ASL Easter Eggs

Juzek

Steve Kyle
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Video games often have things players can uncover during play that may not have any effect on the game but are still fun to find, called "Easter Eggs." ASL has a variation of this; the rule that is found in an unexpected place. For example, in a recent thread I learned that the TEM of an entrenchment can be reduced by an elevation advantage the same way the TEM of a wall/hedge can be. While the rule is there in plain sight (B9.33, last sentence), there is no mention of it in the rules for Entrenchment.

Another example that most of us know thanks to the many articles and threads about VBM-Freeze; a vehicle in bypass is subject to Street Fighting even if there is no street involved. This is not mentioned in the rules for VBM. A search of the rules for VBM would not find this, and in a situation that did not include a vehicle on a road between two buildings, a player may not think to look up Street Fighting when faced with a vehicle in VBM.

What other hidden gems like this have you found in the ASLRB?
 

bprobst

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What other hidden gems like this have you found in the ASLRB?
They're not 'hidden gems", they constitute a critical failure in the art of cross-referencing, and sadly there are many examples in the rules.

Where do you find the rule that says a MTR cannot fire from a building Location? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to mortars.

Where do you find the rule that says berserk units cannot participate in multi-Location FG? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to berserk units.

Where do you find the rule that says a SW dropped in a stream is lost? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to streams.

I could go on. Every time that you vaguely remember a rule, but can't find it anywhere in the first place you would logically think to look for it, you have found one of these "gems". It's not that I object to a particular rule being located outside of its "logical" place; what I object to is the lack of cross-referencing, so that if you don't know where the rule actually is, you will only ever discover it by accident.

Similarly, the Index occasionally omits some important references; and in one or two places, locks you into an endless loop. There's at least one Index entry that refers you to a specific rule for a definition, and when you read that rule, it immediately refers you back to the Index.

Something closer to the concept of a "hidden gem" is the "not directly stated consequence". For example, there's no rule that really discusses the "vehicle freeze" effect as a concept in its own right; you have to get there by realising that rule A + rule B = consequence C. Or to put it another way, the game is full of pseudo-hidden tactics that you only discover when you start playing the game; the rules don't really "suggest" (or "warn against") these tactics, they just happen when you realise that these are how the rules interact.
 

Eagle4ty

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The one mechanic that has always puzzled me was applying a +2TH DRM to hit a building devoid of infantry or vehicular targets. C3.41 does say they are valid targets in and of themselves, and B6.33 goes on to somewhat explain how to hit a bridge which is also included in the C3.41 and/or statement, "The Infantry, as well as the Area, Target Type may be used to attack a:thumbsdown: unarmored-target/unmanned-Gun/building/bridge/vehicle, and may also attack a hex devoid of such." but where is the rule requiring a +2TH DRM be applied against an "empty" building (does it also apply to shooting at a bridge? An un-manned Gun?). Baring using the accepted Q&A that addresses this point, I would venture to say one would be hard pressed to find the rule that directly addresses it.
 

jrv

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A unit may use only one FT/DC per player turn [A22.3]. The rule is in FTs, but players probably more often want to use two DCs.

JR
 

jrv

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Where do you find the rule that says a MTR cannot fire from a building Location? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to mortars.
Per the index (Mortars), B23.423. Zero points.

Where do you find the rule that says berserk units cannot participate in multi-Location FG? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to berserk units.
Per the Index (Berserk), A7.54. Zero points.

Where do you find the rule that says a SW dropped in a stream is lost? Hint: it's not mentioned in the rules section devoted entirely to streams.
Per the Index (Stream), A4.43. I'll give Bruce a half point here as it is listed as "Possession," and it might not be totally obvious that the rule also includes lack-of-possession.

So while the rule Bruce cites is not in one highly probable location, the Index does direct you to the right location under a fairly reasonable heading. That makes the ASLRB not very suitable as a way to learn a particular set of rules because, basically, you have to read it end-to-end to find all the cases where a rule that might be included under several rubrics. I don't think it is a surprise that the ASLRB is not necessarily the best way to learn to play. it is mostly ok for reference, i.e. the situation where you vaguely remember a rule. The rule about entrenchments losing TEM due to elevation advantage is Indexed (under "elevation effects;" it probably also should have been mentioned under "entrenchments"); in fact that's how I was able to cite it. The rule about not being able to use more than one DC is not indexed. Neither is the fact that you can't use more than one FT, but of course that is in the FT section of the rules.

I have twenty-five notes in my Index. Very few are items that are not indexed and are in non-obvious rules, like the rule prohibiting using > 1 DC in a player turn. Most are just rules that I have had to use several times but can never seem to find in the rule when I look. For example, you can't have > 1 pillbox in a hex [B30.1], which I think is oddly phrased as "A pillbox may never change its CA or be placed in the same hex with another pillbox." I can never see it when I scan the rule.

In addition to the index you also have to refer to the ASOP (where subtleties of timing can show up) and sometimes charts (the concealment loss/gain chart being one example). And of course when players [EXC: Bruce] get desperate, they consult the Q&A.

JR
 
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Ray Woloszyn

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These situations always lead to frustration when perhaps a less experienced player asks you to "show me the rule." It happens time and time again and takes forever to find. Worse offenders I too have noted in my ASLRB such as a gun can't use IF beyond an ADJACENT hex in the final defensive fire phase or that a half squad can use final defensive fire at an ADJACENT unit even if he already has used a SW, etc.
 

Mister T

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With an eASLRB on hand it would be easy to update the index each time something missing is spotted.
 

von Marwitz

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A unit may use only one FT/DC per player turn [A22.3]. The rule is in FTs, but players probably more often want to use two DCs.

JR
Damn! I wasn't aware of the DC usage restriction. May have played that wrong in the past.

I assume that a single Japanese squad could still create more than one DC-Hero as that would not count as DC usage.

von Marwitz
 

von Marwitz

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These situations always lead to frustration when perhaps a less experienced player asks you to "show me the rule." It happens time and time again and takes forever to find.
Faith! And this is exactly what slowed my attempts to learn ASL back then to an agonizing creeping pace. I had no one to teach me. I was quite sure I had read something somewhere - but where to find it. This basically hauts me to this day:

Nowadays I very often "know" that some kind of rule or erratum or Q&A applies to a specific situation, but oftentimes I still find it a pain to "show the rule" in order to verify/recall the details of it.

von Marwitz
 
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