Alternative Titles/Edition History:
aka Objective Barracuda.
Publisher/Date:
Lone Canuck Publishing (2021)
Product Type:
HASL/Historical Module
Country of Origin:
Canada
Contents:
24" x 35" historical map, 1 half-countersheet with 100 1/2" and 24 5/8" die-cut counters, 8 scenarios, 1 Campaign Game (Objective Barracuda), 24 pages rules & designer's notes.
Operation Martlet is a historical module depicting a minor episode of the Normandy campaign, when the green 49th Infantry Division (British) attacked the Panzer Lehr Division and the 12th SS “Hitler Youth” Panzer Division in June 1944 to secure the flank for the major (but largely unsuccessful) British Operation Epsom to outflank and capture Caen. Designed by first-time British designer Andy Cochrane, it features a historical map, 8 scenarios, and a 5-date campaign game. The product is also confusingly called “Objective Barracuda.”
The highlight of any ASL historical module is its map. The Operation Martlet map is large in size, at 24″ x 35″, but it has generously-sized hexes. Imagine 4 geoboards side-by-side, then cut off a strip off the bottom, and that’s about the extent of the Martlet map. The map depicts an L-shaped stream valley in fairly open ground sprinkled with orchards, as well as a few fields and a bit of bocage. Including the stream bottom, it has six levels of elevation. In the center of the map is the hamlet of Fontenay, little more than a handful of buildings. It portrays an interesting battleground. The quality of the artwork is fine, but the coloring is not so great: it’s fairly dark and dingy (considerably darker than the graphic image of the map portrayed on the Lone Canuck website). All the hex numbering is black, even on dark terrain, which doesn’t make things easier for players. Players should make sure their playing area is well-lit; that should help.
The included half-countersheet has die-cut counters typical in look and quality of recent Lone Canuck products with counters; they’re fine. Most of the counters are extra counters of existing counter types (4-4-7 squads, British SW, scads of Sherman tanks), but there are a few counters with Assault Engineer markings, a few Artillery Observation Team counters, and some specialized defensive fire markers (not needed for the product, just thrown in for players that like them). ASL players like to get counters, and these counters are fine.
The 8 scenarios all take place on a single day–June 25–and mostly use small portions of the map (no scenario uses the entire map). Several of the scenarios take place simultaneously in different areas of the map and FLP 8 (Polar Bear’s First Dance) simply combines them into one larger scenario. Another scenario, FLP 7 (Across the Bordel), does the same thing with 2 of the first 3 scenarios. These began at night, but the designer essentially ignores this, picking up the action at a later time in order to avoid the Night rules. The designer concentrated instead on the fog and mist that was also present on the battlefield for much of the action and which greatly reduced visibility and increased confusion. The confusion caused for the inexperienced attacking British is represented by an unusual and interesting mechanic. In each of these four scenarios, the British player divides his OB into a set number of forces and puts them in Cloaking Boxes. He then hands the Cloaking counters to his German opponent, who places each one, as he chooses, in a set of specified hexes. The British player then puts the units in those hexes. As a result, the British player will not be able to exercise much control over where his forces will start on the battlefield. The combined scenarios mean that there are really just six scenarios in the pack, plus rules to combine some of the six together.
The British are on the attack in most of the scenarios. AFVs are present in most of the scenarios, including some Panthers, some Sherman Fireflies, and a couple of AVRE appearances. The British and German OBs in scenarios 1 and 2 are suspiciously similar. Six of the scenarios are large in size; one is small and one is medium-sized. Four scenarios use OBA or Creeping Barrages; no scenarios use Air Support or Night rules.
The scenario cards are odd in that many of the counters depicted on the cards are slightly smudged and have a sort of background fuzz that makes it look as if they were cropped and pasted images that had been scanned or photographed. This effect makes the scenario cards seem somewhat less professional-looking.
The campaign game, seemingly called “Objective Barracuda,” is five campaign-game dates in length, but these dates are very unusual. Each campaign date is only a few hours long and the entire campaign game takes place in only 12 hours, from 9 o’clock A.M. to 9 o’clock P.M. of June 25 (in a typical ASL campaign game, a campaign date is from 6 hours long up to a day long). The very short time frame for the campaign game makes some of the actions and procedures–most notably the ability to purchase fortifications such as minefields, pillboxes, fortified buildings, etc.–a little dubious. The campaign game is otherwise fairly straightforward. Both sides have only a fairly modest variety in terms their possible purchases. The Germans do have the option of choosing an SS counterattack, while the British have a special role that gives them some flexible Creeping Barrages.
The scenarios (and the beginning of the campaign game) may have the players having to take some time to figure out the tactical implications of the thick fog for both sides. This wears off over time, however, resulting in a more “normal” battlefield.
This product is likely to appeal most to people who want a modestly-sized campaign game and who moreover would like one in which they do not have to worry about Night rules at all. Operation Martlet does fit that bill.
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