Author	treadasaurusrex (Britain, United States)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Germany
Participants	Capt. Chaos
Play Date	2023-05-29
Language	English
Scenario	AAAD005

This was a fun-filled, 2-session play-through, with me playing the doomed elements of the overstretched, Allied Blade Force trying to block a German combined arms onslaught, led by the rapidly-learning and hard-charging Capt. Chaos. The German side drew excellent leaders. The scenario had no American leaders in the mix. We played with the FOW, consolidation, smoke/illum, extended assault, tank riders and excess initiative optional rules. In addition, we again experimentally used the following 4 house rules: 1) Road Movement for Mechanized & Foot Units All FOOT & MECHANIZED units may move on roads at the rate of 1/2 a Movement Point (MP) per road hex, just like MOTORIZED units, 2) Standardized Movement for Mechanized Units All mechanized units may move through clear hexes at a movement cost of only 1 movement point (MP) per hex, instead of 1 1/2. Add one to this cost if moving up or down slopes hexes, 3) Dug In Units are Automatically in Limiting Terrain in Desert Games Unless prohibited by special scenario rules, ALL units that are dug-in on slope hexes are considered to be in limiting terrain and are spotted if enemy units approach to within 3 hexes, or 4 hexes for reconnaissance units – unless they are marked with a spotted marker, see 8.22, and 4) Tank Leader Forward Observation Efficient tank leaders (full strength only) may spot for ALL artillery & air strikes in accordance with the normal spotting rules (8.0, page 19). Just as in the case of leader units spotting, this action does not require an activation. Nonefficient tank leaders may also attempt to spot for ON BOARD ARTILLERY ONLY by throwing a single die per attempt to spot a target. This action does require an activation. They spot the intended target on a die roll of 4-6.

The initial session (game turn 1-5) featured a segmented, and slighjtyly-disorganized, broad-front German movement to contact from the north edge of the battle map. What followed was a near massacre of the hapless, forward-deployed American units, with 24 steps lost in only 5 game turns, as the Germans quickly dispatched 12 light tank and SP artillery US platoons. Dug-in, Stuart light tanks proved to be little more than speed bumps and only a single step of a Marder III SPAT platoon was lost by the charging Nazi horde. Refreshingly, only 5 combat 7-die rolls were thrown by both sides.

The second session (game turn 6-12) was a virtual repeat of the first session but the majority of the battle action shifted to the vicinity of Chouigui as the Germans closed in from both east and north of the 3-hex town. Overwhelming German firepower & mobility prevailed, and by mutual agreement the American side conceded a major Axis victory at the start of game turn 12. The final victory point tally was: 53 for the Germans and only 3 for the Americans. Only a single platoon of Stuart light tanks was able to escape this bloodbath!

This overlong, unplay-tested & hopelessly unbalanced scenario is NOT recommended for shared play as there is virtually no way for the Americans to win, or draw. It did provide good practice for maneuvering mobile forces and is recommended for SOLO play. I give this one a very generous rating of 1, because it was fun to play with an audacious and entertaining opponent. We felt that the 4 house rules we used worked very well in this play-through, and allowing Tank Leaders to call in artillery strikes was crucial, since no American leaders were included in the scenario.