Jacometti

Hi all, registration for the Arnhem ASL tournament, which takes place at the end of September as usual, will close at the end of this month for people who like to get accommodation at the StayOkay venue..... That is only 10 days from now..... We have become used to a Swedish Invasion (which usually also involves running off with the tournament victory and various trophys) so we like to encourage all of you to consider and let us know if you are still planning to participate. All information on www.arnhemasl.com Look forward to seeing many of you early September in Linkoping at the Friendly Fire tournament. Peter

Hi All, as a big fan of the Friendly Fire tournament, I hoped to find some updates on the progress somewhere on the web. I have not found anything, either here, on Gamesquad or on the Friendly Fire website (which seems to be down)..... Hope to hear some results and opinions very soon - and wish you a great final round today. Peter Dedaye, Myanmar

Dear All, This is to remind anyone interested in attending the Arnhem ASL Tournament in Holland in September that our deadline for pre-registration payment (for the accommodation at the Stayokay hostel) will be closed by the 1st of August as usual. After this date, you can still join the tournament, but we will not have a bed for you at the tournament venue, which would be tragic. Currently, only three Swedish players have pre-registered (Falk, Peyre and Qvarfordt), but we assume at least one full squad (and elite, of course) will want to join the tournamen as usual.....maybe the weather in Sweden is too nice to think about ASL? Please visit the website for more information (including the scenario list and ABS): www.xs4all.nl/~hennies or email us directly at arnhemasl@hotmail.com Current pre-registrations stand at 26 participants and we expect at least another 10-20 regulars and new attendants in the coming few weeks. All the best, Peter & Liz Struijf Tournament Organisers A Bridge Too Far ASL Tournament Arnhem, Holland

It is true, the hexrows are not mentioned beneath the Board Layout - sorry we missed out on this errata. Use hexrows R-GG on all boards. The Victory Conditions state that Nationalists win if there are NO Good Order Republican Units within a certain area. So if there is any Good Order Republican Unit in that area, the Nationalists have not won. No need for multiple units. Best regards, Peter

Hi Guys, time pressure and the resulting need to judge some games at mid-play were the only two negative factors in my Friendly Fire experience this year. Quality of scenarios, fun factor, the venue and everything else were super. Really good job. As a TD in Arnhem, I have seen the huge increase in people's enjoyment of the tournament if they are NOT under such pressures and can finish their games at their own pace. It can be deeply frustrating to play for several hours, get halfway through a fun scenario against a great opponent, and then some kind of random dice roll or ruling ends it. The only reasonable option, in my view, is to start much earlier, eg Friday at lunch time, and play two rounds on Friday. Then you make space for a bigger round (scenarios like Sting of the Italian Hornet, which was too large to complete on Sunday) on Saturday, with no time pressure. If the different start time would mean you need to switch to another venue, that's OK I am sure - FrF is so cheap, including a fantastic scenario pack in your tournament costs - if it would be some Kroners more expensive to rent another place, I don't think that would affect value for money much. All the good advice (come more prepared, have counters ready, have setups ready, start exactly on time) are well-intended, but do not change the basic feature of Tournament ASL: playing complex scenarios and enjoying them to the fullest require enough time, period. And three scenarios on Saturday will always lead to big problems as a result. Hope it helps, Peter Struijf

to say that a Nationalist unit is inexperienced while using MMG (or HMG, captured or not) does not resolve what happens to the breakdown number, when leader directed. If they meant conscript, it would still be lowered by one. If they meant Green, it would not be lowered due to the leadership. A choice had to be made, I chose conscript. Basically, because the designer wants you to use your crews to man the MGs, just like you do with Japanese. Having no penalty at all when leader-directed would reduce this intention. Does it make sense ? Cheers, Peter

Hi Stabka, sorry for a long delay in answering your question, I only visit the site once in a long while. Your assumptions are correct. Whenever a scenario designer defines an entry area as 'between board edge hex A and board edge hex B' we can assume he means to include the shortest possible distance between those two hexes. It may be more complete to add "west edge" etc, but you would have a hard time convincing your opponent the designer might have meant the longest distance between those two hexes..... Cheers, Peter

The British Americans in "Sting of the Italian Hornet" are actually Canadians, to make things worse.

Dear Friends, just a quick update from the Arnhem tournament. We have a total of 39 players registered for the Main Tournament and another 5 players will join us on Saturday to take part in the Mini-Tournaments: a grand total of 44 which is an excellent number. Our reserved rooms in the StayOkay hostel are now fully booked - if you are still interested to join, you will have to find your own accommodation elsewhere or hope for some late no-shows (which is very unlikely because these people have all paid). There are affordable alternatives, but some distance from Arnhem itself - we will help you out as much as we can, just send us an email. A few issues regarding the Scenarios: We have added a Balance SSR to the first round scenario "The IJA Last Battle", as it seems overly pro-Japanese. We also clarified some rules issues for one of the Guerra Civil scenarios - so just drop by our website and have a look. We look forward to seeing all of you (14 Swedish participants are confirmed !) in September. Cheers, Peter Struijf Tournament Director

Hi Stabka, I really like the point you are making here and I think it's about the best argument for the use of ABS. Next year, I think I will use ABS for all scenarios in the Arnhem tournament. This year, I will stick with the Tournament Rules as announced - it is too late to consider changing it, IMO. Thanks very much for the input. Peter

Dear All, This is an urgent message to anyone, who might still be planning to take part in the Arnhem ASL tournament in September. August 1st is the last day to pre-register and pay for your accommodation and food at the Stayokay tournament venue through us (the organisers). After that date, we return any unbooked rooms to the hostel and they will quickly sell them all to other people. Finding alternative accommodation in Arnhem is going to be very difficult anyway, because the ASL tournament "coincides" again with the Airborne weekend, when the city is full of veterans, WWII vehicles and tourists for that occasion. Until today, we have confirmed participation by 35 players in the Main Tournament and 5 others will join to play only in the Mini-Tournaments. The biggest national contingent, as usual, are THE SWEDES , expected with a squad and a half (Unit Size of 5, hard to conceal if stacked) of 14 participants. There will be 11 Dutch players and 6 Frenchmen also taking part. The total of 40 players will already mean a pretty full house for the long weekend. There are only a few beds left for late comers.... So if you still have an interest, get in touch with us (at arnhemasl@hotmail.com) as soon as possible, but certainly before 1 August. Have a wonderful summer until we meet in September, Peter Struijf Arnhem Tournament Director

Today, Hennie van der Salm and I played "Danger Forward" with the expanded mapboard. We found it much more interesting and balanced, but still pro-American. We therefore gave the Italians another little bit of help, in the form of a HMG. This is how it will be on the menu in Arnhem. Hope it will work out. I also answered Stabka's questions regarding the SSR for Los Ejercitos Nuevos - Hennie will update the Scenario List / Clarifications on the website very soon, so all should be clear. Best regards, Peter

Dear all, STABKA raised a question on the SSR for Los Ejercitos Nuevos, defining the Nationalist and Republican units as Inexperienced (for SW and Cowering purposes only) without defining their status as either Green or Conscript. As far as I can see, this SSR is clear when it comes to Cowering: the penalties for Cowering (two columns) are identical for Green and Conscript troops. So it makes no difference here. For SW usage however this SSR is not clear - a Green MMC stacked with a leader is exempt from the lowered Breakdown of its SW, but a Conscript is not. Given the likely intention of the scenario designer, I would interpret them as Conscripts for relevant SW usage in both SSRs. Regardless of this minor clarification, I consider this scenario with 19-21 ROAR a pretty good bet for an infantry-only scenario. Cheerio, Peter Struijf

Hi Guys, just drop me a line on the arnhem mail addres indicating which scenarios you don't have and I can help out. Cheers, Peter

Dear Swedish ASL friends, it is my pleasure to announce that the Scenario Selection for the Main and Mini Tournaments are now available on the Arnhem website: (www.xs4all.nl/~hennies). I hope you will all have a look and see what is on offer. Of course there will be one surprise scenarios round, which will only be published at the tournament itself. We have included one very interesting scenario: Danger Forward from the Action Pack. This is a known dog, as the Italians have almost no chance in the original scenario. We then found out the guys at MMP cut the mapboard by about 6 hexrows (including a big juicy building) compared to the playtested version that was submitted. We have restored the map to its original size, after discussion with the American designer of this scenario. We are still testing to see how far this balances out and might add another small Balance SSR, but we are excited to offer you this scenario.....let's hope it will meet our expectations. Just like last year, you must preregister and pay in advance for the accommodation at the StayOkay and the deadline is again 1st of August 2008. Prices are the same as last year and we again will only have 4-bed rooms available. I hope to meet many of you again in September this year, for the 6th time. You will maybe meet me at Friendly Fire in Linkoping before that time.... Best regards, Peter Struijf Tournament Director

Hi Guys, I was reading on the Consimworld forum about this scenario from the latest Action Pack, designed (and advertised pretty heavily) by Mark Pitcavage. This little gem has an SSR, which allows the Italians to undertake Banzai Charges.... Two Questions arose: 1) Can we at least suggest a better NAME than Banzai Charge for an Italian version......Spaghetti Wave ? Pasta Charge ? Any other ideas ? 2) What's next in the sick minds of our Game Designing Friends ? SSR 1: The Spotter Plane with 2 Heroes on board may land on a Motion Truck by passing a Matrix Task Check and counts as 15 CVP if exited off the board edge. SSR 2: If the Wind Change DR = 4, it is Tea Time. All British SMC become TI. To release these SMC from this condition, two squad-equivalent of Gurkha MMC must move to the Pond and spend 2 MF collecting water and 2 Game Turns TI Cooking Tea. British SMC then become Fanatic until Game End. SSR 3: Buildling 24 P5 is the Sex Shop. Any American MMC, which first gains a LOS to the Sex Shop, becomes TI for two Game Turns. Any French MMC which gains LOS to the Sex Shop immediately goes Berserk and must charge the Sex Shop as if it is the Nearest Known Enemy Unit in LOS, engage it in Hand to Hand CC. The Sex Shop has a FP factor of 5 for this purpose (Exc: 8 FP in the PTO) Maybe you guys have some more ideas ? Anything you might find in next year's Friendly Fire Pack ?

Hi Janusz, I am only guessing here (my Swedish is about as good as my Icelandish) - but if you are trying to find out if there is still space in a Vikingmobile cruising down to Arnhem, I hope someone will answer you soon. Because: per my latest records, we only have two beds left in the StayOkay....the rest is taken and paid for by the crowd listed in my earlier email. So if you are still interested, please get in touch with us as soon as you can (before 1 August). You can find the email address on our website.... Cheerio Peter Struijf

Hi Guys, this is a reminder that the closing date for registering and paying for the Accommodation at StayOkay is only one month away ! After 1st of August you can still register for the tournament, but you would have to organise your own place to stay in Arnhem (and StayOkay will most likely have no rooms available for that weekend very soon). You have all seen the scenario list on our website (www.xs4all.nl/~hennies), we already have a good number of paid up participants (4 French, 4 German, 4 Swedes, Dutch halfsquad - together close to 20) - so you know what to expect : 6 rounds of ASL in the peaceful environment of the Arnhem woods (with nightlife around the corner).....and the answer to the question: is Mel going to make Arnhem Tournament History by winning his third title, going 2 in a row ? How many Swedes will carry a Mini Tournament Trophy home this year ? And who will Bust the most Tanks ? So if you are planning to be part of another Swedish Invasion in Arnhem this year, please send us an email as soon as possible on arnhemasl@hotmail.com Liz will be available to answer any of your questions... Many greetings and I wish you good gaming (from my PTO Command Hut, 3 hexes from the Ocean) Peter Struijf