Category Archives: Uncategorized

#88 Raaco counter Storage, battledice restock, March Madness 2020, china-india-burma, glider assault video

Hi everyone. I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy, safe, and with as little disruption as possible in these uncertain times. Perhaps this is a good time to break out Solitaire ASL (new scenarios in Kampfgruppe Scherer Player’s Guide and Onslaught to Orsha), or play some VASL, or set-up a thoughtful defenses of a large scenario. In any event I am thankful that we have have such a wonderful hobby that allows our minds to stay active and engaged with ourselves and our friends even while we may be stuck at home. Now is a great time to submit some ASL fiction for me to post here for everyone to enjoy. On my end, I just celebrated my 50th birthday. Amy made me a chocolate cake and for my birthday she bought me a Gopro for my ASL videos. So, I have set a personal goal of no longer having the poorest quality videos on the internet. Included below is my first video with my new camera. I have decided to do a ‘how to’ on glider landings. This will hopefully motivate some of you to try it for the first time. There are some really fun scenarios out there included in FKaC and Kreta that involve Gliders. I hope you enjoy.

RAACO Counter Storage System

We have placed our order from Europe and the Raaco boxes should be arriving within the next 2 weeks. I am taking orders now. Each handybox comes with a carrying case, four trays with flat lids, 64 dividers with 320-512 separate compartments (depending on which inserts you choose). Please include the breakdown of dividers in the comments section of the order or feel free to call or e-mail me.

Battledice

We finally received our large restock from Helen and Chris at Battleschool. Among the long awaited titles that are now back on the shelves are Soviet 30th Anniversary, British For King and Country, US Army, US Airborne, and the backgammon Dice.


March Madness 2020

The newest March Madness is here with 8 brand new state of the art scenarios. Be sure to collect all of the available packs in the series with this bundle at a very special price.

China – India – Burma

Honestly I just forgot to restock this item. Critically acclaimed scenarios and articles on the forgotten theater is available again in very limited quantities.

Video: Gliders at Maleme

#89 – Rat Charts v3. SK Expansion Pack 2. ASL Contest. Paradrop Video. The 2 Half Squads Interview

Rat Pocket Charts v3

The 4th rendition (v1, v2, v2+, v3) of Le Franc Tireur’s Rat Pocket Charts are must have ASL accessory and is at the printer and days away from landing at our doorstep. The new charts have tons of additional information, updated charts, and 16 new pages. They are available in three different formats with no laminated pages, IFT/IIFT laminated, and IFT/IIFT/To Hit/To Kill laminated. This version has incorporated Forgotten War and LFT14 Italian info into the contents. We should be shipping to you in June.

Starter Kit Expansion Pack #2

In a break from tradition, this is the first ASLSK product to be released that has dependencies on previous SK releases. It comes with 2 boards, a full counter sheet and 8 scenarios. Expected release date has not been announced yet.

Contest #89

Okay, so maybe it’s not our 89th contest. Let me count… One. This is our first contest. I am naming it #89 so we know which post it first appeared in. To enter, send an email to dritter519@gmail.com with the title Contest #89 and the correct (or most correct) answer based on rules and probabilities. One correct entry will be chosen randomly for a most excellent prize. This was taken from a game I recently played and lost as the German player.

Situation: The Germans must have 4VP worth of infantry in buildings (M7, K7, K10) at Game End. It is the German Turn 6 PFPh. How should the German player proceed to ensure the greatest chance of success? The units in M7 are in melee (the cat must have knocked the counter off).

Paradrops – Video

Here is a little video to continue the series. Like always, if I screwed up a rule or two, sent me a note.

The 2 Half-Squads interview with…me

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Dave and Jeff for their wonderfully entertaining ASL podcast. We talked about everything and anything hobby related for about an hour. I had such a great time and hope to do it again sometime in the future.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-4dsav-d676bc?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share

3D ASL Dinant Map and much more

Dinant 1940:

Dinant 3D

Well after 30+ hours, the 3D Dinant map for the upcoming ASL Campaign Game covering Rommel’s famous crossing of the Meuse is complete.  I will be delivering it to Dan Dolan at Winter Offensive  on the 21st of January.  If you are attending the convention, be sure to check it out or check with Dan to see if he’ll let you take it for a test drive.

Speaking of 3D maps, I am making another Kakazu Ridge 3d map also for Dan and have been filming the complete process with my Go-Pro.  I will be posting the how-to video on Youtube and on this site for those that are interested.

 

Yanks 2:

Yanks

I spoke with Luanne this morning and she told me that Yanks will NOT be ready for W.O.  Also remember that YANKS  can be ordered for the MMP pre-order price right here on our website with free shipping so you can save $10-$15.

 

Ammo Crate/Map Case:

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My last Ammo Crate to hold ASL maps has been sold to Eric Ortega of the South-West Outpost.  He liked the idea of an Afrika Korps design so I am doing my best to reproduce the style in the above photo.  The interior is soft craft foam to protect the boards and it holds all of the Geo boards plus the Fort style boards, plus the Historical mapsheets with ease. The photo seen above is not of the map case but of the style I used.  Here is a photo of the finished product:

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Poland In Flames with free Battle Dice:

Battledice Polish

Although all three copies of the Pre-Order special that comes with free Polish Battle Dice are sold, Chris is sending me more dice so I will extend the offer for up to another 2 copies of PIF if ordered before the end of this week.

 

The 2 Halfsquads:

twohs

Ritterkrieg is now the official sponsor of  The 2 Half Squads ASL podcast.  If you are not familiar with Jeff and Dave, please check them out.  They have almost 200 episodes that span hundreds of hours of ASL talk, comedy, rules, AAR’s, reviews, special guests from the world of ASL, etc.  They make the long drives to conventions fly by painlessly.

 

Almost Sold Out:

Here is a list of items that we are down to our last copy…

BFP: Crucible of Steel and Operation Cobra.

MMP: ASL Map Bundle (SK Style), Annual ’92, Annual ’93 , Action Pack 5,  and Action Pack 6.

Battle Dice: US Airborne Battledice US Airborne Precision Dice & Axis & Allies Axis and Allies

Lone Canuck Publishing: Bloody Buron & .

 

 

 

 

 

3D ASL Mapboards

Because I needed even more hobbies to fill my hours of free time, I started making 3D ASL maps a few years ago.  The first map I made actually wasn’t an ASL map but was the TCS map from ‘Hunters from the Sky’.  I was having a terrible time cutting out the foam with an x-acto knife so I tried using craft foam (the stuff that pads our dice towers) and although this was easy to work with, it left a very warped map.  Then, thanks to Tim Brieaddy, I found out about hot wire cutters and so was back to regular Styrofoam sheets for my levels.

My completed maps include:

  • Panzer Blitz: Hill Of Death
  • ASL: Kakazu Ridge
  • ASL: Point of no return (given to Doug Sheppard)
  • ASL: Various scenarios

IMG_1354 Panzer Blitz Hill of Death

 

 

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first attempt at 3D Kakazu Ridge. Since then, I have learned a lot about seams and finish.

A few day ago, Dan Dolan asked me to make 3D maps of the Dinant CG and Kakazu Ridge.  I will be posting photos and commentary here with the progress as I go.

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As a first step, I divide the map file in into sizes that can fit onto 8 1/2 x11 sheets of printer paper.  I should have printed these in  black and white to save toner but I forgot.  Next I trim the edges very carefully so there will be a seamless fit once glued to the  1/2″ particle board.

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Here we see the 12 divisions of mapsheet 1 laid out on the particle board.  Prior to gluing the paper to the board, it will be cut down to an exact 36.5″ x 22.5″.  The extra .5 will allow a .25″ overlap on each edge of the side boards for stability. Note that these prints will be covered up by foam and the final laminated higher quality prints of the top layers.

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This is a photo of the top layer that will cover the final levels of the 3D map.  These are printed at Staples and then assembled and laminated for protection in case Dan Stanhagen ever plays with his orange Doritos stained fingers.

 

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The east bank of the Meuse

 

The raised railroad on the West Bank of the Meuse

3D Kakazu Ridge Map Complete, Beyond Valor in Stock, 20,000th visit

It has been one heck of a flying start to the new year.  Beyond Valor is back in print, Journal 11 has been put on pre-order, Poland in Flames is days away, Yanks is right behind, Korea is on pre-order.  Time to get a second job I guess.

Winter Offensive is only four days away.  I wasn’t planning on going this year but alas I have a map table and three 3D maps that need to be delivered so I am happy to have changed my mind.  Please find me and introduce yourself if you are going as I would love to put faces to the names and get some games in with some of my readers.   Unfortunately Ulrich will not be coming with me this year as Maria thinks that 9 days out of school for ASLOK was enough.

 

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The final project on my list was finished last night.  The Kakazu Ridge 3D map for Dan Dolan turned out better that I had imagined.  I hope he likes it and will allow me to get a scenario in on it at WO before he hauls it home.  I have made a ‘how to make a 3D Map Page‘ for any of you that are interested in making your own 3D maps.  I tried to make a video but the audio did not come out (I forgot to remove the gopro from it’s waterproof protective case).  I may post the video anyway as you can turn the volume way up and hear a little bit.  Now it is time to play some ASL as I take a long overdue break from all my projects (except Tim’s Dice Tower).

 

 

Map Case

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These are the photos of the finished Map case for Eric Ortega at the Southwest Outpost.  It too turned out better that I thought.  I aged it a bit as it was a little too pristine to have the right combat look.

 

beyond valor

We have Beyond Valor in stock with free shipping and 10% off your entire order coupon code ‘10%off’.  I have one copy of Beyond Valor that has a small crease in the box IMG_2870that I have marked down another 10%.  I am happy to hear from so many of you that are buying BV for the first time after playing Starter Kit.  Welcome to major league, just watch out the hordes of screaming women throwing themselves at you.  It takes a little getting used to.

 

We had our 20,000th visit today.  Considering we have only been up for 2 months, I am very happy with these numbers. Thanks to all of you for making this happen.

 

 

AAR:

None- I can’t buy a game lately.  Where is everyone?!?

 

 

 

Advanced Squad Leader Companion #1 by Jim Stahler – LFT

100 pages

the ASL Companion is divided into 90 chapters grouped into twelve parts, as you may see in the Comprehensive Table of Contents of the magazine.

PART I
The Many Facets of ASL

Chapter 1 Welcome to Advanced Squad Leader
Chapter 2 Warriors and Weapons
Chapter 3 The Lay of the Land
Chapter 4 The Play of the Game
Chapter 5 The Role of Fate

Chapter 1, “Welcome to Advanced Squad Leader” introduces the reader to ASL and discusses the history of the Squad Leader and ASL game systems.

The next four chapters will discuss the four main components of ASL, the pieces, the mapboards and overlays, the scenarios, and the dice. These five chapters form Part I, “The Many Facets of ASL”.

In issue # 1, you will find Chapters 1 & 2.

and the winner is…

The winner of the November 2015 raffle for the one of a kind 60mm OBA coffee mug is Chris Brackney.   Congrats Chris, I will be mailing your prize in the morning.  Thanks to Tim Brieaddy at Redheaded t-shirts for supplying the great prize. December’s raffle will be the 70mm OBA coffee mug.  Remember that you are automatically entered into the raffle for 12 months with any purchase from the site.

I just got back from the NY State ASL Championships last night.  This was my first time attending and it was a great experience.  Steve, Gary, and Joe did a great job running a very tight ship.  The raffle prizes were out of this world.  Congrats to JR Tracy for the big win.

I have posted some new products in the store including some Grofaz USMC dice (only one set left).

There are only 3 spots left for the ‘Where the Iron Crosses Grow’ team tournament.  If you have always wanted to experience Kernersville’s premier ASL event, now is your chance!  Don’t let your dreams be dreams.  Yesterday you said tomorrow…JUST DO IT!

Countersmith Workshop turrets are in hand.  I will be posting them to the site shortly.

 

ASL Box Art for Sale – Ken Smith Historical Prints now available

At the Albany tournament last weekend, one of the prizes was a framed and numbered print of Ha-Go, the box art for MMP’s Pacific module Rising Sun.

hago

Up until then, I didn’t even realize that these prints were available for purchase.  So I contacted Mr. Smith and we will be selling his fantastic limited edition prints on our website now.

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All of your favorite ASL box artwork can now be purchased through our website including the new box art for Yanks2.   Remember that shipping is always free and don’t forget to use the 10% coupon(coupon code ‘10%off’ ).

Click here to see all of his great prints