News

Januari 25 - Valour Of The Guards shipping

News admitted by : FJ Kelly , C. Barlow, B. Zarwell

A lot of people mailed me Valour of the Guards if finally shipping after being on MMP's preorder list for more then 2 years. Almost 2000 preorders are now being shipped , so could be a while before we actually get to hold it in our hands I guess.

There are some pictures of the module on the Desperation Morale website (check the 'LINKS' menu for the web adress), it sure looks good!

Januari 7 - Heat Of Battle launches Crete historical module

News admitted by : Skye

It's hard to keep up with the pace of new ASL releases this week. With this pace I'm gonna be broke by the end of the year... Another new ASL module is about to make its debut : "Kreta - Operation Merkur".

Sample from the "Kreta - Operation Merkur" map, click on it to enlarge.

This is a module from Heat of Battle who have been licking their wounds after the "inverted countersheet drama" and the funny spelling problems in the "HOB update SS pack" release. The new product looks promising but this time I'll believe it when I see it. The details as published by HOB:

Will be for order later this week and shipping end of month.

- Huge 56"x40" Map
- 120 Counters
- CG
- 7 Historical Map Scenarios
- 10 Geomorphic Scenarios

This one has been in the works for years and its designer has walked the battlefield several times.

Price $65 with shipping.

Sample from the "Kreta - Operation Merkur" rules, click on it to enlarge.

Januari 5- Bounding Fire Productions back in business

News admitted by : Skye

Chas Smith has revived the defunkt 'Bounding Fire Productions", it's back with it's own website and starts of with publishing the "Into The Rubble" ASL pack. This was a product announced previously by 'Heat Of Battle', but it looks like Chas took it with him when he left that company.

The 'Into The Rubble" pack is priced at 40/45$ including shipping and according to the publisher offers the following:

Into The Rubble (ITR) offers players the opportunity to do cardboard battle in cities and railroad yards. The scenarios range from 1938 to 1945 with a variety of forces including American, Chinese, German/SS, Hungarian, Japanese, Nationalist Spanish, Republican Spanish, Romanian and Russian.

The Battlepack includes the following:

* 8 Action-Packed Scenarios.

* Two 8"x22" Geomorphic mapboards, printed on heavy card stock, depicting city and railroad yard terrain.

* One 8"x12" geomorphic Rubbled City overlay (RC-1), 1 large Factory overlay and 1 sheet of Debris overlays.

* Rules pages describing new terrain, including Railroad Factories.

Maps and overlays from the "into The Rubble" pack, click on the picture to enlarge.

Januari 5- Le Franc Tireur #11 released

News admitted by : Skye

Issue #11 from the high quality magazine "Le Franc Tireur" has been released and is ready for order. It is expensive (especially for US buyers with the current dollar - Euro exchange rate), but previous issues are certainly worth the high price.

You can order it on the Franc Tireur Website here.

Januari 4- Valour of the Guards in production

News admitted by : Skye

MMP reports that 'Valour of the Guards is now in production :

"All the VOTG proofs are either approved and in production or have arrived at MMP HQ." (end quote)

Januari 2- Valour of the Guards at the printer

News admitted by : Skye

Things are speeding up. The 'Valour of the Guards' historical module is now reported to be at the printer. If all goes well I'm taking bets that it will be released this month!

Can't wait to get this puppy in my hands. Now only hope MMP does not ship it to Canada instead of The Netherlands like they did with my last order.....

Januari 1- Valour of the guards coming of preorder list

News admitted by : Skye

MMP posted a end-of-the-year update, and the good news is that both 'Valour of the Guards' and the Tarawa Gaming Guide' are coming of the preorder list. This is a sure sign they are almost done. Also news on other (non-ASL) releases and the unmounted ASL map pack.

The update as posted:

Valor of the Guards, The Devil's Cauldron, and the Blood Reef Tarawa Gamers Guide should all be coming off preorder in January.

In a week or so, once the last bits of proofing are done, Adam/Niko and folks can put their efforts on getting Warriors of God and A Most Dangerous Time out. They'll possibly be printed together, or in some combination with Rock of the Marne as they use the same type of countersheet material. I'd hope all three of these are off preorder in the first quarter of '08.

Burma reprint and South Mountain are in the state where some items are printed, we're waiting on other items from the printers, and one big thing (the box) isn't done and still has to be given to the printers. So they're in production as well. I wish we could say first quarter of '08 but that would be 7 boxed games in 3 months and there is no way that is going to happen (esp. with 2 of those games having over 3000 orders - that's a lot of boxing and shipping).

My current best guess is that South Mountain will be next after the current push (VOTG, TDC) since it is farther along and has the most already printed.

Meanwhile, once Derek is done with his VOTG responsibilities I'm hoping to foist off the cleanup of DB for reprint on him. If VOTG didn't scare him off.

And we have the looming giant ASL Mapboard reprint hanging around out there - the art is in and its just a matter of a few good days to put it all to a hex grid and changing hex colors then proofing it again and again. I probably should do that prior to the Journal layout.

December 31-ASL Master Scenario List updated

News admitted by : Skye

Paul Dutram has updated his Master ASL Scenario List which contains a listing of all known ASL scenarios. You can find his fine work in the 'ASL Stuff' menu.

I wish everyone a happy new year and a great 2008!

December 19- Rulebook replacement pages and maps in AP4

News admitted by : Skye

Picked up a tidbit of info on the upcoming ASL Action Pack 4 "Normandy"in production at MMP. It will feature new pages for the rulebook, replacing the old, to explain en revise the Bocage rules, and indeed... A bunch of new maps:

As posted by Chas Argent (slightly edited for readability);

The pack will include new replacement pages for B9 and B10 (the bocage rules), and will actually constitute 4 pages total. These will incorporate errata and Q&A for rules B9.323 (Mandatory Wall Advantage) through B9.55 (Bocage Concealment), as well as greatly expanded Examples, which will cover many aspects of Wall Advantage and Bocage in both "regular" and Deluxe.

The Examples are intended to remove much of the confusion many seem to have about Bocage in particular.

Originally it was planned to incorporate just Q&A & Errata, but the Examples have proved their value in providing clarity, especially for the Bocage rules, so the pages are being replaced with those additions as well.
No date of release yet but MMP is down to tweaking the final 3 scenarios and proofing the replacement pages. Map proofs (3 new maps total, numbers 53-55) are to arrive from the artist in early in 2008.

December 18- Le Franc Tireur #11 announced

News admitted by : Skye

They guys in France of 'Le Franc Tireur' magazine have done another amazing feat in magazine publishing. Their new issue of the (very very) high quality ASL magazine is about now at the printers.

The mag will include the usual 10 scenarios and the mapboard LFT #1 that depicts a beach and geomorphic is on 1 side). Judging by the cover there will be articles covering gun duel & platoon movement and a GSASL campaign (whatever that is). It will be available on the first week of January.

You can find to the 'Franc Tireur' website in the 'links' section of this website.

December 11- Free ASL scenarios and new ASL stuff

News admitted by : Skye

After all the recent ASL releases things have been a bit slow on the Advanced Squad Leader front lately. Some things are worthwile to check out though. If you are into ASL scenario design yourself but just haven't gotten around to it because of all the research, then be sure to check out the Scenario Designer's Handbook, written by M. Dorosh. Even if you are not into designing anything it still looks like a good read (though a tad expensive maybe).

Should you have knocked yourself out by buying the Scenario Designer's Handbook and now no longer be able to buy any new scenarios to play, then rejoice! The Guys from ASLOK have made available to fantastic looking FREE scenarios. They look like fun to play and you can't beat the price... A very nice gesture.

(click on the names to open the .PDF scenario file or right-click and 'save as'):

Out of the fold
Pinching Patton

November 21 - Free boardgame!

News admitted by : Skye

Low on cash but still want to play a fun WW2 boardgame? Then go to the MMP website and order you're free boardgame today! The folks of MMP have decided to give away FOR FREE their small but fun 'Target Arnhem:Across Six Bridges' , all you have to pay is the P&P.

Kuddos on MMP for this friendly idea!

November 14 - ASL and ASLSK info from MMP

News admitted by : Skye

A small post on the GameSquad ASL forum tells us the Valour of the Guards module is crawling along the production process, some more info on other producs as well;

"Journal #2 counters will NOT be printed with VOTG (Valour of the Guards) at this point since VOTG counters are ready now and the J2 reprint, while doing ok, is not a lock at this point and we feel we can not wait any longer to get VOTG printed.

We do have the DB (Dommed Battalions)reprint coming right up so should J2 reprint surge ahead, it shouldn't be much of a wait as we'll print it with DB. "

Also it seems that those who think the ASLSK line of products is at an end with the release of ASL Starter Kit #3 "Tanks" might be in for a treat some time in the future. The following was posted on Consimworld;

"We (MMP -red) are knee-deep in a future Starter Kit "module" on some aspect of Market:Garden. "

October 27 - New 3rd Party ASL products

News admitted by : Skye

A slew of new ASL products has been released recently.

I'll pick out a few that have gone unmentioned before;

Baraque De Fraiture 2nd edition (Critical hit)

I've been contemplating buying this module for a while in used condition. It has a good reputation but prices on the 2nd hand market have been quite high. This well priced reprint with an improved map might just be the nudge I need. I just love that map! There is a PDF file on the publishers website here with a little more info (and lots of sales talk).

To Battle by air #2 (Lone Canuck Publishing)

Lone Canuck seems to be releasing scenario packs faster then I get to play even individual scenarios!

More about he content of this packs here.

Dezign Pack 3 (East Side Gamers)

This one was released at the ASLOK ASL event recently. It contains 15 scenarios , which is good value for money as far as the number of scenarios goes. More info here.

October 24 - (more) progress on MMP products

News admitted by : Skye

To my surprise the finish core module for the ASL game system seems to be in external playtest at MMP'.

That's a lot further along the pipeline then I thought. It's good news - the module contains the last mounted map boards of the ASL system which I do not have :-)

Hakkaa Päälle

We (MMP -red)are ready to start outside playtesting for the Hakkaa Päälle! rules and scenarios.

Yes, the mighty Finnish module is ready for outside playtesting, and we need your help. Lars and Tuomo have done a great job of getting the module to this point, but they and their hardy groups cannot do all the playtesting.

Blood Reef Tarawa Gamers Guide

A few screenshots of the upcoming product:

Click for larger versions here and here.

October 13 - Progress on MMP products

News admitted by : Skye

MMP published an extensive progressreport on the Gamesquad ASL Forum. Check it out to see how upcoming ASL products are coming along;

Valor of the Guards

Brian is laying out the box and maps. The counters are done and waiting to be gang-printed with another run. He expects the box to be done any second so it can be proofed and then go to press. Derek is laying out the rules and cleaning them up. Charlie has the scenarios laid out and is working on the photos. After that they will go to the proofers.

Blood Reef Tarawa Gamers Guide

Keith will be adding the map art as well as one final article into the guide, which is the last step in layout for him. After that it will go to proofers.

Journal 8

There are two scenarios left to finish. Brian needs to layout out the articles. Expect Journal 8 to go up for preorder soon. Play testing on the last of the Journal 8 scenarios was wrapped up last night at Brian's house. Now all that remains is the layout.

Doomed Battalions Reprint

DB is waiting on the full map sheet run to be completed. Also, the new counter sheet and scenario layouts from The Last Hurrah and the previous Doomed Battalions need to be proofed, especially because we know there were errors in the last batch of DB counters.

Code of Bushido/Gung Ho! Reprint

As of last week, there were only 7 cases (i.e., 42 copies) of Gung Ho! left. Keith is working on laying out the combined reprint and has made good progress on the counter sheets. It will go up for pre-order once the layout has reached an advanced state, most likely some time this fall. Currently the assumption is that the combined pack will also include some out-of-print PTO scenarios, much like the Beyond Valor 3rd Edition did.

For King and Country Reprint

FKaC is waiting for other projects with counter sheets which need to be run. One problem with the ASL print runs is that the counters use a different stock that most other games so ganging counter sheet print runs together is not as easy. It will go up for preorder when ready but will not have a # it needs to hit to be produced (but those who preorder will still get a 25% price break, obviously).

Out of the Attic #2

Layout of this will begin soon for issue #2.

Action Packs 4 & 5

Play testing continues on the scenarios for both of these products and is progressing quite well. I am about to send a number of the scenarios out to proof readers. The production map art will not be started until the full map sheet set artwork has been proofed, corrected and completed.

Meanwhile, preliminary map design has begun for future AP projects and I have started to look at both the Rare Vehicles project (which would obviously include counters) and a possible Deluxe Action Pack which would include all the original boards (a-h, re-done in the SK-style) as well as some new ones.

October 10 - On the horizon : Action Pack 4 by MMP

News admitted by : Skye

The folks at MMP seem to be quite busy these days, actively working on producs like; Journal 2 reprint, Valour of the Guards historical module, Out of the Attic 2 , an unmounted map set, the Tarawa Gamers Guide , Doomed Battalions reprint , Code of Ho (PTO) reprint and a new Action Pack.

After AP1 & 2 and the "AP3 A Few Returned" action packs there seems to be a new one in the pipeline featuring the battle of Normandy and focussing on fighting in bocage. And the good news doesn't stop there, a fifth Action Pack is even mentioned, featuring an easten front setting.

An insight about the 4th Action Pack (currently in playtest) is given on the ASL forum:

There are 3 new maps (boards 53, 54 & 55):

- 53 features a Norman village with Stone buildings and paved roads toward its center, Wooden buildings and many orchards in the outlying areas, and some Grain/Woods/Gullies on the fringes; this board is relatively “Hedge-lite”

- 54 features a maze of unpaved roads weaving their way through Hedged-in rural countryside, with only a few buildings scattered about

- 55 is, in essence, a “two-part” board; rows A-P feature some low hills with scatterings of Orchards, Woods, Brush and a few buildings; R-GG feature sections of Sunken Roads, Pathed Woods and Grain; and the entire board is veined with Hedges.

Also, a nice feature of 54 and 55 is that each board’s Q-row is designed to “share” with the Q-row of the other board to form a “new” complete board; that is, ½ of each board’s Q-row aligns perfectly with ½ of the other board's Q-row, regardless of which board half you are using. So in essence you get 4 more usable board combinations than you would have with just two “standard” boards.

Currently there are 12 scenarios:
- (4) use 1 map/equivalent
- (6) use 1.5 - 2 maps
- (2) use 3 maps
- (5) use 1-4 overlays
- (7) feature German vs. Americans (Germans attack in 2 of these)
- (5) feature German vs. Brit (Germans attack in 4 of these)
- (1) scenario is all-infantry; the remaining 11 feature infantry as well as a variety of both number and types of vehicles, ranging from 1-27
- scenarios range in length from 4 ½ to 12 turns.

We are discussing including such goodies as a Bocage Play Aid/Examples of Play, and pertinent Bocage Q & A, and possibly some other lovelies as well, though none of this has been set in stone yet.

October 6 - Master ASL Scenario Listing added

News admitted by : Skye

A remarkable new addition to the website : Paul Durham' Master ASL Scenario Listing with all the ASL scenarios in existance. Check out Paul's labour of love in the 'ASL STUFF' section, it's certainly worth a look!

September 30 - New ASL product : Friendly Fire Pack 3

News admitted by : Skye (original text and pictures by M. Rönnblom)

Friendly Fire Pack 3 is the third scenario pack from the Friendly Fire team. More or less by definition, scenarios are tourney-sized, but slightly larger than you might expect to find in tournaments nowadays. They are all playable in an evening.

'Friendly Fire 3' scenario pack

The scenario pack has two scenarios set on Finnish soil. In 'Through Fire and Ice' the Russian 39th Tank Brigade's flame thrower tanks and supporting infantry hits the Finnish 2nd Infantry Division during the Winter War.

In 'Adolf's Amateurs' we meet what would become the fearsome SS Nord division in it's earliest and not so fearsome incarnation trying to wrestle Finnish hamlet of Salla out of Russian hands.

'Cavalry Brigade Model' is something as unusual as a German mid-war cavalry action. The ad-hoc brigade with armor support from 5. Panzer-Division pursuits elements of a Russian Rifle Division in the forests north of Rzhev.

'About His Shadowy Sides' are KV-2s and Panzers on the eve of Barbarossa. This combined arms scenario is the first from Erik Leander.

In early August 1942 the 2. Panzer-Division's organic anti-tank battalion received a new hard-hitting anti-tank gun. Designed to replace the PaK 40, the PaK 41 was an excellent 75mm squeeze bore gun with the only (but fatal) drawback that it relied on tungsten for its projectiles. The 'Wunderwaffe' scenario covers one of its first and not very successful actions against the tanks of the Russian 8th Tank Corps, in which some of the guns fell into enemy hands.

The 'Wunderwaffe' AT guns - only supplied to playtesters and not included in the pack.

'Elephants Unleashed' is a combined arms meeting engement between the Ferdinand tank destroyers of schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654 and counter-attacking Russian SU-152 and T-34s, just as the Germans have broken through the first line of defense in the 9. Armee attack sector. The operation is Citadel, and the place north of Ponyri.

'Forging Spetsnaz' is a showdown between a Japanese garrison and Russian Naval Scouts - forces that would form the basis for the post-war Spetsnaz troops. Set in Korea some days after the nuclear attacks, this scenario is as late-war as it gets.

The other, 'The Marco Polo Bridge Incident', is set almost ten years earlier. The scenario covers the fight for a Beijing bridge between the Japanese and the Chinese in what with some imagination could be called the first action of World War Two.

More information about this scenario pack can be found here, on the Friendly Fire website.

September 26 - Sale and new Pre-orders available at MMP

News admitted by : Skye

A lot of stuff is for sale here, this includes ASL Journal 5+6+7 , an ASL historical Module (Operation Watchtower - a module not for the faint hearted), Fire in the Sky (a game I play on regular basis - it's beautifull and very good - 30$ is a steal!) , DAK2 and a bunch of other games.

The preorder list now has ASL Journal #2 reprint (yes!) on it and some non-ASL material:

A victory denied

Decision in Normandy

War of the suns

Barren Victory II

The tide at sunrise

Some of these games look outstanding. The artwork alone on "Decision in Normandy" makes one crave to play it.

September 15 - ASL 'Budapest Pack' released

News admitted by : Skye

A couple of new ASL products are to be released soon, or have just been released. As usual the yearly ASLOK tournament is used by many publishers to launch their new products. One of them is the 'Budapest pack'.

The scenario pack includes 18 scenarios covering a variety of actions in the Budapest Campaign. The scenarios are a selection of east front, old fashioned style ASL action.

In addition, 2 new boards are provided, FE 1 and FE 2. The FE 1 is a rural board with some farms, a gully and some small hills. FE 2 is a city set atop a hill. The boards are on heavy card stock and each comes in two pieces that connect along the Q hexrow.

Board FE 1 from the Budapest Pack

A summary of the (large!) number of scenarios included:

FE 134 Kecskemet Clash
FE 135 Approach March
FE 136 Impertinence Rewarded
FE 137 The Devil is in Trouble
FE 138 Tough as old Boots!
FE 139 The Highest Value
FE 140 Dorog Days
FE 141 Attila
FE 142 Defense of Sashegy Hill
FE 143 Home on the Grange
FE 144 Hero of the Soviet Union
FE 145 The Dead & the Dying
FE 146 Pest
FE 147 Burn Baby Burn
FE 148 Breakout!
FE 149 Arpad Bridge
FE 150 Blue Danube
FE 151 Brother Against Brother

The Budapest Pack can also be purchased for $28/pack on the Fanatic Enterprises website (see the 'LINKS' section on this website).

Other releases expected and (listed with the publisher) at ASLOK are:

From the Cellar pack 2 (Le Franc Tireur)

Friendly Fire Pack 3 (Friendly Fire)

Total Axis Pack #1 (Critical Hit)

Armoured Aussie Pack (Break Contact - who have no website by the way..)

Schwerpunkt #13 (Schwerpunkt)

Rally point #2 (Schwerpunkt)

Dezign Pack 3 (East Side Gamers)

I have no details, pictures or prices on these, should anyone know more then feel free to send an email so I can share it here.

September 3 - Scenario played : LSSAH7 - Just in time

News admitted by : Skye

In preparation to the Arnhem tournament I played the scenario "LSSAH7 - Just in time" with Jeroen V. This is a scenario where the British have to navigate a large Level 2 hill mass and then take a bridge in the face of early war German SS opposition.

The British get support of two small open-topped AFV's with minimal armour and almost no weapons. Two mortars , two DC's and a bunch of LMG's help the allies along. To counter this threat a mortar and a 37mm popgun will usually take up positions on the far side of the river. Most scary is the normal morale of '8' and broken morale of '9' of the Germans. With the cluster of trees and buildings in front the bridge, the Germans have the chance to rally the squads within 1 turn, even if under Desperation Morale and rotate them easily back in to the line.

Jeroen deployed some of his most valuable assets (good leader, MMG) in a high-risk/high-return setup area on a level two hex with magnificent view over the whole hill, but got broken by the strong left-wing attack and some unlucky dice rolls. The "high-risk" part of the setup then got evident as there are no covered rout paths on the hill, and interdiction is almost certain. With the left flank broken the remainder of the German forces got quickly surrounded and the Germans conceided in turn 4.

Post-game we concluded that the unlucky MMG stack was probably better deployed in the line of buildings in front of the river on the British left, this gives great cover, good rout paths and a nice rear-slope defence.

End of British turn 1 - Large assault on the German left flank and a secundary attack on the right supported with mortar positions on the high ground

Fun Factor: 7.0

Replay value: 7.0

Play time: 4.5 hours (estimate)

August 30- New ASL Starter Kit products planned by MMP

News admitted by : Skye

For those who love the ASL Starter Kit line of products by MMP there is some good news ; there will be more to follow after the third part of the series "Tanks!" has been released:

The following was posted by Ken Dunn (ASLSK developer at MMP) on ConSimWorld:

Just thought I would throw a few centavos out there on the next ASLSK product for those that might be interested.

1. ASLSK Action Pack.

I am currently in both design and playtest of a 3 map action pack. The maps could be characterized as 1. A cross road style small village/farmstead with wooded hills Map 2. A good sized Italian/Sicilian town and Map 3. a tight town in NW Europe fading into woods/orchards/open ground

I am planning on 8 scenarios by as many different authors as I can find using these boards only. There are several good sceanrios and I expect a few more as not everyone has sent them in yet. The mix of actions includes Poles vs. Slovaks, Germans vs. Russians in Lapland, American Rangers vs. plucky Italian Coastal Defense units, Free French vs. Germans, among others. There is something for everyone in this package. I hope also to make sure that errata is issued for anything that might need it from ASLSK3.

2. ASLSK Scenarios for Operations magazine.

"Out of Luck" was just released in Operations #51, Russian vs. German Tanks in late war Heavy Metal! There are two more designs that are done just off the rigorous testing environment of the WBC ASLSK tournament!

3. ASLHSK (This probably needs a better acronym!)

Still messing with this and it is early in the process. Should be pretty cool assuming MMP can pull it off!

August 19- New addition to the family !!

News admitted by : Skye

I'm so happy to report the birth of my firstborn, and it's a son! Mother and son are doing well and with any luck I'll be awake enough to play a game of ASL again in.. oh about 2 years :-)

Seriously , it's totally wonderful to be a dad! I'm off to bed now to catch up on some missed sleep :-)

August 18- Critical Hit reprints modules

News admitted by : Skye

Critical Hit has reprinted some of its ASL products, namely "Stonne 1940" (now named GrossDeutschland at Stonne) and "Busting the Bocage" both in 3rd edition. These are products have been received in previous editions as okay in quality, and the price is reasonable. Check 'm out on the Critical Hit Website.

Also note that the rulebook is available for purchase again at Multiman Publishing Website here.

August 10- 'Recon by Fire 4' countersheet reprinted

News admitted by : Skye

Remember when 'Heat of Battle' printed the countersheet of the Recon by Fire magazine the wrong way around? One of the bigger dissapointments product-wise this year. A shame, because the magazine itself and the subject of captured Russian equipment in German use is really interesting. The countersheet was indeed well designed with great artwork but... printed with the front depiction on the back of the counters and vice versa...

Now the sheet has been reprinted, and can be ordered on the HOB website.

I must say though that I find the total cost of 19$ (incl. shipping) very steep to replace something they screwed up, and that I payed for the first time around.

July 29- ASL day in Amersfoort

News admitted by : Skye

A word of thanks to Hennie for getting a half squad of Dutchies together to play some ASL at his home. Had good fun and enjoyed playing "Kampfgruppe 1001 Nacht" , a scenario that pits 10 (!) late war Russian heavy behemoth tanks with 122L and 155 guns and some riders against a handfull of infantry, a '88' AT gun and four Hetzer PanzerJager. Even though the Germans side seems heavily outmatched it's actually quite hard to meet the harsh (exit) victory conditions and the Russians only made it because the the Germans spiked their 88mm gun.

A game of 'Former Allies' (in front) and a game of 'Kampfgruppe 1001 Nacht' (rear).

A game of 'Slovak Salvation'.

July 26- Multiman Publishing status update

News admitted by : Skye

News from MMP about products in production, to be released products, (very) recently out of print products and about the screwed up board #42 they released with the 'Few Returned action pack".

Note the pending rebirth of the 'African' theatre of war in ASL (chapter F in the rules) and the Journal 2 reprint(!).

The update :

Work on VotG continues, counter proofing / fixing nearly done. Scenario layout nearly done. Gotta give the map another look before sending it off for proofing.

We have Derek working on the layouts for The Last Hurrah, so we're moving forward on the DB reprint. Derek is quite motivated, I would think this should happen fairly soon.

We are at the bottom of the barrel for Hollow Legions (Italian module -red.) finally. That will be put up on P# with the next batch (incl. a lot of IGS, ASL J2 reprint, Kingdom of Heaven at least) and WILL INCLUDE the North Africa materials. Any favorite OOP Annual/Journal Italian scenarios you'd like to see? Let us know...

Work on The BRT Gamers Guide (Keith Dalton's doing the layout) is progressing nicely. Keith hopes to have something to give to proofers in approx 2 weeks if I understood his phone conversation properly.

After Derek is done laying out TLH we'd like to sic him on Out of the Attic #2. So look for a fall P# appearance for that one.

Hollow Legions will have the Italians, the desert maps, Italian Chapter H, scenarios (incl some OOP from other sources), Chapter <?> for North Africa (is that F? Can't recall...), desert overlays, half desert countersheet.

For King and Country. We are out of boxes, and I believe some of the mounted mapboards. Once we print the map bundle it'll be back, probably in ziplock format for a while, with the new style maps.

---------------------

BOARD 42 OFFICIAL POSITION

Mistakes happen, especially on a complicated print jobs like a board wargame. The wall "shift" on board 42 is a mistake, unfortunately one we have not quite identified how it happened, but a mistake none the less.

So we will not be rushing out a solution, we want to make sure the whole board is correct before reprinting it.

Our (MMP's -red) intention is this:

a) we will put a downloadable "overlay" up on our website for people who have to deal with the situation immediately. Should be up by/during the weekend

b) we'll have some printed out overlays on nice paper at WBC if you wish to pick one up. It will not be "sticky paper", so it'll be more like a regular overlay.

c) we will be reprinting board 42, with the corrected art, during the print run for the map board set. On our end the costs will be significantly reduced by the sheer volume of the print run. The issue becomes distribution...so once that's done

d) we'll be putting board 42 in the next (few?) ASL products to get it out that way. You can turn in your "bad" 42 and get a new one at a convention we're attending (within reason, we're not lugging 42's to Origins 2020).

July 24- About issue #25 Dispatches from the Bunker

News admitted by : Skye

Some news about the next issue of the Amateur ASL Newsletter 'Dispatches from the bunker'.

This is one of the most consistant non-commercial offerings in the ASL scene, and although each newsletter is only small in size, the content is very good, the scenarios are great and it's cheap too... What more could you want :-)

The update :

We are wrapping up the playtest for upcoming Issue #25, due out at the Bunker Bash, Saturday, September 8th. We have 2 of the 3 scenarios pretty much finalized and the 3rd in testing that will be completed in about 2 weeks or so. Jim Torkelson will have another great scenario analysis, this one on HOBs OB8 Bloody Bobruisk. Our Tactical Tips guru Carl Nogueira will have more Terrain mayhem in the continuing Fire portion of his Making a Mess Tactical Tips Series. I'll have local tourney news as usual. The Scenarios we have lined up are:

Acorns in the Fire:
Andy Clarke brings us an ETO combined arms action from New Years Day '45 with a company of GIs supported by 4 Shermans trying to clear a German defense, aided by a couple PzIVJ panzers, from the Board 19 crossroads. The US needs to make maximum use of its SMOKE and Firepower advantage to clean up this pocket of die hard defenders. Looks like this could be on many tourney lists down the line.

Housing Crash:
Ralph McDonald brings us more Eastern Front nastiness as a company of Ubermen SS 8-3-8 Assault Engineers crashes into a reinforced company of Russian Riflemen on Deluxe Boards b & d. Taking buildings on the other side of the SSR Anti- tank Ditch is the German Mission and the Russian defenders are in no mood to give them up. Tournament sized DASL fun.

Send Us More has been renamed Heroic Defense of Wake :
This is an incredible and intense PTO slugfest that Tom Morin has exhumed from his filing cabinet. We were going
to submit it to the venerable On All Fronts over 12 years ago. It is the Japanese Night Assault on Wake Island 12 days after the initial attempt to take the Island was a complete disaster. This time they are assaulting the beach at night in this PTO mini-monster with 2 companies worth of 4-4-8s attacking a very mixed USA defense which has Marines, ad-hoc Naval personnel and even civilians manning the plethora of machine guns and ordnance available. It starts at night and sees twilight and eventually day as the fight proceeds inland over now 8 very hard fought turns.

July 14- 'A few returned' action pack ships

News admitted by : Michael Cadieux

"A few returned" is being shipped by Multiman Publishing for a few days now. The pack features three (unmounted) 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.

I have not preordered the pack , for a large part due to the massive shipping cost increase to europe which MMP has recently implemented. So if anyone has a few pictures they'd like to share then please send them by email and I'll post them here.

June 22- MMP mounted board sale - 1$ a piece!

News admitted by : Skye

If you want mounted (thick hard cardboard backside) boards to play ASL on , then get them now! MMP sells them for just 1$ a piece. After this sale they will never again be for sale again, and will never be reprinted.

Check out the sale here.

May 7- ASL Journal 2 reprint announced

News admitted by : Skye

Hurrah! No need to buy this magazine for 250$ on Ebay anymore, a reprint is in the works with Multiman Publishing. That's very good news as this is one of the best magazines in the ASL Journal line. It contains the Kakazu Ridge historical study with a full-sized HASL map, counters and the usual content of scenarios (24 in this issue!) and a few very nice articles.

The actual announcement by MMP is as follows (published on Consimworld.com):

Journal #2 is going to be reprinted, assuming it hits P#, with a retail price of $50 and a P# price of $37.50. It will be slightly shorter than the original, removing three advertisements and the Comprehensive Rout example since its in the rulebook. It will be printed at the same time as VotG, assuming J2 hits of course, because the countersheet print run is not sufficiently large to run by itself.

We have not put it on P# yet since it may hit immediately and we do not wish to stir up yet more "gee, when's it gonna see print" posts. When the VoTG counters are nearly ready (i'm hopeful that the latest batch of fixes goes out for proofing this weekend) it'll be put on P#.

Very nice indeed, Journal 2 is one of the few missing components in my ASL kit, so I'll be happy to order it :-)

May 30- Free ASL magazine Bansai 12.2 out

News admitted by : Skye

Ever checked the ASL website of the Texas Asl Club? You should, they have a nice free magazine called "Bansai" of which the june-2007 issue has just been released. They write nice AAR's (after action reports) , and having just played 'Marders not Martyrs" this one seems like a nice bit of reading :-)

May 25- Memorial Day Sale at MMP

News admitted by : Skye

It's Memorial Day sale at MMP! Get a nice discount on Journal 6&7 , Shifting Sands , Africa or the mounted AOO maps while you can :-)

May 23- View from trenches #70 available for download

News admitted by : Skye

The free and downloadable ASL magazine "View from the trenches" issue 70 is now available. You can download this freebee here.

May 19- New ASL scenario pack released

News admitted by : Skye

Another new ASL scenario pack available : To Battle by Air #1

This six-sceanrio pack is the first of three scenario packs that revolve around battles involving airborne and paratroop forces of World War Two. Check the website from Lone Canuck Publishing for more details.

May 11- New ASL scenario pack released

News admitted by : Skye

A new ASL sscenario pack has seen the light , more info can be found here or on the Fanatic Enterprises website.

FANATIC ENTERPRISES is pleased to announce the release of the Budapest Pack; another fine scenario pack covering a variety of unique actions for the Advanced Squad Leader system.

The scenario pack includes 18 scenarios covering a variety of actions in the Budapest Campaign. The scenarios are a good selection of east front, old fashioned style ASL action. A good variety of scenarios from large to tourney sized.

In addition, I am pleased to announce the release of 2 new boards, FE 1 and FE 2. FE 1 is a rural board with some farms, a gully and some small hills. FE 2 is a city set atop a hill. The boards are on heavy card stock and each comes in two pieces that connect along the Q hexrow. I hope you enjoy this humble addition to the ASL system. Look forward to numerous scenarios featuring these boards in the future.

April 15- ASL binder print run planned

News admitted by : Skye

I you are (like me) running out of ASL rulebook binder-space then you might want to check out the Grenadier Tournament Website. Christian K (Tournament organiser) is planning a print run of empty binders with a custom 'scenario storage' front on them.

One binder is big enough to store Chapter A-G even when each page is in a sheet protector. The ring mechanic is the same as the original ASLRB have.

The specs:

Binder A4 640mm x 315 - Garini
Open format 640mm x 315mm
Closed Format 285 X 315mm
made from PVC-plastic foil - red Cremlin
Reinforced by 2.0 mm cardboard
Integrated in the back is a 3 ring Roundringmechanic with 50mm diameter

More details about the binder and how to attend Grenadier and get some fancy new binders can be found here.

April 14- Tarawa Gaming Guide making some progress

News admitted by : Skye

The Tarawa gaming guide, the aid to the ultra-hardcore historical ASL module 'Blood Reef Tarawa' is itching forward on the production line. Report is that last week proofreading and final formatting was done; and that the final draft is expected to be send to MMP this week.

With 958 out of a needed 1000 preorders, this playaid is slowly getting to the needed PreOrder number and

for 12$ it's a safe buy if you like ASL in a PTO enviroment.

Actually ; the 'Blood Reef Tarawa' module is not even subject to ASL PTO terrain rules. Some reading in chapter F of the rulebook (F7 Sand and for soft/hard beaches and F3 Hammada for exposed reefs) should really get players on the road. G1 PTO Terrain rules arenot in effect, nor do G12 Landing Craft rules apply - it's not as complicated as one would think.

March 11- Le Franc Tireur #10 magazine out

News admitted by : Skye

Issue number ten of the French ASL magazine 'Le Franc Tireur; has been released. I recently got a chance to look at issue #9 and was very impressed with the quality of the magazine. With issue #10 they seem to have improved even further , yet quality has is price it seems, the magazine retails at a whopping Eur34,- (about 45$).

Th issue focuses on Division Azul, a division of Spanish volunteers which fought on the eastern front. As usual 10 scenarios printed on hard paper and featuring actions of Division Azul are included. Moreover, this issue includes a Counter sheet; 140 x 1'2 counters and the usual 10 scenarios (but this time on cardboard paper, 190 grams

For a closeup of the countersheet please look here, or a closeup of the entire magazine here.

March 7- New Partisan module in the works

News admitted by : Skye

Mark Pitcavage is working on a new module with partisan forces, it is supposed to become a comprehensive compendium of partisan/guerrilla forces around the world in WWII, along with their SW/AFVs/Guns.

Research is soon to be completed , the rules and gun/vehicle notes are now being put together.
Finished project would include "Chapter V" (sort of a partisan chapter H), cool scenarios, and 1-2 countersheets, plus who knows what else.

Read more about it on the ASL forum here, or have a look at a larger picture from the sample page of the module here.

March 2- Visited ASL Open Scandinavian Tournament

News admitted by : Skye

I had a great time at the Scandinavian ASL tournament again, thanks for all who played with me. I enjoyed every single game! As usual it took a while to catch up with all the lost sleep, but now I've posted a few pictures in the ASL STUFF -> Tournament Pictures section of this website.

Jeroen V. getting ready to assault Fortress Cassino in the Mini-Tournament

Februari 11- Multiman Publishing starts a SALE !

News admitted by : Skye

People have been joking on the ASL forum about the name of the upcoming ASL sale at MMP, and now MMP has actually done it... They started the sale and called it "The Canadian Dude sale" after one of the Forum members. Good sense of humor I think :-)

At any rate, this a a great chance to get a large chuck of the ASL core modules for cheap. Check it out here on MMP's website.

Februari 4-News from Multiman Publishing

News admitted by : Skye

Some news on future and current ASL releases from MMP. It's also made known that after the MMP warehouse move (which is almost completed now) there will be another MMP online sale... So keep checking out the MMP website the next couple of weeks!

Operations #50: submitted to the printer, should ship in two weeks (Early Feb - Red.)

Operations #51: May/Origins release.

ASLSK#1: On sale again

ASLSK#2: ASLSK#2 will be reprinted at the same time as VOTG and Few Returned, as it has come close to the edge of extinction.

ASLSK#3: once counters arrive (printed along with the reprint of ASLSK#1),waiting on just the rulebook and charts. Approximately two-three weeks after we receive counters.

ASL Journal #8: playtesting is underway. Anticipated late summer (probably not)/early fall release depending on playtesting (hint, hint).

Valor Of The Guards: Once ASLSKs are done, Brian's full attention goes on finishing up layout on this. Right now our goal is Origins (5th July 2007 -Red) for release. We hope to reach that goal, of course.

Few Returned: is being printed with Valor of the Guards, its only scenario layout and a wrap so I don't anticipate any problems here. So our goal for this is Origins.

Januari 14-News on Heat of Battle 3-1 package

News admitted by : Skye

Some news on the 3 ASL products-in-1 package from Heat of Battle. It looks like it's finally on a roll after a lot of trouble with the printers.

To those who preordered the following was mailed:

The counters are being printed now and we *think* we will have everything done by the end of next week!  All of the packaging is done, all of the other products are done.  We just need to finish the counters, drop a sheet into the Recon By Fire 4, and drop the Special Forces sheets in those folders, then  have them shrink wrapped and then ship.

So that would mean shipping somewhere near the end of week 3 or week 4 of januari. Until then you can have a look at the counters from 'Recon by Fire 4' here and here.

Januari 6-Sneak peek at future ASL maps

News admitted by : Skye

While browsing the web I found some interesting stuff, amongst these some examples of ASL maps made by a graphic designer. Interesting thing is that not all of these maps have been published yet. Other maps on display have been published and are very much like those eventually included in the various ASL products. Therefore it seems reasonable to assume that this is the map for the yet to be released module "Ortona - Little Stalingrad" , and what about these ? One of them is an "Armies of Oblivion" mapboard it seems.

Januari 3-New historical sites added

News admitted by : Skye

Those of you who like the ASL "Pegasus Bridge " historical module might enjoy some past and present pictures from Chateaux Benouville in the 'Famous Battlegrounds' section of the menu.

I also added the historical site "Primosole Bridge" , known from the ASL Historical Campaign from ASL Journal 6.