Modules for the game Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) contains all the equipment needed to actually play the game. There are 14 official so-called "core" modules that contain the essential components for a complete order of battle of all major nationalities to participate in the Second World War. Ownership of all core modules is not a prerequisite to playing the game, and as few as one module can be used. In addition to core modules, other products are also available and may be loosely referred to as "modules", or in the more specific terms as Deluxe ASL Modules and Historical ASL Modules. These required previous ownership of some of the core modules in varying combinations, or at least the components of them (rules sections and counters, and sometimes mapboards).
Each module generally contains the complete order of battle for at least one nationality, including 1/2" counters depicting infantry squads, crews, and single man counters (SMCs) as well as infantry support weapons. Some modules expanded coverage with 5/8" counters depicting vehicles and ordnance. Those modules with vehicle and ordnance counters generally also contain pages for Chapter H of the ASL Rulebook, which gives detailed notes and information on each type of vehicle or piece of ordnance.
Some modules also contain chapters specific to certain theatres, such as North Africa or the Pacific, where special rules for nationality distinctions, terrain and weather are required.
When the Finnish module "Hakkaa Päälle" was released, Advanced Squad Leader became the first tactical level wargame in history to be able to portray the armies of every nationality that participated in hostilities in the Second World War.
Core modules
Beyond Valor
This initial game features all system counters necessary for playing ASL, as well as the complete infantry, vehicle and ordnance counter mix for the Germans, Russians and Finns. (A new edition published by MMP many years later added the HASL Module "Red Barricades"). The scenarios were sometimes decried as lacklustre, and mainly centered on urban combat, in keeping with the four new mapboards issued with the game. Mapboard 1 from SL and mapboard 8 from GI were necessary to play four of the ten printed scenarios as well.
Scenarios: ASL1-ASL10
Scenarios (V.3): 123-136
A 2nd Edition included additional counters for rules added in Chapter E (which was included with the 2nd Edition Rulebook), as well as changing the colour scheme for Finnish counters, and included the otherwise out of print Red Barricades HASL module, including two mapsheets, informational counters, and rulebook Chapter O).
A 3rd Edition released in December 2005 contained 10 geomorphic mapboards (done in the lighter style of the ASLSK boards), being reprints of the original Squad Leader boards 1, 2, 3 and 4, a reprint of the Cross of Iron board 5, and a reprint of board 8 from GI: Anvil of Victory, as well as reprints of the original Beyond Valor mapboards 20, 21, 22, and 23. The game also included 20 ASL scenarios and 4 six-sided dice in addition to 13 sets of counters for the complete Russian and German order of battle as well as the main system counters.
Paratrooper
This game was the least expensive offering of the initial modules, containing a skeleton order of battle for United States parachute troops in Normandy and their German opponents, a small sampling of system markers, and just one mounted mapboard. The game was billed as a self-contained introductory module, and came with a rulebook chapter (Chapter K) written in conversational style that contained examples of play and a basic grounding in ASL rules for newcomers to the system. The chapter was written as a "basic training" story and included Days 1 to 6 (other days were released as part of other modules). Unfortunately, boards 1 to 4 from the original SL were still necessary to play all eight scenarios contained in the game, so either ownership of SL was required, or the boards had to be ordered separately by mail. Ownership of the ASL Rulebook was also a requirement.
Scenarios: ASL11-ASL18
A 2nd Edition deleted the Chapter K pages, as they became available with the 2nd Edition Rulebook, and added dice as well as boards 2 and 4, reissues of the boards from SL.