Off to ASLOK XXXI – Myself, Tim Brieaddy, Elly May & Granny have loaded the Opel Blitz and are heading to Cleveland.  I will try to take lots of photos for you in the coming week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shipping delay 1st week of October:                                                                The entire staff of Ritterkrieg (that’s me) will be attending ASLOK from the September30th – October 8th.  We will be unable to ship until we get back.  Please excuse this inconvenience.

 

Tactics 101:

Not sure which board edge your opponent will chose to enter on?  Why not set up facing one likely entry area while bore sighting a  hex in a separate covered arc?  The Panther is covering road hex on the southern tip of the hill but can swing the turret to cover the road on the north side of the hill and apply the Case M Bore sighting DRM for a -2 to the shot.  There is no restriction in the ASLRB (C6.4)  which states that the BS hex must be in the CA during set-up.  This weeks sleaze is brought to you by Tim Brieaddy of Red Headed T-shirts.  

 

 

 

Recently I discovered VASL’ing with Stew.  I am including the links to his great detailed videos of some classic scenarios.  I think they are a wonderful learning tool for new players looking to get a grasp on both game concepts and tactics.  I will have links to all of his videos on the site but will headline one video per post.  So here is episode 1 which recaps ‘Fighting Withdrawal’ from Beyond Valor.

 

Here is an interesting video clip showing what’s in the box for the new edition of Yanks.

 

I am a little embarrassed but apparently we have always accepted credit cards.  There is an option on the Paypal screen to pay by CC.

I am so sorry for the infrequency of the Ritterkrieg updates. My wife and I have both failed our personal morale checks and now we are cleaning up the game board.  I am thankful that there were many more two’s than twelve’s in our twenty years together.   Things are slowly getting back to normal and I am looking forward to playing my first full scenario in over 5 months when I get to ASLOK next week.   I am looking forward to seeing all of my old friends and meeting new ones that I only know up until now through Facebook and Ritterkrieg.  Tim Brieaddy from Redheaded T-shirts is supposed to be coming with me as well, bringing his patches, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers with him.   I will have a booth set up for the entire nine day convention with everything discounted below retail price.  I am on Facebook as Ritter’s War Table.  Please look me up and send me a friend request.

 

Don’t have Paypal?  Good news… we are days away from being able to securely accept credit card payments when checking out.  By the end of this week this feature should be up and running.  Thanks so much for your patience in this regard.

 

 

Yanks is in stock and ready to ship.  We have a special price of $102.40 which includes shipping.  That is a savings of over $35 from the retail price when you include the cost of shipping.  We also usually ship same/next day.

Pre-ordered Yanks at $96 and never got the invoice? We had a number of customers mention that their pre-order invoices were put in their junk mail folders.  If you can’t find your invoice, simply buy it at regular price ($102.40) and send me a not that you had it on pre-order and I will refund the difference ($6.40).

 

Festung Budapest on Pre-order.  I spoke will Luanne and she was not sure what the production run will be but I got the impression it will be small.  The retail price is $176.00 and we are putting it on pre-order for $132.00 with free shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

Red October, the newest Stalingrad campaign game is on pre-order.  This module combines with Red Barricades.  ‘But I don’t own Red Barricades’ you say?  No worries, instead of Red October, you can purchase Red Factories and get Red Barricades and Red October together for one super low price.

 

Red Factories, combining Red Barricades and Red October into one big package for one low price.  If you thought ‘The Last Bid’ was just not meaty enough, now you can combine it with ‘Men of Steel”.  The RB maps are new so some of you that already have the original RB maps may want to pick up the new version.

 

ASLOK XXXI –

Only days away now.  Until last week I was still unsure if I would be attending but it looks like the ASL Gods have smiled upon me and I will be heading up to beautiful Cleveland for the entire nine day bonanza.  I will be bringing as much ASL merchandise as I can fit in my car (yup, the ex-wife got the SUV ).   Everything will be discounted to compensate for the shipping that I would have to be paying.  I have gotten in new stock orders from BFP, LCP, Battleschool, Friendly Fire, and of course MMP.  Unfortunately, with the separation I have not had the time or focus required to complete the much anticipated Sniper/ELR Cards.  I will do all in my power to have them ready for ASLOK XXXII.

 

The 2 Half-Squads;

Episode #166  (Yanks & BFP interviews) is up and ready for your  download

 

Hong Kong Wargamer:

Bread Factory #2

Mayhem In Manila

 

Grumble Jones; and ASL Blog:

 

 

 

In The Pipeline:

ASL Korea

Red October

Red Factories

Festung Budapest

BFP Into the Rubble II

 

 

 

Yanks 2:

Missed the MMP Pre-order?!? You can still order it through us at pre-order price and as always, shipping is free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After years of waiting, Yanks 2 is finally out.  MMP is currently shipping to pre-orders, then to the retailers (including us) and finally will be available for retail purchase through their website.  Even though MMP has stopped selling Yanks 2 at the pre-order price, we are extending the special until we receive our stock order and as always, shipping is included in the price.  Click on the Yanks image above to order your copy.

Top  8 differences between Yanks and Yanks 2:

1. Counter art.  Yanks 2 has the newer easier to read/larger font counter information.
2. Counter die cut.  No more side fluff. (top Yanks 2, bottom Yanks with fluff. Photo courtesy of Paul Ybarrondo)
3. Map boards.  Yanks 2 includes 8 mapboards instead of 4.  Maps 24,40,41,46 were not available in the original version.  Yanks 2 mapboards are in the new Starter Kit format.
4. Scenarios.  41 scenarios in Yanks 2 vs. 8 in Yanks.  This is good news as I am getting bored of replaying the other 4,872 scenarios in the system. Seriously though, Some of these scenarios are updated from long out of print magazines and packs.
5. Countersheets. 6 vs 5.  One extra counter sheet may not be significant to you but when Oli has to clip all 10 copies he will be buying, it makes a huge difference.
6. Handy-Dandy box with new box art from Ken Smith.  While artistically impressive, get out of the friggin’ open ground you morons. Have we learned nothing in the 29 years since the original came out?

 vs.

7. Chapter H. New entries that bring the U.S. up to date with all the changes of the past 3 decades.

8. Not out of print.  This is clearly the most important difference between the two editions.  Let’s hope this one stays on the shelves for many many years to come.

 

ASLOK 2016:

October 2nd thru 9th. Ritterkrieg will be there with everything on sale.  Unfortunately, the sniper cards will not be released in time.

-John Dober is needing a roommate for ASLOK. His preference is for a blond in her 30’s but will consider all other applicants.  Find him on Facebook in the ASL group or contact me for his contact info.

 

 

Coming soon…

-New ASL replay video.   Tim defends the Tractor Works while his hordes of 5-2-7’s human wave to their rescue.

-New campaign game from Lone Canuck

 

 

I want to start with an apology for taking two months to get this post together.  I have been struggling with some family issues and they will always take priority over any hobby or business venture. I am sorry that I left all of you hanging.

 

Lone Canuck Publishing has released a brand new Scenario Pack featuring 6 new scenarios covering the attack into Holland in 1940. Do not forget to add Ost Front 3 to your order if you have not yet already got your hands on it.

Starter Kit:

There is no news on the SK Action Pack but we will keep our ears open (how the heck do you close your ears anyway?). All 4 available SK products are back in stock including Decision at Elst. Are you missing SK maps P, Q, R, S (released in Operations and SK expansion Pack #1)?  If so, no worries as they will be in stock at Ritterkrieg by next week.  Look for a link in our next blog.

 

Le Franc Tireur

LFT’s 2nd edition Rat Charts are sold out both here and through LFT themselves.  Xavier estimates that the 3rd edition charts will not be available before December.  As soon as I get confirmation on my cost, I will be sure to place them on pre-order at a reduced price.

Kampfgruppe Scherer is back in stock and back on special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yanks2.

I spoke with Luanne and she says that Yanks is at the printer.  This means that we should have it ready to ship within the next 6 weeks or so.  If you still need to pre-order we have it available for $96.00 shipping included.

 

 

 

 

OBA Card Deck.

We are down to 14 units from an original production run of 500.  These will not be reproduced any time soon if ever.  If you want a set, this may be your last chance.

 

Sniper Cards.

It is now unlikely that the Sniper/ELR cards will be ready by ASLOK 2016. Hopefully they will be ready by the new year.  My sincerest apologies for the delay.

 

Wood Projects.

Allergy season is behind us so I will be resuming the backlog of orders.  I will post photos as they become available.

 

 

 

 

BattleDice:

I am sad to say that Chris has announced that the 30th anniversary dice are out of stock until at least November.

 

 

Battle Dice:

Two new series of ASL precision Battle Dice from Helen and Chris at Battleschool have arrived in limited quantities and they are better than I could have hoped for.

The Goodies and…

…The Baddies!

 

Operation Overlord Battle Dice Series:

 

 

This ten dice set represents the American and German divisions that faced off on the beaches and boccage of Normandy.  All dice are available separately or discounted as a complete set.

Waffen SS Battle Dice Series:

This set of eight dice represents the 7 Waffen SS panzer divisions plus a white dice with the SS runes. All dice are available in pairs  or discounted as a complete set.

 

Hell’s Highway Video #3 & #4:

#3 Hayes Wauford chronicles the Allied set-up and first three turns of action as he attempts to keep the highway at Mariaheide open.

#4 Derek (that’s me!) describes turn’s 4-6 in the first scenario of the Hell’s Highway Campaign Game.

#5 Hayes’ turn 4-6 recap

ASL Turrets:

We have received very limited quantities of both the German/Russian and the US/British turret countersheets.

 

German/Russian set containing all the turret counters for Beyond Valor OOB

 

 

American/British Set containing all of the turret counters for Yanks and For King and Country

 

 

Buy both sets and save $5

 

   

 

 

In an effort to help the whole world look as fashionably savvy as the ASL community (and get as much attention from the ladies), each week we will be featuring a new t-shirt design from the creative workshop of Redheaded t-shirts.  Tim Brieaddy has directed his entire staff (okay, that would be just Tim) to coming up with some fantastic new prints for the hobby.   The link will take you directly to his webpage where you can browse other great ASL and historical t-shirts, patches, bumper stickers and coffee mugs.  I am hoping that he generates enough sales from this program so he can one day buy his own M1 Carbine and give mine back to me.

T-Shirt of the Week:

Clicking on the t-shirt will take you to the order page on redheadedtshirts.com.  Use coupon code ‘ritterkrieg’ for an additional $3 off your order.  For other great ASL and historical t-shirts please check out Tim’s website for tons of cool stuff.

 

 

Weekly ASL Poll:

[poll id=”6″]

 

April Spotlight and Special:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have received a very limited supply of Kampfgruppe Scherer. Possibly the greatest release from LFT including summer and winter maps for the campaign games and scenarios depicting the battle of Cholm.  This module is on sale for $90 (10% off) shipping included.  Don’t forget to combine your order another product to be eligible for an additional 10% off (coupon code ‘10% off’) for all orders over $100.00.

Write up on the module 

The Battle of Kholm (Cholm)

Order Your Copy Here at a special price

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

 Lone Canuck Publishing – Ost Front 3 – arrived

Normandy and SS Battle Dice – arrived

Turrets – arrived

Dice Towers – Soon*

Ammo/Map crates – Soon*

Yanks – May/June

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

ASL Korea – ???

 

*Severe asthma during the NC pollen season is making it impossible for me to be around sawdust.  I will be back at it as soon as my lungs permit.  Sorry for the delay.

 

 

Hell’s Highway AAR:

Hayes and I are three turns into the first campaign scenario and there is a  lot of action to report.  Please check out our latest short video for the latest updates.  Hayes is working on video AAR’s as well that will be posted here in future updates. Also, please subscribe to my YOUTUBE channel so you can get the latest ASL videos as they get published.  I am hoping to one day break two digits in subscribers.

 

 

Starter Kit News:

-The Starter Kit section of RitterKrieg is now up and running with players, products, articles, and more.  Please take a moment t check it out and don’t forget to send your name and location to dr******@******rr.com if you wish to be included in the player directory.

-Starter Kit moves to the Pacific?!?

According to MMP, the next Starter Kit Action Pack will take place in the PTO and will include rules for concealment and Banzai charges.  The US Army, USMC, Chinese, Japanese, and British will all be represented.

 

April Spotlight and Special:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have received a very limited supply of Kampfgruppe Scherer. Possibly the greatest release from LFT including summer and winter maps for the campaign games and scenarios depicting the battle of Cholm.  This module is on sale for $90 (10% off) shipping included.  Don’t forget to combine your order another product to be eligible for an additional 10% off (coupon code ‘10% off’) for all orders over $100.00.

Write up on the module 

The Battle of Kholm (Cholm)

Order Your Copy Here at a special price

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

 

Lone Canuck Publishing – Ost Front 3 – Arrived

Dice Towers – Soon*

Ammo/Map crates – Soon*

Normandy and SS Battle Dice: Next week

Yanks – May/June

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

ASL Korea – ???

 

*Severe asthma during the NC pollen season is making it impossible for me to be around sawdust.  I will be back at it as soon as my lungs permit.  Sorry for the delay.

 

 

The new Precision Battle Dice from Battledice are in the mail and should be arriving any day now.  That means that this is the last chance to get them at the pre-order price of 20% off. You can click on any of the images to bring you to the pre-order page.

    

 

 

Starter Kit:

One of the greatest things for me is seeing how many people are buying the Starter Kits.  Every sale represents someone new entering the world of ASL.  One of three fates awaits each of these  new SK players.  1. Some will stop playing.  2. Some will continue to play as ASL SK is a great game in it’s own right. 3. Some will take the plunge into full ASL.  I think that this website can be a tool for all three groups.  Perhaps if I provide some ASLSK specific resources, I can help move some from group 1 into group 2 and eventually help transition some in group 2 to group 3.  So going forward, I will be adding a section to the page for Starter Kit specific resources. I hope it will help the Starter Kit community.  If you have links, articles, or stories, questions that you wish to share, please post them to the site.  Please look for the page in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

New Post From Jackson at Hong Kong Wargamer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Very Best of March Madness Vol. 1 is back in stock in very limited quantities.  Also new to Ritterkrieg is the March Madness Commisar Pack.

 

 

 

 

 

AAR from Joe Leoce who attended Nor’Easter XX

 

Hell’s Highway Campaign Game:

Hayes Wauford and I will be starting the Hell’s Highway CG from Lone Canuck Publishing.  I will be posting short videos before and after the scenarios as an After Action Report.  I will be playing as Pz. Brigade 107 and Hayes will be playing as the British/US 101st.

 

From what I understand, the campaign game plays out as follows:

Two strong German armored units composed of Panthers, Flak halftracks and assault engineers smash into the Dutch town of Mariaheide between Veghel and Uden from opposite ends cutting off the 30 Corps’ advance toward Arnhem.  The US 101st Airborne from the South and British armored units (including Fireflies) from the north try to re-open Hell’s Highway by wresting control back from the bad guys while typhoons (counters come with the pack) hunt German armor from above in this multiple scenario campaign game.

 

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

Complete Lone Canuck line –  arrived

Winter Offensive Pack 2016 – arrived

Heat of Battle – arrived

Tanks 101 Video – released

March Madness – arrived

Poland In flames – arrived

Journal 11 – arrived

Friendly Fire – arrived

Le Franc Tireur – arrived

FT200 Video – released

Lone Canuck Publishing – Ost Front 3 – Arrived

Dice Towers – Soon

Ammo/Map crates – Soon

Normandy and SS Battle Dice: End of April

Yanks – May/June

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

ASL Korea – ???

All three starter kits and the Starter Kit Campaign Game ‘Decision at Elst’ are in stock for the first time ever and all 4 are at a reduced price with free shipping.  Buy the Starter Kit Complete Bundle and save over 20%.

 

 

 

Scenario pack ‘Ost Front 3’ from Lone Canuck Publishing is ready to ship.

Also available is the ‘Ost Front’ trilogy for only $32. That’s more than 20% off with free shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10% Coupon has returned on orders over a $100.  Okay truth be told, free shipping on $12 orders is killing me so I want to offer you an incentive to make it attractive to buy multiple items at once. Simply use coupon code ‘10% off’ at checkout.

 

 

AAR: ‘Where the Iron Crosses Grow’ Team Tournament:

Thursday evening and the  Steiners and Stranskys began to roll into the Kuban in search of iron and glory.  We had a total of 15 players divided into 4 teams (huh?).   Men bled and steel burned for 4 days as some of the friendliest ASL’ers in the hobby laughed, ate, drank, and rolled lots of twos and twelves bringing the decibel level to a thundering pitch.  The Blue team took the team championship with a +4 rating lead by undefeated Hayes Wauford.  Special thanks to Ken Knott for allotting so many points to his opponents.  My delicate truce with Ken lasted until dinner Saturday night when some of the nastiest and funniest jabs to date started to flow again.  I think everyone was relieved that we were back at it as the tension was at times too much to take for the spectators waiting for the shoe to drop.

Dave Stephens’ Finns beating up on my valiant Russian liberators (albeit of Finnish lands).

Peter Ortega learning the nuances of Bocage in BFP’s ‘Kraut Corner’

Left to right – Tim Brieaddy, Jamie Cribs (counting to five (lucky he didn’t have to count to eleven or this photo would be X rated)), and Big Al Slatzman

 

Ken Knott and Hayes Wauford. Both with perfect records.

Peter Ortega and Al Griffa.

Al Griffa and Mike Johnston.

 Skobi, our tournament mascot taking another nap.

 

Fried pickle care of Little Vito’s, deposited on my board.  Very funny guys.

Ken Knott showing a brave face as he stares down 24 SS squads in BFP PIF the ‘Ceramic Factory’.

Somebody (me) apparently hasn’t learned not to stack. One gets a little cocky after generating 3 heroes.

Hayes Wauford with LCP’s Panzer Aces #2.

 

 

Ken Knott With LCP’s Schwere Panzer Jager Abt. 653 prize scenario pack.  Ken was unanimously voted MVP by all of his opponents.   “We never could have won those games had we not been playing Ken”.

Ost Front 3 from Lone Canuck Publishing is in the mail from the great white north.  I will be shipping as soon as they arrive.  Jonesing for something new? At $10.80 with free shipping, this is your inexpensive ASL fix.  Also available is the Ost Front Trilogy at a special discounted rate.

 

New Dice Towers:

This is the dice tower for Walter McWilliams with custom interchangeable graphics.  There will be two more of these posted for sale in the coming days.

 

Video Replay – FT200 Coconut K –

The awesome Le Franc Tireur Deluxe Pack #1  with it’s fantastic artwork and great scenarios breathes life back into Deluxe Advanced Squad Leader (the same life that we take away from it with this horrible video).  Tim and I decided to try our hand at one of the PTO scenarios pitting Americans against Japanese.  I set up as the Japanese without reading the special rules converting the bamboo and jungle into coconut groves.  Tim did read the rules and informed me after I set up but I decided for the sake of keeping the ball rolling to leave my set-up as it was and see how it played out.

With a late Christmas present of a chess clock from Charlotte ASL player Jeff Jordan, SPASL (Speed ASL) has entered the 21st century.  You can see all the action of this clock is use in the above video replay of FT200.

 

 

 

 

OBA Access Card Review:

Desperation Morale has finally caught up on all (?) of the newest ASL products including our very own OBA Access Cards (less than 20 sets remaining for sale).  For the most part, I think it was very flattering and accurate (although he did refer to the cards as being printed on card stock and not pvc.

 

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

Complete Lone Canuck line –  arrived

Winter Offensive Pack 2016 – arrived

Heat of Battle – arrived

Tanks 101 Video – released

March Madness – arrived

Poland In flames – arrived

Journal 11 – arrived

Friendly Fire – arrived

Le Franc Tireur – arrived

FT200 Video – released

Lone Canuck Publishing – Ost Front 3 – April

Dice Towers – This week

Ammo/Map crates – Next Week

Normandy and SS Battle Dice: April

Yanks – April/May

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

ASL Korea – ???

 

Le Franc Tireur: All LFT titles currently available from Xavier have arrived.  Included is the ever popular Rat Charts version 2, The Deluxe Pack #1, the Crimean Special #13 and Kampfgruppe Scherer.  Like always, shipping is free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fields of Iron: Tales from the War Table – Schwimming with Dan Stanhagen

 

 

I want to say a special thanks to everyone who frequents this site.  Today we had our 50,000th visit and it makes me very happy to know that you are enjoying the site.  If there is something that you think could make this site better, please drop me a line or leave a comment.

 

 

Tim just released an awesome collection of bumper stickers, t-shirts, mugs and patches.

 

 

Starter Kit #2 and Starter Kit #3 have been added to the pre-order page and should be here before you know it. Pre-order now and save 20% with free shipping or you will be stuck paying 80% of retail with free shipping after they arrive.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith sent me this photo of his ‘Dupont Class’ table in action.  Sporting labeled A75 and A78 RAACO inserts, Rat Chart,  and his custom ASL Tower (manufacturer unknown).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

Complete Lone Canuck line –  arrived

Winter Offensive Pack 2016 – arrived

Heat of Battle – arrived

Tanks 101 Video – released

March Madness – arrived

Poland In flames – arrived

Journal 11 – arrived

Friendly Fire – arrived

Le Franc Tireur – arrived

Dice Towers – This week

Ammo/Map crates – Next Week

Yanks – April/May

Normandy and SS Battle Dice: April

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

ASL Korea – in time for the 30th anniversary of the Kim Kong Un Cabbage Patch Doll’s release.