ASL in 2006: The Products

[Pitman]

For a complete list of ASL products released in 2006, see my website at Recent ASL Products. The only thing it is missing is the new issue of the newsletter Banzai!.

What do you think? What did you buy? What did you pass on? What were your favorites? Your unexpected pleasures? The dogs? What's the best of 2006?

Here are my opinions:

1/2006, Armies of Oblivion/Official Core Module, Multi-Man Publishing. Armies of Oblivion, despite a wait that lasted about 8 years too long, turned out to be a quality product. Good scenarios, good counters, good overlays (love the river overlay). One of MMP's best products (except for the box cover!). Four stars (out of four).

1/2006 Ost Front Pack/Scenario Pack Lone Canuck Publishing. An unremarkable mini-scenario pack. Can't beat the price. Two and a half stars.

1/2006, The Oblivion Pack/Scenario Pack, Fanatic Enterprises. It was nice to see some more Axis Minors scenarios to play, in addition to the ones in AOO, but like AOO, too many of these scenarios were largish. In addition, the pack suffers from the typical editing, proofreading, and playtesting problems of the publisher. Two stars.

1/2006, Vae Victis #68 (Jan-Feb 2006)/Scenario in general wargaming magazine, Vae Victis Magazine. Just a scenario, not a full product. Still, full color scenario looks pretty nice. Two stars (mostly because it is hard to rate a single scenario highly unless you have played it which I have not).

1/2006, View from the Trenches #65/66 (Jan-Apr 2006)/Newsletter, View from the Trenches. VftT is coming out more and more seldom, which is a shame, because it is the oldest surviving ASL newsletter and the only one coming from outside the U.S. Nice to see it when it does appear. Two and one half stars.

3/2006, Fanatic Pack #4/Scenario Pack, Fanatic Enterprises. This small scenario pack (6 scenarios 2 PL CG) had color scenarios and even counter art, which was nice, but this could not make up for poor proofreading, editing, and playtesting. Both the scenarios I played had serious questions come up that a minimal amount of playtesting would have revealed. One star.


3/2006, Dispatches from the Bunker #22/Newsletter, Dispatches from the Bunker. The newsletter aspect of DftB often leaves much to be desired, but the scenaros are always worthy. Three stars.

5/2006, Axis Minor AFV Cards/DASL style AFV cards, Fanatic Enterprises. For those few people out there who use AFV cards, this is nice, I guess. One and a half stars.

5/2006, Vae Victis #68 (May-June 2006)/Scenario in general wargaming magazine, Vae Victis Magazine (French language). See previous Vae Victis entry. Two stars.

5/2006, View from the Trenches #67 (May-August 2006)/Newsletter, View from the Trenches. Two and a half stars.

6/2006, Berlin: Fall of the Third Reich/Historical Module, Critical Hit. Beautiful big-ass historical map. Fairly nice counters (except for vehicles). Interesting scenario situations. Errata and clarifications that had to be cleared up. Overall, though, a very nice product, it seems. Three stars.

6/2006, Break Contact! Aussie Tournament Pack/Scenario Pack, Break Contact. A mini-scenario pack from Murray MacCloskey. Some of the scenarios way too small for my tastes, some others have some strange aspects (like voluntarily going berserk). But some are good, too. Personally enjoyed "Brigade Hill" quite a bit, though it may not be quite balanced. Two stars, decent first effort.

6/2006, Recon by Fire #3/Magazine, Heat of Battle. Overall, it was disappointing. Although it had a lot of scenarios, it seemed rushed and somewhat sloppy. Two stars.

8/2006, ASL Journal #7/Magazine, Multi-Man Publishing. A pretty good set of scenarios, some of them reprints. Overall, a good effort. Three stars.

8/2006, Le Franc Tireur #9/Magazine Le Franc Tireur. Because of glossy, fragile scenario cards and a fair amount of errata, this issue of Le Franc Tireur did not seem as good as some past issues, alas. Two and a half stars.

9/2006, Friendly Fire Pack #2/Scenario Pack, Friendly Fire. Another high-quality scenario pack from our Scandinavian friends. Three and a half stars.

9/2006, Balkan Warfare/Scenario Pack, Fanatic Enterprises. One has to wonder at how much playtesting was really done for these scenarios. One and a half stars.

9/2006, Battle of the Hedgerows: The Storm Broke/Scenario Pack, Lone Canuck Publishing. An unusual offering from LCP, given its US-centricness. A mini-scenario pack featuring a small but key battle during the Mortain counter-offensive in France in 1944. Interesting. Two and a half stars.

9/2006, Vae Victis #70 (September-October 2006)/Scenario in general wargaming magazine, Vae Victis Magazine (French language). See previous Vae Victis mention. Two stars.

9/2006, Alea #31/Scenario in general wargaming magazine, Alea Magazine (Spanish language). Nice to see Alea appear again after some absence. Two stars.

10/2006, Schwerpunkt #12/Magazine, Sherry Enterprises. Four stars. Schwerpunkt is always one of the highest quality ASL releases each year and this year was not an exception.

10/2006, Rally Point #1/Scenario Pack, Sherry Enterprises. The first themed scenario pack by the boys who brought you Schwerpunkt. Axis Minor theme, a better complement of scenarios for AOO than any of the other releases this year. Three and a half stars.

10/2006, Zombie Pak #1/Scenario Pack, East Side Gamers. One does not need the original Oktobermessed! pack (which introduced zombies to ASL) to buy or enjoy this one. Clearly for a niche audience. Two stars.

10/2006, Dezign Pak 2/Scenario Pack, East Side Gamers. A nice set of scenarios (need to be on a better quality cardstock, though). Three stars.

10/2006, Scenario Designers Guide/Manual, Desperation Morale. No comment.

10/2006, Critical Hit Magazine Volume 7, Number 3/Magazine, Critical Hit. Looks like a decent set of scenarios (played one so far and enjoyed it). Includes a free third edition of Busting the Bocage. Three stars.

10/2006, Hero Pax #4/Scenario Pack, Critical Hit. Looks like another nice little Hero Pax series scenario pack. Three stars.

10/2006, Dispatches from the Bunker #23/Newsletter, Dispatches from the Bunker. See comments above. Three stars.

11/2006. Banzai! #11.1/Newsletter, Texas ASL Club. Nice to see Banzai reappear from oblivion. Hope the newsletter continues! Two and a half stars.


Well, those are my rough impressions/opinions. What are yours?

 

[Blackcloud6]

10/2006, Dezign Pak 2/Scenario Pack, East Side Gamers. A nice set of scenarios (need to be on a better quality cardstock, though). Three stars.

Because Schwarz & Schwarz playtested it! (shameless ego boosting plug) :laugh:

 

[JRKrejsa]

I'm suprised there are so few recomendations for the Schwerpunkt products. If you don't own these you should try them. (No, I don't work for them.)

Are the Dezign Packs in any Hobby SHops? Or only available through them directly?

 

[Glennbo]

Are the Dezign Packs in any Hobby SHops? Or only available through them directly?

Only through us directly at this point, via the East Side Gamers website. Though Eric will be at Winter Offensive and will have a few copies on him for anyone who wants them.

Aside from our Dezign Paks, my favorite product was AoO, of course. A very high quality product. I don't play the scenarios anymore, but the Chapter H notes were fantastic!

My second favorite was Mark's Scenario Designer's Guide. I liked it more than the new Journal or CH's new magazine. I don't know why, but for me it's just fun to read. The sections on SSRs and Victory conditions were excellent.

The new Critical Hit magazine is my third favorite, mainly because of all the great scenarios that came with it.

Hero Pax 4 is next. Lots of great scenarios. David Lamb is the most underrated scenario designer around.

Both Schwerepunkt releases were excellent as well, every bit as good as I've come to expect from them. I made time to play two scenarios from them, and they were both good. And the dice were cool too!

The new Journal comes next. I especially enjoyed Steve Swann's work. I played Danica Air in a four player game and it was a blast.

That was all we bought, so that's all I can comment on. Since I've only played four published scenarios this year it's hard for me to give in depth opinions on them.

 

[RobZagnut]

AOO is the best product of 2006 by far. In fact, I think it's the best ASL product in the past 5 years.

I'm surprised that Rally Point hasn't gotten more votes than Schwerpunkt #12, because of all the cool AOO scenarios it contains. I played Well Taught the other night and it is a good scenario.

Dispatches Bunker deserves a lot of votes. The VotG teaser scenarios are just to cruel though. Hopefully, Tom will publish a few more VotG surprises in a future issue. Another great reason to subscribe.

 

[Robin Reeve]

I thought there were soooo few ASL products in 2006!!!
I shouldn't have listened to some grumblers, I believe...:clown:

I consider AoO the best product, and did appreciate J7 for ist Ostfront aroma.
SP12 is top notch as the SP products usually are.
I am still awaiting for the Rally Point to be available here (this could explain why it recieves less votes, as French and European players usually don't have direct access to SP products, as credit cards/paypal cannot be used to order them).

 

[TopT]

my pick is AoO; I have to agree that it is a great module. It was a long time in coming and it met the expectations. My other choices were DftB and Schwerepunkt. I have just purchased both complete sets but have not seen them yet (been deployed most of the year). I should not vote for them as I have not really seen them but what the heck; it is America and i am free to vote how I want. Everyone Have a Happy New Year.

 

[Blackcloud6]

I bought so much ASL stuff my head is spinning thinking about the best one. AOO is up there. So is CH!'s Berlin.

But the coolest has to be ESG's "Army of One" Hero counter T-Shirt. :bandit:

EASTSIDE GAMERS ROCK DUDE! :clap: :thumup:

 

[Tater]

There were only two real ASL products on the list...
AoO
J#7

I voted for both. Everything else was just lining the pockets of pirates. BWWWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

:freak:

 

[Blackcloud6]

I voted for both. Everything else was just lining the pockets of pirates. BWWWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Tate:

You should be put into one of those Ronco thingies and be diced into Julian Fries! :hurt:

 

[Pitman]

If you don't buy third party products, then you don't support the efforts of Paul Kenny and Steve Swann, who worked on AOO; Pete Shelling, who has designed scenarios for many official ASL products; the Le Franc Tireur folks, who designed around 4 of the scenarios in the latest Journal, and many other folks who work on official and unofficial ASL products both.

 

[Barber]

Dispatches Bunker deserves a lot of votes. The VotG teaser scenarios are just to cruel though. Hopefully, Tom will publish a few more VotG surprises in a future issue. Another great reason to subscribe.

That's the only reason DFTB didn't get my vote. I know it's not Tom's fault, he can't control MMP's production schedule, but I hate looking at that issue and not being able to do anything with it. If VotG is released this year that issue of Dispatches should be on next year's poll.

Jeff

 

[Tater]

If you don't buy third party products, then you don't support the efforts of Paul Kenny and Steve Swann, who worked on AOO; Pete Shelling, who has designed scenarios for many official ASL products; the Le Franc Tireur folks, who designed around 4 of the scenarios in the latest Journal, and many other folks who work on official and unofficial ASL products both.

If you do buy third party products then you still aren't "supporting" those folks because a grown man with a family (or alone) isn't going to be "supported" by selling ASL products. They all have jobs and if you didn't buy their stuff they wouldn't be starving...Pitman's misleading sentimentality not withstanding.

If the third party guys weren't doing their own stuff they would probably be doing more for MMP...they certainly wouldn't be doing less for MMP.

BTW...it was a JOKE! Well, mostly...sort of...:devious:

 

[DKB]

Had to go with AOO and J7 as those are the only 2 I was able scrap together money for. I put a vote in for VFTT and Banzai as any ASL material that good for free cannot be beat. In that thought I would include Mark's site for all the info on ASL publication, there was some great reading there if I can ever get the bills paid, I will definitely be purchasing some of those things.

DB

 

[wrongway149]

If the third party guys weren't doing their own stuff they would probably be doing more for MMP...they certainly wouldn't be doing less for MMP.

Which would only further clog MMP's production queue.

 

[Canadian Dude]

If the third party guys weren't doing their own stuff they would probably be doing more for MMP...they certainly wouldn't be doing less for MMP.

I doubt MMP can stand one more product. The queu seems very long as it is. I think on of the reason TPPs are around is because people just can't get their material released through MMP because they're so damn busy.

- The Canadian Dude

 

[wrongway149]

I doubt MMP can stand one more product. The queu seems very long as it is. I think on of the reason TPPs are around is because people just can't get their material released through MMP because they're so damn busy.

- The Canadian Dude

In fact, that's a big part of it.

 

[sswann]

I doubt MMP can stand one more product. The queu seems very long as it is. I think on of the reason TPPs are around is because people just can't get their material released through MMP because they're so damn busy.

- The Canadian Dude

BULLSEYE!!!

 

[Robin Reeve]

Most TPP are ASL enthusiasts which do stimulate the market, rather than hostile and dangerous opponents of MMP.
The mild competition they offer on the market (they don't produce any core module, so the players must buy at MMP anyway) is a positive input.
Otherwise, there would be a total monopoly by MMP, which could even slow down things.
I understand Tate being concerned about MMP's financial health, but I would say his anti-TPP position looks like some negation (or relativisation) of free enterprise...

 

[MrP]

My 2p on all (both!) the products I bought last year.

AoO - kind of underwhelmed to be honest. Big scenarios, a sh*tpile of counters I'll use once, some nice overlays and maps and a big box. Lots of money and not enough bang per buck for me. heresy I know Funniest ASL moment of the year came while watching a playing of an AoO scenario at my house whilst sitting idly cutting out overlays, by the end of which my hands were tired and sore. At game end Steve picked up all the beautifully cut overlays, stuck them in HIS box, said thanks and left. The bugger had been watching me for the game cutting out his overlays while mine were sitting in my box next to me uncut - "well, you seemed like you were enjoying yourself so I didn't want to stop you"! Revenge will me mine.

J7 - I liked J7, and have been working through a lot of the scenarios in there and haven't come across one I haven't enjoyed. 122 was the last one which was a hoot, as was Borodino Train Stn, despite losing my AC MA on its first shot and then rolling boxcars on the repair attempt.

Zombie Pack - well, it's just a laugh isn't it? Never play it, but like to have a look and a chortle.

The only others on the list to buy are Schwerpunkt, maybe RBF, maybe pick up up one of the Lone Canoe packs and I'm almost tempted to the Dark Side by the Hero Pax as they've had positive reviews on here. For some reason I'm just not tempted by any of the other Axis Minor scenario packs - a touch too much all in a short period maybe?

JMHO.

Ian