Avalon Hill's brain trust finally decided that Squad Leader had to be scrapped and the system reworked from scratch.  Thus Advanced Squad Leader was born in 1986, designed from the beginning as a universal World War II era squad level fighting system.  ASL was a tremendous design success--one of the best wargames ever designed.  Over the next few years, AH released more new core modules, as well as other modules designed to expand the system.  Some of these--such as "Deluxe ASL," designed to be compatible with miniatures, failed, but others, especially the "Historical ASL" module Red Barricades, succeeded fabulously. 

The departure from AH of several principles, notably Bob MacNamara and Charlie Kibler, ended up in a "dark ages" for ASL in the mid-1990s.  Official ASL products were few, and those that were released (such as the 1995 ASL Annual and Kampfgruppe Peiper I), were flawed.  AH seemed to have little interest in ASL.  Many fans feared for its future, a fear that generated a great activity among non-official (or "third party") producers of ASL compatible material.  However, instead of dropping ASL, AH reached out to a nearby amateur producer, Multi-Man Publishing, and tasked them with developing ASL material for AH.  This revived "official" ASL with more ASL Annuals (1996 and 1997), HASLs (Pegasus Bridge), and modules (Doomed Battalions).

Unfortunately, AH could not survive its own financial incompetence.  In 1998, its parent company, Monarch Services (which owned AH because of a prior AH bankruptcy) decided to sell the intellectual property of the money-losing company to toy company giant Hasbro.  Again, many fans wondered how ASL could survive this drastic development.  In the end, MMP was able to act as a "white knight," in part because it had been joined by professional baseball player Curt Schilling, who was also an ASL fan.  With Schilling, MMP was able to obtain an exclusive license to produce ASL products. 

Thus the "MMP era" was born.  MMP began reprinting older ASL modules as well as continuing to release new ones.  At the same time, MMP tried to keep alive other old AH game series (such as the Great Campaigns of the American Civil War series) and expanded further by absorbing The Gamers, a well-liked wargaming company run by Dean Essig. 

The results were mixed.  These growing pains, coupled with the fact that MMP was still a "part time" business (its principles all had other jobs), meant that MMP was not easily able to satisfy the demands of either its ASL audience or its Gamers audience for new products.   Its production bottleneck at times was severe.

On the other hand, the quality of the products that MMP did release was generally high.  Certainly, their production values were typically much higher than those of any third-party producer (of particular note, MMP's ASL Journal stands head and shoulders above all other ASL magazines and newsletters in production values, content, and editing quality).

Moreover, MMP demonstrated a laudable commitment to keep ASL products in print and to attract new blood to ASL (primarily through the release of ASL Starter Kits).  These facts have enabled MMP to retain their position at the pinnacle of the ASL world.

Since the 2nd Edition ASLRB came out, MMP has issued errata (but no errata pages) in issues of the ASL Journal.  ASL players who wish to keep up with the latest rulings and errata should make sure to purchase each new ASL Journal when it comes out.  In early 2006, MMP issued the first new errata pages to the 2nd Edition rules; these pages came with Armies of Oblivion and mostly involved new rules for impulse movement (such as human waves, platoon movement, etc.).  These pages for some reason were not included in subsequent reprintings of the ASLRB, meaning that as of 2007, ASL players need to have Armies of Oblivion to have the most recent versions of the ASLRB pages.  Much of the errata for which no new pages were issued is nevertheless available as "sticky errata," which can be downloaded, printed out on a label, and stuck onto the original rulebook page.  See http://www.multimanpublishing.com/ASL/aslqa.php and http://home.no.net/oboe/sticky.html.

In 2007, MMP created a new binder design to go with its rulebook (but this did not signify any changes in the rules themselves), featuring more attractive (and less Germano-centric) artwork.

After MMP assumed control of the ASL license from Hasbro, they published a 2nd Edition of Beyond Valor, which by then was long out of print.  The 2nd Edition Beyond Valor was a true value, containing all of the contents of the original Beyond Valor (although the Finnish counters were now gray instead of blue) and, as an incredible bonus, the HASL module Red Barricades, the most popular HASL.  The 2nd Edition quickly went out of print and sells for a dear price on E-bay.

In 2004, MMP announced that they would print a 3rd Edition Beyond Valor.  This edition would not have Red Barricades included with it, but would include 10 mapboards (of the semi-mounted "new style" of the ASL Starter Kit) and a large scenario mix different from that in the 1st and 2nd editions.  It appeared in early 2006.  Though it no longer contains Red Barricades, it too is a value, due to the large number of maps and scenarios (including some scenarios that are much better than those included in the original Beyond Valor, some of which definitely are showing their age). 

The "new style" mapboards, which are not printed on paper and glued to cardboard (i.e., mounted) but rather printed directly onto cardstock, are somewhat controversial.  The art on the new Beyond Valor maps is not the original ASL art, but has been redrawn with computer graphics (the original artwork no longer exists, so some sort of recreation was necessary).  Some people like the crisper graphics better, while others prefer the original artwork.  One thing that is definitely true is that the new maps have fewer printing irregularities than the old maps, so the quality control is much better.  The most controversial aspect of the newer maps is the fact that they are on cardstock rather than cardboard.  While this was dictated by the rising cost of mounted mapboards, which were becoming prohibitively expensive, many ASLers dislike them greatly, while others either prefer them or at least have no real complaint about them.  The detractors view them as of lower quality and less durable.  Some also view them as "incompatible" with older maps because they are thinner (and thus there is a slight height difference between old and new maps), although this complaint does not have much merit.  Cardstock maps by other wargaming companies in the past suggest that although they are typically not as durable as mounted maps, they are nevertheless quite durable if treated well.   

MMP printed a 2nd edition of Paratrooper which added two maps (2, 4) that had originally appeared in Squad Leader and which did not include Chapter K.  Paratrooper will not be printed again, due to the success of the ASL Starter Kits.

It is unfortunate that partisan forces are so poorly represented in ASL, because some of the most fascinating World War II actions involved irregular and guerrilla forces.  But partisan forces do not even get their own counter color (or, as is actually needed, two sets of partisan counters, one for Communist and one for non-Communist partisans).

Partisan!  is not one of the better ASL products.  Its scenarios are not that great and it doesn't provide much in the way of components.  The release of Armies of Oblivion in 2006 made Partisan! obsolete, as it replicates the Axis Minor forces that appear in the early module.  Partisan! will not be reprinted; its maps will presumably be folded into the reprint of some future ASL module.

MMP realized the need to make the British OB available again, but decided to split it from the desert rules.  They released For King and Country, with the British OB, and at a future date will release a new version of West of Alamein or similar module with the desert rules, maps, and overlays.

For King and Country was the first core module to appear in the "new" type of game box (MMP abandoned the style of cardboard boxes used by Avalon Hill and moved to the box style used by The Gamers, a wargame company acquired by MMP).  Some gamers don't like these boxes, viewing them (erroneously) as less sturdy, but for ASLers, who don't keep their components in game boxes anyway, it shouldn't matter no matter what one's opinions.

At the time of its release, newer ASL players were delighted--they now had the British and a large number of scenarios--while many ASL veterans were disgruntled, viewing the time and energy it took to make FKaC as a diversion from the presumably more important goal of finally printing the much awaited Armies of Oblivion.   However, now that it is out, ASLers see it as a meaty and substantial module.  It should certainly be near the top of the "get" list for any new ASLer.

It is also one of the less successful modules.  The lack of guns and vehicles meant that its scenarios were necessarily lacking in variety, and none of the scenarios have turned out to be classics, while one of them is considered one of the worst official ASL scenarios of all time (Piercing the Peel, which is very unbalanced).  Last Hurrah will not be reprinted; its components will be wrapped into an upcoming new edition of Doomed Battalions.

Update, February 2010:  As predicted, the components of The Last Hurrah were wrapped into the 3rd Edition of Doomed Battalions.  Some of the scenarios, including the above mentioned Piercing the Peel, have been revised for better balance.

The 2nd Edition, published by MMP, is essentially the same as the first, except that the text font in the Chapter H pages is slightly larger than in the original version.

Its popularity is less than some other modules, in part because so many ASLers are East Front fanatics and in part because many people perceive the PTO rules to be difficult.  In truth, though, the complex PTO rules are mostly those that come with Gung Ho and apply primarily to caves and amphibious landing.  The basic PTO rules, which are used for the vast majority of PTO scenarios, are easily learned. 

Code of Bushido has been out of print for some time, which has driven its price up heavily on the secondary market.  It will likely be reprinted in the next year or two, presumably combined with Gung Ho into a single PTO package.

Also problematic are some of the rules added with Gung Ho, some of which are extremely complicated, more than they needed to be--in particular the amphibious landing rules.  Landing craft, beaches, NOBA, and every other facet of amphibious landings are represented in excruciating detail.  The great complexity of these rules mean that many people are intimidated into avoiding them (and in some cases, avoiding the whole PTO).  The cave rules are also quite complex. 

The big flaw with Croix de Guerre, and the representation of the French in ASL, is that the French countermix includes only the French of 1940 and the Vichy French.  The Free French, who fought in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany in such numbers, do not even get their own color.  Frustratingly, they must use British colors and counters.  Unfortunately, this is awkwardness piled upon awkwardness, because from 1943 onwards, the French were armed by the United States.  This results in a variety of U.S. weapons and vehicles having to be represented in British colors so that French troops can use them.   Even so, many Free French will still have to use US-colored weapons.  The French deserve a full OB with their own color, not just a partial OB, as at present.

3rd Edition Contents:  5 8" x 22" cardstock geomorphic mapboards (9, 11, 33, 44, 45); 3 1/2 countersheets; 24 scenarios; 3 sheets of terrain overlays; Chapter H (Allied Minor, corrected and revised from earlier editions).

The real significance of Doomed Battalions is that it was printed at all; it was one of the very last games ever produced by Avalon Hill (along with Bitter Woods, a non-ASL Battle of the Bulge game designed by Randy Heller), and MMP, which was producing ASL products for Avalon Hill at the time, had to rush it to get it out the door (in a very small print run) before Avalon Hill closed its doors forever.  The resulting product was full of errata because it was hurried to completion.  However, ASL got a new lease on life after MMP arranged a licensing deal with Hasbro, and one of their first decisions was to reprint Doomed Battalions, both to fix its problems and to allow it to reach a wider audience.   Note that this "2nd Edition" of Doomed Battalions is different from all other MMP "2nd Edition" ASL core modules in that the font size in the rules pages was not increased.

The 2nd Edition Doomed Battalions is now sold out (and pricy on the secondary market), but MMP announced a new edition in the near future.  This 3rd Edition will include cardstock mapboards and all of The Last Hurrah.

Overlays included:  X19, X20, X21, X22, X23, X24, OW1, RR1-RR14.

Update February 2010:  After some time of being out of print, Doomed Battalions once more appears, in a revised and enlarged edition (incorporating the contents of The Last Hurrah, as well as additional scenarios), though still sporting what has to be the ugliest game box in the ASL world.

The 3rd Edition contains 24 scenarios:  all of the scenarios from the original Doomed Battalions, all of the scenarios from the Last Hurrah, and reprints of 8 scenarios from the ASL Annual and the ASL Journal.  Many of the scenarios have been updated or revised to reflect errata or changes for better balance or gameplay.  The scenarios with changes include:  43 (Into the Fray), 44 (The Gauntlet), 45 (Revenge at Kastelli), 46 (Birds of Prey), 47 (Rude Awakening), 48 (Toujours L'Audace), 49 (Piercing the Peel),  50 (Age-Old Foes), 83 (An Uncommon Occurrence), 84 (Round One), 85 (No Way Out), 87 (Good Night, Sweet Prince), 88 (Art Nouveau), 90 (Pride and Joy), 137 (Italian Brothers; formerly A72), 138 (Rattle of Sabres; formerly A46), 139 (The Weigh In; formerly J25), 140 (Round Two; formerly J26), 141 (Action at Balberkamp; formerly A63), 142 (On the Road to Andalsnes; formerly A31), 143 (Grebbe End; formerly J42), and 144 (The Professionals; formerly A28). 

The 3rd Edition maps also include the 2 maps that originally appeared in The Last Hurrah.  As are all official ASL maps nowadays, these 5 maps are printed on thin cardstock instead of being printed on thin paper and mounted on cardboard.  They also have completely new, computer-derived graphics.   While these lack the flair that some of the original hand-painted maps sometimes (repeat, sometimes) had, overall the graphics are crisper and better than the original graphics, although the orchards look like squished bugs.

The counters are also newly done.  Although the graphics are crisp, the most important thing about them is that the die-cutting is much improved over the horrific die-cutting that the 2nd Edition Doomed Battalions had.

Many people will ask whether the 3rd Edition of Doomed Battalions is worth getting if one already has an earlier edition and The Last Hurrah.  For the budget-minded, the answer is no; one can easily get by without getting the 3rd Edition.  For others, the answer may be yes, it is worth getting, as the counters and Chapter H pages are nicer and incorporate errata, and almost all of the scenarios have been changed as well.

Nevertheless, when Armies of Oblivion actually appeared, ASLers were pleasantly surprised to find that Armies is a meaty and substantial module, full of high quality components.  Armies contains the entire Axis Minor order of battle (including those counters that originally appeared in Partisan!), allowing ASLers to play scenarios involving Romanian, Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, and Slovak troops.  Two colors of counters are included--a "standard" green Axis Minor set of squads, weapons, guns, and vehicles, and a second set of counters, green with a blue outline, for Hungarians.  These two sets are needed to represent conflicts between Hungarians and Axis Minor forces that left the Axis and joined the Allies. 

The scenarios included with Armies are a fascinating anachronism.  Designed in the early 1990s by Brian Martuzas (Paul Kenny and Pete Shelling each contribute one scenario, designed much later in the process), they look like other core module scenarios of that era--big, long, and bulky.  Only two of them are at all suited for tournament play; the others will all take a long time to play.  Nevertheless, despite their size and length, the scenarios are all interesting situations and are perfect for an all-day meaty game of ASL.

Noteworthy other components include SASL supplements, new rules pages (providing much needed errata for the Platoon Movement rules), and a handful of overlays (mostly hill overlays, but also including an excellent full-length river overlay which will be very popular among scenario designers).

Confusingly, Armies of Oblivion was released in three different versions, so buyers should verify any module purchased to make sure it is the version desired.  The first version is a full version with old-style mounted mapboards.  Realizing that is stock of those mounted mapboards was not going to be enough to meet demand, MMP also produced a version with cardstock mapboards.  However, because the original mounted mapboards had been made available for purchase years earlier, and many veteran ASLers did not need an additional set of mapboards, MMP also made available (only through pre-order) a special mapless version of Armies of Oblivion for people who already had map sets.  Stickers on the Armies of Oblivion box should identify which version a particular game is, but those stickers can be removed, so prospective buyers should always "trust but verify."

All things considered, Armies of Oblivion is a very high quality product.  Click here for full review by Mark Pitcavage.

Hakkaa Päälle will probably come in multiple versions, just as Armies of Oblivion did, due to the existence of an old set of mounted versions of Map 52.  Expect one version to have a mounted map 52, a second version to have an unmounted map 52, and a third version (probably available only through pre-order) to be mapless.

If God or MMP are at all merciful, the title of this module will be changed before release.

The reason this large hex size was chosen was that it would allow people to play ASL using 1/285th scale military miniatures.  The original Squad Leader had been playtested using miniatures, and throughout its history there had been people who had developed "homegrown" systems to use Squad Leader rules for miniatures.  Thus Avalon Hill thought that some people might like a system to help people do just that.

It turns out they were wrong.  DASL never caught on.  Although a few people did use it in conjunction with miniatures (and a few still continue to do so today), most did not.  Without miniatures, though, DASL had little appeal.  The maps were large enough to be awkward and cumbersome, yet their large hex size meant that there were actually few hexes on the maps, which meant that DASL scenarios tended to have no room for maneuver but instead were toe-to-toe bloody affairs.  Although the experiment continued with the release of one more DASL module, it never caught on and the DASL project was discontinued.  Over the years since it was abandoned, a handful of new DASL scenarios using the eight released boards have been designed, and a couple of new DASL boards have been released by third party publishers (some people have even crafted three-dimensional versions of the DASL mapboards).  Nevertheless, DASL has shown no real signs of a revival.

The other innovation in DASL was the introduction of AFV cards, which were small cardboard cards, each for a different AFV represented in ASL.  The cards had information specific to that vehicle, special rules, and squares to mark conditions such as special ammo depletion.  These cards, too, never caught on, as they did not offer any great increase in utility for players.   However, some third party publishers have offered additional AFV cards in this style.

Streets of Fire contained four urban mapboards and the scenarios reflect a variety of city fighting actions.  MMP decided not to reprint Streets of Fire when it finally went out of print.  However, they have offered its scenarios free for download on their Web site at http://www.multimanpublishing.com/downloads/sof.zip.

Except for its different setting, Hedgerow Hell is very similar to Streets of Fire and its limitations are the same.  It never proved very popular and, despite its having been published nearly 20 years ago, still has not sold out of its initial print run.