News archive Januari-December 2006
December 31 - Happy New Year
News admitted by : Skye
It is New Year in about 15 minutes in Australia (local time here : 14:00) so I like to wish everyone Happy New year!
Happy gaming in 2007!, To start the new year of I included a 'date activated event' section in the 'forgotten rules' part of this website.
December 20 - Not much news
News admitted by : Skye
Not much news today... Multiman Publishing had a one-day and afterwards a "few hours sale" where they sold the Red Barricades ans SASL leftovers and some other stuff left lying around. I bought a RedBarricades-in-ziplock campaign module to replace some slightly worn parts of my own and sold my older version. One more historical module sold out, so get "Pegasus Bridge" while you still can...
Also, I decided to attend the ASO scandinavian open tournament (again) in februari 2007, one or two friends might join so should be a nice weekend again. There are some pictures on this website from the 2006 tournament.
Further, I added some errata of scenarios I like to play, and some interesting rules in the 'Rules I tend to forget' section. If I can find the time I'll try to post some more pictures of the Pegasus Bridge playing area soon!
December 1 - Another Pegasus Bridge historical site
News admitted by : Skye
If you have played the ASL campaign game "Pegasus Bridge" then you might enjoy a look at another prominent landmark from that map : Benouville Church.
The pictures can be found in the menu under "Famous battlegrounds" -> "Pegasus Bridge".
November 29 - Pegasus Bridge Historical Feature added!
News admitted by : Skye
I did not have a chance to work on sharing some pictures of prominent ASL landmarks I visited for a while. I just did a new one though , so please enjoy some of the Pegasus Bridge sites I will be adding in the next couple of weeks. The first being of course the famous Pegasus bridge itself and Cafe Gondree.
The pictures can be found in the menu under "Famous battlegrounds -> Pegasus Bridge", or here.
Please note that the Pegasus bridge module is out of print and will stay out of print once sold out. So get is while you can... (it's now only 15$ on the MMP website).
November 25 - Action Pack 3 on pre-order and sale@MMP
News admitted by : Skye
Yesterday MultimMan Publishing celebrated 'Black Friday' by putting a number of games on sale and clearing out their 'old school' mounted ASL boards for a all-time low price of 1$ apiece. Another interesting item in the sale is the 'Red Baricades' ziplock package. This is the last chance ever to buy Red Baricades, albeit without the box. Hurry though as the sale will be over in 1-2 days!
Also on preorder is the third ASL Action Pack. It comes in the form of the highly anticipated 'Few Returned' Scenario pack that features three boards (42,43,24) and nine scenarios which take place in December 1942 and January 1943 on the East Front where in November 1942, the Soviets launched their Stalingrad counter-offensive, trapping the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. The following month, the Soviets struck at the Italian 8th Army to the north of Stalingrad. This scenario pack tells the tale of the collapsing Italian 8th Army from start to end.
The scenarios are rumored to be well designed and playtested and have received high praise from some of the playtesters.
To play the scenario pack the following boards are needed: 2,3,7,8,10,11,12,17,18,22,24,40,41,42,43,44,48,49,Y.
If you are missing some you can always pick 'm up at the sale for 1$ a piece while it lasts. The preorder price (18$) for the scenario pack also seems to be very reasonable. Scenarios included are;
Red Don
Ghost Riders
Village of the Damned
Agonia ad Arnautovo
Victory is Life
The Valley of Death
Tridentina Avanti!
The Winter of their Discontent
The Hunters become the Hunted
All Roads Lead to Rome
Flea Circus
The Last Day of the Cuneense
November 19 - Site update: Part IV of AAR online
News admitted by : Skye
I just finished part IV of my ASLSK After Action Report from my game "S4 Welcome Back", a great scenario for people to learn ASL(SK) with and I hope you enjoy reading it. You can find it in the menu under "ASLSK STUFF".
Also please have a look at "No Quarter" ; a great ASL blog with audio-visual After Action Reports made in powerpoint. While at it I also added a couple of other good ASL related website in the 'LINKS' menu.
November 15 - Site update!
News admitted by : Skye
I't been a long while, but from now on there will be new content and more news updates on this website.
I didn't get around to it for a while because of an extended vacation, a real good long hot summer in the Netherlands and some complicated work on the workings of this website. I'm not a webdesigner so cleaning up a lot of garbage, defunct scipting and errors took quite some work. I also got distracted by someone who showed some cool stuff in Flash, I could not help to think that using Flash technology would be an ideal way to make some interactive tutorials to teach some basic ASL concepts online, so I've been trying to make something usefull with it. The fruit of this effort can be viewed under the 'ASL Stuff' menu.
Please have a look in the 'links' section in the menu, all the broken links have been fixed and some very nice ASL websites have been added.
May 6 - MMP puts several ASL new products on preorder
News admitted by : Skye
Multiman Publishing has by now not only put up the already mentioned 'Tarawa Gamers Guide' (again) , but also serveral other ASL products :
- Valour of the guards ( was already on preorder, release estimated August)
- Journal 7
- ASL starterkit 3 (release estimated July)
- Doomed Battlaions (reprint)
- Several other boardgames : Warriors of the god, Red star Rising, Burma and more
Very ambitious. Look like the floodgates have opened now that 'Armies of Oblivion' is out of the pipeline.
I'm personally suprised about the reprint of 'Doomed Battlations', but very pleased with it. It's the only core module I haven't got and the prices for second hand copies on Ebay are through the roof (I've seem them get sold for 380$!).
April 30 - MMP puts 'Tarawa : Gamers Guide' on Preorder
News admitted by : Skye
Today MultiMan Publishing put up the 'Blood Reef Tarawa Gamers Guide' on their website. The BRT historical module has been around for some time off course, and is probably the most rule intensive piece of ASL out there. It is also very much sold out, while there are some copies of the game still floating around on Ebay.
The website reads:
This magazine is a series of articles by respected hobbyists on how to play and enjoy the ASL Historical module Blood Reef: Tarawa (BRT) . It pulls together the esoteric bits and pieces of Chapters E, F, and G that are needed, shows how they interact with the BRT-specific rules of Chapter T, and provides a programmed instruction approach for players to learn the necessary rules by playing individual BRT scenarios in a specified order with only part of the rules required in each case.
Read more here.
I might actually order a copy, as the BRT module seems almost impossible to play without some assistance and this guide might me a interesting read.
April 6 - Heat of Battle product update
News admitted by : Skye
Heat of Battle, the 3rd party ASL publisher has presented an update about the products they have in the pipeline, one of them I have never heard of till today ("Kohima"). If anyone knows more, please drop me a line.
-RBF 3 (Recon by Fire - red.): The initial layout with non graphics was complete and edited. Actually not too many issues other than a few spelling things that got through and standard formatting problems when you change programs. The problem we are trying to work out is that the quotation marks like to change to the European ones. Trying to fix it. Currently now putting in the graphics, scenarios, etc and will do a final edit pass, so we are close to going to the printers.
-RBF 4 (Recon by Fire - red.): We have articles, scenarios, etc ready and are waiting for the completion of RBF 3 to move forward. Lots of graphics, etc, so this will take bit to get through.
-SF 1 (Special Forces -red.): Standing by for print
-SS1/2 Reprint: Most of the scenarios redone already.
-Mapboard Battlepack: Original board versions designed by Klaus and they are awesome. Of course we plan to provide mounted and unmounted versions in the pack. 8 scenarios, 2 boards, geo rubbled city overlay, large factory overly. Awesome urban/semi-urban fights. 6 scenarios are 100% complete and formatted. Last 2 just need a couple of confirmation games. I played on this past Sunday and believe it is good to go.
-Hurtgen: This is planned to have 2 large maps, 15 scens, 3 CGs. 10 scenarios are 100% complete and formatted. 4 scenarios are nearly done and going through final testing. 1 scenario needs a little more work. The hold up right now is the CGs. We get those ready, this comes out.
-Kohima: Coming along nicely and continual progress being made.
There are numerous other projects being worked on but do not want to disclose everything. Bottom line. We are making very good progress on a variety of design types/actions, and expect the next 2 years at least to be VERY good with respect to HoB getting products out. Thanks for you support. -Chas
April 5 - Armies of Oblivion up for direct sale
News admitted by : Chrisopher Barlow
If you want a copy of the "Armies of Oblivion" ASL module with the 'old-style' mounted map boards then now is the time to order at MMP's. The module is up for direct sale here. When they're gone they're gone, and from that moment on only the AOO box with the new-style cardboard unmounted maps will be for sale.
I'm still waiting for my own pre-ordered (airmail) copy of Armies of Oblivion, and that is sort of like starting to annoy me in a really really big way by now... I hope all you guys out there have some more luck getting your copy..!
March 4 - Site updates
News admitted by : Skye
So not much news lately, as you may have noticed. I've also been rather busy, amongst other things with the Scandinavian ASL tournament 2006 which was fun but took about a week to recuperate from. I put some pictures of the tourny online (go to the ASL STUFF menu above and select 'TOURNAMENTS".
I also updated the 'ASL Errata' section with the Beyond Valour 3rd edition errata, and updated the 'ASL armory' section with the latest armory files from Reid Hutchinson (thanks!). You might also want to check out the 'Links' Section as well, there is a bunch of new and interesting links there you might want to have a look at.
And how long does my *#*$#$ 'Armies of Oblivion' module take to get to the Netherlands anyway? :-/ Bet it's stuck at the customs again :-(
Januari 29 - Planned ASL releases schedule
News admitted by : Skye
Quite a few ASL releases are in the pipeline, so let's see what's been released and expected to be released soon:
- Armies of Oblivion (AOO) by MMP : All components have reached the publisher, shipping about to start. Read more on te MMP website here.
- Oblivion Pack by Fanatic Enterprises : Done, and can be ordered on the Fanatic website here.
- Valour of the Guards (VOTG) by MMP : Up for pre-order here. Rumoured to go to press late march.
- Recon by Fire 3 (RBF3) by HOB : Just up for preorder here.
Januari 18 - Planned releases Heat of Battle company
News admitted by : Skye
Heat of Battle company, the 3rd party ASL publisher, has posted some very exciting plans concerning the line of products to be published in 2006. So exciting in fact that I fear they might be getting into more then they can handle. I might be a bit sceptical about this, but the last thing they published was the not-so-hot Firefights2 scenario pack and that took ages to publish.
I'd love to be wrong though as 'Heat of battle' published some of my favorite Advanced Squad Leader products (Recon By Fire, Onslought to Orsha, Buckeyes) a long time ago.
Here the latest news then, as published by HOB themselves:
Operation "Break the Bottleneck” is currently in full swing at HoB. We have numerous products in the pipeline that are complete or nearly complete. As we succeed in this in operation we have several products we expect to release in 2006. I will briefly discuss each one but more specifics to be released closer to publication.
-Recon By Fire 3 (RBF3)
-Special Forces 1 (SF1)
-SS1 'No quarter no glory' & SS2 'Fuhrers Fireman' reprint
-Recon By Fire 4 (RBF4)
-A Board Battlepack
RBF 3: Initially the contents weren’t planned as RBF 3 but it is now our next expected release. This is a “special edition”. Sometime within in the next couple of weeks we will put out more information and try to get up on pre-order.
SF 1: This has been long awaited and is the 1st installment on a series of Special Forces packs.
SS reprints: I think I get at least one email a week asking about these. The scenarios have been reworked/revised/redesigned as necessary. THe SS1/2 reprint will not have counters.
RBF 4: The focus for this issue is German use of captured Russian vehicles. Even so, there are other scenarios that range from Denmark to PTO, so there is a lot of diversity. Other goodies are included, and this is a huge power-packed issue.
Board Battlepack: Awesome new boards, overlays, and scenarios……can you say urban ops?! We are still planning for it to contain mounted and unmounted boards so you get it all in one purchase.
Just for clarification the board battlepack is the one that will also have the rubbled city overlay. Scens range from Spanish Civial War to China to Hungs vs. Roms in Budapest. 6 of the scens are already complete, other 2 looking good. Will take a while to get the boards done though (note : HOBI HOBII boards: to be reprinted in unmounted format in an upcoming HASL). - Chas
Januari 14 - Armies of Oblivion module out!
News admitted by : Skye, information and pictures from Matthew Kirschenbaum & Steve Petras
After more then 10 years of development the core module "Armies of Oblivion" has been released by Multi Man Publishing. The MMP website states nothing , but it looks like the first boxes have been sold at the "Winter Offensive" convention in the USA.
Take a look at some more pictures (by Matthew Kirschenbaum & Steve Petras):
Also some word about the content by Matthew Kirschenbaum:
- Box and lid:
The box is a 3-incher. The background color is feldgrau btw, not the garish green seen on the pre-order page. I think the Pentland painting looks great.
- Scenarios 111-121:
One (116, Pete Shelling's "The Sixth Blow") occupies two cards sides, so there are eleven scenarios total. Detailed anaylsis will have to wait, but these are big, meaty scenarios, all 8-11 turns with the exception of one. This ain't Schwerpunkt stuff.
- Rules pages:
H143-172 (nationalities covered include Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Croatian, and Bulgarian).
A51-61 (revised).
D21-25 (revised).
S27-33 (revised).
- Axis Minor Generation and Random Event tables for SASL (two cards).
- 3 overlay sheets:
including the board-length river as advertised. Also woods and hills.
- 6 countersheets:
four 5/8-inch and two half-inch. Hungarian units are outlined in German feldgrau, a la the Chinese. Besides all the Axis Minor stuff, there's a half sheet of errata counters for other modules, including FKaC, Yanks, BV2. Plus some assorted Russians and a couple of AFVs (like the Sturmtiger) that were already introduced elsewhere.
- Boards: 48, 49, 50, 51.
I've allready changed my own surface shipping option to airmail, but still word is that MMP will ship about 100 boxes per week, taking it weeks to ship out even all of the the pre-orders. Can't wait till my copy gets here... <sigh>
Januari 11 - Other ASL modules up for reprint (COB & WOA)
News admitted by : Skye
Catching up on some news here, quite some as I have been away for a week or two.
And before I forget; happy new year to you all!
Multiman Publishing's latest news (as announced by Brian Youse):
- ASLSK-style maps will retail for $5/each.
These will be available once we (MMP) collate the game using those maps. Following Beyond Valour and Armies of Oblivion the following maps will be available: 1,2,3,4,5,8,20,21,22,23,48,49,50,51.
Mark's scenario pack (about Italy -red) will contain 24,42,43. This should go on preorder this spring.
- Code of Bushido (COB) reprint is next so I guess we'll (read : MMP) target that one for the fall sometime. That would add ASLSK style maps from Code of Bushido and Gung Ho (GH) plus probably a few more to get them out quicker.
- Code of Bushido and Gung Ho modules (both out of print or soon to be out of print) will probably be reprinted as one (new) module containing both of the older modules.
- West of Alamein (WOA) will go on preorder at MMP's (fall 2006?), the counters are already done. Note that this module will contain only this desert stuff, not the British order of battle which has been reprinted in For King And Country (FKAK).
Januari 11 - Ost Front pack released by Lone Canuck
News admitted by : Skye
Lone Caunck Publishing has released its "Ost Front" scenario pack with six (6) tournament sized scenarios. They also have a new home for their website, check it out here.
I have updated the link to the Lone Canuck webpage and added two more in the main menu on this page.
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