VASL User's Guide - Setting Up a Scenario


Step 1 - Creating a Room

In order to start a new game it will be necessary for you to create a Scenario Room for you and your opponent to play. In the Server window. type the name you wish your room to have into the "New Game" field and press Enter on your keyboard. You should now be the sole occupant of that room. If you enter the same name as a currently-ongoing scenario, you will join that room instead.

NOTE: It is considered bad etiquette to start up a scenario in the middle of the Main Room. This is the meeting area for players entering VASL, not a place to play your game!

While connected to a scenario chat room, all moves are broadcast to all players and maps are updated automatically. You can save and restore the game to files on your local machine. If your map and your opponent's map appear to differ (e.g. due to lost moves during a broken connection), synchronizing by right clicking on your opponent's name and selecting "Synchronize" will update your map to coincide with your opponent's.

Step 2 - Loading the Scenario

First, check the VASL scenario setup archive for the scenario you want to play. Many official scenarios have been compiled by volunteers. Download the file, then from the VASL controls window choose File - Load Game and select the scenario file, and you'll have both sides' OB in front of you, ready for the Defender's setup. (If you're not setting up a scenario from scratch, proceed to the instructions on placing your counters.)

If the scenario you are playing doesn't exist in the archive, you can create the setup yourself. Choose File - New Game. The Choose Boards window will appear asking you to select the maps you will use in the game.

Step 3 - Mapboards

Select the mapboard you are going to use for the scenario from the drop down list. All available boards will appear in the list. Once a board has been selected, VASL will check to ensure that the latest version of the board exists in player's \boards directory and will download a new or updated version if required. The version number of the board appears with the name of the board in the Chat Window after it has been loaded (e.g. "Loaded board 2 (version 6.3)").

To add another board, select whether it will be placed horizontally (Add Row) or vertically (Add Column). If the map needs to be reversed (rotated), check the Reverse checkbox. If you made a mistake setting up the maps. you can click the Clear button, to reset the window so you can start again.

Once the maps are correctly placed you also have the ability to crop the maps. To crop a map, click on the Crop Boards button. A new window will appear. Enter the board number to be cropped (if there is more than one) and then enter the coordinates to be removed (leaving the fields blank will leave the height or width untouched). Press the Crop button to complete the operation and finish by pressing the Done button. To un-crop a board, type in the board number, and press Crop. Without any coordinates, it will restore the board to its original condition. If you desire, you can create extra space around a board by cropping to offboard coordinates. Negative numbers and negative letters are valid (for example, cropping coordinates -3 to 10 will add 3 hexes of blank space above the board, while cropping hexrows -d to gg will add 3 hexes to the left of the board).

Overlays are available by typing in the overlay name and hexes as they appear on a scenario card. You don't need to specify a board number if there is only one board. Some overlays, such as E1 and 4, require no coordinates. You should see the overlays on your Choose Boards window as they are added. Overlay files have version numbers in case they need to be updated (which will happen automatically as with boards). The version number is displayed when the overlay is added.

Add ocean and beach overlays as though they were ordinary overlays, using hexes xx01 and xx02 as the "1" and "2" hexes. As with cropping, negative numbers and negative letters are legal for offboard placement hexes. Since Beach and Ocean overlays often extend off the edge of a board, you will need to either add space by cropping (see above) or place a blank board under the overlays.

Terrain changes are alterations to the mapboards according to special rules that comonly appear in scenarios. They allow you to completely alter the look of the geomorphic boards by putting down ground snow, removing grain or roads, applying PTO terrain, etc.

Press the Terrain SSR button, use the controls to make your selection and hit the Apply button. Hit the Done button when finished.

Like overlays, boards are given version numbers for possible future updates. The version number is displayed when you open the Terrain SSR window. When you connect to the VASL server, VASL will automatically check the version numbers of the boards in play against the latest version. If your copies are found to be out of date, VASL will download and install the latest versions.

Once you are done setting up the boards, press the Done button to begin setting up the counters.

(If you wish to change mapboards after having begun setup, you may do so by clicking the ASL dropdown menu button and then selecting "Pick new boards for this scenario.

Step 4 - Placement of Counters

After the maps have been set up, or after you've loaded a scenario's setup file, the VASL map window will appear on the screen. The Counters window, which allows you to select new counters you wish to place on the map, will present in the toolbar. To select from the various information counters, click on the Info tab in the Counters window or drag them from the Quick Counter toolbar. To select from the unit counters of the various nationalities, click on the Units tab of the Counters window.

All the information and unit counters used in ASL are available in VASL. If you cannot find one either in the Counter window or QC toolbar, try to flip a related counter by right-clicking on the counter and selecting "Flip" from the pop-up menu, or clicking on the counter and hitting Ctrl+F). The popup menu may offer other options to change to the counter that you wish (ie squad to hs, Battle Harden a Unit, DFF to Final Fire. To place that counter on the map, simply click and drag the image from the Counter window onto the map.

Handling the Counters

The key to handling counters in VASL is selecting them. In order to perform any action on any counter placed on the board it is necessary to select the counter to be acted upon.

Selecting an Individual Counter: Left-click on the counter, a black outline will appear around the edge of the counter.

Selecting a Stack of Counters: To select a stack of counters, left-click on the top counter of the stack.

Expanding a Stack of Counters: Stacks are normally drawn compacted, i.e. with only the top counter showing. An expanded view of a stack can be seen by double-clicking on it. (Mac users hold down the apple key) To select individual counters of a stack, hold down the shift key as you click on each counter of the expanded stack. Each counter you select will have a black outline.

Collapsing a Stack of Counters: When you wish to collapse a stack in order to return it to its compacted view, simply double-click on the expanded stack.

Selecting Only the Top Counter in a Stack of Counters: When you wish to select on the topmost counter of a stack in order, right-click it. Concealing that counter will add one ? counter to the top of the stack, while marking the lower counters as concealed (which displays them to the opposing player as concealment counters.

Counter Actions: Once you have selected the counter(s) or stacks you wish to act upon, you may take the following actions by using the corresponding key commands. You may also right-click (Mac users hold down the command [apple] key while clicking) on a counter for a pop-up menu with all available commands for that counter.

Keystroke Action
Click & Drag Move selected counter(s)
right-arrow Move a counter up within a stack
left-arrow Move a counter down within a stack
up-arrow Move a counter to the top of a stack
down-arrow Move a counter to the bottom of a stack
CTRL + F Flip a counter
CTRL + D Delete a counter
CTRL + X Rotate clockwise
CTRL + Z Rotate counter-clockwise
CTRL + S Rotate TCA clockwise
CTRL + A Rotate TCA counter-clockwise
CTRL + C Toggle between Conceal/Unconceal (see Concealment)
CTRL + H Toggle between HIP/Un-HIP (see Concealment)
CTRL + B Toggle between CE / BU
CTRL + L Change label. To end, hit Enter. (see Labels)
CTRL + I Display Vehicle/Gun info (see Special Information)
CTRL + O Assume possession of counter as ones own.
CTRL + K Clone counter (add duplicate to stack)

LABELS: Whereas on a physical board, many things need to be indicated with a counter, in VASL that information can be more convenient if made into a label. For example, labeling a unit "Fanatic," "Berserk," or "Wounded" saves you from having to drag around an extra counter. For vehicles, use the labels for vehicle ID numbers (matched with labels on acquisition counters), HD status on crest lines, or armor leaders. To label a counter, simply select the counter and press CTRL + L. Type in the information you wish that counter to display and press Enter. To edit the contents of a counter label simply select the counter and press CTRL + L.

SPECIAL INFORMATION: Special ammo information for guns and vehicles is not written on the backs of the counters, but can be seen by selecting the counter and typing CTRL +I. Type CTRL +I again to hide the info. While the info is displayed, BU/CE counters are drawn underneath the vehicle counter so that you can read the front.

CONCEALMENT: When concealed, your units will appear with a "?" in the upper left corner. To your opponent, all concealed counters look like dummy ("?") counters. A HIP counter is invisible to your opponent. Your own HIP counters are drawn on your map in a semi-transparent manner with HIP stacks appearing against a white background.

Placing a "?" counter on top of a stack will conceal all of your units beneath it. Removing or repositioning a "?" counter will unconceal units accordingly. Because of special cases that may arise (usually involving multiple Locations in a hex), units may also be concealed and unconcealed individually, so concealed status is not strictly linked to a unit's position in a stack.

CLEANING UP: VASL allows you to quickly delete all the phase based information counters. Choose Remove All from the top of the VASL map window. A sub-menu will appear listing all the information counters that can be quickly deleted at once.

Tips and Tricks

At setup, place your entire OB off board (on the grey area outside the map) before putting units on the boards, to more easily keep track of what you have available.

To merge concealed stacks, move counters into their destination stack one at a time. Otherwise, your counters will be momentarily revealed when you delete the top concealment counter. When entering units from off board, first place everything into one or two stacks, conceal them, and then split off individual units into stacks for entry.

Night scenarios are particularly convenient when using VASL, since the Defender can keep his HIP units on his screen during play. The Attacker can place stacks of HIP units under his cloaking counters to avoid having to using the cloaking display.

Be sure to check the VASL scenario setup archive for your scenario first. One of the most time consuming parts of playing ASL face-to-face is setting up, but loading a savefile into VASL takes no time at all, and of course, putting the scenario away is even faster!

Playing Tools>>