ASL First Fire

Hell hath frozen over

2006-01-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry this site has been neglected for so long, and I'm not sure when it will become filled with fresh content again, but I had to post on this topic.

ARMIES OF OBLIVION EXISTS!

The MMP guys have brought copies to Winter Offensive and should start to ship out orders once the tournament is over. Here are more pictures to prove the existence of this module, which has attained almost mythic status with gamers, even among those who don't play ASL.

Hopefully the release of this module will help break up the logjam for ASL products. Already, Valor of the Guards has been added to the preorder page and hopefully Journal 7 will be just around the corner. Good times.

Updates

2005-04-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

My apologies for those of you awaiting the next turns of my SASL game. I've been preoccupied by some other things recently (not least of which is GMT's new game Empire of the Sun). The next part of the AAR will arrive soon.

I've updated some of the links in the sidebar along the left side of this page, including links to the existing parts of my ongoing SASL AAR. One link in particular worth pointing out is a link to "CardBoard Warriors," a relatively new site. The moderator is trying to make the site a clearinghouse of sorts for news from the ASL world, especially as it pertains to new and impending releases. Given that ASL's online community is now spread among several sites (the mailing list, ConSimWorld, and the Warfare HQ forums), such a centralized news site is very welcome.

Go Heels!

2005-04-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the off-topic post, but have to give a celebratory shout-out to Roy Williams, Sean May and the rest of the Tar Heels. Congratulations on the National Championship.

SASL AAR - Mission 2: Pockets (Part 4 - Turns 3 & 4)

2005-03-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

British Turn 3, Wind Change DR is an 11 which results in (meaningless) Gusts.

During the Rally Phase, nothing significant happens as a British HS fails to self-rally and the wounded German leader in 12L4 also fails to rally, thus preventing the other units in his hex from making rally attempts. During Prep Fire, my squad in O5 takes a shot at the German conscripts in K3 but without effect. My mortars along the west edge fire at the Germans in L4 but without effect.

During my MPh, my units on the southern end make tracks for board 5, ending in 5Y10. At the northern end, I take advantage of his lack of good order units and run my squads up to surround his stack of broken units. I send the HS up to K5 and the 9-1 leader with his three squads up to M5. Defensive Fire from the conscript HS in K3 is ineffective, allowing me to bring the last squad to M3. During my Advance Fire, a lucky shot KIAs the HS in K3.

So we reach the Rout Phase with his stack of broken units surrounded and unable to rout away. They surrender to the HS in K5, giving me 5 CVP worth of units (an 8-1 leader, a squad, and a HS). At game end, of course, they'll be worth double CVP, so with this one move I've made tremendous progress.

So, my units start towards board 5 during the APh, and with no active Germans in LOS, many of my units are able to claim concealment. Remember that the S? counters are considered (as per S3.1) to be "non-Activated, Good Order, unbroken Enemy unit(s)" and thus even though no activated German units remain on the map, the S? counters still serve to limit concealment gain.

At the end of two and a half turns, I've completely cleared out the units on board 12. Capturing the prisoners has also garnered me enough VP to start thinking about how much progress I've made towards victory. Right now, 14 S? counters remain (all in the board 5 woods), which are worth 2 VP each at game end. Combined with my squad eliminated on the first turn, my opponent has 30 VP if the game ended now. I've eliminated four HS and one squad for a total of 6 VP. My prisoners add another 10 VP (in game-end terms) for 16 VP total. Obviously I've still got a lot of work to do, but with at least 8 full game turns left to play, I've got lots of time to do it.

Of course, not much happens during the German 3rd turn. The Wind Change DR is a ten, providing more Gusts, but no reinforcements for the beleaguered defenders. The only other event is a successful rally of my broken HS in 12L10.

So on to turn 4. The Wind Change DR is a 5, giving me another Random Event. This time I get Infantry Reinforcements (RE #35), which prove to be four squads (4-5-7) with an LMG and an 8-1 leader. This is a nice bonus, but the player has to be a bit careful in how they are used. The units are considered "temporarily attached" since they won't stay with my company for the next mission in my campaign game. However, I can't just throw them into the front line either. As per S17.1321, these units are worth 1.5 times the normal CVP if they are eliminated or captured, a nice way to keep them from being used unrealistically. I mark them accordingly to remember that they are not part of my regular forces.

During the MPh, I move out towards board 5. The mortar crews along the west edge pack up their weapons and head out. The new leader and one of the reinforcing squads panic, but the other three squads get on board successfully. The majority of my forces head for the board 5 woods, stopping one hex short of making contact with the first line of S? counters. This will allow the concealed units to advance into contact without losing that concealment.

During the APh, my units advance into the woods, activating all three S? in the first line. They'll get first shot at my units, but the concealment should help reduce the effectiveness of their fire.

My turn 4 ends, then with my troops already having engaged the first line of German defense on board 5. So far, I've been lucky. I haven't activated any fortifications, vehicles or exceptionally strong positions. I've been left with plenty of time to accomplish my task.

The Wind Change DR for the German 4th turn is a 7 with no effect. His Prep Fire is ineffective, thanks to my concealment. During my Defensive Fire, a number of things happen. His squad in 5M9 battle hardens. His squad in O9 gets KIA'd, with the resulting sniper check breaking my HS double-timing through the village, the only casualty I suffer this turn. Finally, my concentrated fire on N9 breaks his 8-0 leader and causes his conscript squad to surrender, leaving his MMG behind.

The leader routs back to N7 in the second line. The remaining 4-6-8 squad has the opportunity to advance into CC but fails his required NTC.

So ends the 4th turn. The British juggernaut continues, smashing through the first line of defense with the only casualty coming from a sniper. I also took another prisoner, adding another 2 CVP to my game-end total. Can anything stop me?

Somehow I think the answer will likely be yes. Such is (S)ASL.

SASL AAR - Mission 2: Pockets (Part 3 - Turn 2)

2005-03-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, moving right along.

Wind change DR is a 5. This is a Random Event number for the British, so a roll on the RE table yields a 15, which is "Enemy resistance is fading." I get to make a DR and remove that many S? counters from the board.

Well, here is part of what's fun about SASL. The random nature of the process ensures that playing through a specific mission will be different each time. Based simply on the boards used, a task can prove to be simple, moderately difficult or nearly impossible. If the first enemy unit activated proves to be an elite unit such as SS or Paratroopers, all subsequent units will be of that type as well, making for a very long day. And RE rolls can make the job much easier or much, much harder. This is also part of why playing a campaign is likely to be much more satisfying than playing a single mission. In regular ASL, balance is something highly sought after, since nobody wants to play a scenario in which their chosen side has little likelihood of prevailing. In SASL, however, missions frequently do not end up being "balanced" as the random factors mentioned above skew things strongly to one side or the other. Such is the unpredictable nature of combat as depicted by SASL. Playing a campaign makes this more palatable as an impossible task is likely to be balanced out in a future mission when the Fates decide to smile on you, the player.

So I'm not going to feel guilty over this good fortune, especially knowing that a RE for the Germans could just as quickly make my life much more difficult. A quick DR and I now can remove eight of the pesky S? from the battlefield. I'm worried about clearing the woods on board 5, but at the same time I don't want to get hung up on board 12 too long either. So I'll compromise, and remove four S? from board 5, but also remove two of the three remaining S? on the south end of board 12 and two of the S? from the group north of the village. This should allow me to get board 12 cleared a little more quickly and move on to board 5 a good bit ahead of schedule.

So let's go. My three mortars lined up along the west edge take potshots at the remaining Germans, and one gets lucky and breaks the squad in 12L4 (Gotta love ROF and Airbursts - always take a mortar shot at units in woods when given the chance). During my MPh, I first assault move one of my squads from under the 12CC7 bridge to check the lone remaining S? for activation. A dr of 6 eliminates the S? and the southern end of board 12 is now clear. The remaining units in the gully move out. I'll combine them into one stack in the APh so as to be able to use the leader bonus and starting moving towards board 5.

In the village, I assault move most of my troops into the O6 building, except for one squad who moves into P5 so as to have a shot at the S? down the road in K3. During the DFPh, the Germans in M6 fire ineffectively at my squads in O6. During my AFPh, those same squads hit paydirt, getting a K/1 result on M6, which Casualty Reduces one squad and breaks the remaining squad and the leader. My squad in P5 takes a shot at K3 and activates a conscript Half Squad, who survives the attack unscathed. The Germans don't have to rout, and during the APh, my troops leave the O6 building and advance into the street. At the southern end, I combine my squads into one stack as I stated earlier.

Thus ends the top of the 2nd. No S? remain on board 12, thanks in large part to a lucky RE. Of the remaining German units, the only one still in Good Order is the conscript HS. The others are all broken, which means a great opportunity to take prisoners with their doubled CVP at game end. Things are looking good for now.

Not too much happens in the German half of the 2nd turn. The wind change DR of 6 yields no effect. The Germans fail to rally anybody and Prep Fire from the conscript HS fails to make an impression. During my DFPh, I fire at M6 and get another K/1 result, wounding the leader, eliminating the HS and casualty reducing the squad. During the RPh, the surviving M6 units rout back to L4 to join the broken squad there.

So here we are at the end of two turns. The southern end of board 12 is cleared of enemy units and my forces there are moving out to make contact with the enemy lurking in the woods. At the northern end, things should wrap up in the next turn, as all of his units are broken except for a lousy conscript HS. During this next turn, I'll maneuver my units to cut off rout paths and try to take prisoners, and hopefully will be able to turn all of my attention towards board 5 by turn four.

ASL Journal 6

2005-02-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

MMP's sixth ASL Journal is out and now being received by subscribers (it was actually first released in limited numbers to the participants in last month's Winter Offensive). The big attraction this time is the first historical map with accompanying scenarios to be included in a Journal since the second issue, more than five years ago. Although irrelevant to reviewing the actual content, this issue does include one of the nicer cover paintings used in quite a while. The back cover provides an advertisement for Fire in the Sky, MMP's planned reprint of a Japanese game on the war in the Pacific and which is currently on their preorder page. The remaining pages are all given over to ASL material. Overall, this is a nice looking magazine and very good to see. MMP appears very optimistic about this year's schedule of releases, and hopefully this will prove to be the first in a large series of products for both the new and the experienced ASL gamer in 2005.

As admitted by the editors, the Table of Contents looks a bit skimpy, but this is a 48 page magazine nevertheless. There are only three articles, but each is considerable, thus accounting for the appearance of the Table. First up is a Series Replay of scenario J73 "Tired and Unsupported," published in Journal 4. The players are J.R. Tracy and Paul Sidhu, with commentary supplied by John Slotwinski, all of these being familiar names in the ASL community. As pointed out by the participants, this scenario nicely demonstrates the Wall Advantage and Bocage rules as laid out in the 2nd edition of the ASL Rulebook. As always, the article provides a step-by-step listing of every action taken during the playing of the scenario, allowing the reader to set up the pieces and play along at home. While the scenario was a little one-sided, it looks like a nice demonstration that should be of benefit to new players and to anyone interested in the WA and Bocage rules. Plus, anytime you read about the play of a particular ASL scenario, you're likely to have some rules pointed out that you may tend to overlook. Did you remember that a sniper counter must be initially placed in an unoccupied Location as per A14.2? I'd forgotten that, but it's pointed out in the setup comments. Looks like a nice replay, and if anyone's interested I can suggest a couple of articles to browse before reading it.

The second article is by David Olie, and is a "nearly exhaustive" review of Fire Lanes and Residual FP. Given the importance of using these tactics to defend in ASL, both by channeling an attack and by protecting vulnerable routes of attack (such as streets), this article should be of benefit to any ASL player. Helping to clarify things even more, the article is accompanied by a two page "Comprehensive Example" to illustrate the concepts David lays out in the text. Like the previous such comprehensive examples, this appears to be very thorough and should be quite instructive.

The final article is the one most likely to elicit grumbling from some ASL players, but happens to be of a type that I like. Charles Markuss has written several extensive historical articles in the past dealing with the nationalities depicted in ASL. His earliest was entitled "Tommy Atkins at War" and appeared in Volume 25, Number 6 of Avalon Hill's magazine The General. The article discussed the British troops and weapons and their portrayal in ASL. The article in Journal 6 is intended as a follow up and revision of the original article, given the new historical material that Charles has come across since the original was published. It is also the first part of a two-part article, with the second part to appear in Journal 7. I like historical articles. While some players undoubtedly like wargames primarily for the gaming aspect, I have always found the historical context to be very important, seeing wargames and printed historical material as being very much complementary in my desire to learn more about military history, something that has been true since I first found Midway on a toy store shelf shortly after reading Walter Lord's Incredible Victory. I understand that articles like this may not be for everyone, but I am looking forward to reading this and to reading the second part when it comes out.

The centerpiece of this issue is, of course, the Primosole Bridge (PBr) map, accompanied by three scenarios and a Campaign Game portraying the fighting around that Sicilian objective during July, 1943. The map itself is a very nice Kurt Miller creation, depicting the bridge itself with a large area of vineyards next to it. The hexes are the larger size as has become standard in most historical products. Included with the map is a 20 page supplement to the ever-expanding Chapter Z containing rules for using the map along with three Campaign Games. No new terrain types are introduced, although the map contains a new depiction to represent vineyards, previously represented as an "alternate terrain type" in Chapter F. The Chapter Z supplement reprints the rules for Vineyards and Olive Groves from Chapter F, along with the rules for Barbed-Wire Fences and Irrigation Ditches from Pegasus Bridge, all of which are found on the enclosed map. As stated above, there are three Campaign Games ranging from three to 12 Campaign Dates. Two of the CG (which cover the initial landing) have British troops entering the battlefield both by Paratroop Landing and in Gliders. Three scenarios are included as well, with a promise of more to come in the next issue of the Journal. Overall, this a nice module, consistent with MMP's established standards. The only complaint I have is that there is no historical summary provided. In fact, the only historical information provided is the standard prelude and aftermath information on the three scenarios which use the map (one of which doesn't have an aftermath listed). Perhaps that is why MMP has included a brief overview on the Journal 6 page on their website:

What is "Primosole Bridge"? The Primosole Bridge was a key bridge on the Sicilian coast near Mt. Etna which the British required, intact, to continue their drive along the coast. They executed a rather brave plan, seen later in the war at Arnhem, of dropping airbourne elements to sieze the bridge and wait for front lines to catch up. The problem is the Germans realized the importance of the bridge, and landed their own Fallschirmjaegers nearby to hold the bridge and reinforce the Axis units in the area. With such crack troops on hand the battle was fierce with the British nearly collapsing when their ground troops came to their rescue and drove off the Fallschirmjaegers to fight another battle...
The Chapter Z supplement does have an extensive bibliography for the battle, but I was surprised not to find at least an overview of the circumstances surrounding this action, given that I doubt it is widely known to the wargaming public.

As for the scenarios, there are 12 total, three of which involve action on the Primosole Bridge map. They appear to be a nice mix of actions, including PTO, West Front, East Front (both early- and late-war) and even a desert scenario. They are as follows:

This looks like another well-done magazine, with only a few minor problems. I would have liked to have had an historical article for PBr as stated earlier, and there are a few typos, some of which are corrected on an errata sheet included with the magazine. Overall a very nice product.

SASL AAR - Mission 2: Pockets (Part 2 - Turn 1)

2005-02-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

First, before proceeding, this will not be a detailed Series Replay-type AAR, in which every move and specific attack by every unit is listed. There are two reasons for this. First, I wanted this AAR to be directed towards pointing out the mechanics of the SASL system and how they influence the progress of the mission, to give an overview of how the SASL rules work. Secondly, and more importantly, it didn't occur to me until already a couple of turns into the mission that I should save a VASL logfile, so those details are simply not available. My apologies.

Okay, my British troops move first. Wind Change DR is a 10, which causes Gusts to occur, but with no effect as there are no blazes or smoke on board. More to the point, I don't get a RE this turn. There is no Rally Phase (RPh) or Prep Fire Phase (PFPh) activity this turn, so I'll move on to the Movement Phase (MPh).

As stated during setup, I'll position about two-thirds of my forces to enter through the village. Thus I also setup two of my three leaders (a 9-1 and the 8-0) to enter with the larger force. In SASL, a Command Control (CMD) DR is required to allow any forces to move or fire. In this case, my 9-1 leader passes his DR by rolling a 10 or less (92% probability), and does so successfully. While not shown at left, I had my 8-0 leader setup within two hexes of the 9-1, and since the 9-1 had a higher morale, his successful CMD DR puts the 8-0 in CMD as well. By setting up the remainder of this force within two hexes of one of the two leaders, the chain reaction continues and with one successful DR, two-thirds of my entire OB is already free to move/fire this turn. As you can see, the concept of Command Control adds an additional level of complexity to the management of your leaders. In regular games of ASL, you have to decide between using your leaders as rally points for your troops or using them in firegroups to avoid cowering or to take advantage of negative modifiers. Now, you have another option consisting of keeping your leader where he can influence the greatest number of your troops, which might not necessarily be an optimal position for either rallying troops or positively influencing fire attacks. If your leader winds up out of position or, even worse, if he is eliminated or broken, you can wind up with a large number of your units having to roll their own CMD DR. A 9-1 leader might pass his CMD DR 92% of the time, but a 7 morale squad (needs a 7 or less) will only be successful 58% of the time. Thus, careful positioning of your leaders is important to allow your offensive (or defense for that matter) the greatest chance of succeeding. On the first turn, it's easy to setup my troops so that the most units possible are influenced by the smallest number of DR. Once my advance across the board gets underway and my troops become more spread out, it'll be harder to keep such force cohesion, and my progress may slow down. Once again, this is one of the major things that make SASL such a unique experience in the ASL world.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's start sneaking onto the board. First to move is my half-squad which enters the woods in 12L10. Activation of enemy suspect (S?) counters is checked either when fired upon with a concealment-loss result or when one of my units moves within a certain range depending on the possible DRM. In this case, my unit uses non-assault movement into a woods hex, providing a net DRM of 0 (+1 for the woods, -1 for FFNAM) for any defensive fire. Each nationality has a chart detailing the detection range for each possible DRM. For the Germans, a DRM of 0 will cause an activation check for any S? counter within 6 hexes of the moving unit (had this been a clear hex, the net DRM of -2 for FFNAM and FFMO could have allowed activation checks for up to 12 hexes away). In this case, the S? counters in 12L5 and M6 are within range with a clear LOS. L5 is checked first (randomly chosen between the two) and activates a 8-1 leader along with a 4-6-7 squad possessing a LMG. The subsequent attack (6 FP with a -1 DRM) fortunately fails to hurt my HS, but leaves 2 residual FP. Since my HS is still Good Order (and used 2 MF to enter the woods), the same units fire again as SFF, and again fail to have an effect. Unscathed, my HS slips into the gully in L9 and temporarily out of harm's way (normally, since he was still Good Order, the S? in M6 should've been checked for activation to possibly attack him in the woods hex, but I appear to have overlooked that possibility).

Next to move is a squad who enters the N10 woods hex. The S? in K7 fails his activation check (AC) and is removed from the board. The S? in K5 is out of range (7 hexes with a 0 DRM), so the squad proceeds into N9. The K5 S? passes his AC and produces a 4-6-7 squad. The 4 FP attack with a -2 DRM pins my squad. Next, another HS enters the board through P10 and O10. The units in L5 can't fire since they're already marked with Final Fire. Upon entering O9, the HS triggers an AC (finally!) for the S? in M6, yielding a 4-4-7 squad. His First Fire and SFF attacks cause no harm. Now, with the German units all marked with Final Fire (M6 and L5) or out of range (K5), the rest of my northern force can enter the board without much concern. My 8-0 enters N10 along with a mortar-toting crew. The other crew with a mortar remains offboard for now rather than enter the 2 FP residual in L10. The remainder of my units (along with the 9-1) enter along the Q10 road and push towards the marketplace.

Down at the southern end of the battlefield, my other units prepare to enter the fray. My 8-1 leader passes his CMD DR. First to move is a HS which enters play through BB10, with the purpose of seeing what the closest S? counters might reveal (with a 50% chance of them proving to be dummies). Upon his entering BB9, the S? in DD4 is checked, resulting in a 4-6-7 German squad being activated. His attack breaks the HS. Seeing that discretion might be the better part here, my remaining forces directly enter the gully in the hope of getting closer to the Germans without drawing further fire, with the exception of my remaining crew with a mortar, who sneaks into Z10. Thus no further activations are made.

No action takes place during the Defensive Fire Phase (DFPh), and no decent attacks are available for me during the Advancing Fire Phase (AFPh). The broken unit in BB9 routs back to the woods in Z10. During the Advance Phase, the HS in the L9 gully claims Crest Status, and the crew and mortar which had remained offboard now advance into the L10 woods hex (since the residual FP is no longer present). The forces in the village advance into cover and my units in the southern gully advance one hex farther. Other than a couple of my squads gaining concealment, no significant action occurs during the Close Combat Phase (CCPh), and the British First Turn comes to an end. I've pretty much achieved the goals I had for this turn, mainly to get most of my force on the board and begin activating the German forces. Other than my one broken unit, no blood has been shed yet.

Now for the German's turn 1. The Wind Change DR is a 7, yielding no effect. During the RPh, nothing happens since the only broken unit on the board can't self-rally. Next to determine what the German units will do. During the enemy player's PFPh, each activated unit on the board is checked to see if they will fire, move or Panic (and thus do neither) during that turn. When on the defensive (such as in this mission), the enemy units are more likely to fire (or else entrench if no target is available) than move. Once that decision is made, charts are used to determine each Location's target (if selected to fire) or movement command (if selected to move). In this case, the German units in K5, L5 and M6 are all given fire commands, while the unit in DD4 is selected to move and is marked with a "move" counter for now. The German units do well with Prep Fire, managing to break the HS in Crest Status in the gully and, even worse, getting a lucky KIA result on the poor squad which had been pinned in the open in N9 on the previous turn.

Down at the southern end of the battlefield, the German squad in DD4 doesn't fare as well. Instructed to move towards the nearest British unit in LOS, he makes his charge towards the units in Z10. However, upon entering the first hex (CC5), he suddenly finds himself exposed in front of my units in the gully (which he couldn't see prior to the move). A lucky roll on my part and he goes down with a KIA as well. During my DFPh, no real action takes place except for my crews assembling their mortars. In the RPh, my HS in the gully routs back to L10. The German uses his APh to get his units out of the K5/L5 grain and into better cover and no action occurs during the CCPh.

So, here we are at the end of one complete game turn. I've moved well onto the board in both locations. My units in the village are positioned to use the 12O6 building to get in close against the activated German units while keeping good cover. The units in the southern gully should be able to get close enough to find out what lurks in the orchard with a little bit of reconnaissance by fire in the next turn or two. My mortar crews should be able to provide a little harassing fire in addition. Overall I'm pleased with the position. CVP are even with 2 CVP per side, thanks to the matching KIA results. However, there are still seven S? counters just on board 12 and still another 18 on board 5, so there's still a lot of work left to do. Fortunately, I'm just one turn into the game, with a minimum of ten more turns left.

On turn 2, I plan to assault move the forces in the village into the O6 building, with maybe one unit moving behind the wall in P5 to get a shot at the S? down the road in K3. The units in the gully will stay in the gully, claiming Crest Status in the APh and plan to hit the German units with Defensive Fire in the German 2nd. With a bit of luck, I could get most of board 12 cleared by the end of the 3rd (or at worst the 4th) turn, leaving plenty of time to tackle the ominous woods on board 5. On to the top of the 2nd...

SASL AAR - Mission 2: Pockets (Part 1 - Setup)

2005-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

I thought it might be fun to generate an After Action Report for my current SASL game. It might seem odd to commit so much bandwidth to SASL right after MMP's announcement that the game is now out of print, but I thought it might serve a threefold purpose. First would be to help memorialize the system, which as I have often stated I feel to be vastly underappreciated by most ASLers. Secondly, those who have SASL but haven't tried it before might be encouraged to give the system a tryout. Thirdly, there are likely still copies of the product in stores somewhere, and certainly available on eBay. This might give you a reason to consider picking it up should you happen to run across it. Hopefully, this AAR will give you a feel for how the system works.

The only other detailed AAR of a SASL mission of which I'm aware is the Series Replay published in The General in Volume 31, No. 3. If you're not familiar with the mechanics, see this article by Robert Delwood (which was reprinted in ASL Journal #2). Briefly, the system provides "missions" which allow a variety of offensive and defensive situations, ranging from advances to static defenses and even such operations as river crossings, air assaults and amphibious invasions. MMP (through the Journal) has published charts allowing you to fight solitaire across the Red Barricades mapsheet, plus two additional missions, one of which depicts the fighting on Omaha Beach. Heat of Battle included two solitaire missions with its Onslaught to Orsha package and Bruce Monnin's "The Boardgamer" magazine published an article allowing you to play CG II from the Pegasus Bridge HASL module using the SASL system.

Part of what makes the system so good is that it's almost infinitely replayable. Aside from the "historical" missions listed above, the terrain and the opposing forces are generated completely randomly. Thus, you'll know your overall objective, but will not be certain of exactly what you'll be facing until you actually make contact with the enemy. SASL provides a very different experience than regular face-to-face ASL, and a very rewarding one in its own right. The reasons are perhaps best laid out in a list on Pete Wenman's site:

Ten Top Reasons Why SASL is as good as ASL (but it is also very different) in no particular order.
1. Total Fog of War - no looking at the scenario card to see what units the enemy has
2. Cmd & Panic -the ability to lose control of your units at a critical time
3. Built in Campaign system -now starting to included HASL
4. Can play whenever you wish for as long as you want
5. Don't have to face your opponents taunts when you lose
6. Can take as long as you like to ponder a move and consult the rules
7. Does not require an opponent - obvious but a great asset
8. Group SASL -be part of a larger plan and command a Division, Regiment, Battalion, or Company.
9. No problems with sleaze, if you cheat you cheat yourself
10. No battle/mission is ever the same when replayed -the terrain, enemy units and enemy locations are always different

Today's mission will be "Pockets" (Mission #2 in SASL). Our orders from Division HQ state "Your command has received orders to make contact with and wipe out several isolated enemy pockets of resistance that were bypassed in the earlier advance…" Simple enough. Two mapboards will be used, and several "pockets" of enemy resistance will be generated randomly, each consisting of a cluster of Suspect ("S?") counters. Our job will be to make contact with and eliminate each such pocket. Each side receives CVP in the usual fashion. In addition, the enemy side receives VP for each enemy unit/Gun on the map at game end, plus 2 points each for every S? counter still on the map. Thus, to win this mission, we have to move quickly to activate the S? counters and eliminate the activated units. In addition, as is always the case when CVP figure into the victory conditions, taking prisoners is a very worthwhile pursuit, given the doubled CVP value they provide.

For this mission, I'll use a British infantry company, fighting the Germans in June, 1944. This will be the first mission for a campaign using this company, fighting monthly missions thru April, 1945. Playing a campaign is the most rewarding approach, since as with all campaign games, what you do in each mission affects the resources you have for the next one. You're forced to occasionally make hard decisions about when to press on and when to conserve your forces to fight another day. Playing a campaign will allow me to fight through the major West Front battles of the last year of the war.

Next step for setting up the mission is to generate the random elements using the mission card. The German SAN is 4 and mine will be 2, meaning not much impact likely from snipers. The AC# (Activation Check) is determined to be 3. This means that when a S? counter is checked for activation, a dr of 1-3 means it is activated (and German units are placed there) and a 4-6 means it was a dummy and is removed. Several modifiers will affect each activation, the most important being a -1 drm if an already activated German unit is within 2 hexes of the S? being checked. This means that once you activate a unit, nearby S? counters are more likely to generate units, so rarely will you activate units in isolation, which certainly seems "realistic." Once a S? is activated, you determine randomly what kind of units appear in that Location.

Next to be determined are the Random Event numbers. For this mission, they'll be 4 & 5 for the Germans and (lucky dr) 5 & 6 for the British. The Wind Change DR at the beginning of each player turn is checked to see if it matches one of the RE numbers for that side. Thus, if the Wind Change DR is a 5 or 6 at the beginning of a British player turn, I get a Random Event which will often generate reinforcements of some kind, or some other beneficial event. These REs provide additional variability helping make every mission different. My final dr determines that the Boobytrap level is "B" thus making my life marginally harder.

Now to determine the mapboards. Using the tables designated by the mission card, I generate two mapboards, 12 (oh no! not the marketplace!) and 5. I will enter board 12 first, with board 5 waiting beyond. Two "pockets" of resistance are created on board 12, one just north of the village and another near the south end, and a larger "pocket" is generated in the board 5 woods (aka, the "Bois de la Carte Cinq"). See the setup below. Finally, the weather is determined in the usual DYO fashion. Today will be clear and very dry, with a mild breeze and occasional gusts. And, by the way, the game length will be a minimum of 11 turns.

So, here is what we face (click the map for a larger image). On this map, north is to the left and as per SASL convention, I will enter from the west map edge (at the bottom). The two clusters of enemy forces on board 12 are widely separated but both provide something of a covered approach. First though I have to decide how to divide my forces. My company consists of 9 squads, 3 half-squads, 3 crews, 4 LMG, 3 PIAT and 3 mortars. Most importantly, I have 3 leaders. In SASL, the biggest difference in actual play compared with ASL is the use of Command Control. Unlike in ASL, where your troops always do whatever you tell them to do, SASL units only move or fire if they've passed a TC that turn, which is called a "Command DR." If they fail that DR, they "Panic" and are effectively TI for the remainder of that player turn. This is where leaders play an even bigger role. They effectively have a -1 DRM for their CMD DR, and their influence means that if they pass, every unit within 2 hexes (and in LOS) is also considered "In Command" and can move/fire without making their own DR. For example, a squad with a morale of 7 is much more likely to avoid Panic if they are within range of a leader with a morale of 8 (will be able to move/fire if the leader makes a DR of 9 or less, a 83% probability) than if they have to make the roll themselves ("In Command" on a DR of 7 or less, a 58% probability). Thus, I will generally try to keep my forces within command range of a leader as much as possible. Panic results will seriously slow down the advance.

In this case, I'll send two-thirds of my company (and 2 of the 3 leaders) against the larger force outside of the village, with the remaining leader and platoon taking on the smaller force beyond the southern gully. To attack the larger force, most of my units will move through the center of the village, taking advantage of the cover and protection provided by the buildings, while two mortars and a maybe a squad take them on at longer range from the woods hexes along the board edge. In the south, there's mostly open ground, but I'll take advantage of the gully to sneak in closer while remaining out of LOS, while again leaving my mortar crew along the board edge to take pot shots at them. Enemy units are checked for activation either because of your movements in their LOS or when attacked causing a PTC or better result. Ideally, activating units by firing on them is preferable since of course whatever IFT result caused the activation will immediately apply to the activated units. Taking advantage of the cover will allow me to get in close without activating too many units in the process.

Once I (hopefully quickly) dispose of the board 12 forces, it'll be time to go after the enemy units on board 5. These will be trickier in some ways but better in others. Because of their setup (none are in the edge of the woods, all are in interior woods hexes), none of the S? counters will have LOS to board 12, allowing me to move to the woods free of any return fire once my work on board 12 is done. Unfortunately, while they won't be activated from long range, I can't attack them from long range either, and thus won't be able to activate them without getting adjacent. But given the VP penalties for leaving S? counters unmolested, I have no choice but to get in there and take them on. Yep, gonna have to get our hands dirty here. If I have enough time, I'll try to make sure my units are concealed by the time they move adjacent to each of those counters (since concealment is easy to gain in the woods). The Germans will get first shot at my units, but if they're concealed the effects of point blank fire will be negated, and the enemy units will lose concealment meaning my return fire won't be similarly hindered. Once I do reach the woods, I'll probably have my two separate forces regain contact with each other rather than having the southern force make a flank attack. Otherwise, given the woods terrain, they'll wind up fighting widely separate battles and unable to support each other.

So, the board 5 woods will be the slowest going, with 36 VP worth of suspect counters hidden away. But the key to victory will be getting through board 12 with all due haste. If I get bogged down in clearing those forces, I'll run out of time to make much progress against the Bois de la Carte Cinq. Leaving too many S? unscathed will make victory impossible no matter how successful I am elsewhere.

Okay, any questions? Right. Off we go.

Wind change…

Ode to SASL

2005-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

'Tis a sad day. According to the Multiman Publishing website, the Solitaire ASL module is sold out, and as stated on the site, "NO REPRINT PLANNED."

I'm sad to hear this. SASL is a tremendous accomplishment on the part of the immortal Charlie Kibler. His successful effort to take a game system as complicated as ASL and create a workable solitaire system is to me the most underrated accomplishment in the entire product line. Unfortunately, by its nature, SASL has never been hugely popular, despite a core or dedicated proponents who were largely responsible for the production of the expanded 2nd edition.

ASL has often been described as a niche within a niche hobby (wargaming in general). SASL would then be a niche within a niche within a niche. ASL is without question at its best when played across the table from another player. Many players have been disdainful of the prospect of playing solitaire. However, for a fair number of players, SASL has been a godsend. Not everyone has a readily available pool of players nearby to allow face-to-face play. While VASL helps alleviate this problem, SASL is still very worthwhile in its own right.

Because of the way the solitaire system works, it's a very different experience from standard ASL. There's much more uncertainty and fog of war. While you know the overall situation you're facing, you're never quite certain as to what kind of enemy you'll actually face. Sometimes you'll have a mission that turns into a cakewalk because of the random nature of how the mission was generated, or because of random events generated during the mission. Other times, you can be faced with a completely unwinnable situation, and be forced to decide when to pull back and preserve your forces. Add in the command control rules and you probably have a more "realistic" depiction of the fog of war inherent in tactical combat than regular ASL provides.

Given the realities of MMP's situation, and the financial difficulty of keeping a product like this in print indefinitely, it's not surprising that SASL's shelf life is at an end (as is becoming the case for a number of other ASL products). MMP simply doesn't have unlimited resources and can't keep every module around for the small trickle of new players needing to acquire them. I for one, though, am particularly sad at the demise of SASL, a greatly underappreciated module. Thank you Mr. Kibler and everyone else who kept this project alive for the last 10 years.

Takin' a Break

2004-09-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of new content here in the last 2-3 months. As I think I said before, I chose a blog as my ASL website because I like the format. It's been a nice way to generate and post articles on ASL. I hope at some point to put the articles I've already generated into a downloadable pdf-style journal format (with an original title like "First Fire, Issue #1"). However, the problem with using a blog is that it comes with an expectation of frequent updating and adding of new material (I'm probably the only blogger in all of cyberspace not to have posted something regarding the CBS-Bush National Guard memos). I find myself feeling guilty for not having something new to add (all guilt is self-generated).

Unfortunately, I've not had time to play ASL recently. Even my current SASL game ("Hoch Hoch" from Journal 3) is languishing on my computer. It's difficult to generate new and informative postings about ASL when I'm not actually playing the game. With the recent change of the ASL Forums to the Warfare HQ site, my interest in reading about ASL online has receeded a bit farther. I'm honestly not sure about why the community at that site doesn't click with me, but I don't enjoy browsing there, especially with the recent MMP-bashing threads. I still read the ASLML and Consimworld, but the list just isn't up to its historical standards, and CSW I read for non-ASL reasons. In other words, I'm not playing ASL right now, and am not really reading enough about it to keep me interested.

This will be temporary. I have too much invested in ASL and receive too much satisfaction from playing it and being involved with it to let if go. As my schedule and my interest level allow me to descend into ASLdom again, my contributions to this site will pick up as well. Could be in 3-4 months, could be in 2 weeks, don't know for sure.

I'm just trying to lower the expectations of anyone looking for new content here. For now, enjoy perusing what already exists here. I promise that more will be forthcoming eventually. And thanks to everyone who happens by.

Pay Per View, Update

2004-08-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

An announcement on Consimworld today reports that the subscription response so far appears to exceed most expectations, with over 1,000 gamers having signed up so far. At $15 per subscription, this apparently is enough to move the service up to another level. As a result, John Kranz has announced that read-only access to Consimworld will now be free, although only subscribers will be able to post messages. This should relieve many of the concerns over this subscription plan related to the difficulty new players would have in discovering what a terrific resource Consimworld is for gamers. Congratulations and compliments to John for reaching this milestone, for being able to open up the site to casual viewers, and for being willing to offer refunds to the inevitable few who will feel "cheated" by this change in the value of their $15.

Pay Per View

2004-07-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out…"

Well, that's pretty much how it sounded when the first announcements were made that Consimworld was going to a subscription plan. The topic dominated the discussion boards for many days, and while a lot of the discussion has died down, we're now only a week away from the transition. Adding to the upheaval for ASL players was the announcement that ASL Forums moderator and founder Nat Mallet was going to have to step down from that position, leaving the future of the Forums uncertain, and possibly leading to a merger of the Forums into those provided at the Warfare HQ site.

I was going to comment on this a few days after the CSW announcement was made, but am glad I waited a bit before doing so. There was a great deal of furor at first, and predictions of the outcome ranged from "no big deal" to "the death of wargaming." The concerns are first that such a subscription service might drive away some of the more casual posters at CSW, thereby limiting the usefulness of the site as a repository of Consim information. Secondly, fewer new players are likely to join the site (and pay for the subscription) if they don't first have the opportunity to experience the community available there. There has been some talk that modifications to the subscription plan might be carried out to allow new players access to some of the boards to whet their appetites and also discussion of game companies footing the bill for that subscription. Indeed, John Kranz has just announced a delay in implementation of the subscription plan, presumably in order to continue exploring other options, but unless there are drastic changes, CSW will become more restricted in terms of access and some point in the near future. The ASL Forums transition seems a little uncertain as of this writing. I won't speculate on what motivations lie behind the plans. John Kranz has clearly put in a great deal of time and effort to keep Consimworld afloat, especially through what became a fairly tough transition to a new software package in the last year. It's his baby, and it'd be his right if he simply dismantled the entire thing. Likewise, I don't doubt Nat puts in a good deal of energy on the ASL Forums, although on a smaller scale. The question though is how these changes may impact ASL.

Restricting access to CSW isn't likely to have a significant direct impact on ASL. Until a couple of years ago, the major internet gathering place for ASL players was without question the ASL Mailing List. There were a few other forums available (including CSW) for those who didn't like the occasional tone of discussion on the list, but this was the major gathering site for ASLers in cyberspace. However, by late 2002, the server problems the list was experiencing (outages, duplicate postings being sent out, delays in messages appearing, etc.), combined with an increasing number of players who wanted to avoid the list altogether, caused many to begin looking elsewhere. CSW already had boards both for MMP and ASL itself, but traffic on those sites began to increase. In addition, other forums sprang up. The ASL Forum began in January of 2003, and the WarfareHQ site developed an ASL-specific forum later that year. There are at least a couple of Yahoo Groups dedicated to ASL as well. The net result is that there a number of sites available online to discuss matters related to ASL. CSW does not currently play a major role in this discussion. Occasional rules discussions and AARs may show up there, but this seems to be a small amount compared to the other sites. Severe restriction of access to CSW should not impact greatly on ASL's presence on the internet.

Where a change in CSW might have impact is on the ability to bring in new players. The mailing list and the ASL Forums are dedicated discussion sites for ASL players. CSW's advantage is that ASL players make up a small minority of those players who frequent that site. Having those players around allows them to become aware of new products like the Starter Kit, which might entice new players to finally give ASL a try and old players to think about trying it again. Based on comments at CSW, members of both groups have indeed given our beloved game a shot because of the Starter Kit. Would the kit have been as successful without CSW? It's hard to say. Going to CSW is like going to a large wargame convention. Not only can you become aware of different games that are out there, you can also find experienced players willing to tell you all about them.

Thus there's a "cross-pollenation" effect that CSW provides that can't be matched by any other Consim-dedicated site right now. Loss of this effect is probably more of a threat to companies like MMP than it is to specific games like ASL. MMP has diversified its product line in the last few years, offering (in addition to ASL) the Gamers line of games and now individual games such as Monty's Gamble: Market-Garden and the upcoming Shifting Sands. Discussion on the MMP company board at CSW is carried out by fans of all of MMP's games. Undoubtedly, dedicated ASLers have received exposure to the Gamers line through this board that they otherwise wouldn't have received (myself being one of them). Likewise, some of the dedicated Gamers players have indicated an interest in ASL once the Starter Kit was released. It's this crossover that MMP may lose if CSW doesn't thrive. ASL may not be directly affected, but anything that hurts MMP certainly doesn't help the system thrive in the future.

The ASL Forums merging with WarfareHQ wouldn't have a huge impact. Users of the Forums would likely make the transition without too much trouble. Speaking from the standpoint of personal preference, I just don't get into the WarfareHQ site as much. I don't know if it's the site itself, the usual posters there (a different group for the most part than on other ASL forums), or some combination of the two. If the merger happens, I'll probably make the transition too. If not, there is still the venerable ASLML to fall back on.

John Kranz and Nat Mallet deserve a great deal of thanks for what they've done for the gaming community. Free access to sites like these are emblematic of what the internet can provide. Unfortunately, as has happened so often in the last decade since interest in the "Information Superhighway" first exploded, the egalitarian nature of the net has run up against the realities of life, namely that sites like these cost a great deal to maintain, both in money and time. Nobody knows for sure what it is costing John to run Consimworld, but estimates tossed around on the discussion boards run into the thousands of dollars. Even if one doesn't wish to try to get rich off the internet (not a likely proposition anyway), there comes a point where compensation for services is required just to maintain the status quo. I can't begrudge the change to a subscription service, and it's probably an inevitable transformation at this point. But I will be sad to see it happen. We are a niche hobby. Anything that hinders the exchange of information in this relatively small community will end up hurting the hobby in the long run. I am hopeful that a new plan will be found that will allow fairly unrestricted access to the forums, and maybe this delay in starting the pay per view service is an indication that something is in the offing.

Out of the Wrapper - Beyond the Beachhead

2004-07-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

I've just received Heat of Battle's newest product, Beyond the Beachhead (BtB), aka "Fighting the Bocage." While not quite as ambitious as their CG Onslaught to Orsha (OtO), this appears to be another excellent and high quality product from the mind of Chad Smith.

As the title implies, this "Battle Pack" depicts the fighting that took place inland of the invasion beaches during the first seven weeks following D-Day, as the Allies first came to grips with the infamous Normandy hedgerows. To illustrate this terrain, BtB includes two mapboards and two overlays containing Heat of Battle's new artwork for Bocage hexsides (which allows Bocage and hedges to exist on the same mapboard for the first time). The pack seems to have been well received so far, with several AARs already having been posted on the ASL Forums. I'll provide links to those reports with the scenario reviews below.

The package is "oversized" due to the overlays included. The outer cover is the same size and stock as that included with OtO and includes a few special rules on the inside cover. One of these covers vertices where bocage and hedges intersect, something not previously encountered in the ASL system. The major new rule covers "Light Bocage." This is pretty much identical to regular Bocage except that it is only a half-level obstacle, therefore not leaving blind hexes, and the movement rules for crossing the hexsides are modified slightly. One other rule clarifies the effects of SCW on Bocage hexsides (at least for the purposes of this scenario set), and admits that HoB's interpretation for this Battle Pack goes against a recent clarification issued by MMP. I take this to mean that the scenarios in BtB were designed and playtested prior to that official clarification, and thus this rule exists to avoid a possible unbalancing of the BtB scenarios. The inside of the back cover gives a LOS example illustrating the new Light Bocage rules.

The centerpiece of this package, of course, is the playing field provided therein. Two geomorphic mounted boards are included as are two approximately half-board sized overlays (one with a village, the other with a large hill mass). The four items show fairly standard ASL artwork (with the notable exception of the new bocage artwork) and as one would expect the terrain is heavy on hedgerows. Both overlays will work on either mapboard, giving a total of six configurations. The cover also claims that the overlays will work on other existing geomorphic boards as well (the hill overlay is used on board 4 in one scenario). The artwork is crisp and clearly printed (I'm not sure if this is computer generated or hand painted, but if done eStyle, it far surpasses the results seen in the Starter Kit). This now makes a total of four boards produced by HoB counting the unfortunately out of print High Ground package, and all are worthy additions to the system. As an extra bonus (mainly for pre-publication orders), unmounted (but laminated) copies of both mapboards were also included, a nice thing to have as MMP transitions to ASLSK-style boards in the future.

Eight scenarios are provided, all of course featuring the Germans versus either the Americans, British or Canadians. Two scenarios use two mapboards, but the remaining six are one board or less in size, befitting the hedgerow battles depicted.

Taking Tailleville

AAR

Merely Hanging On

Kraut Corner

AAR

Firestorm in St. Manvieu

Martinville Ridge

AAR

Men Against Tanks

AAR

Blood on Hill 192

Steel Inferno

A good looking set of scenarios. Check out the AAR links to get some first impressions from players who have already tried them out.

The only minor nitpick I can find is that there doesn't seem to be a listing on either the game package or the website showing what the ASL prerequisites are for playing this pack. Of course, the German, American and British/Canadian counters will be needed. The maps have slope hexsides, thus requiring ownership of at least one of the HASL modules featuring these rules. In addition, one scenario requires captured LMG counters for the Germans provided in the Pegasus Bridge module, although these can easily be substituted for. Also, two scenarios use Bombardment rules provided in a KGP RG note. Otherwise, I don't think there are any special requirements. Boards 4 and 11 are needed for one scenario each, and the only other boards used in these scenarios are the two provided in the package itself. Likewise, no other overlays are needed either.

Overall, a very nice Battle Pack, and early returns from the online community seem to be very positive. I look forward to playing these. Heat of Battle has set a high standard with recent products like Firefights! and especially OtO and this newest package seems to live up to that legacy. Nice job.

Delays, delays

2004-07-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

My apologies to any regular readers of this site. I never intended this to be a daily report on my views of the ASL world in the classic blogging sense. Rather, this is meant to be a repository of occasional product reviews and rules how-to segments, a way of conveying lessons learned from 5+ years of experience with ASL and 25+ years of consim gaming in general, and a method of giving back to the ASL community in general. The blog just seemed an interesting and unique (in the ASL online community) way of doing so, stimulated by my perusal of the extensive blogging community devoted to Major League Baseball. It's also given me a way of learning a bit more about HTML programming (purely as a hobby).

However, I did want the content to be updated more often than it has over the last two months. Real life interference has unfortunately made it hard to do so, but I plan to do a better job in the future. A couple of items should appear here in the next couple of days. Hopefully, I'll get around soon to creating a page gathering all of the "frequently forgotten rules" posts together, and will continue to add more such postings in the future. Despite the various problems, I think ASL is surviving just fine, with a great potential boost by the development of the Starter Kits, and I hope to keep this site contributing to the community for some time to come.

Yet More Rules to Remember

2004-07-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

On Perusing the Chapter Dividers

12. An original To Hit DR of 12 with a Panzerfaust causes Casualty Reduction to the firer (C13.36)

13. A CC attack vs. a crewed vehicle with an original To Hit DR of 12 causes Casualty Reduction for the attacking unit (A11.621)

It's nice to sit down and read over the chapter dividers on occasion (they make good bathroom reading, if nothing else). They make nice light reading, and more importantly will often point out something obscure you've been overlooking for some time. The summaries on the Chapter B divider which list the effects of various original DR (Doubles, original 2, original 12, etc.) are particularly nice. Reading through these earlier brought these two rules to light. I can't for the life of me recall dealing with "boxcars" in either of these situations before, but certainly can't seem to recall being aware of these either.

Obviously, it's fairly easy to know when to look for these events. Rolling "boxcars" should always trigger a warning that something bad may have just happened to the person who rolled the dice when it happens. But these summaries certainly help clarify just what all of these potential events happen to be. They also help in pointing out when something happens beyond the obvious. For example, most infantry attacks which roll a 12 don't really have any effect on either the attacker or the target. However, if Ammunition Shortage (A19.131) is in effect, it causes Unit Replacement for the attacking unit.

Reading the rulebook periodically is important for learning and retaining the ASL Rules. However, these chapter dividers do a very good job of summarizing and collating some of the most pertinent rules issues, and reading over these on occasion will greatly benefit your ability to play the game.

Snipers - Other Options

2004-06-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

Snipers are fun and frustrating. They increase the uncertainty of combat and can play a huge role in some scenarios (city fighting would be significantly different without them). In the heat of battle, it's easy to forget sometimes what can be done with snipers besides just rolling to determine the target hex and applying the effects. The two things many players overlook are sniper checks (A14.4) and repositioning (A14.2).

Don't forget that whenever you roll as successful sniper activation (dr of 1 or 2), you can forfeit the attack (prior to selecting the target hex) and reposition the sniper counter (under the same restrictions given in A14.2 for initial setup). On a mobile battlefield, your sniper counter can be left behind by the advancing enemy (or a retreating enemy performing a fighting withdrawal). Once that happens, a sniper activation is likely to hit troops in the enemy's rear. Often, these will be broken units or other units too far from the front line to significantly affect the outcome. Consider forfeiting such an attack (especially after a less effective sniper activation dr of 2) to reposition your sniper closer to the front line, where future activations are more likely to result in attacks against higher value targets.

Do you remember the modifiers for a sniper check? Most players probably don't, and they don't come up very often. However, if you've just suffered a sniper attack against one of your units and other units are in the same Location, think at least briefly about whether a sniper check might be to your advantage. The disadvantage of making a sniper check is that those units will become TI and forfeit any other fire/movement/advance opportunities for the remainder of that player-turn, as well as being more vulnerable to CC. However, if the units are not in a vulnerable position and are unlikely to contribute anything to your attack/defense plans during that turn, a sniper check might be worth considering. If your opponent has a high SAN, reducing that SAN for the duration of the scenario could be of great benefit, so keep this tactic in mind.

Memorial Day

2004-05-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

"These endured all and gave all that justice among nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace."

Inscription on the Chapel at the American Cemetery at Normandy

Great ASL Moments, Part 2

2004-05-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is here just to relate some of those wonderful "I can't believe that happened" moments which make ASL so much fun.

In case you're wondering, Part 1 was given in Example 4 under the Infiltration article.

British turn, British HS and broken squad adjacent to a pinned German HS. Due to other German units, the broken squad doesn't have a legal rout path, and so surrenders to the adjacent German unit. The British HS immediately advances into the German's Location and eliminates the German in the first round of CC, thereby freeing the prisoner. The British unit was a prisoner from the end of the RtPh until the CCPh, a total of 2 phases, which based on 2-minute turns means he was captive for all of 30 seconds before being freed.

Infiltration: The Final Word

2004-05-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, right.

Infiltration (A11.22) is one of those rules which give ASL so much of its flavor. It isn't really intended to replicate any specific combat situation or maneuver ("Chapter A Footnote 40: This rule is designed in part to simulate tactics such as the legendary McMurphy Evasion Technique, which so often allowed the Aussies to escape hand-to-hand combat unscathed, leaving their dead opponents behind…"). It seems to exist more as another means to reflect the capricious nature of combat.

It's also one of those rules that make ASL so hard for the new player, taking just a few lines in the Rulebook but seemingly very difficult to comprehend (and taking a document as long as this one to explain). Part of the problem is the rule as written (taken with the following rule A11.3 which begins "There are three other instances in which CC is not considered simultaneous; rather it is sequential…") implies that when Infiltration is invoked, CC becomes sequential. Thus, A11.22 suggests sequential CC when it's actually not sequential, yet also proves that the normally simultaneous CC is not actually simultaneous. Confused? Many people are. In the last couple of months, there've been at least two lengthy threads on the ASL Mailing List, as well as one on the Consimworld forum, debating this very issue, accompanied by several Q&A sent to MMP (and indeed even as I was writing this on Friday, a new question appeared on the ASLML). Between these discussions and the "Perry Sez" that have been issued, I think things are pretty well set and will try to explain how it all works.

First, read the explanation given in the ASL FAQ. I'll try to complement this with some more explanation and examples.

The basic mechanics are simple. If either player rolls an original 2 or 12 on their CC DR, Infiltration comes into play. (And don't forget of course that an original 2 may result in Leader Creation per A18.12.) If a player rolls a 2, then he has the option to withdraw his attacking units from that Location, with their attack taking effect but at the same time avoiding any yet to be resolved attack by the other player. If a player rolls a 12, then his opponent has the option to withdraw the units being attacked although the effects of that 12 DR (if any) still take place. The hard part is understanding the timing.

As laid out in the CC rules, the Attacker designates his attacks, the Defender designates his, then the Attacker resolves all of his attacks before the Defender does so. This sequence is important. Under most conditions, effects only take place after all attacks from both sides have been resolved, thus making CC seem "simultaneous." Infiltration changes all of that, but only slightly. If the Attacker rolls a 2, he can withdraw his forces, (likely eliminating the units being attacked) without those forces facing any return fire. However, if the Defender rolls a 2, any attacks already made by the Attacker still take effect. Likewise, if the Defender rolls a 12, the Attacker's units may withdraw after having already resolved their attacks, but if the Attacker rolls the 12, any Defender units which withdraw give up the chance to make their attacks. This gives the Attacker an advantage in CC, and is the reason why CC is never actually "simultaneous."

However, as stated earlier, Infiltration doesn't make CC completely sequential either. In sequential CC (as laid out in A11.3), a unit can be eliminated by the opponent's attack before it has a chance to retaliate. Infiltration makes things kind of conditionally sequential. The only thing that really changes is the ability of a side to withdraw units while CC is still going on. The effects of any Infiltration attack still do not take place until after all CC attacks (from both sides) are completed, just as with normal CC. The player who rolls the 2 must take the option to withdraw in order to avoid any subsequent attack. If he chooses not to withdraw, then subsequent attacks by the other side are resolved as if Infiltration never happened. However, even though, for instance, the Attacker may withdraw before being attacked, the Defender unit attacked by that 2 DR is not eliminated until after all attacks (from both sides) are resolved. Thus, if multiple units are involved and that Defender unit is predesignated to attack a unit that did not withdraw, his attack will still take place.

One other tactical issue. You may wonder why the Attacker would ever want to withdraw, since presumably he sought CC by advancing into the Location in the first place. A11.2 which deals with withdrawal from melee (and presumably governs withdrawal as dictated by Infiltration) does not in any way restrict the direction in which the Infiltrating unit chooses to withdraw, other than prohibiting entry of a Location containing a Known enemy unit or a Location that unit couldn't normally enter during the APh. Thus, an Attacker could take advantage of this rule to actually escape CC by advancing farther towards enemy-held objectives, potentially also threatening enemy Rout paths.

Now for the examples.

Example 1 - Start simple, right?. A Russian 6-2-8 squad advances into CC against a German 4-3-6 squad with no ambush. The Russian squad rolls a 12, not sufficient to eliminate the German Defender. Facing long odds, the German squad chooses to withdraw from the Location, but is thus unable to make his own attack.

Example 2 - Same situation, except the 6-2-8 rolls a 5 which at 3:2 odds is low enough to eliminate the German. The German then rolls a 2. Leader Creation results in an 8-0 leader. The odds of the first attack are refigured with the new leader, resulting in the Russian's attack becoming 1:1, at which point it is now only good enough to Casualty Reduce one of the German units. Random Selection results in the new leader dying from a wound. The German attack takes place at 1:2 odds (5:6 in FP counting the leader). Since the German squad has survived the Russian CC attack, he can still choose to withdraw if he wishes. Of course, if his attack eliminates the Russian he can also remain in the Location.

Example 3 - Two American 6-6-6 squads (A&B) advance into a Location containing three German 4-6-7 squads (C, D and E). No ambush occurs. The American player predesignates his attacks. Squad A will attack squad C at 3:2 odds, Squad B will attack squad D also at 3:2 odds. Squad E will not be attacked. The German player then predesignates his attacks, choosing to have squads C&D attack squad B at 1:1 odds, and squad E attack squad A at 1:2 odds. The American, as the Attacker, goes first, choosing to perform A's attack first. He promptly rolls a 2 but no leader is created. The American takes advantage though to withdraw squad A into the next Location. Squad B rolls a 12 against D, failing to eliminate the unit. Squad D chooses not to withdraw since doing so would forfeit his role in the upcoming attack. Now it's the German's turn. Squad E has nothing to do since his designated target has already left the building. Squads C&D attack squad B as planned at 1:1 odds (since C won't be eliminated until after resolving the attacks). Continuing the run of bizarre rolls, they roll another 12, allowing squad B to withdraw into the same Location as squad A. C is eliminated, leaving D&E in the CC Location, but in a more precarious position with A&B now behind them.

Example 4 - This happened in a game of mine. A German 4-6-7 advances into a building Location containing a British 4-5-7. The Location also happens to be a victory objective. No ambush occurs. Both CC attacks will be resolved at 1:1 odds. The German rolls an original 2. Leader Creation results in an 8-0 leader being created. This doesn't change the odds and the 2 will still eliminate the British squad. Now the German has a choice to make. If he chooses to withdraw, he will eliminate the British squad but will leave the victory Location unoccupied. If he chooses to remain in the Location (either the squad, the leader, or both), he then will be attacked by the British squad's CC attack. Again, it is not sequential; i.e., he cannot both stay and avoid the return attack. He chooses to stay, hoping to survive the CC attack and gain control of the Location. However, in one of those "only with the VASL dicebot" moments, the British squad also rolls an original 2. Again, Leader Creation results in an 8-0 leader. Both attacks are now refigured with new odds (since this is not sequential CC). Total FP is now 5:5, again resolved on the 1:1 column, and both attacks still result in elimination of the other side. The British squad does not have the option to withdraw, since he is the Defender and will be eliminated by the German's attack. The net result then is that both sides are completely eliminated, including the newly-minted leaders, leaving the Location empty. And moments like that are why I love this game.

The Geeklist

2004-05-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Just browsing. Mattias Elfström has made a nice list at the BoardgameGeek website of all of the official ASL modules ever released. Feel free to drop by and leave comments. Mattias has done some nice work with this list and has also been quite an advocate for ASL, trying hard to push it farther up the rankings.

The Geometry of ASL

2004-05-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Matt K's comments about LOS and Concealment reminded me of another excellent article. If you ever struggle with LOS, especially if your opponent seems to pull off sneaky LOS shots that leave you slack-jawed, do yourself a big favor and check out David Hailey's one page article on using the geometry of the hexagon to help you see LOS better. The article is in Vol. 5, No. 2 of "Banzai!!," the newsletter of the Central Texas ASL Club (the direct link to the issue is here). The issue is from 2000, but basic geometry didn't change with the millennium. A few moments studying this page will go a long way in improving your tactical view of the ASL battlefield.

While you're at it, look over some of the other issues of "Banzai!!" There are some nice scenario analysis articles there, along with good tactical tips, and the April Fools' issues especially are worth the price of admission. Bonsai!! is a classic, featuring the legendary "Saving Ryan's Privates" mini-scenario, complete with an entire Series Replay. Enjoy.

Out of the Wrapper, Non-ASL Edition

2004-05-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have purchased or subscribed to two gaming magazines in the past few months, both of which are relative newcomers to the wargaming scene and both of which promise a new game in (or available with) each issue. The first was "Against the Odds", to which I first subscribed back in December. The second issue I've received (Volume 2, Number 3 overall) arrived a few weeks ago. The other was "Armchair General", which has just published its second issue. Both are game- and history-oriented, but take very different approaches to their subject matter.

"Against the Odds" is published quarterly, the newest issue being its seventh overall. AtO includes a game in each issue, with printed (glossy stock) mapsheet, mounted counters and rules. One of the attractive things about AtO is that its subject matter strays (for the most part) far beyond the Second World War and the American Civil War, perhaps the two most common areas of interest for many publications. The games released to date in AtO have ranged from the Battle of Thermopylae to the Battle of Khe Sanh, with "Napoleon at the Berezina" among others in between. Of the two WWII-era games published so far, one of them ("North Wind Rain") is a "what-if" game covering a hypothetical attack by the Japanese against the Soviet Far East. Upcoming games include "Fortress Berlin" covering the last days of WWII, but also games covering the Battle of Grozny from 1995, the Battle of Mohacs ("Sulieman the Magnificent" by Richard Berg) and the Battle of the Somme.

The current issue features "A Dark and Bloody Ground," a depiction of the fighting over control of the Ohio frontier at the end of the 18th century between the Native American nations and the armed forces of the newly formed United States of America. The game is designed to be played equally well between two players or as a solitaire game. As with the other games from AtO, the rules are included in the center of the magazine and a high-quality mapsheet is included along with mounted counters. The physical quality looks good and the mapsheet, as has been the custom for this series, is very attractive visually, using maps and pictures from the era as a basis in order to capture the feel of the period nicely. "Go Tell the Spartans" from the previous issue, about Thermopylae, also was a departure but again seemed to give a nice feel to the game. Both seem to be of high quality and should make for interesting playing. GTTS has generated a number of questions, and a draft second edition of the rules has been provided online, with plans to publish them in a future issue. While errata are never welcome, the AtO staff is to be commended to their attention to these issues, which has apparently saved GTTS as a game, according to feedback on the Consimworld site.

The articles also are welcome. Many have been historical, with a few intended as a view on wargaming in general. The current issue includes a historical background on the Campaign for Ohio by the game's designer, Paul Rohrbaugh. Other articles include a review on "aerial assassination" attempts during WWII, a review of the 13th century battles between the Mongol and the Muslim forces, and an overview of the myths surrounding Alexander, written in anticipation of an upcoming movie on that topic. John Prados, designer of Third Reich, has a column on historicity in wargames. John Compton has the second part of his three-part series on the future of gaming, which to say the least has generated a lot of discussion online.

Overall, this is an impressive series of magazines. The subjects addressed are intriguing, the articles appear well written and make interesting and informative reading, and the games seem to be very well done, both in design and physical quality. This is well worth looking into.

"Armchair General" on the other hand takes a more traditional approach in its choice of subject matter, as the cover pictures of Patton and Eisenhower would indicate. The emphasis through the first two issues has been on World War II (primarily the American experience) and, to a lesser degree, the American Civil War. Part of the World War II emphasis is clearly related to the upcoming 60th anniversary of the "D-Day" landings in Normandy. Where "Armchair General" breaks new ground is in its presentation of those subjects. Rather than dry historical articles, the emphasis is on a "You Are There" approach, not just relating the events but often making an effort to put the reader into the situation. For example, a series of articles entitled "What Next General?" tells the story of a battle, while asking the reader to consider different options on how to proceed at critical points in the battle. In the first issue, the reader is asked to take the place of General Robert E. Lee as the Battle of Gettysburg unfolds. In issue two, an alternate history scenario is presented with General George C. Marshall planning the invasion of Fortress Europa as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in place of an incapacitated Eisenhower.

Other articles are even more interactive. A series entitled "You Command" presents a tactical situation in detail (as a German tank leader preparing for a British counterattack in North Africa in issue one, and as a Airborne company commander trying to retain a captured bridge on D-Day in issue two), and then asks the reader to outline a plan to carry out the objective, providing a map on which to sketch out an appropriate deployment. The plan can be submitted as part of a contest, with winners to be announced in a future issue. Another highly interactive article which has stretched over both issues is "Fire and Steel," an "Interactive Combat Story." In this series, the reader becomes a tank commander storming Omaha Beach, given a narrative but occasionally asked to make specific choices as to how to proceed, with the next part of the narrative (and the reader's "survival") depending on what option was selected.

There is some more traditional fare, such as the "Battlefield Leader" articles, which have so far concentrated on coverboys Patton and Eisenhower. "Walk Where They Fought" is another series which presents history with a twist. These articles provide highly detailed maps of battlefield areas (Omaha Beach and the 82nd Airborne's targets areas inland from Utah Beach have been presented so far) combined with a narrative summary of the battles in question along with a guided tour of the areas as they exist now. These should be a fantastic resource for anyone fortunate enough to get to tour those battlefields.

Each issue has, as promised, delivered a new game. However, unlike "Against the Odds," which supplies the game and all materials with the magazine, "Armchair General" takes the Desktop Publishing (DTP) approach, providing the game materials as a downloadable file from the website (a required code number is printed in the magazine), with the player responsible for printing the materials and mounting them as necessary. For those of us (like me) who are not particularly facile with such "arts and crafts" procedures, the editors have promised on the website forum to issue these games for sale in the future as a "pre-packaged boardgame." The first issue gave the gaming world "Operation Iraqi Freedom," a simulation of the Coalition forces' invasion of Iraq in 2003. Game number two is "Gettysburg: The Battle for Cemetery Ridge," a brigade level game covering the first day of the battle. I haven't played either yet (although both claim to be solitaire-suitable), but both appear to be fairly straightforward and not too complex. Both were designed by Mark H. Walker (designer of Lock 'n Load).

Both of these magazines make nice additions to both the historical magazine and wargaming genres. They would certainly be worth investigation by both the wargamer and the military history buff.

Concealment: Rules of Thumb

2004-05-15T22:43:00.000-07:00

Concealment plays an important role in ASL. Along with its brother, HIP, it is the most important rule for combating the player's unrealistic omniscience. However, utilizing the Concealment rules can be a major headache, especially with a high unit-density scenario. The Concealment table on the Chapter A divider is clear but cumbersome. It's nice (and speeds up play) if you can look at a unit and quickly decide (without digging out the Chapter A divider) whether it gains or loses concealment. Admittedly, it's hard to simplify the rules for Concealment Loss (beyond "you lose Concealment if you do anything in LOS of the enemy") but fortunately the Concealment Gain stuff is very straightforward, and with a couple of rules of thumb, you should never have to look at the table again to determine when you can place a "?" counter.

Most commonly, you'll be determining possible "?" gain for Infantry units. You only need to know three things (all assuming your unit is in Good Order): whether the unit is in concealment terrain, whether it's in LOS of an unbroken enemy unit, and whether the nearest such enemy unit is within 16 hexes or not. Most of the time, those three factors will determine whether you get concealment, but sometimes you'll have to make a dr of 5 or less, using the DRM described in A12.122. Ready?

If your unit is in LOS of an unbroken enemy unit, it never gains concealment, unless it is both far away (at least 17 hexes away) and able to hide (in concealment terrain), in which case it can gain concealment by making a modified dr of 5 or less.

If your unit is out of LOS from any such enemy unit, it always gains concealment unless it is both close (16 or fewer hexes from the nearest unbroken enemy unit) and unable to hide (not in concealment terrain), in which case it must pass the die roll.

Not so bad, is it? Emplaced Guns and Vehicles are even easier. They never gain concealment if in LOS of an unbroken enemy unit. If out of all LOS, then they are treated the same as an Infantry unit. And Fortifications can never gain concealment once they lose HIP.

Again, Concealment Loss is a bit more complex, but since most of the time your units will be within 16 hexes of the enemy, it simplifies reasonably well. Generally, almost anything you do in LOS of the enemy will cost your concealment, but if out of LOS you'll only lose it if you are damaged by enemy fire. Two things to remember are that an enemy unit has to be Good Order to affect Concealment Loss (not just unbroken) and Emplaced Guns in concealment terrain have the ability to retain concealment when firing if the colored die is low enough (see A12.34). Spend a little time reading over the chart (especially for situations when the nearest enemy is 17 or more hexes away), but for most circumstances the above comments will work just fine.

So remember, Infantry units in LOS never gain "?" unless far away and able to hide, in which case you must roll a die. Infantry units out of LOS always gain "?" unless close and unable to hide, in which case you must roll a die. Happy hunting, and keep your head down.

More Rules to Remember

2004-05-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

10. A Gun can change its CA in PFPh and fire in fire in AFPh without Case A penalties (C3.22) - Changing CA at the end of the PFPh (if still able to fire without using Sustained/Intensive Fire) allows the Gun to fire in the AFPh without suffering a high DRM for changing CA for that shot (although Case B would still apply for firing in the AFPh). For example, if firing in the PFPh would give a prohibitive DRM (e.g., +5 for a three hexside change in CA), then make the CA change at the end of the PFPh and take the shot in the AFPh where the +2 for Case B is much less of a problem. However, if you have a Gun with a high ROF, taking the shot in the PFPh may be worth it since if ROF is maintained, the subsequent shot will not suffer the Case A DRM.

11. A Hero's modifier can be used in multi-hex firegroups (FG) but only within Normal Range of the Hero or his SW (A15.24) - One of the limitations of fire groups is that leadership modifiers generally only apply to the leader's own Location. For example, a 9-2 leader's -2 modifier would apply to an attack made solely by units in the same Location as that leader, but would not apply at all if those units were part of a multi-Location FG. One of the advantages of a Hero is that his -1 modifier does apply to the entire FG, even if it extends to multiple Locations. However, remember that the Hero must be firing within Normal Range (either his inherent FP or his SW) as part of that FG for his modifier to apply.

The ASL WebDex - "Google" for the ASL Online Community

2004-05-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Just had to give a quick nod to Larry Memmott for his wonderful ASL WebDex. If you haven't seen this yet, this is perhaps the ultimate directory for ASL materials available online. This first appeared several years ago, but hadn't been updated for quite a while. Last month, Larry wrote in to the various online forums to tell of the websites rebirth. The result is fantastic.

He has organized pretty much all of the ASL sites available for perusal based on Rulebook chapters and other categories. Do you want to see if there is anything online about the use of Wire? Look at the appropriate section under Chapter B on his page. Turns out there is no available online document about that topic, but he does reference a couple of published "journal" articles on the topic (actually the same article in two different publications). Larry has not only listed the online sites but has also fully indexed a number of magazines, ranging from the obvious General, Annual and Journal articles to online fare such as Pete Phillipps' excellent View From the Trenches, as well as a number of more obscure on- and offline resources. While not all of these sources are readily available to the player, it's a terrific resource to have the articles organized in this way, and obviously a tremendous amount of effort has been required. Thanks, Larry.

And no, I didn't write this just because he has indexed this site as well... :-)

Lookin' Good So Far

2004-05-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well-deserved congratulations go out to MMP for the success of the ASL Starter Kit. I have already reviewed this product, but it's interesting now to look back on how it has been received in its first four to six weeks of existence.

There's no question that the release of the Starter Kit has succeeded in getting Advanced Squad Leader into the public eye again. There has been more "buzz" about this release than just about anything else I can remember related to ASL. If the first step in increasing or maintaining the popularity of something is getting people to notice and talk about it, the Starter Kit has been a resounding success. The next stage though is to actually get new players to try it. ASL players have generally been considered a community of their own, a very specialized subset of the larger wargaming community, with those outside that small community considering ASL players to be a breed apart, made up mostly of seriously obsessive-compulsive personality types. What's been impressive while reading the various online ASL and wargaming forums over the last several weeks however is that it's not just the usual suspects writing about this latest release. A number of players (especially at Consimworld) are clearly people who have either avoided ASL in the past or have not played it since the Squad Leader days. So far, the Starter Kit seems to be doing everything MMP hoped it would do.

The "controversy" starting to surface now, though, concerns exactly what the Starter Kit should develop into in the future. As planned, the next two Starter Kits will introduce Ordnance followed by Vehicles, with the idea that a player who has completed those kits will be ready to move on to ASL. As I've said before, once a new player has assimilated all three Kits, I expect the step up to "full" ASL will be much smaller than many think it will be. However, already some players, for several different reasons, are clamoring for more Starter Kits to be released, including PTO and Desert. Whether those should get made or not depends on what MMP (and the rest of us) want to ASLSK to be.

Three or four years ago, I recall the members of MMP outlining future plans for ASL. At one point, the plan included development of two products. One was Introductory ASL (iASL), a stripped down (but fully compatible) version of ASL intended to be a stepping stone to ASL for the new player. The other was Basic ASL (BASL), intended to be "ASL Lite," using a simpler version of the ASL system, but apparently intended to remain a system unto itself, essentially a replacement for the original Squad Leader, a game still played by some stalwarts who've either not wanted to take the apparent leap in complexity required to take on ASL, or, in some cases, never forgiven Don Greenwood for turning their beloved system into the "monster" ASL had become in their eyes. Based on online postings, work was reportedly done on the iASL product for a while before MMP announced several months ago that the Starter Kit would be coming out. It hasn't been clear what the relationship was between the Starter Kit and iASL, and indeed some of the earliest postings by MMP about the ASLSK implied that iASL might still be a separate product. Clearly, based on the early success so far, there seems to be no need for another introductory product at this point. But what about BASL?

There has been little if any mention of this product over the last couple of years that I can recall, and I have to assume that there is no current plan to develop it. The real issue now is whether the ASLSK should develop into BASL, and this is in large part the focus of the current discussions online regarding the future of this product. Clearly, some players who've started using the ASLSK are interested in continuing at that level of complexity. These are (mostly) the ones advocating further "expansion packs" for the Starter Kit series, providing additional nationalities and even introducing simplified versions of the more involved ASL rules, such as PTO and the Japanese, thus providing the greater breadth of ASL without the large investment in money and time needed to fully embrace the existing system.

I can especially empathize with the latter wish. PTO has always been the area of greatest interest for me when it comes to the Second World War. My earliest WWII reading involved books such as Walter Lord's "Day of Infamy" and "Incredible Victory" along with Leon Uris' "Battle Cry." My first wargame (bought in about 1977) was Avalon Hill's classic "Midway" and another early game (along with Squad Leader) was "Victory in the Pacific." Once I was in college, my interest waned and I sold or (gasp) threw out a large part of my game collection. In 1993, I found the Victory Games title "Tokyo Express" in a store, which led to my resubscribing to The General for the first time in about eight years. With my subscription came the latest AH catalog, and there in full-color glory was the entire ASL system (up through Croix de Guerre). What really made me salivate was reading the descriptions of Code of Bushido and Gung Ho! It also helped that my first issue of The General with my new subscription contained the ASL scenario "Alligator Creek," depicting the action at the Ilu River during the Guadalcanal campaign. I was hooked.

Of course, I quickly was slapped in the face with reality. To get to PTO in the ASL system required investing in the Rulebook, Beyond Valor, Yanks, and West of Alamein, at a minimum. After buying the Rulebook and BV, my interest in continuing farther in the system quickly dissipated, and for the next five or six years, I rarely touched them except to occasionally flip through the Rulebook. It wasn't until discovering Solitaire ASL in 1999, several months after the demise of Avalon Hill, that I finally took the plunge and embraced ASL in all its glory. Even then, I never played a PTO scenario until a couple of years ago, over eight years after originally setting out to do so.

So, PTO is a terrific experience in ASL, but one that requires a huge expenditure in time and money to attain. Should there be an easier way to do this? That's the big question. A PTO expansion pack for the ASLSK as some have advocated would be nice. I question how easily the Chapter G rules could be stripped down to the level of complexity required for a Starter Kit, but certainly the rules as presented in Starter Kit #1 exceeded any expectations I had for a reduced rules set, so I wouldn't discount the possibility. But should they do it?

Whether such expansions to the originally planned three-volume Starter Kit should be created ultimately depends on MMP's plans for the product line. As it stands now, the plan is to use the three modules as a Programmed Instruction introduction to ASL. It allows a new player to gradually learn the rules in a low-impact way, with ultimately only a short step-up to the full system. It also allows a player who is unsure about making the full commitment to test the waters with a fairly minimal outlay of money. If he decides not to pursue ASL further, he hasn't wasted much money in the process. That's all fine, and again the early returns indicate that the Starter Kit is doing just what was intended. But should it be expanded further? Currently there are no publicly released plans to expand the line, beyond comments that Starter Kit-level scenarios might be welcome for publication in future issues of the ASL Journal. However, if the expansion pack idea were to take hold, this would almost certainly lead to a new game system, existing in parallel with ASL.

Certainly an easier introduction to ASL-level PTO would be nice. However, this simply doesn't seem to work well as a Starter Kit. Given the current construction of the ASL system, a new player who really likes the PTO Starter Kit still has a huge investment in products in front of him to be able to play PTO using the full ASL system. This seems to go against the whole point of the ASLSK, which in part is to shorten the steps needed to play ASL. For this reason, I think MMP has taken the correct approach with the introductory modules.

But what about BASL? Should this parallel system be developed? This is really the question at hand in all of my meandering in the above paragraphs. As I stated (much) earlier, there is a group of players who would like to have access to the ASL experience, including all nationalities and theatres, along with such gems as Red Barricades, without having to fully embrace the entire Rulebook. For these players, a parallel ASL system continuing the stripped down approach of the Starter Kit would be ideal, essentially completing the original Squad Leader system as was promised but never done before it morphed into ASL. There's no question that there would be a market for such a system. The two problems I see (as an ASL player) are that it could reduce the impact of bringing new blood into the full system and that it would divert time and resources from MMP's continuing efforts to produce new ASL materials. Personally I don't see either of these as fatal complications. Even if only a small number of new players continue on to the full ASL system, that's likely to be more than would otherwise have done so in the absence of the Starter Kit. Also, as much as I like buying new products, I already have far more ASL material than I will ever tire of playing in my foreseeable lifetime. Not everyone agrees, especially with the latter point, as the amount of hand-wringing over the oft delayed release of Armies of Oblivion would indicate. But in my not-so-humble opinion, ASL (and MMP) is in fine shape regardless of which approach is taken.

It's a win-win situation from my perspective either way. If the Starter Kits as planned are carried out, it raises the awareness of ASL among the gaming public, with a lot of players who would have never even considered the game giving it a try, and certainly some sticking with their newfound addiction. If the BASL system were to take on a life of its own, the ultimate growth of ASL might be lessened, both in numbers of players and numbers of products, but in the meantime MMP would be sitting on another successful product which would keep them around to produce more material, and the greater number of players gaming with ASL in one form or the other should continue to keep both systems alive for many years to come. This would also allow restructuring of the traditional hierarchical system for obtaining ASL materials, permitting (for example) a BASL player who wants to do PTO to possibly do so without the severe entry requirements of ASL. With this approach, a PTO Starter Kit becomes a workable reality.

Ultimately, I don't have strong feelings either way, and being a glass-is-half-full person, I see good things regardless of how ASL and the Starter Kits evolve. I do think MMP has clearly hit a home run with the Starter Kit, and that this may be the most significant product created for the system since Red Barricades broke the mold. Good job all around.

"Your New Flamethrower"

2004-04-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Aaah, flamethrowers, one of the most fearsome weapons of the Second World War, and in ASL as well. Flamethrowers (FT) are a wonderful weapon for both close-in city fighting or the complex terrain in PTO. They have the very useful trait of being immune to TEM effects, making them very valuable in the high-TEM terrain found on the city boards. The hardest part sometimes is simply getting them into position to use, due to the inherent vulnerability of a unit armed with one.

Who can use them? Any unit can, but only elite units can use them without the penalties for non-qualified use. Remember that SMC are generally considered elite and so may use these weapons accordingly, although they are probably not ideal for such use. For non-elite units, the X# is reduced by two (or four if the weapon is also captured). With an already low X10 for FT, use by non-elite units is highly likely to result in a permanently disabled weapon, but in most scenarios containing FT you will be given appropriate elite units to go with them. Some players have advocated giving the FT to half-squads to limit the damage to your forces when that unit inevitably draws a large amount of fire. However, one Casualty Reduction will leave your FT unpossessed and lying in the open. A crew can be used (remember, all crews are also considered elite), which has the advantage of self-rally, but still is vulnerable to Casualty Reduction. A squad then may be the best choice, as one bad roll is less likely to take your FT out of action before even being fired.

How are they fired? Simple enough, they have a FP of 24 at one hex range, and 12 FP at two hexes, and cannot be fired beyond 2 hex range (although some vehicle-mounted FT have a normal range of 2 hexes and can fire as Long Range fire out to 3 hexes). They have two very important characteristics which make them quite different from other support weapons. First, fire during the AFPh is not halved as Area Fire, even if the unit has moved during that turn. Other forms of Area Fire do apply however (e.g., halving the FP for firing against a concealed target). The other big difference with FT is that there is no DRM for TEM. Hindrances do still apply, which with the limited range of FT mostly means the effects of smoke (since smoke applies as a Hindrance whether present in the firer's hex, the target hex, or anywhere in between). Obviously though that stone building is no longer quite as secure a defensive position as it would otherwise be, one of the reasons why flamethrowers are nice to have in the big city, and a huge potential threat to the defensive player.

What are the hazards of flamethrowers? Aside from the fact that a unit carrying a flamethrower will be a magnet for the opposing player's bullets, the flamethrower makes the unit more vulnerable to that fire by applying a –1 DRM to all attacks against it.

So how do you make best use of a flamethrower? Here's the problem. The FT's short range (along with the –1 DRM for attacks against the carrying unit) is its greatest drawback. There's no possibility of a standoff attack here. The firing unit has to get to one or two hex range to make use of the weapon, and it's getting to that point that is the hard part. The FT-equipped unit will likely attract as much fire as the opponent can muster, particularly as it closes in on a critical location (such as a victory location or a fortified building). To use the FT at full FP, the unit has to be adjacent to its target, which obviously makes it even more vulnerable to return fire. This is another reason why a city is a great place to use these, since it provides enough cover to get close to the target. However, what do you do if you have to cross some open ground (such as a street) to get to the target? And how do you use this might weapon to greatest effect?

One thing to keep in mind is that the FT is a very disruptive weapon even without ever firing. Once your opponent knows where it is, he will concentrate his troops and firepower to protect his own forces and his critical locations from the flames, or move units accordingly to keep them out of harm's way. The FT's presence alone may be enough to disrupt his otherwise well-planned defense, or at least divert part of that defense from another critical point.

If you do have to get in close and use the FT though, there are several ways to accomplish this task, using tactics that are helpful in many situations. Say you have to cross a street with your FT-toting unit but a MG-laden enemy squad is covering that street, skillfully placed so as to lay fire down the length of the boulevard. One option is to use half-squads (deploy as much as possible). Run a half-squad or two at his strongpoint. If he shoots at them, you may lose those units, but you will have limited his further defensive fire options for that turn. If your unit survives, then his SFF options will likely be limited by the presence of that half-squad (see A8.3 for the range limitations on SFF). For instance, if the surviving half-squad is closer to the enemy MG than where your unit with the FT wishes to cross the street, it will be immune to SFF from that MG. If your opponent is wise, he will hold his fire against those initial half-squads. However, by doing so he allows those units to close with his strongpoint, putting it under greater threat. Meanwhile, if he ignores too many units, he will have defeated the purpose of placing that MG in that location in the first place by letting too many units pass unmolested. (Another thing he could do is lay a Fire Lane down the street if your half-squad scouts approach from that angle, but at least this reduces the effectiveness of the fire he could direct at your FT unit.)

This may be effective in taking care of peripheral units, but does nothing for the defending units your FT unit is gunning (flaming?) for. Again, moving up adjacent to them will invite point blank fire, and drawing their fire with other units won't necessarily help because of both SFF and FPF possibilities if you try to move your important unit adjacent to the target location. One option here is to stay at two hex range which at least avoids the point blank fire modification for defensive fire. Your subsequent attack will be halved to 12 FP, but this is still a pretty good shot to take since no TEM will apply (a 12 FP attack with no DRM has an 83% chance of at least a NMC). If you simply must move to point blank range, then you can try distracting him with other units first to draw fire (as described above), which means his attacks against you will at best be normal firepower (halved for area fire and doubled for point blank fire) as SFF or FPF. Another option is to throw smoke grenades from other units (or even the FT unit). This will get your FT unit out in the street and adjacent with the protection from the smoke to limit the damage from any defensive fire. Also, the smoke will dissipate before the AFPh allowing you to fire (assuming you survived) at full 24 FP strength with no hindrance modifiers.

Ultimately, though, the best way to protect your FT is to mount it on an AFV. The –1 vulnerability DRM for a FT-equipped unit does not apply to PRC of a vehicle with a FT. Some vehicular FT have a normal range of 2 (with a Long Range of 3 hexes).

FT are great weapons, but can be hard to get into position to use effectively. Remember that the threat of the FT is sometimes worth enough by itself to significantly affect your opponent's tactics, so don't throw them away needlessly by taking unnecessary risks with the carrying unit or firing them against low-yield targets at the risk of permanently disabling the weapon. And if you are lucky enough to be given a vehicular FT, it's time to play a little "Crocodile Rock" for your opponent. Enjoy.

Stuff in the Works

2004-04-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Two weeks since last updating this site. Too much real life involvement right now, not helped when one of my partners at work broke his hand resulting in a little more work to go around. Thus I haven't had much time to do anything new here, and am struggling to get any time in to continue my current SASL game of "Hoch Hoch!".

In the meantime I've received through the mail or purchased issues of two magazines, "Against the Odds" and "Armchair General", both relatively new magazines that in one form or another provide a game in each issue. Neither has anything to do with ASL, but are both well worth trying out, and I'll post an OOTW review here soon. I'm also working on an article on learning the OBA rules, but am struggling to make sure that the article actually takes less time to read than the rules themselves. Also, there are still a number of "Obscure and Frequently Forgotten" rules that can be examined. I hope these are proving to be useful.

In response to a couple of discussions on the ASL Forums and Consimworld, I've started a list of ASL Acronyms. These aren't intended to duplicate what's already in the ASLRB index, but rather to list those frequently used acronyms which don't show up in the Rulebook (e.g., MMP, KGP, etc.). The purpose of this of course is that there are (hopefully) a bunch of new players coming to ASL, many of whom will have no familiarity with the various manufacturers of ASL materials and their products (as has been apparent with some of the discussions that triggered the creation of this list). To them, a discussion of HOB's new module BtB will be meaningless. Hopefully, this will help somewhat. If you think of anything that should be added (including common Rulebook index acronyms that may not be available to someone with only the Starter Kit), please let me know at the e-mail address listed in the left-hand column of this page. Thanks.

More Easily Forgotten Rules

2004-04-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

8. A SMC who is wounded by a K/# result does not have to take the #MC (A7.302) - To quote from the rule: "...all other target units (including any just-Reduced HS) must take a MC, adding the number indicated (#) to the MC DR." If a squad is randomly selected to be casualty reduced, the remaining half-squad will take the MC along with all other units in the target Location. However, note that a SMC is not included in that quote. This has been confirmed by previous Q&A published in the Annuals and also in the A.9 example.

9. A MG is limited to a range of 16 hexes unless directed by a Leader, and all infantry targets greater than 16 hexes away are treated as concealed (A9.4) - Easily overlooked in the heat of the moment, especially with the longer range HMGs. Note the exceptions to the rule, especially CMG/IFE.

Out of the Wrapper, III

2004-04-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

"The new phonebook's here!"

Well at least that's what it felt like when the UPS package arrived the other night. In one of the most anticipated ASL releases of recent years, the new ASL Starter Kit is out, and most of the comments online appear to be strongly positive. According to the MMP guys, the response from retailers is apparently also quite good. For those few of you who either don't already have this or haven't read many other similar reviews, here is my take on the package, followed by some comments about what it all means to ASL, both currently and in the future. If you'd like to see some examples of the maps and counters, see Norm Smith's site.

1. The Package
Starting with the first look, there is very much a deja vu feeling about the ASL Starter Kit, one that is undoubtedly very intentional. From the grenade-throwing German soldier silhouetted on the cover to the "He is the Squad Leader…" blurb on the back, the box is clearly designed to recapture the appearance of those classic Panzerblitz, Panzer Leader and (especially) Squad Leader games released thirty years ago. For those of us who remember finding those games on store shelves back in that ancient time when stores actually stocked such things, this is a very eye-catching approach to packaging, much more so perhaps than all those wonderfully illustrated but perhaps less distinctive ASL modules released in the last twenty years. Whether this merely represents nostalgia-based illusion on the part of veteran gamers or really represents great packaging that will help attract new players remains to be seen. However, it sure looks great to me. The box itself is of the same construction as the other recent releases have had, seemingly less sturdy, but apparently able to hold up to wear and tear (not to mention stacking) much better than the older style rigid box.

Ultimately, though, the most important part of the package may well be the little bit of text pointing out that the box contains everything needed to play. Compared to the existing modules, which usually have a lengthy list of prerequisite modules needed to play, not to mention requiring a completely separate (and expensive) rulebook, this is bound to be less likely to scare off the uninitiated.

2. The Counters
One counter sheet, all ½" counters, containing infantry units (leaders and squads, no crews or heroes) and support weapons for the Germans, Russians and Americans. It also contains, of course, the requisite informational markers. Speaking of nostalgia, just seeing these three nationalities together, without an additional ten or more countersheets, should bring back fond memories for anyone who remembers starting out with the original Squad Leader. In fact, the only thing missing would be the red Berserk Russian counters from the original. The physical quality of the counters is just fine, consistent again with MMP's other recent releases, and they punch out with out much trouble. While a few players seem to disagree, I think the basic SL/ASL infantry counter format has aged quite well and can't see how switching to a multi-color format (like many newer games) would in any way improve the appearance, especially without detracting from the ability to convey a large amount of information on such a small counter. The format used is the same as with the usual ASL counters, meaning the counters are identical to their ASL brethren, even down to the underlining of the range number indicating the ability to use spray fire, which is not (yet) part of the Starter Kit rule set.

3. The Rules
Twelve pages. Quite a switch from the full ASL Rulebook in all of its Chapter A thru E glory (not counting all of the additional chapters). Obviously, the Starter Kit has greatly reduced the number of rules in play, but nevertheless a surprising amount of basic chapter A (and a little of Chapter B) is represented in those twelve pages. Given the number of illustrated rules examples, along with the back page consisting mostly of credits, a nationality chart, and an ad for the full ASL game, the actual number of text pages is probably more like eight. Amazing, and a large amount of credit is due to Ken Dunn and the other designers for their ability to pull this off. Frankly, a number of the rules are probably written more clearly than their ASL counterparts (although time will tell whether the more sparsely written text will be even more vulnerable to the type of rules-lawyering hair-splitting so common in the ASL online community – hopefully not, since this is designed for new players). There is certainly room for quibbling over which rules were left out and which were included (e.g., Spray Fire, Heat of Battle, Concealment and Snipers were left out but ELR was left in) but this is a tremendous accomplishment to reduce the text this much and yet still keep the overall spirit of ASL tactical gaming intact.

4. The Scenarios
Sam Belcher has already posted a detailed rundown of the six scenarios contained in the Starter Kit. Suffice it to say that they look like good introductory stuff, none bigger than one full board or two half-boards. Two are Germans vs. Russians (both using the "city" board) and the other four are Germans vs. Americans. The first has no SW at all. These look good, but the AARs that show up will tell just how good they are, especially for the new players for whom they were designed.

5. The QRDC
One card containing the IFT, the CC table, a terrain chart, and a couple of charts listing MF and PP combinations. Readable, useful and uncomplicated, just as desired.

6. The Mapboards
Here's my only real quibble, and it's on very minor aesthetic grounds more than anything practical, since on practical grounds they seem to work very well. I would judge the mapboards on three aspects: physical quality, effectiveness and aesthetics.

Physical Quality

Effectiveness

Aesthetics

7. The Dice
Two dice. What did you expect? Well actually, since most of my game purchases in the last several years have been ASL related, it has been a long time since I've opened a game box and found dice. Besides, this adds to the "THIS IS A COMPLETE GAME" approach.

8. The Future

"This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need! My name in print! That really makes somebody! Things are going to start happening to me now!"

And this is ultimately what it all boils down to. I don't think there is any question that the ASL Starter Kit is completely successful at distilling ASL into a manageable (and far less intimidating) introductory game that should easily allow an interested player to progress to the full game. But the real question is whether this will succeed at bringing in new players for the hobby and for ASL in particular.

The next two Starter Kits are expected to introduce Ordnance and Vehicles respectively. MMP plans to update the rules with each additional kit so as to introduce the new stuff while updating the previously introduced rules and thereby to also apparently keep each new Starter Kit fully self-contained. I can't think of a better description of "Programmed Instruction." Some have speculated as to whether this will lead to a subculture within the ASL community, a group of players content with playing "ASL Lite" while eschewing the full system. Based on the presentation of the first Starter Kit, I think that actually, once all three kits are released and digested, the jump to full ASL will be a lot less than many people expect in terms of added complexity. While some may continue to produce additional scenarios for the stripped-down rules system, the sheer volume of material and nationalities already available (pending reprints of course) for ASL will likely never be matched by "ASL Lite." Someone who has gone through all three kits is likely to find much less in Chapters A thru E that is unfamiliar than he might think. If this turns out to be true, then the Starter Kit may be likely to bring a large number of new players to ASL.

Traditionally, the standard ways to enter ASL have been to do one of the following: 1) Buy the ASLRB and Beyond Valor and start from scratch, 2) Buy the ASLRB and Paratrooper and start from scratch, or 3) Do either of the above options after having played Squad Leader and its expansion modules. Of course, the best approach has been to do one of the above options with an experienced player available to guide you. However, none of those options has ever been conducive to bringing in the casual gamer who might like to get a taste of the system before committing.

The combination of the Rulebook and Beyond Valor has always required an initial investment of at least $90-$100, and given increased production costs, Beyond Valor alone may cost that much once reprinted, even with the cheaper mapboards. The Paratrooper approach made some sense in the days when most players were expected to be graduating from the Squad Leader system. However, that was almost twenty years ago now, and Squad Leader isn't even available. By this time, the old Squad Leader players have probably mostly already moved on to ASL or aged out of the hobby altogether. There are some stalwarts still out there who are a potential audience for ASL still, but for ASL to grow (or at least survive), it has to bring in players without that prior exposure. And for that group, the initial outlays of either RB/BV or RB/Para are simply too much to ask in order to "get a taste" of ASL. Also complicating that approach is the fact that both modules in question contain scenarios requiring boards that aren't included with that module.

From that standpoint, the Starter Kit is a wonderful chance for those players who are either not very familiar with ASL or who have looked at it and rejected it in the past, perhaps without giving it a try. Priced at $24, a remarkable price in today's market, that is a tremendous "impulse buy" opportunity, and comments on forums like Consimworld indicate that some of these players are indeed taking the opportunity to give ASL a try in its stripped-down form. $24 is a small amount of money to have spent (these days) if a player decides not to go farther with ASL, but is also small enough that a player who decides to take the full plunge won't likely feel he wasted it unnecessarily in getting his feet wet.

It will also be interesting to see what kind of retail response MMP receives from this game. It's hard to imagine a tremendous shelf presence in an age when wargaming retail shelves are as sparsely populated as the powder room at an ASL tournament. However, based on the comments from the MMP guys, the enthusiasm from retail stores for this project has been higher than just about anything they've done in the last five years. Could the presence of an eye-catching and self-contained game for $24 bring back any of the retail glory of the seventies? Probably not, for reasons that have been endlessly debated elsewhere. The potential audience for board wargames should be larger than it was thirty years ago, but there are so many other choices for that audience, both computer and non-computer in nature, that the actual number of people playing and buying these games will almost certainly never approach what was happening in those glory days of yore. However, it can't hurt to have such a game on the shelves in the local hobby store, and just maybe the audience for ASL will expand beyond the existing group of hard-core boardgamers.

So in summary, I believe that MMP has succeeded remarkably well in producing a game that will appeal to non-ASL players and yet provide a good stepping-stone for those players who decide to continue in the ASL system. Whether that translates to a lot of new blood for the system or not, we may not know for some time, but the initial results are very promising. Well done guys. The future looks a little brighter.

More Forgotten Rules

2004-04-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

A couple more. OOTW review of the Starter Kit coming soon.

6. Inexperienced Personnel have a basic MF Allotment of 3. (A4.11, A19.31) - Maybe not that easily forgotten, especially if you start a scenario with Conscript troops, but in the heat of battle, once unit quality begins to decline due to ELR failure (and you "acquire" new Conscripts), the restrictions on Inexperienced Personnel can easily be overlooked. In addition to the MF restriction, remember that these units reduce the breakdown number of SW by one (turning the original B# into an X# as per A.11) and also lose two columns (instead of one) on the IFT for Cowering. The other restrictions are listed under A19.3. Also important to remember is that a Green unit stacked with a leader is exempt from these restrictions, but a Conscript unit is not.

7. The Assault Fire bonus is not applicable to Long Range Fire. (A7.36) - Okay, this wasn't on the original list, but is one I just noticed. Assault fire is a wonderful thing to have, permitting units such as the German 5-4-8 squads to use 4 FP in Advancing Fire, a full column better on the IFT than would otherwise be the case. However, this only applies to shots in normal range. This is kind of comparable to a Hero's DRM only applying if the Hero is firing at normal range of either his inherent FP or his weapon. Can't say how long I've played this (Assault Fire) wrong, one of the hazards of most of my playing not being Face-to-Face. What makes it even more interesting is that I figured this out by reading the rules from the new Starter Kit. It seems there are some added benefits to a streamlined rulebook.

Even more anticipation...

2004-03-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

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:

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.

Anticipation...

2004-03-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

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.

A Couple More

2004-03-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

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.

Most Often Forgotten Rules

2004-03-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

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.

VASL/VASSAL

2004-03-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

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.

Out of the Wrapper, II

2004-02-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

My second order from Heat of Battle arrived this weekend. Unfortunately, that means that I have no new products to look forward to... at least for a few weeks. MMP has stated that the materials for the Starter Kit have gone off to the printer and they are determined to meet their March dealine, mainly due to wanting to have this ready in time for the GAMA trade show March 15-18. So not too long to wait.

Firefights! - Firefights! is a pack of six scenarios, all fairly small in size and only 4-5 turns in length. They also have some variable elements to their OBs, making them a little more replayable. What's really different though is that the package also includes a map for each scenario, all about 1/2 board size (on an 8-1/2 x 11 page). Theoretically, these can be used as overlays for existing boards, although none of the included scenarios use them in this way. The scenarios look good and offer a nice variety of actions, including a PTO scenario (New Zealand-Japanese) and an early-war German-Polish scenario. Should be optimal for short duration scenarios. This was released in early 2003 and there is a moderate amount of results listed on ROAR. There is a "Teaser" available on the HoB website, which is a pdf file of an additional Firefight scenario with matching map if you want to try this out. Should be fun.

Recon By Fire - This is a Journal-style publication issued in late 1999 (and listed as "Issue #1"). This contains eight scenarios with a series of articles. Some of it focuses on the then-recent release of Blood Reef: Tarawa, including a terrain-chart applicable to that product. There is a "Crossfire" article examining "Blazin' Chariots" (from West of Alamein) by Rich Summers and Rob Banozic (who've done a number of similar articles in the ASL Annuals). The scenarios again look like a nice collection and while some of the material is more of historical interest at this point (more than four years later), overall this is a nice product. Does anyone know if there are any plans to release issue #2 at any point?

A couple of nice products and I look forward to trying them out, especially the Firefights.

Bocage Update

2004-02-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

My Q&A to MMP about LOS into a Bocage Location from a non-adjacent hex has returned. My interpretation was unfortunately wrong, and the Bocage article will be updated accordingly. Here is the text of the Q&A:

Q. B9.521: A Location with a Bocage hexside has no units with WA present within it. Can that Location be seen (ie, "seen into") from a non-adjacent same-level unit across that Bocage hexside? Could an entrenchment within that Location be seen from a non-adjacent same-level unit across that Bocage hexside?

A. Yes to both.

....Perry
MMP

I still think B9.521 is poorly written, but there it is. Thus, a unit in a Bocage Location can only be seen from a non-adjacent unit if it has WA, but an entrenchment in the Bocage Location could be seen from that non-adjacent unit. This is similar to the situation with walls/hedges where a unit in an entrenchment behind a wall/hedge cannot be seen from a non-adjacent unit but the entrenchment itself can be seen (see B9.21, especially its second example). With Bocage though, this applies even if the unit isn't even in the entrenchment, as long as it doesn't have WA.

Completely Off-Topic

2004-02-17T11:28:00.000-08:00

Of course, it's my blog, so I can define what's on-topic. :-)

Every once in a while, I feel very sorry for those people who do not have a Mac on which to do their computing. Yeah, I know Apple's market share is very small and there are a lot of programs not available for the Mac. However, in all honesty, most of the programs that are not Mac-compatible are video games, and frankly I'd generally rather play a boardgame than a computer game in most circumstances, so this doesn't affect me all that much. Besides, most of the major applications are either available in Mac format or have nearly equivalent alternatives that are as good or nearly so. And multi-media is a field where the PCs cannot hold a candle to the Macs (ever notice that most computers depicted on TV and in movies are Macs?). Apple has led the way in graphic design and publishing since the first Mac was released. With iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, etc., Apple continues to excel.

And then they go and release Garageband.

Wow. Garageband is included in Apple's $50 package iLife, which also includes the iApps listed above. Garageband alone is worth the price of admission. I bought this on Saturday and have had an absolute blast playing with it. I have an old MIDI-compatible keyboard and in between using the loops included with the program and input (either MIDI or direct audio input) from my keyboard, I've already created several pieces. Garageband is essentially a software based multi-track recording studio with the option to mix tracks that are either MIDI-based or CD-quality audio, existing loops or music from your own external source. Great for making your own songs or creating soundtracks to go with your digitial movies or digital photo slideshows (not surprisingly, these work great with iMovie and iPhoto). You can also export the songs in CD-quality aif format and I already have a CD with several of my "compositions." The only downside I've found is that now I'm going to have to spring for Jam Pack, the expansion. Sure, you can probably find software that does what each of the iLife apps do, and possibly better.

But not for $50.

You can keep your PC video games. I'm having more fun than you are. :-)

Next up, maybe a primer on OBA (to get back to ASL).

The eASLRB

2004-02-14T22:34:00.000-08:00

The elusive Electronic ASL Rulebook. Talked about periodically online, and based on those comments, many players either have one or have seen one. No official eASLRB has yet been released. I've been working on mine for about two years. It's HTML-based, with hyperlinks for each rules reference, scanned images (at 120 dpi) of most of the rulebook's illustrations, and as a bonus (for me) a number of articles and play aids I've collected off the internet over the years. It's a great thing to have. I've never tried to use it in a face-to-face setting and am not sure how well that would work. However, it's nice to have when reading online rules debates, or on my laptop while traveling and playing Solitaire ASL using VASL. A nice resource to have, and working on it (scanning, formatting, etc.) is a bit of a pastime in its own right. However, I'm not posting this just to brag about my eASLRB. Indeed, one or two people have expressed annoyance online over people writing about their eASLRBs.

It appears that an official eASLRB may be a possibility in the future. MMP has mentioned this before. It was discussed in Journal 2 (released in early 2000) in which Introductory ASL was listed as "on the horizon" for 2001, complete with electronic Rulebook. However, this product has not appeared and to my knowledge has not even been discussed publicly by MMP in 2 or 3 years. In a recent thread on the ASL Forums, though, Brian Youse did mention it briefly, saying "An eASLRB is a grey area which we've discussed several times with Hasbro and finally cleared up some issues with it." This briefest of mentions seems to imply that such a product is a future possibility, and one which would be a tremendous step for ASL to take.

What form would an official eASLRB take? Obviously one of the major concerns over an eASLRB has been security. The downside to one is that it could then be endlessly duplicated and shared, greatly reducing the market for ASL's key product, the ASL Rulebook. Recent discussion has centered on PDF format, which can apparently be distributed in a secure format, limiting duplication. PDF format does allow for hyperlinks to be inserted, which would allow the same advantages to navigation that my HTML format provides. Personally I would prefer HTML or a similar format (I've seen one produced in Windows Help Format as well), which would be much more customizable by the user, but would not provide the same level of security. Also, certain formats (like PDF) could be ported to Palm Pilots and their cousins.

The advantages to an eASLRB would be many. The biggest problem in ASL right now is the fact that the two most important components, the Rulebook and Beyond Valor, are not in print and thus unavailable to new players. Without new players, ASL doesn't grow, and in fact will eventually die. However, as MMP has made clear, printing the Rulebook is by far not an inexpensive project, which is in large part the reason the reprint has not yet happened. As anyone with a CD burner knows, creating CDs with the Rulebook on them in electronic form would be frightfully cheap, say less than 50 cents per copy for the media alone. Thus, the Rulebook could be cheaply made widely available, an important step for all those (hoped for) newbies soon to be brought into the ASL world by release of the Starter Kit. Of course, MMP does not actually own ASL, so any such step would be dependent on Hasbro being willing to allow this, as Brian's quote above would seem to indicate. The advantages to the ASL player would also be many, for the reasons I've stated earlier, and based on some of the online conversations on this issue, many players would seem to be interested in this.

Certainly many ASL players would also be willing to pay for such a product. However, the security issue again trips things up. One idea that has been mentioned though is something I thought was silly initially, but am beginning to warm up to. Now admittedly, the ASL Rulebook is not mine to dispense with as I wish, but what really would be the problem in putting the Rulebook out in an electronic format that could be readily copied and distributed (assuming Hasbro was willing to do so, of course)? The Rulebook is not a cash cow for MMP/Hasbro. MMP has stated that they are deliberately keeping the price of Beyond Valor and the Rulebook low to keep them reasonable for attracting new players. Starting ASL is already a daunting task financially. However, by doing so, MMP will certainly not be making much if any profit on these products when they are released and once Hasbro's licensing fee is taken into account. If the ASL is "given away" (i.e., made available in a copy-ready format), then is there really a financial penalty to MMP/Hasbro? Many game series already have their rules in a freely available format. What's different about ASL is that the Rulebook is a major component of the game system in its own right, as opposed to simply being inserted into the gamebox itself, similar to the situation with role-playing systems. However, if the company is not going to make measurable profit on the direct sales of the Rulebook, isn't it possible that making it more readily available might stimulate sales of other ASL components to a great enough extent to far outweigh any lost revenue from sales of the Rulebook itself? A moot point if Hasbro weren't interested in this approach, but perhaps something worthy of strong consideration in the interest of future growth of the ASL community. ASL players are well known as avid collectors of just about anything with "ASL" stamped on it. While an unsecured eASLRB might well be duplicated and distributed widely, enough ASL players would probably pony up for the official package to provide profit far outweighing the revenue from the "barely break even" Rulebook planned for printing soon.

Cheerleading

2004-02-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

Periodically the online ASL community will flare up into a bit of a flame war over the state of the game, its future prospects, and the work being done by those responsible for being the game's caretakers. The most common subjects of such "flame wars" are of course, MMP, since because of their contract with Hasbro, they are the only "official" producers of ASL material, and are thus also responsible for maintaining the ASL Rulebook and core modules. The most recent kerfuffle has been the latest I Want My Maypo! discussion regarding Armies of Oblivion generated on the ASL Forums and ConsimWorld. Of course, other Third-Party producers (TPP) will occasionally be targeted, particularly Critical Hit, but the majority seems pointed towards MMP because of their vital role and high profile. Consequently, those who defend MMP (and the others) are promptly labeled "suck-ups" or "cheerleaders."

Having been indirectly labeled such myself, I thought it'd be worth going over exactly how things stand in the ASL world currently. Multiman Publishing primarily consists of Brian Youse and Perry Cocke, with Curt Schilling still involved and Russ Bunten having recently had to move on with life-matters. Others help out as well, particularly with playtesting and proofreading. MMP has been involved with ASL for many years and have had a hand in the development of a number of ASL products even back when Avalon Hill was still responsible for the game. They have an official capacity, one that was clearly available to them because of the financial resources Curt could offer, but as has been made clear many times (often by Curt himself), he is not bankrolling the operation. The company funds ASL and other games purely by income generated by other products. In the meantime, these guys still have day jobs and ASL is their hobby and what they work on in their spare time. Their "official" capacity does not change that fact. They cannot do it all themselves and depend on a number of volunteers, all of whom have a lot of dedication to this hobby.

When Avalon Hill was sold, MMP was elevated from being responsible for producing ASL stuff under the banner of Avalon Hill to being the official producer of ASL with only a token reference to Hasbro on the gamebox. This was the transition from "hobbyist" to "business", and as with any endeavor, once you begin charging for something you do, the expectations are different. The problem is that MMP is still the same people. That's pretty much how it's going to be. As has been said on the ASLML, we represent a niche within a niche hobby. It'd be great if the guys at MMP could hire people to do the grunt work (layout, collating, etc.). However, this hobby just isn't going to allow that. With the exception of a few game companies, it's simply never going to be profitable to the point that these guys will be able to quit their day jobs and do this full time.

I don't know any of these guys personally. I've corresponded them some by e-mail or through the online forums, pretty much the same as most people in the ASL online community. I certainly don't think they are necessarily above reproach. They have made plenty of mistakes in running their business in the (more than) five years since taking over as official ASL producers, a fact they themselves have admitted. Many players are disappointed in their willingness to take on other projects, especially taking over The Gamers line of games two years ago, although Brian and Perry insist that ASL is the primary focus of their time, with others handling The Gamers products. The ASL Rulebook and Beyond Valor are currently out of print and have been so for a couple of years. Clearly the hobby cannot grow without the rules and the most important core module. Armies of Oblivion is a source of much consternation right now (and frequently in the past), as it is the final "official" core module remaining (with the exception of the Finnish module) and, perhaps more importantly, because it has been promised for so long. Avalon Hill first mentioned the module in the early 90's as representing the armor and ordnance of all the "Minor" World War II combatants, before the Allied Minor countries were given their own module in Doomed Batallions. MMP themselves have been promising this module for several years, and clearly their track record at meeting promised deadlines has not been the best.

However, none of this changes the fact that these guys are still hobbyists, are still pretty much like us. They are not doing this to take our money, they are not doing this to get rich, they are not doing this for any reason except love of the game. The same pretty much applies to the other "unofficial" producers of ASL products. None of these guys are in this for any reason except love of the game. I'd love to continue to help fund their hobbies by buying official ASL products, but I'm willing to cut them a ton of slack because of the reality of their situation. They are not an ordinary business, and I'm not expecting them to act like an ordinary business. I expect them to do their best to release products as soon as they feel it's right to do so. They've done a good job of doing exactly that in the past. They are clearly committed to continuing to grow the hobby. The ASL Starter Kit and their intention to push this with retailers is clearly a step in the right direction. ASL is in good hands. Avalon Hill does not exist anymore, no matter what we all would like. MMP is only a step above desktop publishing, and given the circumstances they are doing fine.

"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow…"

2004-02-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

Part 2 – Bocage

Okay, now that you've mastered walls, hedges and Wall Advantage, it's time to move on to the next level of difficulty. Bocage was a tremendous impediment to the Allied forces following the Normandy invasion. For the first 15 years of ASL's existence, Bocage was just as much of an impediment to ASL players as well. The original rules were difficult to understand and apply (both for Bocage itself as well as the Wall Advantage rules discussed in the previous article) and many players just stayed away from any scenario involving Bocage. In retrospect, the decision to dedicate an entire DASL module ("Hedgerow Hell") to the topic may have been one of the things (along with the emphasis on miniatures) that prevented DASL from ever catching on with a large segment of the ASL community. Fortunately the revised rules in the 2nd edition of the Rulebook have helped clarify things. Despite this, Bocage rules still require some specialized interpretations of the rules to understand and apply correctly, and it is hoped that this article will help get more players to investigate what can be a truly enjoyable ASL experience.

What is Bocage? These generally represented "hedges" grown on top of earthen and rock walls. These had the effect of subdividing the Normandy battlefield into small areas, ringed fields with very limited LOS beyond that field. The hedgerows were tremendous defensive terrain (in close quarters) and very difficult to traverse quickly. The new version of the Bocage rules do a nice job of bringing these problems to ASL. Note that in the following discussion, a "Bocage hex" generally refers to a unit in a hex formed by a Bocage hexside(s) and with any applicable LOS crossing that hexside(s).

Who can use Bocage? Well, everybody, essentially. The effects of being behind a Bocage hexside apply to any unit. However, movement across Bocage hexsides is restricted to infantry units and fully tracked vehicles. There are also restrictions on Guns (not mortars or vehicular ordnance), which cannot change CA and fire in the same fire phase through a Bocage hexside (due to the difficulty in repositioning these weapons to a new firing position). A vehicle with the famous Culin device can breach a hedgerow (see B9.541) which aids movement across that hexside but otherwise changes none of the effects of that hexside.

How does Bocage affect Line of Sight (LOS)? Here's where the going starts getting tricky. In understanding this, remember that LOS is pretty much always reciprocal (if unit A can see unit B, then unit B can see unit A as well).

1. A unit behind a Bocage hexside can see over that hedgerow only into the adjacent hex (unless it has WA). Thus a unit without WA can only see into the adjacent hex. More importantly, that unit can only be seen from the adjacent hex. More on that later. (Note that this is different from being able to see into a Location. Clearly from the rules a unit without WA and behind a Bocage hexside cannot be seen except from the adjacent hex. A Q&A from MMP has confirmed though that LOS can exist into a Bocage Location from a non-adjacent unit. This means that a non-adjacent unit can see into a Location behind a Bocage hexside [a "Bocage Location"], even if no actual units in that Location have WA and are thus out of LOS. Thus, an entrenchment behind a Bocage hexside can be seen (and thus revealed) by a non-adjacent unit, even though any units in that Location without WA cannot be seen, whether they are in the entrenchment or not.)

2. A unit with WA can see over the hedgerow and beyond the adjacent hex. Again, since the unit has WA, it can now see beyond the adjacent hex, but can also be seen by units beyond the adjacent hex.

3. LOS cannot be traced along a Bocage hexspine. That complicated sentence in B9.2 explaining that LOS can be traced along a hedge/wall hexspine if being traced to or from a hex that that hexspine touches does not apply to Bocage. No LOS.

4. Bocage blocks LOS as a one-level obstacle. Well, well, here is where things get even more confusing. The rulebook recommends treating Bocage like a one-story building. We already know that LOS extends into a Bocage hex under the right circumstances (i.e., if adjacent or when WA exists). However, LOS never extends beyond that hex for same-level LOS, just as if a one-story building were in the Bocage hex. Makes sense so far. What's trickier is how LOS to/from a higher elevation is handled. Again, use the building analogy. Pretend a one-story building were present within the Bocage hex. If a unit could see over that building to a hex beyond, then LOS exists to that farther hex. Thus, a unit on level one (i.e., either on a level-one hill or on the first level of a building) can never see beyond a Bocage hex, anymore than it could see ground-level beyond a woods hex or any other one-level obstacle.

Got it? The example should help.

How does Bocage affect fire attacks? Essentially the same as with walls (thus, a +2 TEM, not the +1 of a hedge hexside). As long as LOS exists, attacks can be made. What changes are the effects of WA status on that LOS, as will be explained later.

How does Bocage affect Concealment? Here's where the cool effects of Bocage really come into play, especially if you are the defender. If a unit would receive Bocage TEM vs. all enemy units with LOS to it (i.e., all LOS would cross a Bocage hexside), then two special rules apply:

1. That unit is treated as being in concealment terrain for all "?" loss/gain purposes. Not a big deal in and of itself. It's in concealment terrain. Fine.

2. That unit is treated as being out of LOS for being able to gain "?" and also for "?" loss purposes related to MPh and RPh activities. This is big. "?" gain when out of LOS is much easier than would otherwise be the case as a quick perusal of the concealment table would indicate. Essentially, when out of all LOS a good-order unit can always automatically gain "?" unless within 16 hexes of an enemy unit while not in concealment terrain. But the first part above already said the unit is treated as being in concealment terrain. Thus a good-order unit behind Bocage can always gain concealment if no enemy unit has LOS clear of Bocage. Wow.

The second part of this means that those pesky RPh activities (e.g., rallying, deploying or recombining) that usually risk "?" loss now no longer affect concealment status, even with LOS. More importantly, movement behind a Bocage hexside does not cause "?" loss, so reposition your troops at will. Of course, firing over the Bocage hexside will still cause "?" loss, but that's okay. As we've already seen, regaining concealment will be very easy once your next CCPh rolls around.

What's the sneakiest way to use Bocage? That's easy. Fire during your PFPh and then drop WA. Your opponent won't have the chance to fire during Defensive fire. You can even reclaim WA during your subsequent APh. Bocage at its finest as defensive terrain! Of course, this only works as long as no enemy unit is adjacent. More importantly, remember Mandatory WA? You can only do this if you have in-hex of at least +1. If you don't, then you can't voluntarily give up WA, even in a Bocage hex.

Now for an example. I only have one, which seems to me to cover most of the major points. Perusing the examples in the Rulebook of course will further enlighten.

Example 1
All hedges are Bocage. Hex E5 (with the German 8-3-8) has woods, the other hexes with units have no terrain other than the bocage hexsides. No other units exist. Both German units have WA.

The 3-4-6 has LOS to both German units, regardless of WA status, because it is in the adjacent hex. The 7-4-7 has LOS to the 8-3-8 (because of the German's WA status) but no LOS to the 4-6-7 because LOS can't be traced along a Bocage hexspine. For the same reasons, the 3-3-7 can see the 4-6-7 but not the 8-3-8.

The 4-6-7 and 8-3-8, because they can claim bocage TEM vs all enemy units with LOS, are treated as being in concealment terrain (even though the 4-6-7 has only open ground in its hex) for "?" gain/loss issues and out of LOS for all "?" gain purposes and for "?" loss related to any RPh activities or MF expenditure. Since both are considered in concealment terrain and out of any LOS, both would automatically gain concealment, and would not require a dr. This is true even with the 3-4-6 unit in the adjacent hex, because the German units have WA and thus the bocage TEM. If the 3-4-6 instead had WA, then the two German units would no longer receive the bocage TEM and the above would not apply.

And of course, the 8-3-8 can drop WA anytime, so could Prep Fire and then drop WA and disappear from view, since the 3-4-6 couldn't claim WA itself (because of the 4-6-7 which still has WA).

Now assume the 3-4-6 in F4 doesn't exist. The 4-6-7 can't voluntarily drop WA because it has no in-hex TEM of at least +1 (per Mandatory WA), so it remains in the LOS of the 3-3-7. The 8-3-8 can give up WA status because of the woods terrain in its hex, and would then be out of LOS of both remaining American units. If there was an entrenchment in the hex with the 4-6-7, that unit could drop WA to enter the entrenchment, and would be out of LOS of the 3-3-7 (but the 3-3-7 could see the entrenchment itself).

Okay, end of Lesson 2. Next time, I'll try to go over how these rules apply to Deluxe ASL. Happy hunting, and don't forget your Culin Hedgerow Cutter.

"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow…"

2004-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Part 1 - Wall Advantage

If you polled owners of the 1st edition of the ASL Rulebook as to what were the most confusing rules, the odds were good that the answers would include Human Waves, Bocage and Wall Advantage. These have all been revised since then to clarify things. Human Waves were erraticized with the release of Doomed Battalions, while Wall Advantage and Bocage had to wait until the release of the 2nd edition of the Rulebook.

Wall Advantage (WA) and Bocage are much more understandable now than in their original format. However, they still can be tricky rules to apply. This is a shame, especially if it makes players shy away from certain scenarios. Four of my favorite ASL boards are deluxe boards e thru h, released in "Hedgerow Hell." Unfortunately, these boards (and the scenarios originally released in that module) are most vulnerable to any stigma against WA and Bocage. This will then be a two part article that will attempt to help clarify these rules in the hope that this will help people reevaluate any bias against those boards and scenarios and reconsider giving them a chance.

A more detailed analysis of the WA and Bocage rules, as well as their evolution from the 1st to the 2nd edition of the Rulebook is given in Journal 3. This article should be considered more of a primer, written with the idea that there can never be enough explanation or examples for difficult rules. Besides, it's not enough to just be given a laundry list of when you can declare WA. It helps to have it pointed out to you what the implications of that list are. Hopefully this will fulfill that goal.

What is Wall Advantage? WA refers to a situation where opposing units are in adjacent hexes with a wall or hedge hexside between them. Only one side can claim the TEM of that wall (+2) or hedge (+1) and that side is said to have WA over that hexside. To picture this, it's easy to imagine two combat units with a wall between them. The one with WA would be arrayed against the wall, able to fire over the wall at their opponents but at the same time having protection from the wall against return fire. Obviously this is a significant advantage to the side with WA who receives the appropriate TEM when fired on by the adjacent unit(s) but can fire back without that TEM. It should be noted though that a unit without WA could still claim the hexside TEM against firing units (whether adjacent or not) who do not have WA over that hexside. An important effect of WA is that in ASL, a unit either has WA over all of the hexsides of its hex or none at all. In other words, if a unit has WA over a hexside shared with an adjacent enemy unit, the enemy unit cannot claim WA over any of its other hexsides. Note though that Deluxe ASL is handled differently. Here, WA status is claimed/forfeited on a hexside-by-hexside basis. Thus a unit in DASL could have WA over some of its hexsides, but not have it over others.

Who can claim WA? Generally any infantry unit can claim WA as long as it is not in an entrenchment, pillbox or above wire. The main requirements of the unit itself is that it be armed and not broken (although a broken or unarmed unit can claim WA if other friendly units in the same hex have WA). There are a couple of other exceptions, given in rule B9.32. A vehicle can also claim WA as long as it is not eligible to claim an in-hex TEM of +1 or greater.

When can a unit claim WA? This is somewhat tricky. Rule B9.322 lists five specific times a unit can voluntarily claim WA:
1. During setup
2. At the end of any Rally Phase
3. During the unit's Movement Phase or Advance Phase
4. When a unit loses HIP
5. When all adjacent enemy units lose/forfeit WA over any shared hexsides.

Note that the opponent's MPh is not one of the times listed. Thus a unit cannot suddenly lay claim to WA at the moment an enemy unit moves into the adjacent hex, something that I think a number of players miss. However Mandatory WA (B9.323) helps bail out the forgetful player. While the preceding rule says "Wall Advan" counters must be placed to indicate WA status, this rules states that a unit automatically gets WA status if possible if it is unable to claim any in-hex TEM of +1 or greater. No counter is needed unless an enemy unit moves adjacent, at which point the counter clarifies which side has WA. Thus if you have a unit in open ground and an enemy unit moves adjacent on the other side of a wall/hedge, your unit is already assumed to have claimed WA, even if you forgot to do so.

When is WA lost or forfeited? Note that per B9.323, a unit without an in-hex TEM of +1 or greater cannot voluntarily forfeit WA (not that you'd likely want to do so anyway). Otherwise WA is lost if the conditions of B9.32 no longer apply (i.e., if a unit is no longer armed and unbroken, if it claims an in-hex TEM, or if an enemy unit occupies the same Location, such as an enemy vehicle passing through). Unlike claiming WA, voluntary forfeiting of WA can be done at any time. Thus, if a unit has WA over a wall/hedge, but an enemy unit has LOS to that hexside clear of obstacles (and thus clear of any TEM), the unit may choose to take any in-hex TEM (e.g., if there was a building in the hex) and forfeit the WA so that any attack against it would get that TEM. However, this decision cannot be made after declaration of an attack until that attack is resolved.

So, here are the examples.

Example 1
German MPh. The 6-6-6 is in open ground, while the 7-4-7 is in woods. The 8-3-8 Assault Moves into the building in CC8. The 6-6-6 automatically has WA (B9.323 Mandatory WA) since it has no in-hex TEM of at least +1 (and should now place a WA counter on CC9 so that there will be no confusion). The 8-3-8 would still receive building TEM for any Defensive fire but could not claim WA itself because the 6-6-6 already has WA.

The 4-6-7 now Assault Moves into the church in AA7. The 7-4-7 would like to have WA as it would provide the +2 wall TEM against any fire from AA7 rather than the +1 the woods provide. However, the American doesn't qualify for Mandatory WA (having a +1 in-hex TEM already) and cannot claim WA because it is the German's MPh. The 4-6-7 meanwhile has several choices. It could claim WA immediately upon entering AA7, giving it a +2 TEM for any Defensive fire from AA8. It could stay in the church, receiving a +3 TEM for any Defensive fire and then claim WA during its APh, or advance into BB7 or Z7 and likewise claim WA during the APh. It could also advance into AA8 in which case neither unit would have WA. Finally, it it stayed in the church, or advanced into BB7 or Z7 without claiming WA, then the 7-4-7 would be eligible to claim WA during its subsequent RPh (the German could also claim WA during the American RPh, but only if the American did not claim it first as per B9.322).

All clear? Let's try another.

Example 2
British MPh. The 5-4-8 is in open ground and the 4-6-7 is in grain. The shading on the 4-6-7 indicates HIP. The 4-5-8 assault moves into P3. The 5-4-8 has Mandatory WA since it is in open ground (and again should now place a WA counter), and thus can fire against the British unit with a –1 DRM for FFMO. The German will also receive the +1 hedge TEM for any AFPh fire from the 4-5-8.

The 6-4-8 assault moves into Q5. Now the German has a choice. Unlike the American 7-4-7 in Example 1, the 4-6-7 actually could claim WA once the British unit moves adjacent because a HIP unit becoming revealed is eligible to claim that status. (This seems realistic, indicating an ambush set up by the German.) Thus by revealing itself, the German would have WA and could fire on the British with the FFMO DRM, just like the 5-4-8 could against the 4-5-8. Of course, the German could also simply keep HIP. If the British unit subsequently advanced into R4, the German would be placed under a "?" counter at the beginning of the CCPh, with a –2 drm on its ambush die roll.

Not so bad, eh?

Example 3
Japanese MPh. All units are in open ground except for the 3-3-6 and the 4-4-7 which are in stone buildings. There is a leader (not pictured) stacked with the 3-4-8 squad.

The 3-4-7 assault moves into DD1. The 5-3-7 automatically has WA as it is in open ground (Mandatory WA). The 3-4-7 would still receive wall TEM for any Defensive fire from the 3-3-6 in FF1 if it wanted (although it would likely take the +3 TEM for being in the building instead).

The 4-4-8 assault moves into DD4. The 3-3-7 cannot claim WA since the 4-4-7 in FF3 has WA already, and a unit cannot have WA over some hexsides and not others (except in DASL). The 4-4-8, upon entering DD4, has the option of claiming WA immediately, or may remain in the building to receive the +3 stone building TEM for any Defensive fire. For this example, assume it claims WA immediately. Note that even though the Chinese 3-3-7 unit does not have WA, it would still be eligible for wall TEM against fire from the 3-4-8 in DD2.

Because the 4-4-7 has WA, he cannot claim in-hex TEM vs. any shot. Realizing that the Chinese 5-3-7 in EE1 has a clear LOS (and thus would suffer no TEM on a shot), the Japanese player drops WA for the 4-4-7 so it would be eligible for the +3 TEM for any shot against it. However, despite the 4-4-7 forfeiting WA, the 3-3-7 still cannot claim WA because of the 4-4-8 which now occupies DD4 and which has WA over the common hexside.

The 3-4-8 now declares a Banzai Charge (remember, there is a leader stacked with this squad), and picks the 5-3-7 in EE1 as its target. It survives Defensive fire in EE2 and enters EE1. As soon as it enters that Location, the 5-3-7 automatically forfeits WA. The 3-4-7 in DD1 could then immediately claim WA if it wanted to.

Congratulations. You've finished Lesson 1. Reread the examples in the ASL Rulebook to further reinforce the WA rules. Next up will be the terror of Normandy: Bocage.

Residual

2004-02-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Nothing new in the last week. I've been out of town, but am working on my 3-part article on explaining the Wall Advantage and Bocage rules along with their application to Deluxe ASL.

I did get in a couple of turns on my new SASL campaign in the PTO. Slow going so far, trying to remember the PTO terrain changes, but did relearn a valuable lesson demonstrating the value of placing residual during your opponent's MPh. Did you know that a 2-FP residual has a 58.3% chance of getting at least a NMC from a moving (FFMO/FFNAM) unit in open ground? Yeah, I relearned that the hard way. Residual is a great way to slow down or channel an opponent's attack. Even a 1-FP residual with just a -1 DRM (moving in non-open ground for example) will get a NMC or better 28% of the time. Great defensive tactic. And don't forget Fire Lanes.

The Newbie Manifesto

2004-01-28T13:02:00.002-08:00

new·bie ('nü-bE, 'nyü-) noun BEGINNER, NOVICE;

I’m a partially-reformed newbie, quite comfortable with the Advanced Squad Leader system, but still fairly inexperienced in actual play of the game. ASL is a wonderful game of tactical warfare, but can be incredibly daunting to the new player. What I wanted to do here was provide an article listing the best means of learning ASL, based on what has worked for me and taking into account the resources currently available.

What is ASL? If you don’t know, see the ASL FAQ for a good background.

Okay, so you’ve managed to procure a copy of the Rulebook and Beyond Valor, or you’ve tried the new Starter Kit. Either way, you’re ready to take the plunge into the madness that is ASL. How do you get started? This article is to help with finding information, opponents and materials to allow you to learn to play ASL. This article doesn’t try to provide tactical help, or give you a how-to. Too many people have already put too much time into doing just that. This is here to help you find what’s already been done.

By far, the best way to learn ASL is to have someone already familiar with the game help you. The first section below should help you find out if someone is in the area, or tell you how to find an opponent if no one is near you. Other sections will focus on learning how to play the game (ie, the rules) and learning how to play the game (ie, tactical help). In addition, I'll give sources for finding scenarios to play. Welcome to ASL and enjoy!

1. Finding Help

The ASL Rulebook is a very large collection of rules, and is generally thought of as a reference more than a rulebook. Unlike most games, it's very difficult to start at the beginning of the rulebook and figure out how to play by reading straight through. Finding someone to teach you ASL directly is by far the easiest method of entry into this game. If you have someone local, so much the better. How do you find out whether there is someone? If there’s a game store nearby, you can ask there, but these days, fewer and fewer are carrying ASL or other Conflict Simulations, so that is probably less likely to help. You are better off trying the online forums, posting an introduction (including your location), and asking if anyone is around. Where are these online sources of information?

Multiman Publishing (MMP) - The makers of ASL. These guys are hobbyists, just like us. They have a contract with Hasbro (the owners of the copyrights for ASL) to produce ASL stuff. This site is one source for obtaining in-print ASL material. The website has a player directory which may provide a local contact. They also have a list of clubs. Both of these may be a little out of date, but are a good starting point.

The ASL Mailing List (ASLML) - Only a shadow of its former self, but still a terrific source for ASL help, information and rules interpretations. Post a rules question here and you may be amazed by the number of responses you get (most of which may agree with each other). While traffic may not be what it once was, the flame wars aren’t quite as bad either. Traffic is down in large part because of frequent server problems since late 2002, which has led to the development of several other new forums.

The ASL Forums - Relatively new (started in early 2003), but a pretty heavily trafficked site.

Warfare HQ - Also relatively new, with ASL information and articles, plus a forum on ASL.

ConsimWorld - "Conflict Simulation Gaming News and Discussion." Here, you can find discussion boards for almost any wargame (and many non-wargames), including boards for ASL in particular and MMP in general.

Virtual ASL (VASL) - VASL is a Java-based application that allows you to play ASL online. This a terrific resource for many reasons, but most importantly because it allows you to play without being bound by geography if you happen to live in an ASL-deficient area. The application has also been the basis of VASSAL, a more generic engine that allows you to play other games as well. Check out the server and you may find someone willing to teach you, or you can look in on a game and watch others play. The documentation and the website tell you about how to manage all of this, as well as etiquette for doing so.

2. Learning the Rules

ASL is a very complex game. Surprisingly, once you are familiar with the rules, it is actually very playable, but getting to that level of familiarity is what’s hard, especially if you have no prior experience and are staring at the rather large rulebook wondering how you’ll ever understand what this is about. What online resources are available to help you learn ASL? Well, obviously the sites listed above are a good place to start, especially VASL, but there are other options available to guide you in learning the system.

Eight Steps to ASL: A Programmed Instruction Approach - This is an article by longtime ASLer Jim Stahler that presents the rules in manageable bits, so that you only have to learn a few at a time, with scenario suggestions that allow you to apply the rules you’ve just learned.

Tuomoland - This is Tom Repetti’s website. The "Examples of Play" provided here are detailed move-by-move recaps of ASL scenarios, which are perfect for letting you see how the game flows as well as getting a feel for how the rules apply. Invaluable as a training aid. The site also contains Tom’s Spuddy awards from past years, which are collections of the funniest postings from the ASLML from its glory days. Obviously of limited value for learning ASL, but very funny reading at times.

3. What to play

Okay, now you know the basics of how to play, and hopefully have found an opponent, whether local or online. What do you play? The obvious answer is to play the scenarios from whatever modules you own. However, there are scenarios available for free downloading as well, especially at the MMP website. Many of these are good introductory or teaching scenarios, meaning they have small unit density and allow you to focus on only part of the rules (ie, either infantry- or vehicle-only) at one time.

Multiman Publishing (downloads) - Several sets of scenarios are here for downloading. The most important for the new player are the ASL Classic scenarios. These are a series of scenarios reprinted in a magazine a few years ago which is now out of print. These include "T1 - Gavin Take" and "A – The Guards Counterattack", two of the most widely played scenarios. T1 especially is a commonly used teaching scenario and Guards is the subject of one of Repetti’s Examples of Play at the Tuomoland website. "T2 – The Puma Prowls" is commonly used as a teaching scenario for vehicles. Two newer scenarios are bonuses from the most recent MMP Journal (Journal #5), W1 and W2. These appear to be good teaching scenarios as well.

Also available here are the scenarios for Streets of Fire and Action Pack #1, two out of print modules. These are a bit more advanced, as is the Provence Pack, a nice set of scenarios which come complete with notes and tips on play. Feel free to download these, but there aren’t any real scenarios for beginners here.

Print Magazines - The best source beyond your core modules are the magazines published by Avalon Hill and MMP. The ASL Annual was produced (more-or-less) annually from 1989 through 1997. Unfortunately, these are now all out of print, although they can be found through such sources as eBay, for those willing to fork over a few bucks. These contain many fine scenarios, as well as some terrific articles. The earlier Annuals tended to emphasize historical articles, with a greater concentration on tactical tips in later issues. Hopefully with MMP's plans to release more issues of Out of the Attic, more of these scenarios and the best of the articles will be reprinted in the future.

The Journal is MMP's version of the Annual, and issue 5 has recently been released. These are generally of very good quality as well (although the best of these, Journal 2, is now out of print) and again offer many fine articles along with a large number of scenarios. These are all worth obtaining.

4. Tactics and Play Aids

Learning the rules is the hardest part of starting play in ASL. Once you’ve gotten a feel for the game, however, you’ll need to develop a sense of the tactics that are necessary to play this game. Obviously it’s not enough to learn what stacking is; you also need to learn why it’s usually inadvisable, and when it’s absolutely necessary. Participating in the various online forums is a good way to begin to pick up tips on how to play ASL, simply by following the discussions. The print magazines listed in the last section are a great resource, but must be bought or are no longer available. Fortunately there are a number of resources online, including some magazines.

Online Magazines – Several ASL players and clubs publish their own journals. These often feature information about the club and its members and are directed towards its members in terms of content. However, they often feature general ASL content as well, including tactical tips, product reviews, scenario analysis and after-action reports. Occasionally, they'll have articles explaining certain rules, which can be a big help.

View From the Trenches - This may be the best of the online magazines. Produced by U.K. ASLer Pete Phillips, there are more than 40 issues available for download. Most of these are useful and all make entertaining reading. The ASL scene from a British perspective, but lots here for any ASL player. You could clearcut a small forest for enough paper to print out all of these.

Hit the Beach! - Produced by the SoCal ASL Club. This is their club newsletter, but does contain some general ASL information. The website for the club also has a great many links to other ASL websites (under "ASL Resources").

Banzai!! - Produced by the Central Texas ASL Club. Similar in focus to the SoCal publication. The April Fools Day issues (Bonsai!! and Bonanzai!!) are worth checking out too.

Other Websites - Many ASL players have their own websites and have put a tremendous amount of work into making the game easier for all of us. Tom Repetti's site has been listed earlier, and is the best of the sites for learning the game. Here are a few more sites that are useful for the play of ASL.

Desperation Morale Central - Mark Pitcavage has created this site for the benefit of all of us. The downloadable play aids and "cheat sheets" are the highlight here, but be sure to check out the "ASL Museum" as well, which documents the levels of fanaticism ASL players can achieve in playing this game.

Dicetower.com - Sam Belcher's site, originally dedicated to Sam's dice towers, but also containing other useful information, including the most complete list available of "Perry Sez" rules clarifications. Perry Cocke is one of the members of MMP, and is the current "rules guru". This collection lists the various clarifications he has issued on the online forums, in addition to collecting the known rules errata and clarifications listed in the official publications.

Yankee ASL - The website for the Boston ASL Group. Several items of interest here, but particularly useful is the Chronology of War, a searchable database of every ASL scenario published, both official and "third-party" products, with an Excel spreadsheet that is downloadable.

5. Conclusion

ASL is a very complex game, but is an absolute blast to play, once a player is familiar with the game. Getting started is usually the most difficult hurdle to clear, and hopefully the resources listed here will help the new player past that obstacle. Roll low!

Out of the Wrapper

2004-01-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

I reached a milestone two weeks ago. With my purchase of the Operation: Watchtower Historical Study several months ago, I now own all of the "official" ASL modules [EXC: For King and Country, since I already own West of Alamein]. I recently reorganized my Plano containers and in doing so finally finished punching out all of my counters [EXC: The counters from 2nd edition SASL and the purple German counters from KGP II]. Thus, for the first time since first buying the Rulebook and Beyond Valor in 1993, I have no counters or other components left to organize.

So what to do next (besides actually playing ASL)? Like any self-respecting ASL junkie, I immediately began looking for more product to buy. Until now, the only “Third Party” ASL products I’ve bought have been a couple of Critical Hit magazines, but no modules. However, I’ve generally heard good things about Heat of Battle (HoB)’s products and headed over to their website. What followed were two purchases over the next couple of days. Onslaught to Orsha and High Ground arrived yesterday. Recon By Fire and Firefights! are on the way.

High Ground - This module contains the first two boards HoB has produced. They are mostly geomorphic (on three sides) with the other ASL boards, but the fourth side of each board has a level 4 hill extending to the board edge. Put together they make a very large hill complex extending across the two boards. Eight scenarios utilizing the “High Ground” boards are contained, and this looks like a nice package to have. I felt even better about the purchase when the HoB people announced online that this product is now sold out. Phew!

Onslaught to Orsha - This is a historical module on Operation Bagration (aka, the destruction of Army Group Center). This is also a nice package, containing a historical map, a counter sheet in the format of the counters shown above, and a total of 22 scenarios, 2 SASL missions and a CG based on the battle. Also, the product contains a chapter of rules for the new terrain and pieces as well as the campaign game. A very nice looking product and almost equal in quality (based on the components) to the “official” historical modules put out by AH and MMP. The scenarios look nice, ranging from small low density scenarios to some real monsters. As with MMP’s Historical Studies, some of the scenarios are on the map while others use geomorphic boards. Based on Chas Smith’s track record, this should be a lot of fun.

Both of these look great and I look forward to organizing my rulebook, scanning the rules into my ongoing “eASLRB in html” project, and punching out and sorting the counters.

Oh yeah, maybe I’ll play a little too.

Storage Solutions

2004-01-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

Someone who starts with the new ASL Starter Kits scheduled to be released in the near future may not see counter storage as a major problem. However, someone who starts out in the more traditional route with Beyond Valor will quickly realize that organizing the counters will be of great importance, especially as you add more and more modules. Storage is not much of a problem. Heck, just dump them in zip-loc bags, and indeed some ASL players have done fine using just such a system. However, for most players, a better system is needed in order to allow for finding specific counters in a timely fashion. You’ll find this out quickly the first time you need a particular halftrack, found on only four counters, only one of which has the optional AAMG. Hard to dig this out of a plastic bag in a hurry.

Many, many storage systems have been devised. The most popular revolve around fishing tackle boxes made by Plano, the most popular of which is the model 3701 box with 34 compartments. Others swear by Raaco, which appears to be mainly available in Europe but hard to find in the U.S. Others use coin envelopes for Vehicles and Ordnance, organized by the Vehicle/Ordnance number in the Chapter H listings, with various other means used to organized the infantry counters. One person has described gluing matchboxes together to organize the Vehicles and Ordnance. ASLers are very imaginative people, and I’m sure this brief listing only scratches the surface, but the tackle box approach seems to be the most popular.

I use Plano 3701s. There are several different schemes for organizing these. One is given on Tom Repetti’s site as Counter Storage for Dummies. I originally used this but then recently found a better solution. This is a Microsoft Excel file with sheets already made up to fit the Plano 3701s and is by Tom Lynch. The system uses two boxes each for the Russians, Germans, Americans and British (one for infantry, one for ordnance and vehicles) and one each for the remaining nationalities. The Axis Minors and Finns are combined in one box, awaiting publication of their respective vehicles. The system and information counters take up three more, thus giving me a total of 17 boxes currently (I think). I like this system a lot, although I’ve slightly modified some of the counter placement.

Basically, you’ll have to find whatever works for you. This works great for me but may not be for everyone. Try whatever you like. For many of us, counter organization is an obsession almost matching our obsession for ASL itself.

And don’t even ask about counter clipping.

Realism in ASL

2004-01-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

Pretty much everyone who plays ASL at some point runs into an aspect of the game they wish was "more realistic." Realism arguments are one of the most common threads on the various ASL online sites, with several having played out recently on the ASL Forums (see links). Here is my reply to one of these which states my view on "realism" and ASL:

Probably everyone who plays this game makes the mistake at some point of thinking it's more realism based than it actually is. The incredible detail (and chrome) of the ASL system implies much more of a "simulation" than is actually the case, and probably leads to most of the "realism" arguments that this and other forums so entertaining.

John Hill, the designer of the original Squad Leader, made it clear that the game was originally designed with playability in mind as the foremost objective, and that the actual details were abstracted as necessary to achieve this goal. To quote from his original preview article in The General:

The first step was in defining what both AVALON HILL and I wanted in the game. After some discussion the following objectives were generally agreed upon. SQUAD LEADER was to be a "basically simple" game that could be "gotten into" quickly. It had to have a high emphasis on playability with ready access to "playing data". We would avoid the usual polyglot of different tables and charts and confine ourselves to one basic systems chart that would calculate the effect of everything. All basic player info would be contained on one sheet, printed both sides. Bookkeeping would be kept to a minimum. Graphically, it should be the most "visually descriptive" game ever printed. AND within all these pre-set parameters of playability all the following effects of infantry combat must be portrayed:

1. Firepower differentials between different squads.
2. The effect of differing ability of individual NCOs and leaders.
3. Effect differences between all main infantry type weapons.
4. A morale system that would capture all the subtle psychological differences in different nationalities, situations and types of cover.
5. The effects of armor in an infantry environment must be realistically portrayed, but the effects of armor vs. armor could be simplified.
6. Mechanical reliability of armament by nationality.
7. The game must show the concept of leadership as it portrays probable tactical success.
8. The game must show how as key leaders of squads and platoons become casualties the overall performance of an entire battalion suffers.

Now, all those nice realistic effects have been captured and portrayed before, BUT never under the very strict playability standards that were clearly defined prior to listing the "realism standards." And both Don Greenwood and myself agreed that we would both become quite strict if either I, as the designer, or he, as the developer, attempted to water down the "playability" and "reference ease" standards that we originally set down. Compromises, could and would be made, only with great hesitation. SQUAD LEADER would primarily be a "players game."

Some players would laugh at the insistence on playability, given what a "monster" ASL has morphed into over 25+ years. However, IMO, no amount of "realism" and detail grafted onto the original framework can change the underlying abstractions at the heart of the system, abstractions that still exist in the system to this day. I've always contended that the wonderful thing about ASL is the "feel" one gets for tactical combat. If you break it down into the most minute detail, it doesn't hold up to scrutiny from a realism standpoint, but if you look at the end result as a whole (ie, like reading the prologue and aftermath on every scenario card), you get an experience that gives a great experience of WWII combat, and is damned fun and playable to boot.

None of this means that additional rules can't be added in (eg, SW crews, different representations of LMGs, etc.) when appropriate in representing specific concepts or to help in capturing the "flavor" of the action being "recreated", based on the individual designer's tastes. That's what SSRs are for. Certainly all rules in the game had some ultimate basis in reality. It just shouldn't be done with the idea that it's making ASL more "realistic".

So be it. It's easy to get caught up in the incredibly intricate detail of ASL's approach to infantry combat and assume that what is being protrayed is more realistic than it is intended to be. Sacrifices in "realism" were made from the very beginning to ensure "playability" and adding detail without a change in the fundamental structure of the game does not lead to greater realism. Besides, as the detail in ASL attests, the designers had a pretty good idea of what ASL combat involved. Don't assume that just because your favorite squad-level weapon doesn't have its own counter or the degree of representation you feel it should have that the designers weren't aware of its existence. The greater likelihood is that that weapon is well represented, but more abstractly, in line with the basic design philosophy behind the original Squad Leader.

Is this the Golden Age?

2004-01-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

It is a great time to be active in ASL. Armies of Oblivion is just around the corner, thereby completing the core modules (with the exception of the Finnish module). MMP's upcoming projects should be worthy as well, with (from the sound of things) several Historical modules in various stages of development, including Valor of the Guards, Central Stalingrad/Red October, Ortona, and so on. The reprints of the ASLRB and Beyond Valor will hopefully take place within the next year. Perhaps most importantly, the new Starter Kit (which may or may not take the place of iASL) should be available in the next couple of months. This should make introducing new players to the system much less painful (for the newbies, that is) and hopefully supply new players for some time to come.

It may not be the Golden Age. Gone are the days when the supplier (Avalon Hill) could keep everything in stock almost indefinitely. ASL is now produced by people who are really hobbyists, just like the players, with limited resources. However, they are clearly no less dedicated to keeping the game alive (perhaps more so), and we owe all of them a great deal of gratitude. It may not be the Golden Age, but the future still looks very bright.

What have I done for ASL?

2004-01-20T23:29:00.000-08:00

My major contribution to the hobby (to date) is the poem listed below (from Poe's "The Raven", of course), a Spuddy winner in its time, and my (hopefully) helpful pdf file on Critical Hits using the Infantry Target Type.

Of course, if none of the above makes any sense to you, you've probably wandered into this site by mistake.

The Rulebook

2004-01-20T23:21:00.000-08:00

(with apologies to Edgar Allen “Roll Low” Poe)

Once upon a CG dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over plans to stretch my defense line out to the Volga shore.
While my conscripts all were napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As one not so gently rapping, rapping at their cellar door.
‘Tis some rotten Kraut’ they muttered, ‘tapping at our cellar door -
Only this and nothing more.’

Ah, distinctly, I remember, Stalingrad in cold November,
Dying embers settled from the scorched earth up above the floor,
Signs now that a new day’s started, my line of defense has parted,
Jerry troops commencing their assault where they had failed before.
This small building left behind by his retreating troops before,
Hope to hold out one day more.

Now I found myself afraid he would clear out the Barrikady,
Smashing through my brave heroic troops defending Russia’s core.
Lest I found some way to stem this Nazi armored troop offensive,
Mother Russia’s imminent demise I felt must be in store,
German troops parading through the Kremlin could soon be in store,
Lest I won in CG IV.

How to turn the tide of battle, how to cause my foe to rattle,
His marauding band of blue-eyed blonds to founder in their chore,
I must try a new approach, some different tactic I must broach,
Some means to give a winning Russian entry to upload to ROAR,
A triumph in this campaign game to balance German wins in ROAR;
I picked the Rulebook off the floor.

The Book I viewed with apprehension, far beyond my comprehension,
Full of often studied, just as quickly then forgotten lore,
Rules to frighten any gender, all in erraticized splendor,
Page on page of Q&A all oozing out from every pore,
Packed with information and examples over which I pore,
Doomed to forget even more.

Still I had no hope of finding, hidden in the 3-ring binding,
Rules to help me in my defense of this barricaded door,
Strategies to hold this sector, hidden in their page protectors,
Page protectors purchased from the local Office Depot store,
Economy weight page protectors from the Office Depot store.
I Purchased these and nothing more.

Sewer movement has its value, simply if it would allow you
Stealthily to move your conscripts out beyond the cellar door,
But emergence is no given, matters not how hard they’re driven,
Their escape must find concealment if to safety they should soar,
Safe escape my conscript troops out from the sewer they would soar,
Quoth the Rulebook, ‘Roll a 4.’

Puzzled now, my planning altered (so far all my troops had faltered)
Searching desperately to find a way to bring force to the fore,
OBA would be my savior, causing Hun retreat behavior,
After all that’s why I spent those campaign purchase points before,
Points to bring on Russia’s off-board might I hadn’t used before,
OBA would be the score.

Thus I thought of using my artillery to start a fire,
Torching what few buildings stood to mark the city’s glorious yore,
Perchance this would save my conscripts (Is this damn Book writ in Sanskrit?
What the hell are these damn rules on OBA put in here for?
Where’s the flowchart made to show what OBA is useful for?
Torture me for evermore).

So the Rulebook did I ponder, staring there in abject wonder,
Stricken by its opacity, secrets kept behind a door,
Keeping me from soon attaining knowledge beyond basic training,
Tactics able to preserve my armies for one campaign more,
Dying conscripts overrun to never fight for one day more,
Damn the Rulebook evermore.

Thus I came to this conclusion, lost in desolate confusion,
German planes would be forever crossing Russian skyways o’er,
No more would my brave troops tussle with the Nazi armored muscle,
Armored might extending closer to the Eastern Volga shore,
Destined now to reach the Urals far beyond the Volga shore.
One more Russian loss for ROAR.

Welcome to First Fire

2004-01-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

Welcome to First Fire, an ASL blog. At this point I have no idea what will be here but this is a beginning. Hopefully it will grow into something useful to somebody, somewhere.