Holdit Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 (edited) ASL for me. It fills in the gaps left by CM. There are scenarios and releases now that cover from the Sino-Japanese war to the Korean war, and everything and every theatre and nationality in between and a lot of stuff that isn't in CM e.g. paradrops, beach landings, gliders, climbing, sewer movement, basements for tanks to fall into... Sure, you have to do the engine work yourself and there a few other drawbacks e.g. no sexy 3D and the FOW isn't as well-done, and you can't replicate weal-world tactics in the same way as you can with CM but in my opinion it's worth it. The modules can be hard to get and quite expensive, but if anyone prepared to forgo the full sets with physical boards can do quite well with VASL, an online computerised playing surface - unfortunately, it doesn't enforce the rules so you still need to learn them. Some say that ASL is a Hollywood version of WW2. I don't think that's correct - the outcomes are too random and too cruel - just like in CM. Show me the Hollywood ,movie where the best leader was taken out by a sniper before he got to do anything, or where a bunch of Stalingrad's heroic defenders fried themselves with their own molotov cocktails. But a lot of players reckon that each scenario played produces its own story that stick in the mind. One that sticks in my mind recently was from "Fighting Withdrawal" (me playing solo - Holditov vs Holditala) the first scenario in the first module, which has the Finns attacking a Russian-held town in one of the early attacks of the Continuation War. A number of Finnish squads needed to cross an open space but it was covered by an Russian squad+ MG which had already wiped out one squad attempting to cross at the same spot. A morale check against one of the Finnish squads auto-generated a Hero counter and the hero distracted the Russians by heading for an adjacent building, drawing fire while the rest of his comrades scampered across safely. The hero survived the fire aimed at him but seeing that the Russian squad was demoralised (it had been reduced in quality by an earlier morale check), he fancied his chances at taking them on single-handed...and didn't survive the experience. The kind of vignette you might read about in a book by Max Hastings, Anthony Beevor or Cornelius Ryan. Edited September 16, 2020 by Holdit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Completely different question, but I thought this thread might be the right place to ask it again: A long time ago, I bought a game called “Stalk II” on EBay. It’s obviously an older game about tactical WWII tank battles with fairly simple, but solid rules. About CM scale, but without infantry. The game even came with a few 1/400 cast metal tanks. Does anybody know it? Was there ever a Stalk I? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 12 minutes ago, StieliAlpha said: Completely different question, but I thought this thread might be the right place to ask it again: A long time ago, I bought a game called “Stalk II” on EBay. It’s obviously an older game about tactical WWII tank battles with fairly simple, but solid rules. About CM scale, but without infantry. The game even came with a few 1/400 cast metal tanks. Does anybody know it? Was there ever a Stalk I? Correction: It is Stalk I, not II. While searching for it, I found this on EBay: https://www.ebay.ch/itm/253231078034 Looks like all components for “Pattons Best” and “Raid on St Nazaire” on a DVD. Probably good to get a in depth impression of the games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hister Posted September 20, 2020 Author Share Posted September 20, 2020 1 hour ago, StieliAlpha said: Correction: It is Stalk I, not II. While searching for it, I found this on EBay: https://www.ebay.ch/itm/253231078034 Looks like all components for “Pattons Best” and “Raid on St Nazaire” on a DVD. Probably good to get a in depth impression of the games. Can't answer your question but I can let you know a remake of Pattons Best is in the works right now. Will be published at Compass Games most likely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynaman216 Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 I play ASL (more often than CM at this point), Lock N Load Tactical, and Panzer/MBT. As for why, I like knowing the rules of the simulation and the mental challenge of remembering and applying the rules. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 2 hours ago, Hister said: a remake of Pattons Best is in the works right now. Will be published at Compass Games most likely. Good to know. Though I did not like the original too much. It worked fine, but lacked in atmosphere due to the poor graphics. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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