As promised, here is an AAR about a Starter Kit scenario. Back in 2010, I began playing ASL after a 13 year hiatus spent working and raising my children. There were points in those years, when I feared I would never play again. But fortune smiled on me and I was able to convince my long-time friend in St. Louis to give Carboard via SKYPE a try. And he took to it with great enthusiasm. We would play 24 scenarios in 2010...which at the time was the most I'd ever played in a year (126 last year for comparison). One of the things that helped get us back into the groove was ASL Starter Kit.
My STL buddy and I had played a lot of Squad Leader back in the late '70's and early '80's. Then in 1989, we started playing ASL and did so until I moved away from St. Louis in 1996. In those early years, we played mostly Russian Front scenarios and avoided PTO and DTO. The rules just felt a bit overwhelming to us then. And when we started up again in 2010, the rules were still a bit more than we wanted to deal with. The solution...Starter Kit. We bought the Starter Kits 1-3 and played them straight through.
As I recall, we had to begin with Starter Kit 2 and wait for a reprint of Starter Kit, which was not a long wait.
Starter Kit scenarios are generally short with smaller forces, limited combined arms and clearly defined objectives. In short, they hit the sweet spot for less rules, less complicated game play and overall short playing times.
Our game play was usually limited to two hours each Wednesday. And surprisingly we often finished a scenario in 2-3 hours.
Playing Starter Kit also gave us both a chance to shake off the rust of 13 years and reacquaint ourselves with the game.
Fast forward to 2021 and we are still on the Starter Kit journey. As we only play about 6-9 games a year, there have been plenty of Starter Kit scenarios released to keep us going.
Of course, we did play some regular ASL scenarios during the past 12 years as well, but the majority of our play the past few years has been primarily Starter Kit. These days, we normally play every Friday night and limit play to about 2-3 hours for each session. Fortunately, our games are normally completed in that time frame.
This past Friday night, we played S83 Off to Oslo form the Starter Kit Bonus Pack #2. When Starter Kit first came out, I was a bit dubious about it. I understood the need for it as a way to ease folks into full ASL...but then it became clear that MMP was taking Starter Kit into a game system apart from full ASL. With limited resources to advance future full ASL products, I was concerned that Starter Kit would siphon off resources from full ASL projects.
As it turned out, MMP has been able to walk and chew gum pretty well. Full ASL and Starter Kit have been able to coexist at the development level very well. With its foray into the PTO, I was even able to get my STL buddy to play PTO...and quite a lot of it. And something else has occurred that I had not expected....I began to enjoy SK scenarios. Now don't misunderstand, I love playing full ASL, but there are occasions when playing the less complex SK scenarios is a really nice change of pace. No snipers, no VBM Freeze, no Bypass movement and a host of other rules. It's liberating to take any shot and never have to worry about activating your opponent's sniper.
And no Bypass movement...what a joy that is. Of course, there have been times, when I have missed that capability. For me, SK brought me back to old Squad Leader. As Starter Kit continues to grow, I can certainly imagine that it's more simple approach will attract more gamers of the "Beer & Pretzels" crowd who set aside Wingspan and Gloomhaven on a Saturday night to play an ASL SK Scenario with their buds. There is certainly room at the ASL table for those gamers and may they be many! Oh and in the near future we will have a Normandy Starter Kit HASL to enjoy...and enjoy it I shall!!
S83 Off to Oslo (designed by David Cheever) takes place on April 9th as the German Invasion of Denmark and Norway begins. The Norwegians consist of green 4-3-7's defending an airfield and two checkpoints. The Germans are 4-6-7's that begin the game on the open runway with Norwegians LMG's looking right at them. To win this scenario, the German player must take all three buildings by the airfield and then destroy both checkpoints. Sounds easy...it isn't.
The two checkpoints are at the two road intersections on Board i. I would use pillboxes to denote the Checkpoints. My apologies in advance for the poor picture quality. My board picks came out a bit blurry some unknown reason (user error) and the availability of pictures related to the Invasion of Norway is not so good...at least on Google.
As the defending Norwegians, my buddy Scott would command elements of the Jaervingen Ground Crew and Air Defense Personnel. His force would consist of 7 x 4-3-7's and 6 x 2-2-7's led by an 8-1, 8-0, and 7-0 with 3 x LMG's.
As the attacking Germans, I would command elements of Bataillon II, Infanterie-Regiment 324. My force would consist of 11 x 4-6-7's and 4 x 2-4-7's led by a 9-1, 8-1 and 2 x 8-0's with an MMG, 3 x LMG's, a 50 MTR and 4 x DC's.
At game start, the two checkpoints are unoccupied. Norwegian reinforcements arrive on Turn 1 and can easily reach them both. I could reach one by CX'ing...but I would make a different choice and not the right one. I would also set up much too close to the Norwegians.
"Hey fellas...should'nt we maybe take cover.? There are Norwegians with guns over there." "Schmidt...are you kidding!?! They are only Green 4-3-7's. We are veteran 4-6-7's. We can take them easy...so relax."
Schmidt was right to worry.
Turn 1 German - I manage to break a couple units, but then Scott breaks my 9-1 stack and gets some kills as well. I go into CC with the closest building, while my 8-0 takes a 2-3-7 with two DC's to the the north. I would seek shelter rather than CX up to the first checkpoint...which is what I should have done. It would cost me dearly.
"Where are the trucks...don't tell me we have to walk...and don't even ask me to CX...I ain't doing it. That +1 modifier nearly got me killed last game."
Turn 1 Norwegian - Scott's reinforcements arrive and take control of both checkpoints. Meanwhile at the airfield, my boys are still broken and in the open. I had taken control of one building, but I was not feeling very good at this point.
Turn 2 German - I get a couple more breaks near the airfield, but not much else.
One look tells the story. The Norwegians are very much in control of the battle. I had lost two full squads at this point and units were broken with the 9-1 and 8-1. The 8-1 was the result of rolling snakes in Close Combat...I neglected to mention that earlier.
Turn 3 German - my reinforcements arrive and get shot up by the Norwegians as Scott continues to roll very low against me. I was getting pummeled by 4-3-7's at long range...good grief.
My boys have to just hug the ground and hope for the best.
Broken and dead Germans littered the battlefield. But time was running out. So on Turn 4, I moved what I had available and struck out to secure the airfield buildings and eliminate the first checkpoint.
I would finally get my 50 MTR into the action and it would get a critical hit and break up some Norwegian strongpoints.
Turn 5 German - I would place a DC on the first checkpoint and roll an 11...I needed a 10 or less to eliminate it. So, I failed. My other DC's were dropped on the field as the units carrying them had been killed. I would secure the airfield buildings, but at the end of Turn 5, I gave the concession. There was no way I could move to and destroy the two checkpoints...especially without my DC's. So that was game and a Norwegian win. My buddy Scott won the game at the airfield with the beating he administered to my troops out in the open. And I would say that is probably the key for the Norwegians in this scenario. Get your licks in early and often to keep the Germans off balance.
Kudos to the hard fighting Norwegian 4-3-7's!!!
My thanks to Scott for a great game and for decades of great game memories. As for Starter Kit, it took me bit to appreciate it, but I enjoy combining a bit of SK with my full ASL activities. Like a nice sorbet...it cleanses the palate before moving on to the main course.
One last thought, our good blog friend Stewart of Stew's Replays recently started a thread on the Game Squad Forum - 'Maybe it's time for Competitive Tournaments'. I found his suppositions to be very interesting. And like Stewart, I too feel that the Tournaments tend to be composed of two groups, the top players who will win the tournament and the rest of us. I have enough Tournament shirts with the names of the winners from years past....and yeah..Player X has won it 5 times...Player Y 3 times...and so on and so forth. It reminds me a bit of Wimbledon, the French open, the US Open. The top tennis players usually come out on top and Wimbledon this year was no exception as Djokovic won yet another major title and sits at 20 grand slam titles. He is an exceptional tennis player and no one would dispute his place at the top.
If you aren't familiar with Stewart's YouTube site, check out the link above for some truly great ASL discussions about scenarios, rules, tactics and everything else ASL related. It's also a great place to learn more about Starter Kit. I'm a big fan and highly recommend spending time there!
ASL is not so different, we have our top players as well and barring any bizarre twist of game fate, they should easily win their early round matches in any tournament against the lower and middle ranked players. Stewart pointed this out and said something out loud that rang true to me. Many of us have this idea that the early round games are a great opportunity for low ranked players to play the top echelon players and enjoy the learning experience as they lose their first round games. But Stewart made the observation that such games usually end very quickly and with a bit of humiliation for low ranked players...so the amount learned may be questionable. We see similar situations in the first round games of the NCAA Basketball Tournament where 16 seeds are matched against 1 and 2 seeds. The 16 seeds are expected to be defeated...but every now and then a Cinderella Team beats the 1 seed and advances. We celebrate the underdog in those situations.
ASL Tournaments don't generally have a "Cinderella" moment. The top players of our game have an advantage that doesn't exist in basketball...and it's "rules knowledge". The great players are serious students of the rules and know how to employ them as a very effective weapon against their opponents. It's something which sets our game apart from many others. Chess as an example doesn't have the depth of rules that ASL does. ASL requires a great player to master the rules as well as the sound tactics that contribute to victorious game play.
As for myself, I am a C Player with a not too terrible tournament record. I have played in 12 different tournaments since 2013. My tournament record is 17 wins and 21 losses. My best performance was at the 2018 St. Louis Tournament where I finished 3-1 and 9th overall. My first game was against David Ginnard...one of the great players out there. I didn't play David in order to "learn anything". I played him because I consider him a great friend and wanted to play a game of ASL with my friend. Winning and losing, even in a Tournament Setting was not really on my mind. Enjoying the chance to play someone I only get to see a few times a year was the objective. And oddly, losing that first round game allowed me to play players more at my skill level until at Round 4 I was playing a great player who had won the tournament on one occasion. And our game didn't last the first turn. My dice were so hot on the first Defensive Fire Phase that I had gutted my opponent's attacking force to the point that he conceded the game before the end of Turn 1. A total and complete fluke that can happen in any sport or any game. It was such a fluke, that I felt bad after winning. I was there to play ASL and in less than 15 minutes the game was over. The winning was less important to me than the playing.
So does all my rambling have a point. Yes actually it does. I believe Stewart brings up very valid points about the Tournaments. It's very true that we can predict which players will probably win the tournament. And they win because their objective at the Tournament is to win. They have prepared at a high level to compete at a high level. In contrast, players like myself...well I don't prepare beyond sorting out the boards and overlays needed for the scenarios to be played at the tournament. I don't go to the tournament to win. I go to play and commune with our community. As long as I win at least one game and don't get skunked...I'm good.
And therein lies the dilemma that Stewart poses for us. There really is no golf like handicap to be applied that will allow a C Player to effectively challenge an A Player for the title. And in fairness there probably shouldn't be. Players who want to win...prepare...and do the work necessary to win.
I bring all of this up because one possible solution would be to utilize Starter Kit scenarios for Round 1. This levels the playing field a little bit by removing the advantage of Rules Knowledge. It's just a thought. I think the tournaments run pretty well as they are and even as a C Player, I usually have a great time.
At any rate, I think Stewart brings up some great points and offers some well thought out solutions. Thanks Stewart for adding to the greater ASL discussions.
"Anyway...it's just a thought...ya'll have a great day!"
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