The 2 Half-squads: Advanced Squad Leader Podcast

Rich Spilky joins us in the Broadcast Foxhole. He presents his analysis in the fine tradition of Bob Medrow's mathematical  analysis of various aspects of the game we love, Advanced Squad Leader, that appeared in the old General Magazine from Avalon Hill.  Special shout out to Chris Edwards for his work on the OBA analysis charts.We have a contest ending January 15th. You need to call in using

Hope you enjoy the wonderful opening song by with lyrics by Chris Gammon and sung by The 2 Half Squads Singers. The lyrics are printed below. Some great ASLer's chime in like Alan Hume and Scott Mullins through the magic of voicemail. And that gave us the idea for our next contest. We have a contest ending January 15th. You need to call in using the button on the right side of the web page and

 Welcome to a very fun show. Well, at least we had fun recording  it. The letters we recieve provide us with some entertainnig ASL topics for discussion. It's always good to hear from you all. What we've been playin' lately is a lot of ASL. Check out our Twitter feed for the full updates. In this episode we discuss HS31 Protesting the Speculative from Multi-man Publishing's Operation Veritable.

Dave recounts his vacation to The Great Smoky Mountains, The Shawnee National Forest and Belmont University during the intro talk, while Jeff recounts his recent Sword of Rome game. In the Box is the Starter Kit Expansion Pack #2.  This expansion includes the new Chinese, some new Japanese, and the first overlays for SK Advanced Squad Leader players. Two boards, eight scenarios, and some new

We welcome Stephen Stewart of VASLING with Stew fame.  Stephen provides a fascinating listen as he discusses the variety of videos that he produces.  They are legion, they are good, and you should check them out on his Youtube channel.   SHOW TIMES1:00 Banter3:45 Interview49:21 Total Running TimeSHOW LINKSStew's ReplayVASLing With Stew #1Don't forget that you can watch this episode on our Youtube

If you haven't gotten the new Rat Pack Charts from Le Franc Tireur, have a listen to our detailed look at them and see if you don't think you need them after all. We have a good time discussing the scenarios we have played lately, HS4 High Water Mark from Operation Watchtower. Dave and Jeff played that one. We also cover scenario HS27 Lawless Ways from Operation Veritable. Dave got a game in with

Here is a fun little show. In the box is the March Madness Hollis Pack, - Partisans from the gents in Kansas City.   It's a great scenario pack with a historical board included. Wow! We did not know what we were missing when we missed out on all the March Madness Packs. We always heard great things about them. There is a lot of Advanced Squad Leader product here and we hold a drawing from our

Todays show covers the terrain gems from Onslaught to Orsha II. That includes slopes, culverts, cupolas and a little bit more. We do apologize for the poor audio quality. Covid is taking it's tech toll. We follow that up with an in depth report from David Goldman about the ASL Open's first fully remote tournament played on VASL.There is a lot of valuable information in this interview. It's

Finally, we break open that box containing Croix  de Guerre and Dinant and revel in the wonderful  Advanced Squad Leader counters, maps and more.  Dan Dolan must be proud.  This game even has some NEW French counters, The Vichy French and Free French. We finish with a discussion of virtual gaming and the St. Louis Tournament with Jim Burris. SHOW LINKSRitterkrieg's Croix de Guerre at the

Storms in Chicago, disaster strikes, cars stuck on lifts in garages without power, gaming table order attempt disasters on Kickstarter; these are just a few of the topics in Chit Chat. In the Box are both, the new Ritterkrieg Counter Stackers, and the rest of Onslaught to Orsha II (the parts that we didn't get to in our previous episodes).  Add in a look at Scenario HS2: War Without Quarter from

This episode is a whole lotta letters covering a ton of ASL, VASL and T2HS topics. Our listeners bring their ideas, opinions, curses, praises, corrections, tech issues, playing suggestions, and much more to our doorstep this show.DON'T FORGET TO WATCH THE EPISODE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELSHOW LINKSASL Players MapAdam Lunney Interview with VeteranSHOW TIMES00:02 Chas's Job (song)4:00 Lot's O'

It was such a pleasure to talk with Michael Koch in our second episode on the ASL scene in Germany. The discussion covers WWII sites to see in Germany when you attend the Grenadier Tournament, the history of ASL, and the wonderful fact that there is just too much good Advanced Squad Leader stuff being published today. What a problem to have! Michael also gives us a detailed look at what it takes

Rich returns to the Remote Broadcast Foxhole and has a serious conversation with Jeff about the state of some young Americans' lack of historical knowledge.  They also discuss Churchill's books on WW II. The meat of the show is a look at Rich's involvement with the development of Onslaught to Orsha II by Bounding Fire Productions. You get a chance to hear the designer of the new charts included

What better way to start episode #150 than with the witty lyrics of a new song by Dennis Donovan. Then the studious Rich Spilky joins us and presents his amazing analysis of both, RB5: The Last Bid, and RO5: Men of Steel from Red October. Advanced Squad Leader at its finest. Does your love of our soothing voices leave you longing for a look at our handsome faces? Well... have we got the

Mike Ryzy joins us once again in the broadcast remote foxhole. The NEW Rules segment theme song makes its debut, thanks to Aaron Kleinschmidt and The Two-Half Squad Singers. Can a machine gun kill a lightly armored vehicle? Find out right here and right now. Then break out your cover of Onslaught to Orsha 2  for the return of Box Art Review. SHOWTIMES 1:00 Banter 14:00 Rules! 51:00 Box Art

Wow, it's been a long time since we put up an ASL Extra for your enjoyment. This one was recorded last year.  Dave Timonen faces off against Chris Walters, who is playing his first game in many years. It's amazing how the rules and tactics come back to him so quickly.  Advanced Squad Leader is like learning to ride a bicycle, once you learn you never forget how to do it.  Dave and Chris are

Mike Ryzy joins us once again as we banter about the film Gettysburg and more. We are always thrilled with the quality of the letters that our listeners send, and the ones we read on this episode, are no exception. VASL tips abound within them. We have quite a few scenarios that we have played lately.  All of them on VASL of course. Take a listen as Mike explains the "connected scenario" scoring

Well, Skype seems to make Dave's voice sound like he is on a telephone. Which, we guess, he technically is.  In the box is Adam Lunney's wonderful book "We Together".  Adam tells the untold story of the 451 and 453  Australian Squadrons in WWII.  Give it a read. We recount our playing of  AP 118 Wise's War on VASL of course. And then we thought it would be fun to explore the controls on

Here is a show produced entirely in the Kleinschmidt household. We cover a bunch of back logged letters, dating back to February. Shame on us for being so delinquent. But at least here they are now and they are read by our guests Aaron and Laura Kleinschmidt.  Did we ever mention that "Operation Schmidt" should have been called "Operation Kleinschmidt"?           In the digital box is the

The promised show about ASL in Germany is here. We have a few letters then we jump right in with the delightful and knowledgeable Kris Koch, joining us in the broadcast (remote) foxhole for a great interview. Special guest Mike Ryzy returns to help us along.  Enjoy! SHOWTIMES  1:00 Brief Chat 3:00 Letters 25:30 Interview with Kris 1:02:38 Total Running Time SHOW LINKS Conscripts Tourney in