Best and Worst Official "Core Modules"

I think that the best core module has to be Beyond Valor. Why? It's ASL "classic style" with big meaty scenarios that aren't won or lost on a single DR. My vote for the worst core module is The Last Hurrah, although Partisan is a very, very close second. Both feature boring and unbalanced scenarios. Doomed Battalions (despite its own problems) is what The Last Hurrah should have been from the start.

Best and Worst Official HASL/DASL Modules

My pick for best module in this category is Red Barricades, as I'm sure you all will agree. This module is the ulitmate ASL experience, and I think that you remain a newbie until you've played a CG on the RB map. My pick for worst module is a toss-up between BRT and Hedgerow Hell. BRT is a huge disappointment. It contains so many mistakes that MMP should be embarrassed to sell it. It was obviously a rushed-job and it really shows. It also irked me that people had to buy the replacement counters (bundled with the Journal); they should have been provided free. As if amature production qualtiy isn't bad enough, the play of the contents, particularly the CGs, is absolutely terrible. If you're looking for a really boring way to spend your ASL time, play a CG out of BRT. Or pretty much any one of the scenarios. This is about the only product, official or otherwise, that I'm sorry I bought. Hedgerow Hell was a big, big marketing mistake. Why release a module based on a terrain with difficult rules that everybody hates? To top it off, the boards are so covered with hedges that they're almost useless to generate new (non-Normandy) scenarios. At least the bocage rules are fixed, so I guess BRT "wins" over HH.

Best and Worst Official Annual/Journal

My pick for best magazine is Journal 2. Hard to top this one, which has a wide variety of cool scenarios, plus the excellent KR map and scenarios. The only thing I don't like about it is that it contains reprints of several scenarios I already have. Worst? The much-maligned 95 Annual, of course! Right up there with KGP I/II and Doomed Battalions at the top of the "Quality Control Failures" list! Half-hearted and half-assed attempt by Avalon Hill to crank out some ASL material.

Best and Worst Non-Official HASL

This is a tough one, since there is a lot to choose from. My pick for the best is a toss-up between Ruweisat Ridge and Berlin: Red Vengence. It's tough to compare the two, since the actions are so different, but both have good points that puts them ahead of the other and bad points that pulls them back. RR's action is excellent; the CG and scenarios really capture the flow and mobility of desert warfare. BRV's action is excellent too: combine Red Barricades-style fighting with late-war firepower and you have true mayhem. Add bridge-crossings and you have winning combination. The downfall of both BRV and RR is the presentation: both have maps that are less than excellent and both suffer from high amounts of errata. In the end, I'll have to go with RR since its scenarios are better than BRV's scenarios (some of which don't use the BRV map...a huge mistake in my book). Worst non-official HASL I think is Dzherzinsky Tractor Works. The scenario are top-notch, but there are only 4 of them. The two CGs included are hopelessly unbalanced. Coupled with a map with extra-small hexes, DTW ends up low on my list.

Best and Worst Non-Official Scenario Pack/Magazine

The best is easy: Time On Target #3 (German Rare Vehicles). This is a gem, and in my opinion it's right near the top of the list for best ASL product, period. Excellent scenarios, excellent counters, and well-researched. Combined with a minimum amount of errata, this pack sets the standard for judging third party press efforts. The worst? A bit harder to judge but I'll go with Critical Hit Magazine 6.1. Poor presentation; I'm not sure why they thought poor resolution black and white photocopied artwork would pass. Coupled with uninteresting-looking scenarios, and you have something I won't take off my shelf often (ever?)

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