one Ger-man MMC per Location, the British caneasily get a 3:1 CC attack on each, elimi-nating the defenders on an eight or less.

In view of the ease with which theBritish can clear the area east of the canal,defending it with anything other than a mini-mal force is pretty pointless. Essentially theGerman philosophy should be “He who de-fends the Bridge dies.”

Instead, you should aim to limit Brit-ish expansion on the west side of the bridge,minimising the British west side set-up areafor the start of Night II. Ideally you want tokeep hex Y18, the “West Side Bridge ExitHex” (WSBEH) or to keep it in No Man’sLand so that any British units which man-age to cross the bridge are Isolated at thestart of Night II. The British cannot affordto start the Night II date Isolated across theriver with a full company and 3-4 tanks com-ing at them from the north.

SET-UPThere are two building Locations ad-

jacent to the WSBEH and a unit (possiblyHIP) should go into each of these. This pre-vents quick access to these buildings shouldany British survive the FP as they movethrough the WSBEH. A HIP unit in eitherLocation means that any British unit whichtries to enter will get bounced back into theWSBEH.

However, the main defence positionis a line of trenches in the grain located nearthe WSBEH, in hexes such as W16, X15,and X16. The latter has a clear LOS to theWSBEH (and is in the NVR range of 2

hexes) while being out of LOS to just abouteverything except the buildings across thestreet, thanks to the hillside hedge on theX16/X17 hexside. Since the hillside hedgeis at level 1 and a unit in a foxhole behind ahedge can only see and be seen by adjacentunits, it cannot be attacked from theWSBEH, but is still effective in making itNo Man’s Land. A squad, MMG and what-ever leader the Germans come up withshould go there. To make the position evenmore secure, place wire on top of thetrenches.

CLEARING THE TRENCH LINEWith a limit of only one MMC per

each hex, and the inability to move untilattacked, you are in a difficult situation ifthe British get into CC and are able to takeyour troops out one by one.

As far as the trench line is concerned,this may not be as easy as it seems. Unlessthey are able to circle around the positionand approach from the south. the Britishmust become CX to advance into a trenchhex (1.5MF for Grain, doubled for the hill,and an additional 1MF for Night [E1.51],making it an Advance vs. Difficult TerrainA4.72]). Being CX, they will suffer a +1Ambush drm (and a -1 for being Stealthy,for a net +0 drm). If you retain Conceal-ment rather than firing at the British as theyare adjacent, you will have a -2 Ambush drmand a +1 drm for being Lax, a net -1 drm.

If you do Ambush the British you willlikely have a -3 DRM (-1 Ambush, -1 wire,-1 vs. CX) in CC for a lowly German Con-script vs. an elite British airborne squad!!Even if the British Ambush you, they willstill be looking at a +1 DRM (-1 Ambushed,+1 on Wire, +1 being CX) while the am-bushed German is looking at a net -1 (+1ambush, -1 Wire, -1 CX)!!!

In practice things won’t normally bequite so rosy as the British will generallyhave the benefit of an advantage in the num-ber of squads (EX: a pair of 6-4-8 squadsvs. a 4-3-6 squad) and a leader to influenceboth the Ambush dr and the Close CombatDR.

In fact, a concealed German unit maybe better off remaining Concealed, ratherthan attacking, in the hope of surviving andattacking with TPBF in the following PFPh,or perhaps withdrawing during the MPh toan ADJACENT trench

For example, a typical British attackmight be at 3:1 with a +0 DRM (+1 CX, +1Wire, -1 Leader), against which the Ger-man reply would be a 1:4 with a -3 DRM.By remaining Concealed, the British attack

BRITISHSCENARIO REINF. START LOSE END

Night I 7.5 7.5 -2 5.5

Night II 2.5 8 -2 6

Night III 18 24 -2 22

Dawn 4 26 -2 24

Day I 0 24 -2 22

Day II 15 37 -17 20

Day III 0 20 -4 16

Dusk 25 41 n/a n/a

GERMANSCENARIO REINF. START LOSE END

Night I 0.5 26 -5.5 21

Night II 0 21 -4 17

Night III 0 17 -6 11

Dawn 16 27 -6 21

Day I 12 33 -6 27

Day II 16 43 -10 33

Day III 12 45 -4 41

Dusk 0 41 n/a n/a

THE TRENCHES 7

is reduced to 3:2. Additionally, if the Brit-ish make a capture attempt then there is anadditional -1 DRM due to the German Con-scripts.

As can be seen, your forces at the startof the game are woefully weak. The Britishare unlikely to fire at you, so CC will be theorder of the day. Thus the more forces youput west of the bridge the better. Even ifyou can’t stop the British onslaught on thebridge, you may be able to escape some ofthe garrison, and, more importantly, concen-trate on preventing the Ox and Bucks ex-panding the bridgehead.

Although it is unlikely in Night I, beaware of any British attempt totake the Z13 building. If they Con-trol Z13 then the two German set-up areas will be split and any unitsin the JJ12 set-up area that aregiven “Freedom of Movement” forNight II will not be able to set-upSouth of CC. Until an entrench-ment is placed in another locationto connect them, Benouville andLe Port can only be joined as a set-up area by the control of Z13.

One last point. On turn 2,an 8-1 enters the board in aSdKfzI. being unarmoured, it isnot an AFV (as per D1.2) so it maynot give Freedom of Movement tothe other German AFVs on theboard. Nor can the leader cannotgive Freedom of Movement to anytinfantry he starts a turn stackedwith due to the restrictions on be-ing in LOS and be within 3 hexesof a moving/advancing/routing Known en-emy unit. So what should the 8-1 and theSdKfz be used to do? Take a scenic tour ofthe battlefield?

Answers on a postcard please to...

NIGHT IIAs Night II opens most of your units

(apart from those south of hexrow CC) gain“Freedom of Movement”.. Knowing that theBritish will be reinforced by a huge influxof fresh troops in Night III (18 6-4-8 squadswith assorted SW and two -2 leaders) andmany of the British MMCs that may be lostwill come back in the next CG date as“Walking Wounded” it is vital you force thethe British back across the canal now. If youdon’t, you never will. Thus you mustcounter-attack and ideally force the Britishback across the bridge. Failing that, keep-ing any British units across the bridge Iso-lated may suffice. Regardless, you must do

your best to restrict the expansion of thebrigdehead.

Military theory suggests that the bestcounter to an airdrop is to attack directlyinto the landing zone In this case, you can-not afford to let the British establish a welldefined and defendable perimeter on thewest side of the bridge. Night II offers achance for you to put Rommel’s “Attackthem on the beaches” strategy into effect.

Essentially, you must do anything,risk anything, to drive the British backacross the canal.

VBM Freeze sleaze is particularlyuseful in this situation, although it is dan-

gerous because the British have good lead-ership, PIATs, and possibly even GammonBombs.

PIATs can easily take out a tank, andeven at night and against a small target get-ting a hit it not too difficult as it approachesor enters a British hex.

If they wait until the AFV gets intotheir hex and try to take it out in CC, theyhave a basic 5 CCV against the tank, with a+2 for motion, usually -1 or -2 leadership,probably -1 for ambush, and they have a16% chance of an extra -2 if the GammonBombs come through (is there any reasonthat, should the squad not make the ATMMcheck, the leader can’t try?).

All in all this is fairly dangerous forthe tank, but well worth the sacrifice if youcan force the British back acroos the bridge.

If the British efforts vs. the tank failyou then move in three 4-4-7s with LMGsand perhaps a -1 leader (if available).

Three 4-4-7 squads and a 8-1 leaderadvancing in Cloaked gives you a -2 Am-bush drm for being Cloaked, a -1 for beingstealthy (the SMC), and -1 drm for yourleader, a total of -4. Against this the Britishwill have at most a couple of squads (eithera pair of 6-4-8s or a 6-4-8 and a 4-5-8) andperhaps a -1 or -2 leader, giving them a -1drm for being stealthy and a -1 or -2 leaderdrm. The result is a net -1 or -2 drm for theGermans. making them the favoruites toAmbush the British. Close Combat is then1:1 with at least a -1 for the leader andmaybe a -1 for Ambush, a 50-50 chance ofsuccess. If the British lose their west sideforces are about to be cut off, regardless ofwether your troops survived or not. In this

circumstances the risk is probablyworth it.

A confident German player coulduse these tactics to clear an areawhere there are only a couple ofMMC, some not in a building. ButI can’t see the German making in-roads on a group of well led 8morale troops that can’t get sur-rounded in a set of stone buildings,as is the case just across the road.

Risking of a couple of tanks thisway is worth it if you consider thepossible gains. Any broken Brit-ish on the West side of the canalinside a tiny perimeter are look-ing at capture or elimination. Nosaving rolls in the form of resur-rection as walking wounded either.

One other thing to remember isthat a hit tank could blaze leaving

the British illuminated for the remainder ofthe scenario.

NIGHT IIIExactly what you should do in Night

III depends on your success or failure inNight II.

If you were able to drive the Britishback across to the east side of the canal,you basically need to ensure you have somuch fire power directed towards theWSBEH. The large amout of FP availablemakes it extremely difficult for the Britishto force their way through even with a mul-titude of -2 and -3 leaders.

If the British have established them-selves across the canal, keep a viable at-tack force in Benouville to threaten a drivefor the bridge. This forces the British to keepback enough to protect it and reduces the

Major General Richard Gale, commander of the 6th AirborneDivision, briefing his troops prior to the D-Day invasion.

Continued on page 30, column 3

8 VIEW FROM

Ask me why a Brit should become sointerested in an American paratroop action,and I point to John Keegan. This man is mysort of historian. He has never been in abattle, never seen one. But he writes (andlectures) with conviction about what itwould feel like to ‘be there’. In 1976, I wasmoved by the way his book “The Face ofBattle” looked at war through the soldier’seyes. By 1982, when he wrote “Six Armiesin Normandy”, my own interest in WorldWar II had been rekindled by Squad Leader,and the battles he recounted had extra spe-cial meaning. And who could resist a chap-ter entitled “All American ScreamingEagles”?

My serious interest in the subject re-ally got going one evening in 1987. In aCalifornia supermarket, I found a paperbackcopy of “Night Drop” by S. L. A. Marshall.For the next five years, every business trip Imade saw that little paperback in my brief-case. As the plane set off for home, thegridlocked traffic slid out of sight below,and the hostess broke out the drinks, I wouldswitch off from work, reach for my book,and enter the world of the individual para-trooper, alone and confused in the Normandy

night.Then came the first visit. I knew La

Fiere, Cauquigny, what had happened there,and who had fought. But I had no clear men-tal picture of the ground other than frommaps. I only had a couple of hours, return-ing from a holiday, as my wife sat boredand uncomprehending in the car. I took pic-tures. I spoke to a farmer who turned out tobe the owner of the Manoir, whom I nowknow quite a lot better. I was moved: by thesight of the battlefield and even more bythe thought that such a tranquil spot in themiddle of peaceful countryside could havebeen the focus for so much bloody mayhem.

The final spur came just beforeChristmas, 1994. ASL players from all overthe world met in La Gleize to spend the 50thanniversary playing KGP’’on site’. TherePhilippe Leonard presented us with ASLNews #28 with its fantastic, bound-in His-torical ASL map of Stoumont Station.Within weeks, I knew that I could adapt anASL scale map of La Fiere, Cauquigny, andthe causeway that would fit two pages ofASL News.

This is not the place to go over thefate of ASL News, but suffice to day that by

January, 1997, I had a near-complete HASLmodule looking for a publisher, and RayTapio of Critical Hit! Inc. promised a dealthat included virtually full editorial controlover the finished article.

What have I learned from the experi-ence?

1) If you are visiting a battlefield withserious intentions of creating a wargamemap, do not just take pictures. Take acamcorder. Start with any and all roads overthe battlefield. Roads are the skeleton ofmodern terrain. Get them right and your mapis well under way. Video every road, in bothdirections if possible.

2) Historical ASL is not just an accu-rate map! All American is the result of tenyears of study. So is KGP. So is PedroRamis’ amazing Stonne Heights (workingtitle). Get under the skin; speak to the lo-cals. In short, become more of an expert onthe subject than most of the authors you haveread! The scenario “Counterstroke AtStonne” uses board six because its designer

Continued on page 26, column 3

ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTESIan Daglish

THE TRENCHES 9

All American: The Battle ForKellam’s Bridge is a new product from Criti-cal Hit.

What you get is a glossy booklet andten scenarios. The centrepiece is a beauti-ful map with larger than average hexes;. I’dsay about RB size. It is of a quality with AHpaper maps but I really think that the BdFmap remains the best independently pro-duced one to date. Depicted on the map isthe area where the US 82nd Airborne foughtthe German 91st Division as they tried totake and secure a bridgehead for VII corpson 6th-9th June 1944.

I must quickly reveal that I know thedesigner of this module (I believe it deservesthat status) personally, and spent some timewith Ian Daglish at the BERSERK! conven-tion in Blackpool in March He talked methrough the history, showing me the detailedmap of Normandy with the area of the gamemap marked out and so on. I got to do alittle playtesting with him as well.

Ian has really put his heart and soulinto this thing. He spent time walking theactual battlefield and photographing andvideotaping it all. He’s had contact with the82nd Division Association and he spoke tothe locals too. The scenariosshow careful thought and inter-esting ways of reflecting theactual conditions present. How-ever, this review is largely basedon the quality of the product andI hope I haven’t let my personalfeelings get in the way.

Remember “Le Manoir”?28 Germans trying to stave offthe onrushing Paratroopers?Well, Ian is not really very criti-cal of the original scenario be-cause he realises the limitationsplaced on the scenario design-ers by the geomorphic boards.His up to date version has tworather striking features though:The first is that it tells us that itwas members of the 82nd,rather than the 101st, who car-ried out the attack. The secondis that the American units in-volved were not aware of eachother’s presence and launcheda number of uncoordinated at-tacks. This is really capturedrather neatly by the SSR caus-ing the original wave to be re-

moved if they don’t make the requiredprogress before the second wave arrives.The original attackers must really push it ifthey are to stay on board after the deadline.

Remember “No Better Spot to Die”?It was a misquote. The actual words were“I don’t know a better spot than this to die.”This action gets the HASL treatment as well.

There is a brief intro in the bookletand Ian also provides a paragraph or two oneach scenario by way of designer’s notes.The scenario cards have extremely fine printquality and the detail is excellent. I’m get-ting used to the CH counter clipart nowa-days. Nice to see the unit badges on the sce-nario cards again. Photos of places on thebattlefield, as they exist today, litter thebooklet and scenario cards.

There is no PL campaign included.As with BdF, the actions didn’t leave them-selves open to direct conversion to a cam-paign game as we know it. However, thereis a sort of structure for a series of scenariosto be strung together given in the latest is-sue of Critical Hit magazine.

ALL AMERICANTrevor Edwards

My single major gripe would be thatthe cover of the booklet doesn’t have asnazzy illustration. A minor flaw I think.

I know £19.00 seems a lot of money,but the product is a labour of love. AuthorIan Daglish didn’t allow anything to goahead without QA-ing it personally, despitebeing on the other side of the pond. I thinkit is the best independent product we’ve seensince BdF and I would recommend anyoneto have a look. Most of the scenarios aredesigned to have a high replay value. If yourecall fondly the Paratrooper module, as Ido (it and the ASLRB were all the ASL Iowned for 18 months a long, long time back),don’t miss this gem.

It is available for $25.00 from Criti-cal Hit at 88 Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY10509, United States of America. UK ASLplayers can also order it from The Crusad-ers, 4 Monkton Down Road, Blandfordcamp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8AE.

Ω

10 VIEW FROM

PLAYING WITH MYSELFA lone American Squad Leader remnisces about Operation Torch.Paul J. Venard

A fellow named Anthony Piersononce wrote to me: “I have recentlyreeentered the field of ASL. I would like torefresh my skills...it has been a long time. Iam thinking of using SASL to do this. Anythoughts and ideas would be appreciated.”

Dear Anthony, .........NOoooOOooOo,Don’t DooOOooo it! <Composeself,compose self>

Seriously, SASL can be fun, but it isnot standard ASL, so why confuse yourself?Why not PBEM, (Play by Electronic Mail),or ask about VASL (Virtual ASL), or the IRCsite, or even put an Opponents Wanted adin The General? (A SL buddy and I oncefound an opponent in The General, when Ilived in Redwood City, in northernCalifornia...and the guy lived 4 houses downthe street, I shit you not!)

But if you must play SASL, the latestissue of The General has a Series Replayon the “Bunker Busting” mission, (anotherfailed attempt to get somewhere with theAmericans), and I think it points out theimportance of not getting in too big of ahurry, going for too much too fast.

Nor can you assume that the AI isgoing to allow you to overrun position afterposition. Even though by my most recentmission I had learned to try to stick togetherand set up kill stacks/FGs to mow down thefirst S? units who dared to expose them-selves, the #%$! “Panic!” and CommandControl features tripped me up every stepof the way. As for my talent for malfingSW’s...

I think the SASL design team musthave been doing a lot of MUHAHA-ingwhen they put that thing together. It’s fun.It’s MUCH faster than PBEM. But it’s notlike watching your opponent across the tablego running for a spoon to put his eyeballsback in, ‘cause you just HIP’d his kill-stackbigtime.

Anyway, to fill-in those momentswhen PBEM games were proceeding at afrozen snail-pace, I started a SASL campaigngame in the fall of ‘96.

I had ideas of starting with a com-pany of Americans in North Africa, (the his-torical aspect was sloppy at first, but im-

proved with missions), and fighting one vic-torious campaign after the other. <cough!>

What resulted could easily be 60pages long, but I’ve reduced it to somethingthat Evelyn Wood could probably scan andregurgitate between sneezes #1 and #2. NoteOf Interest - the first mission was “BunkerBusting”, which was featured in the latestissue of The General. A poor way for arookie at SASL to begin a campaign...

Americans: Paul J. VenardGermans: “Jerry” SASL

I. BUNKER BUSTING(retroactively named “Wewere soaked-off!”)

Lt. Venard learns painful lessonabout assigning large chunks of geographyto each of his 3 platoons, (but somehowdoesn’t get fragged by his men).

Left and centre never make it pasthills to immediate front, due to German MGpositions on the other side, directed by Ger-man leaders with such high ratings (a pre8/43 specialty) that they’re yawning whiledirecting fire. Right flank caves in, hit byguns, elites, bunker, (although it fell), andGerman 9-2 leadership, (he stood hisground).

Two “temporarily attached” T30HMC HTs get some ace-type kills and twoRandom Event platoons of green Amis help

firm-up the company, (?!!!), but the missiongoes to Jerry SASL. (See latest issue of TheGeneral about the difficulties of BunkerBusting.)

II. THE BRIDGEor....German Recon Fun

Ah, defense! Easier, right? Ha!Thanks, in part, to a tardy-tardy-tardy-

tardy-tardy demo squad that arrives at thebridge juuuuust a little bit after a GermanAC parks on the other side of said bridge,(demo leader KIA, squad broken), Nard Co.and a platoon fleeing to their protection getmore than pounded by a German force of 5AC’s, 200 infantry, and 2 strafingMesserschmitts.

One Nard Co. leader, sweating bloodtrying to defend the hot side of the bridge,turns heroic, steps out of foxhole, and isinstantly snake-eyed dead by Long Range548; a second Nard Co. leader gets handson a radio set, (Random Event), can’t makeRadio Contact in 2 attempts, and a German10-2 directing a 4-6-7- squad with a HMGturns him into Swiss cheese.

The leader/remnants from “OtherCo.”, hauling ass toward the bridge andsafety, are taken POW before they make it,and Lt. Venard is seriously wounded by ACIFE, as he attempts to withdraw Nard Co.,and he is sent home for the duration of thecampaign.

III. REST AND REFIT Forced to Rest & Refit, Nard Co.’s

brief celebration is brought to a quick haltby the new C.O., who is Lt. Venard’s oldestnephew, “The Barrel”.

The -1 penalty for a R&R month nowputs the score at Jerry SASL:3, Nard Co.: 0.

IV. TANK ATTACK!...How to *Special Rules*yourself a win!

February, 1943. Kasserine Passmonth. Cannot lose 1 more mission, or JerrySASL wins and the rest is academic.

A frantic search through half a dozenbooks comes up with a post-Kasserine sce-nario wherein Rommel’s tanks, forced byheavy rains to stick to the roads, were fi-nally halted.

Nard Co. watches through heavy rain,(Overcast-activated, not Special-Ruled!), as

THE TRENCHES 11

their “temporarily attached” ATG’s (andAlpha squad) destroy first one AFV, andthen another, and another, and about 5 or 6all told, and then breathe a sigh of relief asthe whistle blows, ending the game just asGerman infantry, despite slogging throughmud, is on the verge of crushing the Ameri-can left.

With the victorious self-sacrifice ofAlpha squad in CC with a German Pz IIIE,the last of the original Nard Co. squads isgiven its permanent leave.

V. POCKETS“Thanks for the support,General!” :-(

Okay, II Corps has been doing a jobin the Gafsa/El Guettar offensive of thistime-slot, but there are “pockets” to becleaned up. What does the SASL system giveNard Co. to do?....

Well, who the hell said that a beat-up infantry company can take a bypassedvillage by itself? Pvt. Nard G. Krebs keptshaking his head, saying over and overagain, “We’ll need some help, we’ll needsome help.” His buddy, Dobie, who had ahabit of being WRONG, replied, “We’llGET some help, don’t worry about it! Don’tWORRY about it!”

To make it short, by the time NardCo. had taken the cemetery, the church, andthe building and the pillbox behind thechurch, tens of grunts were casualties, Cpl.Price was KIA in CC, and Nephew ofVenard, (“The Barrel”), was a sniper tro-phy. Sgt. Mills was left alone, to lead themuch-reduced Nard Co., as a Random-Eventing line of “Advance Status” Germanunits were activating on the American leftflank and scooting past their “Hold Status”comrades and closing in on the Americanright.

A ray of sunshine appeared when anAmerican leader was spontaneously createdin a Rally Phase, but he was immediatelywounded by mere small arms fire, andthen....and then....the third German “Ran-dom Event” came to the fore, (Americanshad NONE), and 120mm firepower raineddown over 14 hexes, killing the new leader/his squad and breaking the biggest stack ofMills/Nard Co. remnants, who were stand-ing around the freshly captured pillbox, grin-ning like idiots - a picture of olive drab offand running to the rear, cussing the Gen-eral Staff, never to fight in North Africaagain.

Yet somehow, it was fun.

Ω

AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENTI took advantage of a week off from work at the end of May to visit Trev Edwards

(BERSERK! organiser) for four and a half days of FTF ASL (for a person without a localFTF opponent, such opportunities are heaven sent!). Also ‘round for the Monday was ourresident Aussie vet Iain Mackay, and Trev’s main FTF opponent Steve Thomas. Stevewanted revenge for his defeat at my hands at BERSERK! in March, where a woundedJapanese leader managed to survive numerous 36FP attacks to deny him control of “CH34The Lighthouse”. He managed to get this by beating me in “SP4 Point 270” (where I onlyever seemed able to roll 10s or 11s for MCs!) and “TOT22 Franzen’s Roadblock” (wherethe CVP limit on the British cost me the game :-( ).

Steve was also able to come ‘round on the following night, and looking for somethingshort to play Trev and I picked “G35 Going to Church”. I took the Germans, so I could getthe game set up before Steve arrived.

This is a small infantry scenario which sees a Canadian force attacking half a dozenSS squads holed up around a church. The Canadians win immediately there is no GoodOrder MMC in the church. I set up most of forces covering the approaches to the church,hoping to cause maximum casualties as the Canadians crossed the open ground outside thechurch. The problem was I only set up one MMC in the church.

Roll 1 - Wind Change DR 5(3c2w). NE.Roll 2 - 16FP +1 vs my MMC and stack. DR 8(5c3w) +1 = 9. 1MC.Roll 3 - Leader 1MC DR 12(6c6w), oh shit.Roll 4 - Leader wound dr 6. OH SHIT!Roll 5 - Hero 1MC DR 6(2c4w). Passes.Roll 6 - Squad 1MC DR 5(3c2w). Passes.Roll 7 - Squad LLMC DR 8(4c4w) +1 (leader lost) = 9. Broken, game over.

This is one of the quickest games of ASL ever, but I believe the prize for the quickestloss goes to Ed Carter in a game of “Aachen’s Pall” against Michael McMain. The victoryconditions basically say “The Americans win immediately when there are no Good OrderGerman units in building.” Unfortunately for Ed, he mis-read the victory conditions andthought that it was at the end of the scenario. So he set up his units in the street behind thebuilding with the intention of advancing in on turn one having avoided the American PrepFire. In other words, he set up with NO units in the building! After the roll for wind,Michael declared victory!

I guess the moral of the story is - make sure you read and understand the VC!

Ω

12 VIEW FROM

HOW TO SPOT A YANKChris Maloney (American to the core)

“My God, the bloody Yanks.”Thomas Wolfe

Like everything else in life, war hasboth its good side and bad side. We, beingcivilised Homo Sapiens, will automaticallybe aghast (as I’m sure some of you civilisedreaders are) at the mere suggestion of therebeing anything GOOD to say about war.Let’s stop and think about it though, theremust be something good about war, we hu-mans seem to get into enough of the damnedthings. My country alone, in its little morethan two hundred years of existence, hasbeen in fifteen wars that I can think of offthe top of my head.

So what good comes from war? Mar-tial glory, for one. Without the undoubtedlyheroic exploits of our forebears, we wouldn’thave the Imperial War Museum, the WestPoint Military Museum, and man others.Films and books. “A Bridge Too Far”,“Patton”, “Zulu Dawn”, “Full MetalJacket”, to name just a few of the betterones. Games... ASL would not exist if notfor Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohitowaking up one morning and saying “Youknow, ‘Ruler of the World’ would be a nicetitle to have.” Without these evil lowlifes,we wouldn’t have this incredibly enjoyablegame to play.

Now the downside of war. You have

to go to God-forsaken places which younever wished to go to in the first place andwallow in the muck and mire (I for one wasin the Gulf War, and Lord the boredom).Has anyone ever looked to their wife andsaid “Hey honey, for this year’s vacation,how about Imphal?” Also, if one is part of acoalition army, you have to hang out withand learn to get along with foreign peoplewho adamantly refuse to look and act like,well you know... like you. ASL, being thegreat simulation that it is, follows this faith-fully. The only tournament my wife will letme attend is in New Jersey, for Christ-sake!!I have also had the pleasure of meetingpeople with funny names who hail fromoutside my country (“Your roll, Sir NigelBlackcock III). Now that you UK ASLershave your very own tournament, IntensiveFire, you’re going to come up against anAmerican sooner or later. To smooth thingsover for all of us ASLers, I’ve written thisarticle to forewarn you about the behaviouraltraits of we Americans.

Americans are for the most part de-scendants of immigrants. We used to bestrange foreigners just like you, but all thenations with standards of civilised behaviourkicked us out; and in America we landed.We Yanks are all a mix of different nation-alities. I for one, had a grandfather whofought in the Wehrmacht, the other in theUS Army, a great-uncle in the Chindits, my

in-laws’ ancestors in the Pol-ish Army, and my brother’sin-laws in the PhilippineScouts. So I, while readingA Bridge Too Far” can hap-pily root for all sides in-volved. So we Americans arevery mixed up to begin with.As Pete Townsend wrote, “Ilook all white, but my Dadwas black.”

Americans are VERYloud, if we’re in a room, welike everyone to know. WeAmericans are usually abouta sdiscreet as two water buf-faloes rutting in a library. Wetalk loud, chew loud, roll thedice loud... we’re LOUD. It’sadvisable to wear cotton inthe ears while playing anAmerican. Many writershave noted this, such as Win-

ston Churchill. Asked about his meeting in1941 with FDR he replied “I’ll take thesteak, medium rare.” his ears were ringingso loudly from being on a ship with Ameri-cans he misunderstood the question! Don’tlet this happen to you, or else you could windup making mistakes such as ordering steakinstead of lambchops or landing at Gallipoli.

Shakespeare was another writer whonoted the loudness of Americans. In his bril-liant play Hamlet on Broadway (in DolbyStereo ®) evil Prince Blandyweed IV Jnrsays upon meeting an American “Varsooth!Though art voluminous!!” and cuts off theAmerican’s head. Then he ordered a steak.Pete Townsend suffers from tinnitus, notfrom standing in front of loudspeakers fortwenty odd years, but from being aroundAmericans for twenty odd years. Remem-ber, hearing protection is essential.

Americans are egalitarians, we haveno class conscience to speak of. Conse-quently, we treat everyone as if they’re com-mon dirt. We’d be presented to Queen Eliza-beth herself and, instead of bowing prop-erly, we ‘d give her a hug and say “Hey Liz,nice dress!” How’s Chuck and thegrandkids?! Where’s the bathroom in thisplace eh?” (remember when Queen Eliza-beth visited the woman in Detroit and thewoman HUGGED her!! Wasn’t thatGREAT!?!) So when you’re playing anAmerican, drop the “Sir” from in front ofyour name, the average American won’t beimpressed and to show it will bounce din-ner rolls off your head during meal-time(“Hey, two extra points if you hit SirReginald on the nose!! BONK!!). Also, dueto our ingrained sense of egalitarianism,Americans very quickly drop whatever littleformality we possess. With one of us, you’llgo from a polite handshake (“Pleased tomeet you Sir Charles Goodtrot”) to, on yoursecond meeting with the same person, ahearty “Hey Chuck, ya’ old $#@$!, how ya’doin’!!!” (HUG). Upon your rolling a 3 toKIA our best leader, we won’t say “Jollygood roll, Nigel” but “AAAAAHHHH!! You$#@! stupid $@!&# lucky $%#$ing bas-tard!!” Don’t be put off or frightened by this,it’s our way of showing we like you. If anAmerican doesn’t like, he’ll show it by be-ing polite.

We Americans are universal in ourbelief that if one speaks English slowlyA fine example of Brits and Yanks working together.

THE TRENCHES 13

THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRALTom Repetti

MacArthur had sent two of his best brigadiers, Pat Casey and Harold George,to survey the Papuan (New Guinea) terrain. They returned to Brisbane (Austra-lia) shaken. Until now they had assumed that Bataan and Samar were coveredwith the densest jungle in the world, nut New Guinea was unbelievable. They toldthe General that they didn’t see how human beings could live there, let alone fightthere.

It wasn’t until they landed and ventured into the rain forest on steep, slip-pery, root-tangled trails that the full horror of life there had struck them. Bladesof grass seven feet high could lay a man’s hand open as quickly as a scalpel. thejungle was studded with mangrove swamps and thick clumps of bamboo and palms.Often the trail was covered with waist-deep slop. The air reeked with vile odors -the stench of rotting undergrowth and of stink lilies. Little light penetrated thethick matted screen of liana vines overhead, but when the rain stopped and thesun appeared, vast suffocating waves of steam rose from the dank marshes.

“American Ceasar”, the biography of General MacArthur, by WilliamManchester

I have always been surprised whenpeople express Fear and Loathing of get-ting into the PTO. It’s a personal thing, ofcourse, but I just don’t find the PTO rulesto be that awful. The terrain is far more in-tuitive than desert terrain, and the uniquequalities of the Japanese troops are very highon the bang-per-buck scale. The PTO is flat-out FUN. The IJA are unique and powerfulif played properly, the terrain is often rug-ged and challenging, and the Allied Forcesare also way cool. No Conscript Russianhalfsquads here - when you dive into thePTO, you get to command US Marines, Brit-ish Elites, Gurkhas, Aussies, Phillippineinsurgents, and a host of other Rough Guys.

Neat stuff, and surprisingly accessiblefor newbies since the PTO is dominated by

infantry. It’s a shame that the PTO modulesare often at the end of the line of one’s ASLpurchases. Only armour buffs have reasonto complain here; the PTO ain’t armourcountry and the IJA armour isn’t much towrite home about.

ROOTS, BLOODY ROOTSG.1 throws a lot at you all at once,

but let’s pass that PTC and dive into theBasic PTO Terrain:

* Woods are Jungle (G2.). OK, wecan handle that. Both got trees.

* Orchards are Palm Trees (G4.). OK,fine. Both got very sparse trees.

enough to a foreigner, they’ll eventuallyunderstand. Therefore, why go through allthat trouble of learning foreign language?So you have American tourists throughoutthe globe going (loudly, of course)“WHERE....IS....THE.....BATH....ROOM?”We take particular pleasure from doing thisin France. It doesn’t work well in Germany,though, the average German speaks Englishwith more fluency than the President of theUnited States of America.

Americans have a love of materialthings. Our culture is so geared towards theattachment of wealth (read: owning lots ofuseless junk) that some Americans, and youcan look this up if you’d like cause I’m notmaking this part up, are being buried incoffins equipped with a stereo system andfully stocked bars. (sounds like a good ideato me - Pete :-) ). You’ll see this love ofgadgetry first hand in some American dicetowers. I’ve seem dice towers that, in termsof technical complexity, rival NASA’s SpaceShuttles. Some Yank’s counters storage traysare so beautifully decorated as to make theceiling of the Cistine Chapel look like achild’s finger painting.

Lastly, Americans love to tell stories,especially if it involves ourselves overcom-ing adversity. If you politely tell a story abouthow one time you advanced a conscriptsquad into CC against a concealed elitesquad and won the game, the American will(loudly, or course) say “Well, that’s greatSir Prince Baron Muddlebreathe! But I re-member one time when I’d just gotten intoa horrible car accident, had temporarily lostmy eyesight along with most of my blood,and though I kept passing out from the painof my crushed kneecap, won as the Britishin Pegasus Bridge!” Then, to drive homehis point, he’ll bounce a dinner roll off yourhead.

So now that you’ve learned just a fewof the ways to spot an American, you hope-fully won’t be put off by our (to you) eccen-tric behaviour. After all, with the UK ASLscene growing the way it is, you’ll have todeal with us eventually. We Yanks look for-ward to many fun games of ASL with you“blokes”, just remember to bring along youhearing protection. We’ll bring the dinnerrolls.

Ω

14 VIEW FROM

* Grain is Kunai (G6.1). Hmm, Kunaiis... exactly like grain.

* Marsh is Swamp (G7.). Both are sognarly that you avoid them at all costs.

Um, when is this supposed to gethard, Unca Bill?

* Brush is Bamboo (G3.). This oneseems to get people. Well, heck, the little“\|/” symbols in the Brush hexes kinda looklike Bamboo sticks (to me), so thereshouldn’t be a problem remembering it.Bamboo is one of the more unique terraintypes in ASL because of the G3.2 Entry re-strictions. Bamboo hexes are great to de-fend from because the attacker can’t justmove into the hex - he can only advance invs Difficult Terrain, going CX in the pro-cess, which is helpful in the all-importantAmbush dr for CC. On the down side,they’re only +1 TEM and are susceptible toAir Bursts.

* Roads are Paths (and Bridges areFords). Easy concept, but somehow hard toget the old idea of a Road out of your head.Just don’t forget that you can’t trace LOSdown the yellow road depiction anymore.

Sometimes roads will exist in the PTO viaSSR.

We’ll ignore the other PTO Terraintypes this time around, since Rice Paddies,Beach etc. only crop up in specialised situ-ations.

WELCOME TO THEJUNGLE

Actually I lied to you earlier. Jungleisn’t entirely as simple as I made it out tobe. Jungle comes in two flavours: Light andDense. The scenario SSR’s will usually tellyou which one’s in effect; if not, then thedefault is Dense.

Light Jungle is exactly like normalETO Woods except that it’s a 2-level LOSObstacle (and some minor stuff in G2.3-G2.8).

Dense Jungle is the real McCoy. ItsTEM is +2, you can only stack 2 squads init, it’s so dense that you can’t fire a mortarfrom it, and you can Stray (G2.22) whilemoving through it. Most importantly,though, Dense Jungle is Inherent Terrain(G2.2). It can be a big chore to adjust youreyes to see Dense Jungle in the right way

on the map; LOS is restricted somethingfierce and you’ll catch yourself saying“D’ohhhh!” a few times before you get itdown. (Memo to Avalon Hill: we couldsqueeze a few extra bucks outta those ASLcrazies if we print up “Dense Jungle” ver-sions of all the maps, heh heh heh.)

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLEBack to the matter at hand. G.2

through G.6 have some very importantpoints about the PTO:

G.2 - Fortifications in jungle, kunai,or bamboo are not revealed simply by anenemy having LOS to them. Oooh, aah. Easyto see the implications.

G.3 - Multi-hex firegroups involvingDense Jungle, Kunai, Bamboo, or Swampare NA.

G.4 - If you move into a jungle, kunai,or bamboo Location, you will not immedi-ately reveal a defending unit in that Loca-tion if it is Hidden and Stealthy. The impli-cations are hugely important for many sce-narios because Elite and First Line Japa-nese are Stealthy and the Japanese are of-ten given HIP units (G1.631). In these sce-narios, the IJA can win simply by having aunit hide out and avoid detection, poppingout at the last minute to claim victory.

Generally you only get burned by thisrule about seven or eight times before youlearn it. The only ways to reveal a HIPstealthy defender in those kinds of terrainare to either advance into its hex or Searchor probe by fire. Simply moving through anarea will not clear it.

G.5 - Recovery of SW is more diffi-cult in Jungle, Kunai, or Bamboo (thosethree types of terrain again. They’re thetroublemakers). In the PTO, you don’twanna be dropping a SW and trying to Re-cover it.

G.6 - Ambush. Attackers advancinginto (you guessed it) Jungle, Kunai, or Bam-boo must add +1 to their Ambush drm. Verycommonly used rule in the PTO because CCis arguably the heart and soul of PTO com-bat. Since Hand-to-Hand Combat is preva-lent in the PTO and HtH uses the deadlyRed #’s on the Close Combat Table, settingup and winning Ambushes is importanthere. With no net drm’s in your favor, youhave a 16% chance of winning an Ambush.With a net -1 in your favor, this jumps to25%. With a net -2, you Ambush 42% ofthe time. With a net -3, you Ambush 58%of the time. Every drm counts.

THE TRENCHES 15

So looking over the common PTO terrain, the most common features seem to be:tall LOS obstacles;difficult to move through;usually +1 or +2 TEM;vulnerable to HE or Mortar fire;Concealment and Ambush terrain;often Rally Terrain;difficult to recover SW from.

Not too difficult was it...

Ω

PTO TERRAIN SUMMARYMark McGilchrist

WOODS - JungleGenerally the same as European Woods except 2 levels high.No LOS between adjacent jungle at night, No Illumination [EXC: Gunflash, Trip Flares, bypass]Ambush Terrain: Attacker +1 drmHIP Fortifications revealed as per night+2 To Recovery dr [EXC: in vehicle, pillbox, trench or building]No automatic detection of HIP Stealthy Infantry if not in pillbox, building or GunDense Jungle2 level LOS obstacle, Inherent Terrain, Concealment Terrain+2 TEM / -1 vs. AirburstsStacking reduced to 2 squad equivalentsNo Aerial LOSRestricted entry to anything besides Infantry and Fully-tracked Vehicles+2 to Bog DRStraying in Interior Jungle hexesFiregroup Restrictions, No Mortar (Indirect) Fire+2 To Recovery dr [EXC: in vehicle, pillbox, trench or building]HIP Fortifications revealed as per nightNo LOS between adjacent dense jungle at night, No Illumination [EXC: Gunflash, Trip Flares]No automatic detection of HIP Stealthy Infantry if not in pillbox, building or GunAmbush Terrain: Attacker +1 drm

BRUSH - BambooBamboo is treated as Dense Jungle with the following changes;+1 TEM; -1 TEM vs. HE type attacks-1 Rally DRM only if in pillbox, not required rout terrainEntry via Minimum move, Low Crawl or Advance vs. Difficult Terrain only. [EXC: moving along Path/TB, may not exit bamboo

through non path/TB hexside]Straying in Interior hexesCounts as 2 search locationsGuns never emplacedOnly Allowed Fortifications are pillboxes, mines and PanjisBecause it is treated as dense Jungle, all the stacking, ambush, detection, recovery restrictions mention above still apply

MARSH - SwampMarsh hexes adjacent to a jungle hexTreated as non-flooded Marsh with the following changes;2 Level LOS obstacle; NOT Inherent+1 TEM / -1 AirburstsHalves HE attacks [EXC: Mortars, Vehicle targets]Bog in adjacent hexes with elevation less than or equal to Base Level [EXC: Roads]Firegroup Restrictions

BRUSH - KunaiAs European BrushAmbush Terrain, Concealment TerrainFiregroup Restrictions+2 To Recovery dr [EXC: in vehicle, pillbox, trench or building]HIP Fortifications revealed as per nightNo automatic detection of HIP Stealthy Infantry if not in pillbox, building or GunAmbush Terrain: Attacker +1 drm

ORCHARD - Palm TreesAs European In-Season orchardsRiders are allowed through Palm Trees

BUILDINGS - Wooden BuildingsAs European buildings EXCEPT if Single Story with two or more separate, complete building depiction in the same hex. These are

Huts!Many Wooden buildings in the PTO end up being Huts:Treated as a Single Story Wooden building with these exceptions+1 TEM unless Collapsed1 Level LOS Hindrance (never an Obstacle) IF the LOS crosses the Hut depictionCollapses with any KIA result from a HE attackCollapses due to vehicle entry/CA change of Location.Collapsed Huts require everybody to take a PTC with Morale =8Huts burn rather easily, including virtually anytime the Location is targeted by Small Arms PBF/TPBF, MOL, MG, IFE, DC or HE

attack and coloured dr on the IFT is a “1”. The only good news is that non-PBF Small Arms, AP HE Equivalency and ResidualFirepower attacks don’t light them up. Desperation Penalties for Backblast do not apply, but a Flame is automatically placedin the Hut

Treat Collapsed Huts just like Brush, except more flammable

IT WASTWENTYYEARS AGOTODAY...Ian Daglish

20 years? Is it really that long ago!

Here are two quotes, both from late1977, when a game called ‘Squad Leader’had been previewed at Origins, released formail order, and was hastily having a num-ber of production glitches fixed before be-ing released retail.

John Hill (Designer)Will Squad Leader become a ‘clas-

sic’? No, I don’t think so. It is simply toocomplex, and one of the requirements of aclassic is that it be a good beer and pretzelgame.

Squad Leader is too intense for ca-sual playing. The margin for error is almostnil in terms of tactical mistakes. You can-not fudge your way through. One turn ofmental laxness and WHAM you take 70%casualties.

And that brings us to another strikeagainst Squad Leader: it has the highest‘cruelty factor’ of any of the tactical games.By this I mean everything I just said aboutthe one mistake. But even if you do every-thing ‘right’, the game can punish you. Ran-dom luck - ‘fate’ - plays a heavy part. A baddie roll and your best leader can catch a strayround in the head; or a key machine guncan jam, run out of ammo just when theenemy is making his big attack. This is cru-elty, and many wargamers cannot handlesuch cruelty.

As one player observed about SquadLeader, ‘I really don’t know how to win ityet, but I know three dozen ways of losingit!’.

Don Greenwood (Developer)Squad Leader was better done than

Third Reich, simply because Hill had a bet-ter developer, and one who was no longerintimidated by Company-declared dead-lines, and took the necessary time to finishthe game the right way. I should know - Ideveloped both games.

Now, if Squad Leader proves to beeven half as popular as THIRD REICH...

16 VIEW FROM

THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPERORTom Reppetti

The IJA are wacky, wild, strange, andfun. Their unique characteristics make themone of the most powerful and interestingnationalities to command. They cannot beplayed like ETO armies; the rules willpenalise you if you try that. But if you takethe time to appreciate the new tactics thatare opened up by the IJA rules, you’ll usethe IJA to its fullest potential and enjoy theheck out of it.

Right off the bat, I will reveal the se-cret to the IJA:

They are a Control Freak’s dreamcome true.

That’s right. These guys will do ex-actly what you tell them. They may sufferhorribly in the process, but they will die try-ing to fulfil your orders. This is in opposi-tion to every other nationality, whose squadswill break and run away if you tell them todo something stupid or dangerous. The IJA,however, don’t break - when they fail a MC,they Step Reduce but they keep on chug-ging. If you want them to get from Point Ato Point B, somebody will get there. Thatonce proud platoon of Elite 4-4-8 squadsmay be reduced to a rabble of second-linehalfsquads once they reach point B, butTHEY DID GET THERE. Let’s hope theyaccomplished something good in the pro-cess.

The implications of this are HUGE.You can’t really appreciate it until you seeit in action, so I guess some examples might

the most value out of them that you can,because their strength is fleeting.

While it’s impressive to see IJA unitsStep Reduce instead of Break, rememberyour Zen training, Grasshopper. The reedthat bends with the wind will survive thestorm. The strong but inflexible oak tree willshatter in the wind. When a British 4-5-8breaks, it’s temporarily out of action, but itcan Rally and return to the game at fullstrength. When an IJA 4-4-8 fails an MCand Step Reduces, it becomes a 3-4-8 andcan never regain 4-4-8 status again. If that3-4-8 squad step reduces, it becomes ahalfsquad; two MC failures for the IJA isthe same as one Casualty Reduction. By theend of the game, this adds up.

STEP REDUCTIONAs we saw earlier, when IJA units fail

an MC, they generally Step Reduce insteadof break (G1.11). Squads flip to their red-banded Step Reduced side, Step Reducedsquads become halfsquads, and halfsquadsbreak. Along the way, ELR applies normally,so that a First Line squad that fails a MC bymore than its ELR will become a Step Re-duced Second Line squad.

The “Japanese Step Reduction Chart”shows how Step Reduction and ELR worksfor armed non-berserk squads; unarmed orberserk squads get CR’d normally. Casu-alty Reduction results apply normally inapplicable situations.

There are a few things to note from

be in order.

* When an IJA squad occupies a VCbuilding, you can’t just break it and thenrun up and take the building. It won’t break.It’ll sit there and be slowly whittled away,first to a Step-Reduced Squad, then to ahalfsquad, then finally to a brokenhalfsquad. In the meantime, it’s firing backat you. The IJA on the defence are great atstand-and-die actions.

* The IJA can and will run straightup to and through a defensive line. If youfirst fire at them and make them fail a MC,THEY’LL JUST KEEP COMING. Theyhave an awesome weapon in the Banzai, andif they want to get to a particular spot,they’re gonna get there. The most you canhope for is to hurt them along the way andbe prepared for them to penetrate into yourbackfield. The IJA love to move, move,move, and they can totally screw up your“safe” rear areas where you normally ex-pect to be able to rally broken units. TheIJA don’t have awesome firepower, but theysure can rack up the KIA’s for Failure toRout.

* Because the IJA are built for harduse, they get used hard. Eventually theirstrength will get eroded by Step Reductionuntil by the end of the game they are adisorganised rabble of step-reduced 2nd-linehalfsquads, crews, and wounded leaders.THIS IS NORMAL . The IJA are not sup-posed to have many intact units at the endof the game. Use and abuse them and get

TH

E T

RE

NC

HE

S17

JAPANESE UNITS STEP REDUCTION CHART

UNIT TYPEMC FAILEDAttack break

1 Sniper Attack dr

MC FAILEDOther Break

MC FAILEDAttack Break

with ELR Loss

MC FAILEDOther Break

with ELR Loss

CASUALTYREDUCTIO

E: 4-4-8 E: 3-4-8 * 2 (E: 2-3-8 HS) 1: 3-4-7 * 2 (1: 2-3-7 HS) (E: 2-3-8 HS

E: 3-4-8 * E: 2-3-8 HS (E: 2-3-8 HS) 1: 2-3-7 HS (1: 2-3-7 HS) (E: 2-3-8 HS

1: 4-4-7 1: 3-4-7 * 2 (1: 2-3-7 HS) 2: 2-3-7 * 2 (2: 1-3-7 HS) (1: 2-3-7 HS

1: 3-4-7 * 1: 2-3-7 HS (1: 2-3-7 HS) 2: 1-3-7 HS (2: 1-3-7 HS) (1: 2-3-7 HS

2: 3-4-7 2: 2-3-7 * 2 (2: 1-3-7 HS) C: 2-2-6 * 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (2: 1-3-7 HS

2: 2-3-7 * 2: 1-3-7 HS (2: 1-3-7 HS) C: 1-2-6 HS (C: 1-2-6 HS) (2: 1-3-7 HS

C: 3-3-6 C: 2-2-6 * 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS

C: 2-2-6 * C: 1-2-6 HS (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS

Leader Wounded w Wounded w Wounded r w Wounded w Wounded e w

SMC Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w

Crew 2-2-8 Crew 1-2-8 * (Crew 1-2-7) Crew 1-28 * (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated

Crew 1-2-8 * (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated

Crew 1-2-7 (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated

NOTESAttack Break MC Failure due to attack on the IFT, collateral attack, bombardment, FPF, "breaking" due to KIA result

Other Break MC Failure due to Bailing Out, Voluntary Break, Wreck Check, Para Landing, WP MC, OVR Prevention MC, Panji MC

* Reduced Strength side of the indicated MMC

HS HS of the indicated type (break and rally in the normal manner)

( - ) Broken MMC of the indicated type

e A Leader who suffers a Casualty MC (A10.31) is eliminated instead

r Japanese Leaders are not subject to Replacement

w An already wounded heroic SMC (including a TH-Hero) is eliminated

Chart provided courtesy of Paul and Andrwew Saunders

18 VIEW FROM

There is also a +2 drm to the Searchdr vs. Japanese, so they’re hard to find us-ing Scouts.

These all make the Japanese verypowerful on the defence, since the attackermust feel out the Japanese position beforethe attack.

Here’s an example of how the IJA andHIP and CC go together in a deadly combi-nation. Say you’ve got a US 6-6-7 and an 8-1 that advances into a Jungle hex. Say thathex contained a HIP IJA first line halfsquad(a 2-3-7) which is now placed on the boardunder a concealment counter. You do theAmbush roll with a net drm of +0 (-1 leader,+1 advance into Jungle). The IJA HS doesthe Ambush roll with a net drm of -3 (-1stealthy, -2 concealed). The HS has a 58%chance to Ambush you, and if he does, hecan declare Hand To Hand CC. His attackwill go through on the 1-4 column of theCC table using the red HtH numbers, a -1drm for the Ambush and a -1 for Japanese

HtH. If he rolls a 6 or less (a42% probability), he KIA’syour whole stack. ONELOUSY HALFSQUAD. Thisis how the IJA can ruin yourwhole day.

BANZAI ! ! !Human Waves made

easy! Through dense jungleterrain, with a morale bonusand troops that step reduce, itis very easy to overrun defen-sive positions, allowing theJapanese to quickly punch ahole through defensive linesand penetrate into the rear ar-eas. Used wisely, BanzaiCharges may actually save

Japanese units, since it will force the de-fenders out of their positions and hopefullyforce a counterattack by outnumbered de-fenders trying to restore the situation.

In reference to the “use ‘em hard”concept earlier, the IJA is given a certainnumber of leaders in their OOB, usuallywith the idea that they’ll get off a certainnumber of Banzais during the game. If youcoddle your IJA leaders and don’t use themin Banzais, you’re not using one of the IJA’sgreat strengths to your advantage. Remem-ber that IJA leaders which fail a MC don’tbreak - they are Wounded. If they survivethe Wound Severity dr, then they’re flippedover to their Wounded side, which lowerstheir morale and raises their leadershipDRM by one. Again, IJA leaders are verypowerful but their habit of leading from thefront tends to get them killed.

this chart:

* 2nd Line Step Reduced squads (2-3-7’s) are full squads! It’s weird to see themtoting around SW and firing them in addi-tion to their Inherent Arms, but there yougo.

* IJA crews step reduce like otherunits; the final step is a broken armour crew.

* IJA Riders are not forced to BailOut when they fail an MC. They simply StepReduce. Waaaay powerful. IJA Riders canpenetrate deep into enemy lines and getdropped off (even Bailing Out) in GoodOrder.

* A leader who breaks takes a Wounddr. A Wounded leader who breaks dies.

THE FINER POINTSIJA Crews - G1.611 pretty much dic-

tates that every MMG,HMG, and ATR in everyIJA OOB will be assigneda Crew to man it. OK fine;I enjoy having my deci-sions made for me.

TH Heroes - THHeroes (G1.421) can bepretty effective againstarmour. With a 5 CCV, noPAATC required, and a50% shot at an ATM (-3to CC DR), he’s got abouta 50% chance of killingany tank around. If you setthem up/generate themcleverly, you can makeAllied armour very, very,cautious, if not dead.

DC Heroes - DC Heroes (G1.424) arepure evil. They can only be used in scenarioswhere the IJA gets some DC’s.

Basically they’re a 1-man DC-totin’Banzai, and if you don’t wound or KIA them,they’re gonna drop some nasty DC musicon your defensive line before blowing them-selves to kingdom come!

They soak up defensive fire like crazy,but their greatest use is as a threat-in-be-ing; until they’re used and gone, the de-fender has to prepare for them every turn.

IJA Leaders - IJA Leaders (G1.41) aregigantically precious units. Not only do theyraise the ML of units stacked with them by1, but they negate DM like Commissars.

Most importantly, you need an IJAleader to initiate a Banzai Charge (G1.5),which is basically the IJA Human Wave.

When the last IJA leader dies, the Alliedplayer breathes a huge sigh of relief, for heknows that he no longer has to worry abouta Banzai.

And although these are Japanese, tryto keep at least one behind for rally pur-poses. Those squads do find their way tobroken half-squads with greater frequencythan might be expected at first glance, anda couple of HS combined into another squadcan be a big advantage (I thought that guywas dead!).

Morale - G1.62 notes that IJA areimmune to PAATC’s and the NTC for In-fantry OVR (A4.15). They do not surrenderin the RtPh. If Encircled, their Morale isnot lowered by one. And when they undergoHoB, Japanese almost always go Berserk.Ai yai yai.

Stealth - All Japanese Elite and Firstline troops are stealthy; Second Line are

Normal; and only Conscripts are Lax. Thismeans that Japanese will Stray less often,and Ambush more often, particularly in theJungle.

HIP - G1.631 notes that in daytimescenarios, the IJA may use HIP for <= 10%of his squad equivalents in his onboard set-up OOB (and any SMC/SW that set up withthem). At Night, this is raised to 25%. Inthe PTO, there is plenty of concealment ter-rain to utilise.

They also get to set Pillboxes up HIP,including contents, absolutely free in mostJungle terrain, with an escape tunnel to boot.As the final insult, even if units move intotheir hex they are not automatically detectedif they are stealthy, unless in a pillbox, man-ning a gun or in the CCPh. Similarly, due tothe density of the terrain, most other fortifi-cations will be difficult to detect until theattackers are virtually on top of them.

THE TRENCHES 19

Banzais are more powerful than Rus-sian Human Waves because you don’t needmultiple MMC in at least 3 adjacent hexesto initiate one. All you need is an IJA leader(even a wounded one) and any number ofMMC’s that you want, as long as all of theBanzai’ers are in adjacent Locations. It’svery impressive to see a large Banzai chainin action, and very hard to keep it from hap-pening. Don’t try to prevent them; try tomake them as costly for the IJA as possible.

On the up side, Banzai’ers have a +1Morale, don’t Pin, and get 8 MF. And, ofcourse, Banzai’ing squads don’t break whenthey fail a MC; they just get Step Reducedand keep on coming. Shudder. If you workit right, you can have a new Banzai’er entera particular defender’s Location in succes-sive Movement Impulses, forcing the de-fender to take multiple FPF shots and pos-sibly break as a result. Best of all, you getto scream “BANZAI!!!!” when you launchone. Ain’t life grand?

On the down side, Banzais are a bigdrain on IJA manpower. Great morale or not,there’s no getting around the fact that theBanzai is running right up to the defensiveline and will get hit with Point Blank Fire,Triple PBF, and FFNAM. It’s very easy tothrow away units in a wasteful Banzai.

On top of that, Banzaiers are Lax,which makes it imperative that they avoidAdvancing into Ambush Terrain; the +1Ambush drm for being Lax combined withthe +1 drm for advancing into Jungle, Bam-boo, or Kunai means that the Banzaiers arelikely to be Ambushed. Try to figure it sothat all of the Banzaiers enter enemy hexesin the MPh or that none of them have toadvance into an enemy hex in the APh. Noteasy, at least for me, but definitely one ofthe great challenges of the PTO.

What terrain is good or bad to Banzaithrough? You generally want terrain thatdoesn’t take many MF to enter, has a non-zero TEM, and is a “Hard” Hindrance (i.e.,one that lowers the FP of a Firelane, as op-posed to “Soft” Hindrances which do notaffect Firelanes). The table summarisesthese details for the most common POT ter-rain.

Note that Banzai’ing through Smokeis often a nice option - the smoke will add 1MF to the COT and won’t affect a Firelane,but will add a nice +1, +2, or +3 Hindranceto defensive fire.

ORDNANCE AND ARMOURWhile most light mortars verge on

totally useless, the Japanese 50* isn’t nearlyso bad.

They almost always fight in someversion of the jungle, so airburst terrainabounds. Much more importantly, they haveWP available at ranges 1-5 hexes. Thismagnifies their usefulness manifold, sincein close in combat (such as in the jungle orcities) they can be used to WP a hex with acritical firebase, not only blinding them butalso inflicting NMC’s. Even the US 60*doesn’t have WP until 1945, so the Japa-nese have a definite advantage in this re-gard.

The other Japanese ordnance is OK,although the AT guns are pretty uselessagainst anything but very early Alliedarmour - TH-Heroes tend to be just as ef-fective. Set them up on the flanks and hopefor a side/rear shot.

The AA and ART guns are respect-able, but still not up to the Allied equiva-lents, for the most part.

The armour is horrible. Don’t eventhink about a straight-up armoured slugfestwith anybody, even the British. They’ll tearyou apart. No radios, no real weapons; it’sa fairly depressing experience. While thischanges against the Chinese (giving you ause for Japanese armour), be prepared tolose any armour you get. Most of it can bepenetrated quite easily with an early-modelBAZ.

USING THE JAPANESEChris Farrell

The Japanese are very tough in theshort term - they still have a combat strengthafter a break, whereas the Western nationsdon’t - but in the long term their troops tendto disappear. By the end of a scenario, mostJapanese commanders will be looking at themapboard wondering “where did all mytroops go?!?”. It’s very easy to keep your

troops moving, but once theMC’s start to pile up, yourtroops can be whittled awayappallingly quickly.

ATTACKINGThe Germans fre-

quently win through fire-power; the Japanese never do.

Against their two primary opponents, Com-monwealth/GB and US, they have decidedlyinferior FP on both the squad level and insupport weapons.

On the attaack keep moving. Fre-quently, the goal will be close combat if theterrain is close enough, but otherwise youhave to just keep moving.

Don’t let your point troops worry tomuch about unmodified 8FP or lower at-tacks; trade those for positions from withyou can infiltrate his lines.

Don’t let the enemy rally his units.An important tactic for this is denying routpaths. Getting behind broken units is theeasiest way to cause casualties, and nobodydoes it better than the Japanese. Step Re-duction means that someone (even if thatsomeone already failed two morale checks)will get behind the defenders (whether byflanking them or battering their way throughthe middle). This should also be a primarygoal of many a banzai.

The key to getting this is to send threeor four units, hoping that one will getthrough. In fact, you’re often better off ad-vancing an HS in. Banzais also help, espe-cially if you don’t have to cross lots of openground to get where you’re going.

Of course the challenge is breakingenemy units in the first place, given theweakness of typical Japanese firepower.

All too often the Japanese can onlymaintain a coherent offence/defence for alimited time. After that, broken units, deadleaders, malfunctioned support weapons,etc., combine to break the coherency downinto little groups of attacking units. Usu-ally, the game is won by the person whoholds his forces together the longest.

The Japanese can maintain their co-herency considerably longer than anyoneelse, so when the line breaks, you shouldhave units there to sprint through the gaps.Play very aggressively.

DEFENDINGOn the defence, western nations typi-

cally employ fall-back type defences, wherethe second line of defenders is formed fromthe broken units of the first line, and thenthey can cover the first line as it falls back.This approach, obviously, requires somemodifications for the Japanese. While put-ting everything “up front” can work, the al-lies always have superior firepower, sothey’ll eventually crack the line.

What tends to work best is a series ofstrongpoints with only one or two squads,plus maybe a LMG. The Allies will fre-quently have to reduce these strongholds toadvance and if they are well placed this can

Terrain MF TEMHard/Soft

Hindrance? BetterLight/Dense Jungle 2 +1/+2 (blocks FL) |Palm Trees 1 0 Hard |Huts 2 +1 Soft |Open Ground 1 0 Soft \|/Kunai 2 0 Soft Worse

20 VIEW FROM

JUNGLE WARFARE IN ASLMark McGilchrist

“Other approaches to Port Moresby (New Guinea) having failed, the Japa-nese now attempted the incredible, an offensive over the Own Stanleys (moun-tains).

At first the small rear guard of the digger militiamen (ANZAC’s), who re-mained in the range until August 8 (1942), assumed that the enemy soldiers climb-ing toward them were merely patrolling. To their astonishment, massed infantry-men, manhandling mortars, machine guns, and field pieces, crept slowly up theslimy, zigzagging, hundred-mile Kokoda Trail.

In four weeks Major General Tomitaro Horii’s fourteen thousand men hadcrossed the raging Kumusi River. Five jungle-trained battalions leapfrogged oneanother into Isurava Village, fifty-five miles from their starting point, and pusheddown the precipitous southern slopes toward Imita Ridge and Ioribaiwa, twentymiles from the bluffs around Port Moresby.

How many succumbed in this heroic endeavor will never be known. Manyperished in the Kumusi, and others disappeared in quicksand or plunged intogorges.

In places the winding trail, a foot wide at most, simply disappeared. It took anhour to cut through a few yards of vegetation. The first man in a file would hackaway with a machete until he collapsed of exhaustion; then the second man wouldpick up the machete and continue, and so on.

In that climate the life expectancy of the men who lost consciousness and wereleft behind was often measured in minutes.

“American Ceasar”, the biography of General MacArthur, by WilliamManchester

Jungle warfare in modern warfare first surfaced in World War II, and created newtactical problems related to the closeness of the terrain, the difficulty of movement throughthe terrain, particularly for the modern motorised armies that were dominating the Euro-pean and North African theatres of war. Indeed, air transport and supply became the pre-ferred solution for these armies, leading to Dien Bien Phu and the air-mobile units inVietnam. World War II pioneered these concepts of air mobility and supply, but right downat the squad level, men still had to move through the terrain, and effectively engage theenemy at the end.

Due to the closeness of jungle terrain, and the small land masses of some of theislands, combat unit sizes were smaller than the European standard, with brigades/regi-ments being the larger organisation of deployment, whereas in European theatres this wouldhave been divisional deployment. Similarly, at the bottom end, platoons and even patrolsbecame the units of engagement, whereas the European theatres tended towards companyor even battalion strength attacks and defences. This has very significant effects on thedeployment of heavy weapons, on junior leadership and on tactics and morale. What I hope

to cover in this article is how this is rel-evant to ASL.

After the disasters of December 1941 andearly 1942, the Allied countries started toacknowledge the Japanese dominance of thejungle, something they attributed wronglyto the jungle training given Japanese sol-diers. In fact the Japanese High Commandhad expected to fight in Manchuria againstthe Russians, so very few Japanese unitswere jungle trained.

However, Japanese tactics of encircle-ment and night attacks, the emphasis onsniping and the generally lower level ofmechanisation gave Japanese units bettercross-country performance, and a degree ofindependent infiltrating and sniping that de-moralised the Allied soldiers. The dreaded

take a while. Then, make up a “goal line”defence with whatever is left. Make himsweat the HIP’s while he advances, thenmake him trade shots with you at the finalobjective.

The Japanese can be more aggressivewith HIP’s, since they can fail a couple MC’sand still get out quite alive, whereas a USunit that gets bypassed, revealed and bro-ken, had better have inflicted some dam-age.

Also note that Jungle and Kunai grassis especially lethal terrain since you don’thave to reveal yourself if the enemy tries towalk through.

Once most of the attackers are re-vealed, ‘?’ counters become quite power-ful, since they provide a -2 on the ambushdr.

However, the Japanese greatest assetis their mobility, so never overlook the pos-sibility of a counter-attack, if you haveenough force.

Use harassing units as much as pos-sible if the approach to the objective area islong, using individual units to attack, stallthe advance for a little while, and retreat,gain concealment, and pull the same trickagain.

HAND TO HAND COMBATAlthough the Japanese are good in

CC, HtH tends to result in mutual elimina-tion, and because they rarely have a numeri-cal advantage, CC isn’t always a good ideafor the Japanese.

The best time is when you have anambush advantage, but on the attack this ishard because of the jungle penalty. On thedefence, though, watch out!

Once into CC, the ideal odds for theJapanese are usually about 1:2 (!!!), simply

Continued on page 26, column 2

THE TRENCHES 21

Banzai attacks which would have been vir-tually suicidal over open country, became ashattering de-moralising charge in the closeterrain. Overall, Allied soldiers and lead-ers needed jungle training to acclimatethemselves to the jungle, and to counter theinferiority to the Japanese Allied soldiersfelt in the jungle. Teaching that the jungleis neutral promotes morale, rather than com-petence.

TACTICSThe relatively short ranges in the

jungle, right down to Point Blank, encour-age firepower, particularly inherent fire-power.

Inherent Firepower is good for tworeasons: it can be used very effectively forpoint blank defence, and gives betterchances of survival and destruction of youropponent in Melee. This very accurately andrealistically reflects the use and desire forhandheld automatic weapons among jungletroops, in particular the Allied troops. Un-fortunately this is often something the ASLcommander cannot choose in his OB, but itis a principle worth remembering, since itcan make strongpoints difficult to overcome.

MGs are at a relative disadvantagebecause of the restricted fields of fire (inthe general close terrain sense), as well asin the A9.21 Fields of Fire sense. MMGsand HMGs are best in fixed positions look-ing through Kunai or Palm Trees, better stillEmplaced in those terrain types with a goodfield of fire. Alternatively they may be po-sitioned behind Ponds or Streams to takeadvantage of the better LOS. LMGs, beingmore portable, can be used as Firepowerenhancers for critical positions.

Mortars are at a relative advantageover short distances, in particular the Japa-nese mortars. Many terrain types are sus-ceptible to airbursts or TEM vs. HE attacks.The hardest part is finding a firing position.Don’t forget Spotted Fire. Light mortars aregenerally better, since they can be easilyrepositioned.

Assault Weapons such as FT and DCare much more practical in jungle terrain,where delivery of these weapons is muchmore difficult in open terrain. Since rangesoften sink to point-blank, these weapons aredeadly, especially in the hands of the Japa-nese!

LATW are relatively useful in junglewarfare, being able to reposition themselvesmore quickly than AT Guns, and mostlyimmune to CA change DRM. Since tanks

are relatively scarce, AT weapons will gen-erally be fairly scarce, and usually will onlybe encountered when enemy AFV arepresent.

The close terrain makes LATW thepractical AT solution, but are rarely usefulagainst infantry. HEAT ammo is virtuallyuseless in the jungle except vs. AFV.

Concealment is of primary impor-tance in the jungle, since it is the most prac-tical way to limit the amount of firepowerreceived and to give the best chances ofambush, of at least not being ambushed.Since most jungle warfare casualties willbe from PBF and CC, Concealment directlyaids both of these endeavours.

DEFENSIVE TACTICSIn defence, the common defensive

zones of the European theatre such as streetsand open ground are non-existent or severelylimited. Certainly if these defensive zonesexist, use them, but often they represent asmall part of the defensive zone, and maybe badly compromised by the other terrainwhich provides attack avenues.

Probably the most important defen-sive principle is to maintain a line of de-fenders, falling back if necessary, but effec-tively shielding the whole front. In suchclose terrain, if a gap is established, the at-tackers will penetrate the line, and beginoutflanking defensive positions.

Jungle defenders should be placed sothat each defensive position covers the twohexes immediately in front of the position(Primary Frontal Defence Zone [FDZ]).These two hexes should link up to the Pri-mary FDZ immediately in front of the posi-tions on either side, and so on across thedefensive zone. In likely attack avenues thePrimary FDZ should overlap with those

units on either side. In thinly defendedzones, the FDZ will include 3-4 hexes ex-tending around the sides of the defensivepositions, the Secondary FDZ. The idea isthat if each unit can First Fire, Final Fireand FPF to protect their FDZ, the attackercannot bypass the defenders, nor attack anyparticular position with sufficient strengthto overwhelm that position. As the terrainopens up, so does the FDZ of each defen-sive position, since the overlapping firezones provide defensive advantages.

More common jungle defensive zonesare Ponds and Streams which provide acleared killing zone, and a movement ob-stacle. Unfortunately, attackers will rarelysimply move into these zones, but will clearthe opposite bank first using Prep and De-fensive Fire. This is where skulking be-comes important, since it can limit the De-fensive Fire of your opponent. In addition,it is worth keeping some concealed units/dummies 1 hex behind the pond or streambank to advance up as your Pond and Streamdefenders lose concealment. By cycling unitsin and out of the line, a steady stream ofconcealed defenders can be maintained.

Another common jungle defensivezone is a crest line. Although hills are fairlyunsatisfactory for extended LOS due to thehills themselves being jungle terrain, or thesurrounding jungle being so tall and pro-viding so many blind zones, crest lines aregood defensive zones. Usually the crest hexwill include 2MF terrain, which costs 4MFwhen moving to a higher level. This means

The dark hexes show the Primary Zone, whilethe lighter show the Secondary Zone.

The above example shows how PrimaryFrontal Defence Zones link yup to coverdefenders in the jungle.

22 VIEW FROM

that most attacking units cannot use AssaultMovement or must make an Advance vs.Difficult Terrain to ascend hill crest. Sincethis is the best time to PBF them, positionsone back from the crest line are better thanmost.

Since the attacker will generally haveto move up towards the defender, lookingfor choke points in the terrain is anothernatural defence zone. Swamp, Marsh, Bam-boo and Ponds provide some very difficultor impossible terrain to move through, withthe attacker preferring easier terrain to keepconcealment. By guarding the choke points,the defender can force them to either attackacross a narrow front, or to delay the attackerby forcing them to move around the posi-tion, or make some Minimum Moves to at-tack across a broad front.

Defence should be a series of layers.If the scenario is balanced, then the attackerwill almost certainly have enough resourcesto overcome your first defensive line, par-ticularly as they can choose to concentrateon a few points of attack. After initial con-tact, the defender should consider withdraw-ing to a secondary line. Indeed, perhaps theinitial contact line should be the secondaryline, with the primary line behind it. In anycase, do not sacrifice your defenders to holdpointless ground, withdraw and concentrate!

OFFENSIVE TACTICSProbably the most difficult aspect of

offensive jungle warfare is moving into po-sitions to effectively engage the enemy. InEuropean warfare, the relative openness ofthe terrain allowed several units from dif-ferent positions to engage a single enemy atone time, but similarly allowed the defendermuch greater overlap of defensive zones.Typically, several defenders must be sup-pressed before any advance is made. In theclose jungle terrain, the relationship be-tween the attacker and defender is muchmore direct. Defenders set-up chains of de-fensive positions either across a front, oraround an area. Each group of attackers gen-erally move in to attack a single defensiveposition, with that defensive position beingrelatively isolated except having flank pro-tection to prevent movement behind thedefenders position.

Your typical jungle attack involvesmoving one or two groups of units, usuallyconcealed, up adjacent to an enemy posi-tion. The defender fires as the attacker en-ters their Primary FDZ, using First fire,Subsequent fire & FPF. If the defender iswell enough armed, he will drive off theattack. If the attackers are brave enough and

well armed, they will overwhelm the de-fenders position. The attacker can gain aconsiderable advantage if they can increasethe number of adjacent hexes that they canattack through. A single hex will be thefocus of all the defenders firepower, everyextra hex dilutes that firepower across theattack as a whole. Certainly a single loca-tion of attackers may take a beating, but thecost to the defender of ignoring the otherhexes will be high!

The Attacker should therefore look forpositions to attack where at least two hexescan be approached without fire from otherdefenders, preferably with concealed units.If three adjacent hexes can be employed,then SW CA fixing may be employed, with4+ hexes, encirclement and rout surrender/failure to rout become options. Sometimesthese are not easy to establish, particularlywith Dummy ? Stacks/HIP, but this shouldbe the principle of attack. Usually the at-tacker will need to have a first wave of at-tack to establish the strength and locationof the defensive line, followed by a secondwave of assault troops. Using HS searchtroops is one method, although quite diffi-cult against the Japanese +2 Search drm,and you will always search the hex the unitis in. The more traditional searching is tomove forward until fired upon, using ex-pendable HS scouts. However, this can havereal complications against the Japanese,since Stealthy Japanese (i.e. most of them)units need not be revealed by a unit in theirlocation if in jungle, Kunai or Bamboo ex-cept at the start of CCPh. Just movingthrough the location is not enough. The ruleof thumb is to assume there’s a HIP Jap thereunless you have positive proof to the con-trary.

AVENUES OF APPROACHAttackers will generally want to con-

centrate their attacks to some extent toachieve local superiority of numbers andfirepower. Obviously they will also wantto attack over favourable (to them) terrain,whilst being difficult for the defender todefend. Although the movement restrictionsof jungle terrain are significantly under-played in ASL, there are nonetheless somequite difficult terrain types to move through,such as Swamp and Bamboo, which maycreate choke points in the terrain. Other ter-rain, like jungle hills and streams may sim-ply take too long for the scenario VictoryConditions. The composition of your forcemay affect your choice of avenue of ap-proach., e.g vehicles along a road; or throughthe Kunai.

High firepower and units with

armoured support will general want to ap-proach through relatively open terrain suchas Kunai and Palm Trees to maximise theirfirepower advantages. Ultimately theseunits will have to close with the enemy, buttry to reduce them first by using firepower.Typically these will be U.S. troops. Unitswith less firepower and without armouredsupport will generally want more concealedavenues of approach, typically down junglepaths, and along jungle woodlines to ne-gate the possibility of straying, or alongjungle ridge lines to speed the attack. Oncethey meet enemy resistance, they deployaround the defensive positions seeking tooverwhelm particular positions.

The advantages to overwhelming aposition and breaking the defensive line arenumerous. First of all, it destroys defend-ing units, always a good idea. Secondly, itallows flanking of the enemy line, allowingbetter attacks on nearby units, (i.e. morehexes to attack from). Thirdly, it allowspenetration of the enemy position, allow-ing attackers to cut rout paths, move unmo-lested through rear areas, and generally headfor the victory objective. Unless the defenderhas reserves, or can deploy his defences,the attack has achieved its objective.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tourthrough the joys and sorrows of jungle war-fare. While making no claim to be a master,I have certainly spent many an hour slog-ging across the cardboard jungle, and thethick foliage of Chapter G. The PTO seemsto be very suited to ASL play, due to thesmaller units and the emphasis on indepen-dent command, and also the very close ter-rain is easy to represent on ASL mapboards.If you haven’t tried the PTO, or were putoff by the density and verbosity of the Chap-ter G rules, do yourself a favour and give itanother go.

Suggested Scenarios for thePTO Novice

ASL 70 KP 167ASL 63 The Eastern GateASL 60 On the Kokoda TrailASL 62 Bungle in the JungleASL 67 Cibik’s RidgeASL A42 Commando HuntASL A53 Smith & WestonASL A58 Munda Mash

and of course the Paddington Bearsown

PBP3 Children of the Kunai

Ω

THE TRENCHES 23

SOMEWHERE ON MARS, Summer 1997: Scientists have landed thefirst robotic rover, Sojerner, on the planet Mars. It is a heady time: manyexciting, new discoveries are now within their grasp. But there is onequestion that is in everyone's mind: is there life on Mars?

MARS ATTACKS!ASL SCENARIO SILLY1

SPECIAL RULES:1 Before set-up begins, the Martian player makes a dr; a on 1-3 Life hasdeveloped. EC are Moist with a Mild Breeze blowing from the northwest. Useboard 23 to represent Mars. To simulate the Martian OB, take all yourcounter trays and dump them out on the board [Designer's Note: I don't meanto imply that Martian developement would parallel our own; this is just awork around until TAHGC releases its long promised Martian module on 1stApril 1999).

On a 4-6, no Life is found on Mars. EC are Very Dry; Extreme winterrules are also in effect. Use board 27. The rover player is encouraged to givethe hammada hexes silly names like "Barnacle Bill", "Stimpy", "Moe", and

AFTERMATH: After an awkward and halting start, the Sojerner claimedMars as its own. Any Martians had died long ago.

MARTIAN Sets Up First

ROVER Moves First

DESIGN AND DEVELOPEMENT: J R Van Mechelen and Martin Snow

BOARD CONFIGURATION:

VICTORY CONDITIONS: The Rover player gets one point for eachbuilding or hammada hex Controlled. The Sojerner Controls hexes/buildingslike a MMC (IE it retains Control even when it exits the building/hex), butmust Stop in the hex/building to Control it. The player with the most points atgame end wins. The Martian player Controls all buildings at game start, buthammada hexes are Uncontrolled.

TURN RECORD CHART1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 END

Rover OB [ELR: see SSR2] enter on GT1 by Paradrop (E9.): SAN:0

See SSR1

"Yogi".2 The Goliath/rover does not need a MMC on board to operate it. Instead it isoperated by an Offboard Observer located at level 200,037,624. Use anyboard edge hex for the Location of the observer. The Goliath cannot bedetonated. Treat the rover as having its MP allowance printed in red.

BALANCE:Deduct 1 to the pre-game Life dr.Add 1 to the pre-game Life dr.

Martian OB [ELR: see SSR1] see SSR1: SAN:0

See SSR1

(C) NASA 1997. Taken from http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html

24 VIEW FROM

JUST A MATTER OF COMBINATIONPeter Hofland

Last week I was watching theMechwarrior cartoon series in which oneof the characters mentioned his motto; “In-formation is ammunition”. I think you couldapply the same motto when playing ASL.This article will give you some informationand tactical implications about AssaultMovement and its combination with otheractions. I hope this article (information) willgive you an edge (ammunition) in winninga scenario.

I’ve been playing ASL for 10 yearsnow but it wasn’t until recently that I dis-covered Assault Movement can be combinedwith other actions. That is why I hope, forsome of you, the information in this articlewill be as useful to you as it was to me.

In this article I refer to hex 1 as thehex your unit is in, and hex 2 as the hexyour unit is moving to.

THE BASICS OF ASSAULTMOVEMENT

First let me give you the most impor-tant restrictions with Assault Movement:

* You may move only one Location(one exception though; see below).

* You are not allowed to use all youravailable Movement Factors (MF), at leasta fraction of 1 MF has to remain. Note thatunits with a leader have 5.5 instead of 3.5MF available for Assault Movement. TheMF may also be reduced if the unit is carry-ing too many SW as well.

* You cannot use Double time.

* You must be non-berserk Infantryand remain Infantry during the MPh.

* You have to declare Assault Move-ment before you actually move yourcounter(s). You can’t decide to use AssaultMovement once you have started movingyour unit(s).

EXCEPTIONSNot allowed are the combinations of

Assault Movement and pushing a Gun (orany other activity that is Hazardous Move-ment), or Searching. So you better acceptthe extra casualties, through FFNAM, bynot using Assault Movement.

Nor can you enter/exit a vehicle, sinceyou are/are not Infantry.

DEFENSIVE FIREDefensive Fire is conducted against

a unit using Assault Movement as normal,I.E. the enemy may fire at you following anyMF expenditure. For example, if you’reAssault Moving out of a foxhole and over awall the enemy can fire at you as you exitthe foxhole or after you cross the wall. Ifyou’re moving in the open, you will sufferthe -1 FFMO.

Also, even if you are allowed to useAssault Movement, this advantage will belost as soon as you break. From that pointon you are no longer Assault Moving, andthe -1 FFNAM will apply.

As with regular movement DefensiveFire is dependent on MF expenditure. I.E.a unit which Assault Moves into OpenGround may only be fired upon once.

COMBINED WITHFORTIFICATIONS

The first possibility of combiningAssault Movement with another action isgiven in the ASLRB itself. The ASLRB ex-plains how you can combine an AssaultMovement out of a Fortification to anotheradjacent Location. It is the only exceptionwhich exceeds the restriction of movingmore than one Location but is allowed bythe ASLRB so why not use it.

A disadvantage of this combinationis that you cannot use the Skulking defenceas effectively as you would like to since youuse 1 MF to leave the Fortification and moveinto the hex itself. Your opponent could re-act with fire on this MF expenditure whichcould cost you dearly.

By the way, don’t forget the FFMOmodifier when a unit leaves certain typesof Fortification which are set up in OpenGround.

You cannot enter an Open Ground hexand enter an empty pillbox there, as the pill-box is another Location within that hex. Thisis also true for Bunkers. Units in a pillboxcan only advance out of the pillbox into thesame hex (EXC: bunkers, and tunnels).

COMBINED WITH RE-COVERY ATTEMPT

You can declare Assault Movementin hex 1, move to hex 2, and attempt to re-

cover some SW there. Or you can recoversome SW in hex 1 before moving to hex 2 -just don’t roll a 6 on a dr though!

COMBINED WITH SMOKEPLACEMENT

When your units have a Smoke place-ment capability you can choose to combinethis action with Assault Movement. You canattempt the Smoke placement either beforeor after the actual movement of the unit(s).

Using it before you move is trickysince rolling a 6 dr will end your AssaultMovement completely. But remind yourselfof this combination when you have to re-treat out of a difficult situation. Just Smokeyour own hex (1 MF) and Assault Moveaway from the enemy units with the Smokecounter between you and the enemy units.For example, your unit occupies an OpenGround Location but is threatened by a lotof enemy units so you decide to retreat to abuilding two hexes away. Your unit declaresAssault Movement and a Smoke placementattempt in its own hex (1 MF). After sur-viving all enemy fire your unit moves inOpen Ground (2 MF total) toward the housewithout FFNAM/FFMO and with theSmoke Hindrance modifier (since LOS fromenemy units is traced through the SmokeLocation). In the APh your units advancesafely in the building.

When using Smoke placement afterthe Assault Movement you still have to rolla dr < 6 and the enemy can fire on your unitbefore the attempt. But you can attempt toplace the Smoke adjacent to the Locationyou have just moved to if you have enoughMF. For example, your unit declares AssaultMovement and moves to an adjacent OpenGround hex (1 MF) where it survives allDefensive First Fire. It then attempts toplace smoke in its own Location (2 MF to-tal) or in an adjacent Location which con-tains enemy units (3 MF total). Your otherunits now stand a much better chance ofbypassing the Smoked enemy units un-harmed during the MPh.

Think about using this combinationfor your units with a 1 Smoke placementexponent. First Assault Move them into aLocation and then attempt a Smoke place-ment. My guess is that those Assault Mov-ing units are now much more valuable thenbefore. By the way, I usually don’t fire on

THE TRENCHES 25

Assault Moving units so when you manageto place Smoke together with Assault Move-ment I usually really regret not firing onthose units!

COMBINED WITH DCPLACEMENT

If your units have a DC in their pos-session try combining Assault Movementwith the placement of a DC. This methodallows for use of DCs with a higher prob-ability of success and makes them moredangerous.

DCs are usually found in city fightswhereby you have to cross some street inorder to place the DC. Usually you will beattacked by PBF and FFNAM (and some-times even FFMO) - result, one CasualtyReduced, ELR’ed Half Squad. With the useof Assault Movement FFNAM is no longera problem and the likelihood of survival isthat much higher.

One problem with this though is usu-ally the MF cost. For example, to move intoa building hex (or a Smoked Open Groundhex) ADJACENT to your target buildingLocation costs 2 MF, and placing the DCcosts a further 2 MF, a total of 4 MF, whichprevents you from using Assault Movementwith a lone squad. When using this combi-nation with a leader, or better a hero alonethough, you have 5.5 MF, so you do not losethe possibility of Assault Movement - realheroic indeed!.

COMBINED WITH TH-HEROOne combination which could be use-

ful to the Japanese is Assault Movementcombined with a TH-Hero creation. YourJapanese unit Assault Move’s and the TH-Hero is free to move as many MF whichremained.

For example, a possible use is a Japa-nese squad advancing in Open Ground. Heis fired upon by enemy unit but they don’tachieve a result. Now you declare the TH-Hero creation. What you achieve by this isthat the enemy forfeits one fire attempt onthe TH-Hero, giving him a bigger chance ofsurvival. During the TH-Hero creation theJapanese squad and Hero are affected bypossible Residual Fire though, although thisResidual Fire is probably not as effectiveas the full FP attack.

COMBINED WITH CON-CEALMENT AND OPENGROUND

For a better understanding of thiscombination it’s important you understand

the definition of Open Ground in relationto keeping concealment which is in ruleA10.531 and A12.14. If you understand thedefinition you’ll see that you can AssaultMove behind the cover of Smoke or otherform of (Normal) Hindrance and keep yourconcealment.

Combining this with a successfulSmoke placement attempt can be a very ef-fective way of crossing some deadly OpenGround.

For example, declare Assault Move-ment and a Smoke placement attempt withyour units. If successful move other unitsbehind the cover of the Smoke and keep yourconcealment.

Another combination to keep conceal-ment is the benefit of Height Advantage.The only instance you can lose concealmentis when you advance from lower level tohigher level (or vice versa) and the LOS ofyour opponent is traced through the hexsideyou’ve Assault Moved through. In this in-stance you couldn’t apply the Height Ad-vantage TEM so you couldn’t claim the con-cealment (see example B10.31).

A last suggestion I would like to giveyou is the keeping of concealment whenadvancing in Shellholes/Vehicle (wrecks)/etc. So even when not Assault Movementin concealment terrain you can, under cer-tain circumstances, keep your concealmentcounters on your units as long as you stickto A10.531.

EXTREME COMBINATIONSThe net result of all this is that you

can try out some extreme combinations andstill use Assault Movement.

For example, a leader and squad de-clare Assault Movement, drop a SW (0 MF),place Smoke in their Location (1 MF), moveinto a grainfield (2.5 MF), recover a radio(3.5 MF), place a DC in an ADJACENTOpen Ground Location (4.5 MF), and entera foxhole (5.5 MF) in their Location. Noproblem.

And here’s another one. An enemystrongpoint is in a building hex. Next to thishex you’ve managed to place a Smokecounter during Prep Fire. Your hero is con-cealed and adjacent to this hex and pos-sesses a DC. During movement you declareAssault Movement and move into the Smoke(2 MF), keeping your concealment(A10.531). Next you place your DC on theenemy strongpoint (4 MF) and keep con-cealment while being fired on by Area Fireall the way. Hmm this feel good!

HANDLING ASSAULTMOVEMENT MF BY MF

When using Assault Movement youcan wait to decide your actions until thesucess/failure of your current action. Thisis just like any other movement (except dashsometimes), you don’t have to say whereyou are moving next until it is too late foryour opponent to fire at you.

For example, you have a leader and asquad in a building. You want to attempt torecover a SW in your current Location, placeSmoke in an ADJACENT street Location,and then Assault Move into the street.

First, before expending any MF forany act you declare that you will be AssaultMoving.

Then announce “I am attempting torecover this weapon.” and roll to see if yousucceed.

Wait to see if there is any DefensiveFirst Fire.

Then announce “I will attempt toplace smoke here.” and roll to see if youplace Smoke successfully.

Wait to see if there is any DefensiveFirst Fire.

If the Smoke placement fails and youdecide not to move into the street, simplysay “No more movement.”. However, as-suming the Smoke placement succeeds,move your units into the street Location.

Wait to see if there is any DefensiveFirst Fire.

You are done.

One final note on this subject is thatyou can use Assault Movement and non-movement related activities (place DC, re-covery etc.) without actually moving a Lo-cation. This is given in the MMP Q&A batchprinted in VFTT 9 (although it was not in-cluded in the ASL Annual ‘97).

This is all the information I have athand at the moment. I hope you will put itto good use in the future. If you see any ob-vious errors or have any comments or com-plaints (Hee, I’m learning to write here!)please contact me by snail mail atWeteringkade 123, 2515 AN Den Haag,Holland, or by email at phoflandorldaccess.nl.

Ω

26 VIEW FROM

PREP FIREContinued from page 2

read about the ‘chateau d’eau’ and put in achateau. It does not take a historian to knowthat ‘chateau d’eau’ is French for ‘watertower’. Pedro’s map and scenarios are theresult of in-depth research into every hex ofthat battlefield.

3) Talk to people! There are manyWWII veterans with a story to tell but hesi-tant to bore a generation that regards any-thing before 1980 as ancient history. Youmay find as I have done, that the ‘accepted’account in all the standard histories can betraced to one single, inaccurate story thatall the modern authors have picked up; inthe retelling it gains credibility. And finally,I hope you make as many friends in the pro-cess as I have.

Ω

ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTESContinued from page 8

HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT ASL?

Whether average or advanced, you might be able to play a vital part in developing an Historical ASL module forpublication.

Some very experienced players are already playtesting the two sequels to ALL AMERICAN: The 82nd Airborneat Kellam’s Bridge. But these modules need to appeal to players of all levels of experience, so whatever your level, ifyou have the time to play a half dozen or so scenarios and return reports to a tight timescale, I’d like to hear from you.The reward? Your name in the credits, a free copy on publication, and (I hope) a degree of enjoyment.

Please contact (soon!):Ian Daglish at 5 Swiss Hill Mews, Alderley Edge, Cheshire SK9 7DPidaglish@aol.com

ished with it by Christmas. After that I’llbe whipping it into shape for publication,either as a special in VFTT, or a one off spe-cial a la All American. If you would like tohelp Andy, contact him at 22 Douglas Av-enue, Layton, Blackpool, FY3 7AL.

In addition, some of us have also beentalking about publishing a British ASL sce-nario pack, and we’re planning on discuss-ing this further at INTENSIVE FIRE ‘97next month. So if you’ve got a scenario you’dlike to see published, or would like to helpout in any way, please get in touch withme.

As some of you may know, VFTT isstocked by a couple of shops in the UK andUSA. One of them is Oberon’s Mole, andit’s owner, Gareth Jones, is an avidArthurian gamer. In fact, he’s into them somuch he produces an irregular ‘zine,Beaumains. Issue 7 is imminent, so if you’reinterested in Pendragon and other Arthuriangames, contact him at Oberon’s Mole, 69Atherley Road, Southampton, SO15 5DT.

I hope to see many of you next monthat INTENSIVE FIRE ‘97. If you want toshare a beer or three and play ASL, comelooking for me!

Until next time, roll low and prosper.

Pete Phillipps

because you on average do more damage toyour opponent than you suffer. Even a 1:4attack is often worth making, simply be-cause you are risking very little to get achance to take out a relatively strong en-emy unit.

One problem for the Japanese is thatto get even a 1:2 HtH attack against Ameri-can units generally requires a single squad(E.G.: Japanese 4-4-7 vs. US 6-6-6).

Hand-to-Hand Close Combat is adouble edged sword, unless it can be usedfrom ambush. The Japanese -1 HtH DRMmakes it particularly devastating.

Using several units to get good oddsagainst a weaker unit may still get all yourunits killed. Don’t enter HtH CC unless youare prepared to lose the units going in!

While the Japanese are powerful, theyalso aren’t supermen, and some bad MC’scan really ruin your day ... which brings meto my very last point, that being that theJapanese are much more subject to the va-garies of chance than Western nations.Whereas a pot-shot that breaks a Westernunit is a matter of rallying and bringing itback into the line, a couple of Japanesefailed MC’s is matter of several Step Re-ductions. MC’s are reversible for everyoneelse.

While this is far from an in-depth

THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPERORContinued from page 20

study of the Japanese and their tactics, I hopeit helps in sort of a “general approach” thenext time you are faced with these stalwartwarriors.

Ω

THE TRENCHES 27

BERLIN: RED VENGEANCEThe Batt le For The Reichstag APRIL 28th, 1945

Under the piping beat of Die Gotterdamerung, the lastbreath of the Nazis was being forced out by the Russian steam-roller. Surrounded on all sides and smashed from within Berlinwould not quit. In a show of complete arrogance the Nazis wouldfight to the last man...and boy.

As the war closed in on Hitler the world’s most sophisti-cated city was turned into a blazing fortress. One of the cities’greatest buildings, the Reichstag, had been bricked up sincethe 1933 fire that raged through its halls. Hitler called theReichstag “a trashy old shack.” To the Russians, the Reichstagrepresented nothing less than the National Socialist Party. Nev-ertheless, the battle for the Reichstag itself would characterizethe hateful four year struggle between the two bitter enemies.

Three bridges spanned the 60 foot deep Spree which ledto the Reichstag from the north (the direction from which theRussians would come) as the Reichstag stood guard over the

Brandenburg Gate. Ideally situated as a command and supplybase, the Reichstag was quickly turned into a fortress insidethe third and final ring of defenses by Hitlers’ very own guards.

The Reichstag was not only a pillar of SS defense withinBerlin it was also the main prize for two competing RussianMarshals Chuikov (First Byelorussian Front) and Koniev (FirstUkranian Front). The two joked bitterly at who would be thefirst to enter the Reichstag. The entire battle for Berlin and theend of six years of unmatched destruction would focus at thefront door of the Reichstag.

Heat Of Battle gives you a front row seat to the last battle,the last defense and the last sacrifice. Heat Of Battle presentsto you, BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE The Battle for theReichstag.

011 KH & GSTK Chapter Dividers $4.00 3

012 GSTK 4.0 Map (seperate) $8 4

Shipping & Handling footnotes:1. $2.00 S&H if in cont. US or $4.00 if outside cont. US.2. $2.50 S&H if in cont. US or $5.00 if outside cont. US.3. $1.00 S&H if in cont. US or $2.00 if outside cont. US.4. No Charge for S&H.

ORDERING INFORMATIONBERLIN: RED VENGEANCE will not be available in stores

for a long while so you better get your mits on one while we stillhave them in stock. Here’s how to order:

Send Check or Money Order to:Heat Of Battle P.O. Box 15073 Newport Beach, Ca 92659Gentlemen, HOB is considering accepting your future or-

ders using a Merchant Card Service. If this would be usefull toyou please let us know when you send us your order for BRV.

HERE’S WHAT YOU GETBERLIN:RED VENGEANCE comes with a full-color,

printed 24 x 39 hex Historical Map of the entire Reichstag area,10 individual scenarios, a 9 scenario Campaign Game, SpecialTerrain and CG rules, a BRV Chapter Divider, and 56 full-color,die-cut, printed and mounted original counters. Yes, you heardus...MOUNTED counters!

BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE is not a complete game. Be-yond Valor, Red Barricades and KGP I or II are required to playthis module.

BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE is $25.00 plus $2.50 S&H($5.00 S&H if outside the continental U.S.).

HEAT OF BATTLE PRODUCT LIST001 GSTK 4.0 $20.001

002 BLOOD REEF Sold rights to TAHGC003 KING OF THE HILL $20.00 1

004 BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE $25.00 2

28 VIEW FROM

NON - COM-MUNICATIONNon-Com: a non-commissioned officer, a squad leaderCommunication: to talk, exchange ideas.

MIKE RUDD, NEWCASTLEThanks for your recent VFTT which I

enjoyed very much. I was sad to read of the demisefo ASL News. With its curious ‘Euro-humour’ andthe articles on KGP I (for me the most enjoyableCG) it will be much missed.

Joe Arthur and I are thinking of goingto the Toulouse FIREGROUP ‘97 tournament inNovember. Armed with supplies of dice, HP Sauce,toilet paper and a complete inability to speak French,we plan to return with bidets full of prizes. Do youknow anyone else who is thinking of travelling over?

I’d like to go myself, but lack ofholidays from work (and a lack of money!!) stopsme :-( If anyone else is interested though, feelfree to contact Mike at 52 Woodbine Road,Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE3 1DE.

JAN SPOOR, USAThe copy of VFTT that you kindly sent

me arrived yesterday, and I wanted to say thank you.For all that your resources must be limited, it looksreally good. The layout and typography are clean,the editing is good, and the content is entertaining.My only suggestion would be to run two columnsinstead of three; the longer articles are fine, but theshorter ones, or ones with shorter paragraphs (e.g.,“Tommy Atkins Alone” or “War Dogs”) look verychoppy.

I have been distressed over the years atthe failure of the gaming community to producemore than one or two professional-lookingmagazines. The General is too broad for my taste,because it has to cover all AH’s games during thecourse of the year. ASL ’zines can concentrate onone subject area and its related topics, but the lackof experience (and sometimes lack of taste) showsthrough rather often in ’zines. Critical Hit has a lotof things going for it, but it badly needs someonecompetent to edit it, both for basic stuff (grammar,spelling, punctuation, consistent style).

Having ranted a bit myself here, let mewrap up by getting to the point. I really hope thatVFTT continues to be supported by the ASLcommunity. You give value for money, and (if thisissue is anything to go by) you are page-for-pagebetter than anything else going.

DOUG MASTON, USAI picked up a couple of issues of VFTT

today, and I’d like to say a few words about it.The magazine bills itself as “Britain’s

Premier ASL Journal”, and who am I to argue. Butto me, it’s more of a chatty newsletter than amagazine or a journal.

You’re right, VFTT is more of anewsletter than a journal, but the saying showswhere I’m trying to take VFTT. It might be a whilebefore I get there, but one day...

‘Sides, I must be Britain’s premier, Isell more than any other British ASL ’zine :-)

Now don’t misunderstand me. I like itand think I got my money’s worth. Chatty is good!It’s easy going and friendly.

Like its editor :-)I’ve always tried to make VFTT a

combination of Rout Report’s fun style and themore serious analysis approach of Fire For Effect(the two ‘zines I was aware of when I startedVFTT).

Overall, I like VFTT and intend to keepbuying it as long as Boulder Games is around.

WARREN SMITH, USAI’ve been playing around with the

British SASL charts and my initial thought is thatsome scenarios would be pretty hard due to the lackof heavy MG support in the company.

It seems that a lot of time and effort wentinto making the charts historically accurate, whichis good (I have been informed by one or two peoplethat this is the case with the MGs; they were attachedat a higher level and handed out as needed). But asI indicated before, every other FRIENDLY companylisting contains a MMG and a HMG and losing thatfirepower has to hurt. I just set up a Block Partymission and was going to play German vs Russian,but I think I’ll change it now and play British vsGerman so I can give you an AAR. I have a feeling,though, that the lack of those MG is going to hurt,going against all those stone buildings.

I would be interested on the designersthoughts concerning this. Also, I would be interestedin seeing ETO early war British charts (as well asany other nationality, but I guess there was aparticular reason that the British charts weredesigned and printed by VFTT ;-) at some point.

The only reason I printed British chartswas that the designer submitted them. If anyonesubmits charts for the Japs, the French, or anyother nation, I’ll happily print them.

MIKE CLAY, USAGot my first issues of VFTT, liked it a

bunch - “it rules. Or at least it doesn’t suck” asBeavis and Butthead would say. Anyway point is Iliked VFTT and was impressed.

Thanks for the kind words. I try to domy best to make sure each issue of VFTTentertains and informs.

Maybe later on when I have more timeI’ll send you an article. I’ve been thinking of writingone on the mechanics of Close Combat for thebeginner. Seems that a lot of beginner players don’tknow or understand the subtleties of CC.

Also, I once wrote an article on HtH CC.Brian Youse was supposed to print it in The Generalbut last thing I heard was that he changed his mind.If he isn’t going to print the article would you beinterested?

I’m always on the look out for morematerial. At the moment, I have more than enoughmaterial to carry on as a 16 page mag for thenext year or so, and I’m considering adding 4more pages soon. If I can’t maintain my bi-monthlyschedule though, I’d rather stick to a smaller mag.For a lot of my readers, VFTT is their only sourceof news and Q&A, so it is quite important to make

sure they don’t have to wait too long to get thisinfo.

MARK MCGILCHRIST,AUSTRALIA

The VFTT counters are pretty cool,although they were a little large for my pre-cut blankcounters (as were the Location Control markersfrom Cemetary Hill incidentally). Anyway, I ranthem both through a colour copier at 83% and theywere just about right. 86% might have been a littlebetter. In any case, thay are much, much better thanthe AH solution of running around with anacquisition marker.

The next counter you should consideris a crashed Glider counter. Looks pretty strangewith a wrecked truck in the middle of a field ofGliders.

Wish I’d thought of it for last issue :-(Still, ask and you shall receive.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say the finishedresults are artistic masterpieces like the TOTcounters, but they are never-the-less fully functional.

PETE HOFLAND, HOLLANDI received the latest issue last weekend.

Again you’ve done a great job. I especially likedthe “They Came From The Sky” article. It will bevery useful when I wil start my first campaign ofPB (which arrived the same weekend).

I also liked the idea about the Germanparatrooper and Ice Hole counters. Finaly we canstart playing on the Ice and hope a tank will crashthough it.

I also liked the idea about theConvention Trail.

Keep up the good work. I’m lookingforward to the next issue.

JIM MCLEOD, CANADAI like your idea of a yearly compilation

of selected material and scenarios. What would youcharge for such an issue?

I’m still not sure if I’ll do a yearlycompilation, since back issues are readilyavailable. If I do decide to produce one thoughit’d probably be 32 pages of material for £4.00(US $8.00), like the VFTT’95 compilation.

As for the scenario pack, quite a few ofthe guys in the Canadian ASL Association are keenon putting together a similar scenario pack ofCanadian scenarios. There just does not seem to beenough of them around.

Ω

THE TRENCHES 29

DEBRIEFINGThe following Q&A was posted to the

InterNet ASL Mailing List regarding theCritical Hit! Inc OAF Pack scenario pack.

Scenario OAF 1 Do the German reinforcements enter on turn 1,as per the TO&E tree, or turn 4, as per the entry arrow?A Turn 4.

Scenario OAF 2 When does the Russian player make the choicebetween reinforcement groups: before German setup, after Ger-man setup, or when they enter on Turn 3?A Any time during play.

Scenario OAF 2 Do the German Tigers have to enter all on thesame edge?A No. “and/or” signifies this.

Scenario OAF 5 Can the Russians enter anywhere on the southedge east of the canal, or just on board 23?A Anywhere.

The following ‘errata’ regardingPaddington Bear scenarios was posted byMark McGilchrist.

Since the release of Pegasus Bridge, there has beensome minor debate about how to address the problem of havingtwo sets of PB 1-5 Scenarios.

The final decision has been to redesignate thePaddington Bear Scenarios as PBP (Paddington Bear Pack), ratherthan the previous PB. This is a Scenario Designation Letteringchange only, it has no bearing on the scenario design, and is de-signed only to clarify which scenario is being cited.

The 1997 Paddington Bear Pack will have printeddesignations of PBP#, but for the existing Paddington Bear sce-narios 1-10, please consider this an “official” errata to the scenariodesignation.

Would all publishers of errata, printed, electronicor other, please include this errata in their database.

Thank You!

The following Q&A and errata forKing of the Hill was posted by Heat of BattleProductions, and will be included in the nextedition of their newsletter.

Cover page (page 1) should read “28 hexes by 49 hexes”.

Page 3 KH 3.21: Last sentence should read “The following RocketTo Hit DRMs modify C5.0 and use the Black To Hit #s:”.

Page 5: Defintitions: SLoc should read “Any hex containing woods,+2 TEM, Good Order MMC, Ditch, Hill 112 or 111 symbol.”

Page 10: Legibility for FPP Footnotes:Foxhole: a FTrench: c d E FAP Mine: c d E F G IAT Mine: c d E F G IWire: c d E F G IHIP: a“?”:AFV Revetment: d E F I

Page 11: ISSR 2 should read “(either RG O7 x1 & RG O8 x1; orRG O8 x2. See RG Chart footnote “G”).”

The Typhoons should have a STAR with a “3” inside it as if a44FB.

The following errata applies to thescenario in this issue of VFTT.

Scenario VFTT SILLY1 “Mars Attacks!” Add to SSR2: “TheOffboard Observer’s commands must be pre-recorded three turnsin advance due to light proagation time delay.”

Ω

30 VIEW FROM

GEMBLOUX - THE FEINTTrevor Edwards

Gembloux - The Feint is a very goodmodule containing half a dozen scenariosand a Platoon Leader CG (for V2), alongwith a brief background write up from RayTapio.

Although the scenarios are printed onglossy paper rather than on cardstock (myone complaint about the product) they arevery clearly printed and even the CH counterart looks OK. The cards include the unitinsignia of the combatant formations, someof which cut quite a dash since the suits froma pack of cards appear to be the French in-signia.

The subject matter is a clash betweenthe German armoured spearhead thrustingwestwards through Belgium towards theFrench border, and a massed Frencharmoured presence near - you guessed it -Gembloux.

The scenarios vary from small to largein size but the unit density is fairly lightthroughout.

This is real early war stuff. The Ger-mans are bombing about in early MkIIIs withpoxy 37L guns and weak armour (a circled3 for front). They do have superb MG ar-mament, toting 3/8 and that sD7 is very use-ful.

The French seem to have few (if any)AT guns and are usually light on the infan-try front too, thus depending on their tanksas the main defence force.

These tanks are usually slow, small,radioless and poorly armed. They have 1MT(blech!) and a “good” gun is a 37 but 37*are common.

The big problem is the combinationof lousy MGs and AP10. Since the HE roundis almost useless vs enemy tanks, these ef-fectively have B10 as far as the tank battleis concerned. The German infantry can runup and CC them for fun if the CA is point-ing the other way.

The only consolation is that theMkIIIs have B11 as well and that the Frencharmour, typically four squared all round, isexcellent for the period. Many hits by Ger-man AP rounds bounce off in any given ac-tion. But then the French AP TK#s are prettylousy too, so many of theirs will fail to pen-etrate.

There is one scenario I have playedwhere the Somuas local superiority is evi-

dent. An excellent tank for the period, butI’d still rate the Matilda over it, despite itsrelative speed and HE.

These tank battles are unlike the midto late war clashes. The infantry have nodecent inherent AT weapons and the tanksmust rely almost solely on their MGs to af-fect the enemy infantry as the calibre of theirMAs are so low. The next time I get a Pan-ther in my OoB I’ll appreciate it all the more.

Of the scenarios I have so far played,two share a similar theme: Motorised butunarmored German infantry must crosslightly wooded but otherwise open country-side and then take a village. They have asizable escort of tanks in a ratio of approxi-mately 2:1 to the defending French.

The French dilemma is how to set uptheir tanks. Spreading out to cover all av-enues of approach has its advantages sincethere is then no particularly weak point. Theproblems are that the Germans will havelocal superiority in numbers anyway and thatthe French tanks can’t rely on being able tomove if set up away from each other, to col-lapse on the armoured spearhead.

If I could set up my forces again inmy recent game of “Reluctant Withdrawal”I would have had them in pairs in fewer,well defended, areas I think. By the end onlylucky dice and German tardiness would havesaved the day for me... they didn’t.

The scenario pack has a fair mix ofsituations and there is certainly enoughvariation for the players attention to be heldall the way through. There’s at least oneinfantry only clash and the French get toattack in some scenarios.

I think this scenario pack is excellentand really explores the fighting capabilitiesof the French armour on the rare occasionof it being present in any numbers. CdG fansneed this module! In fact, when I boughtCdG I expected more of this type of thing tobe included. As it was, the Avalon Hill mod-ule included all sorts of scenarios involvingall sorts of French units in all sorts of the-atres, thus diluting the early war experiencesomewhat.

It is available for $17.95 from Criti-cal Hit at 88 Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY10509, United States of America. UK ASLplayers can also order it for £14.40 from The

Crusaders, 4 Monkton Down Road,Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset,DT11 8AE.

Ω

attack on Le Port.

Overall though your tactics in NightIII should be similar to those in Night II.The presence of so many additional Britishunits may make it difficult to make muchheadway, but if the British are not in forceacross the bridge by the end, they willstruggle in Dawn and Day I as the bulk ofyour reinforcements arrive.

If you can have the British totally onthe east side as the sun behgins to rise itwill be almost impossible for them to getback across the river. With your additionalunits and the lack of the NVR you will beable to bring so much FP to bear on theWSBEH it would be suicidal to enter. Notto mention Fire Lanes down the Bridge. Allof this from positions on the West side towhich the British will have very restrictedLOS and, because of range, much lower FP.

Ω

NIGHT-TIME AT PEGASUS BRIDGEContinued from page 7

CG designer Dan Dolan) and StonneHieghts (by Pedro Ramis. Check out ASLNews 29 for a look at an early version of themap for this).

Finally, MMP president Brian Yousehas announced that permission to copy andfreely distribute copies of BackBlast hasbeen rescinded. “We gave unlimited photo-copy permission when there was not a hopeof anyone outside of the original purchas-ers of BackBlast seeing what we consideredto be fine the articles and scenarios. Nowthat we’re occasionally reprinting these ar-ticles/scenarios, our lawyer says we have torevoke that permission.

Sorry.”

Ω

INCOMINGContinued from page 3

THE TRENCHES 31

ON THE CONVENTION TRAILThere are more and more ASL tournaments cropping up all over the world. In fact, it is possible to be involved in an ASL tournament

at least once a month, often more, if you were so inclined (and had the financial means to live such a life - I wish!).If you plan on holding an ASL tournament, please let me know and I’ll include the details here, space permitting.

SEPTEMBERTHE CANADIAN ASL OPEN ’97

When: 26 - 28 September.Where: Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Rooms;

$64 single, $66 double, $68 triple and $70 quad. Hotel telephone # 1 204 775 0451. Rooms on the 6thfloor are booked for the ASL event.

Format: 5 - 6 round Swiss style with a scenario list being sent out to all pre-registrants.Fees: $25.00.Notes: Plaques, gift certificates for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers and for the

highest placing Canadian. T-shirts are available for $20.00 ($25.00 on the day). All prices are in Cana-dian Dollars.

This event is open to any and all players ... not just us Canucks ;)Contact: Jim McLeod, 978 Strathcona Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3G 3G5, Canada. Tele-

phone 204 783 3649, or by e-mail at j.mcleod15@genie.com. Payments should be made out to theWinnipeg ASL Club.

OCTOBEROCTOBEAR 97

When: 4 - 5 October.Where: Paddington RSL Club, Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney NSW, Australia.Fee: A$20.00.Format: In keeping with the tradition of OCTObear presenting unique and interesting

formats this year’s 2 day struggle will focus on the campaign in Burma in March 1942. The format willnot be a standard 4 tournament scenario type event but instead will involve the players in a DYOcampaign game style competition where not only do you have control of your forces (either British,Chinese, Japanese or Burmese) but also get to design them (within historical limits). This widens thepossibilities of each scenario and introduces a genuine fog of war. This is something new in competi-tion ASL and is guaranteed to be buckets of fun.

Notes: Organised by those wonderful Paddington Bears this unique competition willbring together the Koala Hit Squad and the greatest ASL minds and bodies gracing this finecountry.(McGilchrist will also be present).

In order to improve the play of local and overseas entrants substantial supplies of alco-holic beverages will be available and imbibing will be encouraged.

Contact: For further details and the full rules see the Paddington Bears Home Page athttp://www.ozemail.com.au/~mmjm/index.html or contact the organiser Paul Seage atPaul_Seage@ampol.com.au. Nationalities will be assigned on preference in order of entry so let meknow ASAP to get your first pick! (Obviously there must be an even number of Allied and Axisplayers so latecomers may have little choice!).

OKTOBERFEST ASLOK 1997When: 7 - 13 October.Where: The Holiday Inn, 7230 Engle Road, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, OH 44130.

Telephone (216) 243 4040. Mention ASL Oktoberfest prior to 20th September and rooms are $75.00per night (suitable for four); thereafter they are $20.00 - $30.00 more expensive.

Fee: $20.00.Format: Theme tournaments, mini-tournaments, The Grofaz (the Big Weekend Tour-

nament), and friendly play galore.Notes: ASLOK is THE player’s fest, a festival of gaming and gamesmanship as much

as it is a competitive tournamentYou will find grognards, rookies, experts and average players alike.You will find comradeship, good gaming, interesting talk, some new materials, and you are bound tolearn and teach a few things. ENJOY!

Contact: Mark Nixon, 443 Richmond Park West, 201D, Richmond Heights, OH 44143or by telephone on (216) 473 1680 (do not be distressed by peculiar recorded messages, courtesy ofmy 14 year old daughter!). You can also email Rick Troha at rickt@nwsupcom, or visit the ASLOKHome Page at http://www.en.com.users/rickt/aslok/aslhome.htm.

INTENSIVE FIRE ’97When: 17th -19th October.Where: The Embassy Hotel, Meyrick Road, East Cliff, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.

Telephone (01202) 290751. Rooms are £35.00 per day and include a full English breakfast.Fee: Free for members of The Crusaders, the UK ASL association; £5.00 for others.Format: A three round Fire Team tournament, plus open gaming for those who do not

wish to take part.Notes: A visit to the Bovington Tank Museum is on offer at 9am on the Friday morn-

ing. Transport will be laid on for those without their own transport.Contact: For further details and an application form contact Neil Stevens, 4 Monkton

Down Road, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8AE. Phone (01258) 459851 or emailNeilSStevens@compuserve.com.

NOVEMBERTOULOUSE FIREGROUP ’97

When: 8 - 10 November.Where: the Town Hall of Escalquens, a small town 10 KM away from Toulouse.Fee: 50FF (10$).Format: 3 day play, 2 official rounds per day, and an obliged unedited middle sized

scenario in each round. All the scenarios are based on the theme “The birth of the 1st French Army:The battle of Toulon”, and before each round, a presentation of the scenario to be played will be made,placing the scenario in the battle, giving the tactical environment and explaining the terrain, the OB andthe SSR.

For those not wanting to participate in the tournament, a 6 scenario mini-campaign onthe same theme is proposed.

The campaign will also be included, along with the 6 tournament scenarios and 4 others(unedited) in the “Provence Scenario Pack”.

Notes: Free accomodation can be provided in limited amount by local players. If insuf-ficient, everything will be done to get the best prices for the participants in the local Inn’s (according totheir wishes....)

Contact: Laurent Cunin, 5, rue du Berjean, 31750 Escalquens, France. Phone (33) 6127 94 91 or email Laurent.Cunin@cst.cnes.fr.

DECEMBER

1998JANUARYWEST COAST MELEE , Los Angeles, United States of America. Details to be announced.CHICAGO ASL OPEN , Chicago, United States of America. Details to be announced.

FEBRUARY

MARCHMARCH MADNESS ‘’98 , Kansas City, United States of America. Details to be announced.BERSERK ‘’98 , Blackpool, England. Details to be announced.

Ω

La Fiere Manoir, 9 June 1944: Third Battalion of the325th Glider Infantry Regiment was lined up to assaultthe causeway in sequence of companies: George, Easy,Fox. As the men of Easy’s 1st Platoon arrived at La Fiere,the bulk of George Company was still strung out acrossthe causeway. Stragglers, wounded, and dead plus atrickle of German prisoners formed a physical barrier tothe advance. Meanwhile, German shells continued topound the crossing. Platoon Sergeant Henry Howell hadno orders to move through the lead company until theBattalion S3 urged him to ‘Get this platoon moving orwe’ll die here’...

ALL AMERICAN The 82nd Airborne at Kellam’sBridge: June 6-9, 1944 tells the story of the battle be-tween the “All American” 82nd Airborne Division andthe German 91st Luftlande Division on a scale which isperfect for enthusiasts of Adv. Sqd. Ldr. and miniaturessystems. At CH we’re so sure this story will fascinatewar-games for year’s to come, we’ve chosen it as thesubject to debut our new, stand-alone Platoon LeaderTM

tactical level game system. Whatever system you chooseto play it with, you can rest assured that ALL AMERI-CAN is the result of extensive research, testing andbattlefield tours like no game which has come before it.

ALL AMERICAN comes in two versions: the compat-ible package provides all you need toplay using Adv. Sqd. Ldr., tactical-level rules, or miniatures system ofchoice without having to pay for un-wanted extras. The original game in-cludes all the game pieces needed forplay, a complete rule-book, play aids,and two ten-sided dice in the colors ofthe 82nd Airborne. Both versions alsocontain 10 scenarios, all playable onan original, historical 30” x 18” mapof the Normandy countryside along the Merderet Riverwest of Sainte Mere Eglise. Available for only $29.95at better hobby and game stores world-wide or directfrom Critical Hit!, Inc.

An actual view ofLa Fiere Manoirdepicted in hexAA9 of our gamemap. This shotwas but one ofmany taken of re-maining struc-tures during thebattlefield toursof the Kellam'sbridge battle-field. The localswere interviewedand lots of tidbitsdug up to add tothe story. You canbe sure we'll be bringing you extensive coverage in the pages of Critical Hit magazine soon!