Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit

Leave...or Elst

On the day that Operation MARKET-GARDEN officially ended, the 7th Somerset Light Infantry was ordered to capture the crossroads in the center of Elst. Supported by a troop of tanks, the Somersets jumped off at 1000 hours on either side of the main…

Knaust's 'Fausts

The 43rd Wessex Division sent a message to XXX Corps HQ that was unusually realistic: “214th Brigade are going to have another crack at Elst, in which every house contains a bazooka and a few infantry. Will be a slow job but should be cleared up…

The Bend in the Road

The road to Nijmegen and Arnhem became the scene of many dramatic events. While the 1st Airborne Division was being annihilated in Arnhem, XXX Corps, desperate to reach the Rhine River and rescue its comrades, was behind schedule. The Germans had…

Ambush at De Hoop

The British had just completed the “Dash to Driel”, a 10-mile advance in just 30 minutes across “the Island” to bring supplies to the beleaguered troops in the Arnhem bridgehead. Having been informed that German armored vehicles had engaged British…

Not A Man Afraid

The war struck northeastern India when a column of the 138th Regiment commanded by Colonel Torikai came upon the remote village of Jassami. The British hastily sent elements of the Assam Regiment to the village in an attempt to continue to slow the…

Spring and Summer

The Japanese had landed on the northwest corner of Papua New Guinea on 21 July and began their trek towards Port Moresby. The Australian Army moved to prevent the Japanese intentions, and the first clash along the Kokoda Trail occurred two days later…

Politics, Logistics, and Pride

The American military mission to China led by General Stillwell was formed with the intent to create a Theater of Operations in the China, Burma, India area to engage the Japanese forces and protect the Allied interests. Despite politics, logistics,…

No Japanese Within 100 Miles

The Japanese invasion had been underway for several days with the Dutch intelligence telling their Commonwealth allies that there were no Japanese landings on the island. Despite this report, Dutch generals blew the bridge at the Tjianten River…

Dutch Trucks

following successful landings, the Shoji Detachment quickly captured the Kalidjati airfield despite tenacious British resistance, while its headquarters unit, including Colonel Shoji, took the nearby town of Soebang at 0500 on 2 March. While the…

A Less Peaceful Christmas

The Japanese had landed at Lingayen Bay with 43,000 troops composed mostly of the 48th Division which had been activated in 1940 on the island of Formosa and which had not yet seen battle. Using landing craft and powered sampans, the Japanese landed…

They Always Returned

The fighting raged all across the Shanghai environs. In the district of Hongkew, the Chinese and the Japanese often exchanged attacks. The combatants would exchange positions, retaking the same ground several times before any consolidation could be…

Iron Fist

The area known as "Little Tokyo" in Shanghai was a Japanese enclave that was quickly surrounded by the Chinese Army in the first week of the fighting. The area included the Japanese Naval Club and the dock district along the Hunagpu River. The…

Havoc at the Hospital

Against the express orders of the Army Commander in Chief, the Naval Commander in Manila, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi (perhaps still influenced by defeats at Guadalcanal two years earlier), was determined to fight a last-ditch battle and had his men in the…

The Down Payment

The battle for Hürtgen Forest had been bitter, cold, and deadly. Every tree and shrub, every fold in the terrain concealed death. The area generally know as the Hürtgen Forest was not all forest. South of the divisional boundary between the 9th and…

Straight and Fast

Unaware of the details of the boat assault across the Waal River, Lt. Col. Edward H. Goulburn broke up his column of armor of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, infantry of the 1st Grenadier Guards, and American Paratroopers of Lt. .Col. Vandervoort's 2nd…

Going Commando

No. 30 Commando, also known as 30 Assault Unit, was a very specifically trained Commando unit whose purpose was to obtain and recover German intelligence. One of the key figures involved in the creation of 30 Assault Unit was Ian Fleming, future…

Tiger's Roar

The Soviets, desperate to relieve the siege of Leningrad, launched Operation SPARK along a narrow corridor south of Lake Lagoda. The German commander, Generaloberst Georg Lindemann, knowing the Soviets would be attacking, had his troops deployed and…

Insufficient Resolve

In an effort to replicate the spectacular successes at Belostok and Minsk during the first weeks of BARBAROSSA and to prevent Soviet forces from escaping towards Moscow, Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Center initiated an…

Off to Oslo

Operation WESERÜBUNG called for a prompt seizure of political institutions and assets in both Demark and Norway. Seizure of two Norwegian airports-Fornebu and Sosa-by paratroops was the key to this goal and a prompt buildup of German forces. Although…

Four Hours More

By March of 1938 Japanese forces controlled most of the Chinese Shandong Province. Despite the official non-expansionist policy that the Japanese High Command had enacted, the China Garrison Army continued to advance. To counter the Japanese…

American Devil

The Japanese 2nd Armored Division was ordered to help defend the Philippines, a daunting task due to its large area, multiple islands, and lack of adequate intelligence on American intent. General MacArthur chose to land on Luzon very near the spot…

A Sideshow Affair

Anguar Island, near Peleliu which the Marines assaulted on 15 September, was to be assaulted only upon assurance that the resistance on Peleliu was well in hand. Marine General Rupertus gave the required assurance a mere day after the landings. Thus,…