ASL Starter Kit # 3 Review, Page 3

Squad Leader players who left the game have a reason to look at ASL again. The sequence of play is unchanged with a common rally phase, the phasing player’s prep fire phase and movement phase followed by a common rout phase, and then an advance and close combat phase. ASL expanded on concepts introduced in the original Squad Leader, namely defensive fire, which breaks up the You Go/I Go rhythm. The non phasing player has an interactive part of the of the other person’s turn now, not only being able to fire at moving units but also having several opportunities to do so.

New players do not have a good reason to avoid the series anymore. The complexity and cost are gone. There is no longer a high overhead cost of getting into the game system. At 17 pages of rules for the ASLSK#3, those rules are shorter than Lock N’ Load and arguably tighter.

In their introductory role, experienced players have commented using the kits to teach new the game. On their own, gamers new to ASL can start playing them probably in less than 30 minutes. With the help of experienced players, this time may go down to as few as ten minutes. All other players get a good tactical game. With only one box to buy, players get a proven game system and more scenarios than they’ll know what to do with. While many games come with only a scenario or two, the tactical versatility of ASL provides for an almost endless number of combinations.

The Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits are a victory in the game world. Kit 3 is $34 and it’s a great value. It’s World War II squad level combat, a proven and working game system, a complete game, and a myriad of scenarios. Many in the community agree. The kits have become an MMP best seller and may have touched off resurgence in World War II tactical games.

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