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ASL vs CMBO


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Don't get me wrong, I love CMBO, but there was still a bit more gravity to ASL. The hours spent doing force selection and setup for Red Barricades lent a bit of weight and solemnity to the whole thing, not to mention the days that could be spent actually playing the game. As well, CMBO doesn't give the opportunity to throw your dice across the room when your 10-3 defending in the Chemist's Shop rolls boxcars on his Heat of Battle die roll...

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Cede Nullis - Yield to None

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Originally posted by Christian Knudsen:

Don't get me wrong, I love CMBO, but there was still a bit more gravity to ASL. The hours spent doing force selection and setup for Red Barricades lent a bit of weight and solemnity to the whole thing, not to mention the days that could be spent actually playing the game. As well, CMBO doesn't give the opportunity to throw your dice across the room when your 10-3 defending in the Chemist's Shop rolls boxcars on his Heat of Battle die roll...

Freaking Exactly!!!!

I may never play ASL again, due to time constraints and the availability of CM.

But CM still has a very long way to go before it can have the "weight" of ASL, and Red Barricades, the very first Historical ASL module, is still the most intense and demanding wargame ever made.

I hope and pray that someday a game like CM, or CM itself, can do that. It will happen eventually. I thought it might never happen until CM came along and I could see a glimmer of potential...

We are still vastly limited by language. It is so much harder to describe a rule in C++ than it is in english...

Jeff Heidman

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Originally posted by Panzer Leader:

SL 1 - 3 were my fondest memories of learning to play that game. I loved storming that factory!

Agreed. I never got into ASL becuase, by GI:Anvil of Victory, there just too dang many rules to remember (and I had discovered girls and beer by that time!)

SL 1-3 could keep drawing me back like a siren every time, however. I still remember how irritated I got trying to stop the Guards rush in Scenario 1.

MrSpkr

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But we're saying goodbye to them all

We're Harry's police force on call!

So put back your pack on

The next stop is Saigon

Don't bless the few bless 'em all!

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Originally posted by MrSpkr:

Agreed. I never got into ASL becuase, by GI:Anvil of Victory, there just too dang many rules to remember (and I had discovered girls and beer by that time!)

LOL!!! Yeah, that's why we married guys should be thankful we have our wives; they free up so much time and energy that used to be spent chasing skirts in bars that we can devote a huge percentage of our non-work waking hours to playing CMBO!!!

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Originally posted by Gyrene:

What's the point? That scenario would probably take a full day and an ulcer to play with ASL. The most amazing thing is that I had fun! No looking at that @#$%^%$ ASL index for every little AFPh/PRC/DRM/FFNAM&FFMO/MPh/VCA take I had to decipher just to figure out if my squad can enter the building from the woods side while eating a sandwich.

BLASPHEMER!!!!!

ASL Rocks.... and there is nothing like playing a face to face game like it. SOrry you hate ASL, and yes, I like CM too, but, consider the ASL Gods have now cursed you, well, don't enter any ASL tourneys... you'll go O-for.

smile.gif

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Doc

God Bless Chesty Puller, Wherever He Is!

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Originally posted by Agua:

LOL!!! Yeah, that's why we married guys should be thankful we have our wives; they free up so much time and energy that used to be spent chasing skirts in bars that we can devote a huge percentage of our non-work waking hours to playing CMBO!!!

Agreed! It is so much easier to chase my wife's skirt! BUT . . . . . we ended up with FOUR kids that way! Changing diapers and trying to teach my son computer games really cuts into my CM time.

HOWEVER . . .

By grooming him now, I will always have an opponent later! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

MrSpkr

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

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"BLASPHEMER!!!!!

ASL Rocks.... and there is nothing like playing a face to face game like it. SOrry you hate ASL, and yes, I like CM too, but, consider the ASL Gods have now cursed you, well, don't enter any ASL tourneys... you'll go O-for."

LOL, I don't hate ASL, I just wish it was more playable. I really love all the detail in that game, but unfortunatly it is that very depth that almost requires you to have a lawyer translate the rules as you play. VASL did make the game easier in some aspects and did make it easier to find opponents.

What I gained from ASL was a greater appreciation for CM; and just as ASL had Squad Leader before it, I have faith that one day CM will have as much depth and detail as ASL. smile.gif

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I am sorry to say that my ASL will remain unplayed as well. I am keeping color copies of all the boards (Yes, I bought EVERY stinking module, AP and all for the system.) I am also keeping all of the scenarios and the rulebook. Everything else is going onto Ebay very soon. All of it. It is strictly a matter of time for me, as well as for most of you.

The one thing that I loved best about playing ASL was seeing the mechanics of the game as it was being played - every single die roll and modifier. I do not doubt CM's accuracy, but I can not see it work. I also really like the Battle Hardening and Berserk aspects of the game - and I think CM might benefit from an aspect like that.

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Capt. Byron Crank, US Army

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Originally posted by Crank_GS:

The one thing that I loved best about playing ASL was seeing the mechanics of the game as it was being played - every single die roll and modifier. I do not doubt CM's accuracy, but I can not see it work.

That IS the biggest aspect of the old board games which is lacking in CM, and any computer wargame for that matter. CM does a superb job of presenting us with, without question, the BEST, most realisitc, computer wargame available. Individuals such as Chris Hare, and as of recently Juju, are publishing tables to help fill in those gaps. Movement spotting, visibility, command tables, etc., would be super helpful in allowing players to develop the feel for how the game works. This sort of information really should be published in the player's guide or on the internet for download. I realize some info can be accessed from the disk, but its not the same as a table that lays it all out in a comparision.

Simply because of the ease of playing without consulting various tables, it would be difficult to ever develop the feel for the mechanics of it, but over time, the feel would be developed. I'd never even consider dropping CM to pick up board games because of the tedium of consulting all the various data tables, but yeah, it is that very same study which makes the board games now seem overly burdensome that imparts to the players the understanding of the game which can't be gained without those detailed tables.

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Originally posted by JunoReactor:

intresting thing is that close combat series started off as the attempt to bring asl to the silicon age as well...

the evolution of the creative process, I guess. Now we have CM. But mostly because there was ASL in the beginning.

Isn't evolution a wonderful thing. Glad to hear that you respect your "roots" though

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Well said, Agua. I do miss being able to quickly and easily determine what the odds of killing or disrupting another unit are.

(Yes I do mean quick and easy - I played SL and its progeny, not ASL)

However, I would never trade CM for the old board games, however.

MrSpkr

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

But we're saying goodbye to them all

We're Harry's police force on call!

So put back your pack on

The next stop is Saigon

Don't bless the few bless 'em all!

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The BIG problem what that I never had anybody to play Squad Leader with me. I did play this kid in high school in study hall for a while! That's right, my teacher allowed us to play as long as we were quiet and rolled the dice on a back pack. Other than that, I got tired of staring at the board and attempting solitare... frown.gif

I went on to buy a lot of the ASL stuff, just to see that it was a money making gimmick. The original SL had one hell of a TO&E going for it. I hated ASL for sucking up my money while leaving me a limited variety of weapons. I really got dis-enfranchised when what was supposed to be "no new rules, just better organized" turned out to be a rediculous addition of unessesary rules. Instead of adding onto the awesome "bypass" , they added "residual firepower" that caused more counters to be on the board and really cramped playability. WHy not just stick to the oversized hexes instead introduced by the deluxe boards???? I promptly sold my entire SL/ASL collection (including my treasured counter box made from a large hardware bin you know, the blue ones with clear drawers) for $100 in 1991.

I did buy the 4 original SL games when I found out that AH was going out. I'm not that heartless ya know.

CM finally answered my prayers once and for all...

-SKi

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"The Lieutenant brought his map out and the old woman pointed to the coastal town of Ravenoville........"

[This message has been edited by Teamski (edited 03-30-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Teamski (edited 03-30-2001).]

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Originally posted by Jeff Heidman:

Spoken by an obvious ASL-lite player.

The true ASL player has all his counter properly organized and stored in some system resulting in easy and near instantaneous access to any of the 13,000 counters in his collection.

And if you are really serious, all those counters will be netaly clipped.

Jeff Heidman

Hey Jeff. I think you've just qualified for inclusion into the new category of "ASL-retentive". smile.gif Sorry, couldn't resist...

Regards

Jim R.

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The true ASL player has all his counter properly organized and stored in some system resulting in easy and near instantaneous access to any of the 13,000 counters in his collection.

So, Jeff, were you a member of the "Plano" or "Ziplock" camp of counter storage? I seem to recall the ASL community being bitterly divided over this issue..... wink.gif

-Doug

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Guest birdgunner

I have a large collection of the ASL games which have been collecting dust for years. Being in the Army, never had the time or have I found anyone interested in playing the game. So when CM came along, WOW!!!

What a hoot...

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So many Battles and so little Time... Sleep!!! Who needs Sleep!

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