Advanced Squad Leader (MMP) ~ "Into the Vienna Woods" [AP52]

Game: Advanced Squad Leader
Scenario: "Into Vienna Woods" [AP53]
Participants: Jim "HeavyD" D, Myself
Time: Sat, Nov 26th 4.00PM - 7.00PM

Action Pack #5 featured scenarios from the Eastern Front Around here at least we have played many of the scenarios from it. This one "Into Vienna Woods" is one that I have now played twice. This one looks appealing when you see it. Its played on half board 58 (hill) and only lasts six turns. As the Russian you have 15 MMC's and a couple of Assault Guns to counter a gang of 11 SS squads lead by a 10-2. As of this writing it is 50/50 (42/42) on ROAR, which is perfect.


HeavyD and I are into our 2nd month of our get back on track with ASL program and selected this one to play. I chose the Soviets as I had played it back in '09 as the Germans. I didn't recall much from the game other then I played my friend Dave Angrisani. The Victory conditions are very clear here, the Germans have to run up the hill and take all of the level three hexes and hold them by the end of the game. There is a trench counter in each of the level three hexes and Alpine Hills are in play (in short, hills will block LOS along the same level). The Russians start out with 5 5-2-7s, 1 2-2-7, 1 8-0, 1 LMG and 4 "?" markers. On their half of turn 3 the Russians get substantial reinforcements. This group has 10 4-5-8s, 1 9-1, 1 8-1, 1 8-0, 3 LMGs as well as a SU-100 and SU-76. As the playing area is so small, these reinforcements can enter the trench line the turn they enter (some of them at least). 

My Set Up

The German player has a very nice force of 11 6-5-8s, 1 10-2, 1 8-1, 1 8-0 2 dm MMGs, 3 LMGs and a PSK. They too can be in the trench line on the turn that they enter. It is my job to keep them out. As I looked at the board whilst setting up didn't see anything that had me really worried. I simply set up most of my guys on top of the hill in the trench line with 1 squad on level two (all starting Russians have to be at least at level 1) and a couple of dummies at level one. 


The Steamroller


Things went well early on. I was quite pleased with how my dummie stacks made HeavyD be cautious around them. I did a little long range fire (when your squads range is two, long range is 4-5 hexes away) at some of his squads as they started their assent up the hill. Each time though when a MC was called for his guys were up for it, I don't think I broke a single unit of his during his first movement phase. As the movement phase progressed I didn't get that worried though as he was saving his 10-2 death-star stack for the very end. Most of his movement had been very passive to this point, so him not breaking much wasn't that much of a concern. However when the 10-2 and his band of thugs made there way up the hill without any of my fire slowing them down, I started to get a bit worried. It was also at this point in the scenario that I realized that I had completely blown my set up. 

End of German first Movement phase

When his turn was over, I was starting to go into shock. I had three 6-5-8s and a 10-2 (plus a couple of MGs) adjacent to my trench line. I had a squad or two break from his advancing fire as well. I skulked on my turn, hoping to rally my guys and survive his prep fire. 

HeavyD working me over during his turn 2 Movement Phase

It got ugly early in the prep fire phase. He started breaking units right off the bat. After his withering Prep fire he made a few cautious moves to get adjacent to me on his side of the hill. I pointed out that he could CX one of his guys and get around behind me on my side of the hill, eliminating some of my route options. My defensive fire again was fruitless, not breaking a single unit. He advanced into the trench line and cleaned up in the CC phase. It was over. I conceded at the end of the turn as he still had one more movement phase to clean up my last one or two squads that were in the trenches, then he'd be ready and waiting my assaulting forces.  

End of German Turn 2...Those are Germans in the trench line

Even though HeavyD did well on his MCs, this wasn't about dice, this was about me missing the point. My initial force of 5.5 squads has to be a speed bump. I have to fight him as soon as he enters the map, I should have 3-4 squads down on level one close to his entry hexes. This allows me to engage him right away and takes away the range advantage that his units have over mine. I should have only left one or two squads on the hill with the LMG to cover the trench line. I know that I'll loose all of my initial force now, I should have set it up better to slow him down so that my reinforcements would be able to get to the trench line while he is still fighting his way up his side of the hill. 


The day was not lost, Dominion was sitting there...the new expansions (Hinterlands) was just begging us to try it out so we did. We ended up playing a few hands of the new set and having a good time.

Dominion Saves the day

Battles of the American Revolution, Vol. VII (GMT) ~ "Germantown"

Game: Battles of the American Revolution Series
Scenario: Germantown
Participants: Jim "HeavyD" D, Myself
Time: Friday, Sep 2nd ~ 6.30PM - 8.45PM, Saturday Sep 3rd ~ 12.00PM - 3.00PM

The last time I played Germantown was my first and it was a great time. Bob and I had a good game, with highs and lows and lots of drama. I lost as the British in the end, but I didn't feel like I was loosing until the very end when the Army Morale track gave out on me. HeavyD and I decided to play this one as we had been on a GCACW kick for the past several months and wanted to play something that we could finish in one or two sittings. As I had already played the British once, I volunteered to play the Americans this time around. 


When I sat down to set up and then to think about what I was going to do in this game, I thought back to my last game with Bob. In that game I remembered messing up the defense of the fortified house (the Chew house) by not putting enough guys in it. I also recall having Bob's artillery shoot the heck out of me, neither one of these recollections offered much insight into what I was going to do this time. So basically I was starting in fresh. 


Opening

Initial Set Up

After spending some time going over the special rules we were ready to start. The first turn went very well for me as I was able to capture HeavyD's initial battery after forcing his infantry to run off. In my second turn I decided to divert the lead elements of my army down a side road (lane really) using strategic movement. My thinking here was that due to the fog in the early turns we are really bound to the roads more then usual (-1 MP when not on a road). So my thinking was that I would split off the first portion of the army and try and get in around the fortified location and cut it off. I had the trailing elements (lower quality) of the army and most of the artillery stick to the main road. This, to me at the time made sense as I was moving almost all my guys at full strategic movement rate, instead of moving down the main road and then bumping into the Chew house. 

The American Main Force clashes with the British Picket line

We caught an error we made early enough on turn two to go back and fix it. You cannot use strategic movement on a path, so I had to re-march my right wing (Militia) along the road, causing them to move in parallel with my main force, keeping them separated as well. These early turns are quick as most of the British forces are unable to move yet. One thing that caught my eye was that HeavyD was moving very aggressively towards my Militia column with his Hessian's (some of the only British units that can move on turn two). 

End of American Turn 3 (top of the turn)

Action on the Right


As I walked away after completing my 3rd turn I felt ok about how things were going. I was a little annoyed at how rusty I had played already. An example of this is some of my initial attacks. This series is deceptively simple, yet underneath lie's a rich and complex system, especially the combat system. I had made an attack or two without thinking ahead to what might happen. Retreating is tricky and you need to plan for it, both your attackers retreating and the enemies retreats. I had missed this and bunched up my troops. 

Caught Unaware, the American Militia stumbles into a Hornets nest

Thus when HeavyD went after my right wing with his Hessian's I was caught off guard and badly placed. HeavyD got a back to back turn as well and this aided him greatly. It was yet another case of my not thinking ahead to that eventuality and thus planning for it. You should always plan for that if you win the initiative at the top of the turn. I didn't and it cost me. I was really starting to get frustrated by how badly I had played this. Also, I had greatly underestimated HeavyD who had clearly brought his A-game.

The Right Wing fighting for its life (end of British turn 4)

Things went from bad to worse for my Militia as he was able to virtually wipe out the entire column, capturing or eliminating almost all of them. I quickly shot down the army morale track as my hopes plummeted. His initial attacks didn't go as well as they could have, yet I was still trapped due to a PIN result and ZOC's. My wing was also unsupported, so I had little around to run over and assist with. Before I knew it, the game was all but over. True we were only on the 4th turn, but I had lost 7-8 units and my Army morale was already at the half way point. Elsewhere on the field of battle I had little to be excited about. 



HeavyD was able (with the double turn) to base his line on the Chew house and this was a bad thing as that place is hard enough to take when you have it completely surrounded. Now he had it well supported in the middle of his line. Also, the weather played a roll. It remained Dense fog on the fourth turn, thus my artillery was unable to even see any red coats, much shoot at any. 

The point in the game where I resign...

I decided to throw in the towel here as at best I had a long way to go to even get back into a position to even think about getting a win. Plus the day was young and we still had time to play some other games. 


I have to hand it to HeavyD, he beat me fair and square and very soundly. I really underestimated him. I also underestimated the game, missing (or forgetting) many important points that I had learned the hard way in previous playings. 


Given that the day was young, we broke out Dominion and played several hands. We went with Random decks (5 cards each) from the Core set and Seaside. I think we played three hands, all were pretty close and entertaining. Then we decided to break out Agricola. I had been playing this one with Bob recently and wanted to get HeavyD familiar with the game again as it had been some time since he played it. We played the core game with the "E" Occupation cards. I drew a Plow maker and this really helped out. I wonder, in the wider world of this game whether the cards are seen as a good thing or a bad? In our case locally, they are usually the thing that will nearly always determine the winner. Usually one person will draw one or two Occupations that are really good and they'll shoot out in front (like I did here). Interestingly though, the final score was very close to the last couple games Bob and I had played with the winner having nearly double the VPs as the next player (always two player games). I am planing on having Bob and HeavyD play a three player game of Agricola latter in the month, so perhaps that will mix things up a bit. 

Nothing like a few hands of Dominion to take the sting off

Ah, the thrill of agriculture gaming!

A Game of Thrones (FFG) - "5 Player" & Dominion (RGG)

Game: A Game of Thrones (FFG)
Scenario: 5-player
Participants: Joe "YJ" C, Bob H, Jim "HravyD" D, Jeff "Jeffe" I, Myself
Time: Saturday, May 28th ~ 10.30AM - 4.00PM

A Game of Thrones has been out since 2003 and well liked by my group of gamers. We have played it perhaps a dozen times since its release. Not so much lately though. With the excellent HBO series on and all of us watching it we decided to pull this one out and have a go.

AGoT is an interesting game. It is half Euro and half wargame. The game of course is set in Martin's captivating world of Westeros. The game can have up to six players, each assuming the role of one of the main houses vying for the Iron Throne. Combat is handled a la Diplomacy, that is two beats one. If you loose a battle, you retreat your forces if able, you don't loose units unless one of the players has played a card which inflicts casualties. Each house has a set of seven cards depicting various characters from the novels. Each one of the cards will have a number that you add to the battle, some of the cards will have special abilities (like voiding your opponents cards value for the battle). Each card can only be used once then it is discarded until that players uses all of his cards, then he will get them all back, to use again. Thus a battle will have units attacking and defending, supporting units in adjacent spaces that will also add their values to the fight and finally each house will play a card, the side with the highest total wins the battle. Simple, elegant.

YJ takes to Boys through the Rules

The game also has three sets of ten cards that determine various phases in the game. Some of these cards will do things like allow the houses to recruit new units, adjust supply (how many units you can have), garner support, or face an invasion from the Wildlings. This is a fantastic way of mixing up a standard sequence of play and adding in a whole lot of variability and tension. It also greatly enhances the replayability of the game as now two games will be the same with regard to the sequence of play.

Bob, Jeffe, YJ and HeavyD on Turn 2

The meat of the game lies in the orders system. Each house has a set of counters that are placed in every space containing their units, each turn. These counter (order) define what the units in the zone will do during the upcoming turn. Each player places theses orders face down prior to the start of the turn, then all players flip over the orders and execute them in order of their standing on the Iron Throne (which is one of the items that players use their support tokens to bid on).

Here is a run down on what the orders do:

• Attack (allows the units to move and or attack an adjacent space)
• Defend (units stay in place and get a bonus on defense)
• Support (units are able to support a battle in an adjacent space)
• Influence (units create support tokens, which are added to the players supply)
• Raid (strip one adjacent Support or Influence token)

 In addition to the two basic order tokens, there is one 'special' order token which allows a player to perform the same action with a slight bonus (a +1 for the attack, or an extra +1 on defense). The number of these special tokens each player can use each turn is driven by their standing on the "Crow" chart. This standing is also bid on each time the "Game of Thrones' event is drawn (one of the three decks). Thus you might not be able to bid on these status' for several turns, or even the entire game (rare).

Turn 9, note the lack of units

Victory is determined after ten turns by the player who controls the most castle spaces or via sudden death if one player gets a certain number of castles prior to the end of the game. Diplomacy plays a big role in the game as well as players will usually need to form alliances to get enough support to help them win battles or hold spaces they've taken. Having 5 players is perhaps the best way to play, but any number between 3 and 6 works well. The fewer the players, the less diplomacy there is.



Our game was strangely muted. There wasn't a lot of diplomacy or back stabbing. I think most of us were grappling with re-learning the game early on and this limited the usual highly fluid nature of the game. Part of it was the each house has a little room to expand before they bump into their neighbors. Once all of the neutral spaces get taken is when you start to see some sparks fly. Also we only drew a couple of Muster events, thus for most of the game we had small armies, thus not a lot to work with. YJ ended up winning at the end of the game having taken one or two more cities then the rest of us. Bob got a little crazy mid-game by attacking both me and Jeffe, taking a couple of spaces. Jeffe and I quickly counter attacked and Bob lost most of his forces, allowing us to get back the lost spaces and take a couple more. Before we could capitalize on this though YJ had expanded and taken enough neutral spaces along with one or two from HeavyD to get the win.

Still it proved a fun game, only taken a couple hours. We will have to play this one again soon while the game is still fresh in our minds. I expect we'll have a much more interesting game the 2nd time around.

As the day was young, we decided to break out Dominion. This might have caused the AGoT game to feel like going through the motions as everyone of us were VERY eager to play Dominion (which is happening a lot around here lately.

YJ and Jeffe broke off and played three hands while Bob, HeavyD and I played a couple of hands.




Here are the results from YJ and Jeffe's Games:

Deck: "Best Wishes"

• Jeffe, 38
• YJ, 14

Deck: "Victory Dance"

• Jeffe, 69
• YJ, 82

Deck: "Secret Scheme's"

• Jeffe, 33
• YJ, 25

Jeffe and YJ square off using the Intrigue Expansion

 
Here are the decks and results from my games with Bob and HeavyD:

Deck: "The Good Life"

• HeavyD, 50
• Steve, 40
• Bob 35

Deck: "Chemistry Lesson"

• HeavyD, 20
• Steve, 35

Bob and HeavyD

Dominion (RGG)

Game: Dominion (Rio Grande Games)
Scenario: Repetition (3p), Reach for Tomorrow (3p), The King's Army (4p) and Potion Mixer (4p)
Participants: Jeff "Jeffe" I, Joe "YJ" C, John C and Myself
Time: Saturday, May 21st ~ 11.45AM - 6.15PM

Dominion is highly addictive. It has taken hold in my group in St. Louis. I blame Rikk (aka "The Pirate") my friend in Arizona who out of the blue sent me the game a few months back. In the last month, I have played it with all of my gaming friends and it has proved very popular. Several times we've elected to play Dominion in lieu of a 'real' game. For those of you that are wargamers that might be looking for something to fill in the cracks, or perhaps something that the wife and children would enjoy, Dominion is certainly worth your time. A couple of my friends have played it with their wives, mothers and children...most of the time they (the family members) were the first ones to say "lets play again".

I talked about the game in depth in this (2nd half) post, so I wont spend time here going over the mechanics of the game. I will talk briefly though about the expansions to the game, which we played through this past Saturday. First off there is Dominion: Seaside. Seaside adds cards that have multi-turn effects as well as cards that can add resources to themselves over the course of the game. "Prosperity" adds another layer of victory and treasure cards as well as new cards that are both actions and treasures, or better said treasure cards with perks. Lastly there is "Alchemy" which introduces a new currency to the game (potions). These are the only three expansions that I have played with to date, there is one "Intrigue" that I have and have not played yet as well as a brand new one "Cornucopia" that I do not yet have.

Repetition Deck

Game #1 "Repetition" (Dominion + Seaside) [3-player]

This deck has the "Pirate Ship" in it and I stayed away from it, preferring instead to stick "Caravan" and "Festival" to start off with. YJ and Jeffe caught on quick and this was a tight game.

The Final Score looked like this:

• Jeffe: 33
• Myself 30
• YJ 24

Reach for Tomorrow Deck

 Game #2 "Reach for Tomorrow" (Dominion + Seaside) [3-player]

This is an interesting deck. It had "Treasure Map" in it and we all jumped on those cards early on. Jeffe and I had success getting them played early, giving us an advantage early. YJ was however able to fight back in and got a very close win.

Final Score:

• YJ 36
• Myself 35
• Jeffe 10

Me, John and Jeffe

Game #3 "The King's Army" (Dominion + Prosperity)

John showed up and after some amazing chow (thanks T-Money!!!) we played this very enjoyable deck. There are several attack cards in it and the "Moat" was very popular. Late in the game we figured out that "King's Court" was a huge card. Once we got a few of those in our hands the game drew quickly to a close. I had a lot of luck in that I seemed to have a "Moat" at all the right times. I also got the "Goons" going very early on and they ended up giving me something like 15 victory points. The game didn't end when the "Provinces" ran out, but rather when I (wanting to end it early as Jeffe was coming back on me) bought out the third kingdom pile to end it. The prior turn, I blew a card play, costing me a few coins which I could have ended the game on that turn, Jeffe was able on his last turn to get enough VP's for a one point win...very cool.

Final Score:

• Jeffe 27
• Myself 25
• YJ 11
• John 11

Jeffe, YJ and YJ's Hair

Game #4 "Potion Maker" (Dominion + Alchemy)

This was our last game of the day and is was pretty good. We all tried to figure out the new cards and the potions, with Jeffe getting it first. Despite this YJ was able to get it going with the "Golems" and in the end between Jeffe and YJ and their damn "Golems (which can extend their turn) it turned into a race between them, while John and I could only watch and wish that we had some dang "Golems" too.

Final Score:

• YJ 38
• Jeffe 30
• Myself 21
• John 21

Potion Maker Deck in Action

So all in all we had a fantastic time. Jeffe and John played three more games after we left. My thanks to Jeffe for hosting. 

Commands & Colors: Ancients (GMT) ~ "Colline Gate" & Dominion (Rio Grande Games)

Game: Commands & Colors: Ancients
Scenario: Colline Gate - 82BC
Participants: Jim "HeavyD" D, Myself
Time: Friday, Apr 22nd ~ 6.30PM - 8.45PM

HeavyD and I decided on some Big Boy Blocks for this evenings game. As we have played through most of the scenario in the first three games in the series, I decided to crack open one of the most recent games, Expansion #3, "The Roman Civil War". I believe this is the first scenario from this expansion that we've played.

We started with the first scenario, "Colline Gate" which looked interesting. It has Walls in it and the Romans (HeavyD) start out in front of them in a rather precarious position given that walls will block retreat paths. We diced for sides I got the Samnites. The Samnites start with six Auxilia', two Medium Infantry, two Medium Cavalry and one light sling unit.  The Romans start with a slightly heavier force of six Medium Infantry, two slingers, two Medium Cavalry and one Auxilia. I have one leader and a four card hand size, while HeavyD has two leaders and six cards. I go first.

Initial Set Up

I open with a pretty good hand; I start with a "Double Time" allowing me to engage right away. I have three attacks on the first turn and all of them result in retreats. HeavyD also looses a couple of his slingers on the end of the line. As I was able to make him retreat my lighter Auxilia's are unscratched which helps as I am fighting at a disadvantage against HeavyD's Medium Infantry (3 dice to 3).

End of the Samnites first turn, Roman backs against the wall

HeavyD counters by reengaging my right with most of the units I forced back. He also pulls some of the Mediums out of the gates. He lines up four units (M) to my three (A). My units perform very well, I believe the official term is something like "I diced the heck out of him". HeavyD looses one unit completely to a three flag roll on my part and has several others take a few blocks as casualties. One of my Auxilias is down to one block and the other two are still on good shape. Again though HeavyD has his back to the wall and is very vulnerable to retreat results, which will kill off his blocks due to the wall.

Roman Counter Attacks...

...Fail!

I counter with activating three units on the right, I focus all my attacks on one Medium infantry because my guys can only move one hex and be able to battle. I take out the Medium Infantry and very little loss during the combat phase. HeavyD counter's as he really has no other choice. He looses another Medium, while only taking down one of my Auxilia's two one block, I have two now on this side that are one-block wonders.

The Action continues on the Samnite Right

On my next activation I move up my Medium Cavalry to attack his remaining Medium Infantry and send my one-block Auxilia after his Slinger, who are trying blend into the wall that their standing next to. Not wanting to be left out of the action, my Cavalry unit performs well (I dice him again!) while the slingers fail their "blend in" task check, dieing as they try and flee over the wall. I end the turn with two more blocks, thus we are in sudden death mode as I only need one more to get the win.

Step 1: Select an enemy unit

Step 2: "Be" a good player!

Step 3: Remove the enemy unit, collect Victory block...it's Simple!

HeavyD counters by moving his Medium Cavalry unit out with his leader. They roll up and waste my Medium Cavalry. I start to look at the left have side of the board as there are no more Roman's on my Right (sans the Cav unit that can withdraw). I again have a "Double Time" card when I need it and am able to advance most of my left up against his line. My dice are cooling off though and these battles do not go anywhere nearly as well as the opening rounds on the right. Neither one of us loose any units and I take slightly more losses then HeavyD.

We are running out of Roman's on my right

Getting close!

HeavyD counter attacks and forces one of my Auxilia to flee. Then I play a "Order Three Left" card and move in against the Medium Infantry, while my Slingers attack HeavyD's Cavalry and Leader. The Slingers open with a bang, taking out the Medium Cavalry for the win.

The Map at the end of the Game

This is a tricky scenario for the Roman player who starts with a nicer force, but in a very precarious position, having to deal with the wall. We had some good laughs at my command dice performance though.

Dominion (Rio Grande Games)

As the night was still young, I offered to show HeavyD how to play Dominion. I had first seen this game six months ago while visiting Rikk out in Arizona. A few months after that trip, Rikk sent me a Dominion and Dominion Seaside out of the clear blue. He and I had the chance to play it 4-5 times recently while I was on another vacation back in Tempe.

I really like this game. It's certainly a Euro, but its got some very nice mechanics and is a whole lot of fun to play. It's doing very well, getting good marks on BGG and there is a very favorable video review of it over at the Dice Tower.

So first an overview. The game is for 2-4 players and takes perhaps a half an hour per player to complete. Each player starts with ten cards (seven coppers and three estates). There are then tens stacks of face up cards that the players can buy during their turn to add to their deck. In addition to these ten cards, there are three currency cards (copper, silver and gold) and three stacks of VP cards (estate, duchy and province). These too are also available to be acquired (by purchase or other events) for addition to you deck.

Here we see the coin and the set of ten cards you can purchase during the game

The mechanics of the game are very simple, you start with your hand of five cards, you then take an Action (most of the cards you buy are actions [of the ten]) then you finish with a Buy. An action consists of "playing" an "Action" card; for instance if you play a "Village" card you are allowed to draw an additional card and then take two more action (playing two more action cards). Buying consists of using the money cards in your hand along with any extra money that your action cards have provided for the turn to purchase one or more card (you can only buy more then one if one of your actions gave you a +1 buy). The objective of the game is to have the most VP's at the end of the game. The game ends when all of the provinces are taken, or three of the 10 available cards are taken.

HeavyD building his Dominion

So this sounds pretty simple and it is, HeavyD grokked the mechanics within a couple of hands and we were off to the races. I was certainly no expert, having only played the game 3-4 times previously, so we had a nice time looking over the various cards and what they meant to us. There isn't alot of player vs. player interaction (in this configuration at least). Each of us bought "Militia" cards early on so for the first 5-8 hands we were using these cards a lot, these force the other player to discard down to three cards, thus he's starting with three instead of five cards.

Final Scoring

There are something like 25 types of cards in the base game. You only will use ten during any one game, so this means that the game provides many re-playings as you mix and match the various cards you want to play with in any one game. The game comes with about 5 suggested sets of ten, but after that you are then able to construct your decks to meet whatever tickles your fancy.

I can't wait to play this one again...