01.1995 View from the Trenches

Publisher/Date:
View from the Trenches (1995 - present)

Product Type:
Periodical

Country of Origin:
Great Britain

Contents:
Newsletter, occasional scenario (in its early years)

Its first issue was only 4 pages long, but it would be the start of a long and satisfying run for View from the Trenches (VftT), one of the longest-running and best ASL newsletters.  VftT grew in size and grew in quality to become a fine newsletter, one that has represented Great Britain well for over a decade.  It has also attracted an audience that has reached beyond Great Britain to at least five continents.

VftT was designed first of all to serve the British ASL scene and much of its content reflects that desire.  Typically 20 pages long (or twice that for its double issues), it contains an “Incoming” section, to alert British ASLdom to new and coming products, as well as a variety of tournament announcements and reports, and a British players list.  It has also featured scenario analyses, AARs, strategy articles, strategy and tactics articles, reviews, designers notes, historical material, reference notes, and more.  All issues of View from the Trenches are available as freely downloadable PDF files.

In its latter years, VffT established a thrice-yearly schedule.  The amount and quality of its article content fell off during this time, perhaps due to competition from on-line ASL forums.

Between issues 32 and 42, there were 22 scenarios published in View from the Trenches (this includes the 6 Jim McLeod-designed Maple Leaf Route scenarios later published in the Canada at War pack and again in 2012 as part of the Elite Canadians pack).  Although they have been freely available (from the above source), they have for some reason not seen that much play.

The scenarios (typically done with VASL graphics that seem somewhat dated today) include:

• V1 High Danger. Egypt 1942 (Australians vs. Germans) (desert)
• V2 Tebbe’s Tigers. Soviet Union 1943 (Soviets vs. Germans)
• V3 Assault on a Queen. Netherlands 1940 (Dutch vs. Germans)
• V4 Only the Enemy in Front. Belgium 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V5 No Easy Victories. France 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V6 They Think It’s All Over. Joke scenario.
• V7 The Hunting Ground. France 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V8 The Price of Arrogance. France 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V9 Jig Green East: Storming Le Hamel. France 1944 (British vs. Germans) (seaborne assault)
• V10 Riposte at Dusk. Crete 1941 (New Zealanders vs. Germans)
• V11 A Final Surprise. Iwo Jima 1945 (Americans vs. Japanese)
• V12 Nocturnal Attrition. Libya 1941 (New Zealanders vs. Italians) (desert)
• V13 Hunting Tigers.  Tunisia 1943 (British vs. Germans) (desert)
• V14 Last Train to Lodz. Poland 1945 (Soviets vs. Germans)
• V15 The Eagle Has Landed. Joke scenario.
• V16 Commandos Eat Quiche.  Joke scenario.
• V17 Becker’s Battery. France 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V18 Dickie’s Bridge. France 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V19 Cactus Farm. Tunisia 1943 (British vs. Germans)
• V20 Death or Glory. Tunisia 1943 (British vs. Germans)
• V21 Festung Blerick. Netherlands 1944 (British vs. Germans)
• V22 Unhorsed Todhorse. Germany 1945 (?) (British vs. Germans)

Issue #88 (May-August 2013) includes a Platoon Leader Campaign Game, PL CG VFTT B (Tangled at Tsangkou), which apparently was submitted by Steve Swann a million years earlier, but thrown in a drawer.  It takes place in November 1945 in Tsangkou, China, after the end of the war and, rare in the annals of ASL, features the Nationalist and Communist Chinese as the combatants.  It is not clear to what extent, if any, it has been playtested.

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