One of them is the Friendly Fire ASL Tournament, held each year in Linköping, Sweden, a small city about 120 miles southwest of Stockholm.  In 2005, the organizers of this tournament surprised the ASL world by suddenly starting to publish original material.  The surprise turned out to be a pleasant one.  Each year since then, Mattias Rönnblom and Martin Svärd put out a pack each year, which have been well received by the ASL audience and have created a reputation for themselves of containing interesting and well-balanced scenarios.

After several years, Martin became less involved in scenario design and the Dutch-Swiss designing team of Peter Struijf and Chris Mazzei began collaborating more often with Mattias.  The pack came to have more of a general international flavor as well, with designing, proofreading, and playtesting coming from a variety of sources.

Commentary:  The Friendly Fire Pack 1 (FF1) was a small pack of tournament-sized scenariös most of which were originally designed for use at the Friendly Fire ASL tournament in Linköping, Sweden (one scenariö was used in the 2003 tournament, while five others were used in the 2005 tournament; the remaining two were apparently designed for the scenariö pack itself).  The scenariös were designed by Mattias Rönnblom and Martin Svärd.  Because the Friendly Fire ASL Tournament is a rather small affair (only 16 players in 2005), the pack's practical, as opposed to technical, debut was shortly thereafter at ASL Oktoberfest (ASLOK), the world's largest ASL convention, held each year in Cleveland, Ohio.  A number of Scandinavians attended, including Rönnblom, and they brought the scenariö pack with them, where it was met with considerable fanfare.  That week, Friendly Fire scenariös were highly visible among the ASLers gathered in Cleveland. 

The Friendly Fire pack is quite well done.  Technically, it is in "color," although the only places where colors appear are underneath counters (as per official artwork) and in national flags (one wonders why they didn't go all the way and color the counters as well).  Although the pack is of Swedish origin, all the text is in English, and the editing, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and syntax is superior to the majority of ASL products published in the United States.  In the Schwerpunkt tradition, historical sources are offered for each scenariö as well.  The physical presentation is quite impressive.

The scenariös themselves are billed as tournament sized, though some of them seem too large for convenient tournament play.  Three of the scenariös are small, two more are medium-sized, while three can be considered large.    The actions portrayed range widely:  Spain 1937, Poland 1939, Finland 1940 (with Swedes, naturally), Soviet Union 1941, Soviet Union 1942 (featuring Italians), Soviet Union 1943, France 1944 and France 1945 (Operation Nordwind). 

In general, the scenariös are quite good.  Several feature interesting situations or fun units.  FrF2 (Maczek Fire Brigade), for example, is a fun Polish-German early war armor clash (the novelty value has helped make it the most popular Friendly Fire scenariö).  One of the most fun scenariös is FrF8 (Second Thoughts), which pits a determined SS force against a not always determined US attack.  Despite its small size, there are options for both sides and the scenariö is quite replayable. 

Overall, the pack is of high quality and a worthy addition to any ASL collection. 

Commentary:   Friendly Fire Pack 2 is the second publication released in conjunction with the Friendly Fire ASL tournament, held each September in sunny Linköping, Sweden.  The first Friendly Fire Pack was a very well-received publication, consisting of well-balanced tournament sized scenariös that were fun to play.  As a result, many people looked forward to the release of the sophomore Friendly Fire effort.

Like its predecessor, Friendly Fire Pack 2 consists of 8 unthemed scenariös printed on cardstock in black and white (although there is red numbering and colored nationality symbols).  All scenarios were designed by either Martin Svärd or Mattias Rönnblum.  The scenarios are mostly small to medium-sized, designed for tournament play, although FrF10 (Assault on Wielki Dział) is a massive 1941 East Front action.  Other scenariös take place in France 1940, Russia 1942 (3 scenarios), Sicily 1943, and eastern Germany 1945 (2).  In two scenariö packs, the Swedes have yet to visit the PTO or the desert. 

In its American debut at ASLOK 2006, the most popular scenariös seemed to be FrF14 (Patton Breaks Loose), although FrF11 (Rostov Redemption), FrF12 (The Fields of Black Gold), and FrF15 (Kampfgruppe 1001 Nacht) all saw a fair amount of play.  The latter scenariö, though seemingly balanced, offers a very gamey situation.  It features a variety of late war Soviet AFVs with strong frontal armor trying to exit 4 AFVs down the long end of a mapboard.  Because the defending Germans cannot easily penetrate the Soviets' frontal armor, their setup will feature many units positioned unrealistically "backwards," so that they can get rear shots at the Soviet vehicles. 

Overall, however, it seems to be another quality effort by the Friendly Fire duo of Martin and Mattias.  It is worth noting that the scenariö cards feature better writing and proofreading than most third party ASL products published by people for whom English is their native language.  It is well worth getting.

Commentary:   The "action packed scenarios" of Friendly Fire Pack 3 follow the formula that the Friendly Firers established in 2005:  8 varied scenarios (no themes), well playtested and mostly of tournament-suitable size.  The look and layout of the scenario cards is the same as in previous packs, as is the attention to proofreading (sadly lacking among far too many third party publishers).

The one innovation that Friendly Fire Pack 3 introduces is the inclusion of a new counter for a German anti-tank gun, the PaK 41, which appears in one of the scenarios.  The creators made a limited number of hand-made mounted versions of these counters, which were given or sold to a small number of people, but most copies of the scenario pack will not have them.  Players must rely on pictures of the counter for the counter details, or must create their own.

In this third scenario pack, the Friendly Firers finally reach out to include the Japanese, including a 1937 Sino-Japanese War scenario, FrF17 (The Marco Polo Bridge Incident), and a 1945 Russo-Japanese action in Korea in the last days of the war, FrF24 (Forging Spetznaz).  The latter features the equivalent of Soviet commandos, and has a very interesting tactical situation with divided Soviet forces sandwiching a Japanese force, plus a Japanese counterattack. 

FrF18 (Through Fire and Ice) pits Soviets against Finns near the end of the Winter War in 1940. The remaining 5 scenarios, however, are all East Front actions.  FrF20 (Adolf's Amateurs) features what may be the poorest quality SS troops in any ASL scenario.  FrF22 (Wunderwaffe) is the scenario with the 2 PaK 41s, a rare German AT gun that had a tapered bore and has a TK# of 24.  This scenario is also the largest scenario in the pack (14 Soviet squads and 7 tanks attacking 11 German squads, 2 AFVs, and 2 AT guns).  All the scenarios in Friendly Fire Pack 3 are playable in a tournament environment.

Overall, Friendly Fire Pack 3 seems to be just as good a value as its predecessors and is well worth getting.

Commentary:   In just a few years, the Friendly Fire Pack series of scenarios have vaulted to the forefront of the "must get" scenario packs of the ASL world, achieving a very high reputation for quality, historicity, playability, and even proofreadability alike.  In other words, Friendly Fire Packs have become synonymous with quality and that's high praise.  If that doesn't get us free product, nothing will (Editor's Note, 2009:  alas, it did not get us free product).

As Friendly Fire's reputation has grown, so too has grown the number of people interesting in working with them or helping them.  "Proudly produced in a whole bunch of countries," announces the Friendly Fire cover sheet, and they are right.  Although the two main honchos remain Mattias Rönnblom and Martin Svärd, there are more scenario designers and a whole host of new playtesters from several continents.

As with previous packs, Friendly Fire Pack 4 (FF4) contains a mixed bag of scenarios:  Poles vs. Germans (Poland 1939), Japanese vs. Soviets (Manchuria 1939), Poles vs. Soviets (Poland 1939), French vs. Germans (Luxembourg 1940), Italians vs. Canadians (Sicily 1943), Germans vs. Soviets (USSR 1944, Poland 1944, Germany 1945), Greek/New Zealanders vs. Germans (Italy 1944), and Finns vs. Germans (Finland 1944).

Because the pack is released annually at a Swedish ASL tournament, a number of the scenarios are suitable for tournament play.  Overall, the scenarios are a good mix of small, medium, and larger sizes, with none of the scenarios being particularly large.  One scenario uses some Desert rules, and two scenarios use OBA.  One scenario, FrF26 (A Polish Requiem), uses ASLSK board t.  Most of the scenarios have overlays.

Several scenarios spark interest.  FrF25 (Yasuoka's Tank Experience), a Japanese-Soviet clash on the Manchurian border, offers the novelty of Japanese-Soviet action as well as a manageably sized Manchurian scenario.  FrF26 (A Polish Requiem) is a nicely balanced early war combined arms action with victory conditions that can add suspense to the last couple of turns.  FrF29 (Sting of the Italian Hornet) is a meaty and balanced scenario despite a 1 ELR for the Italians!  It is one of a number of good scenarios involving Italians that have been released in the past few years.  FrF30 (Bidermann's Escape) is a tiny, balanced scenario that can be played very quickly. 

FF4 is a product with great play value and belongs in the scenario collection of all ASLers.

Commentary:   Half a decade since their debut, the reputation of the Friendly Fire scenario packs is perhaps second to none.  Though Friendly Fire's scope is limited--it doesn't do maps or counters or HASLs, just geomorphic map scenarios--what it does choose to do, it does very well.  Each year, hardcore ASLers eagerly look forward to a new batch of scenarios by the Friendly Fire brain trust.  The two main Swedish noodles are, as they have been all along, Mattias Rönnblom and Martin Svärd, but in this edition there are also scenarios designed by Chris Mazzei and Peter Struijf.  The playtesting and proofreading has been done by an international cavalcade of characters.

The scenarios are printed on 5 glossy pieces of cardstock (European-sized), without counter artwork.  For attendees at the ASLOK ASL tournament (and presumably the Friendly Fire tournament in Sweden as well), the Friendly Fire producers created a "freebie" counter of a rare AFV that appears on one of the scenarios.  These homemade counters are attractive, but unavailable unless one obtains one by finding and purchasing a used copy originally purchased at one of those tournaments.  In other words, ordered copies of the pack do not come with the bonus counter (and no, they don't have extra counters left over, so don't bother to ask).

As before, the Friendly Fire scenarios feature a wide variety of actions (though, also as before, the PTO tends to get short shrift).  This time around, scenarios include Finns vs. Soviets (Finland 1940), Polish partisans vs. Soviets (Poland 1940), Indians vs. Japanese (Burma 1942), Germans vs. Soviets (Soviet Union 1943, Soviet Union 1944, Poland 1945, and Berlin, Germany, 1945), Americans vs. Germans (Sicily 1943), Soviets vs. Rumanians (Rumania 1944), and Bulgarians vs. Germans (Hungary 1945).  The emphasis in Friendly Fire Pack 5 is overwhelmingly on East Front action.

Most of the scenarios are medium-sized, with a few small and large ones thrown in to round them out.  There are no scenarios that use OBA, Air Support, or Night Rules.  Two scenarios, FrF40 (Sporck's Eleven) and FrF43 (Forest Devil) use ASLSK board u. 

One of the scenarios, FrF5 (Skiing in Laponia) features a truly unusual play situation.  The scenario has two separate boards, which represent separate playing areas.  In this Finnish-Soviet scenario, the goal of the Soviets is establish a link-up between a group of four squads and one of two separate forces (one on each of the two boards).  The Finns must divide their forces between the boards and an off-board reserve.  However, when the Soviet four-squad group enters the playing area (all on one board), play is discontinued on the other board.  Thus the Soviet player can attempt to judge which board he is more likely to experience success with, and "negate" the other board.

Some of the other scenarios are also interesting, for various reasons.  FrF37 (Crossing Swords at Kyaukse) is a fast playing, tournament sized PTO scenario.  FrF41 (Romania Mare) is a rare late-war Rumanian counter-attack against the Soviets (with armor support); early results seem to favor the Soviets.  FrF42 (Kiss of Fury) is as odd as its name, featuring what is essentially a German half-track attack against a small Soviet force.  It may have novelty value.  FrF44 (Anhalt Pandemonium), a late war tournament-sized combined arms city fight, is likely to prove quite popular, if balanced.

Friendly Fire Pack 5 is another quality product that ASLers will enjoy.

Commentary:   The sixth iteration of Friendly Fire's annual scenario pack shows its continuing evolution as well as its continuity.  The evolution is most marked by its growing international nature.  Though Swedish ASLer Mattias Rönnblom maintains its Scandinavians roots with four scenario designs, the remaining four scenarios are designed by the international designing duo of Peter Stuijf (Netherlands) and Chris Mazzei (Switzerland).   Playtesters and proofers come from a variety of countries, including Sweden, France, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and a whole host of Americans.  The only thing missing is Ernst Blofeld, stroking a cat. 

The continuity, on the other hand, comes from the dedication of the publishers, from wherever they might be, to put out a quality collection of accurate and fun scenarios.  This has remained constant throughout the six-year history of Friendly Fire, and the sixth pack is no departure from this welcome norm.

One thing is different in the sixth friendly fire pack, though, and that is the appearance of a geomorphic mapboard.  Previous packs have been nothing but smallish scenario packs--eight scenarios and nothing else (although Mattias Rönnblom has sometimes made some small numbers of homemade counters, typically for purchasers of the product at ASLOK tournament in the United States and the Linköping ASL tournament in Sweden).  This time around, however, a nicely-made unmounted geomorphic mapboard (dubbed FrFA) is included in the pack.   The map is well done, and not much beyond a certain generic-ness to the buildings would suggest that it was not an "official" geomorphic mapboard.  The map, though nice, does not exactly break much new ground, however, depicting mostly a small crossroads hamlet surrounded by some patches of woods and some grainfields (as well as a single crag hex, looking out of place as if it wandered into a gay bar by mistake).  In any case, it's a nice extension of Friendly Fire capabilities and perhaps future maps will add a bit more to the oevre than this one does.

Four of the pack's eight scenarios use the new Friendly Fire board.  FrF46 (Dutch Courage) uses an ASL Starter Kit board, board t, as well as one of the newer geoboards, board 57. 

The eight scenarios depict a range of actions, including Soviets vs. Germans (Soviet Union 1941 [3 scenarios] & 1942, Poland 1945),  Poles vs. Germans (Poland 1939), Dutch vs. Germans (Netherlands 1940), and New Zealanders vs. Germans (Italy 1944).  As noted, East Front and early war West Front scenarios predominate.  The PTO is nowhere to be seen (one would think that Northern Europeans would flock to that warmer clime).  The scenarios are overwhelmingly small or medium in size; only one really aspires to be large.  Basically all of them are tournament-playable.  No scenarios use Air Support or OBA; one scenario uses Night rules.

Most of the scenarios depict interesting situations.  Perhaps the most unusual, in a sense, is FrF50 (Pavlov's Dogs), because in addition to its standard Germans-attacking-Soviet-settlement fare, it portrays Soviet mine dogs.  These bomb-laden woofers, trained to seek out German tanks, are treated basically as 1-0-7 tank hunter heroes.  The Soviets can create a whopping 10 Mine Dogs during the scenario; a veritable kennel's worth.  Because of an SSR that greatly increases creation chances during turn 1, combined with German set up restrictions that make some of its AFVs vulnerable, turn 1 of most scenarios will see a barrage of barking bombers lunging at German AFVs and dodging fire from accompanying German infantry.  In a way, this is almost a fun preface or, if you will, appetizer, to the main course of the scenario.  Because the victory conditions allow the Germans to win immediately upon controlling a certain number of building hexes, the scenario itself can create some tense and suspenseful moments.  Handmade Mine Dog counters were included in some copies of the pack available at early tournaments, but are not included in most copies.  The names of the dogs included several ASL personalities; a subtle bit of tail-wagging.

Another nail-biting scenario is FRF51 (Bite of the Bassato), a small scenario that could easily see a lot of tournament play.  In this scenario, a tiny handful of elite German squads and a single StuG 105/25(i) must survive an onslaught of elite New Zealanders with a trio of nasty armored cars (Staghounds).  If they can survive until turn 3, they get a platoon of reinforcements, as well as a StuG75/34(i).  Until then, however, the Germans must hang on for dear life.  The knowledge of imminent enemy reinforcement also puts a considerable pressure on the New Zealand player to make hay while the sun still shines.

Some players will inevitably gravitate towards another scenario, the somewhat larger FrF52 (Dying for Danzig), largely because the attacking Soviet forces have two flame-throwing tanks.  If they can dodge the German 88mm AT gun, those tanks can put the fear of godless communism into the defending Germans. Another scenario,  FrF46 (Dutch Courage), employs a VC mechanism that isn't used very often in ASL, but when it does, can also put pressure on the players.  In this scenario, a force of German paratroopers, well led and armed, must seize buildings from a weaker group of Dutch defenders and hold those buildings against subsequent Dutch counterattacks.  The Dutch are green but numerous.  Every game turn, the Germans get VP for each building they control (of five); thus a building seized early can provide more VP than one seized only later.  Similarly, the Dutch counterattackers cannot afford to be too cautious in their efforts, as the longer it takes for them to retake buildings, the more VP the Germans will accrue. 

The Friendly Fire folks must be commended for coming up with a new set of interesting scenarios every year.  Fresh situations, fresh units, fresh SSR, fresh VC, or some combination of the above seem to flourish in Friendly Fire scenarios every year.  They currently represent some of the best cardboard bangs for the buck in ASL play; one can only hope that they do not get cocky or lazy and decide to rest on their laurels.

Commentary:   The only thing nicer than a quality ASL product is a series of ASL products of dependable quality.  There is no better example of this than Friendly Fire.  Seven times now, Mattias Rönnblom and his circle of evil international minions have created a scenario pack with scenarios that are varied, imaginative, and competitive. 

I think it is worth reflecting on this for a second.  Has any other producer of ASL materials, official or unofficial, had a track record of such solid performance?  I think there is a good argument to be made that the answer is no.  Though there are other producers of ASL products that consistently have good releases, it is hard to think of one that still does not have the occasional dud or redheaded stepchild every now and then.   So far, Friendly Fire Packs have led a charmed life--they are essentially the Pixar of ASL.  Moreover, they have not succumbed to the lure of creating ever expanding number of scenarios, or trying to reach new heights in terms of scenario size, or trying to expand the number of products they release.  Their formula is short, simple, and successful:  produce a solid, well-playtested scenario pack a year.  Hopefully, they can continue to keep that quality high for years to come.  As long as they do, ASL players will come to the late summer/early fall ASL tournaments in Europe and the U.S. where Friendly Fire first tends to be released with great anticipation and eagerness.

As has probably already been surmised from the above, Friendly Fire Pack 7 maintains the high quality of its predecessors.  It is a pure scenario pack--there is no "sequel" to the board that appeared in Friendly Fire Pack 6.  It features designs by Mattias Rönnblom, Peter Struijf and Chris Mazzei, and Michael Koch.  The eight scenarios feature a variety of actions from across the span of World War II, including:  Poles vs. Germans (Germany, 1939), Dutch vs. Japanese (Dutch East Indies, 1942), Soviets vs. Germans (Soviet Union 1942 [2], Germany 1945 [2]), Polish Partisans vs. Germans (Poland, 1944), and Soviets vs. Japanese (Kuril Islands, 1945).  There are no "Western Front" or "Mediterranean" scenarios.

The scenarios provide a good and pretty even mix of small, medium, and large-sized scenarios (none are very large).  Air Support appears in one scenario; no scenarios use OBA or Night rules. 

Players, especially those who don't own every ASL product, will want to pay attention to the boards required to play the scenarios.  Every single scenario requires some recent ASL product or another in order to be played; there are no scenarios that use only older "traditional" boards.  One scenario, FrF57 (Warsaw in Flames), utilizes the Valor of the Guards map to represent part of Warsaw.  Two more scenarios, FrF56 (Saluting a General) and FrF55 (Forsthaus Clash), use the FrFA board that appeared in Friendly Fire Pack 6; the latter scenario also uses ASL Starter Kit board u.  The boards required to play all the scenarios are the following:  4, 5, 18, 42, 56, 57, 58, u, 2a, 3a (2 scenarios), VotG, FrFA (2 scenarios).   In addition, one scenario (see below) uses several counters that can only be found in the Bounding Fire Productions product Blood and Jungle.  Because of these board and counter requirements, this pack is a sort of "advanced" pack, though it is one's collection of stuff that must be "advanced" in order to take advantage of the scenarios.

As is typical, many of the scenarios feature very interesting actions.  One such is FrF53 (Raid into the Reich), which depicts a Polish cavalry raid into Germany in early September 1939.  The scenario thus begins with the novelty of a Polish attack in 1939, as well as the use of cavalry.  The goal of the Poles is to control two buildings and to capture or destroy two wagons (representing wagons full of ammo and food).  The defending Germans have 9 2nd line squads, a MMG, and a 50mm MTR (and a few entrenchments/fortifications).  The Poles have 12 elite squads (all of which can enter as cavalry) and two TKS tankettes.  Seven of the squads enter as reinforcements; any/all of them can choose to enter later in order to get a more advantageous entry area (this will almost be mandatory in order to reach the back building in time).  Because the scenario involves cavalry, and because the Poles will almost certainly be forced to use at least some of their troops as cavalry to get where they need to go, the scenario is likely to be a bit dicey, and the German MMG and MTR could play a disproportionate role if they get lots of ROF.  It is for this reason that the Germans probably have an edge in the scenario, but the situation itself is still a very fun one to play--and despite its small size, the flexible entry area (and flexible wagon placement) makes the scenario fairly replayable.

Another interesting scenario is FrF54 (KNIL Before the Emperor), a Dutch-Japanese clash that takes place in the Dutch East Indies in March 1942 (KNIL is the acronym for Royal Dutch East Indies Army).  There have been relatively few scenarios depicting any of these actions (though Paul Kenny/Fanatic Enterprises has designed several).  This particular scenario is one of the larger ones in the pack and could easily feature a couple of different "mini-battles" going on at the same time.  The Japanese objective is to launch a bridge assault across a river to capture the town beyond the river.  Though they get a few "infiltrators" that can enter the board already on the other side of the river, the bulk of their force must get across the bridge first.  The Dutch (oddly represented by Axis Minor counters here) have a small but elite force defending the bridge, and a larger but worse force (conscripts, plus some 1st line reinforcements) defending the town.  The bridge force (which sets up HIP) must slow the main Japanese force down and cause as many casualties as possible.  The Dutch get 3 armored cars to help them--however, these counters appear only in the Bounding Fire Productions' Blood and Jungle module, which is thus required to play the scenario.  Like a lot of bridge crossing scenarios, this one could be dicey.  If the Japanese get some smoke and if they can damage/flush out some of the HIP bridge defenders, they might waltz across.  On the other hand, if they all have to pass through multiple hexes of Residual FP, the survivors will have been significantly whittled down.  It's an interesting scenario situation, made more interesting by the combatants.

FrF56 (Saluting a General) is likely to be a popular scenario, as it is a tournament-sized Soviet/German combined arms action (pitting a bunch of Mk IIIs against Lend Lease Grants and Stuarts).   FrF58 (Order 831) is a similar tournament-sized East Front action (again, with some Lend Lease tanks; in this case, Shermans; the Germans also get a RCL).  It was popular when it debuted at ASLOK, though early indications suggest a German advantage.

One last scenario deserves mention, as it represents a very interesting (historical and gaming) situation.  FrF60 (A War of Their Own) takes place on Shumshu, one of the Kuril Islands north of Japan (disputed between the Japanese and the Soviets).  The action depicted actually occurred on August 18, after the formal Japanese surrender, but the Japanese desire to keep the islands caused local commanders to oppose the Soviet landing regardless.  In the scenario, the Japanese basically have to clear the Soviets from a hill line.  What makes the scenario interesting is the composition of the attacking forces.  Though they are on the attack, the Japanese have only 6 squads (2 of them second line) of infantry, versus 12 defending Soviets squads (plus two more as reinforcements).  What will make the difference for them are the Japanese tanks--6 of them--and perhaps most importantly, 2 Japanese artillery pieces, one of them a 150mm gun.  The Soviets are well armed, though, especially relative to the weak Japanese armor (2 LMG, 2 MMG, 5 ATR, a 76* INF gun, and a 45LL AT gun).  It is an interesting example of an action featuring asymmetrical forces.

All in all, Friendly Fire Pack 7 is yet another quality pack from Friendly Fire, allowing them to maintain their reputation as the best current third party producer of ASL products (in terms of pure scenario quality).  It is well worth getting, assuming one has (or intends to get) all the maps and counters that are needed to play the scenarios.