owenedwards
Member
Piping in to say that ASLSK#5 being Desert would be perfectly justifiable (and would definitely make sense as the last "full" Starter Kit). Why?
(1) Because in terms of full ASL "modes", the Desert is the last big thing left - it has a whole chapter dedicated to it! Yes, it's undergamed - but will be much more gamed after Hollow Legions II is released. Why is it undercovered/undergamed? Out of print core product is one reason; connected to that is a relative lack of new scenarios; at root, perhaps, is that it's a dense ruleset, even compared to PTO. A Starter Kit seems more justifiable on that very basis!
(2) It's a major part of the war, and it's legitimate for SK-only players to get a product covering East Africa, the Western Desert, Torch/Tunisia, and the Middle East.
(3) It's an exciting product to think about. Three-four overlayless boards (you could always include a Big Escarpment Overlay ala WoA, for better variety). Include a few new terrain types (dunes, hammada, deir, wadi, hillock?), include a version of Dust, include Minefields. Four nationalities ala SK3: German, Italian, Commonwealth, French (allowing you to get the French OOB into SK!). You can then cover: Western Desert (including Birk Hakeim!), East Africa, Exporter, parts of Torch and Tunisia. And EP3 could include France and Norway 40, and US actions in Torch (and hey, add some Ethiopians and have Mini-Soldiers of the Negus ).
(4) But, to touch on the other point made above, it makes sense as the last full SK - it covers the final full chapter, and depending on nationality inclusions could also introduce the last big OOB. It means that an SK-only player can play every theatre. It means a hybrid player can train in everything - and is a way of teaching touch Desert rules to people wanting to move on to full ASL! Not many other big things for a 6th to cover - SK-level landing rules make sense in a SKHASL or in an EP, but not as the core of a whole box; you can use EPs to add more counters to badly-covered OOBs (the Minors, most obviously) or even absent ones (Finnish, as Chinese entered in EP2).
(1) Because in terms of full ASL "modes", the Desert is the last big thing left - it has a whole chapter dedicated to it! Yes, it's undergamed - but will be much more gamed after Hollow Legions II is released. Why is it undercovered/undergamed? Out of print core product is one reason; connected to that is a relative lack of new scenarios; at root, perhaps, is that it's a dense ruleset, even compared to PTO. A Starter Kit seems more justifiable on that very basis!
(2) It's a major part of the war, and it's legitimate for SK-only players to get a product covering East Africa, the Western Desert, Torch/Tunisia, and the Middle East.
(3) It's an exciting product to think about. Three-four overlayless boards (you could always include a Big Escarpment Overlay ala WoA, for better variety). Include a few new terrain types (dunes, hammada, deir, wadi, hillock?), include a version of Dust, include Minefields. Four nationalities ala SK3: German, Italian, Commonwealth, French (allowing you to get the French OOB into SK!). You can then cover: Western Desert (including Birk Hakeim!), East Africa, Exporter, parts of Torch and Tunisia. And EP3 could include France and Norway 40, and US actions in Torch (and hey, add some Ethiopians and have Mini-Soldiers of the Negus ).
(4) But, to touch on the other point made above, it makes sense as the last full SK - it covers the final full chapter, and depending on nationality inclusions could also introduce the last big OOB. It means that an SK-only player can play every theatre. It means a hybrid player can train in everything - and is a way of teaching touch Desert rules to people wanting to move on to full ASL! Not many other big things for a 6th to cover - SK-level landing rules make sense in a SKHASL or in an EP, but not as the core of a whole box; you can use EPs to add more counters to badly-covered OOBs (the Minors, most obviously) or even absent ones (Finnish, as Chinese entered in EP2).