Movement offboard

Josh

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I am new at this and I am playing a SK map. In map Y scenario 4, if I move a unit offboard going on the board.

I want to know if any movement offboard is 1MF all the time or like my opponent mentioned, if it the same MF as the first hex you enter?

I moved offboard to the left to avoid residual then onboard into a woods hex for my total of 3MF. Should this have been 4MF as mentioned by my opponent?

Thanks, I just want to be sure since this is the first time someone does this to me in the 10 or so games I played...
 

WaterRabbit

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I haven't read the Starter Kit rules, so take this post for what it is worth. :)

In ASL, a unit that starts off-board may use off-board movement to position itself for entry. Unless the hex traversed is shared with an onboard hex (i.e. a half-hex) then each hex is treated as Open Ground. Hexes with coordinate 5 or Y, Q, I are treated as road hexes.

If the hex is a half-hex shared with an onboard half-hex, the onboard takes presedence. So a half woods (on-board), half open ground (off-board) is a woods hex.
 

Josh

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Thanks I think I get it. Half hexes offboard correspond to the other half hex onboard. Any full hex offboard are open ground.

Hope this is right.
 

Mechashef

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I'm not sure I understand this.

Is JGilbert moving a unit on to the board, off the board, then back on (which is not allowed).

Or (more likely)

Moving units around off board before they move onto the board. If this is the case, then why would he do that?

Does the SK state (I cant find such a rule) that units must be positioned in the desired stacks and adjacent to their entry hexes?
 

zgrose

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Stacking the units offboard is 3.1a (last sentence page 3).

I don't believe offboard movement is mentioned at all and I've generally played that it isn't allowed. But since the intent of the SK is to introduce players to ASL, no reason one can't drop in offboard movement as long as both players agree.
 

alanp

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Like WaterRabbit said, in ASL you may move off-board and enter elsewhere unless SSR states you must enter on a specific hex or you must enter on a specific turn(in which case you may move off-board so long as you still enter on the turn - even ADVANCING on counts).

You'd do this when your opponent has laid down good residual DF or a wreck/smoke makes a hex too costly to enter, etc. You're also moving off-board when you've got a string of stacks(formed because of stacking limits, say) trailing off the board waiting to enter: the 2nd, 3rd, whatever stack "moves off-board" before it enters.

Again, this is ASL and someone with the SK rules should let this thread know if this is covered in the SK.

Alan
 

Mechashef

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zgrose said:
Stacking the units offboard is 3.1a (last sentence page 3).
3.1a states:
"... and sets up offboard all forces due to enter this player turn"

As the SK stands, this could simply mean moving the units from the scenario card to the table beside the edge of the board they are due to arrive on, simply as a memory aid.

There is nothing specific about predeterming any stacks and entry locations.

Of course full ASL (and/or a Q&A) may specifically address this issue, but based on the information I have seen so far (only the SK), I would (and do) allow the player to determine the disposition and entry hex of his troops at the point he moves them onto the board.

A dilema for those of us only playing the SK is how many rules from full ASL should we use. My friend and I, who do not have access (yet) to the full rules play the SK as it is written. Those who are playing with a person who knows the full rules have a more difficult choice.
 

zgrose

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Mechashef said:
A dilemma for those of us only playing the SK is how many rules from full ASL should we use. My friend and I, who do not have access (yet) to the full rules play the SK as it is written. Those who are playing with a person who knows the full rules have a more difficult choice.
I wouldn't go adding rules willy-nilly, but when you KNOW the intent of the rule in the SK, it is probably best to play the rule in its true ASL spirit rather than as its literal SK text or you will simply be learning bad habits that you will then have to unlearn.

If you don't know any better and the rule seems clear, no reason to change it. For example, the ASLSK stacking rules are far more stringent than ASL. But since the rules are clear enough in the ASLSK context, you really don't need to resort to the full rules.

Prior to playing in a FtF game with an ASL vet, we played 3.1a as just moving the counters out of the box. Once I played a full game and understood the "history" of the rule, it seemed pretty clear (to me) that stacking off-board and coming in at that hex was the correct way to go.

YMMV
 
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donstone

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... and that's how I've been playing SK too -- if I know the ASL rule, and it's within the "spirit" of the SK, I use/teach it.

Unfortunately, since I'm the opponent whose rules knowledge led JGilbert to the question that started this thread ... I've managed to introduce another feature of ASL ... the misremembered rule. I was *positive* I knew how off-board movement worked, so I didn't check the ASLRB. And, as is often the case in such situations, I was *completely* wrong :)

(and yes, the offboard movement was to avoid residual fire -- very good and appropriate use in my opinion given the situation on the board)
 

Josh

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Don is right, I am playing against him and I was trying to avoid residual in the first onboard hex and that was the reason, the SK does not mention anything about offboard movement so we went with the ASL rules but I wasn't sure. By the way, you can move offboard sideways before entering the board, that is allowed, when you place your counters before entering, it does not mean you have to enter in that hex, it is still your choice. I am saying this since someone in this thread seemed to think otherwise.

Anyways, Don and I are back at it now. And as I have stated to him, I am trying to move away from SK rules to full blown rules, which I don't know yet but learning as we play.
 

alanp

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sounds like you two are doing it right: talking about it, what the rules say and what they don't cover, and figuring out what to do.

You'll be more than ready, Josh, when the ASLRBv2 shows up! ASL gets quite specific about how un-used boards - a use for desert boards, if you got 'em - are abutted to the playing area, how pieces are set-up off-board and how they enter.

Alan
 
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