Episode 42: ASLOK 2010 After Action Report

ASLOK 2010: What a wild and entertaining trip to ASL Oktoberfest! Listen in with Dave, Jeff and Bob Holmstrom as they debrief after an exciting weekend of marvels and mayhem. There were thrills (ASL), chills (Zombie Games), and interviews galore. Sit back and enjoy the discussion followed by an interview with ASLOK's commander-in-chief, Bret Hildebran.

CONTEST 2010: What could be better than all that ASL goodness? Well, how about a contest to win a signed, limited edition print by historical artist Ken Smith. That's right, Ken Smith who has, among other things, created the cover art for a number of ASL Journals, has donated one of his art prints ("Kollaa Holds" shown at right) to us and we're going to give it away to some lucky T2HS listener! Here's how to enter:

1. Call our T2HS voice mail at 641-715-3900, extension 218209
2. State your name clearly at the start of your message.
3. Leave us a voice message telling us why you love Advanced Squad Leader OR how you describe ASL to people who have never heard of it. OR any other ASL topic is OK, too! Please limit messages to under a minute.
4. Then, send an email to the2halfsquads@gmail.com with "CONTEST 2010" in the Subject line. In the email, include your name as you stated it on your voice message.
5. You may enter more than once. Each voice message (with followup email) you enter will earn you one entry in the drawing. No spamming, please.
6. Messages will NOT be judged for content so don't be shy. But you must leave a message to be entered in the drawing.
7. On December 15th 2010 we will randomly draw names from entrants to decide the winners. This drawing will appear on a later episode of The 2 Half-Squads.
8. The winners will be notified immediately by email.
9. All prizes will be shipped within a day or two, hopefully to arrive before December 25, 2010.

First prize is the signed, limited edition print "Kollaa Holds" by Ken Smith. Second and third prizes are yet to be determined by The 2 Half-Squads.

Voice messages become the property of The 2 Half-Squads and may be played on or incorporated into the show.

We look forward to hearing from you. Good luck!

SHOW GUIDE
01:00 - ASLOK After Action Report
49:00 - Brett Hildebran Interview
1:07:30 - CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT

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Episode 41: The Art of War

One of the joys of the ASL hobby is collecting and owning the stuff -- the boxes, the scenarios, the journals -- and part of the joy of the stuff is the art that covers it. Would it be safe to say we all get some deep-seated joy when looking at a shelf full of beautifully illustrated gaming boxes? Don't we all like to occasionally lay out our bounty on a table or the floor so we can gaze at all that beautiful war art? You don't do that? Really? We do.

Our guest today is artist, historian, teacher, Ken Smith. Ken created the art gracing the covers of a number of ASL Journals and the soon-to-be-published (we hope) Hakkaa Päälle! Don't miss this fascinating glimpse into a very interesting and often over-looked aspect of the gaming hobby in general and ASL in particular. Then be sure to check out Ken's web site and blog to see his other excellent work, learn more about his craft and perhaps purchase one of his beautiful limited edition prints.

SHOW GUIDE
05:00 - Letters
28:20 - Great Plexiglass idea for starter boards and overlays.
31:40 - recently played scenarios
35:00 - Book Review -- The Ghost Mountain Boys
41:00 - interview with Ken Smith

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SHOW LINKS

Episode 40: Effective Shelling

Well, we've reached fabulous 40 with this episode, and we've never felt better. In fact, we're more invigorated than ever about a certain combat simulation game called Advance Squad Leader and have lots of plans for future shows. Thanks for being with us!

In this episode, we air an interview we did some months ago with Pete Shelling. We managed to grab Pete between games at the ASL Open in Chicago. We know you'll enjoy hearing from this very familiar name in ASL-dom.

We also open "the box" and discuss MMP's Blood Reef: Tarawa -- Gamers Guide. Dave enlightens us all with a stunning Box Art Review. And of course, we sit and banter in a most relaxed, enjoyable and engrossing way about Advanced Squad Leader. Gosh, it's good to hear our voices. We hope you'll agree!

SHOW GUIDE
14:00 - Scenario Report
29:30 - What's In The Box
41:30 - Box Art Review
52:00 - Interveiw with Pete Shelling

SHOW LINKS
ASL OKtoberfest 2010
GLB
Banzai!! Magazine from the Texas ASL Group
Desperation Morale web site
ROAR web site
MMP's Blood Reef: Tarawa -- Players Guide
Games Plus

Listen Now:

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Episode 39: Go With the Flow

OBA example setup

In Episode 37 we presented an introduction to Off Board Artillery (OBA) use in ASL. For years the only way to learn OBA was to slog through several pages of complex rules. But then along came the OBA Player Aid, an ingenious and easy to use flow chart that makes OBA as easy as rowing your boat gently down the stream. Well, almost. If you've never used OBA for fear it was too complicated, join us as we Go With the Flow and judge for yourself.

With ASL Oktoberfest looming on the horizon, we thought this would be a good time to air our interview with ASLOK's commander-in-chief, Bret Hildebran. Be nice to Bret or he'll see you get room 1408.

We also read some listener mail, have an impromptu book report, and in general babble endlessly about -- what else -- our favorite game in the world.

Listen Now:

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SHOW LINKS

ASL Module Dependency Chart
Texas ASL group's fabulous Sticky errata (look for "sticky errata" files.)
From Italy, one man's Tarawa AAR Be sure to check out the whole site. Bello!

Newbie-Do #2: Over Open Sights

If you've never played Advanced Squad Leader before, or if you are just getting started, you're going to like this episode. Today we do a thorough play-by-play of a starter kit scenario, taking you through each move and its applicable rule so you can setup and follow along. We discuss the strategy (or lack thereof!) and outcome of each move in each phase.

For this installment of Newbie-do, we turn to Starter Kit 2's scenario, "Over Open Sights" (S12), the first scenario in the set to use GUNS. Jeff takes the American side against the Germans played by our guest, Mike Lembke, and Dave acts as neutral commentator and referee. Our complete setup is listed in the table below. You'll want to have board X, American and German orders of battle and the Starter Kit 2 rules handy.

ASL Starter Kit 2 is available (as of this writing) at the Multiman Publishing web site or through Amazon (see below). Alternatively, you could setup with VASL.

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OVER OPEN SIGHTS setup. Board X

AMERICAN		SETUP HEX		GERMAN		ENTRY HEX
2-3-6 C	MMG	G3		8-0		A6
8-1		G3		4-4-7 D	LMG	A6
2-3-6 B		G4		4-4-7 G		A6
ART 155 A	CA J3/K4	K3		4-4-7 H		A6
2-2-7 C		K3		4-6-7 A		F10
ART 105 B	CA N3/O4	O3		4-6-7 B		F10
2-2-7 B		O3		4-4-7 E	LMG	F10
2-3-6 D	MTR 60	R3		2-3-7 A		G10
ART 105 A	CA T5/U5	T4		2-3-7 B		G10
2-2-7 A		T4		4-4-7 F	MMG	G10
7-0		W6		8-1		G10
2-3-6 A		X5		4-6-7 C		I10
5-4-6 B		X6		4-6-7 D		I10
5-4-6 A		X7		4-6-7 E	LMG	I10
				2-3-7 D	MTR 50	GG9
				2-3-7 C		GG8
				4-4-7 A		GG7
				4-4-7 B		GG7
				4-4-7 C		GG7
				7-0		GG7

Episode 38: Odds and Ends and a PAASL of Trouble

This episode includes our regular features plus some special odds and ends. There is also some discussion of the scenarios played. We review the Armored Force Field Manual from 1942 as well as Hampton Sides' Ghost Soldiers, a history report about Maurice Britt, and a mention of The Pritzker Military Library and it's podcasts.

We finish with an insider's listen to one meeting of our local game club, the PAASL (Palatine Area Advanced Squad Leaders). You might be inspired to start your own club and get some rookies playing ASL. CHECK IT OUT!

SHOW GUIDE
4:00 Listener Mail
28:00 Book Review
39:00 A discussion of telling ASL stories
52:00 History Report
59:00 PAASL "The Sounds of the Game"
Total 1:25

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LINKS
Scenarios based on movies