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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.
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13 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag24 January 2018 at 14:00

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Geordie an Exiled FoG24 January 2018 at 22:39

    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

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jonathan Freitag25 January 2018 at 01:02

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

    ReplyDelete
  4. Geordie an Exiled FoG25 January 2018 at 21:54

    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 ;)

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  5. Pascal26 January 2018 at 20:20

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

    ReplyDelete
  6. Geordie an Exiled FoG26 January 2018 at 21:31

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

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  7. Robert26 January 2018 at 22:20

    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

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  8. Unknown26 January 2018 at 22:55

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

    ReplyDelete
  9. Geordie an Exiled FoG27 January 2018 at 21:09

    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 ;)

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  10. Geordie an Exiled FoG28 January 2018 at 12:42

    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
    ;)

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  11. Geordie an Exiled FoG29 January 2018 at 20:01

    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

    ReplyDelete
  12. Geordie an Exiled FoG3 February 2018 at 23:40

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Geordie an Exiled FoG5 May 2018 at 23:56

    Alan you are on the same page as Bob
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete