Advanced Squad Leader

About this board game

Advanced Squad Leader is a two-player tactical wargame system centered on a comprehensive rulebook, with sessions listed at 480 minutes. Published in 1985, it reorganizes and redesigns the original Squad Leader system, combining extensive detail with full-color charts, illustrations, and a full-service index.

The three-ring binder provides rules covering far more than squads. The system includes machine guns, bazookas, tanks, ordnance weapons, paratrooper drops, glider landings, beach assaults, and other elements of combat. Its rules are kept up to date through expansions included with ASL modules.

Scenarios define each game’s objectives, creating varied tactical challenges. Depending on the scenario, players may need to achieve goals such as:

• Exiting troops from one edge of the board
• Inflicting a specified number of casualty points
• Capturing designated buildings or areas

This product is the ASL rulebook only; it is not a complete playable starter set. New players need at least Beyond Valor: ASL Module 1 to begin playing. The wider ASL family includes Core Modules with additional rules, nationalities, units, and geomorphic mapboards, while Historical Modules add campaign games based on multi-day battles and actual historical maps.

Advanced Squad Leader also includes extensive chapter material, vehicle notes, a glossary, and an index, with contents varying between the first and second editions. Many modules depend on earlier releases, making the system’s expanding library an important part of its structure.