>GAMEMASTER INFO<

So,you wanna be a GM do ya punk? You'll need the following
qualifications:

1) A good knowledge of ASL tank rules.
2) A little extra time (see below).
3) Not an asshole.
4) Should have played in a rumble (so we know if you're an asshole).

Still think you got what it takes? Read on.

 TIME
The time it takes will vary by the game situation. Late in the game when there
are only a few players left or there's a lot of prep fire it might only take 
10 or 15 minutes to get the mailings out,but if everyone is moving around &
doing funky stuff it might take 3 times that long. A half hour would likely
be about average,perhaps a bit more early in the game. You would have to get
mailings out every 2 or 3 days.

 THE GO MAILINGS
When you send a player a GO mailing,always include the following:

1) the AFV's ID & position,including VCA/TCA BU status. Also the # of MPs he
   has spent if it's a MPh mailing,or the # OF MPs spent in LOS by an
   enemy if it's a defensive fire mailing.

2) Everything in his LOS,including SMOKE columns.

3) Exactly what he saw during the previous segment. In the case of moving
   units,you may have to move them along 1MP at a time to see if they saw
   each other as they passed.

4) The current turn & phase.

5) What segment's mailing is due & when.

Since you will have played in a rumble you know what these mailings look
like. Space the lines out so they're easy to read.

Each player turn you will send out a "GO RADIO" (& dRadio) to each player.
When you see that the PL has send Radio2,you should send the ATTACKERs &
any DEFENDERs that have enemy in LOS a "GO SG1" (& dSG1) reminder. This is
only a brief reminder mailing & includes only the day SG1 is due. Figure the
due day from when Radio2 was sent,not from when you got around to reading it.

When you get their SG1's,send the ATTACKERs a "GO SG2" mailing,& send any
DEFENDERs who have enemy in LOS a "GO dSG2" mailing unless they already gave
complete first/final fire orders for those targets in SG1.

When you get the SG2's,if any new contact is made send only those combatants 
a "GO SG3" (& dSG3) mailing,& likewise for SG4.


 SCHEDULES
Most player mailings are due within 2 days from the time you send the GO
mailings,although there are a couple of 1 day mailings too. By "2 days" I
mean 2 evenings,since that's when most players do their moves. You should
try to get your players to tell you when they normally do their moves &
collect their email so you can work out a good schedule. Try to group the
players into teams that will have the quickest access to each other's email
messages.

 TIMING
Players do not necessarily have to all be at the same point in the turn. If
they are at opposite ends of the map & will not interact they can be in
different segments. This will allow you to get some of the mailings out 
faster. Use any trick you can to get the turns over as fast as possible &
get as much info in each mailing. It is less work for you if you can keep
from having to send SG3 & SG4 mailings. Sometimes you can pre-roll possible
attacks or use other devious tactics to avoid the need for those mailings.
Any ways you can think of that don't take options away from the players is
good GMing. When only some players are in SG3/4 you may be able to give the
inactive players the go to send Radio 1 so they'll have more time than the
usual 1 day.

 BAD MOVES
If you get a move that is either unintelligible or in violation of the rules,
just use your judgement. You usually don't have time to get a clarification
from the player. Just stick his tank somewhere & be done with it. Notify the
player of the confusion/violation & what you did about it in the next mailing.
This may seem draconian,but the game is dependant on having GMs & nobody is
gonna want to GM if it's a pain in the ass. Make it easy on yourself. It is
the player's responsibility to send you clean moves.

 MISSED MOVES
You may or may not be able to process late moves. It just depends on the
game situation. You might be able to fit it in somehow,but do not delay the
whole turn for a late mailing.
If a player misses SG1 he will likely miss prep fire,but there are times
when you can still let him prep in SG2. Only do this if it will not delay
or undue any other GO mailings. If a player knows he's going to miss a move
& lets you know,try to get him to give you a general move in advance.

 LEAVES
If a player must leave the game for a week or two,get him to send you a plan
of action & then you can take over his tank & generally follow his plan and/
or the orders of his PL. If you control a tank,try to be as defensive as
possible. Just try to return his tank in one piece instead of hunting for
kills. You're the GM for god's sake. 

 GM ERRORS
If you make a minor error you may be able to back up & correct it,but if not,
just let it go. The most common mistake is to overlook LOS. At least 3 times
during the last games I failed to notice that units could see each other &
had to backtrack to set things right. CHECK THOSE LOS! It's a surprisingly 
easy mistake to make.
{psst,just between us GMs,if you make a REALLY huge gaffe you can always
just make up a big steaming LIE to cover your ass. Hey,they only see what
you TELL
'em they see. Haw haw,suckers.}

 ARCHIVES
Keep copies of the players' moves & GO mailings for at least the previous
turn. I find it easiest to compose the GO mailings on one big page & then
paste 'em over onto the actual outgoing emails. After you send 'em you can
delete them & you still have a copy on your big archive page. This also
gives you easy access to the old GO mailings so you can copy & paste bits of
them when you compose the new ones. This saves tons of time.
If you plan on writing an after action report (AAR) afterwards you might want
to save some of the radio messages to use in it too.

 VISIBILITY PROCEDURES
The house rules regarding limited visibility create some awkward situations
in the GO mailings. Here are the procedures.

DEFENDER visible,ATTACKER not visible:
Unless the ATTACKER is in stealth mode just send out normal mailings &
inform the DEFENDER of the ATTACKER's location,but tell him he can't first
fire (or attempt motion,etc.) until the ATTACKER has spent the requisite MPs 
to become visible. If the ATTACKER is still not visible at the end of the 
MPh segments,the DEFENDER may not even final fire at him.

ATTACKER visible,DEFENDER not visible (an ambush):
This is trickier,but luckily it does'nt happen often. In the DEFENDER's
mailing,inform him of the ATTACKER's position where he first entered
visibility. In the ATTACKER's mailing,inform him of his position when the
DEFENDER first became visible (if at all). Thus,the ATTACKER is at a
different point in his move in HIS mailing than he is in the DEFENDER's
mailing. If the
DEFENDER fires & affects the ATTACKER,move the ATTACKER back to that point
(as GM,you are lord of time). If the DEFENDER is still not visible at the end
of the MPh segments,do not inform the ATTACKER of his location until the
following Radio phase.

 Stealth mode
While in stealth mode,do not interrupt the ATTACKER's move to inform him of
DEFENDING units until/unless he becomes visible to those units. However,if
the ATTACKER will obviously not be able to leave the DEFENDER's LOS before
becoming visible,go ahead & send out a normal mailing to both as per the
above procedure for DEFENDER visible,ATTACKER not visible.

 Identification
There are 4 levels of visibility that affect the ability of the players to
indentify vehicles. Count up the following factors:

Viewer is BU: +1
Target behind hedge/wall: +2
Per +1 hindrance/TEM: +1
Per range bracket beyond 0-6: +2

Count up the factors to find the level of visibility:

0-3= Level 1. 
Tell the viewer the general model or description of the AFV (PzIV,T34 etc.). 
If there is much difference between different tanks of the same model,inform 
the player. For instance,a T34/85 looks noticably different than a regular
T34. In the case of rare or unique vehicles,just give a  physical
description of 
them instead of the model.

4-5= Level 2.
Tell the viewer the general size & type (medium tank,assault gun,etc.).

6-7= Level 3.
Tell the player only that an enemy AFV is present.

8+ = Level 4.
Tell the viewer only that a vehicle is present.

For levels 1-3,inform give the viewer complete info about any friendlies in
sight,including the ID letter.

 HOUSE RULES
Here are a few suggestions you may want to use:

Give a tank a specified number of special ammo rounds and/or sD shots 
instead of using depletion/usage numbers.

If a player is having too much trouble repairing his MA,go ahead & repair it
after a couple of turns (or 3 turns if he malf'ed it with intensive fire).
Hey,we're just tryin' to have fun here. 

If you want to save yourself some work,you might ask players to keep a written
record of any permanent information they are aware of (such as wreck
locations,ammo depletion, +1 counters due to stun,etc.) so you don't have to
include such info more than once in each player's GO mailings.

END