[Note: Due to the complexity of formatting this piece, it is left as a text file]
List Volk
In light of the fact that the only real posts I have made to the list of late have been somewhat critical and more political than play-oriented, I thought I might share a recently completed PBM game AAR. I expect to get responses critiquing both my play and my rules snafus, but I will be glad of any constructive criticisms and advice the Listvolk offer.
In order to forestall any remarks about some errata and Q&As, I will state the situation I found myself in until very recently. At the time this game was started I only had the errata pages up to Code of Bushido, and the only Q&A resources at my disposal were the 89, 90 and 91 ASL Annuals so please bear that in mind before taking aim. :o)
I started this game back in 1994 with a friend living in Tramore, Co Waterford, Eire and only just completed it a few days ago...It just goes to show the lengths some of the ASL volk go to get a game! :o) You gotta love the length of time a PBM ASL scenario takes to play. Especially when one of you moves house 7 times in three and a half years, involving four separate townships.
I would say that 45 Months is a tad too long to keep a game going, but then
again I had no Internet access and no FtF opponents until a few months back.
I am a tad wary of posting this Replay to the list but then again it
didn't go the whole 10 turns <grin>
ASL I Buchholz Station AAR PBM
We chose this scenario merely because we hadn't played for so long and we both were relatively familiar with it from our old SL days. There is something that still draws me back to the original SL - GI scenarios, I guess it must be the feeling of meeting an old friend after a long absence. Looking back at the various scribbled notes, I am amazed at how much I have improved my play since joining the List...options and rules utilisation are far more advanced than when I began this game.
Anyway I wish in hindsight I had found out about the Australian Balance System mods for this scenario, and indeed all the other scenarios that there are retrospective ABS add-ons. It sure would have made a difference to my scenario selections, but maybe not to my poor results.
After the obligatory letters defining the parameters of the contest, Sean and I were set to play...I had the Germans and Sean played the Americans. Buchholz Station, for the uninitiated, is played on Boards 3 and 4 and should last 10 turns [cue insane laughter from Aaron Cleavin who has never had to go the distance against me].
The Germans have a mixed company [including three dynamite 838s] with 8 lmgs, a mmg and a hmg, plus their allotment of 'fausts, where as the so-called hapless American gyrenes are stacked, but very well led, and have a half track and three soft vehicles at their disposal, not to mention that Big .50 "autocannon".
The set-up was already delineated by the Scenario card so it just came down to getting through the game. We used a mixture of the On My Honor rules as well as the record keeping methodology from "Chapter XL" PBM rules that I was given by another opponent. [By the way, as of New Year's Day, these two sets of rules will be posted as a public service on my Webpage for those of you who want to check them out or require them...
Scenario Replay ASL I Buchholz Station (ex-SL Scenario 7)
No Battlefield Integrity
IFT
Non-Rated
Germans----Peter Palmer
Americans--Sean O'Breaoghain
All DRs are (cdr,wdr)
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Rally Phase
Wind Change DR: 3,2 5 NE
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Prep Fire Phase
None
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Movement Phase
ff4 447 ee4 dd3 cc3 cc2 ff5 9-2, 467 lmg ee5 dd4 cc4 bb3 aa3 aa2 CXz1 y10 447 CX x9* *American Defensive Fire: 3y9 8-0, 666, 666 mmg DFF at x9 [11 hexes] with 8FP @ -2 IFT DR: 6,3 7 1MC 447 1MC DR: 5,4 10 Break dd5 467 lmg dd4 cc4 cc3 bb2 bb7 467 lmg aa8 z8 y8*
*American Defensive Fire: 3y9 666 Baz DFF at 4y8 [9 hexes] with 2 FP @ 0 IFT DR: 2,2 4 NMC [Cower to 1FP] 467 NMC DR: 1,5 6 Pass
ee6 8-0, 467 lmg ee5 dd4 cc4 bb3 aa3 aa2 CXz1 ee7 8-0, 467 lmg ee6 ee5 dd4 cc4 cc3 aa8 8-1, 838 lmg bb7 cc7 dd6 ee6 ee5 ee4 z8 8-1, 838 lmg CX z7 aa7 aa6 aa5 bb4 bb3 bb2 dd6 247 mmg ee6 ee5 dd4 dd3 z9 10-2, 838 lmg CX z8 z7 aa7 aa6 aa5 bb4 bb3 cc7 247 hmg Bypass-cc6 cc5 cc4 dd3
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a American Defensive Fire Phase
No Further Fire
4y8 467 lmg fire at 3y9 [9 hexes] with 1 FP @ 0 IFT DR: 2,3 5 PTC 8-0 PTC DR: 1,5 6 Pass 666 mmgPTC DR: 6,4 10 Pinned 666 Baz PTC DR: 1,1 2 Pass, SAN 666 PTC DR: 4,5 9 Pinned SAN dr: 3 NEScenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Rout Phase
broken 447 in 3x9 routs to 3y9Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Advance Phase
4z1 9-2, 467 lmg to 3z10 4z1 8-0, 467 lmg to 4aa1 4bb2 8-1, 838 lmg, 467 lmg to 4bb1 4bb3 10-2, 838 lmg to 4bb2 4cc2 447 to 4cc1 4cc3 8-0, 467 lmg to 4cc2 4dd2 247 mmg to 4cc2 4ee4 8-1 to 4dd3 4ee4 838 lmg to 4ee3 4y8 467 lmg to 4y7
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1a German Close Combat Phase
None
End of turn notes
You may note the lack of concealment in my opening turn, call that
a basic error on both our parts, and it was only the first turn that saw us
completely forget about concealment, something which contributed to the
end result but to what degree I have only a sketchy idea.
Any feedback on this replay would be greatly appreciated.
--
regards
Peter Palmer
ASL: Buchholz Station PBM AAR/Replay Part 2 [longi
Heyas List volk
Here is the second installment featuring the American First turn.
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Rally Phase
Wind Change DR: 5,2 7 NE
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Prep Fire Phase
3Y9 666 mmg fires at 4y7 with 6 FP @ 0 IFT DR: 6,6 12 Breaks mmg!
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Move Phase
Hex Units Move
3y9 8-0, 666 3x8*, 3w9, 3w10 *German Defensive First Fire: 3z10 9-2, 467 lmg CX DFF at 3x8 with 6FP @ -1 IFT DR: 3,1 3 K/2 SAN Random selection dr: 8-0 = 5, 666 = 3 8-0 wound dr: 1 1 Wound 666 2MC DR: 2,5 9 Breaks SAN dr: 2 Direction: 2,6 to 4ee3 4ee3: 838 lmg Pinned 3z10 9-2, 467 CX SFF at 3x8 with 2FP @ -1
IFT DR: 1,1 1 1KIA
Random Selection dr: 8-0 = 4, 666 = 1
666 Casualty reduced to 346 HS
3y9 666 baz 3y8 3z6 666 baz 3aa7 AsMv 3z6 666 mmg 3aa7, 3bb7 3w2 8-1, 666, 666 mmg 3w3, 3x3(bypass), 3x4, 3y5 3w2 666 baz Cx moves 3v2, 3u3, 3u4, 3u5, 3t5, 3s6, 3s7 3r6 9-2, 346 Cx moves 3s6, 3t5, 3u5, 3u4, 3u3, 3v2, 3w2, 3x2, 3y3 3r6 9-1, Cx moves 3s7, bypass 3s8, 3t8, 3u9, 3v9, 3w10 3r6 7-0 Cx moves 3s7, bypass 3s8, 3t8, 3u9, 3v8, 3w8 3r5 9-1, 3 x 346 moves 3r6(bypass), 3r7, 3r8(bypass), 3r9, 3s10, 4s1 3p7 Truck moves to 4r2 [Vca : 4r1/4q2] Stopped 3q8 Truck moves to 3u3 [Vca : 3v3/3v2] Stopped 3r7 M3ht moves to 3aa6 [Vca : 3aa7/3bb6] Stopped CE 3s7 Jeep moves to 4s1 [Vca : 3r10/3s10] Stopped
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b German Final Defensive Fire
4aa1 8-0, 467 lmg [CX] fire at 666 in 3z6 with 6FP @ +1 IFT DR: 1,2 4 2MC ROF 666 2MC DR: 4,3 9 Break ROF 2FP @ +1 IFT DR: 3,6 10 NE
4bb1 8-1, 838 lmg,[CX], 467 lmg fire at 666 baz in 3y8 with 12FP @ +1 IFT DR: 4,2 7 1MC 666 1MC DR: 2,3 6 Pass, Pinned
4cc1 447 fires at 666 in 3y9 with 4FP @ 0 IFT DR: 5,2 7 PTC 666 PTC DR: 5,4 9 Pinned
4y7 467 lmg fires at 666 in 3y9 with 6FP @ 0 IFT DR: 2,5 7 PTC, NE (already pinned)
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Advancing Fire Phase
3y5 8-1, 666, 666 mmg fire at units in 4bb1 with 4FP @ 0 IFT DR: 4,6 10 NE
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Rout Phase
3x8 346 routs to 3w8 3y9 666 Voluntary breaks to 3w8 3z6 666 routs to 3y6
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Advance Phase
3aa7 666 baz to 3aa8 3bb7 666 mmg to 3bb8 3y5 8-1, 666 mmg to 3y6 3y5 666 to 3z4 3y3 9-2, 346 to 3z3 3s7 666 baz to 3s8 4s1 346 to 4s2 4s1 346 to 4t1 3w10 9-1 to 3w9
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 1b American Close Combat phase
None
Well looking back on it now I have little to be happy about except for my
Dice rolling.
I was surprised by that 8-1,666 and mmg shot from y5 to bb1 as i missed the
LoS totally.
--
regards
Peter Palmer
ASL: Buchholz Station PBM AAR/Replay Part 3 [longi
Okay the third part, don't worry the scenario was over very quickly in game
terms, but not in actual time taken to complete it.
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn2a German Rally Phase
Wind change DR: 1,5 6 NE
German rallies:
Self rally 4y8 447 @ 0 DR: 3,5 8 NE
American rallies:
3y6 666 with 8-1, @ +2 DR: 6,6 14 CRs to 346hs 3w8 666 with 7-0, @ +3 DR: 6,1 10 No Effect 3w8 346 with 7-0, @ +3 DR: 1,6 10 No Effect
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Prep Fire Phase
4dd3 8-1, 247 hmg fires at 3bb8 with 6FP @ 0 IFT DR: 6,4 10 NE
4cc1 447 and 4cc2 467 lmg, 247 mmg FireGroup at 3bb8 with 16FP @ +1 IFT DR: 1,5 7 2MC RoF for lmg & mmg 666 2MC DR: 1,5 6 Breaks RoF 8-0, lmg & mmg fire at 3aa8 with 8FP @ +1 IFT DR: 2,2 5 2MC, RoF for mmg, SAN 666 2MC DR: 2,6 10 Breaks, ELRs to 546 SAN dr: 5 No Effect RoF 8-0, mmg fire at 3y6 with 4FP @ +2 IFT DR: 6,4 12 No Effect
3z10 9-2, 467 lmg [Cx] Fire at 3z4 with 6FP @ -1 IFT DR: 5,6 10 No Effect
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Movement Phase
4ee3 838 lmg attempts smoke placement in 4ee2 dr: 1 838 moves 4ff2, declares Cx, 4ff1, 3ff10
4aa1 467 lmg Assault moves 3aa10
3z4 666 DFFs at 3aa10 : LOS blocked 3y6 8-1, 666 mmg DFF at 3aa10 with 8FP @ -2 Declaring Alternate Hex Grain FireLane from 3y7/z6 to 4dd3 IFT DR: 5,5 8 NMC 467 NMC DR: 3,2 5 Pass 4y7 467 lmg moves 4y6, 4y5...
3y8 666 DFFs at 4y5 with 2FP @ -2 IFT DR: 6,2 6 PTC 467 PTC DR: 1,4 5 Pass
...4y4, 4y3, CXs, 4y2.
4bb1 467 lmg declares CX, moves 4cc1, 3dd10, 3ee10, 3ee9, 3dd8
3z4 666 SFFs at 3dd8 with 2FP @ 0 IFT DR: 3,1 4 1MC 467 1MC DR: 3,6 10 Breaks
4aa1 8-0 moves 4bb1, 4cc1, 3dd10, 3ee9
4bb1 8-1, 838 lmg move 4cc1, 3cc10, 3cc9, 3cc8...
3z3 9-2, 346 [Cx] DFF at 3cc8 with 1FP @ -3 IFT DR: 3,1 1 K/1 Random selection drs: 8-1 = 2, 838 = 4 Casualty reduce 838 to 338hs 8-1 1MC DR: 4,3 8 Pass, Pinned 338hs 1MC DR: 2,2 5 Pass, SAN SAN dr: 2 Direction: 3,3 to 4dd3 Random selection for sniper: 8-1 = 1, 247 = 1 Wound dr for 8-1 = 5 KIA SAN effect dr for 247: 3 no effect 247 LLMC DR @ +1: 2,6 9 Broken
...338 hs lmg moves to 3bb7.
4bb2 10-2, 838 lmg move 4aa2, 4z1.
Notes on this move:
As soon as I clicked on the fact that there was no LOS for the firelane to 4cc1,
I had to try to get forces around to capture the broken 666s.
What I had forgotten was that pesky 9-2 and 346, despite being cxed had a good shot at my assault troops... and then Sean's Sniper decided to drill my 8-1. That bullet must have had the 8-1's soldatenbuch details engaved on it. :o(
But all in all this move had started well and looked like getting even better, especially with the potential for 4 CVp and a further potential 8 Exit VP from those two American 666s. All i had to do was keep them prisoner.
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a American Defensive Fire Phase
Only one shot, and that was owing to Sean not seeing it until way after it first became available.
4t1 346 fires at 4y2 with 1FP @ 0 [ it would have been -2!] IFT DR: 2,5 7 No Effect
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Advancing Fire
None...did you think i'd risk losing those 666s at this stage?
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Rout Phase
4dd3 247 drops hmg and routs to 4cc6 3dd8 467 lmg routs to 3ee8 3cc8 8-1 voluntary breaks and routs to 3ee8
3bb8 666 surrenders to 338 hs in 3bb7 3aa8 546 surrenders to 338 hs in 3bb7
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Advance Phase
3ff10 838 lmg to 3ff9 3ee9 8-0 to 3ee8 4dd1 447 to 3dd10 4cc2 8-0, 247 hmg to 4bb1 4cc2 467 lmg to 4cc1 3bb7 338 lmg + prisoners to 3bb8 3aa10 467 lmg to 3bb9 3z10 9-2 to 4y1 4z1 10-2, 838 lmg to 3z10 4y2 467 lmg to 4y1
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2a German Close Combat Phase
None
No Concealment gained.
All in all a good turn for me, lots of CVPs: 7 at this point and only another 6 to go although they were always gonig to be harder to get...at least I left my options open for the exiting troops option, especially with the 50 cal not in use as yet although Sean's turn will see it appear in the US OB as a major factor.
One of the problems I have with commenting on this game is that my knowledge
of the system now is far far superior to when this game started. So rather than
type out too many retrospective comments, I would rather let you giggle at the
many errors of judgement and be thought a fool, than to put the proof of it
into text as my current opinions.
--
regards
Peter Palmer
ASL: Buchholz Station PBM AAR/Replay Part 4 [longi
As you will see from the results of this turn, a supposed 10 turn game could well be over in less than 3 full turns... :o)
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Rally Phase
American Rallies:
3y6 346 with 8-1 @ +2 : 4,5 11 No Effect 3w8 666 with 7-0 @ -1 : 3,4 6 Rallied 3w8 346 with 7-0 @ -1 : 6,1 6 Rallied
German Rallies:
3ee8 8-1 with 8-0 @ +3 : 2,2 7 Rallied 3ee8 467 with 8-1 @ +2 : 4,6 10 No effect
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Prep Fire Phase
3y8 666 baz fires at 4y1 with 6FP @ 0 IFT DR: 2,4 6 1MC 9-2 1MC: 1,1 3 Pass, HoB HoB DR @ -1: 6,2 7 BH to 10-2 467 1MC: 4,2 5 Pass
3y6 8-1, 666 mmg fire at 3z10 with 8FP @ 0 IFT DR: 4,1 5 2MC 10-2 2MC: 4,3 9 Pass 838 2MC: 5,5 10 Break 467 2MC: 4,4 8 Break 3y5 M3 ht fires at 4bb1 with 4FP @ +1 IFT DR: 1,1 3 2MC, RoF, SAN 8-0 2MC: 6,4 12 Break ELR to 7-0 247 2MC: 6,6 14 CR KIA SAN dr: 3 No Effect RoF DR:1,3 5 1MC, RoF 7-0 1MC: 6,6 13 CR, ELR to 6+1 Wound dr: 6 KIA
3z3 Mark 9-2, 346 with OppFire
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Movement Phase
4s1 9-1, 346 embark, pick up dm hmg and disembark,move to 3s10, 3t9(bypass), 3u9. 4t1 346 moves 4u1, 3v10 4s2 346 moves 4t1, 4u1 3w8 7-0, 346 move 3v7, 3v6, 3v5, 3v4, 3w4 3w8 666 mmg(bkn) move 3v7, 3v6, 3v5 3w9 9-1 moves 3v8, 3v7, 3v6, 3v5 3s8 666 baz moves 3t8, 3u8(bypass), 3v7 3z4 666 AsMvs to 3z3
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b German Defensive Fire
4y1 10-2, 467 lmg[Cx] fire at 3y8 with 6FP @ +1 IFT DR: 2,3 6 1MC 666 1MC: 6,5 12 ELR to 546
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Advancing Fire Phase
3z3 9-2, 346 OppFire wityh 666 AdvFire at 4y1 with 4FP @ -2 IFT DR: 2,1 1 1KIA Random Selection drs: 10-2 = 1, 467 = 1 Both KIA!!!!
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Rout Phase
3y8 546 baz routs 3x8, 3w8
3z10 10-2, 467, 838 rout to 4bb1
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American Advance Phase
3z3 346 advances to 3aa3 3w4 7-0 advances to 3v3 3v10 346 advances to 3w10 4u1 346 advances to 3v10 3u9 9-1, 346 hmg advance to 3v8 3v7 666 baz advances to 3w7 3v5 9-1, 666 bkn mmg advances to 3w5
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 2b American CC Phase
Units in 3w10, 3v10, 3w3, 3v3 and 3v8 gain concealment.
Well as often happens in ASL the game swung completely towards the American. By the end of this turn Sean required only 3 more CVP. After receiving all that fire from the Halftrack (Just desserts after the 3aa6 placement fiasco) and then the awesome OppFire of the 9-2 Firegroup, I was pretty shell-shocked.
I thought Sean's game picked up markedly in this mailing, and he agreed, saying
it was due to his greater FtF involvement at the time. Mind you I can't say
that my Morale checks were particularly well rolled...ah the vagaries of the
"bones"!
--
regards
Peter P1almer
ASL: Buchholz Station PBM AAR/Replay Part 5 [longi
The final mailing...
It's nasty, brutal and mercifully brief...read and weep or laugh if you are
willing to accept that your turn will come at the hands of the Dice o'Doom!
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 3a German Rally Phase
Wind Change DR: 1,1
Wind Force dr: 6 Heavy Winds, from the South
German Rallies:
Self rally: 4y8 447 @ 0 DR: 4,4 No Effect
4bb1 838 with 10-2 @ +1 : 1,1 HoB HoB DR @ 0: 5,5 Berserk! 467 with 10-2 @ +1 : 1,1 HoB HoB DR @ 0: 6,3 Berserk!
3ee8 467 with 8-1 @ -2 : 1,6 Rallied
American Rallies:
3y6 346 with 8-1 @ -2: 6,1 Rallied 3w5 repair mmg dr: 1 Repaired
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 3a German Prep Fire Phase
None: at this point I had to try and provoke as many shots at -1 or evens just to draw the fire away from my Berserkers who were highly likely to lose me the scenario..oh how I would to have even rolled Boxcars in the Rally Phase.
Suggestions on how I might have dealt with this situation better are welcomed, even if only to say there was not a thing to do but cry...and as for that Wind Change DR: well the fates tend to conspire at the best of times.
Scenario I Buchholz Station Turn 3a German Movement Phase
all these moves were teasers and Sean wisely avoided the temptation
3bb9 467 lmg moves 3bb8, 3aa8. 3ff9 838 lmg moves 3ee9, 3dd8. 3ee8 8-1, 467 lmg move 3dd7
Then I decided that any other moves would probably offer better odds for Sean than the berserkers and I took the leap with them:
The Berserkers nearest enemy was the firegroup in 3y6.
4bb1 838 lmg & 467 lmg berserk moves 3bb10, 3bb9, 3bb8(bypass), 3aa8(bypass), 3z7...
3y5 M3 Ht Fires at berserkers in 3z7 with 4FP @ -2 IFT DR:2,1 1 1KIA Random Selection drs: 838 = 2, 467 = 6 467 KIA, 838 CRed
[End of Game: American Win]
and Just in case we had miscalculated the CVP totals:
3z3 9-2, 666 DFF at 3z7 with 6 FP @ -4!!! IFT DR: 2,2 0 3 KIA
In truth not really a great game of ASL, too many bad errors and way too influenced by the dice, but it sure was exciting. I dread what this game would have done to my heart rate if it was played FTF...
Any way that was a PBM game...Now if I can just get up to date with all my Email games and opponents I'll be happy.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to those List Volk away on vacation from now
on, don't forget to take copious notes for AARs and I hope Santa is able to
fill the gaps in your ASL collection like he is for me! :o)
--
regards
Peter Palmer