ASL Red Barricades : October 17th 1942

I haven't played ASL since I was 18, and now that I have a games room where I can leave stuff lying around as long as I want, I decided to crack it out again.  I had a quick test game to get the rules back into place.  Then what better choice than Red Barricades....CG III of course !  I'm playing solo for now, although I'm hoping my eldest daughter will be intrigued enough to want to start pushing some cardboard counters around  : )


To start with, here is the awesome Red Barricades map, in a south-north alignment as that is the basic direction of combat.

CG Day 17/10 Set-Up

The Germans start with a Rifle Company (full, 9-1 / 8-1 / 8-0), a Sturm Company (full, 10-2 / 8-1 / 8-0), a PzIIIL platoon (full, 8-1), an 80mm+ Battalion mortar battery (normal ammo) with an Offboard Observer (placed in I1) and two preregistered hexes (G6 and W7 chosen). To this they added a second rifle company (full, 8-1 / 8-0 / 7-0), an SPW platoon (full) and a battery of 100mm+ Medium Artillery (normal ammo) with an onboard radio.

The Russians start with a Rifle Company (full, 9-1 / 8-0), a second Rifle Company (full, 8-0), an SMG Company (full, 9-1 / 7-0), two 45LL AT guns, 5 Fortified Buildings and 50 FPPs.  To this they added a third onboard Rifle Company (full, 9-1 / 7-0) and a battery of 70mm+ Light Artillery (plentiful ammo) with an onboard field phone.

The Russian defense was articulated on the left flank so as to stop the Germans from crossing the railway embankment, with plenty of enfilading fire, fire lanes and MG nests.  The outbuildings in the south-east corner of the factory were also heavily defended.  On the opposing flank, it was taken for granted that the Germans would grab the small suburb area, but should be slowed down as much as possible, to prevent them getting beyond the gully.  Both 45LL AT guns were placed in this area, one hauled up to the first floor of a fortified building.  The light artillery was to break up troop concentrations on either flank.

German tactical options on Day 1 are, in my opinion, fairly limited, mainly due to space : they have to smash through the railway embankment to take at least the south-east corner, and they have to try to reach the gully, or go even beyond, so as to open up options for flanking the factories on future campaign days.  The main choice is whether to concentrate forces, or divide them, and I chose the latter option.  Two rifle companies were committed to the first objective, and one Sturm company, with SPW and tank support, to the latter.  The battalion mortar, with its preregistered hexes, could intervene on either flank.  The medium artillery radio was given to the Sturm company on an "as required" basis, although in the end it was not used.



CG Day 17/10 Combat

I naturally spent a lot of time with my nose in the rulebook, so forgot to take any photos this time round and this will be all text, so I'll keep it brief.  Will do better next time....

The game lasted 6 turns; on the 6th turn I decided that both sides would agree on a ceasefire, as apart from desultory shooting, there was not much more they could do.

On their right flank, the German attacks over the railway embankment were violent, constant and desperate all at once.  At least three waves were pushed back, until a rifle platoon finally got a toe hold in the south-east corner building, which a previous artillery strike had set on fire.  Constantly under pressure, the German infantry could not even make it down into the cellar to put the flames out, which later turned into a blaze.  The Russians even considered launching a counter-attack to take back the building, but feared that if it went wrong, their opponents would be able to push further into the factory outbuildings.  The Russian defense was well-placed and mobile, the Germans being greatly handicapped by not having any view down into the inner complex.

On their left flank, the German offensive was quickly bunched up, it proving difficult to get over the road.  Smoke rounds fired from the mortar battery onto a well-chosen preregistered hex, however, broke up the Russian defensive fire opportunities and allowed the Sturm company to push west.  A strong Russian position in the large stone building close to the river offered a threat which, ultimately, failed to materialise, costing the Russians three squads and an HMG for very little impact.

The Russian light artillery now came into play, striking the stone building; whilst it caused few casualties, it had a devastating effect on morale and also effectively bogged down the sturmtruppen.  As the German mortar smoke drifted away, both 45LL AT guns (which I place on-board, but "ignore" as HIP while deciding German actions) revealed themselves.  A PzIIIL was destroyed, the second was missed....and destroyed an AT gun with return fire (thanks to a critical hit).  It began to reverse down the street, was hit once by the second AT gun but not destroyed, and then, in typically dramatical ASL fashion, the second AT gun in the 1st floor fortified building malfunctioned.  It was eventually written off by its crew !



CG Day 17/10 Results

The Germans win the CG day, as they have captured 15 stone locations.

The perimeters are as follows :

German losses are :
3 x 5-4-8; 7 x 4-6-7; 9-1; 8-0; 8-1 Armour; 1 PzIIIL with crew; 1 SPW 251/1 with crew [35 CVP for the Russians]
ELR Loss and Battle Hardening : 1 x 5-4-8 -> 1 x 4-4-7; 1 x 4-6-7 -> 1 x 4-6-8

Russian losses are :
8.5 x 4-4-7; 2 x 5-2-7; 9-1; 2 x 45LL AT; 1 x 2-2-8 crew; 1 x ATR [KIA]; 1 x HMG, 2 x MMG, 1 x ATR [captured] [28 CVP for the Germans]
ELR Loss and Battle Hardening : 2.5 x 4-4-7 -> 2.5 x 4-2-6


CG Day 17/10 Wrap-up

Germans :
Battle Harden : 5 x 4-6-7 -> 5 x 4-6-8; 8-1 -> 9-1.
All captured Russian SW malfunction and are destroyed
The remaining 2 PzIIIL are Withdrawn

Russians :
Battle Harden : 7-0 -> 8-0


CG Day 17/10 Retained

Germans :
10-2 / 9-1 / 8-1 / 8-1 / 8-0 / 8-0 / 7-0
8 x 5-4-8
6 x 4-6-8
11 x 4-6-7
1 x 4-4-7
2 x HMG / 3 x MMG / 4 x LMG / 2 x 50mm MTR / 2 x ATR / 2 x DC
1 x Med Arty 100mm OBA
3 x SPW 251/1


Russians :
9-1 / 9-1 / 8-0 / 8-0 / 8-0 / 7-0
25 x 4-4-7
7 x 5-2-7
2 x 4-2-6
1 x 2-2-6
1 x 2-2-8 Crew
2 x HMG / 1 x MMG / 3 x LMG / 3 x 50mm MTR / 1 x ATR


CG Day 17/10 Map Changes

Stone Rubble : F5, F6
Wooden Rubble : X0, X1, X2
Fortified Buildings [Lvl] : F11[1], F13[1], N5[1], W10[1], Z1[1]
Trenches : V5, V7, E13, D13
Burnt Out Wreck : W2
Wreck : S3


Post-battle musings

As it may be a while before I play Day 2, some thoughts on tactics used and future plans....

Germans :
Running one or two trench-lines across the railway embankment to the toe-hold in the south-east of the factory would be a good idea.
OBA is extremely useful, especially with an offboard observer and at least one pre-registered hex.  Ammunition is generally sufficient to keep it firing most of the game and it breaks up enemy troop concentrations, keeps broken troops DM, and can fire a smoke mission if needed.
Light tanks are not to be underestimated; once they acquire an infantry target, any hit (as the result does not suffer TEM) can be quite deadly.


Russians :
Never underestimate the use of 8FP (even 6FP) against an advancing enemy.
Set HMGs up in machine-gun nests at distance, even 2 for a squad, preferably with a low grade leader to avoid cowering.  50mm mortars - especially two allocated to one squad up on a roof - are also useful, due to their high ROF.  MMGs on the other hand are better used closer up.
Russian OBA is cheap but, with a field phone, useful.  One or two well-placed bombardments can significantly disrupt enemy plans.