Grossdeutschland 3 –
Lone Canuck’s 3rd instalment in the GD series features:
11 scenarios
3 interlocked campaign games
2 Countersheets
Also available is GD 1-3 at a special discounted price
New D4 sub-dividers for RAACO –
Now available are D4 sub-dividers for your RAACO A75 dividers economizing space for your kit.
ASL Oktoberfest 2022
At the beginning of each October, Brett Hildebran with some help from Wild Bill, hosts the largest ASL gathering in the World. Over a hundred players converge in Cleveland, Ohio for a nine day marathon with representation from as far away as Australia. During the first 4 days, Brett pits the American players against the players from the rest of the World for the much coveted World Cup team tournament. On Wednesday, the mini’s begin with themes ranging from the Pacific to the Desert and every theatre in between. Each mini tournament has a maximum of eight players, so win three games and you are bringing home a trophy to impress everyone on your block. And if you don’t win, no biggie as the next round of minis starts the next day, and the next, and the next after that. If you keep winning, you will be entered into the Grofaz for the single most coveted piece of tin in the ASL world. But to win this, you will have to make it past the likes of ASL legends like Steve Pleva, Bill Cirillo, Bob Bendis, JR Tracy, Mike McGrath, and the list goes on.
My ASLOK, 2022. I arrived as usual on Saturday afternoon after an eight hour dive from NC. I set up camp in the foyer to the main convention room after saying hi to Bill and the early arrivals. The Hotel was under new management and unfortunately none of the familiar faces of the old staff were still employed. Pretty soon the usual gang began arriving with the notable exception of many of the international players that used to haunt the venue. I spent the rest of the day on Saturday setting up for for my first game.
Game 1 – As has become a custom with my dear friend Jack Daniels, we had pre-arranged our yearly monster scenario to be ‘DN3 Rommel at the Meuse’ from Croix de Guerre. This is a 13 turn full map crossing of the Meuse in rubber dinghies, assault boats and rafts. Jack chose the French and I was very happy to play the Germans as I really enjoyed the many cool toys and Special Rules regarding river crossings. Even though I read the Dinnant rules a couple of weeks before our match, I managed to forget most of them by the time we began.
My set-up was poor and extremely inefficient but the smoke from the fires along with withering fire from my Death Stars on the east bank managed to silence most French targets on the cliffs and provide a safe enough crossing for the bulk of the 7th Panzer. We decided to call it on Turn 6 as most of the German infantry had miraculously crossed the Meuse after losing only 3 loaded boats. Too many Germans and too much time left for the French to hold on.
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO SEE VIDEO OF MAP
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YeMVm8-BLl8
Game 2 – John Garlic and I finally found a chance to play each other in SP159 The Lisjanka Epitaph. I played as the German player player against his Russians. Regretfully, I forgot to take photos of the game but the game was decided by a ton of 2’s and 12’s being rolled at critical times. Unfortunately for John, the extremes were not evenly distributed between us and he had 3 malfunctioned MA’s by turn two while I had that same number of CH’s.
Game 3 – FrF22 Wunderwaffe vs. Mike McGrath. I had a fantastic time playing Mike. He is incredibly fun to play and he stopped me many times to give me pointers that kept me in the the game. Fast and istictual, Mike is consistently the top echelon of the game. There were a few times where I thought I had an even chance of pulling it off and then his 75LL anti-tank guns made their appearance and shut down half the board while taking three of my KV’s with them. Just when I was ready to make my final suicide rush to the victory building’s, the alarm on Mike’s his phone began to chime, summoning him to the bar to watch a football game. So at the moment of truth, Mike handed me the field. Talk about being saved by the bell. Lot’s of fun and learning from a master.
Game 4 – ABTF1 The Prize vs. Brian Martuszis. Brian, altruistic to a fault, spends each ASLOK exclusively playtesting scenarios for different publishers. We chose an old scenario that was being re-worked for the new ‘Bridges’ CG pack that is in development from MMP. I was the defending SS against some truly bad-ass Paras with mortars, PIATS, FT’s and a 9-2. Luckily I had a few AC’s and HT’s which could scoot around making his movements difficult. It wasn’t long before he KIA’d my entire garrison in the Pillbox on the bridge with a Flamethrower attack, reminiscent of the scene in the movie less the StormTrooper inaccuracy. Now with the Strongpoint gone, all that was left was to climb onto the bridge and exit toward Nijmegen for the win. Unfortunately for Brian he was unable to generate enough SMOKE to block LOS from my PSW222’s sMG HT Fire Lanes on the bridge. As time was waning, the Red Devil’s disappeared back into their fortified position for the terrible battle to come.
Game 5 – MC34 Machine Gun Alley vs. Gary Bartlett. Another Playtest, this time for BFP’s Finnish module and again against another very close friend. This is a scenario where 1st line Finns (me) are attacking from three directions on one board against Russians (Gary) in concrete Pillboxs and Fortified Buildings sporting 3 HMG’s. Taking my lumps trying to get to cover with the help of Gary’s lack of ROF and some timely 11’s and 12’s allowed me to close for a chance at victory by Turn 5. It was now close to 2 AM and Gary had a game in the mini’s at eight so we called it here. Very fun scenario featuring an unstoppable Force colliding with an immovable object. I can’t wait for the new Finnish pack to come out.
Wednesday Morning – I was planning on leaving ASLOK early this year as I wanted to visit my father in Montreal so I said my goodbyes, went downstairs to pull the car around and found that my catalytic converter had been donated, without my permission, to someone’s meth addiction. I spent the rest of the morning finding a garage that could get me fixed up and back on the road. On the brightside, I could get another game or two in.
Game 6 – SP259 Corridor to Extinction vs. Jim. This was a friendly laid back game that went back and forth until the JgPzVI took it in the side on turn 4. Then we spent over an hour chatting about careers, sociology, strategy and neat little ASL tricks and made quick work of becoming good friends. This is why I come to ASLOK.
Game 7 – NTX02 They Came Like the Rain vs. Ray Woloszyn. By the time the car was ready it was already too late to make the drive to Montreal so my close friend and Kernersville neighbor I picked a tiny scenario where my Japanese Attackers are trying to exit 3 Squads off the far edge past Commonwealth Defending along a hill. By the end of Turn 2 60%+ of both OB’s were eliminated through suicidal Banzai charges and HtH CC. With the help of unending Smoke from my lone knee mortar, I was just able to get my last squad off in the knick of time.
Thursday Morning I said my goodbyes for the second time and hopped on the road. Until next year.
ASL Woodworking Shop Update:
The crew has been working for 3 weeks now and the basement at Ritterkrieg is coming along nicely. The steps have been poured, the lighting is done, the electrical outlets are in, the awning is installed, the land cleared, the walls are painted. Still coming…the windows, door, polished floor, dust collection, HVAC pending and finally tool installation. We are close. Before/after photos soon.