Forgotten War first impressions, or Where is the searchlight scenario?

Juzek

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While I was dubious about the idea of Korean War ASL, my first impression is I'm glad I didn't pass on it. I've just begun to dig in, but this looks like a really interesting addition to the system.

Quick impressions, without any game experience yet of how it works in practice:

New Terrain - Steep Hills. Will create some interesting situations. I have to think these rules, and the new hill-complex boards, will show up in scenarios other than Korean War.

New Troops - Chinese People's Volunteer Army (CPVA). These guys are the first new infantry model in the game since the Japanese. Playing as the CPVA will involve a rudimentary but novel Command and Control rule that is essentially Platoon Movement for infantry, with some common-sense exceptions. CPVA units include "Grenadiers", which are MMC armed with only grenades and blades. CPVA squads step-reduce, and have a commissar-like Political Officer. Scenarios with these guys involved are going to be a new experience for both players.

Maps - Hills. Rugged hills with lots of double-crests. Crags are Concealment and Ambush terrain and Steep Hill hexes are a form of Concealment terrain that is still Open Ground, if I'm reading the rule right.

New equipment - MMP has introduced the first new class of weapon since the RCL, the Searchlight (SL). A quick skim of the rules leaves the impression of a game of "flashlight tag" with machine guns. Which brings me to my only criticism so far - where is the searchlight scenario? There are no scenarios that use a searchlight in the module. With four night scenarios there couldn't be one with a Searchlight?

I'm sure more people will chime in, but right now this looks like a good one.
 

klasmalmstrom

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The last scenario has Searchlights.

218 Siberia Diversion
SSR 4:
4. M46s may not enter board 61 and are equipped with turret-mounted Searchlights
(W10.13), which may be used as if a condition of E1.91 has already been met.
 
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Michael Dorosh

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While I was dubious about the idea of Korean War ASL, my first impression is I'm glad I didn't pass on it. I've just begun to dig in, but this looks like a really interesting addition to the system.

Quick impressions, without any game experience yet of how it works in practice:
Thanks for the review.
 

dur

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Being nitpickey here, but if I recall correctly, RCLs were in the base ASL rules and were actually introduced in one of the Squad Leader expansions. That would make SLs the first new weapon class in ASL, period.
 

Robin Reeve

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Being nitpickey here, but if I recall correctly, RCLs were in the base ASL rules and were actually introduced in one of the Squad Leader expansions. That would make SLs the first new weapon class in ASL, period.
The OP stated that "MMP introduced the first new class of weapon since the RCL", which means that he was clear that the RCL already exist in the system.
 

dur

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The OP stated that "MMP introduced the first new class of weapon since the RCL", which means that he was clear that the RCL already exist in the system.
The usage of the word "since" indicates that, like the searchlight, the RCL was once a new weapon in the system which of course it was not.

Of course, this is silly and pedantic which is why I labeled it as such in my original post.
 

Michael Dorosh

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RCLs were in the base ASL rules and were actually introduced in one of the Squad Leader expansions. That would make SLs the first new weapon class in ASL, period.
That's an interesting point. Not sure what it speaks to, possibly the solid foundation of rules ASL had to build on - and thus no need to add stuff in along the way as it was mostly there to start.

Do Aerosan count as an entirely new vehicle type?

I was rereading the rules for GI:Anvil of Victory for no real reason the last few days. It's always interesting to go back and see where we came from. The development of ASL certainly makes more sense when you go back and see how the original four rulebooks developed.
 

dur

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That's an interesting point. Not sure what it speaks to, possibly the solid foundation of rules ASL had to build on - and thus no need to add stuff in along the way as it was mostly there to start.

Do Aerosan count as an entirely new vehicle type?

I was rereading the rules for GI:Anvil of Victory for no real reason the last few days. It's always interesting to go back and see where we came from. The development of ASL certainly makes more sense when you go back and see how the original four rulebooks developed.
Yes, I believe aerosans are considered a completely new vehicle type. They have the two white lines behind their MP value.

I too find it fascinating to see how the system came to be in the state it is today. I actually picked up SK1 and found the rules to be a little obtuse, so I spent a month or so learning the original Squad Leader and Cross of Iron. Understanding the foundation of the system really helped as I moved on to SK and then full ASL. It's also pretty neat just from a historical standpoint. The analysis articles from Bob Meadrow as well as the essays written by John Hill and Don Greenwood (all of which can be found in the General) also shed tons of light on the development of the system and more importantly the ideas behind the rule concepts themselves.

Addendum: Conversely, it is also cool to see what DIDN'T make it into ASL or even into future gamettes. In Squad Leader, infantry could deliberately immobilize vehicles within their normal range with just their inherent firepower. There also used to be rules for on-board artillery! Let's also not forget scouts, who could strip concealment and even cause casualty reduction in multiple hexes with a single dr!
 

Juzek

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He also missed the visual clue of the M46 with its SL on card 218. Clearly he hadn't had his coffee yet before posting.
Yes, I was looking for SL counters on the card, didn't notice the SSR. However, I don't see any visual cue in the M46 counter, unless you mean the vehicle depiction itself. I guess I can see a small part of the image that could be a SL just behind the gun barrel. I didn't pick up on the the connection to the M46 because my copy of the mod was missing the UN Chapter H notes, which are on the way.

At any rate, there IS a searchlight scenario after all.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Addendum: Conversely, it is also cool to see what DIDN'T make it into ASL or even into future gamettes. In Squad Leader, infantry could deliberately immobilize vehicles within their normal range with just their inherent firepower. There also used to be rules for on-board artillery! Let's also not forget scouts, who could strip concealment and even cause casualty reduction in multiple hexes with a single dr!
All the changes mostly make sense, too. Onboard sniper counters deleted for a random system, pretty good. Scouts I really liked, but the ability to Deploy HS makes more sense and may be more in line with actual practices. Fire lanes instead of Penetration, First and Final Fire instead of Tracking. Feature for feature, all pretty good, it's the sum of the whole that sometimes seems overwhelming.
 
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hongkongwargamer

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Yes, I was looking for SL counters on the card, didn't notice the SSR. However, I don't see any visual cue in the M46 counter, unless you mean the vehicle depiction itself. I guess I can see a small part of the image that could be a SL just behind the gun barrel. I didn't pick up on the the connection to the M46 because my copy of the mod was missing the UN Chapter H notes, which are on the way.

At any rate, there IS a searchlight scenario after all.
I think what he meant is that the photo on the scenario card has a Patton in it and there’s a big old searchlight mounted over the barrel.
 

Robin Reeve

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The usage of the word "since" indicates that, like the searchlight, the RCL was once a new weapon in the system which of course it was not.

Of course, this is silly and pedantic which is why I labeled it as such in my original post.
RCL were introduced in GIaV.
Which came after SL-COI-COD.
Your obstination to make the OP wrong is not only pedantic.
It is uselessly hostile.
IOW total BS.
 

von Marwitz

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I think what he meant is that the photo on the scenario card has a Patton in it and there’s a big old searchlight mounted over the barrel.
Dang! I thought that was a TV-set to show the North-Koreans the blessings of capitalism.
In a way, I guess, I am still right because they can be somewhat blinding. :D

von Marwitz
 

von Marwitz

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The first thing I noticed is that there are sixty-one footnotes for fourteen-and-a-half pages of rules. Did someone lose their thesis?

JR
Nah. They know their readers. ASL'ers are questioning the reasoning behind everything what the rules set forth. So there you go.

von Marwitz
 
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