More Raaco ASL Storage

This is my second installment on my new and improved ASL counter storage using Raaco inserts and Duratool (Raaco clone) storage cases.  Once I decided to use the Raaco storage system, I had to organize it.  This is my engineer side talking here.  I created a diagram of where all of the counters would go, using the Raaco insert layouts.  Here is an example of the Japanese organization:

I created an org chart like this for each of my nationalities.  Some nationalities, like the Japanese, Chinese, Italians, and Allied Minors, consisted of one page, or one layer in the Raaco box.  Other nationalities, like the Americans, Germans, British and Russians filled the whole box, both layers.  Here is the link to the PDF of the entire org chart for all nationalities.

I use a Brother label maker to create labels for all of the inserts.  I like white text on a black label.  here is my American box as an example.  With my Brother label maker, you can connect to a PC and create custom labels with any font and even use graphics.  Note my American box with the Marine insignia.

Below is my entire ASL army in two Duratool Handy Box clones, with 8 storage boxes.  I have one extra on top, which I may use for informational counters or the Finns when they come out!

I Broke Down... Raaco!

Well, I finally broke down and organized my ASL counters with Raaco.  Sort of...  I was able to find Raaco clone boxes by Duratool at MCM Electronics here in the U.S., and purchased Raaco A75 and A78 inserts from CPC Farnell in the UK.  The Duratool clone set of 4 boxes with carrying case (similar to the Raaco Handy Box with 4 cases) was only $30.  Each separate PSC4-01 clone box was only about $6.  The Raaco inserts were fairly inexpensive even when buying them from the UK and shipping them to the U.S.

Here's the Duratool Raaco PSC4-01 clone box.  It looks exactly like the Raaco box, except that it is Black and Yellow.

The Duratool box comes with several Raaco clone inserts that are as deep as the box itself.  They are cheaply made and most of them are warped slightly.  I basically tossed them in a box and am keeping them for my wife for crafts or something.

Another view of the Duratool box.

Below are a few pictures of two of my boxes, one British and one the Japanese/Chinese box.  I'll show some photos now and in another post or two, probably tomorrow and later this week, I'll explain my organization, my labeling technique and post PDF diagrams of my organization.

Here are two pictures of my Japanese/Chinese box.  The Japanese are on top, while the Chinese are in the layer below.

More tomorrow!

StL Club Historical Magazine on Burma Coming Next Year

Just wanted to let everyone know about the St. Louis ASL Club's first historical magazine coming out next July at our tourney. The first issue is on Burma, 1942, when the Japanese invade. See the flyer below. We are currently playtesting several scenarios on an historical map, and are planning to have 8-10 more scenarios on various map boards (several are also in playtesting). The full color magazine will contain at least 48 pages of articles on various subjects, ranging from an intro to the CBI theater of 1942, Japanese tanks and tank tactics, rice paddies, AAR's/designer notes on the scenarios, and much more stuff. More details to follow! 

Armor Profile: Japanese Type 92 Tankette

In 1925-29, the Imperial Japanese Army Cavalry School based at Chiba tested several foreign tanks for its needs. The Carden-Lloyd tankettes appeared to be the best suited for their purposes.  The Japanese purchased several of these British tankettes and served as a basis for the first Japanese tankette in 1929.  The production went to Ishikawajima Motorcar Manufacturing Company (now Isuzu). As vehicles were intended for the cavalry corps it couldn't has been classified as a tank but was officially called a “Heavy Armored Car” instead, taking the number 92 in the imperial army ordnance register.

Here's the ASL counter:

The Type 92 was larger than most tankettes of the time, having a one-man turret and a crew of three.  The armament was generally two machine guns. The main gun was a 13.2mm Type 92 heavy machine gun. The weapon had limited traverse, but included a pivoting eyepiece on the gunsight optics and a high-angle mount, allowing anti-aircraft use. Secondary armament was a 6.5 mm Type 91 machine gun, replaced later by the 7.7 mm Type 97 light machine gun mounted in the manually traversed turret. The armor was thin, between 6mm in the hull to 12 mm in the turret.  The thin armor and light armament allowed the weight to be kept to 3 tons.  This proved to be problematic, though, as the armor was not thick enough to be able to withstand any machinegun fire. 

The vehicle underwent several modifications, especially in the drive train and suspension.  An initial variant was designed to be amphibious, but this model was dropped for the early Type 92.  However, the later Type 92 had a significantly improved suspension and wheel configuration, which allowed for better performance. 

Here are a few photos and drawings of the tankette:

This is a photo of the early model with two light machine guns.  

This is a drawing of the late model with the 13.2mm MG in the bow and the improved suspension.

A drawing of the early model with the 13.2mm MG in the bow.  

U.S. Military History Links

Many people may already know about these two links, but if not, please check them out.  One is the U.S. Army Center for Military History.  This site has a ton of pdf files, including good pdf files of the Army "Green Books" series on the History of the U.S. Army operations in World War II.  There are numerous other monographs and books on subjects ranging from our Revolutionary War in the 1770's to current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The second link is the U.S. Marine Corps History Division Publications page.  At the bottom of this webpage is a list of links for time periods that contain tons of USMC reference material.  The World War II and the Korean War sections are especially useful.  But there are tons of downloadable books and pamphlets in PDF form that will enhance anyone's reference library.

Review of Lone Canuck's ASL Pack Crossing the Moro

I just received Lone Canuck’s ASL pack Crossing the Moro the other day and thought I would write a short out-of-the-ziploc bag review.  

I have not played any of the scenarios or the campaign game but the whole package looks really nice.  It comes with a nice 22 inch x 32 inch map on good quality paper, 4 pages of background history and 16 pages of campaign game rules on high quality bright white paper, and 4 scenarios on light card stock.  Overall, a nice presentation of high quality materials.  And all for $23.00.  These new Lone Canuck tactical missions are a great value for the money.  This one, along with Bloody Buron, Ozerekya Breakout and Purple Heart Draw are all great values and should provide veteran and novice squad leaders lots of opportunity to engage in battle. 

The 4 scenarios are fairly small in terms of counter density, and are all played on sections of the map.  None of the scenarios are played on the full map, but that’s what the campaign game is for.  Two scenarios, CM1 and CM2 use night rules.  CM4 uses a full combined arms countermix on both sides, with infantry, mortars and OBA, and armor.  The Germans get 5 Panzer IVF2s and 4 Panzer IVHs.  Yikes!  This one looks like fun. 

I am not a big campaign game player (although I’d like to be…).  So if you are not a campaign game player, you may not get the most bang for the buck.  But just looking through the rules, these look like they would make a great introductory campaign game for those who haven’t yet jumped into this aspect of ASL. 

The map is printed on high quality paper that reminds me of the same quality that the MMP HASLs are printed on.  The colors are good and the terrain features are very sharp and clear.  While this map was probably not painted but done on a software program, it still looks great.  This one is littered with vineyard hexes printed on the map.  This is a “high ground” battle, with the Villa Rogatti village on a high hill.  The terrain on this map could be a butt-kicker. 

Canadians against the Germans in Italy.  This one looks like a blast! 

Modern Squad Level Combat – Yes, it is possible!

I have always loved Advanced Squad Leader.  Critical Hit’s ATS system is also good, as are a couple of other systems such as Panzer, Fire Team and Firepower.  However, most of the squad level combat systems pretty much adhere to World War II.  There are some exceptions, Firepower and Fire Team come to mind, and Critical Hit has attempted to venture into uncharted territory with Genesis 48 and Dien Bien Phu modules for ASL and ATS.  The Panzer system had MBT and IDF, with reprints/updates on the way from GMT. 

But I have always wanted to take ASL in particular into the post-World War II era.  Right now, MMP is getting ready to roll out their KASL – Korean War ASL module.  This is awesome and I can’t wait for this to come out.

But what about other wars?  The majority of the Arab/Israeli Wars were fought with equipment that was not substantially different than its World War II predecessors.  Up until even 1973, the Israelis had modified Shermans, while the Arabs still had some T-34/85s.  Patton tanks, Centurions, T-55s and T-62s were not that much more advanced than their earlier counterparts.  RPG-2s and RPG-7s were only marginally better than the Bazooka or Panzerfaust.  Small arms were still similar. 

Basically, there is no real reason why gamers cannot reproduce engagements from the 1948, 1956, and 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars in ASL.  Or even engagements from the Korean War, the South African/Rhodesian Wars, the Indo-Pakistan Kashmir conflicts, the Sino-Vietnamese border wars, the Angolan Civil War and other African Civil Wars, etc.  You name it.  ASL should be able to accommodate it. 

Now, I will admit, once we get into the 21^st century with increased lethality of the main gun armaments, body armor, increased accuracy of artillery and communications, air support by fast moving jet aircraft, things might get a little dicey. 

There was a move some time ago to bring ASL into the era of post-World War II combat.  MASL, modern ASL.  While some work has been done, my passion is to build on this and attempt to create an Arab-Israeli module that allows one to play scenarios from 1948, 1956 and 1967.  Critical Hit tried to do this with Genesis 48 and the new Genesis II, but I am not sure they captured the essence of either army, their respective quirks and the tactics and equipment used.  We’ll see how it goes.  In the meantime, take a peak at the DRAFT new counter for the RPG-7.  I'll probably wind up changing some of the values, but here you go.  

German Defense in the Normandy Hedgerows

In ASL, do you ever think about how you as the defender, perhaps the German defender in the Normandy hedgerow country, secure your position against those Americans assaulting your line?  In The Americans at Normandy, professor John C. McManus describes how the Germans set up defensive positions in the hedgerow country:

“The enemy defended a typical field in the following manner: They dug heavy machine guns into each corner of the hedgerow that bordered the field.  These machine guns could crisscross their fire and cover most of the field.  In between these two heavy guns, they placed riflemen, burp gunners and light machine-gun teams who only added to the volume of fire.  If there were hedgerows that bordered either flank of the field, they dug light machine-gun teams there, too.  Once these small arms had pinned down American attackers, the Germans called in artillery and mortar fire, which was normally quite accurate because German observers had presighted the entire field.  German soldiers with handheld Panzerfaust antitank weapons lay in deep fighting holes in or along the forward hedgerows.  If American tanks punched through the hedgerows or rolled through the small openings that led into each field, the Panzerfaust soldiers hit them at close range.  Booby traps and mines, sown into the vegetation at the top of the hedgerow or in ditches along them, only added to the dangers” (p177).

Think about all of the implications that relate to ASL.  Setting up boresighted HMGs and LMGs to cover fire lanes, with intersecting fields of fire.  Concealed or HIP half squads with Panzerfausts just waiting for that Sherman or Stuart to come crashing through the hedgerow at a 1 hex range.  Those light mortars that may seem like a waste targeting infantry in the open.  Sometimes ASL does mirror real life.

  

ASL AAR Double Trouble, AP 84

Dave G and I played Double Trouble from the new Action Pack To the Bridge at the St. Louis Tournament.  I was the Brits and Dave took the Japanese. My mission was to either to take possession of all of the buildings in the play area, or inflict >= 5 VP more than the Japanese.  Each non-hut building counted as 1 VP. 

Dave set up a couple of squads in the buildings around 6BEE12, and a foxhole with a squad and a mortar in/around 6BGG13.  He also set up a majority of his troops in buildings 5AB7, 5AB9 and around the buildings in 5AC14 and D13 and D14 and around B12. 

I divided my force into two groups that would eventually converge in a pincer movement on both sides of the Japanese lines.  Group 1 would use cover provided by the jungle and the smoke created by the mortar and take the buildings on my right side of the map, around the 6BEE12 area. After taking these building and eliminating the Japanese defenders, this group would swing back around and attack the remaining Japanese force being held and assaulted by Group 2.  Group 2 of my force would move through the jungle as cover and hit the Japanese force occupying the buildings and positions along the 5A rows c and d.

My first mistake concerned my force distribution.  Group 1 was much heavier than Group 2.  I should have put additional units in Group 2 to order to inflict more casualties on the Japanese forces on board 5A. 

ASL Chapter F and G Alphabetized Terrain Charts

A couple of new and improved terrain charts, one for Chapter F (desert terrain) and the other for Chapter G (PTO) terrain.  I hope these help!

Chapter G (PTO) Alphabetized Terrain Chart

Chapter F (Desert) Alphabetized Terrain Chart

Vehicle Profile: The German sIG Ib

I was playing an ASL scenario some time ago with a  friend of mine and we had a German Mobelwagen Flak vehicle in the countermix. He didn’t know what that was.  Now, he is a long-time ASL player and a history reader, but it occurred to me that there may be many people who play the games who don’t know what all the counters represent, especially some of the more esoteric vehicles. So in an effort to help remedy this situation, I would like to do a periodic Vehicle Profile of some vehicle I have recently played.  The first one up is the German sIG Ib, which I used in ESG#109, Backs to the Wall. 

Here’s the ASL counter:

Here’s a photo or two:

History and Development:

The Invasion of Poland had shown that the towed sIG 33 guns (sIG is German for heavy infantry gun) assigned to the infantry gun companies of the motorized infantry regiments had difficulties keeping up with the tanks during combat. The easiest solution was to modify a spare tank chassis to carry it into battle. A sIG 33 was mounted on the chassis of the Panzer I Ausf. B, complete with carriage and wheels, in place of the turret and superstructure.

Alphabetized ASL Chapter B Reference Chart

I'm not sure if this will help anyone, but I alphabetized the Chapter B terrain chart. For me it helps, because the order of the reference chart based on the order in Chapter B doesn't do much for me. Just thought I would share... Working on the other two terrain charts, too. If you find any errors, please let me know. 

ASL Alphabetized Chapter B Terrain Chart

AAR: ESG 109, Backs to the Wall

On Saturday at the 2014 St. Louis Tourney I played Jeff D. in Backs to the Wall, ESG 109.  I played the Germans while Jeff played the Brits.  I like early war scenarios because it seems that there is more need for combined arms tactics; the infantry must work with the armor in tight unison on both defense and offense.  In this one the Germans had to cross a densely built-up part of board 51 to then break out of the city and capture two bridges and a stone building between them.  The Brits had to delay the Germans long enough and hold just one of these key terrain features to win.  They got a couple of roadblocks, some light armor with some nasty armament, 9 squads and some support weapons, including ATRs.  The Germans got some Panzer I’s and II’s, 15 squads and some support weapons.  The bottom line is, I lost on the last CC dice roll.  I had one bridge and the building, with a sizeable force set at the canal line.  I had a 2:1 odds with a 9-2 leader leading the close combat to secure the last bridge.  I needed effectively an 8 to kill the Brit defender.  The odds were definitely in my favor.  I rolled an 11.  Ugghh.  But it was a great little scenario, and I learned a ton from playing this.  Jeff is a much better player than I am, but at least I gave him a run for his money. 

I have to apologize up front that I was so busy with the game that I didn’t take any photos or even take any notes.  But I’m going to walk through the scenario and then give my “lessons learned” at the end.  SL was the second game I ever bought and played back in 1980 (I even have the original game with the receipt inside the box!), but, due to real warfighting, spy work, a civilian job and a beautiful family, I’ve only been seriously playing ASL about 4 years, off and on, so these lessons may be obvious to most of the experienced players. 

I set up at the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA, row 7 on map 51), so that my infantry would be across no man’s land and up to his FEBA on the first turn.  I used the sIG Ib to lay down fire to cover my move.  At the end of Turn 1, most of my units were in the stone buildings on hexrow 5 at least, shooting at his troops in the stone buildings.  I was able to get a couple of luck shots, but nothing much.  I just wanted to move and get my guys in position.  On turn 1 I could see the road block in Z2. 

I jumped up pretty quickly so in his turn 1 the Brits started moving a force of theirs back to eventually position themselves on both of the bridges.  The goal was to get to the 23F3 building and on the bridge at 23P7 within a couple of turns.  The Brits still left a good number of units in the stone buildings to hamper my movement. 

Critical Hit Omaha East/West Monster Review

I just received the CH Omaha East/West Monster pack and thought I would do a little review. So I ordered this on Friday and got it in on Monday, no joke. Shipping was quick. The pack contains the rule sets in color for both Omaha East and West, all of the scenarios and set up cards, a color landing craft play aid that is really nice, and 27 map panels for Omaha West and 28 for Omaha East. The map panels have very large hexes, maybe a good 50% large than the standard hex size on my Omaha West 2nd edition paper maps. And the panels are gorgeous... I mean they are really nice. Bright crisp color, no smearing or other color imperfections. Here are some pics:

A close up of the map panels:

The package as it was delivered in the Priority Mail box.

Another view of one of the map panels:

Two shots of the map panels compared to the paper map in Omaha West.  Note the larger size of the map panel hexes.  

About 2/3 of the Omaha East map set up on my floor.  This thing is huge!  The map panels seem to fit together nicely, though not perfectly.  But then again, this was a quick setup. Imagine Normandy at the squad level.  Whew!

My assessment: Was the Omaha Monster pack worth the $140 I paid for it? Well, I think so, and here's why. I am a huge fan of D-Day and Normandy games, and playing the invasion in ASL has a big appeal for me (no pun intended...). Anyone who is familiar with the battle knows that the success of the invasion was due to small units taking the initiative, overcoming incredible odds, and all of the little victories adding up. What better way to play this than with ASL?! The hexes are large, and the map is beautiful. The map panels do not require trimming, and just in my preliminary and quick assembly, the alignment was spot on. The assembly did take some time, as there is no chart and the maps are not numbered, so you lay them out by the hex numbers. Being familiar with the terrain also helped.

The rules have a few places that are a bit confusing, especially in the landing area. But I handle this like I handle all other decisions in life - study it a little, then go with what you have. You can spend all of your time getting it 100%, or going with 85% and moving out. I prefer the latter. When I played Omaha West, I'm sure I got some of the landing rules wrong, especially with regards to the beach obstacles. So what! (Sacrilege, I know) but the game was fun and it seemed to flow well.

Will I ever play this whole thing at once? I actually hope so, but I don't see how. But you can bet I will try!

Overall, yes, it was worth the investment. Especially as a D-Day fanatic.

ASL Vehicle and Ordnance Cards

Do you ASL players remember those ASL vehicle cards that came with Deluxe ASL?  Or have you played any of the Yaquinto games like Panzer or 88?  Or Avalon Hill’s MBT or IDF?  Or GMT’s Panzer revision?  Or even ATS?  I liked the vehicle cards, which contained all of the pertinent information regarding each vehicle.  These were great resources that, for me, helped with game play. 

Well, now ASL has its own set of AFV/Ordnance cards, courtesy of Dr. Chris Edwards.  Go to his website www.aslcards.com to see more info and order them.  They are $25 for the main nationalities and an extra $5 for the Allied and Axis Minors.  Very much worth the small cost, especially given the effort it must have taken to produce these.    

These cards come in pdf format, with two cards per page.  Every nationality is represented.  Information such as armor factors, movement points, ammo types, target size, gun type, mechanical reliability, open/closed top are all there.  Also included are To Hit tables for that specific weapon, and basic To Kill numbers for the weapon and ammunition used.  The Vehicle Number corresponding to Chapter H is also included next to the Vehicle Name. The cards are well-laid out, very readable and highly useful. 

I got a little intense and printed out every one on double-sided pages, laminated each page, cut out the cards and use them to play.  I find them very helpful since all of the info is on the card (including a picture of the counter).  I can reference the card instead of looking at the counter.  I don’t have the specs of every vehicle memorized, so these cards come in handy. 

Highly recommended. 

Book review: The Dead and Those About to Die, by John McManus

 

I have always been fascinated with the Allied invasion of Normandy, called Operation Neptune. I saw this book recommended by Albert Mohler on his Summer Reading list for 2014, and I immediately picked up the book. I couldn’t put it down. The book focuses on the 1st Infantry Division’s assault on Omaha Beach on June 6th, 1944. The title comes from Colonel George Taylor, commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment and the first unit to land at Omaha, when, under extreme fire, was walking around the beach prodding men to get off the beach. “There are only two kinds of men on this beach, the dead and those about to die. So get off this beach!”

As a West Point graduate and a combat veteran, I can say that this is one of the best books on D-Day I have read. McManus joins only a few others who have not only written good history, but enables those who haven’t been there to get just a bit too close to the action. One cannot read this book and not be moved, emotionally and mentally, by the heroic actions of not just a few brave souls but the many who assaulted this beach and held on in spite of the odds. Moreover, this os one of the few books that focuses on the role of the Big Red One specifically and their area of the beach. There are several books that focus on the 29th Infantry, but the 1st Division’s area was just as bad. This book contains a lot of detail, has some really good and clear maps, reads quickly, and flows smoothly. However, I had to stop several times as I couldn’t read the words for the tears in my eyes. Many of us have come dangerously close to forgetting the bravery and determination of those who sacrificed so much on a small strip of sandy and rocky beach on the coast of France in 1944. They should never be forgotten. Thanks in part to this book, they will not be.

For those who love small unit actions on Normandy, this is the book for you.  McManus describes in detail many different tactical vignettes by individuals, squads and platoons who were instrumental in securing Omaha Beach and moving inland.  This book is a great complement to Critical Hit's Omaha East.  Additionally, the book contains enough maps and detailed descriptions to help designers come up with a few good ASL or ATS scenarios featuring the Big Red One on June 6th. 

Highly recommended.