ASL

By David Garvin

If you’ve been intrigued by my posts here on NO DICE NO GLORY, and you want to start into Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).  I can well imagine that you’re thinking “Well?  How do I start?”  Simple question and with typical ASL style, there is no easy answer. There are a few paths to playing ASL. In this article, I’m going to lay out five paths to playing ASL. Then I’ll tell which path I took.

By David Garvin

When I went to my first gaming tournament, it was a local Flames of War tournament. About a dozen or so of us showed up and it was grand fun. We played three rounds in a day and I recall not winning a single game, yet having a blast. My force was composed of a Germany grenadier company. It was essentially custom built and I knew how to use it, in spite of not winning (the games were close, as I recall).

I later went to the Canadian Nationals in Ottawa. For this tournament I had an armored infantry company from the US 2^nd Armored Division. It was late war and I did much better. There were two days of play and I got in 6 matches.

We had a great crowd and there was quite a bit of competition that really got me to hone my skills. The next year I did even better; it was early war and I had a German Panzer Company, based around Panzer 38 (t) E tanks.

What does it mean to have precision? Some may equate it with accuracy, but that is, well, inaccurate.  Consider the following: an armed force has a target in a building. Their 155mm round may hit the target accurately, 99 times out of 100; however, if the resulting blast levels the five adjacent buildings, was the effect precise? Not in the least! In order to be precise, one must first be accurate and then one must ensure that the effects are only those desired.

By David Garvin

As gamers from across the country and around the world settled on Bowie, Maryland last month, there was a buzz in the air. The numbers showing up seemed to be greater than ever and this was to be confirmed by the organizers: 190 registered players. This was by far the greatest Winter Offensive held by (MMP).

Winter Offensive is the annual gaming tournament held every year by the publishers of Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).

It is an open format tournament that features many games into the ubiquitous ASL. Many of these cover various battles of the US Civil War. But there is no doubting the fact that the big draw for Winter Offensive is ASL.