SASL Claus

Barking Monkey

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So thanks to echack we have word that SASL will be re-released at some future date. Honestly I'd be fine with a straight reprint - I never buy reprints of modules I already own unless there's a lot of new content (a la CdG) but I'd make an exception for SASL.

That does not mean that I don't have a long wish list of things I'd love to see in a fresh edition of SASL. So here's my list to SASLClaus of what I want for SASL 3rd edition, in increasingly unlikely order:
  1. Semi-realistic wants:
  • Fix the mystifying S? setup MSR in “Pursuit”. Making it so capturing the bridge was a realistically attainable objective in this mission while they were at it wouldn’t hurt, though the mission works OK without that.
  • Incorporate any remaining/outstanding errata into the rules, missions and cards.
  • Finally publish an official set of Finnish generation tables. This one is actually well down on my priorities – I suspect the one I made for my own use will serve me better and if not, there’s access to one or more fan published table(s) at this point. I honestly mostly want it out of curiosity in how MMP would handle all the super rare vehicles and b/c it represents a broken promise from AH/MMP to include it in HP.
  • An updated table A9 Geoboard selection table and A10a VPO placement table
  • A rule defining what constitutes a ‘w’ board and where the line between a 'c' and 'v' board lies. Having it spelled out in table A9 worked fine back when SASL was first published but new geoboards, both from MPP and TPP, appear at a faster pace now and it would be nice if we had clarity on how to ‘officially’ define our new boards as they are published. We’d still have to make our own new board selection and VPO placement tables, but at least we’d know unambiguously what we were dealing with. This is one I really want but I’ve been too lazy to figure out for myself so far (mostly b/c you can usually tell from just looking how to classify a new board, but there are some that are borderline.)
2. A bit of a reach but would be nice:

  • Balance some of the published missions that could use tweaking.
  • As has been previously done for most of the core modules, include missions published in other MMP products over the years (Journal 1 Red Barricades stuff, the special ops SASL stuff, etc. as well as the RB campaign game that as far as I know has never been officially published & some of the other unpublished HASL-SASL content MMP has in the attic.) Addressing some of the errata and balance issues with a few of these while at it would be extra nice.
  • A revisit of the chapter S divider (or inclusion of one as of 2nd ed.) There are some improvements that could be made to this chart.
  • A revisit of table A11 (as well as the nationality specific RE tables) As an example, I don’t really buy that unexpected daylight paratroop drops directly into firefights (that didn’t already include paratroops) happened enough to warrant inclusion in the RE tables. (Though they’d certainly be “random”.) I acknowledge that this is a bit of a matter of taste as some players place more of a premium on wild & exciting shenanigans than historical accuracy. To each their own I suppose.
  1. Extra not gonna happen but I can dream:
  • New missions, either generic or historical
  • Upgraded/updated chapter H (& E for the DYO tables) content. I’d guess (with no real evidence) that SASL players are the main user group for the weather, time of day and other game setup stuff in chapter H. When you get beyond the ETO some of this content is…not the greatest. (I'm specifically thinking of the PTO and Korea weather tables here.)
  • Rules for random overlay placement and a table for overlay selection. I sometimes drop an overlay onto the map, especially if it’s a geoboard I’ve played a lot or if I’ve randomly selected a board that fails to provide a network road for a mission that calls for one; and I have a standing house rule for my Japanese company in China campaign that one randomly selected grain feature per board is replaced with rice paddy. It would be sort of nice to have a rules mechanism to auto handle this. This one is another not super high priority, but it would be kinda cool.
  • The one thing I’d like in the way of new counters is a full set of ‘nameless’ leader counters as per the old SL gamettes for personal leader use as well as a reprint of the personal leader rules from either Annual 95 or the ASL mailing list. (The rules in the Annual are more comprehensive but I sort of prefer the ones from the mailing list as the rate of progression is a little more stately. Maybe an amalgamation of the two is in order.) The personal leader rules aren’t SASL specific, but the prevalence of campaign play in SASL makes them especially relevant to this module, imo. I always thought it funny that ASL dropped the nameless infantry leaders but exclusively used nameless armor leaders.

Yeah, it’s a long list ‘cuz I’m a greedy baby-pants that wants everything. OTOH, maybe some of the above are things for us to tackle ourselves if SASL-Santa doesn’t deliver b/c I haven’t been good enough… (not playing VASAL enough, haven’t logged every game on the ASL Scenario Archive, didn’t buy all the DASL stuff, didn’t download every eASL rulebook update, haven’t clipped every counter…)

I’m curious to know what the SASL community thinks of the above or if you have anything else you’d like to get in a new edition.
 

rdreyer

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Here is my list, in no particular order:
  • Finnish SASL
  • Korean War SASL
  • Desert SASL (there are some unofficial rules floating around)
  • Partisan (and Red Chinese) SASL (as a player)
  • Commando SASL (in the same style as the SL commando campaign rules published in an annual)
  • Deluxe (as in DASL mapboards) SASL
  • Officially updated mapboard/vpo AND overlay selection tables
  • More HASL SASL missions and campaigns
  • More themed campaigns like the Dutch SASL campaign in Special Ops #2
  • A strong look at the wonderful work by Andrea Fantozzi to expand the game (SASL ++ extra rules, and the mission generator)
 

Honosbinda

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  • Rules for random overlay placement and a table for overlay selection. I sometimes drop an overlay onto the map, especially if it’s a geoboard I’ve played a lot or if I’ve randomly selected a board that fails to provide a network road for a mission that calls for one; and I have a standing house rule for my Japanese company in China campaign that one randomly selected grain feature per board is replaced with rice paddy. It would be sort of nice to have a rules mechanism to auto handle this. This one is another not super high priority, but it would be kinda cool.
  • The one thing I’d like in the way of new counters is a full set of ‘nameless’ leader counters as per the old SL gamettes for personal leader use as well as a reprint of the personal leader rules from either Annual 95 or the ASL mailing list. (The rules in the Annual are more comprehensive but I sort of prefer the ones from the mailing list as the rate of progression is a little more stately. Maybe an amalgamation of the two is in order.) The personal leader rules aren’t SASL specific, but the prevalence of campaign play in SASL makes them especially relevant to this module, imo. I always thought it funny that ASL dropped the nameless infantry leaders but exclusively used nameless armor leaders
Thanks for opening this thread.

a) In particular regarding overlay selection, I'd like to see some terrain transformation options be available in a randomized manner. For example, especially in suburbs fronting rural terrain, it's hard to imagine two- story stone buildings appearing immediately on the edges of the fields or forests all the time -- so -- some transition for a board to have 'all buildings are wooden and single story' could be appropriate for example.

b) I've also noticed that the published campaign companies in many cases only offer two leaders for gameplay. I tried this with '42 Russians just recently and due to the command rules and need for rally it was hard to keep the troops moving and they had to be clustered dangerously. Two leaders for command control doesn't seem like enough with everything else leaders need to try to do.
If players are adding their own personal leaders to the mix of available leaders, so that 3-4 leaders are available, that could make it easier to keep things moving. I'd like to see the use of 'runners' (maybe temporary 7-0 leaders) that could sprout from the main commander's hex and carry an order over (as if moving) to units out of LOS or out of command range. These runners could be used to extend command range or offer some kind of drm to the command roll of units too far away. Runners were used all the time to carry command messages and are not represented satisfactorily, imo.

c) A version of SASL or dual-player command ASL using the command rules for enemy companies on both sides -- this could either played solo (meeting action between two enemy companies) or with two players making use of command and random events. I think this could give a better feel of the vagaries and surprises of tactical combat. You know you are up against an enemy infantry company, but what else do they have with them? What else is coming to my side? Rather than all these missions with endless S counters all over the place for a fully bot enemy that makes some bad decisions although is often fully in command. That game has its place but it seems SASL has more potential than that for a variety of uses.

d) I still haven't easily figured out how to apply command rules and random events for existing ASL scenarios, but that would spice things up on all these thousands of set-piece scenarios, wouldn't it?

cheers
 
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