The iconic cover lives on...with a $10 price tag!
Yeah, that's what happened, man. But to go into fuller explanation...
I had a lovely romance with CSL in the 80s, when me and a buddy both had it and played it a bunch. I also played it a lot solo, cuz it plays pretty darn well solo! I played a bunch of the scenarios, some repeatedly, and I dug it.
I then got into COI and COD, but eventually the rules were too much and I got interested in other things [girls, sports, the usual boy things] and Classic SL sat around in my parents house until they moved and threated to throw all my [well, all the kids stuff - my sister's too] into a dumpster if we didn't come get it. It then went with me and was eventually stored in my garage, where a leak developed, and [due to my negligence] a bunch of stuff was ruined. Including nearly all my SL stuff. The last surviving materials I was too depressed to keep, and sold the last of it off. Then, I just didn't have any interest for a long long time.
Well, I did discover this binder, much to my surprise, and was tempted to trash it, but then I thought "hey, these are classic rules, with much to be learned from, so hang on to it!" So I did. It has 4e. CSL...
Then I stumbled upon this $10 [TEN DOLLARS...!!! WTH!] and I just...bought it.
I brought it home, and found [as the store said] that it was barely used and in good shape, and immediately reviewed the rules for Scenario #1 "The Guards Counterattack" and set it up. Childishly enthralled...
I then proceeded to play it several times over the next few days. It was AWESOME!
And above, here we go, with all set up!
As a [much] older person, I was able to digest the rules quickly, and they really weren't as tough as I remembered them. Of course, a lot of it came back to me quickly. My first game was a nail-biter - with some errors of course - but it was enthralling to figure out how to start sneaking the Guards across the road and take building F5! Their firepower trashed several squads in G6 and H5, and I realized that it was HIGHLY unlikely that the Germans would hold this building.
As the Russian attack developed, they gained a foothold in the building and the Germans failed to push them out.
...With an "oorah!" the Russian Guards pushed across the street, unstoppable...
...but with a natural '3', the Germans wiped out some stacks! There's hope, comrades!
...but not for long. The shattered remnants of elite German leaders and veteran squads retreated to other buildings across the deadly street.
The chewed-up Russkies were still able to deliver enough firepower to push the Germans, eliminating some of the better elements.
Eventually, all the Germans were broken!
The Russkies closed in to seal the deal and take the building at I7! All the German squads were broken thru superior firepower and some great die rolls...
...and by Turn 5, the Russkies were sitting pretty on I7 with no effective counter from the Germans, who had actually made a play at building M5.
In a second game, I had the amazing misfortune to kill two German leaders by rallying them on a natural '12' - clearly, there are plenty of snipers around!
Unsurprisingly, game 2 ended with the Russkies again winning, despite a much stronger German attack on M5...
...which ended in disaster, as the Germans were wiped out in the assault, and ended up as "support weapon donators" to the Russkies.
Many of the Germans Routed out of the building to some safety, and I was hoping to rally them and counter-attack F5 building, but that was ridiculous, I realized.
Finally, the day for which I'd prepared came around - I had convinced a buddy [who had a battered, incomplete copy of CSL] to give them a go. I think at some level he felt that they weren't that great, and were likely dated. He also had the first ASL Start Kit which he had fiddled with, but not really gotten into. But I was *determined* to play CSL for nostalgia purposes!
As expected by me [having played 3-4 times at least] the Guards Counterattack was strong, and heavy losses were experienced by both sides. Unfortunately, the Russkies had a few squads go Berserk, and this gave them an edge on the assault.
With more attrition, there was was only one German squad left in the F5 building, and 7 Russkie Guard squads pressuring them - crossfire from J4 did help a bit.
...But eventually, the Guards took the building, which should have been renamed "Fritz's Used LMG Emporium" as they made out quite well on working support weapons. Altho they didn't help a lot [there's only so many you can fire].
But as the game wrapped up, effective Russian firepower broke *a lot* of Germans and even with rallying some squads and saving building L6, there was no way the Germans would win. The Russians almost won, but they didn't take a second building nor did they have enough intact squads to win at 3-1 [it was 12-5... so they needed one more German squad broken to win, but the Germans managed to rally a leader and a squad and "not lose"].
Well, after about 5-6 games, the last with a live opponent, I can say honestly, that CSL has aged very well indeed - pretty much it is better than I remembered it, which is more than you can say about a lot of things! The game is a tense nail-biter, and easily manageable, at least as an adult.
Altho I haven't found any secret sauce for the Germans to win Scenario #1, it doesn't really matter - maybe they can win Scenario #2, The Tractor Works.
We'll see...more is definitely coming. I'm tempted to commit to playing all original 12 scenarios, which I never actually did - I played most but not all of them. But #2 and #3 are definitely happening!
Great stuff, I still have a soft spot for CSL, despite it's faults. My preferred combo was SL and COI Although I used the counters from COD and GAV. Like you, I played most of the first 12 scenarios, but not all of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to have a soft spot for it - still delivers a tense game with character and tactics, and leaves you with lots of tough decisions. This has been a lot like running into a favorite former girlfriend... she may not be perfect, but she's still got great qualities.
DeleteWondering what you feel the "faults" are - in the basic design, or incidental issues along the way? It's definitely one game where I think the structured Phase works really well, offering players multiple decisions and opportunities, as well as organizing their plans. Generally these days, I don't use the Phased Turn.
Three main things: the lack of any resemblance to real world organisations and Command hierarchies, the very odd treatment of support weapons (mainly LMGs) and the completely arbitrary allocation of combat values to various types of infantry units. The leadership and combat modelling are unparalleled though, particularly beaten zones.
DeleteInteresting. I was thinking you were going to say something about various rules glitches and over-engineering. The organization issue would mostly be a scenario issue, and therefore abstracting real-life attrited units which would be smaller than their TO&E. One could of course create a scenario with a real world TO&E for both sides should one have the data for it.
DeleteI don't think the designers / playtesters thought the combat values are arbitrary. OTOH, I have never particularly thought to ask why they have the values they do.
SUPERB! Classic game and classic scenario sir. I was recently thinkign about this scenario as a nice one for Crossfire actually, but the original game is of course the best way to do it. BTW - your PMC guys from last post are absolutely fantastic! Looking forward to seeing these on the table. Last time i saw the 90 degree firing arc, using the natural angle of the base, was in 'Men Against Fire' ... a great idea which you see very rarely these days. Great stuff sir.
ReplyDeleteGood of you to drop by, Darren, always a pleasure!
ReplyDeleteCrossfire is sort of like the opposite end of the design spectrum from CSL, so I have no idea if the scenarios can Crossfire over, but do post about it if you play it out.
The PMCs have already had a few run-ins with the Rangers.
They were trying to retrieve intel from a tip, while the Rangers were on a routine patrol. Things got kinetic and both elements [of 6] retired, the Russkies with 1 dead and some wounds, but with some intel; the Rangers having cleared a couple buildings, getting a positive ID on the Russkies Leader and then killing him in a shootout. Unfortunately, they took a critical casualty they had to carry off the field. Victory to the Rangers, net 1-0 [after subtracting for losses].
Using my own "Big Boy Rules" but still fine tuning it. Goal is the absolute simplest modern skirmish game that presents a lot of realistic situations and challenges in a palatable format. Stay tuned!
That's a great find! At $10 you were losing money not buying it!
ReplyDeleteI've never played CSL, just ASLSK #1 (which I like well enough but always feel like I'm doing it wrong). That said, I could follow along and could interpret the counters in your photos, so my hours playing ASLSK weren't wasted. Looking forward to seeing more CSL games on your table!
Btw, with regards to scenario conversion to Crossfire (mentioned above) Steven's Balagan has a few posts on that topic. Even if that's not your goal, there might be nuggets to spark thought for converting SL to miniatures: https://balagan.info/eye-of-the-tiger-how-i-converted-an-asl-scenario-to-crossfire
Hey John, I was actually thinking of you while buying it in a zombie-like trance... I remembered your post about the ASL SK1 and was tipped over the edge. I apologize if I've been an enabler, but, there it is. Cutting counters for "The Tractor Works" Scenario 2!
DeleteSo far, no opinion about ASL SK1, but enjoying returning to the original game.
A blast from the past and a bargain! I played a lot of SL and COI in my youth against a close friend and also online in the late 80s. I has COD and GAV but only played them a bit. I did photocopy all 4 of the rulebooks, cut them out and pated them back together into one rulebook. That was not constantly flicking between 4 books. I keep meaning to play again (i still have it all) or use Retro to play some of the scenarios. But then I play a games with my toy soldiers instead!
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks for dropping by! Always good to have you visit.
DeleteYeah, it's a bit odd. I think I needed to recover from losing all of it to water damage. Now I'm definitely in my mind committed to all 12 of the original scenarios. Will I be able to resist "Paw of the Tiger"?? I doubt it... but one thing at a time.
ReplyDelete