Publisher/Date:
Le Franc Tireur (2023)
Product Type:
Periodical
Country of Origin:
France
Contents:
92-page magazine, 22 scenarios on glossy color cardstock, 8 unmounted 8" x 22" desert geoboards (LFT3, LFT4, LFT5, LFT6, LFT7, LFT8, LFT9, LFT10)
A full five years after the last issue, the spring of 2023 finally saw the release of the 15th issue of the French-published (but English language) ASL magazine Le Franc Tireur. The release was an expensive one, with the magazine costing around $100, but it does contain a lot of content, including article content, a large number of scenarios, and 8 desert geoboards.
The magazine itself is 92 pages in length, in the typical LFT style (large type, generous spacing, lots of illustrations). The article content includes an article by Enrico Catanzaro promoting his scenario bidding system and his ECZ Tournament Director’s Pack containing scenarios that utilize that system; an article about the history of the ASL Ring, the long-running European ASL tournament; a “10 questions” interview with veteran scenario designer Steve Swann; a historical article on the French North African troops who fought in Tunisia; a lengthy historical article on the Tunisian campaign; a rules article on surrender and prisoners; an article on the DTO rules and learning them; an article that is essentially a rules chapter (Chapter AD) on arid/desert terrain (i.e., the terrain on the boards included in this product); an article by Robert Hammond providing rules for ASL-gaming the Russian Civil War in the Russian Far East and vicinity; and a rules article on Night scenarios–as well as a few little other odds and ends.
Because the Chapter AD rules are bound into the magazine, LFT has also made them available, formatted to U.S.-sized paper, on their website. They do not appear to have done this for their European readers who use A4-sized paper, perhaps assuming that they can just use the rules in the magazine. These rules are needed for any scenario using the geoboards included with this magazine.
The geoboards, of course, are the “star” of this product. There are 8 standard-sized (8″ x 22″) unmounted geoboards (numbered LFT3 to LFT10), all of which feature desert terrain–but much more specific desert terrain than the bland, flat, featureless boards of West of Alamein. The quality of these geoboards is high, with very attractive artwork.
- Board LFT3 is dominated by a long canyon (think dry river) that stretches across the board lengthwise, with brush dominating the land on either side of the canyon. There’s a building in hex R8 that can’t be eliminated (except by SSR decree), because there are no canyon-edge overlays to fit over it.
- Board LFT4 is a flat board, except for two gullies/wadis that snake across the board. Brush and what may be scrub and hammada dominate the board. On one half is a trio of building hexes and on the other a three-hex walled enclosure with a building inside.
- Board LFT5 is similar to LFT4. It is flat, except for two gullies/wadis, while patches of brush, hammada, scrub, desert debris, crags, and woods are scattered generously across the board. One half contains a tiny desert settlement, while the other half contains a building surrounded by a wall.
- Board LFT6 is more generous in using the third dimension. It is dominated by a long 3-level, mostly-bare hill that stretches across the map. A small level-2 hill fills space along one end of the board, while a valley parallels the center part of the long hill. It has no buildings.
- Board LFT7, oddly, is identical to Board LFT6, except that a village is now perched on the hill. One would think this could have been accomplished with less expense through using an overlay.
- Board LFT8 is another hill board, featuring three hills (two 3-level and one 2-level) oriented longwise along the board. Vegetation is pretty patchy, but there are a fair number of crags.
- Board LFT9 features a large desert town, full of tiny buildings clustered close together.
- Board LFT10 is a “transition” board, with three-quarters of the board (i.e., 5-6″ of the 8″ board width) designed as “standard” ASL terrain (albeit with a few desert features), including green open ground hexes, and the fourth quarter of the board depicted as desert terrain. The “standard” terrain includes a tiny hamlet, including a church and cemetery an a hill.
The boards are all interesting, though the LFT6-LFT7 duplication is odd. There are some missed opportunities here, though. It would have been nice to have had a coastal desert geoboard and it also would have been nice to have one or more geoboards designed to represent the fortifications surrounding Tobruk. The use of double-wide geoboards (i.e., 2 8″ x 22″ geoboards that are geomorphic on three sides each but mate with each other on the fourth side) to portray hills that are not simply long lumps along a geoboard but instead have other shapes (round, triangular, horseshoe, L-shaped, etc.) would also have been welcome. “Gary”-style geoboards (the 11″ x 16″ geoboards) would also allow terrain configurations impossible with standard boards.
Le Franc Tireur #15 comes with 22 scenarios (the marketing copy says 23, but there are only 22), all printed on A4-sized color glossy cardstock. Most of the scenarios are set in desert or steppe situations, but a few random scenarios are also thrown in. Unfortunately, a lot of the desert scenarios are not from World War II at all, but from mostly obscure early 20th-century conflicts, including conflicts (like the Russian Civil War) which are not suited for the ASL rules, including FT274 (Bear Valley), a scenario set in Arizona in 1918 depicting a tiny skirmish between a U.S. cavalry detachment and a small band of around 30 Yaqui warriors. It’s just not a serious scenario. Only one person even died in the actual action. Also, the historical description on the top of the scenario card directly plagiarizes the Wikipedia entry on this incident, which is inexcusable. The product also features 2 Russian Civil War scenarios set in the Gobi desert, 2 scenarios set along the borders of Manchuria in 1935-36, one scenario set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and one scenario set in north China during the Sino-Japanese War (an action previously covered in the ASL News magazine and reprinted a couple of times by Critical Hit). There are 12 scenarios that use desert boards and are actually set in World War II: 1 scenario set in Crete, 4 scenarios set in Lebanon/Syria in 1941, 5 scenarios set in Tunisia, 1 scenario set in Italy, and 1 scenario set on the barren Aleutian island of Attu (which can only be accomplished through wholesale terrain alterations). So there are really only 9 scenarios (the Lebanon/Syria and Tunisia actions) that are set on what most people would consider World War II desert terrain. There are also three scenarios set in Europe that do not use desert boards or rules at all.
The World War II scenarios feature the following settings and combatants: Crete 1941 (New Zealanders vs. Germans), Lebanon/Syria 1941 (Arabs/British vs. Vichy French, British/Australians vs. Vichy French, Indians vs. Vichy French, Australians vs. Vichy French), Tunisia 1942 (Americans vs. Germans [2 scenarios], New Zealanders vs. Italians, New Zealanders vs. Germans/Italians, Indians/Ghurkas vs. Germans), Attu 1943 (Americans vs. Japanese), Italy 1943 (Americans vs. Germans), France 1944 (Americans vs. Germans), Burma 1945 (British/Indians vs. Japanese/Indians), and Germany 1945 (Soviets vs. Germans).
To play all the scenarios, players need, in addition to geoboards LFT3-LFT10, the following additional geoboards: 9, 12, 54, 49, and 26 (the only “official” desert geoboard used), as well as board LFT1 from Le Franc Tireur No. 11. The Yaqui Indian scenario also requires counters from Forgotten War.
A majority of the scenarios are large in size, while a handful of the scenarios are small and a few are medium-sized. Three scenarios use OBA and two scenarios use the Air Support rules. No scenarios use Night rules. Unfortunately, this product has an unusual amount of errata, so players should be sure to obtain the errata released by LFT.
While it is nice to get more desert boards for ASL, even if third-party, there are some aspects of this product that are disappointing, including the duplicated board, the early 20th-century scenarios (especially the Arizona one), the lack of any Libyan/Egyptian scenarios, and the plagiarized historical text of the one scenario,
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