The 2 Half-Squads

Bob Joins us again and we open with some BEARS talk, and since that will appeal to very few of you we also have a discussion about Peter Jackson's The Hobbit Trilogy and Russians in general. What we have been playing lately includes scenario ASL 173: Father Sunshine, and WO 20 Sealing Their Fate.  What's in the box? gives us an opportunity to review the Russian counters from Broken Ground Design a...

A very Happy New Year to you all!  We wish all of you the best for a wonderful 2019 and many more. The power goes out on was while recording which proves to be a fortuitous event, because when we resume recording weeks later we are graced by a visit from Bob Holmstrom as he makes a return to the broadcast foxhole. During What's In The Box?, we look at many of Broken Ground's new counters for ASL,...

Holiday greetings listeners. We hope this yuletide season finds you all cheery and staying warm by the fire. What better time than this to have a cup of hot coco and have a listen to the one and only podcast dedicated nearly 100%  to the greatest game in the world....Advanced Squad Leader.  In this episode Dave compiles a set of recordings he had hanging around on his computer, including a look at...

Recorded on a wintry night, we managed to finish #211 just before the power went out (forcing the postponement of the recording of #212), this episode features a whole bunch of letters, the announcement of the winner of the game YANKS, and an in depth look at the rest of the scenarios from Korea: Forgotten War.   SHOW TIMES 1:00 Chit Chat 15:00 Letters 33:00 YANKS Winner Announced 37:30 Forgotten...

If you are quite certain that you want to miss the bantery discussion of some interesting films that Dave and Jeff have seen lately,  as well as info on how crackers are made you can skip right to minute nineteen and get a close look at the Kampfgruppe Scherer Player's Guide. This guide can provide you with a big assist when you play the game.   We are proud to present the last of our ASL Open int...

Hear the dulcet tones of Dave's nose flute, as well as Jeff's new flute provided to The 2 Half-Squads courtesy of Bill Forg and his amazing 3-D printer. Many of you have been waiting a long time for the return of Box Art Review. The fine art chosen this episode is from Winter Offensive Pack #9.  Pull up an image from your google search and have a gander.  Beware, it is quite frightening......and j...

Disco, rap, space travel and cultural preferences are just a few of the topics discussed before we dive into our coverage of the greatest game in the world - Advanced Squad Leader.  Join Fred Canzolino and Mark DeVries as they discuss their favorite aspects of ASL. We announce the winner of our contest for Hot Stove 3, you'll have to listen to find out if you are the lucky winner. There is also a...

Banozic, Emberton and Forg What a treasure trove of an interview! We've got it right here for ya brothers and sisters.  It is the legendary and lyrical Robert Banozic.  He is joined by Will Forg, and Zach Emberton,  Together they reminisce and pontificate on all things ASL.  Robert was one of the first names that early Advanced Squad Leader players recognize from his days in the early Chicago scen...

Helllooooo Listeners! Dave, Jeff and guess who? Listener Mark Kraatz at Gen Con Did you know at Gen Con we were just walking down the street and someone yelled "Is that Dave and Jeff?"  Would you believe it was listener Mark Kratz? We also discuss the longest ASL scenario ever played. MMP's Messenger Boys. It took well over a year and a half. Lets see you take that long to play a scenario.  In the...

Fall is fast approaching and so is the next episode.  We just can't believe how fast time flies. Or how long this episode is.  It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating #200 together. In this show Dave confesses his big mistake in tracking what we have covered and have not covered in the rules so far, he apologizes for covering the infantry fire rules again.    Therefore, we cover the rules...

What a great opening song! Check out the lyrics below and enjoy the brilliance of the Donovan Studios as they continue to produce marvelous ASL songs.  Lay out your boards and follow along as Rick Hollander and Dave Kleinschmidt present their After Action Report of Bounding Fire Productions scenario  ITR 12 Sosabowski Slapdown  that appeared in  Into the Rubble 2 . We delve into the Critical Hit p...

This summer has been extremely hot Dave's Russians push against Mark's Germans  and so is this episode. Why? Because we get back to the grind and continue our coverage of the Advanced Squad Leader rules, 7.0, Fire Attacks. When is that fire doubled? Halved? Tripled (oh yeah)? Do you even know?  Of course you do. But you may not know the more advanced concept from this rules section. Match your wit...

Jeff, otherwise known as the Black Belt of Death, reveals his humble beginnings in the wonderful art of Karate. He also tells us what chicks used to "dig" back in the day.  We get some nice letters from listeners, very nice letters.  Everyone's a hero in the re-issue of the Hero Pax from Critical Hit.  They have been updated and have art added, as well as a few new scenarios. To finish off the pro...

Hello, It's been a while since we have published an ASL Extra. This one has been recorded in a play by play style, where we follow every move and roll of an exciting game between Mike Ryzy's Germans and Eric Ortega's Russian defenders, as they try to hold onto some required buildings in Shklov, Russia. Hopefully you will enjoy listening along while the game is played, rules are recalled and strate...

Sorry HAL 9000, it had to be done.....and we had a lot of fun doing it.   Do you think a HAL  unit would have it's line of sight blocked to the interior of the ship if you held the ASL rulebook up over it's little red eye?  You will learn the answer to that question as we explore rule 6, LOS. It is a bit of a "quiz show" so sharpen your mind and prepare to listen.  See if you can beat Jeff to the...

Boy, that number 200 does look odd in the title.  We hope you don't have your hopes up too much this one. Doing that almost always guarantees disappointment and we give you enough disappointment even without our listeners having an unusually high expectation for this podcast.   Following the usual format Jeff presents a look at BFP-78 Operation Wheatfield from Bounding Fire's Crucible of Steel, af...

Welcome back our friends to the show that never ends!  Well, maybe never ends.  Well, of course it will end. BUT IT WILL GO BEYOND EPISODE 200.  Sorry to be the bearers of bad news.  Anyway, we open with quite a bit of boring banter, then many rather interesting letters, a detailed look at Scenario 176: The Only Way Out , then finish up with a look at Critical Hit's Dutch Trucks III. This product...

We had so much fun last time that we thought we would invite Rich Spilky, Bob Brown and Dan Dolan back into the broadcast foxhole for some more Advanced Squad Leader discussion.  Bob gives us his gaming background, we discuss attending tournaments, and then we begin a rousing rendition of ADVANCED QUIZ SHOW (yes, these questions are tricky).  Get your bell ready to use to buzz in and play along wi...

Break out your Red Barricades map and follow along as Rich Spilky and Bob Brown discuss campaign game III with the author of an article that provided Rich with a winning strategy. Dan Dolan's article was published back in 1993 in a fanzine called Fire for Effect that was published by Marc Hannah. It is fun to hear the three of them discuss the game and the fact that Rich was using his "radio" to s...

If you aren't familiar with the Advanced Squad Leader videos by Kirk Pfan, known to his fans as idjester, then you have been missing out on a wonderful resource for the ASL community. His work is available on youtube here  idjester.   Kirk produces videos that cover the rulebook, step by step training of specific aspects of ASL, as well as some scenario analysis. There are a lot of resources on th...

It may feel more like an early Spring, but we recorded this back in February and the Winter Olympics were still going on and we were buried in a moderately deep snow here in the Chicago area.  Jeff had spent a little dough on  Anzio - 1944  and  Drive For Saint Lo  from Lone Canuck Publishing. Rick Hollander and Dave analyze Scenario PAD 2: The Quick and the Dead. They offer an in depth look at th...

Welcome everyone, we are speaking softly and not carrying a big stick. Life is too short for anything else.  Did you know that Jeff is not interested in murder, and that neither of our hosts enjoy loud foul language? Well it's true, after all there are children listening.....and trying to sleep. Have you ever wondered what would happen if everyone swore all the time?  Well we do.  So no Prairie Do...

Sure seems like Christmas (or maybe our birthdays around here).  We have been getting a lot of cool ASL in the mail.  Forgotten War, Lone Canuck and best of all,  Operation Schmidt  by Bounding Fire Productions.  We dedicate most of this show to that fine product.  After a mediocre comedy but that is clearly stolen from a joke Dave's Dad used to tell him, we skip the banter, because Jeff is not he...

YeeeeHaaa! Welcome y'all. Have you ever wondered what is going on in our crazy society today? We sure have. Fake news, rude behavior, random death threats. And after all that we get into the greatest game in the world, Advanced Squad Leader!  There is also a quick review of the Churchill film Darkest Hour. In the box is a game Jeff has long sought after and finally received thanks to listener Step...