White Coke posted:

Since this scenario features Madsen LMGs, how does this game represent different kinds of machine guns? Is a water cooled, rifle calibre, tripod mounted machine gun a MMG or HMG?

quote:

Game Pieces

A quick disclaimer - ASL uses a lot of acronyms. I will do my best to explain the acronym the first time I use it, but if I fail to do so or if you're confused, please ask!

SMCs (single-man counters)
(front)
(back)

Single-man counters are easy to remember, there's only a single man on here! These represent leaders and heroes (which I'll explain if we see them). These guys only have two numbers on them. The first is their morale value. If something bad happens, or if they need to figure out IF they can do something, they roll against that number. Lower than that is good, higher is bad. The second number is their modifier, in this case a -2. Any unit stacked with the leader gets to subtract 2 from most any roll their make. This would be read as a "nine neg two leader".
When the unit is flipped over, that means they're "broken". Their morale has failed and they're cowering. They can't do anything but hopefully rally during the rally phase. The only number here is their morale number, they can't modify anyone else's roll now. BUT, the box around the number means that they can SELF-rally during the rally phase. Normally, a unit would need a leader with them to get them back in the fight, but these guys muster their own courage.

MMCs (multi-man counters)
(front)
(back)


Any unit with three men on it is a FULL SQUAD. Any unit with two men on it is a HALF SQUAD (except for crews, I'll explain later). The letter in the upper right designates their quality. E = elite, 1 = 1st line, 2 = 2nd line, C = conscript. The numbers, from left to right are (using the blue counter as an example):
8: their firepower
3: their "smoke exponent", what they have to roll less than in order to successfully use a smoke grenade. No exponent, no smoke.
3: their range - they can fire at full firepower up to 3 hexes away, half firepower up to 6 hexes away.
8: their morale
On the back, again, is their broken side. As I mentioned before, these units need a leader to rally them, as designated by NO box around their morale number.

The three colors above are our three nationalities. Blue is German, brownish-orange is Russian, and green is Rumanian.

SWs (support weapons)
(front)
(back)
(front)
(back)

SWs are carried by MMCs (remember what that means??), and I'll get to the actual firing rules when I actually use them. The acronyms here are:
HMG, MMG, LMG - heavy, medium, light machine gun
FT - flamethrower
DC - demolition charge

The numbers are (I'll use the HMG as an example):
5PP - 5 "portage points". A MMC can carry 3PP normally, and each additional PP they carry lowers their movement by one. Guns are heavy.
[3] - The boxed three is the weapon's "rate of fire". If the colored die is a 3 or less, the weapon can keep firing, instead of the one-and-done that most firing is.
6 - firepower
12 - range (the beauty of machine guns)
And on the back (malfunctioned) side:
R3 - if the weapons is malfunctioned, it would need a 3 or less to repair
X6 - if you try to repair the weapon and roll a 6, it's eliminated. Crumbles into dust, as most Russian equipment does.

Radios, DCs and FTs have their own rules, but for now suffice it to say that the only difference is that the Radio has three different success numbers, depending on which year you're playing. Technology got better later in the war.

Guns
(front)
(back)

Manned guns (noted by the bigger 5/8" counters, not the 1/2" SWs) are somewhat different looking than what we've seen. And, they use a different system of firing. Whereas most firing just rolls for effect, guns (and AFVs) first roll to hit, then designate a type of ammo, then roll for effect. So, all that is rolled into the counter. I didn't get a screenshot, but they must be manned by "crew" counters, or suffer a penalty.

MTR = mortar, and AT = anti-tank gun. Here are the values:
M11/M10 - the "manhandle" value. These guns can be pushed around, but it's not easy. I usually never even do it unless I really need to.
[3] - as before, this is the ROF (rate of fire)
82* / 57LL - the mortar is a 82mm short barrel (* = short). The line above the number means it can fire ONLY HE (high explosive) ammo. The AT gun is a 57mm extra-long (LL) barrel.
[3-78] - most guns have a really, really long range, so it's not even listed on the counter (and I don't even know it off the top of my head, it's so long). The mortar can only fire between 3 and 78 (ha!) hexes away. So, basically it can't fire closer than 3 hexes.

The back is the same R/X values as we saw on the SWs.

AFVs (armored fighting vehicles)
(front)
(back)

Oh, AFVs. I've been playing for a long time and still haven't mastered AFVs. There are tanks, half-tracks, trucks, landing vehicles, weird little ski-vehicles... almost every type of vehicle has its own set of rules. Literally - each vehicle (each nationality has 25-50) has its own paragraph in the rules book.

Luckily, this scenario only uses two. The Russian T-26S M37, and the German Stürmgeschutz (StuG) IIIB. I'll just explain each one.

The T-26S M37:
The upper right number is the movement allowance. It is in an oval because the vehicle is fully-tracked. The number is red because Russian vehicles had notoriously bad transmissions - you have roll a die when you start the vehicle, and a 12 causes it to break down.
The thick box around the counter means the it has a "restricted slow traverse" turret. This means that the main gun can only fire if the tank is buttoned-up, and the turret turns very slowly.
The "3" and "[1]" on the right are the vehicles armor values. The top is used when the tank is hit from the front. The bottom is used when the tank is hit from the sides or back. The square means that the upper structure of the tank is stronger on the back and sides than the lower structure of the tank.
The "[1]" on the left is the rate of fire number
The "B11" means the main gun breaks down if I roll an 11 or higher.
The main gun is a 45mm long barrel.
The "-/4" means that the vehicle has no bow machine gun, but has a 4-firepower coaxial machine gun, which fires in the same direction that the turret is facing.

OKAY, on to the StuG IIIB:
14 movement allowance, fully tracked.
No box around the counter means that the vehicle is NOT turreted. It can only fire in the direction the vehicle is facing.
6 frontal armor, 3 rear/side armor. The white circle means that the tank is a small target, which is a defensive bonus.
1 rate of fire
75mm short barrelled gun
On the back of the counter (which VASSAL doesn't show), there are numbers to use for HEAT (high explosive anti-tank) ammo, smoke rounds, AP (armor-piercing) ammo, smoke dischargers, and crew survival. I'll address those as I come to them.

Snipers


Snipers are very abstract in this game. You don't move them around the board yourself. I'll get into the actual mechanics if and when they happen, but here's the gist:
Each player has a "SAN" (sniper activation number) defined on the scenario card. VASSAL lets me mark it on the counter itself, so you see above that the Russians have a SAN of 4.
If the Germans roll a 4 during a firing phase, the Russian sniper is activated. The Russian player rolls one die, and if it's a 1 or 2, the sniper hits something.
The Russian player rolls two dice, one is the direction (along the edge of the counter), and the other is the distance in hexes. The sniper gets moved, and shoots the closest target.
That's the TL;DR version.

Foxholes


Foxholes are given by the scenario card, and add a defensive bonus for the units in it. The "1S" means that only one squad can be in it at a time, in addition to single-man counters. The other numbers are defensive bonuses.

Roadblocks


A roadblock is basically a Wall terrain that the player can place anywhere. Vehicles can't pass it, but infantry can.

Terrain (at least what's on this map)

Open Ground


Nothing special about open ground. But, if a unit is walking through open ground, the other player gets pretty sick bonuses when firing on them.
Cost to move into for infantry: 1 MF (movement factor)

Shellholes


Shellholes are treated as open ground, unless an extra movement point is spent, in which case it hunkers down in the shellhole and gets a defensive bonus.
Cost: 1 / 2 MF

Woods


Woods provide a +1 defensive modifier, and cost 2 MF to move into. Also, blocks line-of-sight through.

Grain


Grain doesn't block line of sight, but each hex between the attacker and the defender that it passes through adds +1 to the roll, making it worse. It costs 1.5 MF to move through when in season (which it is).

Hedges/Walls
(hedge)
(wall)

Hedges and walls are complicated with regards to line of sight, which I'll address if it comes up. A wall has a +2 defensive bonus, a hedge has a +1. They cost 1 MF + whatever the cost of the hex their moving into it.

Marsh


A marsh doesn't block line of sight, but is a hindrance (just like grain). It costs all your MF to move into a marsh, and vehicles can't enter it, AND you can only fire light machine guns from it, not medium or heavy. I'll probably stay out of this.

Buildings
(wooden)
(stone)

Buildings that are in one hex have only a ground floor, 2-hex buildings have a ground and 1st floor, 3+ hex buildings have ground/1st/2nd floors.
Buildings provide a +2 bonus for wooden, +3 for stone, and cost 2 MF to move into.

The terrains have other little details here and there, which I'll address as they come up.

Tias posted:

Chinese inaction probably stems from a reluctance to take the casualties that lose them the game.

Anyway, a truly impressive undertaking! I applaud you and hope you don't drown in a tidal wave of cardboard.

DTurtle posted:

Well, your enemy can learn to be more aggressive over the next 8000 scenarios.

quote:

The 6 I rolled is modified to a 4 instead, on the 6 Firepower column (Normally its 3, but if the target is adjacent, you double the FP!). The result is great for me.

Jobbo_Fett posted:

Machine Gun rules.

Pharnakes posted:

I applaud your dedication.

Could you explain the dice rolls a bit more?


This for example means nothing to me. Why is it modified? What is the firepower colomn? Where does 3 come from? What does any of this mean??

Movement posted:

Regular Movement

Regular movement that provides no benefits or hindrances to a units abilities. The upright posture offers a welcome target for enemy soldiers.



Assault Movement

Hard to represent. You only get to move 1 hex, however it it assumed that the Unit uses available cover, and cautious movement, in order to not offer as easy a target as Regular movement does.



Dash

Reserved specifically for movement across a road, Dash exposes the unit much like Regular movement, but due to the increase in speed, the resulting incoming fire is lessened.

White Coke posted:

So can infantry only shoot units adjacent to them if they lack a support weapon?

White Coke posted:

So can infantry only shoot units adjacent to them if they lack a support weapon?

White Coke posted:

How does the game model Italians needing extra water for pasta? Or to be more serious, are there special rules to representing things like doctrine that can't just be expressed by different equipment, or numerical values like morale?

Jobbo_Fett posted:

For one, the Russians get the ability to start a "Human Wave", which is exactly what it sounds like.

OpenlyEvilJello posted:

Why do some infantry tokens have a box around their quality designation? E.g. [E] infantry in your range example, or the two Russian [1] squads in your sample MMCs.

"The Rulebook posted:

1.25 CLASS: Every Squad/HS contains a letter or number in the upper right-hand corner which defines its Class, ranging in descending order from: E (Elite), 1 (1st Line), 2 (2nd Line), G (Green), to C (Conscript). Occasionally a circle or square encases the letter/number to differentiate between different types of the same Class (see A25.: National Capabilities Chart). These Classes are important in that they affect a unit's capabilities and also determine what units can be substituted for them during Deployment, ELR Replacement, or Battle Hardening.

White Coke posted:

Isn't squad level a bit too small to represent Human Wave attacks?

White Coke posted:

What kind of objectives are there for scenarios? Are they all some variation of: attacker has to capture certain victory point spaces before the time limit?

Pirate Radar posted:

Looks like yes: https://www.aslscenarioarchive.com/scenario.php?id=62603

Jobbo_Fett posted:

VKing posted:

What do the lines under the numbers mean?

Nea posted:

I'm really interested in this, but I feel like I could use a breakdown on what the phases are, how deployment works, how rolls work, how firepower tables work, that sort of thing.

White Coke posted:

Are there rules for body armor? I know the Soviets equipped some units with it.

quote:

Recovery
Attacker Shoots
Attacker Moves\Defender Shoots
Defender Shoots
Attacker Shoots
Routs
Attacker Moves
Close Combat
End Turn

Jobbo_Fett posted:

The ATTACKER may move any of his Infantry units capable of movement one (1) hex, even if that hex is currently occupied by an enemy unit, or change Location within a hex. It is not possible to change Location and change Hex.

DTurtle posted:

What are locations within a hex?

quote:

Recovery
Attacker Shoots
Attacker Moves\Defender Shoots
Defender Shoots
Attacker Shoots
Routs
Attacker Moves
Close Combat
End Turn

Pharnakes posted:

When you say attacker and defnder like this, do you mean the two sides, or does it vary depending on what each counter is up to? If the former how does the game model meeting engagements? And when can the defender move? If the later how is it decided who is attacking and who defending?