Having played Paths of Glory I got addicted to the game play that these Card Driven Strategic War point-to-point Games alow for. Also with the 100 years anniversary this period of our history becomes more prominent in my mind. Illusions of Glory is interesting as it focusses on the eastern front of World War I. I must admitt that I know little about this side of the conflict and thus I am keen to learn more.
Historical wargames on historical maps are much of my liking. Therefore I always am interested to obtain a copy when a new HASL gets published. One exception might be the HASLs that feature on island hopping in the Pacific. European, Russian, and North African fronts oriented HASL in contrast will most likely make it into my ASL collection.
At Grenadier 2018 I came across some ASL scenario packs, dedicated magazines, and the odd HASL pack. One of them is the HASL Scotland the Brave I & II from Chritical Hit. Most products from CH share a bad reputation for being untested, unbalanced, and badly produced. Nevertheless I like HASL a lot and wanted to give Scotland the Brave the benefit of the doubt.
The scenario and campaign game feature the British Operation Epsom that was staged to take the Normandy city of Caen from 26 June to 1 July 1944. The units involved in the campaign game are the British 11th Armoured, and 15th (Scottish) Divisions. The German units involved are the 2nd Panzer Division, the 2nd, 9th, 10th, and 12th SS-Panzer Divisions.
At Grenadier 2018 I came across a small pack of scenarios featuring the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. This Canadian unit fought with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and entered the Normandy theatre as part of the D-Day landing forces on June 6 1944. Jeff and I are going to play all 4 scenarios (I hope I can tempt him to do this).
Grenadier 2018 was a great get-together of European ASL gamers. As I understand this was the 20th Grenadier. We all are much indepted to Michael Koch who again organised this excellent event in his efficient and caring manner. I played with fellow gamers from Italy, from France, from the Netherlands, from Scotland, and from Germany off course. Additionally I met gamers from Belgium, Danemark, and Sweden. All together we had a good time at Hergarten.
This year about 30 players will attend to the Grenadier 2018 ASL tournament at Hergarten in the Eifel. Day one and two are mostly dedicated to friendly gaming and the mini tournament. My first game was RPT 105 FLAMING STAR, an eastern front scenario set in the last days of the Reich.
Playing this scenario solo is probably not the the optimal way to tackle this tactical situation. On the other hand I want to try a variant of the SASL rules. I use red counters to mark possible hotspots. When German units come close I check for units and draw from a pile of counters from the US order of battle. Once US units are placed on the board I will use them at my discretion.
