MMP Roundtable Discussion

[zgrose]

If you haven't already seen, MMP is now hosting live events on a periodic basis on Discord to discuss their plans and address community concerns and feedback.
Curt has commented that he would like to collect questions and comments on the ASL Central Discord server.
A channel has been added for them to quickly browse topics to possibly address in this roundtables.

This link should get you right there, but it's only active for 7 days. I'll post new links as needed.

Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.

discord.gg

 

[Jazz]

WTF does Discord have to make everything so damn difficult?

I've lost whatever Discord settings I had and now Discord tells me I have claim my account and when I enter my email of record it tells me that email is in use. WT everloving F?

Whoever architected the Discord User Interface has not been around the block enough times....

 

[zgrose]

Dunno why Jazz's account is screwy, but if you already have a functional Discord connection to ASL Central, you don't need to click the link. You should see it normally.

 

[Jazz]

Dunno why Jazz's account is screwy, but if you already have a functional Discord connection to ASL Central, you don't need to click the link. You should see it normally.

Which I finally got to.....but when an existing member clicks on your link it takes you to an infinite loop if you use your existing email.

Your link needs a warning......

 

[fenyan]

Here's the Youtube of Roundtable Discussion #1 courtesy of Neal

 

[Neal]

If people don't want to do Discord I'll probably have each roundtable up on my channel the next morning (I'm assuming Curt will extent permission to do so).

There was a lot of discussion, but here's a bullet summary of the ASL product portion of it:

• Ponyri Station HASL (Slaughter at Ponyri?), almost done, playtest done, final edits being done, Pete Shelling design
• Karkov in Flames HASL, hopefully will see pre-order this year, scale similar to Hatten in Flames (smaller HASL), Andy Rogers design
• Marco Polo Bridge Incident (? unsure of exact title) playtest done, will ship as separate versions for both ASL and Starter Kit, Ken Dunn design
• Chef-du-Pont HASL (follow on to Sainte-Mère-Église) in final playtesting (I meant to ask if these two will have interconnectivity, but forgot to ask)
• Spanish Civil War "core module", BIG! Playtest done, final editing happening, preorder this year
• Journal 15 this year
• Operations magazine with have a HASL map and “several” scenarios, featuring the fight to relieve the Korsun Pocket (Russia v Germany, Jan/Feb 1944). More scenarios on this map might be published later
• Polish Eagles (? unsure of final title) being worked on, early Polish/German blitzkrieg action, Ken Dunn design
• SK Magazine early layout pretty much done and is in proofing – “Basic Training” is its official name
• Twilight of the Reich themed magazine
• Rotterdam HASL (Dawn of Eagles?) being worked on
• Starter Kit Stalingrad! Will use SK ruleset (presumably with some extra rules) on existing MMP Stalingrad map(s) (this one was a surprise)
• HASL e-rulebook, some of the older HASL rulesets will be sold as a PDF bundle (and pocket version I believe) so they can be played on VASL by those who couldn’t (or didn’t) buy the original modules back in the day. Presumably that means anything appearing in this “HASL rulebook” will never be reprinted, but I could be wrong…
• Concerning the ASL rulebook: MMP will republish the binder version of the RB without the 3-ring binder (it's dead Jim) and will always be in synch with the e-rulebook. Whenever the e-rulebook is updated, self update high-resolution versions of the binder rules will be available to be printed and inserted into your custom binder version of the rules if that's how you roll.
• The Fox and the Rats, working title (?), DTO, battle for Alam el Halfa (????), not a lot of info on this one, probably WAY out on the timeline
• Contested Lands (last title mentioned) "core module" was removed from the production schedule due to current situations happening in the Middle East. The module is basically done, and will be added back to the schedule when the time is right. This was a Hasbro decision, not MMP decision.

 

[kcole4001]

Some exciting stuff there!
Journal 15 AND a desert HASL coming soon.
I'm a the point where I'll probably never play all of the HASLs I currently have, but when something's that interesting to me, I gotta get it.

If people don't want to do Discord I'll probably have each roundtable up on my channel the next morning (I'm assuming Curt will extent permission to do so).

Thanks for posting this, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[fenyan]

Some more notes to add what Neal has kindly created above:

Ponyri - “I’ve had as much fun playing this HASL as any other HASL” In final stages, which means 90-120 days before preorder. He anticipates many of the scenarios to be played at tournaments.

Journal 15 still taking submissions for articles etc.

Fox and the Rat — North Africa. A project further down the road.

A Twilight of the Reich magazine is being worked on.

Plan to every January have a preorder of the pocket rulebook which will be reprinted if enough people preorder. This pocket rulebook which replicate the current version of the eASL rulebook.

80th anniversary of Arnhem. MMP is travelling over. The anniversary is on the Tuesday following the ASL tournament. They plan to have a few scenarios and maybe a small map to raise funds for charities in Arnhem. This is mid-September.

Plan is to have ASL products releasing at WBC/ASLOK/Winter Offensive.

He mentions a few things on the business side of MMP but I’ll let you watch the video for that.

The Hall of Fame is MMP-oriented, not just ASL only. As mentioned elsewhere the initial inductees were Hill, Kibler, Mcnamara, Conner, Cocke, Hill 621 and Guards Counterattack. They may open up voting on products and scenarios.

They always need scenarios. Even a single round of playtesting on the submitter’s part can go a long way. Success of submissions has everything to do with being a good designer versus being a good player. Good playtesters are at a premium. The following I read between the lines and paraphrase liberally: Curt looks for impact on the first play of a scenario because many players do not replay scenarios. He warns about complicating scenarios unnecessarily with too many SSRs and overlays. Then he says he finds Desert Theater of Operations easier and faster due to lack of rout paths and less concealment. For campaigns balance is harder to achieve but they try to make sure they are not broken.

Pete interjects with his model of design, 1) Proof of Concept - do the VCs/SSRs work, 2) playtesting at the ASLOK mini tourney with good playtesters being given free reign to balance the scenario.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

Which I finally got to.....but when an existing member clicks on your link it takes you to an infinite loop if you use your existing email.

Your link needs a warning......

I am an existing member. I click on the link and then I clicked “accept invite”, I am in. No issues.

 

[chris_olden]

Contested Lands (last title mentioned) "core module" was removed from the production schedule due to current situations happening in the Middle East. The module is basically done, and will be added back to the schedule when the time is right. This was a Hasbro decision, not MMP decision.

Sooooooooooooooo disappointing.

 

[clubby]

I am an existing member. I click on the link and then I clicked “accept invite”, I am in. No issues.

Get off his lawn.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

Anyway - like @zgrose said, the Discord channel is where Curt will gather your questions & issues to address in each new round table.

 

[clubby]

I watched the whole thing last night. The takeaway I had was the next couple years could get pretty expensive.

 

[clubby]

Some more notes to add what Neal has kindly created above:

Ponyri - “I’ve had as much fun playing this HASL as any other HASL” In final stages, which means 90-120 days before preorder. He anticipates many of the scenarios to be played at tournaments.

Journal 15 still taking submissions for articles etc.

Fox and the Rat — North Africa. A project further down the road.

A Twilight of the Reich magazine is being worked on.

Plan to every January have a preorder of the pocket rulebook which will be reprinted if enough people preorder. This pocket rulebook which replicate the current version of the eASL rulebook.

80th anniversary of Arnhem. MMP is travelling over. The anniversary is on the Tuesday following the ASL tournament. They plan to have a few scenarios and maybe a small map to raise funds for charities in Arnhem. This is mid-September.

Plan is to have ASL products releasing at WBC/ASLOK/Winter Offensive.

He mentions a few things on the business side of MMP but I’ll let you watch the video for that.

The Hall of Fame is MMP-oriented, not just ASL only. As mentioned elsewhere the initial inductees were Hill, Kibler, Mcnamara, Conner, Cocke, Hill 621 and Guards Counterattack. They may open up voting on products and scenarios.

They always need scenarios. Even a single round of playtesting on the submitter’s part can go a long way. Success of submissions has everything to do with being a good designer versus being a good player. Good playtesters are at a premium. The following I read between the lines and paraphrase liberally: Curt looks for impact on the first play of a scenario because many players do not replay scenarios. He warns about complicating scenarios unnecessarily with too many SSRs and overlays. Then he says he finds Desert Theater of Operations easier and faster due to lack of rout paths and less concealment. For campaigns balance is harder to achieve but they try to make sure they are not broken.

Pete interjects with his model of design, 1) Proof of Concept - do the VCs/SSRs work, 2) playtesting at the ASLOK mini tourney with good playtesters being given free reign to balance the scenario.

One you forgot that was pretty exciting was the Omaha beach module.

 

[fenyan]

I thought he mentioned Utah, I was thinking of the Devil's Cauldron series, so i didn't think it was ASL. Anyhow missed mention of Omaha.

 

[clubby]

When he mentioned Utah I was thinking of the Devil's Cauldron series, so i didn't think it was ASL.

Oh you may be right. I was driving so there's a few things I didn't catch completely.

 

[Neal]

When he mentioned Utah I was thinking of the Devil's Cauldron series, so i didn't think it was ASL.

Correct, he was referring to GTS

The Greatest Day: Utah Beach [GTS-UTAH] - $332.00 : Multi-Man Publishing

Multi-Man Publishing The Greatest Day: Utah Beach [GTS-UTAH] - “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” - General Dwight D...

mmpgamers.com

 

[Hutch]

ASL is alive and in capable hands…

That sound you hear, is my wallet and the Armory groaning…
Looking forward to all this ASL goodness…

 

[von Marwitz]

I think that a few general development can be gleaned:

• ASL has pretty much covered everything which can be covered by Core Modules right now. Spanish Civil War, Korea, and even more Israel are "borderline" cases - or beyond that.
• For that reason, productwise the future of ASL seems to lie with HASLs I was surprised how many of these are worked on or in the pipeline.
• Good to see, although also absolutely necessary IMHO, that the rules will remain available in paper form. It is a good idea that apparently a third "pocket" book (1. Rules, 2. Chapter H, 3. HASL rules collection) will be coming.
• Stating the obvious: SK has become an independent product line. ASL Light, not SK any more.
• Comparably few informations about the products I find personally the most important for ASL these days: Journals, Action Pack, WO Bonus Pack. On the positive side: Journal 15 will be coming, the other two are likely considered routine not requiring further mention.

I would have commented further, but my long-haired general just issued "suggestions" of things "I'd like to do right now"...

von Marwitz

 

[Mister T]

• Contested Lands (last title mentioned) "core module" was removed from the production schedule due to current situations happening in the Middle East. The module is basically done, and will be added back to the schedule when the time is right. This was a Hasbro decision, not MMP decision.

A wise decision