The Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit (ASLSK) is a series of products designed to make it easy and inexpensive for people to try ASL.  Before the SK series debuted, you need to have the full ASL rulebook and a module like Beyond Valor in order to play a single scenario.  That's a pretty substantial investment.  The ASLSK offers a pleasing alternative.

Currently, the ASLSK series consists primarily of three stand-alone modules (there may be future products such as scenario packs released in the future):  ASLSK 1, 2, and 3.  Each contains a stand-alone rulebook, charts, maps, scenarios, and all the counters needed to play those scenarios.  So if you buy ASLSK 1, for example, you have everything you need to play its scenarios right away!  These modules are also inexpensive—it is often possible to find ASLSK1 for $24 or less.  This makes them a great gaming investment—you get an awful lot of fun value for your gaming dollar.

In addition to being inexpensive, the ASLSK series is a great way to learn the basic ASL rules.  Each ASLSK module introduces a major portion of the ASL rules.  However, because the rules concentrate on core game dynamics and leave out chrome and minor rules, they are short and easy to learn.  It is amazing to see that so much of the ASL rules can be distilled into just a few pages of rules.  Illustrated with copious examples of play, the ASLSK rules can have you up and running in a matter of minutes.

Each ASLSK module is stand-alone, so that you don't have to deal with three separate rulebooks.  ASLSK1 introduces the core infantry rules.  ASLSK2 reprises all of those rules (so it is in fact possible to skip ASLSK 1 and go straight to 2 instead) and adds rules for mortars and guns.  ASLSK3 reprises all the rules of its predecessors (so again, you can start with this module if you wanted to) and adds the core rules for tanks and AFVs.  The rules for all of these are completely compatible with full ASL rules—learn something here and it still works in ASL.  So it is a great way to learn the system.

So well done is the ASLSK series that some people never even go to full ASL—they are perfectly happy with the SK.  Even veteran ASL players will sometimes play ASLSK scenarios, often because they are usually a bit more quick-playing than full ASL.

Additional ASLSK scenarios can be found in MMP's Operations magazine, and a few "third party" ASLSK scenarios have also been published.