Bishop Pointers - A Series of Short Articles on Variety of ASL Topics

[BattleSchool]

I thought I'd create one thread where players can access articles written by J. Bishop (and subsequently mutilated by yours truly). I've created a host of graphics to accompany each article.

Before you ask, I will not be providing a pdf of these posts. Jim [edit] has mase his original drafts available on his blog. See post 3 below.

In the meantime, you can read these on Sitrep:


BP-1 Stop and Go Traffic: A Synopsis


BP-2 Coverting a SR to a FFE:1


BP-3 Infantry Target Type and CH


BP-4 Making Sense of Gun Duels


BP-5 Mechanics of Bounding First Fire

If you spot an error, please let me know.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Gordon]

 

[BattleSchool]

Not to be confused with the retro Bishop franchise above, and per André's request, you may now download pdfs on The Bishop Says.

 

[Vic Provost]

I thought I'd create one thread where players can access articles written by J. Bishop (and subsequently mutilated by yours truly). I've created a host of graphics to accompany each article.

Before you ask, I will not be providing a pdf of these posts. Jim [edit] has mase his original drafts available on his blog. See post 3 below.

In the meantime, you can read these on Sitrep:

View attachment 18915
BP-1 Stop and Go Traffic: A Synopsis

View attachment 18916
BP-2 Coverting a SR to a FFE:1

BP-3 TBC

If you spot an error, please let me know.

Cheers,

Chris

Jim is awesome, I know Carl Nogueira and Tom Morin think highly of him and he is an positive asset for the ASL Community.

Good stuff Jim, Thanks for your efforts, Vic.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

You know it is ASL when apparently you need 1,200 words on how to move from one box on a flowchart to the next. Or do you really need those 1,200 words?

In order to Convert a SR effectively, you need to understand what’s really going on at this stage of the OBA process. Once you grasp these subtleties, you’ll increase your prospects of placing a Fire Mission significantly. And you’ll be better equipped to frustrate your opponent’s attempts to use OBA against you.

This is three sentences essentially saying the exact same thing. "To do OBA correctly, do this!"

The process begins with rectangle A.

Love the plot twist. Feel bad for those suckers who just automatically presume A comes at the start of the alphabet.

we follow the “No” path to the green stadium, (hereafter oval)

Why not just 'oval' to begin with?

I have excerpted a section of the C1 Offboard Artillery Player Aid—commonly called the OBA Flowchart—that I will be referring to throughout this article.

I'm sure there is useful information here, but the writers are spending way too much time showcasing their knowledge of trivia. Is the article about flowchart nomenclature, or is it intended to clarify the actual OBA procedures?

Articles like this are quite useful (in particular, this one pointed me to the errata on the flowchart which I think I overlooked before) but I see a trend in ASL "journalism" towards over-writing. Which if nothing else is consistent with the rulebook, but authors seeking to clarify the ASLRB should probably seek to improve on that style of legalese, not emulate it. I'm certainly as guilty of the latter myself, and I can relate to the belief it will add gravitas if you can sound like Don Greenwood. The more I go back and actually try to learn about obscure or difficult (for me) rules, I start to see this as an error rather than a virtue.

 

[klasmalmstrom]

Have you left such comments on the blogg as well, so the writer gets the feedback/opinion ?


It is hard to write rules/article/SSR/VC short and concise and also clear.

Especially rules if the concept is complicated to begin with.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Have you left such comments on the blogg as well, so the writer gets the feedback?

No one else has commented there yet and I'd rather the writer see some positive feedback first.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

It is hard to write rules/article/SSR/VC short and concise and also clear.
Especially rules if the concept is complicated to begin with.

Agree completely. As a master of the run-on sentence I speak from unfortunate experience.

Novel writing instructors will tell you that you have to be prepared to "kill your darlings" which means no matter how in love you are with something you've written, you should always be prepared to sacrifice it in the name of clarity. If you're confusing or otherwise actively turning off the audience, the writer has to sacrifice their self image for the needs of the reader.

In other words, when you read over your copy and see "green stadium (hereafter oval)" you have to be prepared to consider it from the reader's perspective. Yes, it sounds elegant and rules-like. Yes, it's accurate. In the right context, it would be quite useful to know the correct name of this symbol. However, is it necessary to make the point in this specific context? A good editor will be able to see this clearly. He might ask if "stadium" is used anywhere in the ASLRB in this context. The answer would be No. Is it likely the reader will be more familiar with the word "stadium" than "oval"? No. Does the reader need to know that an oval is actually properly called a stadium? Again, no. At this point the writer needs to be honest about why this darling was allowed to live.

 

[klasmalmstrom]

An editor could possibly have opinions on such a piece, but given it is a blog post I recon an editor would be a tad of an overkill.

I read the post, personally I didn't find it overlay-worded. But that's of course only my opinion. Ymmv (as always).

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I read the post, personally I didn't find it overlay-worded. But that's of course only my opinion. Ymmv (as always).

Yes, but your encyclopedic knowledge of the rules is well known. I still look up stuff like LLTC/LLMC because I don't play often enough to keep it straight. When I hit something like "green stadium (hereafter oval)" I close the book and flip a coin.

 

[klasmalmstrom]

I do never use the OBA Flowchart.

 

[BattleSchool]

...when you read over your copy and see "green stadium (hereafter oval)" you have to be prepared to consider it from the reader's perspective. Yes, it sounds elegant and rules-like. Yes, it's accurate. In the right context, it would be quite useful to know the correct name of this symbol. However, is it necessary to make the point in this specific context? A good editor will be able to see this clearly. He might ask if "stadium" is used anywhere in the ASLRB in this context. The answer would be No. Is it likely the reader will be more familiar with the word "stadium" than "oval"? No. Does the reader need to know that an oval is actually properly called a stadium? Again, no. At this point the writer needs to be honest about why this darling was allowed to live.

Apart from learning what a stadium is (this high-school dropout had to look it up), what else did you learn from the article?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Apart from learning what a stadium is (this high-school dropout had to look it up), what else did you learn from the article?

As noted above, that there is errata which I may have missed before.

Honestly, I sit down with the OBA flowchart every time OBA comes up in a game so I suspect we are doing it right since we tend to read through it thoroughly, but I'd have to sit down with both flowchart and the article to see if we have been goofing anything up. It's been a while since we played with OBA here, and I seem to recall questions though I don't think it was the SR --> FFE piece.

From my readthrough of the article, it felt like the flowchart is less complicated than the article makes it sound, but that may be due to the over-written style.

Put another way, I'd like articles of this type to make things seem simpler, not harder. I've often thought it would be nice to have a 'point form' version of the ASLRB, for those that have already read the full rules and grasp the rationale for things, and just want a quick reference. There are many good player aids out there, I guess maybe I'm really thinking of some consolidation of those.

I'll add that the use of graphics was good, and though I've never used harrassing fire, I think it will stick in my mind that HF is treated differently in this phase of the flowchart, thanks to having looked at this article.

 

[klasmalmstrom]

From my readthrough of the article, it felt like the flowchart is less complicated than the article makes it sound, but that may be due to the over-written style.

Let's hope those who don't think it's "over-written" don't get that impression.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Let's hope those who don't think it's "over-written" don't get that impression.

At the very least let's hope everyone learned what a stadium (hereafter oval) is. It was disappointing that the exact shade of green for that oval (hereafter thingie) was never specified though. It would be terrible to see the thingie rendered both incorrectly and improperly named.

 

[klasmalmstrom]

At the very least let's hope everyone learned what a stadium (hereafter oval) is...

I don't find "stadium" anywhere in the article - but now I know why....

Your comments seems to be about the post on Sitrep: https://asl-battleschool.blogspot.com/2021/09/bp-2-converting-spotting-round.html (which, as I understand it, has been edited compared to the original).

I was under the assumption we were discussing the post on the author's blog: https://jekl.com/2021/09/10/converting-a-spotting-round-to-fire-for-effect/

So sorry for any misunderstanding on my part.

 

[BattleSchool]

I don't find "stadium" anywhere in the article - but now I know why....

Your comments seems to be about the post on Sitrep: https://asl-battleschool.blogspot.com/2021/09/bp-2-converting-spotting-round.html (which, as I understand it, has been edited compared to the original).

I was under the assumption we were discussing the post on the author's blog: https://jekl.com/2021/09/10/converting-a-spotting-round-to-fire-for-effect/

So sorry for any misunderstanding on my part.

If we were discussing the original, we'd be having a discussion about "bubbles."

 

[Philippe D.]

I do never use the OBA Flowchart.

That in itself is not a proof of rules mastery. I'm pretty sure there are players out there who could say the same, just because they won't play a scenario with OBA.

Personally, since I do play with OBA, and I'm not Klas, I need the OBA flowchart.

 

[Gordon]

That in itself is not a proof of rules mastery. I'm pretty sure there are players out there who could say the same, just because they won't play a scenario with OBA.

Personally, since I do play with OBA, and I'm not Klas, I need the OBA flowchart.

OK, if we're playing the "Spartacus" game, then "I am not Klas".

 

[daniel zucker]

I need the OBA Flowchart! (I'm not Klas)