C4 Unleashed!

This is a pretty empty Plano tackle box. In the past few days I've been putting the C4 Corner Cutter through its paces to fill up a Plano or two. Now I should have gone to my Beyond Valor's 14 counter sheets but I decided on the slighty easier to approach counters in The Devil's Cauldron (TDC being the first in the Grand Tactical Series from MMP -- it's a huge monster game with a bajillion counters but some very approachable rules). TDC has all 5/8" counters (or larger) and I felt a little more comfortable with this size just to start.

Here's a sample of a counter sheet to C4 to clipped counter stack. First start with a few rows of related counters like the EVENT ones from TDC.

Grab yer trusty Xacto hobby knife and separate your counters by rows. (You don't actually "punch" them out do you?!)

Here's a few rows getting stacked and prepped for their trip into the C4.


Note the switch from sharp pointy Xacto blade to flat, chisel-tip!

Above is a stack of counters in the C4 with the "snugger" on the opposite side of the cutting end. The snugger helps you keep the whole stack even when your blade zips through them.

Voila! The stack is transformed into a clipped stack of counters and a small pile of very neat triangular bits suitable for kindling!

Here's what the contraption with blade looks like in action. Thanks to wifey for taking the action pics. Note the awesome cutting skillz. That's right, skills with a Z. The blade makes a super cool and very very satisfying "zzzzzzzippppppp" sound as you chunk the counters.

Here's a side view of the action. Again, note the mad skillz. Mad, yo!

And here's a close-up of my cuticles and semi-awesome manicure. Wow! You thought the Prawn had nice hands...

Not content to just clip a couple of stacks, here's the 82nd Airborne lining up for a C4 crew cut. How long would this take a regular non-C4 clip? Probably longer than the actual Operation Market Garden. However, with the C4 I was done in about 15 minutes and I was pretty sure 95% of the clips were exactly the same and even.

Here's the 82nd Airborne hanging out with the 1st Airborne. Note the COOOL clippings.

Here's another Plano full of information marker counters (and the large activation chits this game is famous for).

All that's left is the clean up. I use a slighty tacky sticky paper thingy to quickly sweep up the bits and then chuck it into the trash.

Counter clipping, surely the hobby of the damned! Next up? Beyond Valor's 50 hojillion 1/2" counters!!!

Prep Fire! Getting Set Up Part 2

Player Aids

Last post I talked about the binders and counter storage solutions I had for my ASL Starter Kits. In this post I'll just finish off talking about other handy gear to have if you're going to be a "serious" ASLer... or at least a serious ASL-newbie.

If you have a single Starter Kit it's a good idea to check the errata on your particular version. SK1 errata is here, and (unofficial) SK2 errata is here, SK3 is here. Print these out asap and leave the printouts with your rulebook.

If you have multiple Starter Kits use the latest one and just print out the latest errata. For example, I have all three SKs and just use the rulebook from SK3 as it has the latest incorporated errata and all the rules from SK1 and 2.

Along with the rulebook you'll want to also keep the QRDC and To-Hit Player Aid Charts handy -- page protectors again. Of course there are amazingly useful non-official player aids out there and I'd recommend:

• A good Sequence of Play chart which breaks down the exact timing of the game turn elements. My personal favourite is the ASLSK3 SOP at BGG here. Just ignore the bits that do not apply if you are playing SK1 or SK2-only scenarios.

• The official QRDC not good enough? Try these QRDCs for the full ASL on Ole Bøe's website here. Desperation Morale also has a big set of player aids and "cheat" sheets here.

I keep all of this stuff organized by SK level with the most recent stuff I use repeatedly on top and stored in the SK1 box (the other boxes fit maps and other ASL stuff) so if I need to play I'll just grab the one box, counters and my map condom and go!

Map Protection/Storage

Everyone has their own preference in this regard, almost to the degree of fanaticism that counter storage ellicits. Some people prefer getting a piece of plexiglass or Lexan and getting it chamfered and cut to the size of their regular gaming table or space. I've been told that heading down to your local Home Depot or the like should be the most economical option -- just get them to cut you a piece to size.

My current means of map protection is a "map condom" of sorts. Here's what it looks like in action:



The map condom is basically a poster/art display sleeve that is of archival quality. I purchased it in an art supply store where they had differing sizes. Notice that I've put two geomorphic maps side by side here (the most common configuration) with dice for scale comparison. I also bought a larger one for my other wargame maps and when you need to place ASL maps lengthwise. I really prefer this method as the sleeve itself is very portable, relatively inexpensive and was made primarily to show off and protect art and maps. Some ASLers and wargamers use poster frames and these I found are cheap but best only for games where you won't be switching out the maps often.

What Else?

There are a couple of things I didn't talk about like dice rolling mechanisms, clipping and maintaining counters. These things become a concern when you get a little more "into" the hobby. You'll eventually find that rolling dice into your little cardboard piles gets a little tedious and the boxtop of your SK a little cumbersome -- check out dice towers or use a fancypants dice cup (it's a cup...). Later you might find your counters themselves are getting a bit ragged or catching each other on the corners as you push them around. Perhaps it's time for a "counter-clipper"?

Where do you find this stuff if you can't make it yourself? Check out Cabela's or Walmart for the tackle boxes. Home Depot or Lowe's for the plexiglass/Lexan. An art supply store for your map condoms and eBay for your dice towers. And finally, Staples/Business Depot for your umpteen page protectors and binders. Look at it this way, you're doing your part to stimulate our flagging global economy.

Prep Fire! Getting Set Up Part 1

Alrighty, your ASLSKs just got plunked into your mailbox and you're ready to play. Hold up there partner! There are some things that you probably want and should do to help increase your enjoyment. (Read: time to spend more money!)

Firstly go through the contents of the box, there should be a small slip of paper that MMP uses as a manifest. Make sure everything is there. I've heard some people have missing items but I've heard even more that MMP and wargame companies like them have excellent customer service. Just give them a phone call or email explaining the problem and they'll rectify it quick -- just one of the advantages of the hobby that is so small.

Next, get out a hobby knife (XActo or whatever) and carefully run it along the die cuts in the counter sheets so they will detach easier. Some thought should be given to where to store these guys ranging from "throw them in the box" to "custom-made storage solutions". The most common method is Plano brand tackle-boxes. Model 3701 is the box of choice here as they are cheap (about $4-5 each), have a lot of space and spaces, stack, and generally are perfect for the anal retentive wargamer. You might want to sort by nationality and separate out the informational counters.

Now, go read the rulebook.

Back? Ok, so you're going to have to push counters around on a geomorphic mapboard while consulting a few charts, the rules themselves and a scenario sheet. How are you going to get organized? Well, after about a half-dozen solitaire scenarios through which I learned the rules I have a nice system all ready to show you:

Here it is all on the dining room table (mental note: must get wifey to OK purchase of new dedicated gaming table...).

Starting at 12 o'clock and going clockwise we have (1) informational counters in a small tackle box resting on top of a binder with richfam's ASLSK Tutorials all printed up insider, (2) the Plano boxes for the US and German orders of battle (OBs) from the Starter Kits only, (3) Starter Kit #3's rulebook as the latest and greatest SK ruleset, (4) the Quick Reference Display Chart from SK3 in a page protector, (5) miscellaneous player aids printed up from the Internet (like the ASLSK3 Sequence of Play chart from BGG), (6) the other SK rulebooks and charts for reference, (7) a binder with all the published and downloaded scenarios I own in page protectors, (8) and my recently acquired ASL Rulebook 2nd Edition, of course in its own binder and custom front cover art and page protected contents, (9) and finally, the map I'm playing on in its own little display sleeve/condom with some two-coloured dice in the middle. Let's go through these and you can decide what's worth doing and what's not for you.

The Binders

To be perfectly honest you probably don't need these things around. I generally keep the red scenario binder somewhere away from my toddlers and remove only the ones I want to use/play when I need to. The page protectors are a good piece of mind thing for the investment you've made into the game. With the three SKs you're already looking at around 25 scenarios plus any others you've been able to download from MMP.

With the green binder is the richfam stuff and any articles and learning examples etc. I find on the Internet printed beside my bed for a little getting-to-sleep reading. Other stuff I've shoved in there includes the full examples of play from Tom Repetti's personal site, Tuomoland, here. Check out the infantry-only example first if you're a newb and move from there. I treat it like my own little syllabus of learning for ASL.

The full ASL second edition Rulebook was basically an extravangance for me. You don't honestly need it at the Starter Kit level. But if you plan on getting to the full ruleset someday just keep a lookout for it -- better yet, get your FLGS to order you one and when it comes in use it as a sort of "super" rulebook or reference when you play SK scenarios. I've found it a lot less intimidating that way and especially fascinating when you see what we're missing "down here". And yep, it's in page protected glory. I don't keep this around when I play; it sits with the green one upstairs and the original RB binder holds the original Paratrooper training chapter K and sits on the shelf.

Storage

Storage is a fun topic of conversation amongst ASLers, as some of you who frequent GameSquad's forums are aware of. One man's storage is another man's signs of impending mental disease. Here's what I'm doing storage-wise. As you see above, I've divided the nationalities of the SK armies into their own Plano (model 3820 if I can remember right). So far that's been doable since the OBs for the SKs are much smaller than full ASL. The infantry and guns and AFVs all fit into one Plano. Key things to look for in your storage solutions: enough dividers and a rounded bottom so you can easily swipe counters out of their little cubbies. On the right are the Starter Kit Germans.

On the left are the informational counters. Again, these are easy to keep in a smaller than normal Plano because SK games don't use the full info counter set. These you want to keep very handy while playing with the very commonly used counters easily in reach, or better yet, stack a half-dozen or so next to the map for both players.

All closed up, the tackle boxes are quite easily stackable together on a shelf somewhere.

Once again I've written waaaay more than I wanted to be able to fit into one post (and Blogger is starting to have fits with all the pictures I've shoved in here) so I'll split this Getting Set Up post into two and finish the write up tomorrow.