03.2018 ASL March Madness 2018: The Players Pack

Publisher/Date:
Encircled Productions (2018)

Product Type:
Scenario Pack

Country of Origin:
U.S.A.

Contents:
10 scenarios (MM42-51) on cardstock

Commentary:

March Madness 2018: The Players Pack (hereinafter MM18) is the latest in a series of scenario packs produced for the March Madness ASL tournament, a long-running ASL tournament run by the Kansas City ASL Club. Often these packs are themed in nature, but not always, and there is no real theme here.  “This year we have 10 scenarios designed by 8 different players,” explain the creators. “Many are making their first attempt at scenario design. The Kansas City ASL Club held a [sic] ASL scenario design contest and these are the scenarios we developed.”

The MM18 scenarios represent a diverse set of actions, set in Finland 1940 (Soviets vs. Finns); France 1940 (French vs. Germans, British vs. Germans); Greece 1941 (New Zealanders vs. Germans); Crete 1941 (Australians vs. Germans); Soviet Union 1942 (Soviets vs. Germans); Poland 1944 (Polish Home Army and Armia Ludowa vs. Germans); France 1944 (Americans vs. Germans) and 1945 (Americans vs. Germans); and Belgium 1944 (Americans vs. Germans).

To play all the scenarios, one needs to have boards 9, 16, 19, 33, 34, 37, 47, 48, 49, 61, 75, 2a, 4a, and third party boards BFP P and BFP Q from Poland in Flames. Three scenarios use overlays. Many of the scenarios have terrain modification rules (all grain is woods, crags don’t exist, etc.) that players must remember.

Most of the scenarios are medium-sized, with a couple smaller and a couple larger actions thrown in. Half the scenarios have OBA but only one scenario uses Night rules. No scenarios have Air Support.

The scenarios are a mixed bag. MM43 (Meuse-French Counter Attack [sic]), for example, pits 10 French tanks against 3 German AT guns.  Whether balanced or not, that’s not a fun scenario to play.  MM46 (Take That Hill), on the other hand, is a tight little Create scenario that features an attempt by 8 German parachute squads to take a hill from 7 Australian squads supported by 2 creaking and clunking Mk VIB tanks. MM44 (Cassel Defense) may appeal to early war aficionados; it features a multi-directional combined arms German attack against a British position fortified with wire.

The largest scenario in the pack is MM42 (I Want To Be A Millionaire), an Extreme Winter scenario set in Finland that depicts a massive (30 squads [with six DCs1] and 7 AFVs) Soviet attack on a strongly fortified Finnish position.  Another very large, and very armored, scenario is MM50 (The Wrong Choice), a Battle of the Bulge scenario featuring a large American attack (20 squads, 16 AFVs) against a German position (with 15 squads and some 20 AFVs). No matter who wins this scenario by victory conditions, the real winner will be the salvage companies scrounging all the wrecks after the war.

The pack’s worth checking out.

 

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