ASLOK XXIX and the rest of the news

ASLOK XXIX is a done deal!

In the end, my attendance at ASLOK XXIX was going to be a very close run thing. With the ending of a relationship, the subsequent upheaval and stress and then the termination  of my existing residential lease, it was not looking good.

Thankfully, things turned out okay. Sure I might be living on ramen and instant coffee until the day of my departure so I can have some spending money for ASLOK, but I have paid for the plane fare, the hotel is booked and budgeted for, and I also have a new residence that I will be moving into over the next 14 days.

I'm treating this ASLOK as I should, a chance to recuperate mentally and spiritually after 6 months of chaos. Physically I'm still a bit of a wreck but having a 3 week holiday, most of which will be spent with good friends at ASLOK, will do wonders for my health.

I'm turning up in Cleveland at 10pm on October 1st, and will be ready to gun from the next morning/ afternoon, depending on whether I can get some shopping done (travelling to the US means I will be obtaining some items that are almost impossible to find in Australia anymore, such as US sized page protectors, perhaps some Duratool Raaco knockoffs, and some software/hardware for my PC) and how my discretionary funds are holding out.

My ASL shopping list for ASLOK is pretty much set:

• Decision at Elst (MMP)
• Special Ops 4 and 5 (MMP)
• ESG Dezign Paks that I am missing
• Lone Canuck Historical Modules
• Schwerpunkt 2011 onwards
• The Rat Charts from LFT
• The latest Friendly Fire (plus one for the Cleavinator)
• Battleschool Dice

 I may not be able to afford all of the above in one hit, but I will do my best.

January in review

January 2014

It's been an interesting start to the year, with lots of overtime at work impinging on my energy levels to play and arrange games - No Paddo Bearz, minimal Live VASL

Games Played:

• J147 Into the Grinding Mill - VASL - won as KMT vs  John Knowles with an upfront defensive variation. Surprised John with that, and did some damage up front.
• DftB107 StossGruppe Schlicter - VASL - won as Norwegians vs Daniel Takai in the first round of the 2014 VASLeague. Played a good game but was helped by decent rolls on high FP DF attacks
• AP59 Taking Heads - PBeM won as Japanese vs Ivan Kent - Banzais in the end game allowed me to focus on grabbing buildings rather than exits...the .50cal was almost too quiet until it was too late.
• BoF 01 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident - VASL - Lost as KMT vs John Knowles but tight and close game - very nice scenario.
• SV08 Through the Mud and Blood - PBeM - Won as Soviets vs Rick Carter thanks to Human Waves and getting enough troops into CC to deny control - tough scenario for the Finns/Swedes, particularly if the Soviets can keep initial casualties low. Read the SSRs though, the Soviets forgot about their Turn 3 FFE and thought the reinforcements arrived on Turn 3.

Malaya Madness Update:

• Air travel booked and paid for
• T-Shirts and Registration paid
• Hotel accommodation sorted
• Scenario choices finalised
• Setups for Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 sorted
• Mapboards sorted
• Round 4 continues to be a major problem for me
• West Of Alamein arriving today to pass on to Jackson K

Still to organise: 

1. ASL travel pack  - Still working on what mix of nationalities to take
2. Checking duplicate of Yanks countermix is complete enough to pass on to Jackson K
3. Learning to use the new smartphone - yes, I sold my soul to the devil.
4. Luggage - have to buy some new stuff to fit within Scoot's baggage restrictions - 20KG is not a great deal of room to play with
5. WO2014 pack - I may just have my copy of this arrive before I leave.

February Games:

Almost nothing scheduled at the moment - PBeM games are all completed, VASLeague Round 2 doesn't begin until March 1st so I have no idea who or what I will be playing. I think I may call February an ASL bust except for Malaya Madness, but I may get 7-8 games done there anyway.

What's new:

• The biggie: I needed to reduce the ancillary items I am taking to Singapore, and the idea of lugging a slightly dodgy (due for replacement) Android tablet plus Camera plus my old Nokia in my carry on just seemed too much like overkill. So I merged the tablet, the phone and some camera aspects into one and bought this:

Samsung Note 3

Add a decent phone wallet case and that's a lot less needed to be included in carry on. I may just be able to fit everything in the camera bag. A bit of a learning curve to make it work for me, the priority is making sure I have enough music, video and ASL docs on the phone to make the travel as stress free as possible.

Still a fair amount to do,  and with all the pre-tourney practice games other attendees have managed I think I'm heading into some ASL experience deficit territory. But really, who cares? I can only play my game as best as I let myself .