Playing/learning ASL as a newbie

ThePrimeMover

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My comment on one of the teaching/intros to SKASL on YouTube;

Great effort - but I feel you are mentioning concepts without introducing them first - almost certain to muddle the minds of those who might be interested. That said you do have a dynamic form of delivery that does at least help to neutralise that issue.
If it were me.

I would have a completely open ground area and start with one Squad.

Then I would add an enemy Squad and run through a sequence of play - or a turn. I would not add Squad weapons at this point.

Then I would add a leader for one side and another Squad for the enemy. Then we can talk about route (sure, there would be a building or wood/s hex on my overhead map) and rally. The enemy can fire group. Every video add some small but relevant aspect of the game.

When the game is stripped down into its various elements and concepts it can be reassembled to form a greater whole - Synergy.

The issue that nearly all new players face is the race to buy everything ASL and then to be overwhelmed by the pure wealth of detail in the game. This I call the 'King Midas' effect. You will be swamped by the detail that is the gold of ASL. You will likely bemoan the complexity of the game.

If you jump ahead you will quite literally be opening 'Pandoras Box'

MMP should have used the 'Programmed Instruction' for each Starter kit. This was successfully used in Squad Leader. Scenarios (small battles with set pieces) were introduced from easy to difficult to allow the rules to be gradually absorbed.

One of the other things that would be useful to new players is the 'series replay'. This is a game played by experienced players that know the rules with the all the set up and units used.This means you can also set up (a small scenario please) and 'follow along' mimicking the players and reading about the movement, fire, et al and their effects. You can certainly do this in the full game.

Lastly, VASSAL is another tool that you can use on your media. Download the maps and you also have every counter the game system has to offer. This is not too easy to do but there are videos on here to help you do that. Then you can find an opponent and play! This is an awesome game but too much immersion of the game can be toxic! Just take it easy and you will be rewarded.
 
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witchbottles

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My comment on one of the teaching/intros to SKASL on YouTube;

Great effort - but I feel you are mentioning concepts without introducing them first - almost certain to muddle the minds of those who might be interested. That said you do have a dynamic form of delivery that does at least help to neutralise that issue.
If it were me.

I would have a completely open ground area and start with one Squad.

Then I would add an enemy Squad and run through a sequence of play - or a turn. I would not add Squad weapons at this point.

Then I would add a leader for one side and another Squad for the enemy. Then we can talk about route (sure, there would be a building or wood/s hex on my overhead map) and rally. The enemy can fire group. Every video add some small but relevant aspect of the game.

When the game is stripped down into its various elements and concepts it can be reassembled to form a greater whole - Synergy.

The issue that nearly all new players face is the race to buy everything ASL and then to be overwhelmed by the pure wealth of detail in the game. This I call the 'King Midas' effect. You will be swamped by the detail that is the gold of ASL. You will likely bemoan the complexity of the game.

If you jump ahead you will quite literally be opening 'Pandoras Box'

MMP should have used the 'Programmed Instruction' for each Starter kit. This was successfully used in Squad Leader. Scenarios (small battles with set pieces) were introduced from easy to difficult to allow the rules to be gradually absorbed.

One of the other things that would be useful to new players is the 'series replay'. This is a game played by experienced players that know the rules with the all the set up and units used.This means you can also set up (a small scenario please) and 'follow along' mimicking the players and reading about the movement, fire, et al and their effects. You can certainly do this in the full game.

Lastly, VASSAL is another tool that you can use on your media. Download the maps and you also have every counter the game system has to offer. This is not too easy to do but there are videos on here to help you do that. Then you can find an opponent and play! This is an awesome game but too much immersion of the game can be toxic! Just take it easy and you will be rewarded.
There are many series replays, some of them for free download from View From The Trenches, in the old AH Generals and more in the ASL Annuals and ASL Journals you can acquire via secondhand - ie ebay. Yes, following along is of great benefit overall.

Even in the bad old days of SL - you needed to understand and grasp many concepts and rules before playing the first scenario "Guards Counterattack". As for P.I. approaches- "Eight Steps to ASL" by Jim Stahler does that for you - again readily available via secondhand market - I can't recall it ever running in the General, however.

Third, places like this forum offer a thread as so: http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/index.php?threads/recommended-learning-scenarios-and-getting-back-into-asl-scenarios.28093/

Makes running programmed instruction approach easier.

Finally, and the most crucial point new players or prospective players miss: P.L.A.Y.

play the game, play some more, play with lots of different people, ask questions , learn from playing, not sidelining. When you're all done with that, don;t forget to play some more. The more you play the more you learn.

"You only get out of ASL what you are willing to put into ASL."

:)

KRL, Jon H
 

ThePrimeMover

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Have checked out the link, thanks. I have downloaded the Jim Stahler 8 steps on my iPad - stored it in books for offline reading and will play on vassal.

Perhaps there really is no easy way to learn the whole system - I always suggest to my ASL opponent that we first play the scenario with only 10% stuff - hopefully that might net something that would otherwise pop up but that idea isn't received too well...

Best get back to some reading...
 

witchbottles

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Have checked out the link, thanks. I have downloaded the Jim Stahler 8 steps on my iPad - stored it in books for offline reading and will play on vassal.

Perhaps there really is no easy way to learn the whole system - I always suggest to my ASL opponent that we first play the scenario with only 10% stuff - hopefully that might net something that would otherwise pop up but that idea isn't received too well...

Best get back to some reading...
Our first time through AFVs was a comedy of horrors - oh the rules we bent and broken littered the battlefield far more than the many T-34s killed in "Paw of the Tiger".
:D

But you learn. The mistakes were made, revealed and proper ways of moving about the battlefield in armored taxis were learned. :)

A few months later on and several dozen scenarios hence - that same intrepid tank commander stood at Sidi Rezegh in a game of Blazon' Chariots - and managed to eke out a win as the Brits on the last turn.

:D :D
 

buser333

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Have checked out the link, thanks. I have downloaded the Jim Stahler 8 steps on my iPad - stored it in books for offline reading and will play on vassal.

Perhaps there really is no easy way to learn the whole system - I always suggest to my ASL opponent that we first play the scenario with only 10% stuff - hopefully that might net something that would otherwise pop up but that idea isn't received too well...

Best get back to some reading...
"Eight Steps to ASL" was what I used to ease my way back into the system and I thought it worked just fine. It makes reading the designated sections of the rules a much less daunting task. But I had a Squad Leader history so many of the concepts had already been planted in my brain.
 

ThePrimeMover

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There are many series replays, some of them for free download from View From The Trenches, in the old AH Generals and more in the ASL Annuals and ASL Journals you can acquire via secondhand - ie ebay. Yes, following along is of great benefit overall.

Even in the bad old days of SL - you needed to understand and grasp many concepts and rules before playing the first scenario "Guards Counterattack". As for P.I. approaches- "Eight Steps to ASL" by Jim Stahler does that for you - again readily available via secondhand market - I can't recall it ever running in the General, however.

Third, places like this forum offer a thread as so: http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/index.php?threads/recommended-learning-scenarios-and-getting-back-into-asl-scenarios.28093/

Makes running programmed instruction approach easier.

Finally, and the most crucial point new players or prospective players miss: P.L.A.Y.

play the game, play some more, play with lots of different people, ask questions , learn from playing, not sidelining. When you're all done with that, don;t forget to play some more. The more you play the more you learn.

"You only get out of ASL what you are willing to put into ASL."

:)

KRL, Jon H
I didn't say very clearly but I really meant ASLSK series replays
 

Eagle4ty

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One other approach is to read through Chapter K, at least as your intro to ASL. Hey it's a little corny but it does present the material in a step format and not bad for an ASLSK intro either. This chapter is probably the most overlooked one in all of ASL-dom . Having said that though, I agree the stepped programmed approach touted by Jim Stahler-grad is quite a good approach to ASL at least and intro to ASLSK would be well advised to take the same approach.
 

ThePrimeMover

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One other approach is to read through Chapter K, at least as your intro to ASL. Hey it's a little corny but it does present the material in a step format and not bad for an ASLSK intro either. This chapter is probably the most overlooked one in all of ASL-dom . Having said that though, I agree the stepped programmed approach touted by Jim Stahler-grad is quite a good approach to ASL at least and intro to ASLSK would be well advised to take the same approach.
I've actually gone through CH K twice - and absolutely loved it. I felt that some of the tests went on a bit too long or the test itself was a bit protracted but I still see it as a huge success, at least for me. The trouble is timing. If I go back to CH K now more of it will be relevant or make more sense is what I mean.

That's why I posted the minimum inf move - CX and pinned. I missed that one and so did my ASL buddy/opponent.

I also championed an addition to CH F and CH G in the same prose.

No one here was happy with that idea so I put that one back on the shelve.

To compromise; what about a series replay FORMAT with examples on most/all aspects of both CHs that everyone can see rather than bury these aspects in an article that just contains too much info for players like me. Sure I like the articles but I spend time trying to break them down to get to the bare essentials.
 
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