Below is a (work in progress) list of acronyms and terms used in the Advanced Squad Leader system, along with their short descriptions. This isn’t by any means a complete and exhaustive list and may not include “non-official” acronyms commonly used by players and/or third-party publishers. Definitions of these acronyms will show up across the entire site if they are used in an article. Simply hover over the highlighted acronym and it will display on your screen.
Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun (D1.83)
A weapon mounted on a vehicle or platform with the ability to rotate 360 degrees. A vehicle crew must be Crew Exposed to fire.
After Action Report
A write-up or video summarizing the events of a game, usually covering things like tactics, rules, and historical connections.
Armored Car (D1.12)
A small, lightly armored vehicle, usually with high movement points and little to no armament.
Armor Factor (D1.6)
A numerical rating of a vehicle's armor strength/thickness for: hull and turret front/side/rear facings.
Advancing Fire Phase (A3.5)
The fifth of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
Armored Fighting Vehicle (D1.2)
Any vehicle that has an armor factor is considered an Armored Fighting Vehicle. Note that "0" is a valid armor factor. A star symbol represents an unarmored vehicle, and thus doesn't fall under this definition.
Assault Gun (D1.33)
An AFV typically with a large ordnance weapon that does not possess a turret.
Armor Piercing
A type of ammunition designed to penetrate an AFV's armor. Unless otherwise specified, it's the default ammo when firing at an armored target. Mostly ineffective against soft targets (infantry).
Armored Personnel Carrier
A vehicle designed to transport personnel, typically a truck with light armor as opposed to a halftrack.
Armor Piercing Composite Rigid (C8.11)
A type of ammunition that uses a tungsten core sheathed in a light alloy allowing for high velocities. Represented by A# on the counter.
Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (C8.11)
A type of ammunition that uses a tungsten core sheathed in a light alloy, similar to APCR. But in this case the sheathing falls away after leaving the muzzle, allowing for even higher velocities. Represented by D# on the counter.
Advance Phase
The seventh of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Artillery Request
The initial stage of the OBA process where a request is made to offboard artillery units.
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Artillery
Ordnance that usually specializes in firing high explosive ammunition. Represented by a 5/8" counter.
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Advanced Sequence of Play
A detailed list of tasks and events that take place during each phase of the game.
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Anti-Tank Gun
A piece of ordnance designed specifically to take out tanks and vehicles.
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Anti-Tank Magnetic Mine (C13.7)
A potential inherent German weapon that can be stuck to vehicles. Applies a -3 DRM to a CC attack made by that unit.
Anti-Tank Rifle
A large, high powered support weapon rifle that fires armor piercing rounds. Usually only effective against light tanks. Represented by a 1/2" counter.
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Bazooka (C13.4)
An American Support Weapon that fires a rocket against a target. Has it's own To Hit table. Effective against both Infantry and Vehicle targets. Also known as a 'stovepipe'.
Bazooka
A shoulder held U.S. support weapon that fires rockets and can be used against vehicles or infantry targets.
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Bow Flamethrower
A flamethrower mounted to a vehicle. Shares the same covered arc as its chassis.
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Battle Hardening
A result of Heat of Battle (HOB) where a unit increases in quality/capability, or turns Fanatic.
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Bow Machine Gun
A machine gun mounted in the vehicle's chassis (not the turret). Can only fire through the vehicle's covered arc.
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Basic Point Value
Each unit has a BPV for use when purchasing during design your own scenarios.
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Blood Reef: Tarawa
A historical ASL module published by MMP. Details the blooding landing and invasion of Tarawa by the USMC during the PTO campaign.
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Baltic Theater of Operations
Typically reserved to actions taking place in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Not to be confused with the 70s rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
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Buttoned Up
An indicator that all inherent crew of an armored vehicle are inside, protected, and invulnerable to small arms fire.
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Covered Arc
The specific hex spine facing of a vehicle chassis or a gun. Note that a vehicle's turret can have a different CA than it's chassis (see TCA).
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Covered Arc Focal Point
The vertex of the meeting of three hexsides in front of a vehicle using bypass movement.
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Close Combat
A situation when units of both sides find themselves in the same Location. This special form of combat usually happens during the Close Combat Phase. (A11)
Close Combat Phase
The eighth and final phase of an ASL player turn.
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Cave Complex Setup Sheet
A sheet used to set up Japanese cave complexes during PTO scenarios.
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Close Combat Table
The odds table referred to when carrying on close or hand-to-hand combat.
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Close Combat Value
The numerical combat value of an infantry unit when making a close combat attack against an armored fighting vehicle.
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Crew Exposed
An indicator that one or more of the inherent crew of an armored vehicle is exposed and vulnerable.
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Campaign Game
An interconnected series of scenarios/dates when played together comprise a larger ASL campaign game.
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Critical Hit
A to hit result that creates the potential of significantly more damage to the target.
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Coaxial Machine Gun
A machine gun mounted in a vehicle's turret, usually next to its main gun. Can only fire through the vehicle's turret covered arc.
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Campaign Purchase Points
Points that can be spent during the refit phase of campaign games to purchase reinforcements.
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Closed Top
A fully armored AFV with top enclosing armor to protect its crew. The opposite of an open topped AFV.
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Casualty Victory Point
Accumulated by eliminating opposition forces. Sometimes used in determining scenario victory conditions.
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Counter Exhaustion
Reflects the negative effect on infantry units who use double time movement during the MPh.
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Deluxe ASL
A version of ASL originally designed to be used with miniatures.
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Demolition Charge
A high explosive infantry satchel charge support weapon that explodes with 30 firepower factors.
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Defensive Fire Phase
The fourth of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Desert Low Visibility
A broad term to describe hindrances created by Heat Haze, Sun Blindness, Dust, etc, in DTO scenarios.
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Desperation Morale
A temporary morale condition of an infantry unit that has just failed a morale check or an already broken infantry unit that finds itself in some level of peril. Induces a +4 modifier to rally attempts. (A10.62)Glossary Link
Die Roll
'DR' means the rolling of two six sided dice (2d6). 'dr' means the rolling of 1 six sided die (1d6).
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Die Roll Modifier
When rolling dice, add this modifier to the roll. DRM is added if 2 dice are rolled. drm is added if 1 die roll.
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Desert Theater of Operations
Usually reflective of actions that took place in North Africa.
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Desert Victory Points
DTO scenarios place more importance on vehicles, so they have their own VP structure.
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Design Your Own
ASL has a system allowing players to spend points to design their own randomly generated scenarios.
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Environmental Conditions
Each ASL scenario takes place in a certain time and geography. ECs reflect the general weather and environment conditions at the time.
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Experience Level Rating
ASL units are assigned an ELR rating in each scenario to reflect their tendency to decrease in quality/ability during the course of battle.
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Elevated Railroad A section of railroad on an elevated structure.Glossary Link
Embankment Railroads A section of railroad on an embankment, treated as a Hillock (B32.1).Glossary Link
Excessive Speed Breakdown Vehicles attempting to move further than their allotted movements points are susceptible to breakdown (D2.5).Glossary Link
European Theater of Operations
Actions located in Europe, stretching from Spain/France and into the Balkans and Russia.
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Exit Victory Point
Accumulated by exiting units off the board. Sometimes used in determining scenario victory conditions.
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Fighter Bomber An air support unit (plane) that's provided as part of a scenario order of battle (E7.21).Glossary Link
Fire For Effect The act of converting a spotting round to an actual bombardment (smoke or high explosive) during the off board artillery process (C1.5).Glossary Link
First Fire Movement in Open Ground
A -1 DRM against infantry moving in open ground. Only applicable to units fired on during their MPh.
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First Fire Non-Assault Movement
A -1 DRM for infantry using movement not classified as Assault Movement (movement of 1 hex). Only applicable to units fired on during their MPh.
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Fire Group Combining the firepower of 2 or more small arms (infantry) attacks into a larger firepower attack (A7.5).Glossary Link
Firepower
A numerical representation of the effectiveness and power of inherent firepower, support weapon, or gun.
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Fractions Rounded Down Whenever a rule specifies this when fractional units are involved, the final result is always rounded down.Glossary Link
Fractions Rounded Up Whenever a rule specifies this when fractional units are involved, the final result is always rounded up.Glossary Link
Flame Thrower An infantry support weapon (or one mounted to a vehicle) capable of delivering a high firepower attack at short range (A22).Glossary Link
Ground Level Railroads Railroad lines that are at ground level, with no elevation or embankments. (B32.1).Glossary Link
Guomindang The Chinese Nationalist Party, used here to refer to the Nationalist Chinese army as opposed to the Communist [Red] Chinese army (G18.2).Glossary Link
Ground Pressure The amount of pressure exerted on the ground by a vehicle, typically a tracked vehicle. Vehicles with high ground pressure are more susceptible to Bog. (D1.4)Glossary Link
Height Advantage A terrain situation where one unit has a higher elevation than another, often incurring tactical advantages. (B10.31)Glossary Link
Hull Down A situation when only a vehicles upper structure is exposed to fire. Hull down status can be granted by being behind a wall, at a height advantage, and by other terrain features. (D4.2)Glossary Link
High Explosive Anti-Tank
A type of ammunition designed to channel it's explosive energy to burn through armor. Represented as H# on the counter.
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Hull Hit A hit, or requirement of a hit, that targets a vehicles lower structure. Can cause vehicle immobilization in some circumstances.Glossary Link
Hidden Initial Placement
Some units (emplaced Guns and crew) and some nationalities (Japanese) can start scenarios with some of their number setup hidden to their opponent. This gives them a tactical advantage. Hidden location and contents must be recorded prior to play. (A12.3)
Heavy Machine Gun
An infantry support weapon represented by a 1/2" counter.
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Heavy Tank An armored fighting vehicle that usually sacrifices mobility at the expense of superior firepower and armor.Glossary Link
Hand-to-Hand Some close combat is in such close proximity that it's termed hand-to-hand close combat. This type of combat is limited to certain nationalities (Japanese) or units (Gurkhas). It's much easier to get a kill in hand-to-hand close combat.Glossary Link
Infantry Fire Table The combat table used to resolve attacks again infantry targets. The most utilized chart in the ASL system.(A7)Glossary Link
Incremental Infantry Fire Table An optional combat table used to resolve attacks again infantry targets. This table adds many more firepower columns that reside between the columns on the official Infantry Fire Table. Use of this table has been a heated debate among player for decades. (A7.37)Glossary Link
Intended Landing Hex (E8.2)
The target hex picked by a Glider before attempting a landing.
Inherent Portage Capacity A measure of a unit's capability to carry support weapons. Squads have an portage capacity of 3, and single man counter (leaders) have a portage capacity of 1. Vehicles also have portage capacity. (A4.42)Glossary Link
Illuminating Round A method by which hexes can be illuminated during night or low visibility scenarios. (C8.7)Glossary Link
Kill (A7.302)
A result on the Infantry Fire Table that eliminates at least one infantry unit.
Kindling Number The DR required for a Flame to be created in a terrain location. (B25.11)Glossary Link
Kampfgruppe Peiper
The title of a historical module covering the actions of Peiper around the village of Stoumont during the Battle of the Bulge.
Killed In Action A combat result where the unit is destroyed and removed from play. (A7.301)Glossary Link
Kakazu Ridge
A mini-historical released in Journal #2, taking place on Okinawa in the Pacific.
Long Barreled Gun (C4.1)
A length of barrel characteristic of ordnance that can effect the To Hit and To Kill mechanics.
Light Anti-Tank Weapon (C13) A class of Support Weapon that fires Shaped-Charged ammo, usually used to destroy or damage vehicles. ATMM, ATR, BAZ, MOL-Projector, PIAT, PF/PFk, PSK, etc.
Landing Craft (G12)
A type of amphibious craft that allows for Beach Landings and Seaborne Assaults.
Leadership
A counter abbreviation for 'leadership'.
Limbered Fire (C10.24)
Some Guns can fire while in their limbered (un-deployed) state, usually at reduced capability.
Leader Generation Factor (H1.8)
A nationality based number used to determine the number of leaders available during Design Your Own scenarios.
Leader-Loss Morale Check (A10.2)
An additional MC caused by the elimination of a leader with a higher Morale Level than other friendly units in the same Location.
Leader-Loss Task Check (A10.2)
An additional TC caused by the breaking of a previously unbroken leader with a higher Morale Level than other friendly units in the same Location.
Light Machine Gun
An infantry support weapon represented by a 1/2" counter.
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Line of Fire
The Line of Sight along which an attack has been traced.
Line of Sight (A6)
The ability of one unit to see another. LOS can be affected by obstacles, hindrances, and night visibility.
Main Armament
A vehicle's main gun, which can be a high caliber gun, or a machine gun, or even an anti-tank rifle ... depending on the vehicle.
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Morale Check
A combat result where the affected unit(s) must roll less than or equal to its current morale level to remain in good order.
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Movement Factor
A unit of movement used by infantry units.
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Multi-Man Counter
Represents a group of soldiers, a squad (3 silhouettes), half-squad (2 silhouettes), or a crew (2 crouching silhouettes).
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Medium Machine Gun
An infantry support weapon represented by a 1/2" counter.
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Movement Point
A unit of movement used by vehicles.
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Movement Phase
The third of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Actions that take place in/near the Mediterranean Sea. Italy, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Greece, etc.
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Night Visibility Range
The number of hexes a unit can see during night scenarios.
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Off Board Artillery
Indirect fire from artillery off board, called in by a leader manning a radio, or an off board observer.
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Prep Fire Phase
The second of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Pacific Theater of Operations
Actions taking place in the Pacific and surrounding islands/countries.
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Rate of Fire
A characteristic of a Gun to maintain its ability to fire again during the same phase/turn.
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Rally Phase
The first of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Rout Phase
The sixth of eight phases of an ASL player turn.
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Sniper Activation Number
A number that represents the abstraction of snipers within the game. If the SAN is rolled there's a possibility of a random event caused by sniper activity.
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Single Man Counter
Represents a single individual (1 silhouette), an infantry leader or a hero.
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Special Scenario Rule
Any rule that's added to a scenario that goes above the normal ASL ruleset. Usually included at the bottom of the scenario sheet.
Task Check
An action required by a unit undergoing some task. A unit rolling less than or equal to it's morale level (including modifiers) passes the TC.
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Terrain Effect Modifier
The ability of a terrain feature to provide protection. Specified as a number that is usually added to a combat (or to hit) die roll.
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To Hit # (C3.3)
The number required (when rolling 2 dice) to secure a hit on a target by Ordnance or any other weapon that uses the To Hit mechanics.
To Kill # (C7)
The number required (when rolling 2 dice) to affect some form of destruction on a vehicular target. A hit must be secured first!
Virtual Advanced Squad Leader
A program that allows players to play Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) online.
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Victory Conditions (A26)
The goal(s) that (usually) one side must meet to win a scenario. If goals are not achieved, the other side wins the scenario.
Victory Point(s)
Each unit in ASL has a VP number often used to determine scenario victory conditions. See A26.2
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