Protocol for traveling to ASL tournament?

[Velocette]

I wanted to ask the ASL community what is the accepted protocol for a person traveling to a distant ASL Tournament?

To attend the event I am interested, I would need to fly cause I ain't driving 14-15 hours to get there. Likewise, I am not into boxing up all my ASL counter trays and trusting them to kind and gentle "care" of the airlines.

Do most folks in this circumstance attend the event in a component-less fashion.... (i.e.…. I am glad to be here, but I have no counters / maps / etc. -- would you mind if I borrowed yours for our game?). Is this the norm?

or

Do most folks take a chance on the airline or perhaps drop-ship their game components to their hotel via FEDEX?

Thanks,
Velo

 

[jrv]

I wanted to ask the ASL community what is the accepted protocol for a person traveling to a distant ASL Tournament?

To attend the event I am interested, I would need to fly cause I ain't driving 14-15 hours to get there. Likewise, I am not into boxing up all my ASL counter trays and trusting them to kind and gentle "care" of the airlines.

Do most folks in this circumstance attend the event in a component-less fashion.... (i.e.…. I am glad to be here, but I have no counters / maps / etc. -- would you mind if I borrowed yours for our game?). Is this the norm?

or

Do most folks take a chance on the airline or perhaps drop-ship their game components to their hotel via FEDEX?

Thanks,
Velo

Most tournaments draw a fairly large number of local (or local enough to drive with their kit) players, so you typically don't have to bring any equipment. I don't think I've ever heard of someone bringing their stuff by air or by shipping, although I cannot say I have gone out of my way to check. If you and another similarly component-less player should have a match, I would expect it would be relatively easy to arrange to borrow components you need. Check with the Tournament Director just to be sure. I would never expect there to be a problem at ASLOK, for example.

JR

 

[synicbast]

Having attended ASLOK (3 times), Asia Pacific ASL (Cambodia and Singapore) twice , all from Australia, I have managed to travel with just a single checked on suitcase and cabin luggage.

In the case of the Asia Pacific scenarios, I looked at the scenario list for each tournament and prepared my ASL OB accordingly only taking the system counters, Infantry OBs and soecific AFVs required for the scenarios I was going to play. In a five round tournament with a choice of three scenarios per round (one of which could be omitted) I was able to load all the required counters for both sides for 10 scenarios in a single three level Raaco Assorter 55 case.

So my carry on contained the following:

Pocket ASLRB - for physical in game look up
Rat Charts
set of 4 dice
LFT Dice tower (the bulkiest item, but I hate Dice cups)- my go to travel dice tower
the various map boards (when overlays or SSR defined terrain changes were required, I either printed out the VASL maps or relied on the organisers to provide same)

laptop or tablet with eASLRB (this also took care of the Chapter H notes.

The key I found is to try and stick to a theme with the OB you bring - I was able to limit my OBs based on the scanrios offered to four or five at most. For example at ASLOK, I only took Japanese, Commonwealth, Allied minors and Soviets as I planned to play PTO scenarios featuring Brits/Allied minors vs Japanese or Barbarossa type scenarios. at the larger tournaments there should be no issue with local players bringing Germans for example.

 

[Paul John]

I have gone with nothing but rulebook and had no problems. Bringing informational counters is a plus though as those are harder to share.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

I wanted to ask the ASL community what is the accepted protocol for a person traveling to a distant ASL Tournament?

To attend the event I am interested, I would need to fly cause I ain't driving 14-15 hours to get there. Likewise, I am not into boxing up all my ASL counter trays and trusting them to kind and gentle "care" of the airlines.

Do most folks in this circumstance attend the event in a component-less fashion.... (i.e.…. I am glad to be here, but I have no counters / maps / etc. -- would you mind if I borrowed yours for our game?). Is this the norm?

or

Do most folks take a chance on the airline or perhaps drop-ship their game components to their hotel via FEDEX?

Thanks,
Velo

I put my clothes in cargo .. and my ASL gear with me into the cabin.

I can go without clothes but I can't go without my ASL gear.

 

[fzmann]

I put my clothes in cargo .. and my ASL gear with me into the cabin.

I can go without clothes but I can't go without my ASL gear.

I've done the same.
Not 100% in agreement with the last paragraph though.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

I've done the same.
Not 100% in agreement with the last paragraph though.

You are right about the last statement. Let me rephrase ..

It's physically possible to go to a tourney without my ASL gear. I have walked into Albany without anything (and some clothes).
I'd RATHER not go to a tournament without my ASL gear.

 

[Carln0130]

Velo, if you are far off, you simply inform the TD that you are traveling light and I have yet to meet a TD who would have a problem with that. We are all consenting adults here, as scary as that thought might be.

 

[bprobst]

I took my ASL "travel set" with me to Manila. Now, the travel set is always customised so that I only take what I need -- which requires advance notice of what bits will be required. Any way, since the travel set is just one large bag, I submit it as luggage and cross my fingers.

For an "open" tournament like ASLOK, where I would have no idea in advance what scenarios will be played, I would not bother taking the travel set -- just my rules and my dice.

As Australian cities are very widely separated, non-local attendees to Australian tournaments usually turn up via airplane, and are never expected to bring their gear; but conversely local attendees are expected to bring their gear to compensate.

The weird exception is CanCon, where the local players mostly don't bother attending (no, I don't understand it either) but Canberra is central enough to various locations that most non-locals drive rather than fly. (It's only 8 hours from Melbourne ....)

 

[Sparafucil3]

Do most folks in this circumstance attend the event in a component-less fashion.... (i.e.…. I am glad to be here, but I have no counters / maps / etc. -- would you mind if I borrowed yours for our game?). Is this the norm?

It is not unusual to travel light. IMO, this is the order to take things:
-- Dice + tower/glass
-- Chapter dividers
-- Rule book
-- Scenarios you want to play
-- Overlays (if you have them in a nice neat book)
-- System counters
-- TPP counters if something is on your play list (same for any boards)
-- Germans
-- Russians

Everything else.

The first three are a must for your own enjoyment. Scenarios cut down on the "what next" factor. Overlays are always hard to find and some people are loath to let them out as they can get left on boards, etc. System counters allows you to play "with the rest of someone else's kit" without having to piece out counters. I personally avoid TPP scenarios but if you want to play something, you should make sure you have them in case no one else does. Germans and Russians are the two most used sets so have them if you can.

When I travel light, I stop at system counters. I have a small travel set in a Hozan. Everything listed fits safely in a soft-sided brief case along with my tablet and travel documents. I figure all the rest I can get from someone else at the tournament. -- jim

 

[jfardette]

A rule book and charts are enough. Maybe a couple of scenarios you’d really like to play. The rest can be borrowed for the price of a beer.