Will Willow and I have been playing ASL against each other for quite some time. At times on and off over the years, live on VASL and once per year when we get together at the Austin Team Tournament and square off on day one in the Ferocity Fest event.
We just finished playing through the first Hazardous Movement pack and decided we are going to spend some significant time in the Desert. I put together a list of Desert scenarios I have and we are going to try to work our way through them. We aren't going to be picky, but we are going to try to stick to scenarios set on Desert boards. This will rule out most of the scenarios in Tunisia, although there are a few in that setting that are on Desert boards including the first one we tackled.
Counterattack at Sidi Bou Zid is set in Tunisia, 1943. American Shermans trying to exit or outduel six PZIII's and six PzIV's arriving on turn 3. The Shermans start the game a bit discombobulated with random rolls determining their initial facings. They must either cut across the the six desert boards and exit on the far side of board 31, or rack up more Desert victory points than the German.
The Germans initially get six Panzer IIIJs with the extra cool 50L gun and 2 Rate of Fire. On turn 3, six Panzer IVF2s enter from the top of the map and catch the Shermans in a crossfire. Both groups get a -1 Armor leader. The only terrain on the maps are three Hillocks that initially only benefit the German player.
Will took the Americans, giving me the Panzers. 7 Turns
As you can see, it is a long haul for the American player to traverse the map and exit on the other side. knocking out the Panzers is probably the best bet. The ROAR record on this scenario is pretty heavily skewed to the German players.
My strategy was to pull my IIIJs up behind the closest Hillock to get hull down and get some acquisition as soon as possible. The 50L is good enough to knock out a Sherman, but I would prefer side shots. At the end of turn 1, I am in position, the Shermans start in motion and facing all different directions so I had no fear moving onto the board.
In the American half of turn 1, it looked like Will was going to try to get as far as he could towards the far boards, perhaps trying to exit. One Sherman went south to get to the German flank. I had left two tanks behind the Hillock to try to at least have a couple of guns to oppose such a move. We finished turn 1 with one dead Sherman having taken a shot to the side. Will initially did a good job using the vehicle dust to cover some of his tanks.
Turn 2, I manage to burn another Shermie in prep, but the rest of my fire was ineffective. Got the hits, but couldn't penetrate. I decided to move my two flank protectors to the hillock to my left to get hull down to that enemy tank. Will got the 1,1, with motion defensive fire and burned one of them.
In his half, he started to move south to take on the Mark IIIs at closer ranges, and to get his front ends pointed towards the threat. I scored a shock on one, stopping it, but the rest of the fire was ineffective.
Disaster strikes in German turn 3 prep as I break the main armament on three PZIIIs in four shots, with nothing to show for their effort. Will's shocked tank recovers and my Panzer IVs are scheduled to come in. I move three in a bit closer and leave the other three at, and on, the far right hillock to take advantage of the L guns, backing off the two PZIIIs to get out of LOS of the advancing Shermans.
With the PZIII threat gone, Will cranks his turrets around and gets another 1,1 critical hit on a PzIV, burning it. Things have taken an unfortunate turn for the Germans.
End of German 3
The trip south didn't go as planned for him, knocking out another PZIII but losing a Sherman on a German 1,2 roll. In defensive fire, one of the Mark IVs burns another Sherman in the center of the board.
Will is still in this, but he is running short on Shermans. German 4, I break another gun, this time a 75L, but it's also my turn to get the 1,1 critical, burning another Sherman. Will's Unconfirmed Kill M4 dies this time. I try to extract my two remaining PZIIIs and get them far enough away that I might be able to try to repair the guns without looking down the muzzles of the 75s of the southern Shermans, moving so as to keep my dust between my tanks and his guns. The map is starting to look like the wreckage you would expect to find in tank battle in the Desert.
American 4 the Northern Shermans try to close with the MkIVs and lose one to defensive first fire, but my guys couldn't pop the other. Down south the three remaining Shermans move out to try to track down my helpless MkIIIs. All three of my MkIVs in the center are dead now. It's essentially a dead heat with a slight American advantage. Exit is out of the question now as Will doesn't have enough mobile tanks to achieve the 42 DVP needed for an exit victory, he has to duke it out.
In German 5, the 75L's finally take a toll, burning a Sherman, killing a second and immobilizing a third. The MkIIIs scurry further away, Will is down to two effective Shermans, with a third that can fire, but the distance really hurts it's chances of securing a hit, and the crew would have to re-enter the tank as they had to bail out on the immobilization.
American turn 5 and not much action, no one could achieve a hit, the Shermans moved forward. The number of functioning units has dwindled. I need to put an end to it and Will needs to knock out as many German tanks as he can before the end.
In German 6, I bag another American tank and my two helpless tanks are running for their lives desperately trying to get under the cover of their big brothers. The immobilized Sherman is re-manned but the distance is so great getting a hit is very difficult. I break yet another gun, leaving me with one effective tank.
American turn 6 and I get the hit I needed. K/Oing the last mobile M4. Will threw in the towel.
The maps are littered with broken and burning tanks.
It was seriously a good time and turned into a good game. My disabling five guns without getting a single repair helped a lot. But that's why we play and why we roll dice.
I think in a game with less bad luck on German guns, the 75L's are probably too much.
Having played it, and seen the results, as the American I would get those M4s turned south and drive right into the PZIIIs, take advantage of the numbers through the first two turns. I think exit is a bad plan, once the MkIVs arrive, the Shermans are at a severe disadvantage at the distances in the Desert. Unfortunately, getting hull down behind the southern hillock and trading shots with hull down PZIVs is also a losing battle. The Sherman turrets don't provide any protection and the turret armor is 8. You'll get the benefit of being immune to hull hits, but the turret armor isn't doing you any favors.
If you can bust up the MkIIIs with minimal casualties, at least you'll have more guns than the Germans when the MkIVs get into position.
Good game from Will. Always kind of shied away from this scenario because of the record, but don't let that stop you. It was a lot of fun and the American side is a challenge.
Thanks for reading.
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