FIREGROUP WEASLE

Dispatches From The Far West

RALLY

Order of Arms (Descending) 1. MMC, Leader with MG, ATR or FT, Hero. 2. Leader. 3. Unarmed MMC. 4. Broken Unit.

Who, or more appropriately, what are we? I,m leaning towards being known as the appendix of the Toronto ASL Ladder(Pat. Pending). The jury is still out. Dedication of this rag goes out to the PLAY of the GAME of ASL. Rules lawyers will be shot and pissed on, although not necessarily in that order. Prepare yourselves for assimilation.

Getting There.   Head North from Idaho across the 49th. Hang a right at the Nelson Range. Keep going until you hit the first Burg with more letters in it's name than ASL players within it's Perimeter.

PREP

Eligible Unit (Able to claim Wall Advantage) 1. Good Order, unpinned, Leader may need MG, ATR or FT. 2. Currently not holding Wall Advantage. Qualifying Hexside (Mandatory) 1. Good Order equally-armed Enemy Unit not holding Wall advantage 2. In-hex TEM not used against LOF across hexside this Player Turn. Events 1. LOF crosses Target hexside. 2. Enemy Unit spends MP ADJACENT. 3. Enemy Unit gives up, loses ADJACENT Wall Advantage.

How do Wall Advantage(WA) Rules apply to our dearly departed Deluxe ASL? Specifically, how does one finger out Lines of Sight, Concealment growth and the gaining of WA when Bocage is involved? How does one unload SL through GI for a good buck while retaining the mapboards therein? Lastly, who cares?   I don't know. Sadly, nobody else seems to either. Nevertheless, what I'm going to try to do, by the process of the extrapolation of the existing Rules, is to generate a set of guidelines and clarifications by which a sensible player, or lawyer, can actually play Bogged Down and other scenarios which involve Bocage in the Deluxe milieu.   The mechanics of WA are fundamentally different in the large hexes of deluxe. WA is per HEXSIDE. To address this the Rules of WA have to be elaborated to cover the unusual circumstances which will arise. Some might call these elaborations, or abominations as the case may be, variants. Sobeit. Read Chapter B, Sections; 9.31 This rather small and unassuming Rule Section, besides being the foundation and backbone, is the source of the majority of my extrapolations. 9.32 As the WA counters are dispensed with, so is a large part of this confusion in the guise of Rules 9.521 LOS in Bocage. In the last sentence of this section, capitalization of the word ADJACENT (which would bring it into harmony with what's left of 9.32) results in a large return for a small investment. 9.55 Rally functions and NAM in LOS without the loss of concealment? Growth of concealment in LOS? Nada problema.

A, B and D will refer to the Turn ATTACKER, BOTH and the Turn DEFENDER respectively, as in the Turn Sequence of the Chapter D divider.

All LOS/LOF's are DIRECT and SAME-LEVEL.

MOVIN' OUT

B9.31

 The defender is written in lower case in this Rule Section. It must therefore refer to any Unit receiving fire during a Turn. The A and D units are treated equally in this Section, so I will endeavor to treat them equitably in my elaborations. I will try to ensure that what applies to one, applies to the other as much as possible.

 9.31 states, "the defender in such a hex 'one with a Hedge, Wall or Bocage hexside plus in-hex terrain with it's own TEM' may choose which of the applicable TEM 'hexside or in-hex terrain' to use against incoming fire, but must do so before the firer specifies which, (if any)  unit is firing." The 'firer' has to merely ask if an Eligible defending Unit will take WA in order to get a commitment from the defender. I recommend that the 'firer' has to actually shoot (in game terms) in order to secure this commitment. What better device to make the sobriquet 'firer' apt? By the way, in the above example, if the hexside were Bocage there would be no LOS/LOF unless one of the Units actually held WA over that Bocage hexside (B 9.521). Continuing along this Line of Thought(LOT),  I would like to add that the WA would be lost or gained, for the balance of that Player Turn, ONLY on that hexside which was crossed by that LOF.

9.31 continues, "If he chooses the in-hex TEM, the Unit automatically loses all WA status it had until at least the next Player Turn." I hope that you can see that this CANNOT possibly be applied to Dekuxe as written. In Deluxe this would apply only to the HEXSIDE crossed by that LOF. If the defender chooses the in-hex TEM, it would still be free to claim WA over the other Qualifying Hexsides of it's location, if Eligible. What's not said explicitly here, is that when you choose to claim a wall you must keep it until at least the next Player Turn at the point referred to later. This applies to BOTH.

I recommend that an A Unit which chooses to claim WA during it's Movement Phase or Defensive (First, Final) Fire Phase or begins the Advance Phase claiming WA should be required to hold that Wall (Hedge, Bocage) at least until the next Player Turn. The logical extension of this would be to limit a Unit which is holding WA at the start of it's Advance Phase to changing WA across that hexside, if unpinned. Examples at the end of the text will attempt to illustrate this.

As if all of this wasn't enough, I also recommend that B9.31 be formalized such that these steps be taken between all Rally and Prep Fire Phases;

End of the Rally Phase

This is the point where the obligation 'until the next Player Turn' ends.

1. D Units which are not currently holding WA may may be given WA, if Eligible.

2. D Units which are holding WA may, at their owner's discretion, be relieved of WA. A Units not currently holding WA may 'steal' WA here. (Those Units which were taken off the Wall [Hedge, Bocage] will be able to GAIN WA throughout the ensuing Prep Fire(D), Movement(B) and Defensive Fire(B) Phases, if Eligible. ie, if an A Unit spends MP ADJ to a D Unit, or if a LOF crosses an Eligible B Unit's Qualifying Hexside). Refer to margin box under PREP above.

3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2, transposing A with D.

D Units which MAINTAIN and D Units which GAIN WA past this point MUST keep it until at least the next Player Turn. If this has not yet proven confusing enough, chug six beer and try it again. Repeat as necessary.

Begin Prep Fire Phase.

B9.32

All of this Rule Section up to,"(EXC. to both...)" hits the bin as far as Deluxe is concerned. WA counters play no part in Deluxe.

This example pertains to regular 20mm ASL hexes;

WA G1/A1/G2/A2 WA  <--HEX GRAIN

What's represented here is four contiguous in-line hexes with '/' as Walls. There is one Squad per hex. G1 & 2 are Good Order German Squads, A1 & 2 are Good Order American Squads. G1 and A2 hold WA in their respective hexes.

What happens in this example is that the two remote Units (G1 & A2) can prevent two ADJACENT Units (G2 & A1) from claiming WA over their common hexside Wall. It is impossible for a situation such as this to ever occur in Deluxe. Using the mechanics that I've described in the previous section prevents ambiguous situations from arising in the first place (I hope).

The rule book example shows a D Unit claiming WA receiving fire that does not cross a target-hex Wall, thus rendering the defender into the Open. Since Deluxe WA is determined per HEXSIDE, I would modify this to read that if a Unit receives fire that does not cross the hexside over which the defender enjoys WA, the in-hex terrain be used be used unless the LOF crosses a target-hex Hedge/Wall over which the firer does not enjoy WA. In this latter case the defender could choose which TEM to use without giving up it's WA. This is not perfect, but believe me it's a lot simpler than other methods I've heard about while still retaining the hex-dot to hex-dot LOF.

LATW (C13.8) use by a Unit claiming WA in a Building hex still causes Backblast unless C3 To Hit or Opportunity Fire is used. This meshes well with everything that I'm trying to do. (Annual 93b)

Finally, I recommend that any Unit which successfully entrenches while holding WA, gains WA for that entrenchment. To simulate the clearing of firelanes I would add a DRM to the Task Check of plus 1 Hedge, plus 2 Wall and plus 3 Bocage. The deluxe hexes are large enough to easily afford this sort of luxury.

B9.521

Written properly the last sentence in this Section would read, "In neither case is an ADJACENT enemy unit required to allow Wall Advantage." This makes any Unit unable to react to something which it cannot see. Sounds good to me.

The tricky LOS situations arise mainly because of the fact that a Unit which holds WA on one hexside, is not ABLE to hold the advantage over another in Deluxe. Check the examples for better clarity on this topic.

B9.55

Stated simply, if an Enemy Unit does not hold WA over any of your Unit's Bocage hexsides, you can retain Concealment while performing Rally functions and moving (Assault or otherwise). With the same proviso your Unit could also grow Concealment as if it were in Concealment Terrain and out of Enemy LOS. Normal LOS Rules apply to non-Bocage hexsides.

'Stealing' Wall Advantage

If any Unit holding WA for any reason becomes unable to maintain WA (ie, Breaks, Leader malfunctions MG holding against MMC, Moves etc.) any Eligible Enemy Unit may assume WA at once. Hexsides need an Event (see chart under PREP) to become Qualified in this manner. An Eligible Unit can 'steal' the Wall from a weaker Unit the moment that they face each other across a Qualified Hexside. The Order of Arms Table (under RALLY above) ranks Units from Strongest(1) to Weakest (4). An A Unit may abandon and/or claim (if GAINED it must be HELD) WA during the course of IT'S Movement Phase.

Although claiming WA does not cost MP, it can activate non-moving Defensive Fire much like dropping a Support Weapon does.

In the following examples ALL HEXSIDES ARE BOCAGE. WA is shown by the Unit physically touching the hexside over which it enjoys WA. Your mother wears boxer shorts and Army boots.

Example 1. During the Advance Phase the Half-squad can only change it's WA from one side of the Bocage to the other side of the same hexside since it began the Advance Phase holding WA and it must be kept until at least the next Player Turn. I do not recommend that a distinction be made between A Units which GAIN WA during their turn and A Units which MAINTAIN WA once the Advance Phase has begun.

The Squad can Advance into the hex and attempt to claim WA over any one of the hexsides. Eligible Enemy Units could thwart this claim by claiming WA themselves in response to the American expenditure of MP ADJ.

( The editor has noticed that this example is in direct conflict with B9.521. In particular the sentence stating, 'or any hex formed by that hexside. Jan. '99)

Example 2.The German Squad can fire at the American Squad using the TEM of the Building. The Leader cannot direct. Although he is Eligible, he must have actually claimed WA to be able to see into the Building/Bocage hex due to the fact that the House has a TEM separate from that of the Bocage(B9.521).

Under the existing Rule(B9.32 example) if the German's hexside were clear ( no Hedge, Wall nor Bocage) it would be an Open Ground shot on the American. If there is ever going to be an ASL Encyclopedia, this would be a good example for the 'Ludicrous' entry. However, if there were an American holding WA at 'X', my revision gives it the TEM of the Building. If the 'X' Unit fired a LATW it would suffer the effects of Backblast (Exc. C3 To Hit, Opp. Fire).

Example 3. Here the German Squad, during it's Prep Fire Phase, can see the American Squad .and Leader but not the Half-squad. The American squad can be seen because it actually holds WA over the common Bocage hexside. The Leader can be seen because it is ABLE to claim WA due to the fact that the American Squad is actually holding the Wall. If the 667 were not present, the German could see both the Leader and Half-squad because it would now be Eligible, allowing a LOS to the Half-squad(B9.521). It can't claim WA at this moment (Prep Fire) lacking an Event to Qualify the hexside. The 667 returns to the example.

The Half-squad cannot be seen by the German because it, the Half-squad, already has WA over a different hexside rendering both Ineligible and therefore out of LOS.

To get as much mileage as possible out of this diagram let's now assume that it is the end of the American's Close Combat Phase. All of the American Units could automatically grow Concealment. If it was the end of the German CC Phase, the lone German Squad could not grow Concealment due to the American Squad's WA over their mutual Bocage hexside(B9.55).

Let's assume that the German Squad has been eliminated and it is the American Advance Phase. If the American Half-squad were allowed to leave it's WA and advance into the now vacant hex and successfully claim WA at the point marked "X", this, to me at least, appears to be an advance of two full hexes and does not fulfill the obligation 'until the next Player Turn' (B9.31 rev.)

Example 4. The German Half-squad moves into the Woods at a cost of 4 MP and then into WA. The American cannot react by claiming WA because no MP were spent in it's LOS. The most that it could do is PB plus 2 for Bocage (A .8). If the Half-squad were a Leader and the American Eligible, this case would be an Event that would allow the American to 'steal' WA.

If the German were Concealed it would not lose it's Concealment even though it did not use Assault Movement. If the Woods were Open Ground and the German moved in, the American would have to actually claim WA in order to remove the German's Concealment.

Example 5. It's the last turn of a Germano-Americano Scenario. To win the American must eliminate all Enemy Units. This Half-squad is all that remains of a once proud Scenario Defender. It is completely beserk. The Half-squad, that is. The American has 18 Squad equivalents evenly arranged about the German at a range of 2 hexes. All 6 hexes in between are Open Ground, save for the omnipresent Bocage hexsides.

One more thing. The German Player is the cheatin'est Dirty Dog what ever walked on two legs. He has just palmed his special dice that will roll only snake-eyes. The Hapless American has been successfully passed dice which will roll only 7's.

The point that I am trying to make here is that even though Rule B9.31 doesn't specifically state that a Unit, if claiming WA, must hold that Wall for the balance of the Player Turn, it would be ridiculous to assume otherwise. If a Unit were not forced to hold the Wall for the balance, our not so hapless Half-squad up there could bounce back and forth from Bocage hexside to Bocage hexside taking Movin In the Open shots against every Unit which moved ADJ. It's a worst case example, but that's my specialty. (The American lost)

Well, that just about sums up my position on the Basics of  Deluxe ASL. If even one note in the positive is received, there will be more to follow. ie, Gully and Crest Status on Bocage, Height Advantage etc. Agent "K" will gleefully channel all correspondence to it's proper bin.

PROP PHASE

Propositions

1. There's talk around these parts about the formation of a National ASL Organization. From my limited perspective I believe that The Toronto ASL Ladder should form the vanguard of any such organization as this. I'm using your format, letterhead and would be perfectly happy to accept Ladder Leadership (Laddership?) in any such endeavor as this.

2. Rex 'A for Able' Martin, 'Big' Bob McNamara, 'Chuckles' Kibler, 'Daredevil' Don Greenwood, how about producing, unmounted and untrimmed, ASL mapboards 1 through 4 in the Deluxe format? There's 30 plus scenarios which can be played on these boards alone. Throwing in no. 5 allows 15 more scenarios to be played. As a test market item you could do a couple thou' and see how it goes.

1 2 3 4 X X X X 5 X X X X 6 X X X X X X X X 7

ACROSS 1. IF Terrified with alacrity, boxcar'd Bruce sounded Leaderless (8) 5. Irregular's part is Anti-Nazi containment (8) 6. Watch it! Cardboard soldiers bracketed by OBA enablers. (4,4) 7. Disoriented, "H" sunk any one of Roosevelt's Germans.

DOWN 1. Ability to hold (8) 2. An ant kit is gun crazy (8) 3. Kill quickly (8) 4. ASL's GI isn't up to raze (4,4)

ADVANCED SQUAD LEADER

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