Publisher/Date:
Sherry Enterprises/Schwerpunkt (2023)
Product Type:
Scenario Pack
Country of Origin:
United States
Contents:
10 scenarios on cardstock (RPT191-RPT200), brief player notes
Rally Point Volume 20: The Italian Army in WWII is the twentieth in the long-running series of scenario packs from Evan Sherry and crew that began with Rally Point Volume 1 in 2006. It’s an impressive achievement, especially when one considers that the Tampa-based ASLers also produced the long-running Schwerpunkt magazine. Each volume in the Rally Point series consists of 10 scenarios based on a common theme and two pages of players notes with tips for playing those scenarios.
Volume 20 features the Italian Army in the Second World War, a theme chosen due to the recent release by MMP of an enlarged new edition of the Italian core module, Hollow Legions. The Italians are not the most popular nationality to play for most ASLers, due in large part to the relatively weak squads and SW and the poor quality of most of their armored vehicles. This is rather unfortunate, as the Italians fought in so many different theaters of war against so many different foes, presenting a wonderful variety of potential actions, from frozen fighting in the Soviet Union to desert dilemmas in North and East Afrika to mountain fighting in France and the Balkans, and more. Over the years, ASL scenario designers have produced many exciting scenarios featuring Italian units, some of which have become classics. Rally Point Volume 20 gives ASLers another opportunity to explore the Regio Esercito.
The scenario pack features 10 scenarios. Five are set in the deserts of Africa (North and East), while two are set in Albania (1941 only), two are set in Sicily, and one is set in the Soviet Union. The other theaters will have to wait. Most of the scenarios are large or borderline medium/large; only one is small. One scenario has OBA; another has Air Support. No scenarios use the Night rules. As mentioned, 5 scenarios are set in the desert and thus use Desert rules. As is typical with Schwerpunt/Rally Point scenarios, SSRs are generally only used to set the conditions of the battlefield and orders of battle, with no real “color” rules. Victory conditions are (mostly) short and straightforward.
The Italians (with one German guest appearance) face Somaliland/Rhodesian colonial troops, Greeks (2 scenarios), Soviets, New Zealanders, British (3 scenarios), and Americans (2 scenarios). A couple of scenarios require the rules for Eritrean troops, which necessitates access to rules that are in the most recent version of Hollow Legions as well as the most recent versions of the ASL Rulebook Pocket Edition or the Electronic Edition of the ASL Rulebook. Boards required to play all the scenarios include: 25, 25e, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 78, 81, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 3a, 6a,11a, and 15a.
Several of the scenarios present interesting situations. RPT191 (Lazarus Wilson) depicts a classic “small band against a horde” situation, as 8 (well-armed) British squads and a gun defend a hill against 36 (!) Italian and Eritrean troops with horrible ELR, supported by their own gun and 8 AFVs. The scenario promises a lot of carnage, although with the small British force, the British player ought to live in fear of the sniper counter. RPT192 (Espirito Inaspettato) is a one-mapper that switches the situation, with Italian Alpini troops defending a hill against a horde of 26 Greek squads, trying to hold on until Alpini reinforcements can help them throw back the Greeks. The smallest scenario, RPT 193 (The Daring Ones), another Italian-Greek action fought over a hill, might become a popular tournament offering if it proves balanced, as it hits that sweet spot for a short, sharp action. The one scenario set in the Soviet Union, RPT194 (Maranzani’s Mission), which pits Lend-Lease Grants against Semoventi, might also prove popular. The largest scenario, in terms of map area if not in OBs, is RPT 196 (Addio Ariete), a six-boarder desert action featuring nearly a dozen Italian tanks launching a wild counterattack against British forces trying to trap and destroy a retreating battalion of Bersaglieri. It looks like a big, wild melee that might entice fans of the DTO.
Non-fans of the DTO might not be so eager to get Rally Point Volume 20, given that half of its content focuses on desert actions, but as described above, there are a lot of other interesting situations in the pack as well.
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