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ASL Newsletters (without scenarios) | |
| A25.6 | On TRAC | |
| Banzai!! | Point-Blank | |
| CX | Post Info News (PIN) | |
| ASL newsletters published by organizations that also produced other ASL products, such as scenario packs, will be found under that publisher's entry. | Fire for Effect | Rally Point |
| Gazette d'ASL | Rate of Fire | |
| World of ASL Main Page | HullHit | 'Scripts |
| Trail Break | ||
| Title: A25.6 (HullHit) | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Guiseppe Leo (2005-2006) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly; 4 issues total) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: Italy | |||||
| Commentary: This Italian-language
ASL newsletter was published on the Internet several times during
2005-2006. It appears to have begun with issue "0" as HullHit but
was quickly renamed A25.6. It seems to have lasted for only 4
issues. A typical issue had about a dozen pages of reviews, news,
AARs and other items.
A25.6 is the ASL rules reference for Italian troops. The issues are still available for download.
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| Title: Banzai!! | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Texas ASL Club (1996-2005) | Product Type: Newsletter (published monthly at first, then irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: Banzai!!, simply put,
was one of the best ASL newsletters. The product of the Austin ASL
Club (later Central Texas ASL Club, and finally Texas ASL Club), Banzai!!
did not feature scenarios, but it consistently did everything an ASL
newsletter should: it had good local ASL news, tournament news and
reports, AARs, scenario analyses, strategy and tactics articles, rules
articles, tactical tips, favorite scenarios, player profiles, and more.
The content was not only good; it was also attractive, as Banzai!! became
a polished newsletter. Although there were many folks over the years
who did good work on Banzai!! (ncluding Mike Austin, Sam Tyson, Chas
Smith, Mike Seningen, Carl Kusch and plenty more), much of the credit goes
to Matt Shostak, who went the extra mile to put together a quality
newsletter as both editor and writer. Banzai!! also had a great sense of humor, as evident in its April Fools issues, such as Bonsai!!, Bonanzai!!, Bananai??, and Bandsaw. Unfortunately, as is almost inevitably the case with ASL newsletters, the frequency of Banzai!! issues began to decrease and the newsletter eventually disappeared altogether, converted into a blog at http://banzaipipeline.blogspot.com/. This disappointed many ASLers who had come to appreciate the newsletter. However, in late 2006, in a pleasant development, the producers of Banzai!! announced that they would once again start publishing it as a newsletter, and since then have produced two more issues. It is a welcome event. Many past issues of Banzai!! can be downloaded as PDF files at http://texas-asl.com/banzai.htm. They are well worth reading.
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| Title: CX | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Puget Sound ASL Club (1999-2002) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: This small ASL
newsletter served mainly to promote the Puget Sound ASL Club. Early
issues were only two pages long, essentially a handbill. However, by
2002 the length had increased and it was publishing actual articles and
playtest scenarios. Unfortunately, it seems to have ceased
publication at that point.
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| Title: Fire for Effect | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Fire for Effect (1992-1994) | Product Type: Newsletter (published originally bi-monthly, then quarterly; 12 issues total) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: Fire for Effect was
one of the string of first-generation ASL newsletters that cropped up in
the early 1990s. Like most such newsletters, and unlike most ASL
newsletters today, it was not tied to one particular ASL gaming group or
one particular region, but was designed for ASL players everywhere; in
fact, its tag-line was "committed to the progress of ASL and its players."
Fire for Effect was primarily the effort of Robert Wolkey, although it was
made possible through funding by professional baseball player Curt
Schilling (at the time a new and enthusiastic devotee of the hobby), who
is credited along with Wolkey as a "co-editor." Content included strategy and rules articles, tournament news and reports, and player profiles. Its content was fairly strong for a newsletter. Like most ASL newsletters, Fire for Effect did not last long. Curt Schilling went on to join Multiman Publishing, while Rob Wolkey teamed up with Ray Tapio to form Critical Hit (though he did not stay there long). |
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| Title: Gazette d'ASL | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Gazette d'ASL (1999-2000) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: France | |||||
| Commentary: The Gazette d'ASL was
a short-lived (only two issues) ASL newsletter, edited by Laurent Closier,
that concentrated on tournament reports, ASL product news and reviews, and
the occasional play aid. Issue #1 was 24 pages long; Issue #2 was 20
pages long. It appears that after the Gazette folded, there was more
of this sort of content in Le Franc Tireur.
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| Title: HullHit | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Guiseppe Leo (2005-2006) | Product Type: Newsletter | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: Italy | |||||
| Commentary:
See A25.6 |
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| Title: On TRAC | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Tri-State ASL Club (2001) | Product Type: Newsletter (published twice in 2001) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: On TRAC was a short-lived ASL newsletter edited by the founder of the Tri-State ASL Club, Brien Martin, a small ASL club for residents of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Content included standard ASL newsletter stuff: local ASL news, the occasional article, tournament reports, etc. It apparently only had two short issues in early 2001 before folding. | |||||
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| Title: Point-Blank | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Silicon Valley ASL Club (2000-2001) | Product Type: Newsletter (published monthly, then irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: Point-Blank was a
short-lived newsletter published by the Silicon Valley ASL Club.
Edited by Jon Halfin, it billed itself as "an independent free journal of
ASL thoughts and ideas." Content primarily consisted of historical
articles, non-original content cut and pasted from the ASL Mailing list,
and the odd article on ASL (usually Red Barricades). Some issues
included unplaytested scenarios. Overall, the content was not very
good, with even a lack of interesting AARs and tournament reports. Volume 1, Issue 4 (December 2000) contained extensive rules for using ASL rules for Vietnam War scenarios. The issues were originally made available as freely downloadable PDF files and may possibly still be available by contacting the Silicon Valley ASL Club. |
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| Title: Post Info News (PIN) | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Squad Mediterranean Club & Histofig.com (2001-2002) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly; 4 issues total) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: France | |||||
| Commentary: Despite its English-sounding name, Post Info News was a French language newsletter for the Squad Mediterranean Club. It only lasted for 4 issues, and each issue was very short, concentrating on local tournament news. | |||||
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| Title: Rally Point | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Winnipeg ASL Club (1998?-2000?) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: Canada | |||||
| Commentary: Rally Point was the newsletter for the Winnipeg (Manitoba) ASL Club, published in the late 1990s. It lasted for at least four years, varying from 1 to 3 issues per year. Content is unknown. | |||||
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| Title: Rate of Fire | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Paddington Bears ASL Club (1994-2002?) | Product Type: Newsletter (published irregularly) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: Australia | |||||
| Commentary: The Paddington Bears
ASL Club is a very long-lived Australian ASL group, most famous for the
scenarios they designed and playtested in the 1990s and published by
Critical Hit (in three scenario packs and several issues of Critical Hit
Magazine). Rate of Fire was the club newsletter; in the early 2000s,
it was edited by Mark McGilchrist, then David Longworth. It is not
known if the newsletter is still being produced. Content included club news, tournament reports, historical articles, designers notes, and AARs. Quality varied but was generally good. Several issues of Rate of Fire from the early 2000s were made as freely downloadable PDF files at http://users.tpg.com.au/mmjm/rof.htm.
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| Title: 'Scripts (originally Conscripts!) | |||||
| Publisher/Date: DC Conscripts ASL Club (2000-2006) | Product Type: Newsletter (published annually) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: 'Scripts is the
annual newsletter of the Washington, DC, area ASL group known as the DC
Conscripts. Although the first issue came out in July 2000, 'Scripts
quickly settled into a once-per-year schedule, usually appearing at the
Winter Offensive ASL tournament in Bowie, Maryland, in January. Content is typical for local ASL newsletters: recent ASL news, scenarios AARs, tournament reports, and the odd article. Although 'Scripts a newsletter modest in scope, the content is reasonably good; the group is large and contains a number of good players. |
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| Title: Trail Break | |||||
| Publisher/Date: Trail Break (1993) | Product Type: Newsletter (published once) | ||||
| Contents: Newsletter | |||||
| Country of Origin: United States | |||||
| Commentary: For an ASL newsletter, existence can't get any shorter than one issue, and that's all this short-lived (and short) newsletter managed to achieve. Only a few pages long, it was devoid of interesting comment. However, it is of minor historical interest, as its creator was Ray Tapio, who shortly would go on to found Critical Hit. | |||||
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