Back in 1998, as Avalon Hill prepared to meet that great creditor in the sky, they published a few final titles, among them Doomed Battalions, a core module for Advanced Squad Leader bringing Allied Minor guns and vehicles to the tactical World War II conflict simulation system. The fabled “Dutch trucks” made it out the garage just before the doors closed and Avalon Hill became nothing more than a memory and a convenient brand name for new owners Hasbro to slap on games with a military/conflict theme. For fans of ASL, they were uncertain times, with real concerns that Doomed Battalions would be the last product ever officially produced for the system.
Fast-forward a quarter century and the current ASL license holders, Multi-Man Publishing, have just released Doomed Battalions 4th Edition, proving that their stewardship of the game system has put those fears from the late ’90s to rest.
A quick chronology and overview of the various editions of Doomed Battalions might be helpful. The First (1998) edition contains three map boards (44, 45, and the long-missing “rogue” 9), eight scenarios (83-90), plus overlays (introducing railroads to ASL), counters, and supporting rulebook pages for all the new toys; the Second (1999) edition is identical save for the company logo on the box, being a straight reprint by MMP as one of their very first projects.
For the Third (2009) edition, MMP folds the contents of The Last Hurrah into the box, providing a single module source for Allied Minor troop, gun, and vehicle counters. All prior Doomed Battalions content appears, with boards 11 and 33 added along with updated rulebook pages from both earlier modules, the scenarios from The Last Hurrah (43-50), and eight additional scenarios (137-144), all featuring Allied Minors and previously published in other AH/MMP products.
This new Fourth (2024) edition takes everything from the Third edition and turns it up to eleven (Module Eleven, that is!), adding eight more previously published (and renumbered) scenarios (307-314), with known errata incorporated in all thirty-two scenarios included in the box. The counter artwork also comes up to the current standard, with new infantry types introduced for the Poles, added in conjunction with MMP’s forthcoming Polish Eagles project on Polish forces throughout the war. (A new Chapter A footnote indicates that testing for Polish Eagles revealed a need for slightly more robust Polish troops.) Rules for those troops—which are not retrofitted to earlier scenarios but enter the system officially for future use—plus additional rules added to the system in Twilight of the Reich, and some new charts, round out the updated components.
So, for those keeping track at home, Doomed Battalions Fourth Edition comes with five geomorphic maps in the now-standard “Starter Kit” cardstock style (9, 11, 33, 44, 45); thirty-two scenarios (43-50; 83-90; 137-144; 307-314); four countersheets featuring half-inch and five-eighth inch counters with updated artwork; three sheets of terrain overlays; updated rule pages for Chapters A, B, and H; and two updated charts (Ch. B and National Characteristics) thrown in for good measure. Good thing it’s a decently big (2.5″ deep) box, with cover artwork of a wee tankette under fire by Ken Smith.
Just examining at the fresh additions to this edition, the new countersheets, featuring the last of the core system counters to receive the new, crisper artwork and printing, look quite sharp. I do worry slightly about new Polish infantry counters, with a tiny white eagle on a red field in the top left corner to differentiate them from other Allied Minor counters. The standard ASL counter is a model of spatial efficiency, and the insignia feels ever so close to the corner’s edges; as ever, MMP’s printing is top notch, so there’s no danger of the insignia falling into the die cut gutter, but for those who consider counter corner rounding to be amongst the noblest of arts, there’s a danger that the practice might snip the eagle’s wings, so to speak. Also of note on the new countersheets are some errata counters for misprints in Twilight of the Reich and a few revised Axis Minor counters.
The fresh scenario additions reach beyond the usual assortment of reprinted cards from The General and various Annuals/Journals, picking up some long out-of-print gems from packs like Out of the Bunker and Out of the Attic 2, which are notable themselves for bringing some third-party scenarios into the official fold. All thirty-two cards here, on standard cardstock, have, as noted, received errata and balance passes. The pick of the actions include 43 Into the Fray (starring a baker’s dozen Polish Uhlan squads on horseback against German armor); 90 Pride and Joy (with possibly the largest cavalry charge in the game as twenty-four Greek squads ride against dug-in Italians); 137 Italian Brothers (a rare-for-its-time Spanish Civil War scenario pitting Italians on the Nationalist and Republican sides against each other); and 313 Airborne Samurai (Dutch defenders in the Celebes holding off a Japanese air drop with air support).
Indeed, Doomed Battalions provides a wealth of early-war scenarios, full of tin-can tanks and more than a bit of valor from soldiers fighting against against more numerous, better equipped foes. If you’re tired of Shermans slugging against StuGs and Tigers taking on T-34s, if you enjoy digging through Chapter H to see just why there are port and starboard turret counters in the mix, this is a mandatory module. Ownership of much of the rest of the ASL system is, as ever, needed to play all of the scenarios included, just by dint of the number of boards and overlays represented on the cards. But with only two PTO scenarios (one of which features the sole British appearance), one featuring Axis Minors, and none with the Americans, you can probably get by, counter-wise, with just Beyond Valor and Hollow Legions—boards and overlays, of course, notwithstanding.
For owners of the first two editions of Doomed Battalions, this new edition is pretty much an automatic upgrade, featuring everything you already love and lots more of it. The value calculus for Third edition owners is perhaps more complex. It’s been fifteen years since the Third edition came out, and the state of the art has improved, so for the updated counter artwork alone, I would recommend a purchase—they just look better. The revamped Polish troops, too, will certainly find their way into new scenarios, though one expects the forthcoming Polish Eagles module will also contain them. The new charts, as up to date as can be, also add to the appeal, and the additional scenarios feel a welcome addition to the binder. It’s certainly not a cheap upgrade at US$172 retail, but the contents justify the price. Still, there’s nothing here that invalidates the Third edition in any real way, and one assumes that the refreshed rules pages will make their way to the electronic version of the ASL Rule Book in due time.
It’s nice to have Doomed Battalions back in print. One must wonder, indeed, after four editions, if more Dutch trucks and Belgian tanks and Greek field guns exist in cardboard form than ever did in real life…
