Note: all European orders must order directly from advancing fire in Italy. We will not be taking any European orders.

Steel Fury – Zamoly

This is the latest in the Advancing Fire Collection depicting the absolute vicious fighting in January – March 1945 as the SS Totenkopf Division, the 23 Panzer Division, the 4th Cavalry Brigade, and the 1st Panzer Division try to break through the formidable Russian defenses to reach Budapest. All the while hundreds of fortified positions, anti tank nests, and marauding swarms of advanced Russian armor formations are thrown into the flanks.

This is part 1 of 2 in the series of Operation Konrad with the next instalment out in 2026.

PLEASE READ: With the fluctuating tariffs, falling US dollar, and rising shipping costs both to us and from us to you, this product was almost DOA and not offered on the North American Market. Sebi and I, after 3 weeks of brainstorming found a way that we hope will work out for everyone. Please note that in order to make this work, I had to order 25% fewer copies than usual. As with all of Advancing Fire’s items, they sell out quickly and I expect this to be gone even more rapidly, especially at this pre-order price. I am grateful for your support in purchasing this product through these uncertain times and supportin both Ritterkrieg and Advancing Fire. It is a labor of love.

We are expecting, if everything goes okay at customs to start shipping to you in about 6 weeks.

As a thank you to all of you that served our nation to give us what we have today, I am offering a one day 20% off coupon on everything we have in stock.  If you are not a veteran but would like to make a donation to a veterans organization (honor system), please feel free to use the coupon as well.  This coupon will expire at midnight.  Please share this post with your veteran friends.

Thank you for my freedom and a safe place to raise my children.

Coupon code ‘veteran’.

At the Printers:

LFT’s second instalment in the Perimeter Series, Task Force Faith will be hitting the shelves in a bout a month with 11 new scenarios and a new 2 sheet Historical map depicting the Chosin Reservoir campaign.

If you missed the first part to the Perimeter Series included in FTC 10, you can pick up both of these fine products at a reduced rate and before the tariffs kick in.

https://ritterkrieg.com/product/basic-training-starter-kit-magazine/ASL Starter Kit Basic Training Magazine

In our recent poll, we asked you what teaching video you would most like to see. Tanks101 was the clear winner with 41% of the vote so here it is.  Please keep in mind that this is 101…just the basic concepts for the absolute beginner.  I hope to make more soon which will include much more information including overruns, close combat, Smoke, and tactics.  After watching this video, you may find it useful to watch the video of Tim and I playing scenario T2 ‘The Pumas Prowl’ which is a good AFV only scenario.  You can download the PDF of scenario T2 and others for free at MMP’s website by clicking on Support -> ASL/SK -> ASL Official Downloads ->Scenarios from ASL Classic.

 

We have received limited quantities of ‘The Best of March Madness Vol. 1’.   Dave from Kansas City ASL tells me that he probably won’t have any more to sell me after these are sold out.  The pack retails for $20.00 and contains 15 of their greatest scenarios.

 

 

 

Friendly Fire: We just got in an order from Sweden and now all scenario packs including #6 with the ASL Geo Mapboard is in stock.  I am offering the entire set at more than 10% off with free shipping or you can pick up individual packs with free shipping as well.

 

 

 

LOW INVENTORY WARNING: Crucible of Steel is going the way of ‘Blood and Jungle’ and ‘Into the Factory’.  This one of a kind gem is almost sold out and out-of print.  If you can get your hands on one before they all disappear from everywhere except for extortion-bay, I grab it now.  Although I am already sold out, BFP still has a few copies.

 

 

 

 

Up until now, Ritter Krieg has only been accepting orders through Paypal.  We are now able to process credit cards over the phone.  If you would like to place an order using your credit card, you may phone in the order between 8:00am – 10pm EST seven days a week by calling me (Derek) at 336-462-4035.

 

Order of Arrival (approximate):

Battle Dice – arrived

Complete Lone Canuck line –  arrived

Winter Offensive Pack 2016 – arrived

Heat of Battle – arrived

Tanks 101 Video – released

March Madness – arrived

Poland In flames – this week ?

Journal 11 – next week

Friendly Fire – end of the month

Le Franc Tireur – March

Yanks – March

Dice Towers – April

Sniper/ELR Cards – late Summer/early Fall

Korea – in time for the 40th anniversary celebrations of Kim Jong Un Decathlon win at the Montreal Summer Olympics.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and got to spend time with loved ones.  It looks like this is going to be a giant year for ASL with many reprints and new items hitting the market.  Is it possible that Beyond Valor, Yanks, Rising Sun, and For King and Country will all be available at the same time?  According to Luanne, For King and Country is only a few months out so you don’t have to despair or pay extortion e-bay prices thinking that it will be years before it is in stock again.

 

Poland In Flames

The next run of Poland in Flames that will be going out to the retailers is only days away with the last of the counters in queue right behind BV.   We have sold all three pre-orders that come with the free Polish Battledice.

 

AFV Data Cards

I am working together with Chris Edwards to see if it is feasible to bring his awesome AFV/Vehicle PDF files to print.  We are not sure if these would be released as one massive set or if they would be released in nationality packs.  We will keep you posted.

 

 

Raffle:

December’s raffle winner is David Elmore. This months prize is a one of a kind custom coffee mug from the talented hands of Tim Brieaddy at Red Headed T-shirts.  If you didn’t win, no biggie as you have a whole year of entries from the time of your last purchase.

 

Tabletop

The PzIIIJ Tabletop that was shown almost complete is now finished  and sold to a local ASL player from Cary, NC.  I hope it witnesses many laughs, close games and a few beer stains.

 

OBA Cards

I am getting close to being sold out on the OBA cards.  Alex Key may still have some in the US, Chris may have a couple in Canada, and Xavier may still have a few left in Europe.   After that…they’re gone.  There will not be a reprint made as I think we are very close to the saturation point of interest.

 

Sniper/ELR Cards

The Sniper/ELR Cards are only missing images from the more obscure nationalities.  Thanks to those of you that have sent me photos.  I will be using them but I still need more, especially from the Allied Minors, Axis Minors, Chinese, French, and Japanese.  If you have some rare sniper photos, please forward them to me at dritter3@triad.rr.com

 

AAR: Hell’s Highway

Ian Tuten and I started a campaign game of Hell’s Highway last week.  Ian wanted the Allies and I was happy to take the Germans with their plethora of Panthers and Assault Engineers.  Neither of us knew anything about the battle before now and were pleasantly surprised at the somewhat unique situation of a very strong Panzer unit overwhelming the small Dutch town of Mariaheide only to be relentlessly attacked from two opposite directions by British armor and US Paras, while never-ending swarms of Jabo’s hunt from above.  We ended up finishing the first scenario of the campaign and calling it quits as the US Paratroops were a little too aggressive and got cut off and destroyed just to the South of the town.  I am looking forward to trying this one again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone, I am sad to say Le Franc Tireur 16 will not be available through our site with maps or overlays. LFT 16 will still include 15 scenarios and 80 pages of articles on the PTO and we will be offering it at a 50% discount.

I am grateful for your support and understanding in this matter and hope you still purchase this wonderful and unique product so…

If you have yet to order LFT 16, you can order it here or by clicking on the Image above

If you have already ordered LFT16, I will be contacting you this week and can proceed in 4 ways to rectify this developement:

-We can issue you a $50 refund and I will ship you the 80 page magazine and 15 scenarios.

-We can issue you a $55 store credit and I will ship you the 80 page magazine and 15 scenarios.

-We can issue you a $80 store credit to be used on LFT 14, From the Cellar 8, From the Cellar 9, From the Cellar 10, From the Cellar 11, and/or From the Cellar 12, and I will send you the 80 page magazine and 15 scenarios.

-I can issue you a full refund.

Once again, I am so sorry for the disappointment and confusion in this matter.

Delivery has not been delayed and is expected in late February – early March

Please visit Le Franc Tireur for further information on their products and policies.

News for the upcoming days and weeks here at Ritter Krieg…

Monthly Raffle – Here is the finished coffee mug  from the good folks at Redheaded t-shirts for our monthly drawing.    To enter into the raffle for the month just subscribe to our blog at the top left of the page.  And remember, anyone who buys something in our store is automatically entered for a whole year of raffles (or until you win a prize).  November’s raffle will the a coffee mug with both sides of the 60mm OBA card on it.  So as you are sipping on your hot cup of tea you can thank God you aren’t in those cold mountains of Greece in the winter time.  Boy, do they look miserable.

 

AFV Turrets – we are finishing up a deal with Battleschool to get stock of the beautiful Russian/German and US/British turret counters from Countersmith Workshop.

 

Battle Dice – Good news! we have just about the entire line of Battledice from Battleschool in stock including some 14mm and 12.5mm precision backgammon dice.  Don’t forget that we are offering free shipping as always.  Bad News!  most of the dice are in quantities of one or two, so they may be sold out very soon.

 

Woodworking – We have orders for ASL tabletops (3) and Dicetowers (1) that we are working on.  Unfortunately, this puts any future orders into February + for completion.  If I ever get caught up, I will make some inventory for immediate sale to post in the store.  I will post finished photos as they become available.

Sniper, Terrain, and ECO cards-  The results of the poll are in and after weighing all that is involved, we have decided to produce the Sniper cards first.  This is a much more manageable project than the terrain cards and we want to get something out to you by ASLOK XXXI.  Hopefully the first installment of the terrain cards (PTO) will be ready by ASLOK XXXII.

Winter Offensive 2016

 

Bret and Perry. Two fine TD’s

 

Bret and Ed Jr. playing in the Dinant mini championship on Dan’s 3D map.

AAR

Thursday: Against the advice of my wife and the weatherman, Ray Woloszyn and I left Kernersville at noon for Bowie MD.  We arrived at the hotel around 6:30 and it was actually quite full with players but there was definitely more table space than usual and a lot less sharing tables going on.   First I head to the table to check in and I and all the other registered players are given a free copy of J11.  I also bought the new W.0. scenario pack.

Thursday evening: I picked up a game with Steven Kyle.  I had never met Steven before but sure am glad that I did.  We laughed more than we rolled.  I played as the Japanese who I really enjoy because of the little tricks I can use as the defender.  The tunnels are probably what saved me as I infiltrated back into his newly won bunker to ambush his unit.  A pretty nasty trick as you can advance concealed against his unit in the bunker for a -5 on the ambush roll.  I had a fantastic time playing him and chatting with him over the next 3 days.

My initial set-up.  Tunnels not shown.

Friday morning: I had made arrangements to play Dan Dolan on his upcoming Dinant module.  I took over on turn 2 from Doctor Rob as the defending French.  This is one of the most beautiful maps I have ever seen.  I am sure this will be a top seller and a collector’s item (and possibly give the nudge to MMP to get the CdG reprint rolling). Stephanne from France took over for me on turn 4.  I am not sure how this scenario ended but Stephanne and Dan were still going at it 36 hours later.

Friday Afternoon:  I started my day with a game against Warren.  I have never played or met him before either and we decided to play ‘Into Vienna Woods (AP52)’.  This was going to be the one game every year that has the crazy ending story.  In my last turn, Warren is in firm control with a 9-1, 3 x 4-5-8’s in the foxhole he needs for the win.  A NMC later, all but the leader is broken leaving the hex empty for me to advance into the foxhole with a 9-1, MMG, 6-5-8, 3-4-8, and a hero.   In his last prep fire phase, a 1MC breaks the leader and the squads leaving me with nothing more than a hero to defend with.  The 4-5-8’s rush the hill and all break to the hero’s fire except for one squad that advance in.  My hero fails his CC attack so it is for Warren to roll a 8 or less (a 9 would possibly win also depending on the subsequent wound severity roll).  The poor Russians forgot to bring shovels and bayonets with a 12 on the final roll of the game.  The German hero holds the position for the win.

Friday night: John Dober is one of my favorite people in the ASL community so I always make sure to find a way to get a game in with him.  He picked an old classic ‘The Crux of Calais’.  I moved my German tanks down the left flank of the canal.  The bridge on the far left across the canal is blown so I figure that the flank will be sparsely defended.  This will allow me to get my tanks in position to hurl smoke at the next bridge to insure a safe voyage across the water.  Well I was wrong.  Three hits from his AT gun and one from an ATR leave me with 3 less tanks and one immobilized.  Looking very bleak.  I manage to cross the bridge with a few squad and surround a large group in his main defensive building with my remaining tanks.  A HMG and MMG on L2 across the water threatens to interdict any of his units from the right side that will try to reinforce the battle, so John calls it quits probably more to get a good night’s sleep than anything else.

Saturday Morning:  I get a chance to meet and play the legend ‘Jim Stahler’.  We chose AP112 First Ally.  His Poles cleaned my clock.  I managed to do nothing more than break a couple of his squads.  I didn’t enjoy playing the Slovakians with their 3 FP firing into stone buildings.  It will take a better player than me to figure out how to use them properly.  The real enjoyment was the company I shared.  After talking about the old days of Avalon Hill and the designing of Breakout Normandy and others, we had lunch together where I found out that we both have a love for Irish music and we both play the tin whistle (I carry one in my car and he carries one in his pocket).  I told him that next year I would bring a guitar or a mandolin and we would get together to play a tune or two.

 

Saturday afternoon:  Ron and I sit down to another new scenario J167 ‘Hart Attack’.  This scenario is set in the hills and olive groves of Tunisia.  I made a mistake (as I often do) and misread the olive grove rules believing that a tank in olive groves are hull down.  I found out the next day from Ray that this isn’t the case.  The untimely demise of his 9-2 and 2 less Grants including one falling to an underbelly hit from a tungsten shell and victory was out of reach for Ron.

 

Saturday Evening:      “Wild Bill” Hayward, of ASLOK fame is my next opponent.  I have never played against him before as his night shift at Oktoberfest is way past my bedtime but we have spent many hours talking and am grateful that we finally get to face off against each other.  Just the three of us; Me, Bill, and a loaf of bread.  We played J173 ‘Assault on Baerendorf’. I was happy to get to play the Americans in this one.  With 5 Shermans and oodles of elite squads I managed to almost blow the game in the first turn.  As master players often do, Bill predicted my avenue of approach and was staring at the rear of all five of my tanks with his HIP JgPzIV(L).  Boom goes the first one, but then things get worse… I roll his SAN and it drifts to my 9-1 stacked with three squads (yes, I should know better).  For random selection I roll 5-5-5-5 (3 x SAN in the bank).   He choses the leader so now I have 3 x 1MC where I roll 4-4-4 which would be great if his SAN wasn’t a 4!  So now he has six SAN rolls.  Although he misses on all six, by turn three he was up to 14 sniper checks with another kill on my 8-1 and a wound on my 8-0.  Somehow I manage to pull it off on the last turn for the win.

 

Sunday Morning: I got a chance to play a brand new friend named Peter Ortega.  If any of you get a chance to meet or play him, you will not be disappointed.  He is a prime example of some of the best people in this hobby.  Polite, interested in learning, and willing to share stories outside of the world of wargaming.  We played ‘Brief Breakfast’ from ‘Out of the Attic’.  Peter told me tat he plays almost exclusively with his cousin so this was a great opportunity to learn some new tactics.  We were having so much fun that we were going to play a second scenario but a snow emergency called him home.  I expect to see him at ‘Where the Iron Crosses Grow’ in April.

 

Sunday Evening: Tom Arnold and I played AP59 ‘Taking Heads’.  Tom had very little experience playing PTO but it didn’t show as his elite squads banzai’d across the Kunai fields to engage my .50 cal toting Philippine Army.  I tried for two turns to slow him down with fire lanes but those 4-4-8’s are tough opponents and most made it into my positions to engage in HTH combat.  A slow withdrawal and back to the village before Steve (from game 1) took over from Tom to finish the game.  The IJA as is so often the case, lost momentum with all the striping in the waning turns of the game and were unable enough to wrestle enough VP’s from the good guys.  This ended up being my final game for the great weekend.

Special mention goes out to Perry and the Youse’s who never flinched in the face of the storm.  Ken Knot who gave as good as he got we traded insults for 4 days.  The Hotel for not running out of food or patience. The attendees for showing up and making it 4 days to remember.  I will see you all next year. In the future I promise to take more notes and photos.

 

Battle Dice:

Chris emailed me today that the dice are in early and will be shipping tomorrow.  They are coming from Canada so it may still take a week before I can ship them out to you.  Remember, all Battle Dice are on sale this month through our website and don’t forget your 10% coupon on orders over $100.00

 

Poland In Flames:

I had the opportunity to talk with Sam Tyson at Winter Offensive and he assures me that Poland In Flames is right around the corner.  So hopefully I will be shipping next week or the week after.  Lets all keep our fingers crossed