Advanced Squad Leader Tutorial

[Domenec Reynolds]

RecentlyI was looking for a challenging tactical game to play. A game-savvy friend suggested we dive in the deep end and play Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). I said "sure" and started learning the rules.

I chose to dive straight into the full system rather than the ASL Starter Kit (ASLSK), but the starter kits may be exactly the right thing for you. Either way, my suggested resources will be relevant.

While my friend and I chose to go full ASL rules, we are flattening the learning curve by starting with just the infantry rules and playing just infantry scenarios. Later, as we gain confidence, we'll add ordnance and perhaps armor.

First, you're going to need some rules. I recommend the Electronic Advanced Squad Leader Rulebook (eASLRB). It's the full rules with all the latest errata incorporated in a searchable, indexed PDF. Rules references in the text link directly to the referenced rule. You can full-text search. As a new, learning player I'm constantly referencing the eASLRB and being able to quickly find the relevant term or rule has been extremely helpful.

Neal Ulen's Advanced Squad Leader Academy Boot Camp - Advanced Squad Leader Tutorials on YouTube are an incredible resource for new players. I cannot overstate how critical these were to helping me wrap my head around the rules.

My suggestion for new new players is to read ASLRB chapters A and B without getting too caught up in the details. Just get the words in your head. Watch Neal's Boot Camp tutorials. Then go back and read chapter A more closely. Having seen the tutorials, the rules will make more sense.

From there I'd say start playing. I've alternated playing with my friend and playing solo games, referring back to the rules and play aids as necessary. I own several of the initial ASL modules including Beyond Valor module, but I mostly play on the computer using the Vassal hex game engine and VASL module for ASL. Neal has a terrific playlist of VASL 101 - Virtual Advanced Squad Leader Tutorials to help you get started.

You'll need some scenarios to play. I found the Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) Beginner Scenario List on the Itinerant Hobbyist blog, who credits the list from a poster on Boardgame Geek, via Gamesquad. I've seen this list on other sites as well. The beginner and infantry-only scenarios are a good place to start.

This is the fourth entry in a series of tutorial articles that are designed to help new players learn the ASLSK rules. Links to other entries in this series may be found at the end of this article. This article assumes that the reader has read, and understood, all of the previous articles. Rules and concepts discussed in the earlier articles will be used here with little or no explanation.

This article will primarily cover ASLSK #2, although the relevant parts of ASLSK #3 will occasionally be mentioned in passing. I think it's a little easier to explain Ordnance if one does not have to pretend that tanks do not exist.

In ASLSK #1, all non-CC attacks are resolved in the same way: the attack is announced, the FP and DRMs are calculated, and then a DR is made on the appropriate column of the IFT to find the result of the attack. All such attacks automatically hit their targets (assuming a LOS exists).

The introduction of Ordnance in ASLSK #2 brings with it a whole new method of resolving attacks. These weapons are relatively slow firing, large caliber weapons that must first make a "To Hit" (TH) DR to see if they have hit their target. Only if a hit is scored do they then make a second DR to find the result of the hit.

TH DRs have a large number of possible DRMs, as listed on the back of the To Hit Chart. Many of these DRMs are the same ones you have been using in resolving small arms attacks on the IFT, while others are specific to Ordnance. The long list of DRMs appears daunting, but it is not really difficult to learn: simply check through the list, top to bottom, every time you fire Ordnance. While your first attempts at firing Ordnance will be slow going, with repetition the process will speed up considerably.

The introduction of Ordnance brings other changes as well. Some of these weapons may have multiple types of ammunition to choose from when making an attack, including Smoke, White Phosphorous (WP), High Explosive (HE), Armor Piercing (AP), High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Armor Piercing Composite Rigid (APCR), and Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) shells. Ordnance can appear either as a Support Weapon (SW) on a 1/2" counter, or as a Gun on a large 5/8" counter. Guns must be manned by specially trained crews to fire at full effectiveness, so MMC crew counters have been added to the counter mix, and Guns also introduce the concept of facing: when a Gun is placed on the map, it must be positioned so as to indicate the direction it is aimed.

Ordnance that appears as SW are small weapons that are commonly carried into battle by the soldiers themselves. Their use is very similar to that of MGs: they can be used by any unit, they have a weight expressed as a PP number, some can retain ROF and thus possibly fire several times in the same fire phase, they can suffer breakdowns, and some can be repaired if they do malfunction.

The BAZ 44 (the model introduced in 1944) has a FP of 8 and a range of 4. The X11 breakdown number reflects the limited amount of ammunition that would be carried, rather than just the weapon's mechanical reliability. The back of the counter shows the BAZ 44's To Hit table: for each possible range from 0 to 4, the corresponding To Hit number (TH#) is given. Shots longer than range 4 are not allowed.

HEAT rounds produced a special explosive effect that was designed to punch a hole in a tank's armor plating. Such rounds could be used effectively against infantry only under certain conditions. Therefore, the only non-tank targets that SCWs can be fired at are buildings and Guns.

If a hit occurs, a second DR is then made on the IFT to find the result of the hit. This IFT DR would be made using the BAZ 44's FP of 8 with no DRMs at all. An 8/+0 roll on the IFT has a good chance of causing damage: a DR 7 gives a 1MC.

If Ordnance shots are compared to regular shots, they are both less effective and more effective. They are less effective, because if they do not score a hit, nothing happens to the target. They are more effective, because if they do score a hit, the full FP of the attack is applied to the target with no DRMs: Hindrance and TEM DRMs only make a hit harder to obtain... they do not reduce the effectiveness of a hit when it occurs.

When Ordnance is fired using the To Hit process, the possibility exists for a Critical Hit to occur, which can greatly increase the amount of damage done. Whenever a SCW rolls an original DR 2 on a TH roll, it scores a Critical Hit (CH, rule 6.1). A CH doubles the FP of the attack, and the target hex TEM applies as a negative DRM.

The BAZ could be fired at wEE5 at a range of 4 hexes, but the shot would be TH4/+2. This is a really bad shot, because a breakdown is more likely than a hit: only a DR 2 will score a hit, but a DR 11 or a DR 12 will result in a permanent breakdown.

Firing a rocket-propelled projectile from within a building was extremely dangerous to the occupants of that building, and would only be attempted in desperate circumstances (or by poorly trained troops who didn't know any better). If you choose to accept the +2 TH DRM, what happens is that the soldier with the bazooka actually steps outside the building, fires a quick shot, and then ducks back into the building to reload. Running outside and back for each shot means there is less time for careful aiming, so a +2 DRM is applied.

Note that the TH DRM lists in both ASLSK #2 and ASLSK #3 incorrectly assign the backblast DRM to LATWs (Piats and ATRs have no backblast), and the definition of LATW in those two rulebooks is not quite correct either (ATRs do not have their own To Hit tables). BAZs, PSKs, and PFs are the only weapons affected by backblast.

Light Mortars combine a high ROF with a weak attack, a combination that often proves frustrating to the players. Whenever Light Mortars are present, you'll see seemingly endless mortar shots which, for the most part, will have no effect. Add to this the fact that Light Mortars are some of the heaviest SWs in the game, so they really slow down your troops' movement, and you have a weapon that many players will readily describe as "useless."

What are Light Mortars good for? They are effective against units moving in Open Ground, and they are especially effective against units in woods hexes... but a competent opponent will never willingly give your Light Mortars those kinds of shots. And all mortars benefit from a CH far more than other weapons (because their normal attack is so weak), but, considering that you are as likely to roll a breakdown as a CH, that's not exactly a significant advantage.

Light Mortars were used in such quantities that they should be as common as MGs in ASL/ASLSK scenarios, but you will find that they appear only occasionally, which is a clear indication that players and scenario designers alike often find them to be more trouble than they are worth. Even ASLSK #2, a module that is all about Guns and mortars, only uses Light Mortars in three of its eight scenarios.

ASL's portrayal of Light Mortars as weapons of limited effectiveness would seem to be pretty accurate: although in real life they were widely used, they were also seen as being rather ineffective weapons, and many countries steadily reduced their use of Light Mortars as the war progressed.

There are a number of special rules that apply to all attacks by mortars, whether they are large mortars (Guns) or Light Mortars (SWs). The actual use of mortars in combat, and the ways in which they differ significantly from other Ordnance, will therefore be covered later, in the discussion of Gun-sized mortars.

Weapons that use the larger 5/8" counters are called Guns. These are large weapons that are normally transported to a battle by being towed behind a vehicle (example: an anti-tank gun), or by being dismantled and carried within a vehicle (example: a large mortar). Once they are set up on the battlefield, they either don't move at all, or they can only be moved slowly by infantry units that attempt to manhandle them.

3a8082e126