My Long Time Wargame Opponent (LTWO) and I just finished a three-month session of playing Federation and Empire and now are looking forward to a pallet cleanser game of ASL. For this session, I chose the first scenario from the ASL Journal.

The scenario looks slightly tilted toward the Russians, but it’s still in the 45%-55% range, so I consider it not lop-sided.

The scenario is played on two half-boards with two overlays. The boards are the city boards from Beyond Valor - including the lovely canal!  The Germans are elements of SS Panzer Regiment Der Fuhrer, Division 2, Das Reich, so not only are they ELR 5 and get all those wonderful SS bonuses, it means the Black Counters come out!

The SS is defending three buildings (23Y7, 23AA3, and 23CC2) against a combination of elements of the Russian 5th Guards Mechanized Brigade supported by elements of the 30th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment as well as Austrian partisans. So, while the German player may get his black counters and SS boys, but Ivan gets two IS-2m, with their 122L main gun and 26 AF front hull.

There are no fancy special rules here - just infantry, guns, and tanks - and the SSR are not too weird. The only downside is that it might be a bit long - but I’m game since there are so many cool toys!

1. •German SS squads w/ ELR 5
   

2. •PzKpfw VE, PzKpfw IVJ, and a FlaK 88
   

3. •PSK and a 9-2 Armor Leader
   

4. •Russian Guards w/ No Quarter
   

5. •Three T-34/85 and two IS-2m
   

6. •Two DC, a FT, and a 9-1 Armor Leader
   

All of this in a late-war struggle for the heart of an European City. This is ASL at its best! There will be carnage and mayhem in the streets of Vienna... hm, maybe I should go watch The Third Man...

Images

Image at the top is from Illustrated History. The picture of the IS-2M is from the FReeper Foxhole’s TreadHead Tuesday. The still from The Third Man is from Sean Axmaker’s blog.