Basic Squad Leader – Scenario 1

[Norm S]

A blog post discussing the replay of possibly one of the most important Squad Leader Scenarios.

Scenario 1 – The Guards Counterattack.

LINK
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/the-joy-of-nostalgia-basic-squad-leader.html

[Rod Robertson]

Norm:

That was a delightful trip down memory lane! Thank you for that. I loved playing Basic Squad Leader and always thought that ASL’s extra rules and complications took something away from the simple elegance of the basic game. As time and the experience increased of my circle of SL buddies and I, we discovered in AH’s “General” magazine the rules for ‘Blind Squad Leader’. In this variant game two duplicate boards separated by a blind screen were used and a referee determined what enemy units each player could see on their unique board and placed units accordingly on each player’s board. You can’t imagine the terror when every tank you met was initially identified as an S-35 SOUMA, a Matilda II, a T-34, a KV-1 or a Tiger I, until your troops got a better look at it and realised it was a lesser foe! You could and did use blind suppressive fire at suspected enemy positions rather than concealment markers. Scouts (from ASL rules) were far more important too. Of course this is all useless if you’re committed to playing solo games.

But all of that aside, the twelve initial games of the first Basic Squad Leader game were some of my favourites which I on occasion go back to playing even these days forty years down the road of life. Good memories!

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

 

[Ruarigh]

Nice write-up. Thank you. It’s been some years since I played ASL, but I’ve played Guards Counterattack a few times recently using ASL. It and The Tractor Works and The Streets of Stalingrad are great scenarios and always provide a good game. I’m inclined to agree with your assessment of ASL, despite having played and enjoyed it for the past 20+ years, but I actually think that ASLSK hits the sweet spot between the two and would happily stick to playing that if there were a Stalingrad campaign for it; Red Barricades really is the ultimate in board wargaming (for me, anyway).

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

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