Alternative Titles/Edition History:
1st Edition, 1998; 2nd Edition (Scroungin' Retro Edition), 2013
Publisher/Date:
Critical Hit (1st Edition, 1998; 2nd Edition, 2013)
Product Type:
Periodical
Country of Origin:
U.S.A.
Contents:
1st Edition: 60-page magazine; 11 scenarios as pages of the magazine, HASL Campaign game
2nd Edition: 56-page magazine; otherwise, same as above.
Commentary:The oddly-named Scroungin’ ASL News was a collection of articles (some translated into English from French) and scenarios that originally saw print in ASL News, a European ASL magazine edited by Philippe Leonard (the same magazine was also the source for several of Critical Hit’s Euro-Pack series of scenario packs).
However, the unknowing reader will have a hard time figuring this out, as the magazine is never properly introduced or described. Instead, the first thing a reader sees is an unfunny and mildly obscene WWII-themed comic strip. The articles are not very good–typically, they are not substantial and all too often it is clear that English is a second language for the authors (the latter could be easily forgiven if the articles themselves were interesting).
In addition to the article content, Scroungin’ ASL News includes a well-balanced campaign game, KGP CGIV (Above the Prayers), for Kampfgruppe Peiper (designed by the people who created it in the first place), using the Stoumont map, and a Red Barricades scenario, ASLN24 (Close to the Edge), that uses campaign game purchase points.
The magazine also includes 10 other scenarios, few of which are remarkable; among the better are ASLN31 (State Farm 41) and ASLN40 (Rolling Thunder), a massive early war armored slugfest. ASLN37 (A Bush Across the Street) is a DASL scenario.
Overall, this is not one of the better Critical Hit releases.
A number of the scenarios in this pack were later reprinted in Retro Pak II.
2nd Edition (i.e., Scroungin’ Retro Edition) notes: In 2013, Critical Hit produced a new edition of Scroungin’ ASL News, though it is closer to a 2nd printing than a true 2nd edition, utilizing the previous artwork and layout. The one difference is that the questionable-taste comic pages were removed.
Leave A Reply