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After Action Report (AAR) of Alpenfestung II

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on December 11, 2011 at 9:07:49 pm
 

You are here: Home > After Action Report (AAR) of Alpenfestung II

 


 


 

Flyer

 

This was the official Flyer for the tournament (in German): Einladung ASL Alpenfestung II (PDF, 344kB)

 

 

Date

The Alpenfestung II tournament took place Friday, October 21st until Sunday, October, 23rd, 2011.

 

Venue

We played in the «Seeblick» vacation home.

 

Participants

 

 

          1. Marc Blume

Born in Germany in 1973. Living in Feldmeilen near Zürich, Switzerland. Started to play ASL at age 16. I attended a few tournaments in the early 2000's (Grenadier, Westwall). I played ASL on a regular basis with Jan F. (from Bern) in 2002 - 2006, and less frequent with Chris M. (Zürich) from 2007 to 2009. Due to the birth of our daughter Lynn, I didn't play from 2009 until the Alpenfestung I in early 2011. Playing level: «amateur». Marc's mobile phone number is +41 79 746 66 03.

 

          2. John T.

Born in Scotland in 1964. Living in Munich, Germany. Started to play SL / ASL in Scotland in early 1980's (thanks to John M., my long time ASL opponent). Moved to Germany in 2000 and became involved with Munich ASL group and also ASL group in Vienna (went together with Michael S.). I have attended Grenadier every year since 2003/4 and last year went to ASL Arnhem as well. Both are on the agenda this year too with the same target - win at least one scenario. Current level: experienced player with low AREA rating (plays for fun more than victory, although sometimes both can happen). John's mobile phone number is +49 172 360 6701

 

          3. Jan L.

Born in Germany in 1973. Now living in Adliswil near Zurich. I have a long history in boardgaming, starting with the usual introductory games and soon switching to fantasy/sci-fi-themed games like Blood Bowl or Space Hulk. Wargames only became part of my hobby in the last few years starting with A Victory Lost and Fire in the Sky. Since both games are produced by MMP a quick glance at ASL happened soon enough and I bought the Starter Kits. Looking for someone to play with I came across Christian, who introduced me to the GHS where I found a player willing to teach me the basics. So I learned my way around the basic ASL Rules. Since then I moved to Switzerland and couldn't make the time anymore to even consider VASL, but nevertheless picked up Beyond Valor and the rule book. I hope to be able to pick it up again and start playing real ASL on a regular basis. My current level: Novice (no longer as novice as one can get (thanks, Marc!) but still pretty much). Jan's mobile phone number is +41 79 964 78 71.

 

          (4.) Michael S. - Michael couldn't attend due to illness - what a pity!

Born in California in 1968. Living in Nußloch near Heidelberg, Germany. Started playing SL in grade school. When I first encountered ASL when I was about 18, I refused to play it. Finally when I was 23, I bought a copy and started playing solitaire. About 5 years later, I found one or two open ASL events. Eventually, we started Silicon Valley ASL. For a couple years I played ASL every 1-2 months. I also attended West Coast Melee a couple of times before moving to Germany. Since moving here I have been an irregular attendee to Grenadier. I went to one ASL event in Munich and went to another in Vienna. Other than tourneys my ASL play has been limited to the occaisional GSASL campaign. Take a look at my blog postings. I spend far more time playing games other than ASL. Play level: I do not play often enough to get all the nuances out of the game. I have a basic grasp of the rules, but continuously forget or misremember the details. Michael's mobile phone number is: +49 176 4257 5568.

 

Scenarios

 

The choice of scenarios for the long round (5.5 hrs.) was:

 

  • «Winter of their discontent», Germans/Italians vs. Russians in Russia in January, 1943. 7 turns. From Action Pack #3, «Few Returned».
  • «Into the fray», Polish vs. Germans in Poland in September, 1939. 7 turns. From Module «The last Hurrah».
  • «King of the Hill», Germans vs. Americans in Normandy in July, 1944. 8.5 turns. From Deluxe Module «Hedgerow Hell».

 

Download the long scenarios (.pdf, 2.6 MB)

 

The choice of scenarios for the short round (2.5 hrs.) was:

 

  • «88s at Zon», Germans vs. Americans in Holland in September, 1944. 5.5 turns. From: «ASL Starter Kit 2».
  • «The Men from Zadig», French Partisans vs. Germans in France in August, 1944. 4.5 turns. From: «Out of the Bunker».
  • «Pavlov's House», Russians vs. Germans in Russia in October, 1942. 6.5 turns. From: «ASL Journal #5».

 

          Download the short scenarios (.pdf, 2.3 MB)

 

Results

 

          Due to our missing forth player Michael, Jan and Marc teamed up to play against John.

Round 1

John T. (as the Germans) against Jan L. and Marc (as the Poles) in «Into the Fray». John wins.

 

Round 2 - omitted

As the scenario of round 1 took much longer than anticipated, we decided not to play one of the short scenarios.  

 

 

Ranking

 

1st: John T. (1:0) - 'Tournament' winner

2nd: Jan L. & Marc Blume (0:1)

 

After Action Report (AAR)

 

Marc

We received bad news just before the Alpenfestung II was about to start: Michael fell ill and he wasn't able to attend the tournament. That was a great pity - we missed him both as our ASL friend and as our 4th player in the mini-tournament. So we had to change plans and to team up Jan and me (Polish side) against John (German side) in the large «Into the Fray» scenario which takes place on the very first day of the second world war in Europe, September, 1st, 1939. With more than 10 hours of playing time, the scenario took too long to complete for my taste, but it was a great gaming and social experience nevertheless. To split the two Polish forces (Green «hold the line» defenders and Elite Cavalry reinforcements) between Jan and me worked out surprisingly well. I am sure we made the best out of the situation after we learned that we couldn't play the «4 players, 2 rounds»-mini tournament as planned. Once more: Thanks John and Jan for this great memorable event, and we dearly hope to see you next time in the Seeblick again, Michael!

 

John

After a strenuous business day I arrived with my partner Walli in the pitch black at the "Seeblick" and was welcomed by wonderful smells coming from the kitchen (and a cold beer)! Marc and Jan prepared a great meal (even if there was no meat ivolved). The wood-burning stove in the 'seeblick is also a good feature (and luckily I was not responsible for it's maintenance).

 

Due to the necessity of a 3 player game we decided to go with "Into the Fray" and since I was the most experienced (not necessarily best) player it was decided that I should take the Germans. At this point Walli took off to enjoy the spectacular weather and mountain scenery...

 

After seeing the set up of Jan and Marc I decided to try to go for the exit victory conditions by breaking through the conscript lines on my left flank and centre. The strong defensive position on my right I chose to contain with as little of my own troops as possible. As usual there were good rolls and bad, however given that I created two heroes and a leader I cannot complain too much. At around the end of turn 4 it appeared that my exiting enough points was almost a fomality however the polish cavalry swung back around just in time and a couple of units seemed to always be blocking the path. At this point I thought I would lose the scenario until we checked the victory conditions (it's always agood idea to do this at the end of every game turn).

 

Although the Germans had not taken too many casualties the Poles had also on the surface not taken enough casualties themselves to give me victory by the casualties method. This was until we realised that I had taken a significant amount of prisoners and they count double!! Following checking, double checking and triple checking the figures a marginal victory could be had by this method if I could avoid further losses. This resulted in the Germans advancing tactically to the rear, although the tanks had to survive several ATR hits that would have cost me the victory (I lost one in close combat whilst carrying out the infamous vehicle bypass freeze). 

 

All in all this was a very close and exciting encounter and I would like to thank Jan and Marc for making this a fun scenario to play (even if it took significantly longer than we anticiapted). I try not to play too slowly however the evidence tends to suggest that I do not fulfil my good intentions.

 

As a perfect end to a perfect day (for me at least) we had another excellent meal and bottle of wine.

 

I believe the location and atmosphere of the Alpenfestung tournament is unique in the ASL world and if you have the opportunity to attend you should not pass this up.

 

Thanks again Marc and Jan and I am looking forward to crossing swords again at a future Alpenfestung in the 'Seeblick'.

 

Jan 

A photografic account of what course our scenario really took at Alpenfestung II: AAR.pdf

 

Also, enjoy these photos of the event:

 

Photos

 

'The House'

 

Ghosts, apparently!

 

John - early match picture

 

Marc - early match picture

 

Grumpy ol' men

 

The finger of fate - 'Attack here!'

 

Roses in front of the house

 

Enjoying the late afternoon sun

 

Before sunset

 

After sunset

 

The early bird catches the worm! Or a picture of Walensee just after sunrise.

 

Got interested in taking part in Alpenfestung III? Contact me.

 

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