03.2016 ASL Rule Book Pocket Edition

Alternative Titles/Edition History:
aka ASL Pocket Edition, ASL Pocket Rulebook

Version 1 (2015); Version 1 with Chapter J added (2016); Version 2 (2022)

Publisher/Date:
Multiman Publishing (Version 1, 2015; Version 1 with ChapterJ, 2016; Version 2, 2022)

Product Type:
Rulebook

Country of Origin:
U.S.A.

Contents:
ASL 2nd Edition rules in bound paperback form (approximately 7.5" x 9.5"), including Index, Chapters A-G, K, (unincorporated) errata listing. Later copies also have Chapter J.  Version 2 of the Pocket Rulebook, released in 2022, incorporates the accumulated errata and also includes Chapter W (Korean War).

Commentary:

Click here to go straight to the 2022 Version 2 Pocket Rulebook notes

In real life, it may be all about that bass, but in ASL, it’s all about the rules.  You know, the umpty-jillion pages of hole-punched rules that come in a big-ass binder?  A binder that soon cannot even hold all the ASL rules you will accumulate?  Those rules cause some poor slobs eventually to migrate to a system of unbelievably huge three-ring binders full of thick stacks of page-protected rules pages.  When one has to hire a hobo to carry one’s rules around an ASL tournament for them, you know that shit has got serious.

From the beginning, though, some ASLers have sought more user-friendly alternatives to those ungainly three-ring binders from Hell.  The most common such solution has been throw out the three-ring binders and create some form of book or booklet for the rules, using spiral binding, library book binding, or even fancy leather binding.  Some people will have their original rules pages bound, while others will scan or photocopy the rules and bind the copies.  A few have even taken the opportunity to create reduced-size rulebooks (i.e., smaller pages, not less rules) in order to make the ASL rules even handier still.

These bound rulebook solutions have basically been the work of individuals modifying their kit or adding to it.  In 2015, however, MMP finally decided to join the crowd and offer ASLers a more practical alternative to the cumbersome rulebooks of yore.  MMP released a paperback-bound full-color “Pocket Edition” of the ASL rules–or, at least, some of the ASL rules.  Don’t take the term “pocket edition” very literally unless you have the pockets of Andre the Giant; the rulebook measures about 9.5″ by 7.5″.  But, with a thickness of less than an inch, it is clearly a far smaller alternative than previous rulebook editions.

What made this possible was the increasing popularity of print-on-demand services for printing books.  Hobbyists in many other areas have already been using this technology to create printed materials related to their hobbies, and even a few third party ASLers have used print-on-demand technology.  The nice thing about print-on-demand is that you don’t really have to worry about inventory.  When MMP prints the traditional rulebook, they decide to print a set amount of copies, pay for those copies, then slowly sell those copies to the public.  In traditional publishing, if the public doesn’t buy all your books, you are stuck with the rest–and had to pay for them.  Now, the ASL Rulebook is unlikely to ever remain unsold, but it sells at a slow but steady rate, unlike the quick-paced sales of a new product.  In the meantime, that’s money MMP doesn’t have.

With print-on-demand, though, economy of scale is far less important, and MMP can simply print whatever number of rulebooks it wants to.  If they run out, they print more–they don’t have to save up money so that they can print a huge number, as traditional printing requires.  This also means that the Pocket Edition will never go out of print.  MMP can have one printed, 100 printed, 1,000 printed, or more.

The Pocket Edition is currently priced at about $40, or around half of the cost of a regular ASL rulebook (with binder).  That’s a lot cheaper but some might still consider $40 expensive for a paperback book.  However, for a full-color print-on-demand paperback book, the price is reasonable.  Unlike the traditional ASL rulebook, the Pocket Edition does not come with a full set of charts (it only includes a very small number of frequently used infantry-related charts, like the IFT), so it does not fully substitute for the traditional rulebook; at the very least, a charts set would have to be purchased as well.  It also does not contain the counter diagrams on the inside cover of the ASL three-ring binder.

What it does include are the index and Chapters A-G (i.e., including the desert and PTO rules), as up to date as Hakkaa Päälle.  These are the 2nd Edition rules pages as is, which means that none of the 15 years of errata to the 2nd Edition has been incorporated into these rules pages.  However, it does include three pages of un-incorporated errata, in list form, which one supposes is better than absolutely nothing.  Replacement pages are included.  The index is in the front, not the back, which may be irritating to those players who prefer their indices where indices are traditionally found, in the back of books, but which may please those who like it backwards.  The obvious and mildly irritating omission is the absence of Chapter J, the DASL rules, which certainly should have been thrown in here.  NOTE: MMP has apparently taken advantage of the ability to easily update print-on-demand products, because as of March 2016 (and perhaps earlier), the Pocket ASL Rulebook does actually include Chapter J (see photo).

The print is, of course, smaller, but still readable even for the un-bifocaled eyes of this writer.  The paper is definitely thinner and less durable than traditional ASL rules pages and the cover doesn’t provide much additional protection.  However, ASLers should think of the Pocket Edition as more like a convenient, disposable rulebook–when it gets beat up, one can always get another, thanks to the magic of print-on-demand, which insures it will never go out of print, unlike every other ASL product.

Print-on-demand also allows MMP the option of incremental improvements, because all they have to do is upload a new file to the printing company.  So MMP could theoretically include Chapter J whenever they might want to (which, as noted above, they eventually did), could include more charts, could include the counter layout diagrams, and so forth.  It would be no big deal; this happens all the time with print-on-demand manuals.

Supposedly, MMP will also create a similarly bound version of the combined Chapter H at some point in the future, which many would find welcome.

The Pocket Edition is not for everybody, but many ASLers will find it extremely convenient and useful, and far handier to use in a lot of circumstances than the gargantuan three-ring-binders they have been using for years.

Version 2 (2022) Notes:

In early 2022, MMP released a revised and expanded version of the Pocket Rulebook.  On its marketing material, MMP refers to this version as v2, i.e., Version 2, but that appears nowhere on the rulebook itself.  The rulebook has the same title and cover illustration as the original 2015 rulebook and is only distinguished by visual details:

1. In Version 1, the words “Pocket Edition” on the front cover appear on one line; in Version 2, “Pocket” appears on its own line and “Edition” appears underneath.
2. In Version 2, the words “ASL Pocket Edition” on its spine and “Pocket Edition” on the front cover appear in a thicker typeface than in the original 2015 version.
3. In Version 2, there is a Hasbro logo on the bottom left corner of the front cover.

 

Barring MMP’s unexpected demise, chas v’shalom!, this will not be the final version of the Pocket Rulebook, so future revisions need to be clearly marked as such, for example, by including something like “Version 3: 2024” underneath the words “Pocket Edition” on the front cover.  Otherwise it will become increasingly difficult to tell different versions of the rulebook apart.  As of this writing, in the summer of 2024, the Version 2 rulebook is already “obsolete” in that it does not included the revised Chapter A pages (introducing, for example, volksgrenadiers) that appeared in recent ASL products.

Version 2 of the Pocket Rulebook is larger than the original version.  Though marketing copy still contains the original claim that the rulebook “is about 3/4 inches thick,” the new version is actually a full inch thick.  This is because it not only adds pages to some of the original chapters, it also adds Chapter W, the Korean War chapter.

It should be noted that the Table of Contents, though it does include Chapter W, is missing the chapter references for a number of official HASL modules, such as Hatten in Flames. This needs to be updated.

While Version 1 of the Pocket Rulebook merely included several pages of accumulated errata but did not bother to incorporate the changes into the rules, the Version 2 rulebook also ostensibly incorporates all of that errata, which most players will appreciate.

Chapter S (the SASL rules) is still not included this version, but Chapter K (the Training Manual) is.  In future versions, Chapter K should not appear in the Pocket Rulebook, in order to keep its size under control.  It can remain in the original binder-based ruleset and in the electronic rules, while ideally it should also be included as a freely downloadable PDF on the MMP website.

The Pocket Rulebook would also greatly benefit from a page at the front that specifically lists the rules pages that it includes, so that players do not have to search the pages of the rulebook for copyright dates or other signs that a particular set of new added or substituted rules pages appear in this specific volume.  Something like:

Something like this would simply make life a little bit easier for ASL players, especially those who may have multiple copies of multiple versions accumulated over time.

At the same time MMP released the Version 2 Pocket Rulebook, they also released a bound pocket version of the combined Chapter H rules pages and a spiral-bound version of the charts and tables. These are sometimes sold together with the rulebook, usually under the name “ASL Pocket Bundle.”

Obviously, as with the original version of the Pocket Rulebook, this is an extremely handy item for ASLers to have.  In fact, many ASLers own multiple versions of the Pocket Rulebook: one for the home ASL set, one for the travel ASL set, one to keep in the bathroom, etc.  The inconvenience of a smaller type size is outweighed by the benefits of a handy, portable, bound rulebook.  I would note that there would likely be a substantial audience for a full-sized bound rulebook, too, as the eyes of aging ASLers are not getting any sharper.

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