Publisher/Date:
Friendly Fire (2018)
Country of Origin:
Sweden
Contents:
8 scenarios on cardstock
For the ASL cognoscenti, the release of a Friendly Fire scenario pack is always something to look forward to, because of the reputation of this series for fun, interesting, and balanced scenarios–a hat trick that is hard to pull off consistently.
Each pack is typically an 8-scenario blend of actions from around the globe, but Friendly Fire Pack 12, released in 2018, is unusually East-Front oriented. Actions here (FrF93-FrF100) are featured from the Soviet Union 1941 (Soviets vs. Germans), 1942 (Soviets vs. Germans and Romanians, Soviets vs. Germans), 1943 (Soviets vs. Germans); Poland 1944 (Soviets vs. Germans [2 scenarios]; and Germany 1945 (Soviets vs. Germans, British vs. Germans). In other words, every scenario but one is an East Front scenario.
Boards required include: 4, 6, 17, 22, 38, 48, 62, 69, 70, 71, x, and y. In addition, one scenario, FrF98 (Americanskaya Suka), requires board FrFA from Friendly Fire Pack 6. Four of the eight scenarios require overlays. One scenario uses Air Support; no scenarios require Night rules or OBA. One scenario, FrF96 (The Flying Circus), requires Aerosan counters that appear only in Hakkaa Päälle!
The scenarios of Friendly Fire Pack 12 are pretty vehicle-intensive, with 7 of the 8 scenarios featuring AFVs and other vehicles. Most of the scenarios are medium or large in size, though none are particularly large. A couple might be difficult to squeeze into tournament play.
Several of the scenarios feature interesting situations. FrF94 may depict one of the more unusual; it features a Soviet cavalry attack on a Romanian-held airfield with Luftwaffe planes on the ground. The Soviets must destroy the planes to win; the planes themselves may possibly be able to take off–in which case they can then offer Air Support. As mentioned, FrF96 (The Flying Circus) features a Soviet attack using aerosans. Scenario FrF93 (Wiener Walzer) wins the 2018 award for Scenario Title Most Likely To Be Mispronounced By Snickering American ASLers. However, it is popular and well-balanced. FrF98 (Amerikanskaya Suka) pits German Panthers and JagdPanzer IVs against Soviet-crewed American M10 tank destroyers (the Soviets have an edge in this popular scenario, so players may want to offer the Germans the balance).
Overall, it looks like another bundle of strong scenarios from Friendly Fire.
Map FrFA is reprinted by MMP as map 85 in BoF2.