Publisher/Date:
Sherry Enterprises/Schwerpunkt (2024)
Product Type:
Scenario Pack
Country of Origin:
United States
Contents:
10 scenarios on cardstock (RPT201-RPT210), brief player notes.
Rally Point Volume 21: Volksgrenadiers 1944-1945, released at ASLOK in October 2024, is the latest iteration of the long-running themed scenario pack series (the first one debuted in 2006). For those folks slower on the uptake, the theme of this volume focuses on the troops of Nazi Germany’s volksgrenadier divisions, a type of infantry formation that nation first formed in the fall of 1944 to help it thwart the Allied armies closing in on the Reich from East, West, and South. Altogether, Nazi Germany fielded over 50 such divisions, which were smaller in size than older infantry divisions but had more automatic weapons. The quality of the divisions varied considerably from unit to unit.
Many ASLers had called for years for a new squad type to represent volksgrenadiers, despite the already bewildering array of existing German squad types. Loud among those voices was Evan Sherry, the publisher of Schwerpunkt and Rally Point, so it is perhaps not surprising that when MMP did decide to add a volksgrenadier squad type to ASL, Evan and his Tampa-area ASL crew leaped on the opportunity like lice on a landser. One of the results of said leaping is this pack (Schwerpunkt Volume 25, released at the same time, contains some more volksgrenadier scenarios as well as a lengthy article on the formations).
Because of the theme, Rally Point 21 is necessarily ETO-focused; the Japanese had a distinct shortage of volksgrenadiers. However, the pack is also strongly West Front-focused–only 2 of the 10 scenarios take place on the Eastern Front. Soviet forces appear in 2 scenarios, American forces in 4 scenarios, French forces in 2 scenarios, and Canadians in a single scenario.
The pack’s scenarios strongly lean towards the large in size: 7 scenarios are large, 2 are medium-sized, and 1 is small. As is typical for scenarios by this publisher, AFVs are present in every action. No scenarios use OBA, Night rules, or OBA, though, which may speed up play slightly. Still, most of the scenarios are a bit too meaty to easily be used for tournaments.
To play all the scenarios in the pack, the following geoboards are required: 6, 19, 23, 53, 59, 63, 66, 69, 71, 85, 86, 89, 90, 1a, 5a, 10a, 11a, and 14a, as well as ASLSK geoboard p. To get good use out of this scenario pack, players ought to be well caught up in their geoboard purchases.
Users may also want to make sure they’ve purchased Forgotten War: Korea, as–oddly enough–three scenarios use counters from that product. One scenario, RPT207 (The Last Knight), gives the Americans 2 LMG counters that are found in Forgotten War, while a second scenario, RPT 203 (Ozarks’ Tanksgiving), gives the American player the option to exchange a MMG for one of those LMGs. In addition, scenario RPT 206 (Muscled Out of Town) uses Forgotten War counters for all the infantry squads in the French OB (5-5-8 and 5-5-7 counters). It seems really piddling to ask ASL players to dig out 1 or 2 LMG counters from Forgotten War to use in these scenarios (if they even have FW counters with them). Why there is a scenario that replaces Free French forces with Korean War era French units is left unexplained, but this is another instance in which players may not be able to play this scenario because they haven’t brought their FW components with them.
Several scenarios feature interesting situations, including RPT201 (Courland Cutoff), one of the East Front scenarios, which features a number of moving parts contesting 5 victory hexes. RPT209 (Alles Hat Ein Ende), the other East Front scenario, features a number of AFVs with those big, late-war guns that so thrill armor aficionados. RPT208 (The Erft Effort) presents a late-war German attack with a large and very well-armed volksgrenadier force, accompanied by some not-so-tough (by late-war standards) AFVs. The American defenders, though, have a little bit of everything, from a .50 cal HMG to a 75mm RCL to 60mm MTRs to a pair of tank destroyers with 90mm guns.
Overall, the pack seems like a decent purchase, especially for fans of late war West Front actions.
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