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I've posted my ASLOK AAR here and not on the Club Yahoo group because it's kind of long. Here it is for what it's worth:
This year is the 25th anniversary of the first edition of Advanced Squad Leader, and this was ASLOK XXV. It was my 15th consecutive ASLOK trip. As expected, it was a huge success, with a near-record 173 attendees from around the world.
As usual I did the Monday night red-eye, and arrived at the hotel shortly after 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, and got my first game lined up almost immediately after:
“Market Place at Wormhoudt†(Dispatches version) vs Andy Rogers. Andy is from Australia and this was the first time we’d met. We both had this scenario on our play list. Although it’s pretty large, it’s also very fun and I’d happily play it again. Andy is a great player and a fun guy to play.
“Shouting Into the Storm†vs Darrell Wright. Darrell is a good friend and we always hook up for at least one game at ASLOK. We wanted to play something on the cool boards from the Decade of War Action Pack. I didn’t realize when we picked this that I had previously played it against Eric Visnowski. Darrell had the Russians and took the IS2’s and 100L AT Gun groups, which I now recall were the same groups that EV selected in our playing (and seem to be the most logical). Jim Bishop, who helped Gary Fortenberry develop the pack, told me afterward that Fort likes the T-34 group for the Russians for their counter-attack potential. We had our usual fun time.
“A Last Mighty Hew†vs Dave Goldman. Dave is another friend, and we’ve played quite a few times. We chose this scenario out of the latest Friendly Fire pack. It’s a nice size early East Front scenario. Our playing came down to the last close combat dice roll, so I’d say it’s pretty balanced. Dave drives to ASLOK from Chicago, and gets there early enough to claim one of the prized window tables. Let me say this man plays in style; he owns the nicest ASL system I have ever seen, and I’m sure a lot of game rooms aren’t as well equipped as his cubical. Hell, he even set up surround sound for his background music! Dave and I had a fun game, as we always do.
“3rd RTR in the Rain†vs Dave Ginnard. Dave’s one of the old-time Cleveland guys, but we had never previously played. Both of us had played this scenario, but we were looking for something small and straight forward for the first round of the “Foreclosures†mini. Dave pulled this out on the last CC dice roll, when I needed a 7 to eliminate his crew holding the last VC building, but rolled a 10. Dave went on that day to win the mini. It’s a fun and balanced scenario, and proved to be a good choice.
“Dying for Danzig†vs Dave Lamb. Dave had just arrived from Detroit and was looking for a game. We’ve played several times over the years, and we always have a good time. This is another scenario out of the new Friendly Fire pack. I’m sorry to say it was a disappointment. It looked pretty cool; a late-war Russian-German city fight with two Russian OT-34’s and two FT’s. But it proved to be a bit of a grind, made worse by Dave’s 9 shot rate tear with his HMG that killed a 3rd of my OB in one fire phase. It’s probably a better scenario than my playing demonstrated, and I’d probably give it another try given the opportunity.
“Lenin’s Sons†vs Eric Safaran. I had the good fortune of drawing Eric for the first round of the Toxic Assets Mini. We’ve played several times before and always try to get a game in. I had played this scenario against Candice about a year ago, and as in that game I had the Russians. Things were looking pretty good for me until turn 3, when an LMG I was counting on to lay a fire lane broke, and Eric rammed his Germans through a 1 hex gap in my line. We fought it down to the last turn though and I nearly pulled it out. This is a good scenario and plays pretty quickly.
“Forlorn Hope†vs Murray McCloskey. Many of you remember Murray from when he was a Club member living in Pasadena. He returned to his native Australia a few years ago, but has kept in touch with many of the friends he made while here. It was great to see him again, get a game in and enjoy dinner. The scenario we chose was one of his designs; Chinese vs Japanese set in Nanking in 1937. It is an interesting and clever design that recreates the Japanese attack on the citadel. Murray has some elegantly simple rules to handle the terrain. He has submitted the design to MMP; so we may see it in a future Journal.
“First Salute†vs Randy Glessing. This scenario is a Pete Shelling design that has the Germans trying to prevent the Russians from exiting the board while kindling as many buildings as possible. Randy and I have played before; he is a careful and methodical attacker who pays attention to the details. He’s also a very nice guy and is a very enjoyable opponent.
My last game of the week put me with my friend Pete Shelling. Pete and I worked together on the “Slaughter and Ponyri†HASL project, and he’s always high on my ASLOK dance card. We realized we’re both are on a partisan and halftrack kick lately, and found a scenario that fit our interests perfectly. “Light and Detached†pits a scratch-force Germans in halftracks, trucks and wagons, against a gaggle of hidden partisans backed up by some rear area Brits. Although Pete’s partisans destroyed my wagon loads of conscripts, my better-quality troops fought on into the victory building. We had a fun game as always, and it was great way to end ASLOK XXV.
I had just enough time on Sunday morning to enjoy farewell breakfast with Pete, Darrell Wright and Chas Argent, say my goodbyes to Bret Hidlebran and the ASLOK crew and head to the airport. Bret presented me with $10 and a plaque for winning the Shellshock #2 mini tournament.
This was the third year at the Cleveland Airport Holiday Inn, and I must say, they have continued to impress me. It is certainly one of the best run hotels I’ve stayed at in quite a while. As for the game room, it’s hard to beat their set-up. The gaming area encompasses the entire top floor of the hotel with plenty of table space, a full service bar, and a good-size sitting area with a big-screen TV to watch while you’re waiting for your opponent to set up.
ASL’rs from other countries were a major factor in overall attendance this year. For example there were 8 Australian players, outnumbering the contingent of any individual U.S. state except Ohio and Michigan. Evidently there is an upside to the devaluation of the U.S. dollar.
This year’s shirt, commemorating the 25th anniversary, has the Chinese counters’ grey and brown theme, with a picture of Chinese soldiers on the front and a list of all the ASLOKs and champions on the back. Very nicely done.
It was great to see SoCalASL expatriates Murray McCloskey, Chas Argent, Rich Domovic and Randy Rossi, as well as current members Ray Wolozsyn, Phil Seymore, Kevin Ryan, Dave Perham and Hank W. Murray, Kevin and I did a road-trip on Friday evening to a terrific German restaurant in Cleveland. We enjoyed our Hungarian Goulash, potato pancakes, German potato salad and Pilsners out on the patio, and returned to the hotel with souvenir beer mugs. We will definitely be returning there next year.
Swag available included new releases from Friendly Fire, Schwerepunkt, Rally Point and the East Side Gamers. Lots of good looking scenarios to choose from, plus a ton of interesting play-test stuff floating around. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; we’re in the Golden Age of ASL.
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