"Mr. Ekted's" ASL Primers

Thanks to Luke (rindu!) who posted in the last comments page:

Dude, I just remembered something. Some links for your learning ASL roll. About a year before the Richfam tutorials came out, ekted from BGG wrote two blog posts, outlining the basics of SK. They were way helpful to me, and he's a cool guy!

http://ekted.blogspot.com/2006/05/asl-primer-i.html

http://ekted.blogspot.com/2006/05/asl-primer-ii.html

Check 'em out!

ASL Phases Quick Reference

As a nice Father's Day treat (and yes it's recent!), check out Jay Richardson's new ASL Phases Quick Ref sheets:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/43693

They're HOT! Granted it's for full ASL but it'll be a great bridging aid to those coming up from ASLSK level. Thanks Jay!

A couple of threads...

... from Boardgamegeek for those of you who haven't seen them:

1. richfam has a new geeklist up for the "Best ASL Scenarios". It's here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/10504

2. Attached to the list is a link to his "Next Steps" thread that reprints his article from a VFTT issue: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/80764

[EDIT: I have been informed by the commissars that the new list is old. And that I will be shot by firing squad tonight. :) ]

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Anyone play any ASL(SK) yesterday to mark the D-Day anniversary? I was only able to get in an Overlord game of Memoir '44.

The "Future" of ASL...

There has been a mini-tempest brewing up in the MMP folder on Consimworld.

A gentleman by the name of Lonnie Anderson has posted a short and impassioned plea to MMP about the accessibility of ASL. Here is the start of the discussion:

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@159.ZIKhelRE3XJ.384@.ee6d502/70746

As of this moment there are approximately 200 responses and counters to this posting. It's so long and involved I'm only halfway through it. (To be honest, it's been good discussion so far -- the occasional lapse of CSW into unremitting trashtalk has not yet occurred.)

Of course, I asked myself what I thought and here it is so far:

1. I think the idea of a ASLSK4 is awesome. I love ASLSK and the idea that it could extend in perpetuity is exciting but, in the end, is not realistic. ASLSK will continue in action packs and HASLs -- but honestly, if you want more you're not that far from full ASL and the great stuff available there. If MMP never does more for ASLSK I still think it's enough for us to go on.

2. HOWEVER, MMP must see the merit of perhaps doing something about reducing even more the Herculean learning cliff that getting in full ASL entails. MMP must have another mind-think and ask what could ease the transition from ASLSK3 to full ASL? I suppose they could wait for another Jay Richardson-type to show up and do it for them but really, why not a transition product. There's no question it would sell like hotcakes.

3. Newbies to the hobby, it's not that hard to learn ASLSK. Really it isn't. I've said this before and I'll say it again... In the event you can't find a mentor, the richfam tutorials are your tutor. There's no way anyone with any wargame experience or who can handle the intricacies of the more complex Euros can't handle ASLSK. Having now been more immersed into ASL I can see that just a leeeetle bit more effort from the new player to learn will work wonders. Stop expecting the beauty of ASL to magically manifest itself for you within seconds of pushing a counter across a hexside. Play a few games before giving up.

4. Hardcore/Grognard ASLers, do yourself a favour and don't make getting into ASL harder than it is. You certainly aren't expected to grow the hobby or be evangelizing or even friendly. But seriously think before you put down a newbie on CSW, BGG or wherever. I'm positive many have taken up the challenge of ASL(SK), then having found a literal wall of opposition to their presence on a forum or convention, decided that this stuffy old hobby didn't need them crowding out everyone else's style. Now that I think about it, yes, BE FRIENDLY. You don't have to mentor anyone but being nice costs you nothing.

5. As for the ASLRB2... in my humblest of opinions, that rulebook is a fantastic gaming achievement. It's a reference of epic proportions. But as I've said before, it's a dictionary for when you're learning a new language, not a bloody instructional course of study. Stop expecting this thing to teach you ASL. That's not going to happen.

Secondly, as good as it is, there's something wrong with having to learn ASL from a person rather than a manual. There must be something that can fill the gap between pushing cardboard around and approaching the ASLRB2 without having a personal tutor around. Alas, brighter minds than I need to solve this problem (or has it already been solved?).

Blah, back into the CSW stream...

[UPDATE: I've found that the posts I'm still reading are a fascinating cross-section of the kinds of people and learning experiences that would be interesting to anyone who enjoys ASL... as nutty as CSW sometimes is, this is a golden moment here.]

ASLSK3 Review

Thinking about picking up ASLSK3? Here's Jay Richardson's review of the game from the 'Geek:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/3174766

A nice, thorough review from the man that got me into ASL.

S21 Clash at Borisovka Redux - An AAR

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. The treacherous Prawn/Megatron laid waste to the noble Optimus Prime in S21 Clash at Borisovka, the all AFV scenario from ASLSK3. The Prawn had been dying to learn the vehicle rules and now his appetite is whetted. I think we only screwed up a few rules that I'll explain in this mini-AAR.

The scenario, as mentioned is all tanks. (Here's a replay of Talloaf and my go at S21 last month.) Basically, on a two-map setup, the Germans have a couple of Tigers and four panzers trying to prevent my force of 10 Russian T-34s from exiting off the far side of the board.

I gave the Prawn a longish intro to vehicle counters with some photocopies of richfam's fifth ASLSK tutorial and we diced for sides. I won the Russians and showed the Prawn a quick run of moving tanks around in the first turn. The Prawn's a quick study and we were soon chucking chunks of steel around the map.

For at least a little while in the first couple of turns my T-34s were scattering about. One of my long range shots (just to demonstrate shooting) clanged off one of his turrets and Shocked the crew (alas they shrugged it off -- as did a Tiger later on). On the other hand, the Prawn's hot dice had a couple of my tanks flipping to wreck side. One notable shot required only that he not roll boxcars but he did (evidence above).

For some reason (and I'm not quite sure why yet) this game turned out a lot differently than the one I had with Talloaf. I think because I was more concerned with learning and teaching the vehicle rules than with just cheesing the victory conditions we had a lot more face-to-face tank battles. Now, I am NOT making light of the Prawn's first victory over me (what the hell, I am), he played very well and made some great tactical decisions. And the force field he projected over this particular Panzer in the above photo helped too. Note the combined acquisition counters from FIVE of my tanks (two of which were -2s). Bastard.

Here's a shot from the Prawn's perspective late in the game (probably turn 3). Note the two Tigers prowling in the foreground with their 88Ls. Nasty pieces of business there. Note the Panzer in the background that had climbed a small hill to get a dirty rear shot of my helpless Ukrainian farmhands. As turn 3 wound down I had two T-34s poised to exit, one which already had, and another that was recalled for a broken MA. Everything else was a flaming wreck (wait, ASLSK doesn't have flaming wrecks...) and so the Prawn celebrated his first ASL victory with a 6-4 score in the Clash at Borisovka!



What did we screw up?! & Miscellaneous Comments...


1. I'm pretty sure were messed up Intensive Fire. For some inexplicable reason I didn't look up the full rule on it in 3.2.4 and I'm sure we were IFing in the AFPh (logically they spent too much time moving to have time to line up a second shot) and definitely we were IFing at targets further than "adjacent" hexes (again, logically speaking the franticness of dealing with a very close threat would hurry the tank crew). So, next time, no more crazy IF in every conceivable phase. The rule is IF is only available to MAs that have lost ROF, during the same phase (not AFPh).

2. Acronyms abound in the vehicle rules. Whether or not there are more than just in infantry rules, it just feels like there's more. The chart look ups got a little bit tiresome -- though sometimes similar shots were quick to take in succession. On at least one occasion I just simply chose not to shoot because the look up on the TH DRM chart was just ridiculous. (Probably meant I would have missed anyways...)

3. Tigers are cool.

4. I pulled another Curt Schilling with Prawn after the game. In the debrief I told him to pull out some counters, I showed him the Chapter H notes from ASLSK3 and we just talked about the sheer multitude of STUFF crammed into the vehicle counters, ruleset and mechanics. It's both daunting and at the same time super impressive.

5. Things I will have to review for next time: vehicle movement on hills, motion status attempts, and 7.10 AFV Effects (I'm sure I missed some stuff about shocks, stuns and such).

6. I'm positive we got the acquisition stuff down. Now I know why I see them so prominently placed in people's Plano solutions for their ASL stuff.

... and lastly, I'm going to add another Learning Tip to the list. This one I kind of was inspired by my play of Combat Commander: Europe (and Pacific). In that game there can be multiple interruptions of the combat sequence after the Firepower attack totals are determined so the game gives you a Attack Total counter to help record-keeping. Relevance to ASL? Whereas keeping track of MF in infantry engagements during Defensive Fire is relatively easy, AFVs have Movement Points that run past a dozen in most cases and can be expended in increments of a half a point! You better have a notepad handy not only to keep track of these things but to write down questions to be researched and answered later.

LEARNING TIP #4:

Keep a notebook handy for record keeping and questions!

That's all for now people, get out there and roll low!

New Year? New Readings!

I'm constantly amazed at the quality of fan-made stuff that is out there. Anyone who has played PC games in the past few years has definitely been exposed to the "mod" scene out there. Mods are works by hobbyists that run from small tweaks to their favourite games to wholesale, from-the-ground-up revamps.

For ASL in particular I've mentioned richfam's contributions to helping people learn and enjoy the wargame. In the past couple of weeks I've not only found more stuff by richfam but others and I wanted to share them. Think of this as Web Resources post #3 (post #1 and post #2).

1. Well, let's start with a slightly different but altogether very familiar way to learn things. We've all taken courses of study in school and maybe even done some "distance" learning. Mr. Russ Gifford contacted me on the 'Geek about a month ago and offered to share his efforts at creating a Learning ASL course of study in multimedia format. Of course I said yes and he mailed me a slick little CD over the holidays that I only recently started to enjoy. Yes, I said enjoy! Mr. Gifford has a natural teacher's voice (he is a pro at this actually) and his initial lessons -- done in Powerpoint format -- take some of the esotericness out of the intimidating process of learning ASL. If you want to see what Mr. Gifford is up to check out this thread on the 'Geek or go straight to his personal site here.

2. You all should have read over richfam's 5th ASLSK Tutorial which was made available on the 'Geek recently. But have you checked out some of the other stuff on ASLSK that he's written about? Here's a discussion on when to close combat and when not to. Have you started reading all the View From the Trenches newsletters by the British ASLers out there? Well, here's richfam's neat index of useful articles from said newsletter. Here's his unofficial ASLSK3 errata list. Here's his take on the AFVs in ASLSK3. (And this would have been useful when I played Talloaf the other day...) Richfam's overview of S21 Clash at Boriskova. Ah hell, just go here! This man has been busy!

3. I've also mentioned and linked Daniel Savarese's ASLSK work. Apparently he also did a review of S2 War of the Rats -- perhaps the Prawn should take a read...

4. This is one I knew about before but some people still haven't seen. MMP hosts a small Flash demo of the Movement Phase and Defensive First Fire here.

5. And finally I'll pimp out the 'Geek again. Always check the ASLSK1-3 boards and read over session reports and rules questions. Nothing helps learning more than making it a collaborative effort -- something the Internet makes easy. You never know where it might take you. For example, I decided that I'd post a session report and noticed that Talloaf was posting similar ones. He and I hooked up over email and then subsequently to VASL where we now know a lot more about AFVs than if we had just lurked and done nothing.

Last thing, I know from just running this silly little blog that it takes more than a trivial amount of effort to "give back" to the hobby and I want to commend everyone who I listed above and anyone else who has posted a session report or AAR, or put together a learning package or playaid for their gaming buddies, or somehow took the plunge and did something to expand ASL outside their immediate comfort zone. Kudos to you people; your work is much appreciated!!!

p.s. And just as I wrapped up this post I found a new resource (from Count Zero's Blog!): Alain Borel, a French ASLer, has posted small scenarios that were used in Vae Victis magazine to teach specific ASL rules. Check it out here. Anything else I missed this time through? Let me know in the comments or via email.

richfam ASLSK Tutorial #5

Get it. Now!

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2890421

It's funny, I was just doing my usual surfing around the web and I noticed the post from richfam on the 'geek and I went all crazy inside. Honestly, I've been kind of waiting for the fifth installment to help me learn to not be afraid of AFVs in ASLSK. I've already copied the file into Word and it's 53(!!!) pages -- looks to be a good read too!

On behalf of all the ASL learners out there who have enjoyed your tutorials Jay:

THANK YOU!

And I'll add the Jay Richardson Learning Tip:

READ THE RICHFAM TUTORIALS!

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