Commentary:  ASL Stuff was a compilation of ASL-related articles that originally appeared in the Intelligence Report, the newsletter of the Windy City Wargamer club from 1985 to 1995 (although, in terms of datable articles, nothing seems to appear from before 1989).  Louie Tokarz simply photocopied them--mid-1980s word processing and all--and put them together.  It consists essentially of a few articles written for beginning players, a number of product reviews and scenario analyses, some tactical tips, and a large number of tournament reports (ASLOK, Avaloncon, Gencon, and Chicago-area tournaments).  It also includes black and white versions of WCW1 (Will to Fight...Eradicated) and WCW2 (Scotch on the Rocks), originally printed in the newsletter and later printed as part of the WCW Color Scenario Pack; for those people having a hard time locating copies (either actual or photo) of the Pack, this may be one way to obtain at least a couple of scenarios from it.  The two scenarios were used in the 1995 ASL Open tournament.

ASL Junk, the second WCW compilation, includes articles from 1995 to 1997.  In content it is much the same as ASL Stuff:  reviews, scenario analyses, tournament reports (but no scenarios), with somewhat better production values (someone must have bought a laser printer in the 1990s).  It also includes a complete Scenario Replay.

ASL Thing was the third WCW compilation, covering the years 1997-2001.  Content is similar to the previous two compilatons:  product reviews, scenario analyses, AARs, tactical tips, and tournament reports.  There are also two interesting campaign game replays, one for Red Barricades and one for Kampfgruppe Peiper.

The WCW compilations are all (but especially ASL Thing) characterized by extremely forcefully expressed opinions about scenario balance and quality in various ASL publications.  In particular, Louie Tokarz and Rich Banozic take repeated shots at MMP on scenario balance issues.  Sometimes, they are on target (they correctly identified most of the unbalanced scenarios in the ASL Annual '96), but often they are not (for example, in his review of the scenarios in the ASL Annual '97, Louis Tokarz labeled a number of scenarios as being very unbalanced, almost all of which, from the perspective of a decade's worth of ROAR reports, he got wrong).  Similarly, the test of time suggests that Rob Banozic's review of the scenarios in Heat of Battle's Waffen SS:  No Quarter, No Glory got the balance in all of the scenarios wrong.  These sorts of results reveal how difficult it is to accurately gauge the balance of a scenario from merely analyzing it or just playing it one time, and suggest that it might be better to be somewhat less "decisive" in declaring that a scenario is a "dog." 

How valuable these items are may be debatable, but while much of the material (such as some of the tournament reports) may be of little value to the average ASLer, there is still a lot of material that would be of interest to any serious ASL player.  The volumes were originally sold for next to nothing, too, so they represented a fine value.  These days, one is more likely to find them on E-bay, sometimes for more than they may be worth. 

Commentary:  The genesis of the WCW Color Scenario Pack was a desire to create some original scenarios for the 1995 ASL Open tournament--and, for novelty sake, to do them in color.  At the time, there had never been any ASL scenarios printed in color. 

They decided to use two scenarios (which appear in their ASL Stuff compilation).  However, major technical difficulties (of a kind, considering how much easier and more sophisticated desk-top publishing is a decade later, that seem almost incomprehensible today--such as a computer not having enough memory to print out a single scenario card in one go) caused them to fail to make their deadlines, so they postponed the project until the next year's open.  In the meantime, they would develop even more scenarios.  It appears that Louis Tokarz himself did the artwork (drawings rather than photographs appear on each scenario card).  After a huge number of additional computer problems, they actually managed to create the set.   It was available to people at the Open and could be ordered for some time after that.

The scenarios represent a wide range of actions, from Spain to China to North Africa to the Soviet Union to Belgium.  All are small or medium-sized and are easily playable at tournaments.  One scenario, WCW4 (Cat Becomes the Mouse), is all armor (plus one AT gun).  One scenario has OBA, one is a Night scenario, and one uses (dry) rice paddies. 

This is one of the best ASL scenario packs ever published.  Of the 10 scenarios, only one (WCW3, Tigers at Merefa) seems to be unbalanced.  Some of them, even after more than 100 playings reported to ROAR, are still exquisitely balanced.  Four of the scenarios in the pack are undeniable all-time ASL classics:  WCW1 (Will to Fight--Eradicated, designed by Louis Tokarz, and later reprinted as an official scenario, G40, in The General), WCW5 (Abandon Ship, designed by Jeff Cebula, also reprinted as an official scenario, G44, in The General), WCW7 (Eye of the Tiger, designed by Scott Holst), and WCW10 (Stand and Die, also designed by Scott Holst). 

In 1997, Louis Tokarz stated that Avalon Hill proved uninterested in giving further permission to the Windy City Wargamers to use "official" ASL artwork.  Tokarz said that he was not interested in publishing more scenarios unless they were at that same level of physical quality.  Unfortunately, it also meant that WCW would not reprint the WCW pack, either, which quickly sold out and became a hard to find collectors items (most of the copies that most ASLers have are just that--photocopies).  It is a frustrating turn of affairs when one of the best ASL products of all time is consigned to a forced oblivion.

NEW:  In 2008, Louie Tokarz generously decided to allow the WCW pack scenarios be available for FREE DOWNLOAD from the Desperation Morale site.  Now you too can finally get these classic scenarios!