The Bells of Hell Go Ting a Ling Ling

So work's been busy as all getout lately. That hasn't stopped the deliveries of goodies from parts elsewhere thankfully, I'm now at the point where I've got 95% of my boardgame collection stable with very few more purchases needed. I finally got hold of the Stalingrad maps I referenced a while ago, and sure enough there's a significant difference in area covered betweren the large hex and the smaller hex versions, the latter actually reaching to the Volga.How did I pick these up? Through the auspices of Warchest in Melbourne, Australia. Must say I'm every impressed with the service from him. Fair prices to boot.

I bought the second edition of Critical Hit's Valor of the 37th Guards, which included not only the large hex map of the Dzerhezinsky Tractor Works but the original map from the 1997 DTW module and the original Grain Elevator minimap from the 1997 Critical Hit Special Edition. So I've almost completed the necessary accumulation of product.

I'm going to end up with some duplication of mapsheets but that's no hardship as I'm sure I can find a use for them. So basically all I'm after now is the original DTW module with its 2 Campaign games  and four scenarios and the 97SE with the Grain Elevator scenarios/CG. The latter is on order already from The Sentry Box in Canada, and I may have scoped out a copy of DTW although I'm paying the OOP premium :(

I also picked up one of the lesser items on my want list - a copy of the old Area-Impulse ACW game, They Met at Gettysburg which has a poor reputation but surely can be salvaged.

I even started playing some ASL again, Stalingrad natürlich, with my old adversary Jay White. We're now on Turn 3 of our game that was interrupted by me getting sidetracked by real life, and so far it's been one crazy rollercoaster ride once again, with the highlight for me being the critical hit I scored with a Molotov-Projector on one of the two StuIG33Bs Jay is fielding. One flank is almost completely secure through the blazes that have started up.

Anyway I really need to take some pics again (I've been slack - no change there) and posting again

Stalingrad: The Maps

Here are some pics of the various maps:

This is the reworked version of the Dzerhezinsky(sic) Tractor Works map, as you can see it has a yellow clay tinge to the map rather than the familiar Red Barricades brick-dust look. Unfortunately for ASL players, Critical Hit's superb quality assurance came to the fore and they shrunk the hex sizes to 3/4 inches across so they could fit the map on one sheet. Brilliant decision guys, for a game that will end up with some of the most counter intensive scenarios around. This is one map where the expense of getting the mapsheet enlarged is worthwhile. I'd say that the best way to do this is to enlarge it by 33% so you can match the RB sized hexes, as Don Petros most likely worked to the same hex size as Charlie Kibler. What you won't notice is that very original map is wider by four hexrows (the rework begins on the D hexrow) and 9-15 alternate hexgrains. Outside of a few coordinate changes in the setups (and they got them wrong) CH didn't alter anything in the scenarios - really tells you about the playtesting doesn't it.

This is the reworked map from Valor of The 37th Guards (yeah CH, you're real original in your titles). As you can see, the colour is closer to RB in style but again there are some issues with the map. Personally I actually prefer the original scope of the DTW map but the new Vot37G one works as well. The good thing is that I think you actually get both the original 3/4" hex map and the revised, smaller area RB style map in Vot37G for all of $15 US. Don't buy from CH, they're gratuitous on shipping.

This is the actually the map of the Stalin's Fury module from CH, which is a modified version of the infamous Grain Elevator mini-CG from the 1997 Stalingrad Special Edition. From all accounts, the CG is a complete crock but the map as you can see is pretty. Such a shame therefore that CH dropped the ball (again) when it came to actual playtesting/design. Oh well at least it gives me something to tool around with regarding designing a CG.

Stalingrad

The reason for looking at getting Stalingrad after years of hmming and hawing about it is that I've decided to undertake a long term project for Advanced Squad Leader. With Valor of the Guards due in July or August, and having played a couple of scenarios on the Red Barricades map, my interest in ASL Stalingrad has been piqued. I've always intrigued by Critical Hit's Dzerzhinsky Tractor Works product, despite the noted flaws with it and the Grain Elevator mini-module. I've decided to look at turning my hand to fixing DTW and the GE,even if this means designing new CGs and scenarios from scratch.

This is very much a long term project (gee, I'm really good at planning these and lousy at completing them) but with no time pressures I can obtain the necessary reference materials at a sustainable rate.