Of course, we also read some Listener Mail and find out “What’s In the Box”. Dave does a movie review of “Hart’s War” and Jeff imparts some of his vast knowledge of grenades. It’s Halloween, everyone, and this is one sweet treat.

Dig it.

The running time for this show is nearly 90 minutes, but we only got to a small handful of the the topics we wanted to discuss. You know what that means . . . there will be more round table discussions in the future, with lots of different guests. Egad, so much to do, so little time!

If you’re looking for Listener Mail, Box Art Review, Quiz Show, History Report and other T2HS regular segments, sorry, but there was no time this time, but join us next time — which will be coming along in a short time.

Dig it.

Our guest today is no exception, though his contributions to The Game are exceptional indeed. Mark Pitcavage (Dr. Mark Pitcavage, if one were to honor his PhD in history) is a name well known in ASL circles, and we were very pleased to “meet” him today for the first time to chat about our favorite topic. We think you’ll find the discussion entertaining and informative. If you’ve never visited Mark’s web site, dedicated to Advanced Squad Leader, then you’re missing out. Check it out as soon as you can at http://www.desperationmorale.com/

Yes, we are very lucky to get to talk to so many NICE gamers, any one of whom you should have no fear taking home and introducing to your mother. Oh wait. That would be a wee bit creepy.

Before we start Mark(ing) Time, though, we still make room to sift through some listener mail (of course!) and indulge in our other usual antics. Stick around. This is a good one.

In “Get Movin’!” we continue our series covering, in detail, the phases of the game.  And if you can’t guess which phase is covered this time you should go back to playing “Chutes ‘n Ladders”.

There’s a lot to cover, but we still carve out some time for listener mail, a quick movie review, and some other goodies.

You’re going to like this episode. How can we be so sure? . . . because it’s ASL.

Dig it.

In this episode, we go to prep school — Prep Fire Phase school, that is. With the ASL’ers favorite cheat sheet (the trusty ASOP) in hand, we take a detailed view of every event in this first action phase of the game turn. Why do we love Prep Fire so much? Because we finally get to FIRE!

We are happy to break from our studies to talk with Matt Shostak of the Texas ASL club. You know Matt and friends of course if you’ve ever laid eyes on the excellent Banzai!! [sic] publication, a newsletter — and so much more — put together and offered for free by that honored group from the greatest state in the lower forty-eight. Did we mention they offer Banzai!! for FREE? How’s that for a sample of Texas hospitality?

Put on your thinking caps and join us!

Web Links for this show:

• Texas ASL Club

• The Banzai newsletter (all 50 issues in one zip file)

This episode was our first LIVE audience show. Thanks to technology provided by TalkShoe we were able to broadcast our audio live on the internet and were joined live by listeners. It was pretty cool. We had about twenty-five people joining us via chat and call-in. We need to work out a few kinks in the technology, but all in all it was a great experience. The Quiz Show segment with instant answers from the audience was pretty cool for those able to participate.

Note: If you were not listening “Live”, this episode may seem a bit confusing and disjointed; for that we apologize. We have a number of ideas about how to improve on this format and fully expect future Live casts to be much better. Also, it’s possible we will re-record the main segment on Flame thrower weapons and MOL’s; there was a lot of good content there that deserves proper presentation.

This episode of The 2 Half-Squads featured the music of American composer Leroy Anderson. You can use the widget below to sample the tunes we played and purchase the full versions from Amazon.

To download a compressed (smaller file size) audio version of this episode, click - here -.

• Date: July 27, 2009
• Time: 7:00PM - 9:00PM CDT (UTC/GMT -5)
• Where: The conversations will be handled by Talk Shoe. Just direct your browser to http://www.talkshoe.com.
• What You Will Need: If you want to talk to us live, you’ll need a headseat with microphone for your computer. (No external speakers, please as they cause echo and feedback.) If you just want to listen and text-chat with us, you’ll just need computer speakers.

Questions, just email us at the2halfsquads@gmail.com. We’ll post more details as needed.

This is going to be really fun!

Then join us for a round table discussion of ASL in general at the end of this episode. Wow! We’ll be doing a lot more of these in upcoming episodes.

(If you want to download this episode and are not an iPhone/iTunes etc user, you should download the mp3 version from here.)

Of course, it wouldn’t be T2HS without an engrossing reading of Listener Mail. We also feature a heart-warming reunion with the contents of “What’s In the Box”. Plus there’s “Scenario Report” and a special 45 minute segment of “Box Art” Just kidding. Actually there’s NO Box Art this time. Do we hear a collective sigh of relief? Or are those whispers of despair?

Dig in and enjoy.

Links of Interest

C4 Corner Cutter

St. Louis ASL Tournament

Winter War books and video

Schwerpunkt #3

During intermission and after the show, join the campaign to get Dave’s name on a counter! Let’s demonstrate the power of the T2HS listening audience by emailing MMP and requesting — nay, DEMANDING! — they create a German SMC counter (no less than a 9-1) with the name “Kleinschmidt” for inclusion in the upcoming Hakka Palle module. Send an email to info@multimanpublishing.com. Don’t delay. And email often!

Show Links:

The C4 Corner Cutter

Battles Magazine

The Game Vault

Croix de Guerre

Doomed Battalions

How do you pronounce “cupola”? Leave us a comment.

Show Links

C4 Corner Cutter by Counter Culture

Contact Alex Key: hobbies747@gmail.com

Le Franc-Tireur: http://www.lefranctireur.org

Schwerpunkt: http://mysite.verizon.net/resvy9ue

The Texas ASL club celebrates publication of their 50th issue of Banzai! http://texas-asl.com/

We have fixed the problem with this episode and re-posted it. The missing final minutes have been added back in. Sorry about the error. Thanks for listening, everyone!

Still, we thought you’d get a kick out of what were able to save. You can be sure we’ll be doing a lot more of this in the future. Guess we’ll have to start wearing pants!

There’s nothing to download in this episode. Just click on the video player’s “View Movie” control to watch some interviews.

Show Guide:

• Listener feedback — We get a LOT of email. Sorry if you don’t get to yours on this show. We’re doing our best. Please keep writing!
• What’s in the Box — Another splendid offering from Schwerpunkt
• Scenario Report — What we’ve played recently
• Box Art — Egad! What can one say about it?
• ASOP: Pre-game Sequence — an in-depth look at what needs to happen before the first dice roll.

Show Links:

• Counter Culture — C4 Corner Cutter
• Schwerpunkt — Tampa Bay ASL Group
• ASL Scenario Archive — Monkey’s with Typewriters. Free Scenarios!
• Texas ASL Group — Great ASL newsletter
• Cheeta the Chimp

Also in this episode:

• What’s in the Box? — it’s something from the Tampa Bay ASL group. Can you say “Schwerpunkt“?
• History — about the . . . hmm, we can’t pronounce it, so how can we type it?
• Listener Feedback
• And lots more

We can’t remember what made us think anyone would want to admit — let alone advertise — they listen to this podcast, but here they are, and to tell the truth, they’re pretty darn nice shirts. If you want one, here’s how to order.

1. Send us an email stating how many and what size(s) you want and your shipping address.
2. We’ll email you back to let you know if your shirt(s) is available.
3. Make a donation on this site ($20 for each shirt in the continental USA, $30 everywhere else).
4. We’ll email you when your shirt(s) ship.
5. Go to your front door and start watching for the mail man.

We also have a little conversation with Keith Dalton from MultiMan Publishing to see what’s up in 2009 for ASL.

There’s also a “What’s in the Box” segment, covering Action Pack 5: Eastern Front.

Dig it!