Classic "Squad Leader"!!!

The iconic cover lives on...with a $10 price tag!

"Honey, I just don't know what happened... I went into the FLGS to buy a couple of paints, and for only $10 this game was sitting there, and... I just *bought it*.  I couldn't help myself.  Hey, at least it was only $10, right??"

Yeah, that's what happened, man.  But to go into fuller explanation...

I had a lovely romance with CSL in the 80s, when me and a buddy both had it and played it a bunch.  I also played it a lot solo, cuz it plays pretty darn well solo!  I played a bunch of the scenarios, some repeatedly, and I dug it.

I then got into COI and COD, but eventually the rules were too much and I got interested in other things [girls, sports, the usual boy things] and Classic SL sat around in my parents house until they moved and threated to throw all my [well, all the kids stuff - my sister's too] into a dumpster if we didn't come get it. It then  went with me and was eventually stored in my garage, where a leak developed, and [due to my negligence] a bunch of stuff was ruined.  Including nearly all my SL stuff. The last surviving materials I was too depressed to keep, and sold the last of it off.  Then, I just didn't have any interest for a long long time.

Well, I did discover this binder, much to my surprise, and was tempted to trash it, but then I thought "hey, these are classic rules, with much to be learned from, so hang on to it!"  So I did. It has 4e. CSL...

likely the same of COI....

...and even COD rules...

...much to my surprsie, it had GAV, which I never owned.  Clearly, I photocopied it.

...Well, the binder sat around on a shelf, partially out of mind.  At a couple of points, I considered playing CSL with my 15mm FoW miniatures, but it just seemed like too much work.  I was into simplifying my rules overhead, since life was pretty demanding.

Then I stumbled upon this $10 [TEN DOLLARS...!!! WTH!] and I just...bought it.

I brought it home, and found [as the store said] that it was barely used and in good shape, and immediately reviewed the rules for Scenario #1 "The Guards Counterattack" and set it up. Childishly enthralled...

I then proceeded to play it several times over the next few days.  It was AWESOME!

As a [much] older person, I was able to digest the rules quickly, and they really weren't as tough as I remembered them.  Of course, a lot of it came back to me quickly. My first game was a nail-biter - with some errors of course - but it was enthralling to figure out how to start sneaking the Guards across the road and take building F5!  Their firepower trashed several squads in G6 and H5, and I realized that it was HIGHLY unlikely that the Germans would hold this building.

Many of the Germans Routed out of the building to some safety, and I was hoping to rally them and counter-attack F5 building, but that was ridiculous, I realized.

As the Russian attack developed, they gained a foothold in the building and the Germans failed to push them out.

...With an "oorah!" the Russian Guards pushed across the street, unstoppable...

...but with a natural '3', the Germans wiped out some stacks!  There's hope, comrades!

...but not for long.  The shattered remnants of elite German leaders and veteran squads retreated to other buildings across the deadly street.

The chewed-up Russkies were still able to deliver enough firepower to push the Germans, eliminating some of the better elements.

Eventually, all the Germans were broken!

The Russkies closed in to seal the deal and take the building at I7!  All the German squads were broken thru superior firepower and some great die rolls...

...and by Turn 5, the Russkies were sitting pretty on I7 with no effective counter from the Germans, who had actually made a play at building M5.

In a second game, I had the amazing misfortune to kill two German leaders by rallying them on a natural '12' - clearly, there are plenty of snipers around!

Unsurprisingly, game 2 ended with the Russkies again winning, despite a much stronger German attack on M5...

...which ended in disaster, as the Germans were wiped out in the assault, and ended up as "support weapon donators" to the Russkies.

Finally, the day for which I'd prepared came around - I had convinced a buddy [who had a battered, incomplete copy of CSL] to give them a go.  I think at some level he felt that they weren't that great, and were likely dated.  He also had the first ASL Start Kit which he had fiddled with, but not really gotten into.  But I was *determined* to play CSL for nostalgia purposes!

And above, here we go, with all set up!

As expected by me [having played 3-4 times at least] the Guards Counterattack was strong, and heavy losses were experienced by both sides. Unfortunately, the Russkies had a few squads go Berserk, and this gave them an edge on the assault.

With more attrition, there was was only one German squad left in the F5 building, and 7 Russkie Guard squads pressuring them - crossfire from J4 did help a bit.

...But eventually, the Guards took the building, which should have been renamed "Fritz's Used LMG Emporium" as they made out quite well on working support weapons.  Altho they didn't help a lot [there's only so many you can fire].

But as the game wrapped up, effective Russian firepower broke *a lot* of Germans and even with rallying some squads and saving building L6, there was no way the Germans would win.  The Russians almost won, but they didn't take a second building nor did they have enough intact squads to win at 3-1 [it was 12-5... so they needed one more German squad broken to win, but the Germans managed to rally a leader and a squad and "not lose"].

Well, after about 5-6 games, the last with a live opponent, I can say honestly, that CSL has aged very well indeed - pretty much it is better than I remembered it, which is more than you can say about a lot of things!  The game is a tense nail-biter, and easily manageable, at least as an adult.

Altho I haven't found any secret sauce for the Germans to win Scenario #1, it doesn't really matter - maybe they can win Scenario #2, The Tractor Works.

We'll see...more is definitely coming.  I'm tempted to commit to playing all original 12 scenarios, which I never actually did - I played most but not all of them.  But #2 and #3 are definitely happening!