Phillipps had enough energy to churn out issue after issue after issue (eventually distributed freely to the entire world via the World Wide Web) in the world of ASL newsletters, whose life spans are typically short.   Along the way, he did succeed in giving British ASLers a voice.  He helped those who wanted to run tournaments, those who wanted to design scenarios, and those who just wanted to share their views.   British ASLdom owes Pete Phillipps a big thank-you.  Pete - roll low and prosper.

Commentary:  Its first issue was only 4 pages long, but it would be the start of a long and satisfying run for View from the Trenches (VftT), one of the longest-running and best ASL newsletters.  VftT grew in size and grew in quality to become a fine newsletter, one that has represented Great Britain well for over a decade.  It has also attracted an audience that has reached beyong Great Britain to at least five continents.

VftT was designed first of all to serve the British ASL scene and much of its content reflects that desire.  Typically 20 pages long (or twice that for its double issues), it contains an "Incoming" section, to alert British ASLdom to new and coming products, as well as a variety of tournament announcements and reports, and a British players list.  It also features scenario analyses, AARs, strategy articles, strategy and tactics articles, reviews, designers notes, historical material, reference notes, and more.  All issues of View from the Trenches are available as freely downloadable PDF files.

Between issues 32 and 42, there were 22 scenarios published in View from the Trenches (this includes the 6 George Kelln-designed Maple Leaf Route scenarios later published in the Canada at War pack).  Although they have been freely available (from the above source), they have for some reason not seen that much play.

Commentary:  View from the Trench's first (and only) scenario pack was Shingle's List, a themed pack designed by Bill Durrant that featured combat actions at Anzio during the Italian campaign.  Although it was offered for sale, it was later made available as a freely downloadable PDF file. 

Most of the scenarios are tournament sized, although one of them, Shin7 ("Everything We've Got!"), is quite large.  One scenario is all armor, and another features only armor on one side.  Three of the scenarios are British vs. German, while five are U.S. vs. German.  All the scenarios are extremely light on SSRs. 

Despite the fact that most of these scenarios are tournament-sized and all are freely available for download, the Shingle's List scenarios have not seen much play.

Commentary:  Operation Neptune is a campaign game that uses the Platoon Leader campaign game rules from Critical Hit.  It features the assault crossing of the Seine in France in 1944 by the British 43rd (Wessex) Division, opposed by the German 49th Infantry Division.  Designed by Andrew Saunders and Nigel Brown, it is 6 campaign dates long (one of them night).  Although offered for sale, it was later made freely available through download as a PDF file.

It features a quite interesting situation and might well be worth a look for players seeking a new campaign game to try.