ASL / CM:BN crossover video

[Kuderian]

Just came across this ASL tutorial video.

 

Might bring a weary smile to Steve's face!

 

[A Canadian Cat]

Pretty neat but to me it begs the question if you have Combat Mission what are you doing playing ASL?

I admit I never was a big ASL player because it presented the same problem as miniatures did for me - no one to play with. I had fun a few times but Combat Mission totally eclipses it. For nostalgia I can see fans playing but that's about the only reason I can think of that one would.

[Erwin]

very bizarre.  but good ad for CM and CM does get an end credit.

[Christian Knudsen]

I got out of ASL for the same reason you did - lack of ftf opponent.  But now there is the VASL program for online play, and a big community that uses it, with guys that are willing to teach the game to new or inexperienced players.  I'm very very glad I kept all my ASL stuff all these years. 

The best thing about ASL is the tremendous flexibility the game offers.  There are scenarios covering any theater, any time, and any situation.  And for the dedicated, a wealth of historical campaign games are available.  Plus, it's fun!

[A Canadian Cat]

13 hours ago, Christian Knudsen said:

I got out of ASL for the same reason you did - lack of ftf opponent.  But now there is the VASL program for online play, and a big community that uses it, with guys that are willing to teach the game to new or inexperienced players. 

Ah I didn't clue onto that. I thought those images were scanned maps and unit tiles. Well a computer version of ASL removes the biggest barrier that's for sure.

Glad people are enjoying it. I personally will be sticking with CM.

[Erwin]

It's bizarre (to me at least) that someone would prefer a cardboard game over a 3D computer sim with AI.  I still shudder recalling the large % of cardboard game playing taken up by rules lawyering.  (And it's a shame as I have over a thousand immaculate cardboard games sitting around in a garage waiting for an EMP to end life as we know it - mostly unplayed - esp since CM started in 1999.) 

[Christian Knudsen]

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

It's bizarre (to me at least) that someone would prefer a cardboard game over a 3D computer sim with AI.  I still shudder recalling the large % of cardboard game playing taken up by rules lawyering.  (And it's a shame as I have over a thousand immaculate cardboard games sitting around in a garage waiting for an EMP to end life as we know it - mostly unplayed - esp since CM started in 1999.) 

I like both computer and boardgames.  When I play ASL online I do it over skype and VASL, so much of the social nature and banter of ftf play is preserved.  And I have friends that I play actual boardgames with, although to be fair they have resisted the urge to try ASL so far.  

Rules lawyering is an issue, but there are several ways to avoid it.  The first is to play a well-tested game that has a ruleset that minimizes confusion.  It gets to the point where you can see pretty quickly which games have been shoved out the door without enough testing, just because there are things in the rules that are commonplace occurrences within the game that don't work or are unclear as written.  The second is to be a bit picky about with whom you play.  The guys I play with regularly all have the guiding principle that while winning is nice, fun is the goal.  If we have a disagreement over rules, we apply the common-sense test - would the application of a rule as lawyered make sense in the real world?  Or would it lead to a situation that strains credulity?  Then we go with the interpretation that seems to lead to the most realistic result in our eyes.  If someone wants to make a federal case out of it, and it happens too often, we just don't invite that person to play again.

One thing I will say, though.  If you have a ton of boardgames that are in good condition that you are not going to play, then make some $$$ off them!  There are LOTS of people out there who will pay good prices for games.  EBay, the Boardgame Geek marketplace, and the Facebook Wargamer's Marketplace group are all great places to find new homes for your unused games, with people who will pay well for them, especially if they are rare/out of print.  You will likely make far more than you spent on them in the first place!

[Erwin]

"You will likely make far more than you spent on them in the first place!"

Inshallah...

[Holman]

I love good board wargames, but I'm more and more interested in designs that aren't exactly trying to do "simulation on paper," at least at the tactical level.

My short BGG review of the ASL rulebook sums it up for me:

"The ASL rulebook is a monument.  I'm in awe every time I crack it open.

"At the same time, I'm put off by a ruleset that wants to add systems for everything at such a cost of weight and fiddliness.  I know most of them aren't used in most scenarios, but the degree of look-up and the dense web of exceptions/clarifications/complications add a burden of rules overhead that puts me off the game.

"The system seems just a step away from trying to do more than can reasonably be done with paper.  Approaching that gap, it's easier just to make the leap to the PC Combat Mission series.  While CM falls a few theaters short, it simulates much more and with more granularity while keeping the workload under the hood.  For me the paradox is that ASL simulates too much without simulating enough.

"For some this is the game of a lifetime.  My rating indicates huge respect tempered by moderate alienation."

 

[JoMac]

I still remember my Gaming Shop days in Northern Virginia (until it sold in early 90's) selling Board Games (including ASL & Modules), Minis, and something called D&D & 40K, etc...I would get in a new ASL Module just about every month.

WWII HO & Micro-Armor on a Miniatures Gaming Table was my thing (along with Star-Trek Combat Simulation :-)...I would look at each new rules that came in the shop to see which ones where more realistic then others, etc. After all was said in done, I always came back to the original 1 or 2.

I'm like Holman, I like to crack open my long list of Miniature Rules from time to time for comparison purposes...I still have a collection of these Minis, and think, maybe oneday, they will once again game on some miniatures table :-)

Joe

Edited February 5, 2017 by JoMc67

[Christian Knudsen]

I totally get and respect that attitude re: ASL, and it's why I can't convince my gaming buddies to play it - they just don't want to spend that much time trying to learn the rules when they could be actually playing games that are also fun but involve a lot less time investment.  I once joked that one would need to attend a seminar held over 12 weekends just to properly learn the basic rules for Chapters A-D, and like all good jokes it has a kernel of truth.  I'm currently being mentored back into the game, we've played 6 scenarios now, and my mentor figures I'm almost ready to move on to scenarios involving vehicles.  It does take a bit of effort, and there's a reason that ASL is less a game than a lifestyle.

I'm a bit of a masochist though, and have always been attracted to more complicated and "simulationist" games, for some reason.  And I wouldn't be playing ASL today had I not both bought it cheaply nearly 30 years ago, and managed to keep it all this time, through many a move and much pressure from the wife!

[Ted]

ASL is a gateway drug to CM

I played SL and ASL for years. I have many modules, many boards many nationalities and the special trays to put them all in. And all gathering dust in the attic. I have to admit that video was giving me the fever to dust it all off and break it our again.

There is something, how to say it, rewarding perhaps, about being able to feel and see the counters and all their numerical attack and defense strengths and weaknesses.

I liked the tank counters showing the strength of each of three machine guns,hull, coaxial and AA, You saw the speed and knew the distance it could travel and the speed of the rotation of the turret and the chances of breakdown using excessive movement. (My avatar at the Band of Brothers is the Sherman counter.)

Then there was the anticipation from both sides as you heard the click of the dice as you shook them in your hand, And of course their was the agony of rolling a 12 and the ecstasy of rolling a snake eyes. Or how about the suspense of pulling out the thread and checking the LOS seeing if you really could see hex to hex or did you waist a first fire. It truly has a completely different feel to ASL from CM.

Of course their was the bloody rule book. And you can't play by email.

All that being said all I play now is CM   

[sburke]

CM still needs Marines (in WW2).

[Rocky Balboa]

6 hours ago, sburke said:

CM still needs Marines (in WW2).

    Yep.  would definitely buy.  Not sure why BF is so opposed to doing it.  I'm hoping some enterprising 3rd party will partner with BF to create such a beast.  I know snowball did CMA but but I'm not sure how that relationship has worked out ... 

[StieliAlpha]

On 4.2.2017 at 9:08 PM, Erwin said:

It's bizarre (to me at least) that someone would prefer a cardboard game over a 3D computer sim with AI.  I still shudder recalling the large % of cardboard game playing taken up by rules lawyering.  (And it's a shame as I have over a thousand immaculate cardboard games sitting around in a garage waiting for an EMP to end life as we know it - mostly unplayed - esp since CM started in 1999.) 

I completely disagree. Nothing better than seeing your board game opponent crumble, when things start to go wrong. ? I had that experience only last weekend again. Those were very intense moments. Unfortunately,  this time I was on the receiving end. ?

Even playing a computer game at a LAN party does not provide the same kind of satisfaction.

Though nowadays, I prefer it a little simpler, discussing about the rules can be half the fun.

But on the other hand, I agree. If you don't have a human opponent at the table, computer games are the preferred choice. I never could bring myself to play any board game with VASSAL.

[IronCat60]

Anybody else notice in the opening historical footage that the one MG42 gunner in the soft cap has hair and facial features like Larry from the Three Stooges? Or is that Drei Stooges? Herr Moe Hilter (yes Mr. Hilter from Monty Python) must be at the Reichstag with Herr Curly Goring, keeping the Taube Schadel (numb skulls) in line.

Edited February 24, 2017 by mech.gato