A rundown of all official HASLs

Honza

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The other day I made a list of all the official HASLs. There are twenty of them.

Red Barricades
Kampfgruppe Peiper I
Kampfgruppe Peiper II
Pegasus Bridge
Blood Reef Tarawa
A Bridge Too Far
Valor Of The Guards
Festung Budapest
Hatten In Flames
Red October
Operation Watchtower
Operation Veritable
Primosole Bridge
Nhum Ga
Kakazu Ridge
Blood & Sand
Hells Corner
Singling
Suicide Creek
Dinant

Some in the pipeline:

Slaughter At Ponyri
St. Mere Eglise
Manila
Ortona

Out of these 24 modules eight of them are PTO. But more interestingly only six are city bashes (seven if you include Hatten). It just goes to show that there is far more variety to HASLs than city fights. There is a lot of choice there for all manner of different historical modules.
 

PabloGS

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Interesting. You are using a broad definition of HASL, as these are strictly speaking products with historical maps, but not necessarily with campaign games that interlink scenarios with purchases. A narrower definition of HASL which only includes products with interlinked scenarios would have a higher percentage of city fights.
 

FourDeuceMF

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Interesting. You are using a broad definition of HASL, as these are strictly speaking products with historical maps, but not necessarily with campaign games that interlink scenarios with purchases. A narrower definition of HASL which only includes products with interlinked scenarios would have a higher percentage of city fights.
Believe that would still leave 21 of those 24...dropping out Nphum Ga, Kakazu Ridge, and Hell's Corner. Down to 20 if Suicide Creek doesn't have a CG (can't recall off the top of my head. So that's still the same number of City Fights, but still less than a third. Dropping out the 'non-CGs' actually dings the PTO the mostest...

Now, if you want to talk about over-represented, then that's the USMC...but not surprising, they've got a hell of a PR department. 😝
 

owenedwards

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Western Front
Dinant - Belgium 1940 - German vs French/Belgian
Pegasus Bridge - Normandy 1944 - British vs Germans
St. Mere Eglise - Normandy 1944 - Americans vs Germans
A Bridge Too Far - Holland 1944 - British vs Germans
{Death at Elst - Holland 1944 - British vs Germans}
Singling - Lorraine 1944 - Americans vs Germans
Kampfgruppe Peiper I - Belgium 1944 - Germans vs Americans
Kampfgruppe Peiper II - Belgium 1944 - Germans vs Americans
Hatten In Flames - Alsace 1945 - Germans vs Americans
Operation Veritable - Rhine 1945 - Canadians/British vs Germans

Eastern Front
Red Barricades - Stalingrad 1942 - German vs Soviet
Red October - Stalingrad 1942 - German vs Soviet
Valor Of The Guards - Stalingrad 1942 - German vs Soviet
Slaughter At Ponyri - Ukraine 1943 - German vs Soviet
Festung Budapest - Hungary 1945 - German/Hungarian vs Soviet/Hungarian

Mediterranean Front
Primosole Bridge - Sicily 1943 - British vs Germans/Italians
Ortona - Italy 1943 - Canadian vs German

Pacific
Operation Watchtower - Solomons 1942 - Japanese vs USMC
Hell's Corner - Solomons 1942 - Japanese vs USMC
Sand and Blood - Solomons 1942 - USMC vs Japanese
Suicide Creek - Solomons 1943 - USMC vs Japanese
Blood Reef Tarawa - Tarawa 1943 - USMC vs Japanese
Manila - Philippines 1945 - American vs Japanese
Kakazu Ridge - Okinawa 1945 - American vs Japanese

CBI
Nphum Ga - American vs Japanese

Fairly informative stats, aren't they? Aside from 5 out of 25 being USMC (!), and the PTO preponderance, there are other favoured topics - paradrops (4/25), Stalingrad (3/25), Solomons (4/25, though you could argue 3 are Guadalcanal/linked and one is not). Nationality wise: German (15), Non-USMC American (7/25), Commonwealth (6/25), USMC (5/25), Soviet (5/25), with Allied Minor, Axis Minor, and Italian guest-starring once each.

Now, of course for a HASL to sell (in the numbers MMP needs), the subject must be broad and popular and perhaps "funky" at the same time. It also has to provide actions where multiple actions happen on the same map over a non-trivial stretch of time. (That said, a Mini-HASL in a big box or a magazine can afford to be slightly more niche - thus Dinant). But it's still interesting that there are two Canadian projects (one published, one in late dev), but no ANZAC ones. Allied Minor and Axis Minor turn up as junior allies (in Dinant, very junior - useful Belgian Cavalry companies on the random reinforcement option). Italians similarly are pretty peripheral (one Primosole CG). The Chinese may eventually get their Marco Polo Bridge module, but nothing else so far.

Of course finding actions for those is more of a challenge, perhaps (except the Chinese), but the anabasis of the ARMIR in 1943 might provide...or, indeed, the brave three-day defence of Rome in September 1943 by Ariete II and the Granatieri di Sardegna. Narvik has been suggested elsewhere which would give you British, French, AND Norwegian. Slovak Uprising for Axis Minor, perhaps (though I don't know how far they fought multi-day battles). British and Indian at Imphal or Kohima. ANZAC at Buna, Tobruk, Crete.

The biggest obvious exclusion is the DTO, of course - am I right in thinking the only DTO HASL is Brevity Assault from AF? That solves the problem of large-scale war of manoeuvre by inserting the HASL tactical action on to an operational map. DTO-wise, the most obvious actions are static ones - Tobruk, Supercharge, Mareth Line.
 
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Honza

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The biggest obvious exclusion is the DTO, of course - am I right in thinking the only DTO HASL is Brevity Assault from AF? That solves the problem of large-scale war of manoeuvre by inserting the HASL tactical action on to an operational map. DTO-wise, the most obvious actions are static ones - Tobruk, Supercharge, Mareth Line.
Had not noticed that. DTO has no official HASLs. Ruweisat Ridge by CH is another DTO HASL. By Dan Dolan who made Dinant.
 

Honza

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Fairly informative stats, aren't they? Aside from 5 out of 22 being USMC (!), and the PTO preponderance, there are other favoured topics - paradrops (4/21), Stalingrad (3/21), Solomons (4/21, though you could argue 3 are Guadalcanal/linked and one is not). Nationality wise: German (15), Non-USMC American (7/22), British (6/21), USMC (5/22), Soviet (5/22), with Allied Minor, Axis Minor, and Italian guest-starring once each.
If you include Decision At Elst then there are 25 HASLs. Where did you get 5 out of 22 are USMC. Or 3/21 are Stalingrad. It is either out of 24 or out of 25 if you include Elst.
 

Honza

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Believe that would still leave 21 of those 24...dropping out Nphum Ga, Kakazu Ridge, and Hell's Corner. Down to 20 if Suicide Creek doesn't have a CG (can't recall off the top of my head. So that's still the same number of City Fights, but still less than a third. Dropping out the 'non-CGs' actually dings the PTO the mostest...
Suicide Creek does have a CG. It is interesting that 'only' 3 out of the 24 modules do not have a CG.
 

Vinnie

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Asl is not well suited to CGs. The scale is so small that many actions that deserve a CG would simply need a map so large, it would be unplayable. This seemsto be particularly true for Eastern Front battles. Attacks would go in on one sector and then another if they failed.
 

asloser

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Asl is not well suited to CGs. The scale is so small that many actions that deserve a CG would simply need a map so large, it would be unplayable. This seemsto be particularly true for Eastern Front battles. Attacks would go in on one sector and then another if they failed.
When HP! Was finished I looked at various things with Finns for HASL. It was all fun and dandy until I applied the hexgrid over it became huge and unimageable in ASL scale.
 

owenedwards

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If you include Decision At Elst then there are 25 HASLs. Where did you get 5 out of 22 are USMC. Or 3/21 are Stalingrad. It is either out of 24 or out of 25 if you include Elst.
Just plain old confusion and not adding the in-development ones. Corrected above.
 

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Until this thread I was not aware that there were so many HASLs, really very impressive. I only ever played RB but that was a joy and something that Fish and I were both enamored with.

I was wondering how RB relates to all these other HASLs in the big picture. Is it like how Squad Leader relates to ASL? The progenitor, great when it was first released but needing tweaking or refinement.
Or is it more like Guards Counterattack? A basic offering, still good in it's own right but lacking the chrome and sophistication of these subsequent HASLs?

Or is it something else entirely or just the first and essentially the same as these others?

Thanks for any input.
 

Honza

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Until this thread I was not aware that there were so many HASLs, really very impressive. I only ever played RB but that was a joy and something that Fish and I were both enamored with.

I was wondering how RB relates to all these other HASLs in the big picture. Is it like how Squad Leader relates to ASL? The progenitor, great when it was first released but needing tweaking or refinement.
Or is it more like Guards Counterattack? A basic offering, still good in it's own right but lacking the chrome and sophistication of these subsequent HASLs?

Or is it something else entirely or just the first and essentially the same as these others?

Thanks for any input.
Hi Darryl, RB is still one of the best HASLs and is in fact many peoples favourite. The fact that it is so balanced really does help. Any two people playing it for the first time will both have about 50/50 chance of winning. It is only after many playings of the CG that grognards find it to be pro Russian. ROAR has very balanced stats for the big CGIII.

The chrome that turns up in some of the later HASLs is actually off putting for many players. The CGs become very complicated and it slows the speed of play and the enjoyment. Players often say about RB - the first and the best.
 

Honza

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Until this thread I was not aware that there were so many HASLs, really very impressive.
If you start including HASLs by TPP then the numbers really go up. CH has produced about a score of them, while HOB did about 5, LFT did 2, BFP did 2, LCP have done maybe 6 or 7 or more, and so there are perhaps 40 or so further HASLs from TPP.
 

Honza

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Asl is not well suited to CGs. The scale is so small that many actions that deserve a CG would simply need a map so large, it would be unplayable. This seemsto be particularly true for Eastern Front battles. Attacks would go in on one sector and then another if they failed.
Not sure I agree. The ASL scale is just right to fit Ponyri Station, or the Red Barricades factory complex, or Betio Atoll onto a map. It is at this scale where the most intense action is.
 

owenedwards

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It's definitely true that some really interesting WW2 actions that ASL suits at a scenario level wouldn't fit a campaign level - deep/wide penetration blitzkrieg, particularly, or long-range jungle infiltration. (Brevity Assault is obviously an attempt to deal with that problem by adding an operational level.)

But as Jan says, it still fits a lot of famous actions - cityfights, obviously (and if you're willing to go to 6 maps, that includes Manila!); the crossing of the Meuse (both Dinant, and LCP's Race for the Meuse); para assaults; beach landings; "jungle siege" warfare; etc. When you look at the range of TPP HASLs, you can see how many such actions there are, on top of the 25 above.
 

Vinnie

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Im not saying you cant use it, I'm saying it is not a great scale for many many actions. The linked scenario system might be better but lacks the consistency that a continuous battle has.
RB works well because of the relatively small forces involved in a concentrated space. Additionally, it was a high point of penetration so the battle lasted quite some time. Other battles certainly can be done but generally one side should not be fighting there. Militarily, it is a mistake.
Think about ABTF, KGP, FB. In each case, one side has to fight against increasingly poor odds.
 

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Hi Darryl, RB is still one of the best HASLs and is in fact many peoples favourite. The fact that it is so balanced really does help. Any two people playing it for the first time will both have about 50/50 chance of winning. It is only after many playings of the CG that grognards find it to be pro Russian. ROAR has very balanced stats for the big CGIII.

The chrome that turns up in some of the later HASLs is actually off putting for many players. The CGs become very complicated and it slows the speed of play and the enjoyment. Players often say about RB - the first and the best.
Thanks! I always found the CGs pro Fish!!! He was tough to beat in a scenario but I never won a CG. Too many chances for him to recover from a bad CG day. I didn't care, absolutely loved the campaign games. 🤗🤗🤗🥰🥰🥰🥰
 
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