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Being a repository of old news items . . .
2008
February 10, 2008
Conscripts Plan Next Gathering
Well another Winter Offensive has come and gone. It was nice to see some old friends. The passing of Winter Offensive can on mean one thing: it is time to gather once more and square off over the cardboard battlefield. Our next meeing will be on the 23 February in the Woodbridge Game Parlor. As always, contact Jim Mehl to arrange a game in advance if you are not able to do so yourself. We hope to see you there.
2007
December 15, 2007
Conscripts Descend on Chantilly
Another successful meeting in Chantilly. We had ten people show up to play while a couple of additional 'Scripts showed up to say hello. Our next meeting will take place at Winter Offensive in Bowie MD. Hope to see you all there.
October 27, 2007
Conscripts Gathering in Chantilly
We continue to get strong turnouts at our monthly meetins. This month, fourteen people showed up for a little cardboard mayhem. A total of seven ASL and ASLSK games were played at the event. Thanks to one and all for showing up and making this event such a success. Our next meeting will be held on November 17th at the Woodbridge Game Parlor. We hope to see you all there.
September 22, 2007
Notes from Conscripts Gathering in Woodbridge
Nine fellow Conscripts mustered to Woodbridge to cause a little cardboard mayhem. Long time Conscripts were joined again by Derek Spurlock and new Washington Metro Area arrival, Bryan Register. Pairings and playings are noted below for those interested. We also would like to announce that our next meeting will be at the Chantilly Game Parlor on October 27. We wanted to give those who are going to ASLOK a chance to build up points with their spouses in order to maximize attendance. We hope to see you there.
August 25, 2007
Conscripts Gathering in Chantilly
Eleven faithful Conscritps mustered to Saturday's event in Chantilly including the return of Sumner Clarren. A good time was had by all as we played ASL and welcomed ASL's prodigal son Chas Argent back from his long exile to ASL wasteland. Pictures of the event can be found here thanks to our new photo correspondent Chas. Next months event will be held in the Woodbridge Game Parlor on the 22nd of September. As always, drop us an email if you can arrange a game and we will see that someone is there for you to play.
August 8, 2007
Venue Change for Conscripts August Meeting
Comrades, Due to circumstances beyond our control we were not able to reserve space at Dreamwizards for the 25th. We tried to find another date that worked but could not work it out with Dreamwizards. We then approached the Game Parlor in Chantilly and asked them if they could accomodate us on the 25th. We apolagise for the inconvenience of the change so late in the game but there was nothing we could do. For the future, we need to find someone who lives in MD that is willing to arrange a place for us to meet. If you want to volunteer for this job, please contact one of the Troika. It would be a big help to us and make our future events in MD much smoother.
July 21, 2205
Conscripts Gather in Woodbridge
The Conscripts had a pretty good turn out on Saturday--8 Conscripts reported for duty. We have become rather jaded if late by our large turnouts. A year or two ago, we would have been over the moon with this many showing, but now I think we're getting spoiled. Unfortunately, no one thought to capture information on games played or pictures of the event so we have none to post. In further news, the August meeting will be held at Dreamwizards in Rockville, MD. Time and directions are posted on the left and below. As always, send Jim Mehl an emial should you need a game arranged.
June 16, 2007
Record Number of Conscripts Attend June Meeting
At least it was a record as far as this reporter is concerned. We had fourteen people show up and play ASL on this day with another couple dropping in to say hello. We also received a few more names for our growing mailing list who were interested in being informed about our upcoming events. It was encouraging to see so many games almost equally split between ASL and ASLSK. Pictures from the event can be found here. Our next meeting will be held in Woodbridge VA but the sight for August's meeting is TBD. Thanks to everyone that attended and we hope to see you next month. Remember to bring a friend.
May 22, 2007
Another Strong Showing in Maryland
Eight Conscripts reported for the May meeting at Dreamwizards in Rockville on Saturday. Not a bad turnout for only our second Maryland event in well over a year. I'm sure we'll do better in the future. Pictures of the event are here. Our next meeting is currently scheduled for June 16 at the Chantilly Game Parlor. As always, if you can not arrange a game before the meeting, send Jim Mehl or Jim Bishop an email address and we will make sure you get a game. Hope to see you there!
April 23, 2007
Conscripts Rally Again
It is becoming a bit common to see a strong turnout at a Conscripts meet. Once again, ten members showed up at our monthly meeting to roll some dice, push some cardboard, and socialize. We are seeing a lot of new faces and this meeting was no exception. Derek Spurlock joined us from the Fredricksburg Fire Eaters and newcomer Jerry Zayas also showed up to play a game. If you haven't been to a recent Conscripts meeting, you are missing out on all the fun. Pictures of the event can be seen here.
The next Conscripts meeting will be held at Dream Wizards in Rockville, MD. All the details are noted in the meeting section below. As always, if you can not arrange a game before the meeting, send Jim Mehl or Jim Bishop an email address and we will make sure you get a game. Hope to see you there.
March 18, 2007
Another Strong Conscripts Turnout
We had another excellent turnout at the Chantilly Game Parlor on Saturday. Twelve Conscripts rolled the dice for a total of 9 games played. Pictures of the event are here. Buck Karpowitz gave us a sneak peak at the latest Operations mag as well as Starter Kit #3. Congrats to Buck for the new Russian 8-1 leader counter Sgt Karpowicz. Also appearing…..German 9-1 Lt Mehl!
We’d like to extend our warmest welcome to new Conscripts James Burton and Phillip Birkelbach. Welcome aboard guys! Also stopping by for a chat were old timers Brian Scully, Gary Fortenbury, and Ken Wrona. It was good to see their faces again.
The time and place of our May meeting is yet to be determined. Stay tuned and we will get the news to you as soon as we can.
February 16, 2007
Conscripts Return to Maryland
Nine able conscripts answered the call to arms and mustered to Rockville to play ASL in February, including two new Conscripts! Additionally, Conscripts Jim Bishop and Bill Pittman played the day after since they were not able to attend the meeting in Rockville. A total of six games were played by Conscripts over the weekend. The Conscripts would like to extend a big WELCOME to new Conscripts Scott Fox and Scott Percival. These two Marylanders are still in the ASLSK phase but they've jumped right in and after only a few games are learning the joys of aquisition and the To Hit process. We would also like to congatulate Buck on his progression toward completion of the ASLSK scenarios. Well done to all. Photos of the event can be found here. For our next meetings, we will return to Chantilly on March 17th and Woodbridge on April 21st. Links to the store locations and maps are on the left margin and below. We hope to see you all there.
January 3, 2007
Conscripts to March on MD
Your benevolent leaders have contacted the management and made arrangements for our February club meeting to be held at Dream Wizards in Rockville, MD. The meeting will held on February 10th begining at 11AM. As always, please try and set up your games in advance. If you wish to attend and can not find a playing partner, please contact Jim Mehl or Jim Bishop and we will try to find a game for you. Directions to the event can be obtained here. We hope to see you all there.
2006
December 9, 2006
Conscripts Answer Call to Arms
On December 9th, the Conscripts managed to muster 12 ASL'ers to the meeting in Woodbridge, VA. With 6 games going at one time, this has to be the largest turnout in quite some time. It witnessed the return of Mike O'Leary, who graciously took the red-eye flight in from Towson. Also returning to the fold was Stu Rubin. New players John Dow and Ryan Brennan also came out, with John bravely taking on fellow Conscript John Stadick. Complete game pairings are below. Pictures of the event are here. Our next meeting will take place at Winter Offensive. We hope to see all of you there, if only to say hello. The Stavka has decided that February's meeting will likely see the Conscripts return to Maryland. We have yet to determine the final location but expect some news on that soon. If you have not been to a Conscripts meeting in a while, you don't know what your missing! Thanks to Jim Mehl and Forrest Atterberry for pulling this all together.
November 15, 2006
Who Knew? A Coup! New Leaders, For You!
Announcing a very peaceful transition of power
In 1998, John Slotwinski founded the Conscripts Metro DC ASL club in order to ensure that ASL would continue to grow and thrive in this area. As you might recall, this was in the Uncertain Time, shortly after Avalon Hill became just a logo on the side of Hasbro games and prior to MMP taking over the ASL license. John enlisted Chris Baer and John Appel, and later Doug Bush and Forrest Atterberry, to help run the club, and over the next few years, the Conscripts grew from humble beginnings to a club capable to taking over every table in the lamented Little Wars during the popular Annual Club Tournaments.From our vantage point here in late 2006, it appears clear that John's original vision for the club has been borne out: ASL is alive and well in the Metro DC area. With that mission complete, we feel it's time for the club to take a new direction under new leadership. Jim Bishop, Jack Daniels, Jim Mehl, and Bill Stoppel have agreed to take over leadership of the Conscripts Metro DC ASL Club. They bring to the job enthusiasm tempered with a knowledge of the club's history and traditions, such as they are. Experienced ASL'ers in their own right, they struck us as a great team to replace the venerable Conscripts Troika, and we thank them for taking on this challenge. On behalf of the Troika, we'd like to say thank you to all the club members who have helped make the Conscripts one of the best gaming clubs around. The new guys have a lot of good ideas in store, and we hope that you'll give them the same level of support you gave us.
July 25, 2006
'Scripts Club Newsletter Needs Letters (preferably strung together in sentences)
Conscript-in-Charge John Slotwinski is hard at work putting together another issue of 'Scripts, the club newsletter -- or, he would be, if he had any articles to work on, so please send him articles. Drop John a line with article proposals (or the finished piece); we're planning on releasing the next issue in time for Winter Offensive '07.
November 1, 2006
Bishop is King! Jim Bishop takes the Iron Conscript '06 Crown
Ten long months saw Jim Bishop fight off his opponents to take this year's club tournament title, finishing with a solid 8-2 record. 2004 champion John Stadick took second place this year, coming in at 6-2, and Jim Mehl finished third at 4-2. For their efforts, Jim Bishop will receive $15, while John Stadick and Jim Mehl take home $10 and $5, respectively. We wish the prizes could have been more this year, but nevertheless, be sure to hit up the winners for beers at Winter Offensive.
The future of the Iron Conscript tournament is currently under discussion, given the low turn-out this year, but we hope to have a decision by WO '07.
Congratulations to Jim Bishop for his victory, and our thanks to all who participated.
July 25, 2006
Try Triadcon! September 16-17 at the University of Maryland/College Park
A group of enterprising local gamers has toiled for the better part of a year to put together a local gaming convention, and their efforts have resulted in TriaDCon, being held at the College Park, MD, campus of the University of Maryland. Vendors, a flea market, and all the gaming you can shake a stick at for $15 a day or $25 for the weekend (less for pre-reg prior to September 1st). Check out the TriaDCon website for registration and other info. Looks to be a great event, and the Troika heartily encourages everyone to attend and support the local gaming scene.
January 31, 2006
Your New Overlord: Forrest Atterberry Gets a Promotion
In recognition of his ceaseless efforts on behalf of the Conscripts, both in organizing our Virginia meetings and in his advocacy of the club online and in person, the Conscripts Troika is pleased to announce that Forrest Atterberry is now officially "Better Than You" (though Forrest would be the very first person to deny this fact . . .)
Forrest is now a member of the club leadership. He's technically a member of the Troika at this point, though, in order to enable us to keep the Troika as three people, he's graciously agreed to defer his membership in that hallowed organization, saying something about being better able to retain his touch with the common folk.
Regardless of his title, we're very pleased that Forrest has accepted a leadership role in the club, and we look forward to working with him to increase attendance at meetings and to re-energize the club. Welcome aboard, Forrest.
January 31, 2006
Our First Century: Jim Mehl's 100th Match
In cricket circles, it's a big deal when someone bats his first "century" of 100 runs in a single game. There aren't many cricket aficionados in the club, I wager, but that doesn't take away from the significance of Jim Mehl being the first Conscript to notch up 100 ladder matches. Quite an accomplishment, for which Jim receives our very first 100 Scenario Silver Star, to be worn on his Dress Browns at all formal occasions, like the upcoming Commissar's Borscht Pot-Luck and Talent Show.
Congratulations on reaching this milestone, Jim!
January 24, 2006
Rubles Galore: Quartermaster Page Updated
For those who actually enjoy accounting details, the club's 2005 End of Year financial report is now available on the Quartermaster page. Our thanks to all for your continued support of the Conscripts.
2005
December 20, 2005
Conscripts Club Tournament VIII: Now With More Roman Numerals
It just ended, so it must begin again. The eighth annual Conscripts Club Tournament returns with a vengeance for the 2006 season. Again in the seemingly popular Iron Conscript format, with ten rounds over ten months, the gauntlet is thrown down. Can Bill Stoppel become the very first person to retain the title, or will double runner-up (and reiging Style Maven) Jim Mehl finally claim his due? And what about you? . . .
The only way to find out is to sign up. Visit the Iron Conscript 2006 Tournament page for more information. Lots of games get played at Winter Offensive, so be sure to throw your name in the hat. Chris Baer will process entries on the spot at WO if you prefer to enter that way.
December 20, 2005
Winter Offensive Marching Orders
As our own Conscript-in-Charge, John Slotwinski, says every year, "Can you believe it's almost time for Winter Offensive again?" And indeed it is. We're less than a month away from the most exciting event to hit Bowie, MD, every year, MMP's long, lost weekend of gaming, from Thursday, January 12 through Sunday, January 15, and your presence is cordially requested. Or else.
Winter Offensive is truly the highlight of the club calendar every year. If you haven't attended before, it's well worth your while: non-stop ASL (and multiplayer games like Munchkin and Napoleonic Wars at night), players from all over, pizza and beer. Simply gaming heaven. And if you have attended before, I'm sure you've already pre-registered and have your hotel reservations . . .
November 1, 2005
Iron Conscript 2005: Stoppel Stomped'em
After ten months of toil, the seventh annual Iron Conscript Club Tournament has drawn to a close, with Bill Stoppel standing atop the heap of exhausted competitors with a laurel made of counters about his head. Finishing with a 9-1 record, Bill's accomplishment is all the more noteworthy for having been accomplished against the strongest competition around, his opponents having a combined thirteen thousand ladder points. Bill has long been challenging for the prestigious title of Iron Conscript, and he wears the title proudly this year. He also walks away with $40, which I'm sure he'll spend at Winter Offensive '06.
Rounding out the top three spots, Jim Mehl claims second place (and $25) with an 8-2 record, and Bob O'Connor snags third (and a copy of ASL Journal #6 kindly donated by last year's Iron Conscript, John Stadick) coming in at 6-3.
Jim and Bob weren't just competing for the glory of being the Iron Conscript, though -- they were also arch-rivals in the sideshow that threatens, every year, to become the main event: the District Commissar's Style Points Award. With an astonishing 38 Points and 3.8 SPPGP (Style Points Per Game Played) average, Jim Mehl re-defined the meaning of Stylish and beats reigning Stylemeister Bob O'Connor's 24 Points and 2.66 (repeating, of course) SPPGP to claim the coveted Big Dice that are the true mark of the Style Points Champion. Well played!
Overall participation in the tournament was down slightly from years past, though with 18 active participants, we still had a very solid turn-out. What we lacked, this year, though, were nominations for the Sportsmanship Award and for the Best New Player Award. These are still up for grabs, so please don't hesitate to contact Chris Baer for nominations for either category.
Our thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Iron Conscript Club Tournament, and our congratulations to the top finishers. And just remember -- even if you didn't win this year, the next one starts in two months . . .
August 30, 2005
Maryland Meanderings
While the Troika is exceptionally pleased with the strong meeting turn-out at our two Virginia locations -- due in part, no doubt, to Master Conscript Atterberry's fine work with arranging and promoting the meetings -- we do still hold a soft spot in our hearts (yes, we have them) for Marlyand, home of the coolest state flag this side of Ohio. In order to gauge the feasibility of re-starting meetings in the immediate Maryland suburbs -- within a stone's throw of the Beltway -- we need to get a sense of who would attend these meetings.
If, all other conditions being green to game, you would attend a meeting in the near Maryland suburbs -- Gaithersburg (the new Other Realms, maybe?), College Park, Bethesda -- please contact Chris Baer. If there's sufficient interest to warrant spending someone's time to start arranging Maryland meetings, we'll get the Old Line State back in our meeting line-up. And if you'd like to be the person who helps us arrange such a meeting, don't hesitate to let us know.
July 5, 2005
Change in Meeting Schedule
For the last two years, the club meeting held every other month at the Elkridge, MD, Public Library has been on top secret code blue probation, and it's with something of a heavy heart that we must announce that, due to continued low attendance at this meeting (did anyone at all even show up last time?) we are taking Elkridge out of our meeting rotation. For the foreseeable future, we will alternate our club meetings between the two Game Parlor locations in Chantilly, VA, and Woodbridge, VA. Our thanks to Forrest Atterberry for arranging the Game Parlor meetings and to Keith Tyson and Tim Stevens, who were our contacts with Elkridge.
We would like to have meetings in Maryland, but we need someone to step forward, as Forrest, Keith, and Tim did, to find the location and make the arrangements for us. There's likely a promotion in it for you. Just compare your beet ration to Forrest's the next time you see him -- it's a sweet deal . . .
Please drop Chris Baer a line if you'd like to take on the role of Maryland meeting coordinator.
March 29, 2005
ASLSK2 Playtestathon: Saturday, April 16
Multi-Man Publishing, in the person of Brian Youse, is holding a Playtestathon for the forthcoming ASL Starter Kit 2 at Brian's home south of Baltimore on Saturday, April 16th. If you're interested in attending and helping to playtest some ASLSK scenarios, please drop Brian a line for more information.
March 29, 2005
Mailing List Update
All the invitations for the new mailing list have been sent out, though only half of the seventy or so subscribers to the old list have confirmed their invitations to the new list. You're missing some great e-mails, so please get on board! Contact if you'd like another invitation sent to you, or if you would like to be subscribed to the mailing list.
March 29, 2005
Quartermaster Page Updated
For those who actually enjoy reading such things, the Quartermaster page has been updated to include donations to date and the 2004 Club Financial Report. Fascinating reading, to be sure . . .
March 8, 2005
New Mailing List Ramping Up
A new mailing list for the club has been established via the Google Groups service, and I am in the process of sending out subscription invitations to all subscribers of the old iteration of the mailing list.
I've apparently run into a soft cap on the number of daily invitations I can issue, so please don't panic about not receiving an invitation until sometime next week. At the moment, I'm restricting subscriptions to invitation-only; posting and viewing/receiving messages will be limited to group members only. If you haven't previously subscribed and would like to be added, please drop a line.
And I'd like to apologize to those few people whom I inadvertently added rather than invited to the group -- hit the wrong button. Sorry about that.
March 2, 2005
Mailing Lists Offline
With absolutely no warning other than a small note in a seldom visited customer support forum, our hosting service has terminated all mailing lists run from their servers, which means that the Conscripts lists (both the main list and the Iron Conscript list) are now gone, along with all the subscriber addresses.
Since I'm not at all confident that they will restore this functionality, I'm in the process of setting up a new list host, which I will unveil early next week. I will send invitations to the new list to everyone who was subscribed to the old list. Sorry for any inconvenience.
February 15, 2005
Winter Offensive '05 Picture Page
Well, we've gone and done it again. Pictures of the unimaginable, the non-picturesque, the downright strange -- all taken at Winter Offensive '05 and all available on the WO '05 picture page. The page contains seventeen or so shots of your favorite Conscripts, past and present, and weighs in at about 1.25MB for those of you on slow connections who are concerned about such things.
Our thanks to Toni and Marc Genberg for providing the pictures -- please send insurance claims for psychological damage suffered as a result of viewing the pictures directly to them.
January 20, 2005
'Scripts Issue #6 Available for Download
Fresh from its debut at Winter Offensive '05, where all the cognoscenti were seen reading it, carrying it around, and making notes on the location of their HIP units on it, 'Scripts Issue #6 is available for download as a 1.3 MB .pdf file or a slightly smaller .zip file. This issue is chock full of scenario AARs, pithy commentary on the state of the ASL universe, and crunchy rules analysis. Download it via the links above or from the Downloads page.
Our thanks to Jim Mehl for providing the hard copies of the newsletter for distribution at WO and to John Slotwinski and all the newsletter article authors for putting this issue together.
January 18, 2005
Winter Offensive '05 Recap
Another WO has come and gone, more swiftly than in years past, it seems. Attendance overall was strong -- apparently over a hundred -- and Conscripts attendance represented about 20 percent of that number. Perry, Brian, and the MMP team put on a good show, unveiling Journal 6 to an appreciative audience and siphoning the attendees' wallets with a "Ding and Dent" sale of warehouse casualties. Many Maharajas headed yours!
Conscript Ken Mioduski carried the Conscripts banner into the final rounds, finishing in fifth place. Congrats for the strong finish, Ken. (One-time Conscript Chad Cummins took first place.)
And, in the inaugural Monty's Gamble: Market Garden tournament, Forrest Atterberry took home the title (and the engraved dice cup, which I'm sure we'll all be seeing a lot of at future club meetings!).
Iron Conscript '05 got off to a good start, with plenty of matches for the club tournament played at WO. Reigning style-point champ Bob O'Connor has set himself up nicely to defend his title with a bevy of stylish matches already, but the style prize, and the overall crown currently worn by John Stadick, are very much up for grabs. Sign-up today!
If you played against other Conscripts at WO, please report the results to by close of business Monday, January 24th, including the time you played the match (in addition to scenario name and sides played, please) so that I can properly allocate ladder points. I will run the points next Tuesday, January 25th and provide the initial tournament update at that point as well.
It was great to see old faces at Winter Offensive -- Scott Calkins and John Gorkowski, to name a few -- and new club members as well -- like Matt Kirschenbaum, Bob Nugent, and Jim Bishop. You other stalwart regulars, good to see you too, I guess . . .
The Troika was most pleased with the turn-out. Extra beet rations for all!
2004
December 21, 2004
Mailing List Malaise
There have been sporadic reports of club members not receiving Club Mailing List messages over the past month or so. I have been unable to determine exactly what the problem is at present, and it doesn't seem to affect all subscribers, but if you haven't received any club mailing list mail in the past month (and are subscribed to the list), please send a note to be placed on an "auto-forward" list for club e-mails as a stop-gap measure until the hamster operating the mailing list server comes back from break. Sorry for any inconvenience.
December 7, 2004
Iron Conscript 2005 Club Tournament Sign-Ups Begin
January around here means two things -- Winter Offensive and the start of another Club Tournament season. Our seventh annual Club Tournament starts at the beginning of January and lasts until the end of October, using the ten round, ten month Iron Conscript format we debuted last time.
Visit the Iron Conscript 2005 tournament page to sign up and for more information. Players of all skill levels are heartily encouraged to participate -- this tournament rewards perseverence as much as ability.
There can only be one . . . Iron Conscript.
Is it you?
November 16, 2004
Nifty Fifty
Conscript Bill Stoppel follows shortly on Jim Mehl's heels in becoming the latest Conscript to record fifty ladder games played. Club kudos!
November 7, 2004
Winter Offensive Information Available
MMP has finalized plans for the umpteenth iteration of Winter Offensive, an ASL tournament like no other, at the carefree Comfort Inn in Bowie, MD, from Thursday, January 13 through Sunday, January 16. Your friendly neighborhood Troika expects to see every single Conscript in attendance -- it's really the only time the club as a whole gets together, and we haven't failed to have a great time yet.
If you're relatively new to ASL, or even still learning the game via the Starter Kit, please don't hesitate to attend. You'll be warmly welcomed by one and all, and more importantly, you'll learn more about ASL in just a few days than you could in a year.
You'll kick yourself if you don't attend when you hear the faint echo of dice clattering about in a hundred dice cups echoing down from Bowie . . .
November 2, 2004
The Results are In!
Ten months ago, twenty brave Conscripts began a journey that would test their skill, endurance, and sheer stubbornness. In the end, only one would remain standing -- the Iron Conscript. He has been crowned.
The winner of the 2004 Iron Conscript tournament is John Stadick, with a 9-1 record against 10 different opponents. His tenacity and extreme work ethic will stand as a shining example to the entire proletariat, and his visage shall be placed on murals in workplaces everywhere. John also gets $60 in cold, hard cash.
Finishing with a 7-3 record, Jim Mehl takes second place and receives a copy of MMP's Monty's Gamble: Market Garden area move game, donated by MMP. Multi-Man Publishing has supported the club tournament for five years now, and we are most grateful for their continued generosity. The Troika encourages all Conscripts to attend Winter Offensive this upcoming January to thank the MMP guys in person. Plus, there will be free pizza.
In the tight race for third place, Marc Genberg eeks it out with a 4-2 record, and for his efforts, he receives $20, also in cold, hard cash.
The Sportsmanship award was also tightly contested this year, with several quite deserving nominees. The person who best exemplified grace under extreme pressure during the tournament is Roni Hourihane. The person who nominated him said:
"He took my taking most of his OB prisoner (and then shooting them later) much, much better than I would have."
Truly, an attitude worth emulating . . .
The other Sportsmanship nominees were Jack Daniels, Marc Genberg, and Eric Winter. Roni will receive a paid entry in next year's tournament as his prize, since he's the kind of player we definitely want in the tournament.
Most importanly, the winner of the District Commissar's Style Award this year is Bob O'Connor, who racked up 19 points in only six matches. One shudders to think what stylistic heights he could have attained in ten matches. The mantra of the Style Award is "Dice don't equal style," but, because the counter-mantra is "But it's important to have stylish dice," Bob receives a pair of 36mm d6's. For the metrically challenged, they're big.
We'd like to thank all twenty participants in this year's Iron Conscript tournament, and we hope to have even more participants in the next one, which starts in January 2005 . . .
October 25, 2004
50 Scenario Crush
Jim Mehl is the latest in a select handful of Conscripts to record 50 ladder matches played. Kudos to Jim on this accomplishment -- he's now entitled to wear the 50 Scenario Oak Cluster on his dress uniform and to list said award in his "Meet the Conscript" profile.
September 6, 2004
Photos from Meeting at John Stadick's Home: August 21st, 2004
Conscript John Spinello was kind enough to take a handful of pictures at the meeting graciously hosted for us by John Stadick, and we've put the best of them on a photo page.
September 6, 2004
Conscripts Cordially Invited to Playtestathon
Brian Youse, he of MMP, has extended an invitation to the Conscrpts to participate in the next ASL Playtestathon on Saturday, September 18th, from noon until AoO comes out (or 2 A.M. or so, whichever comes first), for work on Journal #6 scenarios, taking place at the Yousehouse in Severn, MD. If you're interested in attending, please drop Brian Youse a line for details and directions. Dinner and drinks are on the house.
September 1, 2004
Back-to-Back Meetings for September and October
Late September and early October see a flurry of fun as the Conscripts meet on consecutive weekends. Saturday, September 25th, sees us at the Elkridge, Maryland, Public Library, from Noon until close -- a later start time than usual, but still quite adequate for our needs. The very next weekend, Saturday, October 2nd, takes us back, by overwhelming popular demand, to the Woodbridge, VA, Game Parlor from 10 A.M. to close. Thanks to Tim Stevens and Forrest Atterberry, respectively, for making the arrangements for us this time out.
August 11, 2004
Top Ten ASLSK Tourney Finish
Conscript Matt Kirschenbaum snagged a sixth place finish in the recently completed DonCon ASL Starter Kit tournament. Our congratulations to Matt for his strong placing and for carrying the Conscrpts banner into cardboard combat.
July 26, 2004
Tyson-Pimmit Meeting Photos: April 24, 2004
It only took us three months, but we've added a Conscript's Dozen of photos from the last meeting at the Tyson-Pimmit regional library to our photo library, courtesy once more of Able Conscript Jason Cameron.
July 19, 2004
First Iron Conscript Participant Across the Line
Conscript Jim Mehl reported his tenth and final match in this year's Iron Conscript Tournament, finising with a 7-3 record. He's set the standard, but virtually every participant still has a chance to win. Keep going, lads!
July 7, 2004
Double Dipping in August
While we wait for the libraries in Northern Virginia to settle back into a non-summer-schedule, we have arranged two club meetings for NoVA in August. The "primary" meeting is on Saturday, August 21st, at Conscript John Stadick's Home in Springfield, VA; this is a space-limited meeting, so please contact to get your name on the ultra-swanky guest list. Our thanks to John for opening his home to us for our meeting.
Conscript Forrest Atterberry has also made arrangements for us to give the Game Parlor down near Potomac Mills/Woodbridge a trial run on Saturday, August 14th.
May 26, 2004
SlotCon VI Photos: May 14-15, 2004
Tucked away in his bunker-like basement near the Pennsylvania border, Conscript-in-Charge John Slotwinski has been holding small, informal gaming gatherings on an occasional basis, at which games (gasp! shock!) other than ASL are often played. He's decided to go public with his obsession with Lord of the Rings miniatures, outing several upstanding gamers in the process, by providing photos of the most recent SlotCon. If you'd be up for the trek to the Mason-Dixon line for a night and a day of gaming, drop a line and he'll put you on the invite list for the next one.
May 4, 2004
Tyson-Pimmit Meeting Photos: February 28, 2004
Able Conscript Jason Cameron has been at it again, this time providing us with some digital snaps from the February 28, 2004 club meeting at the Tyson-Pimmit Regional Library, adding to our growing photo library.
May 1, 2004
Polo Shirt Deadline Has Passed
Our thanks to everyone who placed an order for the ultra-stylish, super-comfortable, guaranteed lucky Club Polo Shirts. We've removed the shirt order page from the website.
April 15, 2004
RECON 2004: DonCon (aka World Boardgaming Championships or something like that) ASL Pre-Con Info Online
Jeff Evich, the tournament director for the ASL Pre-Con tourney at DonCon (held in Hunt Valley, MD) this year, has provided registration and round information for the tourney. This pre-con format should help to increase ASL play at DonCon and allow everyone to participate in other games during DonCon proper. RECON 2004 takes place from Saturday, July 31st through Monday, August 2nd, with DonCon following right on its heels. So mark your calendars and make plans to be there.
April 15, 2004
Bleeding Edge Tech
Just a note for those Conscripts who have transcended mere e-mail and web browsing for their information gathering needs: the Conscripts now have their own RSS feed. RSS streams "headlines" from various news sources to a RSS reader, allowing you to get all the news that's important to you delivered in one spot; you can then follow up on the links of interest.
The Conscripts RSS feed will feature the headlines from the news section plus meeting reminders and will be updated at the same time as the news section. A good, free Mac OS X RSS reader is Ranchero's NetNewsWire Lite (scroll to bottom of page for download link); you Windows and Linux types are on your own, but there are plenty to choose from. If you have any problems with it, or think it's nifty, please drop a line and let him know.
April 12, 2004
Blast from the Past: Little Wars 2002 Photo Gallery
Tucked in the dusty digital archives of the Conscripts Computer, a handful of photos taken by Conscript Second Class Bill Pittman at the February, 2002, club meeting sat waiting for rediscovery. Their moment has arrived, and the photos, showing a very crowded Little Wars, are available on yet another photo gallery. Thanks to Bill for providing these photos (which had been previously posted in 2002).
March 22, 2004
New Feature Alert: Meet the Conscripts
Amongst the feedback we've received on the various WO and meeting photo galleries we've put online has been that the galleries help people put names to faces. With a club as large as ours, both in sheer numbers and geographical reach, it's inevitable that not all Conscripts know or even recognize one another. While buying a Club Polo Shirt can help, it's not always enough, and since our earlier efforts at instituting a secret Conscripts handshake failed miserably (people kept messing up step four, the behind the head finger wiggle, resulting in some serious workman's comp claims), we've decided to implement the "Meet the Conscripts" program.
Modeled very loosely on the old General feature, "Meet the AREA 50," we will be posting some basic info about club members accessible via a link on their ladder entry. Check out the entry for "Chris Baer" and you'll get a sense of what we're talking about. To submit an entry of your own, please send in some info about yourself -- use whatever categories you want and provide whatever info you want -- and, most importantly, a photo of your "game face." The whole point of this exercise is for club members to recognize one another, so no entry without a picture. For the technically inclined, please scale the image to roughly 215 pixels square, 72 dpi, JPEG format. Send the photo and info to the "Meet the Conscripts" Service Desk (aka ). Depending on volume, it may be some time before I can put everyone's page up, but I'll get to it eventually. And, no, you don't get to pick your Conscript rank . . . the Secret Promotion Board has already spoken on that count.
March 6, 2004
Conscripts Club Polo Shirts Available Again
A clothed Conscript is a happy Conscript -- that's our motto here at the Conscripts DC ASL Club, and in keeping with that motto, we are pleased to announce that we are once again offering Club Polo Shirts for sale. You've seen those guys at the top of the ladder walking around wearing them, and now's your chance to be just like them.
March 5, 2004
Photo Archive Page Online
In order to help everyone keep track of the various photo galleries we've posted in the last few months, a Photo Archive has been posted, with links to the four galleries that are currently online.
March 2, 2004
Misty Water-Colored Memories, of the Store That Was . . . Little Wars Meeting Photos
Able Conscript Jason Cameron has been at it again, this time providing us with a dozen snaps from the April 2003 club meeting at Little Wars Game Shop. Quite a few club members are pictured in this set -- if you were there that day, odds are good that your mug now graces the 'net. So check out the Little Wars Picture Archive and see just how much damage your visage is inflicting on innocents the world over.
February 6, 2004
Even More Winter Offensive '04 Pictures Online
Thanks to some new-fangled device he calls a digital camera, Able Conscript Jason Cameron has provided us with yet more photos of Conscripts at Winter Offensive. We've also updated the Cardboard Battles photo page with a few more shots of gameboards. Our thanks to Jason for the pictures.
January 23, 2004
Winter Offensive '04 Picture Archive Online
Don't say we didn't warn you, but the first of the pictures taken by Conscripts at Winter Offensive have begun to filter into Troika HQ. You can find images of Cardboard Warriors (11 pictures of tourney attendees) and Cardboard Battles (4 pictures of gameboards -- this is for diehard ASL'ers only). More to come.
January 19, 2004
Winter Offensive Wrap-Up: Much Cooler Than a Box Full of Board Nines
Like a double-timing half-squad on a road out of all possible LOS, the four days of Winter Offensive flew by far too quickly. Rough estimates put the number of Conscripts in attendance at around thirty, or almost one-third of this year's total attendance, and Conscripts polo shirts and t-shirts were everywhere you looked. Of course, with the extra-small room the first day and a half, you didn't have to look very far, but MMP did a great job of squeezing non-extra-small gamers into the space available. The Fredericksburg guys were there in force as well, and the Tidewater team made its usual strong showing. It was great to see everyone, including errant Conscripts come in from the cold and recent converts to the cause.
If you weren't able to attend, we're planning on putting together a picture page (view at your own risk) of scenes from Winter Offensive (if you took snaps, please send them my way for possible inclusion); and if you were there and happened to play against another Conscript, please send in your match results in chronological order for the ladder and/or Iron Conscript tourney no later than Friday, January 23.
Kudos to MMP for another successful tourney, and congrats to Conscript Ken Dunn for making it to the final match of the tourney.
January 15, 2004
If Winter Offensive Is Here, There Must Be a New Newsletter: 'Scripts Issue 5
Conscripts is pleased to announce the publication of the latest issue of our annual club newsletter, 'Scripts. Ably edited by John Slotwinski and featuring articles by Marc Genberg, Bill Pittman, Al Rommal, and Bill Stoppel, with the usual columns by Chris Baer and the editor, issue #5 has something for everyone, as long as everyone is interested in ASL. Printed copies were available at Winter Offensive (courtesy of Jim Mehl), and copies can be downloaded in a 2 MB .pdf version or a slightly smaller zipped .pdf version. Or you can hit the Downloads page for Issues 1-4 as well as the new one.
January 5, 2004
Conscript Wins ASL Article Contest
It's with some pleasure that I announce that Conscript-in-Charge John Slotwinski took home the inaugural Warfare HQ ASL Article Contest prize with his in-depth analysis on Red Barricades, focusing on the Chemist's House and Commissar's House (hopefully only how to defend them, of course). You can read his winning article, plus many other ASL articles, in Warfare HQ's nicely growing ASL article collection. Congratulations, John.
2003
December 29, 2003
Tysons-Pimmit AAR
Ten Conscripts showed up at the Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library meeting room on Saturday, December 27th, to check out our potential new NoVA digs, and the consensus was that we might well have found a new home. There were plenty of tables and chairs for our use, and the space was fairly large -- including a stage upon which a marquee match can be played. The lighting was a bit dim, but I'm betting that we missed some sort of master switch somewhere that controls brightness (no pun intended . . .). Given that the library will kick us out right at 4:45 or so, this won't be a venue for long tournament-sized matches, but it's quite conveniently located near Routes 66 and 495 and very close to an Orange Line Metro station (one of the Falls Churches). Food aplenty is located along the Leesburg Pike corridor as well. The District Commissar would like to thank everyone who attended: Forrest Atterberry, Jack Daniels, Marc Genberg, Roni Hourihane, Jim Mehl, Bill Pittman, Jan Spoor, John Stadick, and Eric Winter.
December 1, 2003
Iron Conscript 2004 Club Tournament Information Unveiled
The Annual Club Tournament enters its sixth year with a new look -- meaner, more intense. More personal. There can only be one . . . Iron Conscript.
Is it you?
Find out on the Iron Conscript 2004 Club Tournament page. Entries are now being accepted, and the tournament starts on New Year's Day. We think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the new structure. Or you'll think we're nuts. Either way, sign up today.
December 1, 2003
iCal, meet the Conscripts
The Troika Technical Staff is pleased to announce the availablilty of an online calendar that users of Apple's iCal can integrate into their personal calendars. Two-thirds of the Troika is unabashedly Mac-centric, and since iCal is just sooooo cool, we couldn't resist. Simply choose "Subscribe" from the Calendar menu and enter http://www.dcconscripts.org/Conscripts.ics to add forthcoming Conscripts events to your iCal calendar. The date of the most recent calendar update will be posted in the Meetings section.
November 24, 2003
Winter Offensive Online Sign-Up Available
Multi-Man Publishing has put an online sign-up form on their website's main page for the main event of the ASL Calendar, Winter Offensive. Held, as always and ever, in bucolic Bowie, MD, at the capacious and comfortable Comfort Inn at the convenient junction of U.S. 50 and U.S. 301, this tournament takes the place of our January meeting, from Thurdsay, January 15th through Sunday, January 18th. Whether you come up for all four days or just make a token appearance that Saturday to scarf up the pizza and empty the keg, the Troika definitely hopes that you'll be there. The Conscripts usually turn out in force for Winter Offensive, and as Multi-Man Publishing has long supported our club, we'd very much like to return that favor by making a big showing again this year. We're planning on debuting the latest issue of the club newsletter there, as well. So, please be sure to make plans now to attend Winter Offensive.
October 31, 2003
December Meeting Location Announced
In the wake of Little Wars' closing, the Conscripts have cast about for new meeting locations in Northern Virginia. The basic theme of most of the input we've received is that the Game Parlor in Chantilly is packed solid most of the time and the next closest game store big enough for us is in Woodbridge. While the Game Parlor in Woodbridge remains an option, we're going to check out the Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library in Tysons Corner, thanks to legwork from Conscript Second Class Jan Spoor. Our meeting there will be on Saturday, December 27th, from 10:00 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.
October 20, 2003
Little Wars is Closed
Not all news is good news. Little Wars Game Shop, the home of the Conscripts for the last five-six years, closed its doors on Sunday, October 19th. The Conscripts had the sad honor of being the last scheduled gaming event at Little Wars, on Saturday, October 18th. On behalf of the club, we would like to say thanks to the owners, Faron and Alena Betchley, for their many years of support. Conscripts got its start at Little Wars, and we wouldn't have become the club we have without them. At the meeting on Saturday, Conscript Second Class Jan Spoor presented Faron and Alena with a proclamation declaring them to be Conscripts Emeritus, and also several Conscript miniatures. The Troika would like to thank Jan for his efforts.
We wish Faron and Alena all the best in their future endeavors.
September 8, 2003
dcconscripts.org Goes Online
It is with some pleasure that the Troika unveils the new club website, replete with its own domain name and associated features, like an honest-to-goodness mailing list and sufficient bandwidth and space to host the club newsletter ourselves. While the site at present is mostly a shined-up version of the old site, we will be making incremental changes to the site as time goes on, spinning off areas such as the Club Ladderonto their own pages and adding new pages as inspiration strikes.
One new feature we have put online is the Quartermaster page. The Quartermaster page details the current state of the club's finances. We've prided ourselves on being a dues-free organization, and that won't change. However, we've incurred some hosting fees for the site and related services, and while the Troika is happy to chip in (and will keep the site going regardless), we'd also like to indicate that we're not too proud to take highly voluntary donations. All jokes about mine clearing duty for non-donors aside, if you'd like to help us out with the hosting costs and also some of the incidental costs incurred by the club (like printing up flyers and business cards for distribution at Winter Offensive), please speak with any Troikamember at a forthcoming club meeting or via e-mail. While we won't list the names of contributors, we will keep a running tally of expenses and donations on the Quartermaster page.
Changes are also planned for the club tournament. Details haven't been hashed out yet, but suffice it to say that we're planning something, ah, different for next year's tournament. Do you have what it takes to be the Iron Conscript?
Anyway, Conscripts -- enjoy your new home.
Return to dcconscripts.org.
Conscript Squad and Commissar counter images used with kind permission of Multi-Man Publishing, LLC. All image and other copyrights remain the property of their respective copyright holders. The Conscripts ASL Club is not affiliated with Multi-Man Publishing, though we think they're pretty cool.
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