New ASL Journal announces Twilight of the Reich

JoeArthur

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I agree. I bet it is also SSR heavy like the FB module, but I hope not.
I playtested a few of these.

Bill struck me as a great bloke but a bit touchy on feedback. It's really good of him to add to the hobby. He's not making any money on it - it's another labour of love.

I suggested he follow Hatten in Flames which has a minimum of new rules and can be played out of the box. His view was that Hatten was "ASL light" and he wanted something meatier. By which he means new rules.

Bill enjoys that stuff, other players love the added complexity as well - it is why they enjoy the game. For instance I playtested the Spanish civil war module that is in the pipeline. That had a page of rules on dynamite sticks. My suggestion was to tweak the molotov rules and reduce it to one paragraph. The response from that suggestion was that chapter E was his favourite chapter and he wanted more.

For me, it's bad enough as it is :rolleyes:

You have been warned..................
 

Honza

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It is not easy to create an ASL 'lite' historical module. Each battle has its own unique attributes and to leave those out to keep it simple would be a shame.

How many HASLs do you know that are ASL lite?
 

Honza

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I can think of RB, PB and HiF which are ASL lite. Any others?
 

Vic Provost

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Sarge's Peleliu is coming soon!
Not interested in another blasted moonscape with the Marines out in the open, trying to use shell holes and crags for cover as the Japanese send holy hell on them from HIP caves and pillboxes. I'm much more interested in the jungle campaigns in Papua New Guinea, Burma and both Philippines campaigns, where at least there is some room for maneuver without being shot to pieces. The Japanese are much more fun when not sitting in a static defensive position, on the attack, when they still have good troops, is as much fun as combined arms on the Russian Front. I love much of the PTO theater (44-45 is awful for the Japanese for the most part) but not all of it. Massive firepower in a bug hunt is not my idea of ASL at its best. But to each his own, I understand why we still need to bring ALL actions of interest to ASL life.
 

Honza

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There are 343 scenarios with Japanese on the defence between 01-01-1944 and the end of the war. A lot of opportunities for bug hunts.

With 169 scenarios with the Japanese attacking within the same time period.
 

Robin Reeve

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It is not easy to create an ASL 'lite' historical module. Each battle has its own unique attributes and to leave those out to keep it simple would be a shame.

How many HASLs do you know that are ASL lite?
I think it is extremely easy to pile up special rules.
It requires much better skills to craft simple adaptations of the rules to reach the effects looked for.
Design for effect should be the guide.
ASL is heavily abstracted anyway, so creating a quagmire of complicated, hard to integrate, rules is not always the best way to go. It can satisfy people who believe that complexity means better representation of reality; less players who are looking for KISS design choices.
The failure of the Panji rules is a good example: they could have been rules as simple as wire.
The fact is they hardly appear in PTO scenarios.
 

Honza

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Robin, I do agree in many respects. Simplicity and 'intuitive' rules are the best route. But I still think that because each historical battle had it's own characteristics it is hard not to add special rules without watering down the product.
 

Robin Reeve

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I am not opposing special rules.
It is a question of measure.
I shy away from scenarios with 1/3 of the page full of SSR.
 

Eagle4ty

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The trouble with designing PTO "Static" situations as I see it is the tendency to concentrate on "immediate" objectives of the platoon or company as opposed to the operational objectives. Seldom was the real objective of an engagement to knock out a bunker(s) or cave(s), but to control some militarily important piece of terrain or to be able to move through an area. I too dislike the "bug hunt" idea of gaining victory for the attacker but using the fortifications as a means of defending a piece of terrain for an ultimate objective is something that should be employed by the defender. Why spend one's time looking for bunkers or caves if the opponent is willing to let you move through the area unmolested. It may take a bit of innovative out-of-the-box thinking to come up with viable VCs but may well be worth it both to accurately represent the actual historical situation as well as make it an enjoyable ASL experience. "Bug-Hunts" IMHO do not meet this criterion.
 

william.stoppel

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I don’t think you will find this pack overloaded with module SSRs. The main one involves the ability to keep SMCs and SWs HIP on the defense. If that is too onerous to you and your opponent then you can easily not use that special rule. The rest, I found, were pretty minor and easy to use. But these scenarios are not starter kit, nor intended to be so. This is graduate level ASL like the Death to Facism packs. You need to pay attention to everything in the scenario as you buy your SWs etc and focus on the mission. The new maps are amazing and with around 100 new overlays (from one hex railroad up to massive cemeteries) this pack offers a lot of ASL Goodness.
 

Honza

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Some people can immerse themselves in ASL detail. New detail = more opportunities to immerse oneself. A bit of both is good for me.
 

Philippe D.

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It is not easy to create an ASL 'lite' historical module. Each battle has its own unique attributes and to leave those out to keep it simple would be a shame.
I think each player has his own tolerance level to additional chrome. Sure each battle has its own special traits, but a really great design will manage to include them as small, simple to apply tweaks to the system - IMHO.

I don't think Hatten is ASL lite. It is the only HASL where I have played all the scenarios, several of them two or more times. And playing a CG is a significant enough change from "regular" ASL, that it doesn't need (again, IMHO) more rules to become highly immersive.
 

Vic Provost

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I think each player has his own tolerance level to additional chrome. Sure each battle has its own special traits, but a really great design will manage to include them as small, simple to apply tweaks to the system - IMHO.

I don't think Hatten is ASL lite. It is the only HASL where I have played all the scenarios, several of them two or more times. And playing a CG is a significant enough change from "regular" ASL, that it doesn't need (again, IMHO) more rules to become highly immersive.
I love Hatten, along with RB and our own Rees HASL, they are easy to deal with and put the emphasis on game play, not a ton of SSRs or chrome you are likely to forget. Enjoy whatever you play!
 

hongkongwargamer

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Not interested in another blasted moonscape with the Marines out in the open, trying to use shell holes and crags for cover as the Japanese send holy hell on them from HIP caves and pillboxes. I'm much more interested in the jungle campaigns in Papua New Guinea, Burma and both Philippines campaigns, where at least there is some room for maneuver without being shot to pieces. The Japanese are much more fun when not sitting in a static defensive position, on the attack, when they still have good troops, is as much fun as combined arms on the Russian Front. I love much of the PTO theater (44-45 is awful for the Japanese for the most part) but not all of it. Massive firepower in a bug hunt is not my idea of ASL at its best. But to each his own, I understand why we still need to bring ALL actions of interest to ASL life.
Kohima - pluuzzeeee!
 

Honza

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I think each player has his own tolerance level to additional chrome. Sure each battle has its own special traits, but a really great design will manage to include them as small, simple to apply tweaks to the system - IMHO.
And then there is innovation. Not a simple tweak to the system, but a whole new rule and way of looking at things. Like slopes, Spigot Mortars, roofless factories etc.
 

Eagle4ty

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If it adds a significant historical perspective to the project or could possibly expand the base rule set, I say bring it on. Some that come to mind are Village terrain brought out in KGP, Narrow Streets for example, Debris introduced in RB, and Gutted non-factory buildings as in VotG to mention just a few. If a chrome rule could be just as well represented by utilizing an existing rule and is just added as pure historical flavor, it's my humble opinion they could/should be left on the cutting floor as adding them does really nothing to an already complex game system.
 
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