New members introduce yourself here

[Keith Todd]

Welcome Kevin!

You story is very much like mine as far as ASL play and I am sure like many others.

Anyway good gaming!

Keith

 

[wiretwister63]

very new

I am looking into buying ASL. I found an old copy of the AH version, but have withheld buying i. I am going with the MMP 2nd ed rules and Beyond valor 3rd ed.

I'm in west Alabama and hopefully some players are near by for gaming.

My experiance with this game has been the SL game and that was yrs ago.

One thing I wnat to know before purchasing is Customer support from the manufacturer, are they commited to keeping things current, erratta, new mods etc?

Reading posts here there is what seems like a huge community of players.

and is the game good for solo play?

thanks and look forward to your replies and advice. Hopefully next week I will have a copy of the game

 

[Robin Reeve]

Welcome on the forum !

MMP have good customer support.
The 2nd edition of the rules have included many errata and MMP's site offers the additional errata online.
You are definitely right to order the v3 of BV, as it includes 10 maps and much more scenarios than the old AH edition.

You will also find a lot of help here, if you have questions about the rules (go to the rules and errata subforum). There are several rule experts and you can even have some scenario designers that can answer your questions.

If you want an easy begin, do buy the Starter Kits : they introduce you to the game with a lighter set of rules and at low cost.
I can also recommend you install VASL, which is free, and allows you to play online - if you use a vocal free program like Skype, it is quite similar to a FtF experience.
It also is a good way to learn how to play the game with an experienced player, if you don't find one near to your place.

Playing solitaire is possible, though you miss some interesting aspects of the game - as some units usually are hidden or concealed, there is less an element of surprise.

I don't know if the community is that huge, but it is alive and kicking !

 

[Johnny Canuck]

are they commited to keeping things current, erratta, new mods etc?

Sure looks like it to me.

In the past year, they've released or republished and possibly more:

- ASLSK#2
- ASLRB
- BVv3
- AoO

Sounds like commitment to me. . .

 

[Robin Reeve]

and possibly more:

You can add the ASL Journal #6, which contained scenarios (including the Primosole Bridge map and campaign), articles and rules errata...

 

[wiretwister63]

Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Left that out of my initial post here

 

[Drew Dorman]

Drew Dorman, Kelso, MO.

 

[Robin Reeve]

Drew Dorman, Kelso, MO.

Hi Drew! Gald to know all these details of your passion for ASL !
WELCOME here !

 

[MadDog_CDN]

re-introduction

Hello

I signed up last year and was just getting into the forums, when I started a new job, suddenly time was on the decline.

Some folk's here, Johnny Canuck and others offered to play a game, but my time was always up in the air, between adjusting to a new schedule and rearranging time with my kids the on-line stuff got placed on the shelf, then got covered.

I have messed with ASL since, well, a ways back, put it away, pulled it out, then put it away, and so on.

Finally started up again, and got trounced by my boys, who are 9 and 8, though in my defence, I sort of helped them, I actually think they enjoyed beating me.

I have pulled ASL back out and plan on dedicating some time to it each week, if possible and getting more involved in the community, both local and WWW.

Oh, it was very nice to find these forums again, why are they not linked to from the ACG?

 

[Drew Dorman]

Robin,

Yep, I have such a burning desire to play ASL.

-Drew

 

[ELE]

Game

Hmmmm.
A simple introduction is so hard to pull off...
20 yrs Married, father of 3 under 6, Go places eagles don't land and worms don't survive daily. 37 yrs young, bills paid, makin progress.

My gaming past.
Panzer Leader/SL/Basic DnD (redbook) <sedate summer vacations in gradeschool, never feel that way again I fear>
CoI/Expert DnD(blue)/CoD/ADnD 1st ED. <highschool was such a blur in Humboldt>
GIAV/ASL/BV/PT/Partisan/ <went stag to sophmore prom, next realization was bootcamp insane Diego>.

Got hip deep in DnD during 86-90 and lost all those Dragons I never archived... The AH stock was in a trunk under lock n key at home. Stayed that way till 2004. Dremeled bolster, and found peices of my past forgotten long ago. Last few yrs have made abortive attempts to begin again, (via VSQL, VASL, SoCalASL, SASL)
Abortive on my part, my blame alone. Life has been a bit hectik during this time, and I've been less than reliable during it in association with those listed above.

At this point? Not sure where I'm going. Just ordered ASLSK 1 n 2 frome Fine Games (Think this is my best bet to crowbar my way back in), Gembloux n Buckeyes last month from same (testing waters). working on CH mag 4.1, BdF, and SASLv2 from Alex Keyes (Unbeleivable inventory). Monster pack on way, and have feelers out on Fanpacks/DftB/SP peices...(did that sign just say "point of no return" back there?"

Ummm, mind puttin the cuffs back on now? afraid I might hurt myself...lol.

Long story short? Anything that you can pick up from 20 years in your past and actually make use of more than just for nostalgia's sake? must be worth keeping... maybe even useing.

Give me a year or two, (it will take at least that long just to read up through DB in the complete 10# V1 rulebook scored off Mr. Fine for $5 a #). I'll catch up, here for the long haul.

C.G.Carnahan

'EDIT' Hey Drew, you the same guy troll's the "ASL Comp." forum on CHMB I'm guessin? I try and keep an open mind about 3rd party producers of ASL esoterica...(thought Gembloux was well done), Even when warned again and again by those who have been here all along. I've been reading up pretty quick on all the applicable forums. Your discources with Ray Tapio in the preceived "privacy" of the ATS forums over there are the biggest problem I have with buying from CH so far...Might want to tone it down a bit, your hurting sales...

 

[synicbast]

Okay I'm not Totally new here but I've hardly frequented the place since I joined. I took a 2 year sabbatical from ASL - disillusioned with a lot of aspects of the overall gaming experience - which has worked out to be the best thing I could have done.

I came back to ASL because a couple of people whose opinions I value mentioned the changes for the better that have occurred. Seeing this at first hand helped, but the real catalyst is VASL 5.2

I really don't think i'd even bother with ASL if it wasn't for VASL, I'm not a good teacher for newbies and frankly ASL (even with the Starter Kits) is too much for most gamers.

Some of you may remember me from the old ASLML VASL ladder days, back when I played Paul Venard and Johan Flatseth. ASnyway, I'm starting slowly to get back into things, playing Moldavian Massacre last night and starting a PBeM/Live VASL game of MP11 Vulcan's Forge with Jay White this evening.

I'm pretty upbeat about ASL, I preordered from MMP for the first time ever earlier this year, and I'll be grabbing as much of the stuff as I can that is still available since I stopped buying ASL gear. Doomed Battalions I can wait for a reprint - although Allied minors/early war ASL is my favourite area.

As for playing ASL - There are still a couple of scenario packs I really want to play all the way through...ToT 1-3 are my especial interest and I'd like to play Guards Counterattack and Streets of Stalingrad with Non-newbie opposition again.

The best thing is that the Cleavinator is back in NZ and I may see if I can arrange a flying visit to play a few games and get my head handed to me.

Oh yeah...I'm still waiting for my 2nd Edition Rules to arrive...I only just bought them.:smoke:

P-J

 

[alanp]

Welcome back to ASL, Peter, and welcome to SZO.

We talked briefly on VASL the other night. Glad to meet you.

 

[Uncle Joe]

Greetings, ASLers

I'm from Norway, works as an engineer, 36 years old, 3 children from 4 years old and down. I guess have a more than average interest in history with focus conflicts. East Front of WWII has the main focus, as the tank war is my favourite topic.

As my wife have a rather high tolerance level for me gaming, I actually sometimes get away with playing ftf - even today. (I wonder what she does when I'm playing?)

I started playing SL around '90, and continued with ASL as a natural step from there. I enjoy large board games, the more complex the better. This leads to a fascination to "monster games" such as the Napoleonic Empires in Arms and of course RB CGs.

I have a few, old gaming friends who plays each other, we never participated in any tournaments - I guess we're not competitive enough. As gamers we are more focused on the historical aspect of the game than the win/loose issue. As long as the road to a terrific ASL scenario loss is covered with intense and interesting fighting, who cares? And by the way, I remember the CX 1/2 squad that under heavy fire managed to cross the finishing line in Red Star, Red Sun in the last round for the final game winning VP much better than all the losses. Strangely enough it seems that my opponents rembers the games I don't.

We have just started using VASL 5.2, and I must say it is a blast!! Now we can play our slow-moving scenarios even though all of us have to stay home to watch the kids. It really was amazing to see how well it has developed. It has made it possible for us to play several nights a week - which is a huge improvement!

I guess I most of the time will stay lurking in the safety of my own little corner of the ASL universe - but it is interesting to see how other look at it. Keep at it!

 

[Squaddie]

Well Hello then!!!

So I joined... and seeing as I did, I might as well say HELLO!!!

:smoke:

Old Squad Leader player... Started during my youth in '84... briefly dabbled with ASL only to give it all up in '88 ...

Now with a rekindled interest, back with avengance!!! Slowly but solidly working my way through the rules playing the odd game with a new found local ASL friend, playing alot by myself and making up for all those wasted years!!!

See you around...

 

[PabloGS]

Reading more about it than playing it

Hello all

Its been seven years since I played ASL frequently, that is when I was single and in grad school in the US. Back to Chile you can figure out how hard it is to find ASL opponents. In my case, being married means that time spent on-line playing live ASL is pretty much off-bounds. CDG through ACTS are much easier to handle, ten minutes here, twenty minutes there, and in four months you can finish a game of PoG, EotS, FtP, etc...

However, the ASLSK was a boon! I got ASLSK1 when it came out and posted in a local role playing forum. A year and a half later I've got Red Barricades set-up in the basement and I've managed to duplicate the ASL-playing community in Chile (from 1 to 2... that is). Quite a feat I say. We manage to play only once or twice a month for some hours, so after five months we're in day 1, turn 5.

Anyway, as someone said, if you dont play it you sort it, at least I've sorted the whole thing on tackle boxes, and I buy stuff here and there to complete the collection, and of course read about ASL on the web.

Hence, I've subscribed to SZO.

Pretty fun discussion on the history of CH, had no clue about those nasty little feuds going on.

Cheers to all, Pablo

 

[alanp]

Welcome, Uncle Joe, Squaddie and Pablo.

Pablo, do you know about VASL? you can play ASL in small increments of time, too, if that works for you. And you're not limited to locals!

 

[Peter Miller]

Hello

G'day all,
I am from Perth, Australia. Played Squad Leader off and on since the late eighties. I made the move to Advanced Squad Leader about eighteen months ago. Discovered VASL around the same time.

Play a face to face game about once a month and log onto VASL for a watch regulary. Have the occational game on VASL.

Pete

 

[Chas Argent]

Hi, Pete, welcome!!

 

[thesurgeon]

Howdy Y'all!

I don’t really talk like that, but since I live in Oklahoma I thought it might be expected. I grew up buying all of the classic Avalon Hill games (my first were Midway and PanzerBlitz). I never got to play them much – except for Tactics 2 quite a few times.

When I graduated college I bought ASL rulebook from some poker winnings and joined the ASL mailing list (this is when I lived in Tulsa). I had actually bought all of the official stuff available before I had ever played a game (Avalon Hill went under right after I started buying the stuff so I started getting everything I could find). I still hadn’t played until I had been back to OKC for a couple of years and was contacted by someone that played some at Game HQ. I started playing on a semi-regular basis for a year or so with the guys in the Boxcar Brigade.

I don’t have as much time to play these days, I married the realtor that sold me my house – she has a daughter that I will be adopting soon and we have another one on the way. But I am starting to play every few weeks or so. I’ve played a few armor scenarios but I still feel a lot more comfortable with infantry – of course I usually comfortably lose. But it sure is fun.

And that’s pretty much it so far,

David Clemons