Sasl

[Mudranger]

Hey! My first post! Actually, I've been lurking for awhile, just never registered.

Has anyone played out the PB SASL campaign? I've found that I am getting completely overwhelmed with an AC# of 4 in the first scenario. So I started keeping track of the German units activated and compared this to what the German would have available for purchase as a ftf campaign. OK, now I know why I am getting slaugtered, the ENEMY has about 3X what would normally be available.

Just wondered what the experience of others has been like. How about the RB scenarios?

Dave

 

[Robin Reeve]

I played some scenarios of the ASLSK against myself

Do you mean you played solo these scenarios, or you tried to apply some SASL rules?
I often play ASL scenarios alone - lacking FtF opponents at the moments I am free...
But SASL is really a very interesting (and quite different) experience.
Campaign game is also challenging (especially when you are not able to replenish you Coy as you would have liked to).

I do apply some "Home rules" with SASL (my "partner" being myself does not complain) :

1) I choose the maps (of course according to the column asked by the mission) because de "gauss curb" of the DR tends to make one have the "6-8" result maps more often than the 11-12 and 2-3 ones [I also have used a 12 sided die, which evens the odds]. It is also a pleasure to put a little "DYO" in the game - and it does not create great problems.

2) I sometimes shy away from some Random Events - re-rolling for another one.
E.g. I just fought "Hold the Line" in Bataan, with Philipine 447s trying to stop swarms of Japanese. The Japanese already had recieved two 150mm Artillery Strikes, when a RE offered him another series of them... I re-rolled to have something else... Anyway, the Japanese recieved four (!) RE during the Mission (and I recieved none!). These were : an eight-hex massive banzai charge, that swooped other Japanese units (and S?) with it ; an observation plane that pushed the Japanese RE numbers up ; additional "S?" to enter through the EBE ; AFVs reinforcements...
With constantly panicking Philipinos and reinforcements arriving too late, I lost that Mission. It was my first SASL PTO exprience.

3) I do NOT reveal my HIP units when they spot (unconceal) S? or concealed enemies - I believe the ASL rule is just there to avoid cheating or errors, but in SASL it makes less sense

 

[D-ploy]

Do you mean you played solo these scenarios, or you tried to apply some SASL rules?

No, I just played them solo. I'm waiting for ASLRB v2 and I'm just learning the rules of ASLSK by playing against myself.

However, since I do a lot of rule reading in between actions on the board, it is easy to get in the mindset of playing each side.
I try to play both sides as best as possible and before starting I decide on a strategy for each side. With this I can try out lots of things to get a feel for the game mechanics, like how dangerous open ground really is and what FTs can do etc.

Oliver

 

[paulkenny]

The one drawback is that the enemy units are a bit too 'stupid' in their moves - even when you're given the opportunity to choose the better of two options.
Alan

My human opponents often have that opinion of my play! :nuts:

 

[Robin Reeve]

The one drawback is that the enemy units are a bit too 'stupid' in their moves

But the fact they do try what one wouldn't ever dare do sometimes leads them to success...
Usually the ENEMY compensates his stupidity by the mass of his units...
In a "HW" Mission, I am not sure a Russian, Japanese or Chinese commander would have hesitated to send hundreds of men as cannon fodder right up the MGs of his opponent.
And even if his humanity would have kept him from so costly a tactic, his survival depended on blind obedience towards his own chiefs...
As gamers (and Occidental democrats) we have another relationship to human life. And we seek more victory than death in honor...

 

[alanp]

I agree, Robin and Paul, that it can be realistic/interesting to see ONCE. Eliminating 99 squads isn't my idea of a good time, however! This is only one extreme example; it just shows that SASL is definitely a different experience than ASL. Enemy movement is one aspect that really makes it 'feel' different. The command and control rule is another - and one that I really enjoy. Unresponsive friendly troops can more than compensate for dumb enemy moves! The player does have control in this respect, too, as you really need to think about where your leaders are in relation to your leaderless stacks. There is a CH article (V.4,#2; p.41) that discusses C&C rules for ftf ASL. Would definitely change the published scenarios, but could be fun to play around with.

As a teaching tool or good newbie experience, I'd have to say that not everything you learn from your SASL'ing should/could be carried over to 'real' human-opponent ASL. You'll like the fact, in ASL, that you don't need to worry about the lack of response from some of your men since there's no C&C rule BUT you've still got to come up good things to do with the pieces. (Sometimes it's better to do nothing!) On the other hand, the RE's really add excitement (IMHO). Robin's PTO experience sound frustrating but fun. My 'recall' event made me switch my thinking 180 degrees, showed me I wasn't doing so well after all.

Alan

 

[Carl]

If you're looking for a SASL electronic playaid, you want to head on over to Robert Delwood's homepage and check out SALSA...

Just thinking out loud but I bet one could code an add-on module for VASL which would do a bunch of SASL stuff like moving a unit. The player could select the enemy unit for action, and then click a button which would calculate the unit's action for that turn. The depth to which VASL could take this would be dependent on what information VASL carried in the game.

I wish I had the VASL coding knowledge to develop this.

Carl