Wednesday 24 January 2018

ASL if it is good enough for the "1st Royal Irish" it's good enough for me

I thought long and hard about this one, but in the end I felt I just had to get it, if only because of this UK Connections 2014 presentation by the then CO of the 1st Royal Irish (see links below):


Through the post today this arrived. Not the dreaded "ring binder infantry and tank and artillery and air and paratrooper" manual of death I remember from last century, but a slim line "ASL Starter Kit#1" (see below):


I was a fan of the original SL (Squad Leader) series, having all four modules but could not face the relearning or re-education that ASL implied in the 1990's. I did have the opportunity to bulk buy a collection [Beyond Valor et al] from my friend (something I did not ever regret until perhaps this point) but did not have the inkling or space. I hope to make it to the end of the first six modules ;) with a little help from some wargaming friends.

13 comments:

Jonathan Freitag said...

I followed the same evolution as you with SL and ASL. Only recently I bought Starter Kit #1 to give ASL a try. Wish us BOTH luck!

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Let me know how you get on Jonathan
So far (after the first 4 pages of rules) I am hanging in
I was disappointed the game boards aren't hard backed

Some of the advanced tweaks I glimpsed at look interesting
For some reason I don't like the idea of rolling a white and a red dice
The red dice meaning something ... when you roll a 1 etc

Early days!
Fingers crossed
I have a couple of interested friends who said they would help me

Jonathan Freitag said...

I, too, was disappointed that the maps were not mounted like in the old days of TAHGC.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

I agree Jonathan

Getting to grips with the rules
On page 5 out of 12 (thankfully not the 20 pages I quoted)
Think there will be many solo replays before I get the hang of it
Trying to progress a page a day ;)
Then I will try looking at some online newbie help or forum commentary

Some familiar to SL others "layering in"
Squad reduction through casualty is an interesting concept
Lots of "if .. then .. " things to watch out for

Still hanging in ;)
Other locals have sown interest
Teaching others is often the best way to learn yourself ;)

Pascal said...

Three words. Advanced Tobruk System. Superior to ASL in every way.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Wow I need to look at this one
So many systems ... so little time

Robert said...

An absolute must-have when learning the starter kits, which covers modules 1-3, is the Jay Richardson tutorial.

http://www.texas-asl.com/download/ASLSKTutorial.v1.0.pdf

Unknown said...

Check out Jay Richardson’s ASLSK tutorials on BGG - they make learning the game easy.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Cheers Bob

I will take a look at this for sure
Just over half way through the instructions (page 7 of page)
Like the feel but I will need a few adversarial games under my belt ;)

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Cheers Bob
133 pages to read!

A bit like the 72 page document explaining how to use the 10 pages of DBA v2 rules

Happy times
;)

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Progress update: Just finished page 9 of 12 and my brain nearly boiled
The "defensive fire phases(s)" is/are a lot more complex
"Routing" was interesting
Next .. "close combat"

Interesting concept of "assault move" to stop the -1 DRM modifier when crossing open ground
Lots of things to remember
Will need a few "slow play-tests" for sure

I am determined to finish the twelve pages though

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Finally read through it and feel exhausted
Defensive Fire Phase seems a lot more complicated as does Rout
Squads shrinking as a result f fire seems realistic by complicated
I think I need to read the rules again
Maybe make a flowchart
Or find one from the various online resources
And take a look at the 133 guide that Bob pointed me to!

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Alan you are on the same page as Bob
Thanks