From the Cellar # 10

Contents:
1 33" x 23.5" historical map, 20 pages rules, 8 scenarios on glossy color cardstock

Commentary:

Le Franc Tireur’s “From the Cellar” is a line of scenario packs, typically featuring actions from across the width and breadth of the Second World War, or even beyond.  From the Cellar Pack 10 is not a scenario pack at all. It is actually a small historical module–something not even mentioned on the front or back of the product. Well, it’s not even really just a historical module, but the real secret name of this product is “Sand & Snow” and that it is not a scenario pack but rather a small Korean War historical module somehow fused together with four scenarios for an entirely different historical module in a different war and published by a different company. 

So the “Snow” in “Sand & Snow” is the historical module part of this product, aka “Fox Company at Toktong Pass: A Perimeter of Necessity,” which is certainly a mouthful, so I can see why they went with “Snow.”  It depicts fighting around Fox Hill at the Toktong Pass during the U.S. retreat from the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea in November/December 1950.  Critical Hit actually released a historical module on the same topic some years ago, long before the publication of the “official” Korean War module, Forgotten War, by Multi-Man Publishing. The designers of this product, Andrew Hershey and Keith Spurlock, are rather snarky about the accuracy of the Critical Hit map, claiming that its alleged shortcomings were one of the reasons for their attempting the “Snow” project. Desperation Morale is agnostic on that debate, as the maps of most ASL historical modules have to be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to accuracy.

The LFT “Snow” Toktong map is large, at 33″ x 23.5″ (with generous top and bottom borders), depicting the terrain in “winterized” fashion with hues of gray  (the later versions of the Critical Hit module also took the “winterized” approach).  The map is printed on a thick matte stock, which is sturdy but produces a dimmer look than the glossy paper used in the Critical Hit version. 

“Snow” comes with no counters but rather uses counters from Forgotten War and other official products. It has a 20-page rulebook, but don’t worry: only 4 of those pages are actual rules.  There is no campaign game; just the included four scenarios.  None use the entire map, but three of the four scenarios use most of it.

The scenarios include:

FT300 (Fox in the Cold). Uses most of the map. Night scenario. Chinese attack with 42 mixed squads against approximately 12 USMC squads in four different positions. The Chinese have to control two of the American positions, and not go over a CVP cap.

FT301 (Chinese Machinations). Uses most of the map. Night scenario. Chinese attack with 41 mixed squads in five different forces against approximately 11 USMC squads in four different positions (plus OBA). Chinese win by inflicting casualties on the Americans.

FT302 (“We Will Hold”). Uses most of the map. Night scenario. Chinese attack with 32 mixed squads, plus a 4-squad “Feint Force;” defending USMC have 8 squads in four different positions. The Chinese win by clearing Americans from two positions (and not going over a CVP cap).

FT303 (Ridgeline Rendez-vous).  Uses 30% or so of the map. NOT a night scenario.  USMC attack with about 13 squads (plus air support) against 11 Chinese squads. The Americans must get units near a specific position, while also achieving one or more of two other goals (basically, getting CVP or getting near a second position).

Given that the scenarios are Korean War actions and most are Night, these may not get a ton of play, although they may be a draw for USMC fans.  However, as of 2024, ROAR has recorded very few playings of these scenarios (the secret or hidden nature of the historical module probably doesn’t help).  Some of the scenarios, though, portray pretty interesting situations.

The other four scenarios of From the Cellar Pack 10 have nothing to do with Toktong, or the Korean War, although they do involve Marines.  They are for scenarios designed for use with one of MMP’s very first products, Blood Reef: Tarawa.  BRT is not one of the more popular ASL historical modules, but it does have a sort of cult following. Those Blood Reefers are likely to appreciate these added materials for that module.

One scenario is set in the northwest corner of Betio, while two others are set in the central portion.  The fourth scenario actually uses the “Eastern Extension Map” created years ago by Italian ASLers Marco Oresto and Mario Lombardi, which features the long thin tail of Betio that was left off of the original Blood Reef: Tarawa map. It was originally hosted by Openground.it, but is no longer there.  However, Desperation Morale has hosted a backup copy of the extension map as a jpg file here, while Le Franc Tireur has also made it available as a pdf file.
This product may well fall under the radar screens of a lot of ASLers, with neither Korean War, USMC, or Tarawa fans realizing that these resources exist. That would be a shame.

(The above commentary is edited from the desperation morale website)