All the content is in French, including scenarios.  However, (rough) translations of the scenarios from the early issues of Le Franc Tireur are available online from View From the Trenches.

Of the four included scenarios, two (FT01, Le Temps des Humiliations, and FT02, Juste une Illusion) focused on the theme of the issue, while the other two were varied.  The two topical scenarios were later reprinted by MMP as official scenarios: J90 (The Time of Humiliations), which has been developing a nice reputation, and J70 (Just an Illusion).

All the content is in French, including scenarios.  However, (rough) translations of the scenarios from the early issues of Le Franc Tireur are available online from View From the Trenches.

The four scenarios include FT05 (Trappola), an Italian vs. partisan action, and FT06 (Macédoine Balkanique), which features Bulgarians and Soviets against Germans.  One of the scenarios, FT08 (L'ultime Traîtrise), was later reprinted as an official ASL Journal scenario, J76 (Ultimate Treachery), which has become a popular tournament scenario.

All the content is in French, including scenarios.  However, (rough) translations of the scenarios from the early issues of Le Franc Tireur are available online from View From the Trenches.

The four scenarios included one 1940 French-Italian scenario, FT09 (Verrou Alpin), and three from other theaters. 

The historical theme of this issue was a series of obscure conflicts between French and German troops in the French Alps in April 1945 (the battle of Authion).  The magazine is full of pictures, some in color, showing the actual terrain over which the battle was fought (one of the extremely few advantages of having a war take place in your country).  Other article content included numerous reviews of recent ASL related products, an article on Red Barricades Campaign Game IV, an overview of VASL, a short interview with Georges Tournemire, an article on mines in ASL, and facetious rules (in English) for dogs in ASL.

The five scenarios--which surprisingly have received extremely few reports on ROAR--all focus on the battle for Authion.  Two are large in size, one is medium sized, one is small, and one is very small.  All are in English.

Other article content (all in French) included a host of announcements and reviews of recent ASL-related products, an overview of an effort to translate the 2nd Edition ASL rules into French (which apparently was never completed), tournament reports, an overview of upcoming ASL products (some of which, like Ortona, still have yet to see publication, half a decade later), a lengthy and interesting guide to rafts and assault boats, an ASL crossword puzzle (for people who have WAY too much time on their hands), an ASL poem, an analysis of strength factors in ASL, an overview of JASL (Lars Thuring's attempt to create a virtual version of ASL with a computer player), and an interview with François Boudrenghien.

All ten scenarios (in English) feature the Spanish Civil War; there is also a reprint of an old Spanish Civil War themed scenario that originally appeared in the French wargaming magazine Casus Belli.  Except for the reprint, all of the scenarios are in English.  Le Franc Tireur does a good job of representing all the different forces that fought in the conflict, even without adding any counters.  There is a good range of sizes, with an essentially equal mix of small, medium, and large scenarios. 

Of the scenarios, several are quite interesting.  In one, FT19 (A Leches En Larache), the Nationalist player wins if he kills or captures the mayor of the town of Larache.  Another, FT21 (Hill of Death) uses the geomorphic mapboards included in the Heat of Battle module High Ground!.  FT22 (El Alcazar de Toledo), features an overlay of a massive stone building, El Alcazar.  FT24 (¿Cuàndo Te Vas?) is an interesting tin can battle between Italians and Republicans armed with Soviet tanks.   FT27 (East of Tortosa) features a contested river crossing. 

The seventh issue of Le Franc Tireur was almost guaranteed to be popular because of this theme:  Barbarossa 1941.  Additionally, this issue was the first issue that many North American ASLers were able to get their hands on.  As a result, Le Franc Tireur scenarios (all in English) began to see more widespread play with this issue.  The issue features several articles (all articles in this issue are in French) related to the first year of the East Front., as well as the usual series of photographs of areas of action, including several in color. 

Additionally, it contains the usual slew of reviews of recent ASL products, tournament reports, an article analyzing strength factors in ASL (continued from the previous issue), an article on winter weather, an overview (and English rules for) aerosleds, an AAR of an unusual game situation, an analysis of close combat in ASL (including Tom Repetti's CC flowchart), an article on Cavalry in ASL, a detailed Series Replay of the Schwerpunkt scenario SP81 (Betje Wolf Plein) between Jean Devaux and Xavier Vitry (with commentary by Laurent Closier), and an overview of ASL resources on the Internet.

The scenarios include a good mix of sizes.  Almost half are medium-sized, with the balance split equally between small and large (the latter including the massive FT29, The Porechye Bridgehead).  A number of the scenarios feature very interesting situations; among them are FT30 (Death is their Trade), an SS vs. partisan cavalry action; FT36 (The Mongol Ride), a cavalry action featuring Steppe terrain; FT37 (Siberians are Coming), a Deep Snow/Extreme Winter scenario with Soviets on skis; and the extremely imaginative FT38 (Aerosleds to the Rescue), which takes place entirely on frozen Lake Onega and features Soviet troops zipping around the ice on aerosleds against Germans on skis.  Several of the scenarios are linkable into a mini-campaign (the rules are in French, but were translated into English in Le Franc Tireur #8).

Two of the scenarios have important errata.  In FT32 (Lenin's Sons), it is hexrows D-Z which are playable.  In the same scenario, the German OB needs to have an additional LMG and DC.  In later printings of this issue, these errors were supposedly corrected.  In FT34 (Borodino Train Station), North is actually towards the BOTTOM of the map, NOT the top (!).

Unfortunately, some of the scenarios seem somewhat unbalanced, notably FT33 (Flanking FTs) and FT35 (Last Push to Mozhaisk), and possibly FT31 (The Yelnya Bridge, although ROAR does not reflect this) and FT32 (Lenin's Sons).  One of the scenarios, FT29 (The Porecheye Bridgehead), was later reprinted as an official scenario in the ASL Journal (J93), where it has developed a distinct reputation as a dog.  More scenarios from the issue were reprinted in ASL Journal #7, including Borodino Train Station, The Yelnya Bridge, Flanking FTs (as Flanking Flamethrowers), and Lenin's Sons.  Of these, the latter two underwent changes to try to address balance problems.  Flanking Flamethrowers still seems to be unbalanced, but the MMP version of Lenin's Sons actually balances the scenario quite well and made it a quality scenario.

In addition, there are many reviews of recent ASL products (in French), glimpses of future ASL products (in French and English; interestingly, none of them have yet seen print), tournament reports (in English and French), an ASL crossword puzzle (in English, but French style), a diagram for a hamster-driven dice tower, an interview with Yves Tielemans, the third part of an analytic series on ASL strength factors (in English; the first two parts were in French), an English translation of the Borodino mini-campaign rules from Le Franc Tireur #7, an interesting Series Reply of OA16 (Surrender or Die!), a detailed example of Overruns, and a lengthy after action report of an Operation Veritable Campaign Game.

In short, Le Franc Tireur #8 is overflowing with interesting ASL content, the majority of which is in English.

The scenarios in this issue are almost all tournament sized; there is 1 large scenario, 5 medium-sized scenarios, and 4 small scenarios.  Nine of the scenarios are Normandy actions, while there is one ringer, a Norwegian-German 1940 action (FT48, On the Swedish Border).  Of the Normandy scenarios, one features American troops and a second features the French; the others are all British/Canadian vs. German actions.  One of the scenarios, FT44 (The Liberation of May), uses DASL boards, while another, FT41 (Greyhound at Bay), uses the historical map from Pegasus Bridge. 

Given the size and interesting nature of these scenarios, it is surprising that they have not received more play.

The 9th issue of Le Franc Tireur came out nearly a year late, due largely to the foreign posting of Xavier Vitry and the illness (and, alas, eventual death) of Jean Devaux.  Le Franc Tireur #9 continues the practice established in the previous issue of including much of the article content, as well as the scenario cards, in English, rather than French, to make it more accessible to an international audience.  The many different product reviews are still in French, but most of the gameplay articles are in English.  Two of the major articles are actually continuations of articles begun in the previous issue, so readers who do not have #8 may be somewhat left out.

The scenarios in Le Franc Tireur #9 were for some reason printed not on cardstock but on glossy paper.  As a result, they are flimsy (this may be particularly important to American consumers because they are printed on the standard European paper size, which is longer than the standard American size, which means that Le Franc Tireur scenarios might stick out).  Hopefully future issues will go back to cardstock scenarios, as they are much preferable.  Le Franc Tireur #9 also includes two very attractive hill overlays (see picture, below). 

Each issue of Le Franc Tireur is centered around a common theme; the theme for issue #9 is Yugoslavia (one of three different ways the country's name is spelled in the magazine!).  Three of the scenarios can be combined for a mini-campaign.  Actions featured include Italians. vs. Yugoslav Army (with Yugoslav Air Support!), Croatian puppet troops vs. Yugoslav partisans, Germans/Cossacks vs. Yugoslav partisans, Germans vs. Yugoslav partisans, Waffen SS. vs. Yugoslav partisans, British/American special forces vs. Germans, and Germans/Croatian puppet troops vs. Yugoslav partisans.

Le Franc Tireur #9 was one of several ASL products released around the same time that included Yugoslav partisan scenarios (the others included Fanatic Enterprises' Balkan Wafare and MMP's ASL Journal #7).  Of these scenarios, those in Le Franc Tireur #9 are the most accurate, especially regarding partisan weaponry.  Although not perfect, many of the Le Franc Tireur scenarios reflect the fact that partisan weaponry had no Soviet support weapons until late 1944, but instead were primarily armed with Italian and British support weapons.  However, the representation of the 7th SS "Prinz Eugen" Division seems very generous for a unit that really wasn't elite.

The scenarios in Le Franc Tireur #9 are about evenly divided between large scenarios and tournament-sized scenarios.  Several look particularly interesting, including FT59 (War the Italian Way), FT62 (New Model Army), and FT67 (Knin Pocket).  One of the scenarios, FT68 (Red Lightning), uses Board y from the ASL Starter Kit 1.

Due to printing problems, the following ERRATA is CRUCIAL to play some of the scenarios:

FT 61
SSR 4 : All 5-4-8 / 2-3-8 are Cossacks. They have an underlined Morale [A 19.132 is NA] and are treated as Russians for Heat of Battle/Leader creation/deployment only. They do not possess Infantry Smoke Grenades nor Panzerfausts and use German MGs with no penalty. To form a multilocation firegroup with Cossack units and non Cossack units, a Leader must be present in each location of this FG.

FT 63
Partisan OB: Rearguard Elements of the 7th Proletarian Division [ELR : 5] set up on / East of hexrow F {SAN : 4}
German OB : 7th SS Gebirgs Div. Prinz Eugen, II/1 8th Kompanie [ELR: 5] enter on / after turn 1 by the West Edge {SAN : 2}

FT 66
German OB : Marine Troops of the Solta Garrison [ELR: 3 - See also SSR 4] set up anywhere on board 46 {SAN: 3}
Allied OB: Unit B 2671st Special Reconnaissance Battalion [ELR: 3] set up on board 18 on / South of hexrow 7 {SAN: 2}

Le Franc Tireur returned in 2007 with an issue that may be physically its most impressive yet.  This was a pleasing return to form after LFT#9 which was not only much delayed but suffered from a number of physical problems.  LFT#10, however, is an extremely attractive product with high production values.

The majority of the content of LFT is now in English, to reach an international audience (although most of the product reviews are still in French).  The quality of the English is higher in LFT10 than in LFT9.  Also better is the overall physical quality of the magazine.  LFT10 is in full color, and much better quality than the DTP look of its predecessor.  The graphics are crisp and colorful. 

Each issue of LFT focuses on a single historical theme, and the theme for LFT10 is the Spanish "Blue" Division in World War II.  The German 250th Infantry Division was actually composed of volunteers from Spain who came to help the Nazis invade the Soviet Union.  It engaged in hard fighting on the Eastern Front until it was withdrawn (although some elements of it remained behind and fought on until the end of the war).  The "Blue" Division has always been an object of fascination for wargamers, some of whom tend to romanticize the unit and apologize for or explain away its cooperation with the Nazis.  LFT10 tends to fall into this category, even lapsing into fulsome romantic praise ("they were loyal to their ideals to the end, representing in this way the last knights of modern times").  This might be somewhat disturbing or offensive to readers less enamored of the "Blue" Division.

Several articles in the magazine describe the unit and its various battles, and offer possibilities for further reading.  All 10 scenarios also focus on this unit; therefore LFT10 has a very strong East Front focus.  The soldiers of the "Blue" Division are represented more or less as supermen in these scenarios; they are always elite, their ELR is always 4 or 5 (even in Berlin in late April 1945), and they always have a -2 drm to the Leader Creation Table and a -1 DRM to the Heat of Battle Table.

A countersheet (LFT's first ever) of "Blue" Division counters is provided, and it is extremely well-done and attractive.  In addition to various "Blue" Division SMC and MMC, the countersheet also features counters representing unarmed German paratroopers and informational markers for SW First Fire and Opportunity Fire.  This was a very impressive effort and one hopes that future issues of LFT will contain more of these attractive counters.  It should be noted, however, that the die-cutting on the counters is very deep, which means that the counters have a very strong tendency to fall off the counter-tree.  Unless they intend to punch out the counters right away, purchasers (especially collectors) should immediately put the countersheet in a baggie so that no counters fall off and get lost.

The physical quality of the scenario cards is very high.  About half of the 10 scenarios are small or medium in size; the rest are large.  Three scenarios have OBA and one has Air Support.   There are no night scenarios.  The Soviets are on the attack 6 times while the Germans (i.e. Spanish) are on the attack 4 times.  Overall, the mix of the scenarios looks good and many of the scenarios seem interesting.

In addition to the "Blue" Division material and the usual product reviews, LFT10 features a look at Soviet ski battalions, the Human Wave rules, a "interview" with an American ASL player, and an AAR from Grenadier 2006, among other odds and ends.  One nice article by Jean Pascal Paoli gives non-Americans some insight on what is involved to travel to and participate in the world's largest ASL tournament, ASLOK, in Cleveland, Ohio.  It provides lots of useful advice and information.  Another nice article is a translation and reprint (with high production quality) of "Gates of the Reich," a geomorphic map CG originally published (in French) in Vae Victis.  Many ASLers might want to have a go at that campaign.

Overall, LFT10 may be the best issue of LFT10 yet.  Time will tell if the scenarios are good, but there is no doubt that the production quality of this issue is the best LFT has accomplished.

One of the first ASL releases of 2008 was the 11th iteration of the ASL magazine Le Franc Tireur, this time with the theme of "France 1940."  The content of the magazine and scenarios is all in English, except for a couple of short product reviews.  The magazine is in full color and generally of high production value, made possible for a reasonable price by being printed in Cambodia.

Much of the article content is centered on the France 1940 theme of the issue, including historical articles on French light mechanized cavalry units and the Franco-Italian fighting in the Alps in 1940, as well as a comparison of French and German infantry tactics in 1940.  There is also a short article (but alas, no counters) on the 75-ton French tank, the FCM 2C, and a lengthy comparison of the town of Stonne in 1940 with its modern counterpart, coupled with an AAR of a Stonne 1940 campaign game.  It is quite interesting.

One major feature of the magazine is an SASL Campaign game featuring the 1st Ranger Battalion at Anzio in January 1944.  SASL fans will definitely want to pick up this detailed and intriguing item.

Other articles include an inerview with German ASLer Christian Koppmeyer, a variety of product reviews and several tournament AARs, rules articles on gun duels and platoon movement, and more.

The "extra" that comes with Le Franc Tireur #11 is a full-color, un-mounted (ASLSK style) 9" x 22" geomorphic mapboard.  It is a specialized map that will only be used occasionally, but scenario designers will appreciate its usefulness.  The (beautifully drawn) map is mostly water, except for a thin strip of land and a thin beach.  It is perfect for a number of beach landing situations, and the beauty of it is that it does not require the frustrating assembling of a variety of beach and ocean overlays--just plop down the map and away you go.  One scenario in LFT#11 uses this map, but since LFT#12 is going to focus on the Pacific, there will be more use for it.  One can only hope that other designers and publishers will also make use of this resource.  The one irritating thing about the map is that it is about 5mm too wide, showing portions of the "0" hexrow that should not be there.  Players will have to slightly overlap their maps, or somehow cut off this 5mm.  Some players will not like this at all, and it is to be hoped that future maps by LFT will be standard sized.

Of the 10 scenarios in LFT#11, 9 feature the "France 1940" theme.  Although the Italians make a guest appearance, the British, Dutch, Belgians and Poles do not, so most scenarios are French vs. German.  The French attack in 3 scenarios, defend in 6.  The 10th scenario is the one that uses the included geomorphic map; it takes place in Indochina in 1940 and features a small Japanese beach landing which is probably perfect for learning the landing rules.

The scenarios tend towards the large, with fewer tournament-sized scenarios than in issues past.  Three scenarios are small or medium-sized, with the remaining scenarios being large or fairly large.  The SSR burden is generally light.  One scenario is a Seaborne Assault, another is a river crossing with boats.  Several scenarios have OBA.  Strangely, given the theme, no Stukas or other air support appears.  The biggest scenario is FT90 ("Sans Esprit De Recul"), an 8-turn German assault on a town.  The Germans get 25 squads (including a few motorcycle riders), OBA, 13 AFVs and 8 trucks.  The defending French have 29 squad-equivalents (mostly elite, some cavalry), a 10-3 leader, 2 25mm AT guns, and some fortifications (there is errata on the scenario card--a blank counter on the French OB is supposed to be 2 x HMG).  Overall it looks like an interesting scenario mix.

LFT11 continues the high production values established in the previous issue and is a product worth getting.

After many years, LFT returns to the Eastern Hemisphere with LFT12 and its Asia/PTO focus.  Though early issues of LFT featured some scenarios set in the East, the subject matter has been almost entirely neglected by LFT since then (with the exception of one scenario in LFT11.  The return is certainly welcome.

Though edited by a Frenchman and printed in Cambodia, the magazine content is in English.  Its focus is on the PTO theme of the issue, and PTO-related articles include a historical article on Japanese island defenses, a historical article on the TO&E of a Chinese infantry battalion (although based on a not-always-accurate pamphlet by George Nafziger), a chronology of the Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, an AAR of HS16 (Sim's Ridge), a basic overview of Japanese and PTO terrain rules (including some illustrated examples, though they include at least one mistake [knee mortars produce dispersed WP]), an overview of seaborne assaults/evacuations, a Series Reply of A79 (Mike Red, a seaborne assault scenario),  a list of published seaborne assault/evacuation scenarios/CGs, and an AAR of the Gavatu-Tanambogo Campaign Game. 

Other content includes an overview of the Hexdraw map-creation computer program (it could have been longer and more detailed), an AAR of a few product reviews and tournament reports, and a "10 questions" style interview with Swedish ASLer Klas Malmström. 

Some of the content is quite good--especially the Seaborne Assault series replay--but some of it was not up to par.  This included the AAR of the ESG scenario "Destroy All Monsters," which unfortunately was not very well written or organized. 

The "goodie" in the magazine this issue is a geomorphic mapboard.  Or perhaps one should say quasi-geomorphic map, because (like the map in LFT11), it is a specialized map rather than a "standard" geomorphic map.  This map, LFT2, depicts a massive 5-level hill that is not fully contained by the mapboard--the hill goes all the way to the map edge on three sides.  This means that it is really only compatible with other boards on one side (though it is possible to link maps to the other side by "pretending" that level 5 of LFT2 is level 0 of the other board).  This, combined with the fact that LFT2 only presents one side of the hill (not allowing any rear slope defenses nor much summit fighting), means that the board is a very specialized board that will only see limited use.

Unfortunately, the map was misprinted and is not quite the right size, rendering it unusable in any scenarios that combine LFT2 with another board.  The problem was spotted and corrected, but not before many copies were sent out.  Essentially, if one buys a new copy directly from LFT as of February 2010 or later, the copy will come with the corrected version of the map (some people have complained that the corrected version has colors that were too lightly printed, making it difficult to see hex center dots in grain field hexes). 

However, if buying from a retailer or a secondhand copy, be warned that it may be a copy with a flawed map.  For purchasers of the early, flawed version, LFT has announced it will include copies of the map in a future product.  For people interested in creating their own homemade "fixes," one ASLer noted that the map was 7mm too long and scanning the map and reducing the length by 98.76% should probably make it compatible.

One scenario, FT138 (Meeting Up at Matan) uses board LFT2 by itself.  Another scenario, FT142 (Cut, Slash and Mow Down) uses LFT2 and another board.

Probably the most interesting thing about the 10 included scenarios in LFT12 is that, though the scenarios are set in Asia, few of them are set in PTO (i.e., jungly) terrain.  Of the 10 scenarios, 7 are set in China (including 3 scenarios set during the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s).  This focus on the Chinese is a welcome addition to the ASL oeuvre. 

Two of the scenarios, FT136 (Shanghai By Sea) and FT145 (Bears of Kinmen) use map LFT1 from Le Franc Tireur #11.   One scenario, FT139 (Ride of the 200th), uses maps HOB-I and HOB-II from Heat of Battle's High Ground! pack.

Six of the 10 scenarios are small- to medium-sized, while the remaining four (including all of the Chinese Civil War scenarios) are large.  Two scenarios are Seaborne Assaults; two scenarios have OBA.  No scenarios use Night rules or Air Support.

As is often the case with Chinese actions, source material is scarce (leading many scenario designers to design scenarios on the same action) and often inaccurate.  FT139 (Ride of the 200th), for example, depicts the Chinese counterattack at Kunlun Pass in late 1939, a local Chinese victory.  The scenario centers on an attack of a unit it calls the "200th Armored Division," ostensibly under the "38th Army."  However, the Chinese never had an armored division.  The 200th Division was organized as a Soviet-style mechanized division; however, considerably before Kunlun, its tanks were taken away (to be put under the control of its actual parent formation, 5th Army), leaving the 200th as a motorized division (though sometimes it would have tanks attached).   The regiment designations in the scenario are also totally fictitious (Chinese regiments were numbered after their divisional number x 3, counting downwards:  the 200th Division thus had the 600th, 599th and 598th regiments). 

However, leaving such historical considerations aside, a number of the scenarios depict interesting situations, perhaps the most interesting of which is FT145 (Bears of Kinmen), a scenario depicting a Chinese communist attempt to take the island of Kinmen in the Taiwan straight in the closing phases of the Chinese Civil War.  This scenario depicts 24 5-2-7 and 4-4-7 squads, well armed, conducting a Seaborne Assault against 19 Chinese squads (5-3-7, 4-4-7, 3-3-7) and a couple of Stuarts. 

In addition to the scenarios, LFT12 also features 2 SASL missions, both designed by Hans Mielants, which will be well received by the mission-starved SASL lovers out there.  FT1 (Hit Them Hard) depicts a Chinese attack on Japanese positions in Shanghai in 1937; FT2 (Against Ill Advice) is a Japanese seaborne assault against the British in Malaya in 1942.