Who was your mentor(s)?

[RobZagnut]

Who was your mentor(s)? What did he/they teach you? Are they still playing?

My mentor is my best friend Jess Ward. Back in 1991 I ran into Jess at the Spokane Game Faire. A couple of our friends were playing in a long game of Civilization, so we were standing around watching them when we started talking about ASL. I had played a couple of all infantry scenarios, but didn't know squat about AFVs. He offered to teach me AFVs, drove home and grabbed everything we needed to play Blazin Chariots. Boy, did I learn AFVs that day.

Jess was a B-52 pilot at Fairchild AFB living in Spokane and we started playing once a week. He introduced me to his buddy Pete Dahlin who has a navigator on another B-52 and I started playing Pete once a week too. Both these guys taught me how to play.

Jess plays occasionally. I've lost touch with Pete, but I think he still might be involved in the Korean War module. Jess is still my best friend since the 90's. Our boys grew up together, our families took summer vacations to Glacier Park, Yellowstone, Mt Saint Helens, etc and we still go out to dinner and catch baseball games in the summer. In October of 2018 we're going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Many of my best friends were made from playing ASL; Rob & Jeff Wirthlin, James Lamphere, Christian Daughtery, Dave Grenon, and Darrell Lembcke to name a few.

 

[hongkongwargamer]

A couple of people started me off with ASL and I have a number of teachers, out of which - one mentor.

My ASL journey started when I, after trying to read a couple of pages from Chapter A, contacted the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers for permission to see one of their games live. When I got there, Lawrence Ho, Simon Lai, Li Tai Wah and Erwin Lau told me they don't allow spectators - but "HERE, you got this Panzer". I was made part of an ASL game.

The rulebook came alive for me after that.

Shortly after Don Lazov emailed me and asked if I want to learn ASL. Our first scenario was RPT1 Ferenc Jozef Barracks and I never stopped playing ASL ever since!

Witchbottles then slipped a blurb in on GS, announcing another issue of his POINT BLANK! newsletter. Somehow I managed to give him a negative rep and he became my mentor ever since (funny how life works). Long story, but it suffice to say that the stuff this man taught me went way beyond ASL.

While I learn from all my opponents (recently learning a ton of Cave & Seaborne Landing stuff from Dan Dolan), I have a number of folks who took to teach me ASL properly : Carl Nogueira, John Knowles and Will Fleming.

 

[BigAl737]

Phil Pomerantz back in the days when VASL was just a glint in Mr. Kinney's eye. Used to store the boards under the guest bed with blue tack on the counters to hold them in place. I'd print out the move orders, cover them with a sheet of paper, and reveal one line at a time. You had to type your move into a text message, fire up the 1200 baud modem, and listen to it whistle and beep as it sent electronic magic through some type of transporter to magically arrive in the game room of your opponent. Fun days but time consuming. I haven't seen Phil on the boards in quite a while. If you're out there, thanks Phil!

Life happened and I quit playing for a long time. Sold everything. Time passed and I bought back in. Witchbottles welcomed me back with open arms when I dipped my toe in the post VASL world. That guy is one patient man as I struggled and queried and learned again. Thanks Jon!

Life happened again and I've cut way back on playing. Almost stopped completely but I do have one PBEM game going with a first rate pal named Eoin. If it's possible to get a move out slower than a sloth in a tar pit, that's me. But I do like having a move waiting for me when the mood and time hit me. Eoin is fine with that and I really appreciate it. Thanks Eoin!

I still want to contribute though so am volunteering as a VASL cabalist of some capability, of what benefit, I'm not sure. But I figure even if it's of no benefit, at least it keeps me out of the bars. Tuomo was my tutor for this period of my ASL life. He let me in on his voodoo pixel world and showed me to a candle lit desk in a dark and musty basement. I wouldn't have it any other way. And the bread isn't too bad, just eat around the mold. Thanks Tuomo!

There's more folks out there who I really appreciate but these are the ones that started me in an ASL phase of life.

Good thread. I'm glad to have a forum to recognize these guys.

Good gaming!

Al

 

[hongkongwargamer]

Eoin is an absolute gentleman.

I was fortunate enough to have a PBEM with him as well .. J70 Just an Illusion. Definitely looking to get another game in with the man one day.

Phil Pomerantz back in the days when VASL was just a glint in Mr. Kinney's eye. Used to store the boards under the guest bed with blue tack on the counters to hold them in place. I'd print out the move orders, cover them with a sheet of paper, and reveal one line at a time. You had to type your move into a text message, fire up the 1200 baud modem, and listen to it whistle and beep as it sent electronic magic through some type of transporter to magically arrive in the game room of your opponent. Fun days but time consuming. I haven't seen Phil on the boards in quite a while. If you're out there, thanks Phil!

Life happened and I quit playing for a long time. Sold everything. Time passed and I bought back in. Witchbottles welcomed me back with open arms when I dipped my toe in the post VASL world. That guy is one patient man as I struggled and queried and learned again. Thanks Jon!

Life happened again and I've cut way back on playing. Almost stopped completely but I do have one PBEM game going with a first rate pal named Eoin. If it's possible to get a move out slower than a sloth in a tar pit, that's me. But I do like having a move waiting for me when the mood and time hit me. Eoin is fine with that and I really appreciate it. Thanks Eoin!

I still want to contribute though so am volunteering as a VASL cabalist of some capability, of what benefit, I'm not sure. But I figure even if it's of no benefit, at least it keeps me out of the bars. Tuomo was my tutor for this period of my ASL life. He let me in on his voodoo pixel world and showed me to a candle lit desk in a dark and musty basement. I wouldn't have it any other way. And the bread isn't too bad, just eat around the mold. Thanks Tuomo!

There's more folks out there who I really appreciate but these are the ones that started me in an ASL phase of life.

Good thread. I'm glad to have a forum to recognize these guys.

Good gaming!

Al

 

[RobZagnut]

Phil Pomerantz back in the days when VASL was just a glint in Mr. Kinney's eye. Used to store the boards under the guest bed with blue tack on the counters to hold them in place. I'd print out the move orders, cover them with a sheet of paper, and reveal one line at a time. You had to type your move into a text message, fire up the 1200 baud modem, and listen to it whistle and beep as it sent electronic magic through some type of transporter to magically arrive in the game room of your opponent. Fun days but time consuming. I haven't seen Phil on the boards in quite a while. If you're out there, thanks Phil!

Life happened and I quit playing for a long time. Sold everything. Time passed and I bought back in. Witchbottles welcomed me back with open arms when I dipped my toe in the post VASL world. That guy is one patient man as I struggled and queried and learned again. Thanks Jon!

Life happened again and I've cut way back on playing. Almost stopped completely but I do have one PBEM game going with a first rate pal named Eoin. If it's possible to get a move out slower than a sloth in a tar pit, that's me. But I do like having a move waiting for me when the mood and time hit me. Eoin is fine with that and I really appreciate it. Thanks Eoin!

I still want to contribute though so am volunteering as a VASL cabalist of some capability, of what benefit, I'm not sure. But I figure even if it's of no benefit, at least it keeps me out of the bars. Tuomo was my tutor for this period of my ASL life. He let me in on his voodoo pixel world and showed me to a candle lit desk in a dark and musty basement. I wouldn't have it any other way. And the bread isn't too bad, just eat around the mold. Thanks Tuomo!

There's more folks out there who I really appreciate but these are the ones that started me in an ASL phase of life.

Good thread. I'm glad to have a forum to recognize these guys.

Good gaming!

Al

I played a lot of PBEM during the GEnie days with Phil Pomerantz. Russ Bunten, Curt Schilling and others too, but mostly with Phil (Doc). I built a custom cabinet shelf, that I still have, that allowed me to play 6 games simultaneously. Learned a lot by using PBEM as you could pull out the rulebook and research things before you did them.

 

[Philippe D.]

I didn't really have a mentor going into ASL - with two friends (Nicolas Destainville, Mathieu Savin) from my undergrad school, we went through the rulebook together and stumbled through our first games, making many mistakes - both rules-wise and tactics-wise.

But another co-student took me through my first SL games - Samuel Provost. I have no idea what became of him - lost track of him a few years later.

I don't think either of these fine people is still playing ASL (that was more than 20 years ago, more like 25). If they were, I suppose I'd have heard of them through the French online community.

 

[olli]

Paul Saunders was the person that helped me out greatly.

 

[von Marwitz]

When I got there, Lawrence Ho, Simon Lai, Li Tai Wah and Erwin Lau told me they don't allow spectators - but "HERE, you got this Panzer". I was made part of an ASL game.

This is hilarious! I would have loved to see your expression change throughout hearing that sentence.

von Marwitz

 

[von Marwitz]

Eoin is an absolute gentleman.

He is, indeed.
I met him at Grenadier once and played a few games with him via VASL.

von Marwitz

 

[Tuomo]

He might've been your father... but he wasn't your Daddy!

 

[Spencer Armstrong]

David Goldman. It took a most-of-a-decade-long break to really hit, but he was absolutely the one who taught me how to play ASL fer real. I just regret that geography and time prevented us being regular opponents once it really sunk it and the bug truly bit.

 

[vetsurg]

I've been at this for less than a year and am making slow, steady progress. I am very fortunate to have two great mentors. Pat Ireland has been teaching me by VASL nearly every Sunday since November. We have moved through all the SK lessons and are now going through full ASL scenarios and lessons. Pat is a lot of fun to skype and play with. He's a patient guy who has some great stories and has a very easy way of teaching me tactics.

My other mentor is ASLSarge (David Roth) who I've been playing face to face with once a month for the past 6 or 7 months. Sarge also is very patient with a newbie and also is a lot of fun to hang out with and I've learned a great deal from him as we play-test BFP scenarios.

I feel very lucky to have found these guys who have been willing to take me under their wings and introduce me to the nuances of this great hobby. Without them, I know I would still be very lost and trying to figure this stuff out.

 

[von Marwitz]

Great thread!

So here's my story:

Not exactly my tutor, yet the man who was the most important:

The late Christian Koppmeyer, who has passed away much too early.

When I started with ASL here in Germany, there simply was no player around that I knew of. Internet forums and such did not exist then, really. As far as I remember, I found out his name and telephone number in some obscure gaming fanzine. When I gave him a call, he was very nice and invited me to stay at his place for a week-end, where he planned to play ASL with three buddies (Rudi Großholdermann among them). Christian was the first "real person" I actually saw playing ASL. This was in 1997. I played my first face-to-face game with him and was beaten before I knew what had happened. That week-end inspired Christian to constitute the first German ASL tournament one year later. Since 1998 I have been there almost every year. The tournament experience was just awesome. I don't mean the competition itself - I always play friendly, even in tournaments. But the event in itself: So many ASL players. All their kit, all their stuff. All the talk and chit-chat going on during and in between games. And of course the long nights after the games, having some beers. Especially it is those long nights during which Christian was always among the last finally go to bed. He gave heart and soul to the event and we have laughed so much! Good times, really. I took leave of this good man at his funeral together with other ASL-friends. Rest in peace and roll low, my friend.

Except for my annual Grenadier tournament, I still had no chance to play face-to-face for a long time. Besides the tournament games, I played solitaire (but not SASL) vs. myself around 100 agonizingly slow games - which still thrilled me, though. In 2010 this changed as I discovered VASL and this forum. It was a relevation! Tons of players available almost 24/7 around the world!
Taking up VASL made me a regular player and redeemed my from the solitaire hell. After a short while, I had found a couple of regular opponents. Of these two stand out and can righteously be called my mentors as I learned a lot from them:

The first one is David Wallace from Australia. When I had time in the mornings, he came back from work - perfect! He taught me PTO, Night, Bocage, and many other things with great patience. So far, we have played 43 games according to my records. Lately, gaming has been difficult, because for some reasons, our internet connection seems plagued by difficulties over extended periods of time. My thanks for your tutelage, Dave!

The second one is Martin Mayers from the UK. Like Dave, I am playing this nice chap since 2010 and have learned a lot from him. He seems to be an especially good defender - at least I have found it quite difficult to get the better of him when he digs in... There are 32 games on my list with Martin. Cheers to you, mate!

The third one is Alex Koestler from the Netherlands. I have also been playing him more or less regularly since 2010 with 31 games logged. We seem to be quite well matched with a 50% win/loss ratio. This makes the games with him always tense and exciting. On top of that, I like Alex's dry humor that goes down very well with a glass of Chablis. Ha! Meet you in Biarritz, Herr Koestler!

Besides the above mentioned, I do not really know how many other opponents I have played. It is not really part of the thread's question, but I think they do deserve credit for making my ASL hobby fun, so I'll try to give a list in no particular order:

Chris Hofland, Michael Koch, Rudi Großholdermann, Sebastian Hummel, Chris Mazzei, Ernst Knauth, Björn Alhäuser, Miguel Guererro, Stefano Cuccurullo, Ray Woloszyn, Are Erlandsen, Mark Pingley, Steve Steinmetz, Jeff Coleman, Roderick Molenaars, Peter Struif, Armin Kraft, Roland Pirard, Jürgen Jürgensen, Michael Hastrup-Leth, Oliver Gray, George Tournemiere, Sam Henze, Vincent Alonso, Jean-Christophe Jaud, Nigel Blair, Albrecht Dekker, Stefan Nielson, Keld Hjurtskov, Bas van den Berg, Hennie van der Salm, John Martin, Christian Herde, Philippe Briaux, Bruno Nitrosso, Markus Bader, Florian Mentl, Manu de Witt, David Deresinski, Chuck Hammond, Daniel Takai, Steve Bond, Bill Brodie, Alessandro DeMichelis, Eoin Corrigan, Matthias Bader, Francois Boudreghien, Philipp Janssen, Andreas Reiner, Steve Andersson, Uwe Besch, Edo Giaroni, Peter Hofland, John Tait, Paul Treslove, Jean-Pascal Paoli, Guy Decrolier, Torsten Schuhmacher, Scott Byrne, Micheal Shea, Alexandre Rousse-Lacordaire, and Eric Snoek.

Then there are a numerous ones of which I have not recorded the name or could only state VASL aliases. This ups the total number of people with whom I have played ASL well above 70.

Thanks to all of you!

von Marwitz

 

[bendizoid]

I had no mentor because I bought it new off the shelf back in '86(?) and had to figure it out for myself.

I started by playing Eddie Zeman and we both made the other better by finding new rules and 'tricks'. Later,I played Louey Tokarz and the Windy City crew of top notch players and that eventually brought my game up a level or so.

 

[Carln0130]

Didn't really have a mentor, per se'. More a lot of co-players that I learned from/with. The guy I played most in the early years was Brian Wynott. Brian has since left the hobby, due to some health setbacks. Great guy, former marine scout sniper. His eyesight was nothing short of remarkable. We were heading out to a convention run by Vic Provost and the Bunker Boys back in the day. We were way down the MASS Pike from the exit sign I needed. It looked no bigger on the horizon than my little finger nail. Brian, who is a home body, so had not been out that way, proceeded to read me the info on the sign word for word, when I could barely even see a sign existed. My eyesight was 20/20 at that time, so no mean feat.

Other guys who were a big influence, Allen Loiselle, Kiri Nieman, Tom Morin, James Taylor, Josh Seamon and also to a degree, Steve Pleva. Tom Morin has had a very big influence on by budding attempts at design.

To anyone who can hearken back to the old T.V. series Kung Fu, ASL is a lot like grasshopper walking with Master Po through the courtyard at the temple, while the masters of various forms went through their paces. Master Po was explaining, "from this form we learn this, from this form we learn that". ASL is much like this. Everyone has something that they excel at, or a favorite tactic they may have mastered, that you have either ignored, or not realized the full usefulness of. Never underestimate an opponent, because not just the top players can teach you something.

Finally, to the new players, never model your game after anyone else. Learn your lessons and apply them to how YOU play. Good thread.

 

[kcole4001]

My gang all learned together basically from scratch, but as Carl has said, I learned bits from everyone at some time.

Sometimes rules that seem abstract when reading the book come to life best when someone uses them against you in a way you didn't foresee.

General, and later Journal, articles were always a treat to read.
Oh, can't forget the Annuals also, they were awesome!

 

[Helmseye]

my big thanks goes to the LASL they made me feel welcome and taught me to play

special shout outs to Derek Cox, Toby Pilling and Pete Phillips for still putting up with my Red Barricade fiascos over overspending, dice moaning and of course using opponents costings for fortifications instead of my own
still in stalingrad every week

then to the copenhagen crew for making me believe ASl is a world wide sport!

 

[bprobst]

I didn't have a "mentor" either. David Wallace and I taught each other Squad Leader (including the gamettes) and switched over to ASL when it was released. Things just developed from there.

Various more-experienced opponents than I have given me an education over the years! I wouldn't say that anyone stands out as a mentor though.

 

[Michael R]

I can't say I had an ASL mentor; Jean-Pierre Raymond and I met through my ad in the General that I had placed in 1989. He was an experienced SL player. I was a novice ASL player. He had only played against his wife and he rarely lost. I learned some tactics from him. He un-learned his SL rules from me. I will give a tip of the hat to Bill Connor and Russ Gifford ( and to every TD) for running the ASL Tournament at Avaloncon. It was there I learned the most about playing ASL in my first five years. I also met more players from Quebec, including Bruno L'Archeveque (still a regular opponent), as well as players from Winnipeg (including Jim McLeod).

 

[jwoodall04]

I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be playing without Patrick Ireland's help. Spent a good while with him playing through his six learning scenarios and I have to admit I wasn't as fully engaged as I could have been regarding the rules, but it did ignite the spark and now we have a fairly active group in Houston. Met some good folks and have had a lot of fun along the way. Will be attending the Austin tournament soon and look forward to having my butt handed to me, but hopefully learning a couple things here and there.