Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit 1 - Review

[@hexesandsoldiers6032]

Careful, this is a deep rabbit hole you will never want to escape ;)

[@thegrogshed]

I agree with you about the rules. I find them very hard to learn from and quite obtuse in how important concepts aren't clear.

[@CountBelisarius]

Good overview. Thanks. I played full ASL for years until kids intervened. Still kept buying the new stuff but I may use ASLSK as a gentle re-introduction.

[@chrisridley4840]

Be carful Matt thats not a game It is a gateway drug to a life time of ASL addiction 😉

[@born2bwildne744]

Hmmm.... Great vid. Glad I stumbled on your channel from across the pond - ordered from Little Big Horn Games over the weekend after watching your vids.... I played Squad Leader in the ‘70’s (I am an old fart) - and have purchased Starter Kits 1 thru 3. #1 is corner clipped. Nostalgia tugs..... I am torn though - I love Old School Tactical - it’s balance between capabilities, uncertainty and playability. I also have Conflict of Heroes 3rd Edition (AtB & SoS) and haven’t taken the shrink off of Last Hundred Yards (base & Airborne). These old eyes like bigger counters and larger fonts!! So I have set myself up for failure!!! Thanks for tugging me yet some more!!! Take care.

[@MattWhiteWargames]

Thanks! I love all my tactical games in my collection - I do love Conflict of Heroes 3rd edition too (especially as they feature my artwork in the rulebook!) Love Old School Tactical too - my problem is that I love them all!!

[@mikestrand3023]

I did love the squad leader system from the moment my copy of the General arrived in the mail back in '78. Played it into the mid-eighties. What finally caused me to give it up was the realization that although it was immensely fun to play, it was a poor simulation. The rules were detailed and complex, but that doesn't mean accurate, in a simulation sense. The game represented a carefully choreographed bar fight more than real combat. All that being said, your review really makes me hanker to dive in again, because it is so fun! Good video!

[@KWHgames]

Very good overview, thanks.

[@amphora8321]

Could you play an ASLSK scenario, you don't get many English players on KZbin. Just a thought.

[@Rabmac1UK]

I still have the original Avalon Hill SLand ASL, with all the units in nicely filed envelopes I do wonder why no PC Games Publisher has made a game as gripping as that was. I would guess that 'line of sight' with Cotton was beyond them 😊 Stopped playing in 1982, the Winter of Discontent finally made us Emigrate to Africa, and 7 years later returned with a Son. Those Days were better than These. Indian PM ? Unthinkable, and is.

[@landonbohinc8146]

Men of War Assault Squad 2 is the most realistic simulation of squad level tactics I’ve played in a PC game. The game works upon an incoming economy aspect which in turn allows you to buy stronger units and that aspect is obviously not realistic and adds some game theory to it but often that game theory is still realistic and it only complements the real focus of the game which is ASL scale tactics. Mods really change it up and 8v8s make it Battalion scale which is a long ride but extremely fun. Definitely recommend , Jesus bless!

[@picton101]

They did make an ASL/ SL video-game with a weird LOS string checker thing. The Close Combat games of the 90s were based on them, although I think SSL fell out with whoever owned the rights at the time. I believe Matrix games are still making them. When I was 10 I played the demo of Close Combat 2 A Bridge too Far (my first computer wargame) I blame that game for my lifelong wargaming obsession. I moved onto Commandos, then Combat Mission, Europa Universalis 2, Sudden Strike, Age of Empires, Cossacks and finally the Total war games (from Shogun to medieval II) . It was my disappointment with Empire Total War that brought me back into miniatures (long having forgotten my love of epic 40k 3e) and started my interest in board wargaming in my early 20s!

[@Rabmac1UK]

@@picton101 Your path is almost identical to mine, except Shogun was the killer blow for me. God Bless Miniatures and the common or garden Board Game, so much nicer than computer 'wizardry'.

[@mateuszszczesiak4115]

Thanks for the review. Since you have mentioned it, which tactical system is your favorite for solo play?

[@MattWhiteWargames]

tbh - I enjoy them all - Conflict of Heroes or Lock N Load Tactical both have excellent Solitaire expansions.

[@lastburning]

The best way to learn is to be taught by someone face-to-face? What sucky advice lol. You could say that about any game. And you can't just go into a cafe or something and expect people to teach you board games. Where are these people who are ready to teach you games? The one who bought the game is most likely the one who will learn the game from the rulebook and maybe online resources. Then, the owner of the game will teach it to his friends. That's the only possible way to learn and play games for most people.