ASL First Fire

Today's the day that the Starter Kit is supposed to start shipping. Great news also from MMP over the weekend as the ASL Rulebook is being submitted to the printer and should be available soon (much sooner than has previously been thought). Keith Dalton has also updated the status on a number of other ASL projects on the ASL Forums:

Okay, here's a rundown on ASL projects.

ASL Starter Kit#1 - Now shipping
ASl Rulebook - content on the way to new printer as we speak. Call it four weeks from us signing off on the proof barring any problems.
Armies of Oblivion - End of Spring, 2004
ASL Journal 6 - Summer/Fall 2004
Valor of the Guards - Summer/Fall 2004
HAKKAA PÄÄLLE - after Valor of the Guards
ORTONA: LITTLE STALINGRAD - after HAKKAA PÄÄLLE
RED OCTOBER - after HAKKAA PÄÄLLE
Beyond Valor - As soon as we can re-lay some counter sheets we will put it on the p-list. Probably after the rulebook ships.

Beyond Valor of course is probably the next most important reprint after the Rulebook, but apparently the counter sheets will have to be laid out anew and so is not a straight reprint. That will delay that module somewhat, but nevertheless with the imminent arrival of the Rulebook, the path for the new player after trying the Starter Kit is becoming more inviting. And of course, for the Grognards, the future looks rosy as well. Kudos to MMP. If the actual production schedule is anywhere close in actual practice to what Keith has listed, the next two years should be chock full of ASL goodness.

Armies of Oblivion will complete the ASL core modules (Hakkaa Paalle redoes the Finnish troops). Valor of the Guards is another Stalingrad HASL and Red October will apparently connect with Red Barricades to create an even more massive Stalingrad experience. Ortona bills itself as "Little Stalingrad." Sense a common theme here? Hard to tell what was the most popular HASL, isn't it?

One other note. In response to absolutely no requests (I'm catering to the Silent Majority here), but in the hope that these articles are of some use to somebody, I have made PDF files of several of the articles on this site (the Newbie Manifesto and the two WA/Bocage articles). See the listing of articles in the column on the left side of this page for the links. Enjoy.

Great to hear that MMP has met their self-imposed deadline of having the ASL Starter Kit back in time for the GAMA convention in Las Vegas. I think the ASLSK is a great idea and a very necessary one if the hobby is to continue after we dinosaurs have departed. The goal of course is to present ASL in a stripped down format (the first kit will have American, Russian and German units only, with ordnance and vehicles left for future starter kits), thereby making it easier for a new player to become acquainted with ASL. A likely side-effect might be the development of further scenarios using only the stripped down rules for players who want an "ASL-lite" for more than just bringing new sheep into the flock.

According to MMP, the parts are all in, collation is beginning, and shipping should start next week. Next up on their agenda is Armies of Oblivion, and by all accounts late-Spring estimates of printing may actually be on target. Further down the road are the ASLRB and Beyond Valor reprints, plus Journal 6. The reprints of course are very important, but give credit where due, the Starter Kit is a great step for the hobby.

I pre-ordered the Starter Kit so should hopefully have it soon. No other purchases in the pipeline yet, but Heat of Battle's Beyond the Beachhead will likely dent my wallet soon, especially given the attention I've tried to direct towards the Bocage rules. Meanwhile, continuing with SASL, currently playing "Hoch, Hoch" from Journal 3. I'll post an AAR, or more likely "in-progress" report; given the number of units involved, this'll take me a while to play.

3. There is a +1 DRM for attempting a Self Rally (A10.63, A18.11) - This is not necessarily an easily-forgotten rule, but it can be an easy one to miss when first getting into the system. "Self-rally" refers to a unit whose broken morale is enclosed in a box. In addition, one unit may attempt "Field Promotion" as the first rally attempt of its own player-turn. However there's still a +1 DRM for attempting to rally without the presence of a leader, regardless of whether the unit has a boxed morale value ("self-rally" capability) or not (attempting Field Promotion). Another important aspect of this rule is:

4. HoB is NA for Self Rally Attempts. MMC undergo Field Promotion on a self-rally DR of 2. SMC just rally on a self-rally DR of 2. (A18.11, A15.1) - A complicated series of rules governing just one aspect of one phase (Rallying in the RPh). Heat of Battle (A15.) occurs with an original DR of 2 ("snake-eyes") during rally attempts (and a number of other events), but not self-rally. The first MMC rally attempt of a player's turn is considered "Field Promotion", which allows a MMC to attempt self-rally regardless of "self-rally" capability. An original DR of 2 both rallies the unit and allows Leader Creation as per A18. However, rolling snakes on a regular self-rally attempt (e.g., a MMC with self-rally capability not attempting "Field Promotion") does not invoke either Heat of Battle or Field Promotion/Leader Creation.

And one for you SASL fans:
5. A Panicked unit must use FPF vs. a moving same-Location or ADJACENT unit (6.212) - This is hidden in the rules section on ENEMY actions, but the effects of "Panic" apply to both ENEMY and FRIENDLY units. A Panicked unit is considered marked with a "Final Fire" counter, and thus Final Protective Fire is mandatory if an opposing unit moves adjacent or into the same Location. Again, this also applies to your own units, not just the ENEMY, which is good since your units would otherwise be completely vulnerable once Panicked.

One of my favorite articles I've found on the internet was one with the above title. I'm not sure where that article exists (other than on my hard drive), although I'm sure it's still out there somewhere (hard to say, the internet is very fleeting). This was a collection of posts from an ASLML thread regarding that very topic. Some obscure items in there, but also some very important ones as well. A couple are listed:

1. CX Infantry have an IPC one less than normal (A4.52). Easily forgotten in the heat of the moment, but can have a big impact if you're hurrying along with a fully laden squad. A squad carrying a 3pp SW (such as a MMG) which declares double-time only increases its MF from 4 to 5 because of this rule (and would get no MF benefit if double-time were declared after the unit's MPh began). The interaction between PP, MF and CX status is very intricate and fully deserving of an entire article, and a fine one was written by Steve Peterson in the '96 ASL Annual (now out of print). Well worth reading if you have access to it, and the superb chart was reprinted in the 2nd edition of the ASLRB. Hopefully this article will be reprinted in the future, perhaps in a future edition of "Out of the Attic."

2. A gun [EXC: some mortars] with no ROF that fires outside its CA is marked Intensive Fired (C2.5). Conditional ROF is also easily overlooked. Basically, changing CA for a shot (for a non-vehicular NT Gun) lowers the ROF for that shot (although if ROF is kept, future shots are not affected). A weapon with no ROF listed is marked with an Intensive Fire counter instead and thus is not able to Intensive Fire during that player-turn.

A nice collection of important rules. I'll try to put more up here in the future (a great way to fill space when I don't have time for anything lengthy, as is the case right now). There've been a lot of helpful websites out there in the past that no longer exist (such as the original ASL Crossroads, The ASL Bulletin Board and Coastal Fortress). Unfortunately, many excellent articles have disappeared along with these. It would be nice to maintain an archive of some of these, and I may try someday.

No new articles yet. Real life is simply too busy right now and I'm barely finding time to play a little SASL ("Hoch, Hoch" from Journal 3).

Gotta give a nod to the VASL/VASSAL guys, though, especially Rodney Kinney. VASL has been the savior of my ASL life, especially for SASL. With two children and two cats at home, leaving boards setup more than a day is simply out of the question. Using VASL though allows me keep the games going without worrying about the setup being destroyed (especially now that the mysterious "flipping boards" problem has been fixed). It also allows me to e-mail the saved games back and forth between home and work so I can get to it whenever I have free time.


VASL of course has now morphed into VASSAL, a generic Java-based program which allows modules for many games to be created, not just ASL. Many people have obviously put a lot of time into what is, as always, a labor of love, for which we all are the beneficiaries, at no charge. I've been greatly remiss in not contributing financially to Rodney and his gang, and have finally rectified that situation. You can too, and if you haven't done so before, please consider doing so. It is probably not overstating the case to say that VASL has been one of the biggest factors in saving ASL and encouraging further growth in the hobby over the last several years.