Purple Heart Draw ASL Campaign

Something ASL does very well is campaign games. This is more than a series of interlinked scenarios as you most often see with other games. In ASL you get to buy units from a set force pool for each following battle that gets added to the surviving troops from the previous game date. You also after a small amount of shifting of forces and map area's play from where your forces ended the previous date. Now this date could indeed be the following day or just another segment of the day. Many campaigns have AM, PM and night turns and monsters such as Red Barricades can have 50 plus such dates for you to wade through!

 

Purple Heart Draw (PHD) has five dates within it's campaign so as it goes it's a very small one. Not only this but all the dates are from the same day and represent the battle for a draw (long gully) between elements of the 23rd Regiment of the US Army and elements of the 5th Regiment Fallschrimjager (Paratroops) on the 11th July 1944. Both sides also have access to armour and off board artillery and the Germans can also have anti-tank guns. The main features of the battle are the draw but also heavy bocage and rising ground to the Germans rear. As the Americans I have the objective of gaining the heights and securing the road near the German map edge. I have won as the Germans on campaign date one when my defence just stood and gave out far more than it received. I hope to take the lessons learnt from this to help in my attack.

 

The map looks empty at this point but unseen by me at this point is the fortifications than have been placed along with the wire that will block some advance route and channel me into the mines and machine gun kill zones. Whilst many units are hidden under concealment counters (?) other units are not shown as they are hidden which will include any ATG's. Not a massive amount of woods on the map but lots of Orchards (four green dots in a hex).

 

The first objectives on date one have to be the taking of the town which seems to be very lightly defended and clearing the area of Bocage at least as far as the draw. This will give me several options for date two where to have the follow up attacks. I start with four tanks and I feel I have to finish with at least three. The tank dozer and the 105mm Sherman being essential for future play. I estimate about 40% of the units shown to be dummy (fake units) but have no idea which will be. My opponent has an aggressive streak in him that I hope to take advantage of. A secondary aim for me is to kill as many of his troops as I possibly can so that future dates his troop numbers actually fall. Being Elite Paratroopers though this is easier said than done. Bocage is excellent defencive terrain and when linked to a mix of mines and wire I could have my hands full. The game kicks off tonight and I will run updates on both my blogs.