September / October 2012 Volume 6, Issue 4

Inside this Issue

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PREP FIRES The Editors column. BOUNDING FIRE: News in the Bay Area for ASL players KGP CG3: In Depth Analysis of American possibilities in this CG. AAR #1: Streets of Kharkov DftB 92. AAR #2: ASL Game Day makes for a rousing Labor Day in Nor Cal! BACK TO THE BASICS: Night Moves DEFENSIVE FIRE Letters to the Editor, Opponents Wanted FPF: Upcoming West Coast ASL events calendar and information CLOSE COMBAT

An Independent Journal of ASL Thoughts and Ideas

Published free of charge by the Silicon Valley and Nor Cal ASL Clubs. If you paid for this, you need to get your money back! ASL is a registered Trademark of Hasbro Inc. and MultiMan Publishing Inc. Artwork includes counter art and map art from Rodney Kinneys brilliant creation of VASL. This artwork is used with permission from Mr. Kinney. Thanks to both Mr. Kinney and Carl Fago for the quality work on one truly innovative product for our hobby

seems to be the concepts generally accepted that long out of print items of ASL esoterica must have some innate, intrinsic value far beyond and above their simple contents within the cardboard box. Another concept I see and cannot understand is the rampant critical undermining of certain efforts people may choose who, instead of finding ways they could assist or offer constructive advice; will seek to derail or knock off track a specific effort, simply due to pre- disposed bias that has developed . A third and most distressing viewpoint that I have come across in our hobby is the concept that we are all taught in Economics, which is "TANSTAAFL". Some very dismaying communications occur in reference to anything in ASL offered "for free". (If you could not figure out the acronym above, 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch'.) If there are any overriding opinions that may offer a method to truly destroy, dismember, and factionalize our hobby into "diplomacy - like " oblivion; these disconcerting views are indeed capable of such. At times, it is easy for the majority of us to accept the opinion that "he who does not understand cannot comprehend". This fallacy can lead to serious fractionalizations in our beloved hobby. Validating any of the above narrow minded viewpoints using such generalities of acceptance is absurd. Perhaps it is as well I never do. I would not desire being categorized one of the above. I have no problems with others who choose to do what Matt Shostak said so long ago " you only get out of ASL what you put into ASL." If someone is willing to take on any concepts related to our hobby for the benefit of even a few others, how does one deem this incorrect or not acceptable for the hobby as a whole?

Ordering information

Prep Fires
Your Editor, Jon Halfin ASL Counter culture, sounding off I will freely admit that my own experiences in ASL have been haphazard. My ability to play and learn about this game and its various nuances having been, (as I suspect most of us have been), interrupted from time to time by a Hiatus that occurs through no choice of my own. Given this as it may very well be, I am sincerely dismayed and confused at times by various thoughts and ideas that permeate our hobby. Most common among these

Silicon Valley ASL Club and NorCal ASL Club publish Point Blank! as a non-profit magazine. The editor is Jon Halfin. Please submit any articles or comments to the Editor at witchbottles@gmail.com Submissions become subject to the rules of this publication upon inclusion. Articles accepted in any electronic format. Please add artwork maps or counters in a separate .gif,.jpg or .bmp

I could offer examples; I mean who among us feels that A Bridge Too Far is really worth $350.00 USD for a punched copy, complete? The CGs are

horribly balanced, as are some of the scens, but they still sell for this average pricing on E- Bay. (I already own a copy from a kind benefactor, so do not suffer financial ruin trying to acquire one. The opinion I hold is a generalist viewpoint, not specific to my own collection). How about the very poorly defined non - acceptance of any design bearing Critical Hit as its publisher? I will go toe to toe with anyone who states that Peleliu White Beach One is not every bit the quality, and overall top-notch design of any of its compatriots that hit the market in 2010. (Yet it still bears the CH logo. Imagine that.) Or the very noisy interference that is offered if one even suggests a new design with black SS counters (bypassing better than any Halftrack in VBM Freeze the aforementioned fact that MMP PUBLISHED an OFFICIAL module, with these VERY SAME COUNTERS IN IT notwithstanding.) Lets look at the cover our ABtF module box, shall we? The printing inside...Page R20 ABTF credits Development and Layout .... Multi - Man Publishing". Pg R23 specific directions on how to USE the supplied black SS counters. Wow! Did I miss a translation somewhere that this fact, in and of itself, makes these counters an "official" optional rule for use in play in an "official" module? Apparently, there is a "politically correct" movement afoot in our hobby to disown these counters as part of the hobby, yet this same counter sheet is also a major driving force in the E-bay ridiculousness mentioned above. Many are the comments heard in detriment to a design or effort after the fact. How loudly have you heard it rung that "FB CG1 and 2 are unbalanced!!!! And this after less than a single year out in publication, and a lot less in the hands of most players, is the "word out" about the CG I and II. I recall when the consensus was the Russians would never win RB; ever, unless played against a noobie for the Germans. (Yes

Im dating myself in the hobby here.) How long did this Gem of a design take to unlock her secrets? Yet many of the same players will "talk down" a design handled for so long and through so much care. Tell me how unbalanced the CGs in Festung B are 15 years from now. Then Ill believe there is ample and sufficient evidence for those conclusions. I do not hold any value to such views about ASL or our products. If a product is a dog, then it is a dog, and it will in time bark loudly. I will not dismiss the fact that my own initial efforts at a newsletter were just that, unreadable dogs, worthy of little more than lining the rabbit cage. :-) But I cannot find a way to accept generalized viewpoints like those offered above can apply in any sense, and still provide a modicum of decency in our hobby. Criticize away all you desire of a specific design. Do not criticize a designer for designing it in the first place. Do not criticize the publisher, editors, and proofreaders and play testers working slavishly hard at times to create a new ASL product. They are only following in the footsteps of greatness, seeking to attain a bar of incredibly high standards, and answering a calling that has rung loud and true, long before the words. You only get out of ASL what you are willing to put into ASL."

goodies to break the ASL savings on so far, SP and Rally Point released new issues at ASLOK. Pre-orders for RS should begin any day now if they havent already. We are looking forward to the final HoB module and also BFPs Poland In Flames project for 2013. The ASL J10 is also out, and well worth the pick up as are all Journals and Annuals.

We now have a permanent web address where you can access all back issues as well as the current issue of Point Blank! that are still available:

http://aslpointblank.blogspot.com
I will also be using the blog to report on the continuing process of developing the Nederlander Scenario Pack. ( Hey, Bill Cirillo, Pete Shelling, Chris Olden, why oh why oh why didnt anyone WARN me how much work this was gonna be?!?!?! ) It is satisfying to see designs headed into and concurrently in play testing. This is just the tip of the iceberg however. Edits, more edits, more edits, revisions, proofing, more revisions, more proofing, more edits, fact checking, analysis, blind play testing, blind analysis, more revisions, more proofing, more edits, yet more edits, and oh yeah, SOMEONE really has an issue with the font size???? You have GOT to be kidding me! In any event, it is a rewarding experience to give life to this creature ( from the black lagoon, it seems); so the trials and tribulations will be posted to the Blog. We had a very nice set of ASL being played over the September meet, with lots of faces returning for games in NorCal here, and a few new ones in SVASL as well, so we have some write-ups from the action across the Bay.

Bounding Fire
Welcome Back! ASLOK should be complete by the time you read this, and all eyes on the WO coming up! Lots of

For this issue: The KGP CG 3 gets an in depth review from the American standpoint. How can they try to win this thing? We will also look at some of the basics everyone will need if they are going to play KGP , or any other Night scenario. Learn to become one with the stealthiness! Finally, an AAR on a DftB scenario well worth the play is here, with commentary from my esteemed opponent, Jim Traver. Good Hunting and Keep Rollin Low!

As I noted last issue in the AAR, Andrew has grown from ASL noobie to a player of some skill and a average game, given a bit of luck ( I think 75% of us fall in this category. A small run of good DRs will give us an advantage enough we can use to wrest a scenario victory not otherwise possible from our average maneuvering and tactics.) With that in mind, as my opposition stiffened in quality ( from a command perspective) ; my ability to maneuver effectively declined at a likewise rate and the inevitable slide off the map completely began for the Americans. I had previously read the only in depth AAR on this CG I could find, and the gist seemed to be that the Marechals Mill local area was a critical place for the Americans to seize early and hold. So I looked over the map, and determined by casual glances at my AtStart Forces, my CPP available units, and the entry areas, that this did indeed appear to be a location that could pay off for the long run, with a nice woods behind it to rout into as you advanced units from the woods back out into the mill and bridge.

As you can see, the nice woods and gently sloping hill give what appears to be somewhat of a covered approach to the Mill from the entry areas. So I decided to invest in the strategy of taking the Mill and bridges and holding here on the left corner till Patton arrives on the 23AM CG Date with those 175 CPPs. There are serious drawbacks to this idea, however. #1. There is no place to consolidate any gain. All terrain to the North and Northeast is no cover, and under observation from hill crest lines to the North. #2. The Left side entry area opens so late it cannot be used to move reinforcements in. You will be knocked off map before this area ever opens, even with early entry. #3. That Tiger II will kill things before he dies. How much depends on how quickly you can maneuver your Shermans into positions where they can get side / rear hull hits ( as his turret is almost invariably pointed South.) There is just too much open space to cover to get into him without any losses. I lost 3 of 6 Shermans taking him out as he ROFd on me in the second MPh as I closed to envelop him ( remember , he has a 10 -2 AL on board.) #4 the Panthers entering as German reinforcements can get to the North side crest lines and bring you under effective fire here before the end of the first CG Date. Those 75LLs will do you in at long range from up there. All of this adds up to a Death Trap of a location to hold for the Amis. Sign off the Mill, it is hopeless until much later. ( I recommend a plan of taking in in a 21N stealth assault). So lets cover a few basic things we did that assist both players. The level colors on this map are VERY difficult to track. So we know from the KGP footnotes

DECISION At La Glieze:
Analyzing American chances in an unbalanced CG My opponent, Andrew Kerekes, and I have been playing this CG out since September 2010 via PBEM as those who have followed our AARs here may know. I knew going into this CG that the American side was heavily unbalanced against, but I decided to give them a go anyway. ( Andrew had just acquired KGP I and II; and he was also new to the non SASL ASL playing, having only had a human opponent in the old SL days before ASL. With those conditions, giving him the clear advantage would at least keep me on my toes during our CG.)

(The Marechals Mill Deathtrap. The Red star at right denoted the location of the late opening entry area, and the green perimeters at the bottom denote the open from 1st CG Date entry areas. The mill and Bridge are likewise marked, as is the OoB given on mao immobilized Tiger II at Top Right.)

that the river bed is lvl -1. Now you count up from the river across the map, and we used draggable overlay user labels to label the levels of each crest line. This made play for both of us SOOO much easier. Cannot recommend it enough. Set up a unit graveyard off map somewhere to track casualties for both sides. The only turn the US will win is the initial attack, followed by losses till the 22N Game Turn. Now the Amis must commit to taking out the Tiger, and seizing the ford and the small foot bridge to the right of the woods south of the Mill in order to win the first CG Date, which will give a slight boost towards BHing your survivors. Everyone else needs to focus on what should be the Alamo of the American Line : Bourgemont,

left flank and the orchards on the right, as well as all the hedges. The Red Star marks the 1 LVPO the Americans start with in their possession, Bourgemonts position offers many advantages over holding on around the Mill: #1, Better cover, almost the entire area is covered enough to prevent FFMO from happening. #2 interior lines. You can move from flank to flank under over of good terrain. #3 ease of reinforcement. The multi colored entry arrow means most of your available purchases can come in right along that green perimeter line. #4 a fall back position if all else fails further south, still well covered by woods and with its own board edge entry area 9 albeit much smaller, as its SSR defined). The U.S. Player should focus all remaining effort not needed to get the 1st day win here, and secure the entire area shown. The Entrenchments mark the places most useful to get dug into by the end of the 19PM or 19N CG Date. The guns mark locations where your reinforcement group guns should look at deploying in the perimeter in the 1st 4 CG Dates. By 21AM you will be out of Guns to buy if you are setting up for a long defense here. Now the US BHs as much as possible for the 19N game, buys full infantry, and exploits the NM counters the Germans start under as shown:

( Bourgemont Critical area to the South, the area you should focus on exploiting into for defense to the North. This is the defensive pocket area) Again ,the red stars mark map given LVP hexes, the Red perimeter what you should strive to have under control by 20N end of scenario, and the entrenchments and Guns the most ideal places for both for the coming counteroffensive. Use the trails under cover of night to get North rapidly and threaten the Chanay Farm LVP area. Now you are at 20AM and have most of this under control, and use 20AM to shift the remainder of your forces into position. The Surviving AFVs from the 19PM date attack for the win on the

(Note the red Perimeter which is under US Control from either the start or by the 1st MPh of the 19PM CG Date. The green perimeter line marks an entry area open to the U.S. from the beginning of the CG til the end. The Guns and Entrenchments will be explained in a moment.) This is the core area of Bourgemont. The US player starts in control of this area, and the ease of rapid reinforcement means that it is much easier to hold. You still have covered rout routes back to the Bourgemont buildings thanks to that woods on the

Tigers position should be here now as well, give up holding the Mill. 20PM / 20N you consolidate your defense here in this perimeter, The German WILL be \massing, testing your lines, and doing his best to plan for a large counteroffensive to kick off on 20N or 21AM. He cannot let you sit so close to Chanay Farm area and dig in. Here come those Panthers and 120 mm Mtrs your mother warned you about, along with SS infantry you will not have enough FP to keep down. You must try to hold as much of the perimeter North of Bourgemont as possible while getting cut off. The name of the game now is fallback defense for everyone else; and the guns should be set on a Die in place defense. Buy your jeeps now, on the 20N/ 21AM games, and strip them of their MGs to enhance your defense. Now the hard part, the Germans have 3 attack chits they can choose, and they can hit you hard for any 3 consecutive CG dates along this line. You will not have enough units available to buy, and not enough infantry by far, to hold him ff. So you fall back with what you got as you typically get hammered on 20N,21AM, 21PM, all in a row before ammos shortage DRs kick in for the Germans. You will have a hard time holding Bourgemont at all from this onslaught of 658s, 468s, 838s, and Panthers and SPAA guns. Most likely, you will get kicked out of there completely by 21N. your remaining forces , however should end up around here and not get thrown off map, in the reserve fallback area south of Bourgemont:

22N should get you 2 enclaves, 1 on each side of the map, Bourgemont, the Mill, the final position as shown from the German counterattack, and the top areas. From here, on 23AM come those 175 CPPs, fresh loads of RGs to buy, and 4 on map locations to start them ,all at the time that ammo shortage is critical for the Germans, their tanks are low on gas, they are out of usable gas tanks in light vehicles to siphon from, and the weather clears to allow the Jabos in to assist in the final assault. A 4 pronged attack over the last 2 CG dates using everything you can lay your hands on should get you into La Glieze, Chanay Farm, the Mill, the villages to the Center left, and Peipers HQ. and you win the CG based on the VC condition of winning all printed on map LVP locations at end of 23PM and the CG. Thats your best bet, but its still long odds youll pull it off. The Germans are gonna be a tough nut after 3 turns of pounding you followed by 3 more to dig in to face you. I figure you have about a 35-40% of staying on map here South of Bourgemont, and around a 30-40% of a final win by LVP control. You will never win by victory points. Now that weve covered the basic strategy for the Americans, lets take a look at what tools they will be bringing to the table to accomplish this Herculean effort. From a general standpoint, the following RGs should be purchased and retained as soon as possible CPPs become available: All 3 FB RGs. They retain for free until used. As many Bombardment RGs as you can afford, but a minimum of 3 for the final assault phases of 22N, 23AM and 23PM These can be paid for at each CG date and retained for use per the RG notes. The Assault Engineer Platoons

( you have a SSR defined 3 hex entry area to the rear of the woods as shown in green Perimeters and red star markers). You will most likely now need a breather to recuperate your heavily battered forces, and the Germans will have used up their bolt kicking the snot out of you to drive you here. So you will find 21N, 22AM going idle, so you can buil up enough to push back into this area. I recommend even though 22PM the Mill entry area opens, you should go idle then as well. Heres why: #1. 3 idles in a row means a nice chunk of CPPS for RGs to fill out your new assault forces. #2 the 22N and no more attack chits means the Germans will be under No Move restrictions on your new assault. #3. 3 idles also means 3 of those devastating bombardments to open up your advance lines before the new assault. #4, you can buy inf heavy and pay the early opening cost to get units into the top of the map as well as assaulting from Bourgemont and here and the Mill, effectively splitting the enemy defenses in 4 as you attack from all 4 sides:

( The top of map 23AM entry areas for Pattons forces) Now a stealthy assault under darkenss

Fortifications you will need tons and tons of ?ment counters, and also lots of wire and a few HIPs. OBA when you can get it. Do not sacrifice boots on the ground for it however, and if you do buy it, pay for the pre reg also. All the infantry you can muster The tanks will be needed up front and at the end. In the middle CG Dates , save them as long as doing so does not compromise your defense. There will be times you will have to throw your AFVs to the wolves. Do not hesitate to do so in order to maintain board position, Others:

FT Forte: toasting enemy MMCs / SMCs via HIP Engineer HS traps Foible: X10 Loss: demoralizing. These things can effectively kill every German unit on the map, and their loss is severely felt in your defenses. 57L ATG:

You will get so many of these they will become superfluous, but almost invariably, they will be manned by 666/ 346 MMCs. The FLs are not subject to LV DRMs so they are immune to the mist 81mm Mtr Forte: threatening any German unit Foible: need to dm them to move them easily Loss: Damaging

Forte: killing light German AFVs Foible: any German AFV with a 12+ AF. Loss: Shruggable These things will come and go and you will use them all and nail many German light AFVs with them , but they will all die and never be significant threat to any big armor. 60mm Mtr Forte: WP / OBA / IR Foible: 5 PP / minimum range Loss: damaging These will be your main casualty inducers as you will have lots of them ,and there will be lots of airbursts from them. 90L AA Forte: killing big German armor Foible: very noticeable and easily targeted Loss: Destructive These guns will be the kingpins of your defense. When they go, your ability to hold the big cats at arms length goes with them. MMG 30 cal style Forte: lots and lots of them / FLs Foible: not enough good troops to man them Loss: Shruggable

These will be another very powerful addition to your force, and every one lost is irreplaceable. 45 BAZ Forte: WP Foible: none Loss: shruggable These things come back like creatures from the Black Lagoon, as you regenerate each one lost in action more than 66% of the time. How can there be anything wrong with a smoke making bazooka tube? The 747 / 337 Forte: deploying for HIP traps Foible: Range Loss: devastating losing these MMCs means losing the ability to spring anti armor HIP traps. The 667 / 346 Forte: 6 FP Foible: None Loss: damaging You will never have enough to suit your needs, and each one will be a mainstay in your defenses. The 666/ 346 Forte: CC Foible: 6 ML

Borrowing a format from the old Wargamers Guide to Panzerblitz; well examine each of these defensive items in your reptoire: DC Forte: Destroying enemy at point blank range via HIP engineer HS Foible: Pre detonation revelation by being overrun in own hex. Loss: damaging. These things can really put a dent in the German Big Cats.

Loss: almost shruggable You will have lots and lots of these guys who can dish it out and not take it. Keep em in reserve, concealed and assault moving into positions to take advantage of concealed CC attacks. Remember you may by SSR roll for any optional armaments. This means bow mounted FTs in your tanks; gyros, and MMGs and 50 cal HMGs on your jeep sections. Take advantage of this SSR to the fullest at every purchase! This strategic plan will assist any American preparing to attack at La Glieze. If you do, May the Force be with you - youll need it!

Kharkovs City squares ran red with blood once again as an SS Pz Abt attempted to deny canal bridges and artillery observation points to the NKVD troops assaulting the German lines. This game would see many unusual occurrences, and good deal of bloodshed on both sides as we battled it out for the bldgs on the riverbank. I had determined there were 2 overriding goals in my defense: 1. Keep the Russians off the bridge access hexes; this is a direct way for them to win. Keep a mobile reserve as long as possible consisting of enough Exit VP to win by EVP if Jim does not defend both flanks and allows a run off for a win by EVP.

To top it all off, yet another set of 2 Critical OBA hits on the big blg in the middle of my lines, and the 10-2 HMG nest. When the dust settles from the Russian tactical nuclear device, there is rubble everywhere, and his tanks really are effectively sealed off from the bridge entrance locations, but a huge hole now exists in the center of the infantry line of Germans. So the late game sees the deployment of the reserve, minus a full sqd thanks to a sneaky LOS that gives Jim a KIA on them. The final game comes down to a fight for the last of four bldgs, heavily contested by both sides. Interestingly, I had no reason to deploy or use the 9-2 AL until the very last turn of the game. I have never played German armor so cagey and careful on the defense. I am glad I did, he managed what would otherwise have been 3 ATR hits and 2 76mm hits on a Hull down Tank of mine, all of them hull hits for NE. The German tanks sufficed to hold both bridge entrances by their own physical bulk. In the end, The Right bridge entrance would be overwhelmed by the lack of units available to hold off the Russian infantry surviving on that flank, and the Mk IV named Cesaer would die on the last AFPh of the Russians to a placed DC. Jim has a daring mind in his assaults, and he frankly surprised me with his audacity on more than one occasion in this game. I think he is a fine player, and will have a spot on my play list whenever he wants a game. Give this scenario a try, you wont be disappointed.

2.

AAR DftB 92- The Streets of Kharkov

(a light examination of a difficult scenario, by myself and my esteemed opponent, Jim Traver)

Besides, the mobile reserves would come in handy if they were not used to threaten exit, as they could then shift in the perimeter around the bridges late game to prevent a Russian win by bldg control. Jim sets up a cautious 1st turn probing of the German lines, and finds my 10-2 / HMG on the second level of the big bldg in the middle can see far enough away to cause pain to anyone in LOS. He suffers early loss of a Sqd KIA, a ldr brkn and wounded. However, not all is as grim as it seems. Jim gets his OBA and pre reg fire off on a first turn black draw which then Critical Hits the Marder and a multi story vehicle location, causing falling rubble. Nevertheless, this was just the start of it A human wave on the right flank pushes into my lines, and reaches the riverbank. Then a run of every single black chit, one after the other on his OBA Have you ever seen the worst OBA draw pile in ASL pull out 5 blacks in a row?!?!

Situation at game end, the big center bldg has rubbled everywhere from OBA

(Comments from the Russian Side of the Board:)

Not much to add to Jons analysis: The OBA was really the game changer in this scenario (and I drew the last black chit just for giggles). Jon had all of the avenues covered for advance but some of my opponents have been killing me with the 'sleaze freeze' recently, so I had to use it here. It was a great game and I couldn't wait (and dreaded at the same time), to open up the logs to see how things were going! Would recommend this scenario to anyone, anytime.

victory, the French AT gun revealed itself, got ROF twice, scored a Critical Hit on the last German tank and the French squeaked out a win by CVP cap. Dennis and Zoltan ended up at his house probably a little longer than initially expected and by the time they were able to leave it would have been probably 30 minutes of ASL time after all the tear down and setup at Olde World Games so we didn't get to show our smiling faces, but ASL was played! :) After an early string of punishing Sniper results on his British defenders, Dennis was able to demonstrate that firing a 57L through 3 or 4 hexes of grain at the frontal armor of Tigers is not always an exercise in futility... At one point he had three, count them THREE, Tigers under Shock counters. All three went to UK and one was actually an elimination. :( 3 turns to go, I think and the victory conditions are still up for grabs. Hope to see the rest of you next month at the shop.

Night scenarios. And some of these designs are well worth the play. With that in mind, and to take a bit of fear surrounding the tedious looking rules sections away, lets look at how Night affects the game play in a laymans terms. First thing both sides will consider is the NVR. This is the maximum range a unit can see at night, barring any gun flashes or illumination. It can never be greater than 6, so a good attacker will take this into account and look for ways to penetrate the enemy lines without approaching within NVR of enemy units. The good Defender will likewise set up in order to have a unit at least intermeshed into a weave of NVR ranges so that at least 1 unit can see any moving enemy attacker This alone will modify many setups and entries of almost every terrain type. Guarding a few key upper level buildings in the town to strip concealment and see the enemy coming is no longer good enough. Now you must set up speed bumps in front line buildings to see them coming at you. The NVR takes on a more ominous note for a Defender when it is added to the next rule to consider: Cloaking counters. The Attacker always receives 1 for each squad equivalent in his OoB. He can partition as many , or as few real units to each of them as he desires, but the real object is even if it only contains a HS portaging a 5PP 50 cal HMG fully assembled, it still gets 6 MF as long as it remains cloaked. This will allow an attacker to close with the enemy in a very rapid manner and deploy his heavy support weapons quickly. All factors the Defender must take into account in their setups. The only way to remove the Cloaking counter is via concealment loss, the good news, once its gone, its gone for good. Why does the defender have to always consider these things in a setup? Isnt that what reserves are for? To deploy behind the front line to blunt an enemy

ASL Game Day in Nor Cal:

Septembers meet in Vacaville turned into a show of old hands as several of our members who have been absent for a while showed up for a game along with some new ASL players, turning the Game Day at Olde Worlde Games into a nice day of ASL for everyone Tim and Craig played Blazing Chariots, the classic armor fundamentals teaching scenario. DTO and Dust be damned Ray and Steve played WO2 Failure To Communicate, very early war French vs German. Playing the French on defense Steve had some early lucky shots and was feeling like the game was in the bag. But when one flank weakened, Ray swooped in with a combined arms attack, whacked the 10-2 leader and grabbed a couple of victory buildings. Things were looking bleak for the French but, on the very last turn, just as the Germans were about to seal the

Back to the Basics: Night Moves

Playing Night scenarios in ASL can be a challenging experience, even daunting. There are a number of rules sections that are affected by the fact that you are now playing in the hours of darkness vie the hours of sunlight. These concepts can help you overcome your fear of the dark and come over to the dark side of ASL, night scenarios. With many of the popular HASLs and CGs having night scenario dates in them, or at the possibilities of them, one must be willing to tackle a new set of rules in order to enjoy these creations. In fact, over 50% of the scenarios, not to mention the CGs, in VotG are set as

thrust in an unexpected manner? Typically, yes, that is exactly why as defenders we establish a centralized reserve of a few units to respond to emergencies in our front lines under fire. However, the next rule of the Night is crippling in this event. The Freedom of Movement rule. If there is one event that makes it imperative a defender set up correctly or lose the scenario in a night game it is the No Move counter. Basically, a unit must gain freedom of movement in order to do anything other than try for a star shell or fire IR from a 5/8 Mtr. There a re a number of ways to gain this movement. You can see an enemy unit, you can be fired on by other than a Sniper / OBA, a free to move leader can begin the MPh stacked with you, you can be equipped with a radio in an AFV and have a free to move AFV enter the board. He will release all radio equipped AFVs. Any of these methods work, and it is immediate and permanent to shed the No Move marker. So the key item for any Defender is to get these black markers of doom off your stacks as quickly as possible. We accomplish this in 2 ways. First, the best ldr ( or sometimes the best 2 leaders) in your OoB always have Freedom to move. So they can run around sounding an alarm. Second, we use illumination to light up the approaching enemy. Which takes us to our next topic: Star shells and IR. The Best IR in the game from OBA. It is useful, can be fired into any number of locations the observer can see, and can be corrected by an observer. Barring this, the 5/8 Mtrs with IR come in very handy in night scenarios as well, for they too have a large illuminated radius. But these are not always available, and most times, we must work with our old friend the Star shell. The rules are very restrictive on firing the first star shell, so getting a unit in place to do so becomes again paramount, and is yet another consideration in setting up for a defender. Once that initial use has occurred however, your units can light up the night, firing everything they can

get their hands on, and firing a Star shell is not an action requiring being marked with a Prep / first fire / final fire counter. So use em up, boys, once the first one is out. The Last illumination device is the Trip Flare, and you will only see this one in PTO scenarios where it is added into the defenders OoB. The Attacker doesnt have it all easy, there is also straying to consider, which basically means units moving away from easily identifiable terrain features, such as roads, streams, gullies, etc are going to be prone to drifting off course sometimes, or rarely, even firing at shadows. However, these straying rules will also affect our defender who is able to move finally, so the detrimental effects will work on both sides equally. There are 3 very good Night Player Aids out on the public domain for free download, and it is always highly recommended to get a copy of one and keep it handy, as they all cover the requirements to overcome these obstacles to both sides in the play of the game in an easy to refer to chart, and gives the various rules involved. Take a bit of time to read the player aids, look at the OoB and VCs of the night scenarios you might be interested in otherwise, and then refer to the rules from the player aids as needed to fil in the answers to your questions. Then Bring on the Night!.

SVASL Club:
SVASL Club regular meetings are scheduled for the 4th Saturday of every month, at the game room of the Game Kastle, located at 1350 Coleman Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95050 ph: 408-727-2452 http://www.gamekastle.com Everyone is welcome to post to the Club board at the Yahoo Group Website if you would like to pre-arrange a scenario or opponent.

Nor Cal ASL Club:

Nor Cal ASL Club has three separate meeting locations for the ASL players in the group. The primary one is 2nd Saturdays at: Location: Olde World Games, 123 Peabody Road, Vacaville Street: 123 Peabody Road City State Zip: Vacaville Phone: 707-455-8445 Opening bell is at 11 am and closing bell is at 11 pm. See you there. We have subsidiary groups meeting throughout the valley also most notably: The Miniature Wargaming Society of Sacramento meetings is only on Sundays, at the Carmichael library here in Sacramento. We have 2-3 ASL players involved so if you come up for a day trip, let us know in advance and we can get you into a game. And also: There's also a small group playing ASL on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at Endgame in downtown Oakland.

Club News:
Having passed our Contact DR with 8s all around; heres the news from our local ASL scenes.

Defensive Fires

Letters to the Editor

Thanks Jon! great work
Timothy Burke

Seeking VASL PBEM opponents for just about anything. . I prefer IFT. Please e-mail me at witchbottles@gmail.com if you are interested.

bactrian666@gmail.com

Opponents wanted:

Point Blank! A product of The Silicon Valley ASL Club and Nor Cal ASL Club Published completely free of charge No material from this publication may be sold of exchanged for goods without written consent from The Editor. Otherwise, all material may be reproduced for FREE distribution or revision into other FREE magazines, or personal use, only.

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Combat

Distributed via E-mail or Direct Download as a free newsletter and journal of the SVASL, and Nor Cal ASL Clubs Available at www.scribd.com or aslpointblank.blogspot.com
I am always accepting articles. You dont need to be a whiz as ASL to write about ASL. Look at me! If you would like to submit an article, see Pg.1 notes.

For Nor Cal ASL Club membership or questions, visit our Website at:
Http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcalasl.

For SVASL Club membership or questions, please visit our WebPages at: Http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SVASL

Older volume Back issues of Point Blank! Are still available at Witchbottles@gmail.com the Pointblank Website http://aslpointblank.blogspot.com /

Or, look for our newsletters posted to the files sections of our Yahoo! Groups WebPages for your download convenience.

May / June 2001

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