And you won’t want to miss the News Report. We have lots of goodies to talk about. We also have a double-feature of “What’s In The Box?” and Jeff reviews “The Longest Day”.

SHOW LINKS:

West Coast Melee

East Side Gamers

Gamers Armory

World War II - in HD

Sacred Jewelery by Robin Hallett Mention “The 2 Half-Squads” in the seller notes and you’ll get your purchase beautifully gift wrapped AND Robbie will include a free gift. Each piece is hand made to order, so don’t delay.

C4 Corner Cutter Mention “The 2 Half-Squads” when you order and receive a dollar back. It’s the “Buck-in-the-Box” promotion.

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!

It’s going to be a great year for ASL, thanks in part to the efforts of our guest today, Rich Spilky. Rich is a long-time ASLer with a passion for finding better ways to play the game. And to him that means simplifying the decoding of complicated rules and complex circumstances. Available for download at the link below, Rich has created a variety of tables and charts that clearly present results for common situations that might otherwise cause lengthy and abstruse delving into The Rule Book. So download Rich’s Player Aid Pack and read along as Rich discusses the utility of these great player aids. It’s ASL smarter, faster, better. It’s ASL The Spilky Way. (Rich Spilky’s email address is richspilky@comcast.net)

We also have a great book report from Dave, who just finished reading not one, but TWO ASL scenario builders handbooks (generously donated to us by a listener from Anchorage, Alaska). There’s also listener feedback AND we announce the soon-to-be-available T2HS t-shirts.

Oh yeah. It’s going to be a GREAT year for ASL!

Links for this episode

You can now get to this web site with the simple URL http://www.the2halfsquads.com

Rich Spilky’s Player Aid pack

The Official War Journal of the Philippines Historical Boardgamers Club

Scenario Designer’s Handbook by Michael Dorosh

Scenario Designer’s Guide by Mark Pitcavage

Mark Pitcavage’s Desperation Morale web site

Dave King’s C4 Corner Cutter

Jay Richardson’s excellent ASL Starter Kit tutorials, parts 1 through 5 on BoardGameGeek.com

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Triple Point Blank Fire

Please update your Favorites or Bookmarks.

Questions? Email us at the2halfsquads@gmail.com

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Oh, and there’s so much more! You won’t want to bypass this one, so pour yourself a cup of cheer, gather your family and friends close and tune in to this roaring, fully-tracked adventure. You’ll go to bed with visions of turrets dancing in your head.

We also look to see “What’s in the Box” — and it’s something you might find indispensable to your ASL collection.

And this week we sprung open the coffers and blew a wad on new equipment for the studio. We hope you enjoy the improved sound quality.

Lots of fun for everyone! Dig it!

SHOW LINKS:

C4 Corner Cutter

Boardgame Geek

Fear the Boot (RPG podcast)

Dragons Landing (RPG podcast)

Starter Kit Scenarios

Operations Magazine

Cold Steel Wargame Club of NE Alabama

We also cover some listener comments, talk more (yes, MORE) about counter storage, ASL boxes, snipers, and lots more. It’s 81 minutes and it’s all ASL. Dig it!

In this Episode, we check out “What’s in the Box?” (it’s Starter Kit 3!), Dave whips out a list — which he compiled during his most recent re-reading of The Rules — of rules he forgot he knew. Jeff gives a little history lesson at the end of the show. And there’s plenty of the usual madness.

We hope you enjoy it.

Here are some links to web sites we discussed:

Board Game Geek

VASL

MMP’s list of differences between Starter Kits and full rules

Plano storage solution

(When we first published this episode there was a problem with the audio cutting off the last 2 minutes of the podcast. We fixed the issue and posted a new file which now plays correctly.)

In this episode, we read some of the listener feedback. Then, in our Favorite Scenarios segment, Dave picks a battle with an extra dimension of excitement from the “Partisan” module, while Jeff continues with updates from the “Blood Reef: Tarawa” campaign (we’ll be posting pictures on this soon). Dave tells us “What’s in the Box?”, we play the ASL Quiz Show, and Dave gives an interesting history lesson. And, of course, we have lots of fun. We hope you enjoy this episode!

As always, thanks to Penmachine.com for providing our theme music.

Tonight we’re joined in the broadcast foxhole by our pal, Joe Pellam, who talks about his gaming history, his fascinating visits to Iwo Jima while in the Navy, and his love of ASL. A great guy, and a good friend, we’re pleased to have him as our guest.

Do you have a topic you would like to hear discussed on “The 2 Half-Squads”? Do you have an idea for a show segment? Do you know someone that would be a good guest? We’d like to hear from you! Leave us a comment here, or send an email to the2halfsquads@gmail.com

Listen now with streaming audio

This episode includes some intro music courtesy of Penmachine.com

We had some technical problems with the audio on this episode. It will not play with an embedded player. You will have to download it.

We had some technical difficulties with the audio on this web site. The embedded player does not work for this episode. You will have to download this episode.