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[This was originally published on July 31st, 2010 in the Gamesquad Blog. I am moving everything over to BGG. Therefore, links and other information may or may not work.]
If the whole point of the hobby side of ASL is to actually play ASL then learning ASL is the singularly most important task you'll take on as a new player. There are a lot of routes to learning the game and many of those routes don't even require someone in your home town knowing ASL any longer. Back in the pre-internet days it required long drives if you want to learn with another experienced player or going to gaming convention. In 2000 Rodney Kinney changed everything with VASSAL. No longer did you have to know someone across town to play ASL, you could get your ASL on with someone across the globe. Chatting was kind of a pain and many players used phone calls to help speed things up. Then in 2003 Skype was founded and it changed everything for VASL players who now had an easy way to communicate for free across the internet.
The side effect of the increased access to electronic play for ASL was that the counters and maps were now available to create high quality online articles and tutorials. I wanted to put together some links for places that I think are doing a great job with helping new players get into the game. I'm certain there are others and not being included in this list doesn't mean it's not a high quality resource, it probably just means I didn't get a chance to see it. If you'd like to PM me, I'll check out the resource and add it to this post.
Before you get started on any of this make sure you go download and print out the ASL Classic scenarios posted on MMP's website. http://www.multimanpublishing.com/Support/ASLASLSK/tabid/64/...
Russ Gifford's PowerPoints - http://www.russgifford.net/asl_training.htm
Basic rules and overview of the system. As an instructional designer myself I can attest to the fact that while these might not be richly interactive or anything, they are well laid out and logical in the presentation which is saying something about an ASL resource.
Tom Repetti's Examples of Play for Infantry (PDF)- http://web.archive.org/web/200410130...xop/InfXOP.pdf
A full generation of ASL players have likely used this great review of The Guards Counterattack to get a handle on the options for infantry combat in ASL.
Jim Stahler's 8 Steps to ASL - A Programmed Instruction Approach
http://texas-asl.com/download/Stahler_ASL_Tutorials.zip
This one is the classic. It used to be hosted on MMPs website in its original format, but has been picked up by the Texas ASL Club on their excellent site http://texas-asl.com.
Those 3 resources should get you a long way into ASL.
In addition to the printed resources, there are a number of excellent attempts at teaching ASL via YouTube. Here are a series of videos from Joe Steadman (wargamecop on Youtube) that are also a gentle introduction to ASL that I have found to be among the best.
ASL Primer #1
ASL Primer #2
ASL Primer #3 - Part 1
ASL Primer #3 - Part 2
ASL Primer #4 - Part 1
ASL Primer #4 - Part 2
ASL Primer #5 - Part 1
ASL Primer #5 - Part 2
ASL Primer #6 - Part 1
ASL Primer #6 - Part 2
ASL Primer #7
ASL Primer #8 - Part 1
ASL Primer #8 - Part 2
ASL Primer #9
ASL Primer #10 - Part 1
ASL Primer #10 - Part 2
ASL Lessons Intro
Joe has MANY more videos in the ASL Lessons series that you're welcome to peruse on his YouTube page which can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/wargamecop
One of the great things about Joe is that he's opinionated, knows the game, and has taught enough players that he knows how to talk about the game in terms of introducing new players to the concepts. These skills CANNOT be overlooked because there are plenty of great ASL players out there who can't explain movement let alone the basics of routing.
Here are some resources that are here on the Geek that you will want to check out as an ASLSK player:
An ASLSK Tutorial (Part 1) - http://bgg.cc/thread/157922/an-aslsk-tutorial-part-1
An ASLSK Tutorial (Part 2) - http://bgg.cc/thread/166941/an-aslsk-tutorial-part-2
[NOTE: These tutorials can be found in a printable format for reading as you see fit at: http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/40482/jay-richardsons-asl-...]
Explanation of the Rout Phase - http://bgg.cc/thread/122340/explanation-of-the-rout-phase
Explanation of ROF (and Defensive Fire) - http://bgg.cc/thread/88350/explanation-of-rof-and-defensive-...
These resources will get you started down the right path. Remember that even if you want to dive directly into ASL and skip the ASLSKs the concepts in ASLSK are the same in ASL. The two product lines are both ASL! This is something that is often misunderstood!
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