In my spare time, which believe me is very limited these days, I found time to play one of the bonus pack starter kit scenarios for advance squad leader. I'm still keen on getting back in the swing of things with ASL and that means lots of ordnance these days. I still have yet to fully master the vehicle rules, but those will come soon. Probably after this summer when my schedule gets a little more sane.
For this AAR though, I pick up a real treat: a battle between Polish and Slovakian units.
I have been in awe of Slovakian history during WW2 since the 5th Grade. In fact, when I was in middle school, I put together my first blog (WW2 Chronicles). It's been lost to the ages, but in it, I put together a newspaper about the opening days of the invasion of Poland, including a special feature on the Slovak participation in that invasion.
The only book I ever bothered to purchase, and which I still own, on the subject was Mark Axworthy's Axis Slovakia: Hitler's Slavic Wedge, 1938-1945. I cannot recommend this book enough. Slovakia's participation in the invasion was limited, but there were clashes between the several divisions of the Slovak military and the defending units of the Polish Karpaty (Carpathian) Army.
ASL's S45 Contested Settlement models one of those clashes. Oddly enough for this scenario, the role of attacker and defender is reversed. After the initial invasion, Slovakian forces secured a polish town across the border and in S45, Polish army and mountain forces are tasked with taking it back. That's just the sort of scenario I like to see. I've got Slovak forces on the field and Polish units on the offensive. What more could I ask for?
The first several turns looked unfavorable for the Poles, and I almost gave up right then and there. The above image was taken too late to be of real use, but the main Slovakian defensive line held the tree line running top to bottom in that image. A medium machine gun section held the northern anchor while a kill stack and heavy mortar covered the middle ground. To win, the Poles have to control at least one multi-hex building by scenario end.
The Poles tried to skirt around the top edge of the photo and overwhelm the Slovakian defenders' machine guns, but for three turns those plans failed. The northern anchor held the line without loss. Then entered the mountain troops behind the Slovakian lines. The Slovakians peeled off troops to deal with the intruders and in the process weakened the heavy mortar kill stack. On a lucky mortar exchange, the Poles managed to break the southern group of Slovakians and close with the position.
The Slovakians fought a grueling battle to eliminate the marauding mountain troops, but at the expense of their defensive line along the woods. With their troops rallied, the Poles skirted round the Slovakian's top flank, secured a second building, and hunkered down the weather the final counter attack. When all was said and done, the Slovakians had successfully eliminated the first group of attackers to secure a house on the south edge of the board, but their luck ran out while attempting to again reduce an entrenched group of Poles holed up in a multi-hex building.
The result was a narrow and hard-fought Polish victory.