Dien Bien Phu 2nd Edition

[James Taylor]

More of a comment about the state of work ethic in this country.

I am both grumpy and off topic.

ah... now I understand. (he said while posting from work :shy:)

DBP rocks. buy it. Now.

I did! :yummy:

JT

 

[Dave Lamb]

I'm really glad to hear that DBP CG is being played. I really enjoyed putting it together, but feared people wouldn't give it a try. I was worried about playtesting and whether it had enough. I'm glad my fears were unfounded. :vsign:

As for the 2nd ed., we've got three new scenarios (all originally published in CH 7/1 magazine) added to the original fifteen.

Carl also has made a follow-up submission of several more scenarios and historical maps (such as the battle of the Tea Plantation) that will be released separately. More to come on those.

Oh, and the new map rocks!

 

[ChrisBuehler]

I'm really glad to hear that DBP CG is being played. I really enjoyed putting it together, but feared people wouldn't give it a try. I was worried about playtesting and whether it had enough. I'm glad my fears were unfounded. :vsign:

As for the 2nd ed., we've got three new scenarios (all originally published in CH 7/1 magazine) added to the original fifteen.

Carl also has made a follow-up submission of several more scenarios and historical maps (such as the battle of the Tea Plantation) that will be released separately. More to come on those.

Oh, and the new map rocks!

Sounds awesome Dave! Any chance you can post a pic/sample of the map?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Houlie]

To quote our western Michigan contingent (and their sleeveless mascot/butt boy) it is "Rock Hard".

Grab Bernard Fall's book Hell In A Very Small Place for a good overview of the situation. There are other books on hte topic but this is required reading.

Well, if our jingle nuts hippie friend gives it a "Rock Hard" rating, I'll place my order right now. Seriously, thanks for the opinion and the book title. I'll nab this through The Gamer's Armory once it's released. I'll look for the book, too, on Amazon.

Cheers from your neighbor to the north!

 

[Psycho]

To quote our western Michigan contingent (and their sleeveless mascot/butt boy) it is "Rock Hard".

Sleeveless mascot? :angry: Butt boy? :freak: Rock Hard!

 

[countermanCX]

I'm really glad to hear that DBP CG is being played. (...) Oh, and the new map rocks!

I haven't played any DBP, but I rilly enjoyed making its map & ctrs for VASL. Carl sent me a listie of 'published sources', so I ordered up a copy of Bernard Fall's "Hell in a Very Small Place" - an excellent book, but a thoroughly dismal narrative - I'm glad I finished the VASL package b/4 reading the book, else I'd've been too depressed to continue working on it!

I gather that DBP2 has new ctr-art, but is its CG map-artwork new, too?

 

[countermanCX]

Just teasing the counterman, guys.

hey, Portal, sorry 'bout the rant, guess I rose too quickly to your bait, but don't do that any more, OK? I get my federal daily requirement of stress from my boss, & anyone else who taps on my glass will watch me grab the Panzerfaust off my rear-window rifle-rack.
wrt G48.mdx, my apprentice-ctrman has a seasonal gig, he's not got time to VASLize right now. But we've been exchanging a lot of mail turnin' him on to a few secret ctrman tips, IMO his stuff is gonna rock, stay tuned.

 

[Carln0130]

Just picking up on this thread guys, been away from the forum for the most part the last couple of months. Thanks for the kind words. If I may suggest a couple of other books. The Last Valley by Martin Windrow, an Osprey contributor, is an excellent read on the battle. Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall is a good look at the overall IndoChina War. Both of these can be picked up through any major book outlet.
Also, if you can get it through your Inter library loan system, you might be able to pull in either The IndoChina War 1945-1954 by Edgar O'Ballance (Yeah, real original title) or The Quicksand Warrelude To Vietnam by Lucien Bedard. Both good looking books that shed some light on the overall conflict, though I have to say I prefer O'Ballance to Bedard for both style and substance.

 

[Dave Lamb]

Well folks, if you enjoyed the counters that have come out in products like Toktong, then you'll probably like the artwork also on the new DBP. The Vietminh have a red background interior with a dark green border (instead of light green interior with a dark green border as in 1st ed.). The artwork is far superior to our earlier version too. The French paras look great, as do the poses on all of the Vietminh SMC and MMC.

 

[Radetzky]

Dave,

the new counters are really nice and i'd seriously consider buying any new product that comes with 'Berlin Style' counter sheets, even without looking at the map or the scenarios first. There's no accounting for taste anyway, but i'd say the decision to overcome the limitations of the 'classic' Avalon Hill counter style was a golden one.

Keep up the good work, the module made me buy the excellent books by Windrow and Fall.

Cheers
Jan

 

[Peebs]

Is this available for shipping now?

 

[Houlie]

Scott from Gamer's Armory said the 2nd Ed. boxed version is only available direct from CH. What's up with that?

It looks like that is the only "package" with all the "stuff" for those who don't have the original version -- true??

 

[countermanCX]

The Vietminh have a red background interior with a dark green border (instead of light green interior with a dark green border as in 1st ed.).

Feh! VASLizers don't rilly cotton to red - sometimes it's hard to get enough visual contrast for decent read-ability (but not as hard as white lettering on the evilblackSS background). Still, black text on a red background won't be nearly as tough to deal with as red text on the Soviet-brown background.

Is there any new/revised map artwork in DBP2e?

 

[Dave Lamb]

Is this available for shipping now?

This is not released yet. The counters just went to the printers.

The boxed version is supposedly only available from CH direct. The Ziplock version will be available from all of the normal vendors. The latter will be cheaper too.

 

[Dave Lamb]

I do not own the module, but am intrigued by the boxed edition. The extras that are included with this edition, are they required for play or would the zip lock version work ok without the extras?

Thanks,
Mike

I'm honestly not sure. All I know is what I've seen on the website:

http://www.criticalhit.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=254

http://www.criticalhit.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=252

It looks like the ziplock is only for previous owners who wish to upgrade their existing sets. The boxed edition is for first time customers for DBP.

The following was posted in the CH message board:

The product strategy for ASLComp Dien Bien Phu has been deployed at the site in the form of new IN PRODUCTION products as follows:

- Dien Bien Phu Boxed 2nd Edition—This is built around the limited supply of boxes and cardstock boards/overlays we have and also includes the new counters, historical map, 18 scenarios on cards, 984 BERLIN STYLE color die-cut counters, and a new variant play aid.

- Dien Bien Phu Ziploc® Edition—Thisis similar in approach to TIGERS TO THE FRONT, i.e., the new historical map, 984 counters, 12 scenarios that play on historical map and geomorphs, variant rulebook. No box, no overlays, and does not include the scenarios that play on the D1, D2, and D3 boards that come in the boxed edition.

- Dien Bien Phu Upgrade Kit—This is for owners of the first edition boxed game, includes 984 color die-cut counters, 18 scenarios on cards, new map, and variant play aid.

I hope that helps.

Dave

 

[Dave Lamb]

Here is a GIF of one sample of counter artwork for 2nd ed. Vietminh HS.

 

[countermanCX]

Here is a GIF of one sample of counter artwork for 2nd ed. Vietminh HS.

k - here's the 1st-pass VASLization of your 248 HS.

This is just a first-pass, rung up from D. Lamb's posted gif imagefile. I've looked at some other possibilities (color-mixes of the HS-silhouette onto/into the red background), but this image seems reasonable to me. But I'll have to see if it can work OK w/ the currently-defined ?-ctrs, Guns, etc.

Do you think the 'red backgound' in this VASL ctr is working OK, or maybe the central red background should be de-emphasized to allow the unit-artwork to show up more?

 

[Radetzky]

Dave,

please quit posting those tantalizingly splendid looking counter graphics, makes the wait for the finished product that much more agonizing... mustn't even think of the extra-delay till the game will finally reach us european customers. I really really hope all the existing modules will get the 'new counters treatment' in the near future.

Keep up the good work
Jan

 

[Dave Lamb]

The artist really did do a great job. My copy is a lot larger in high detail resolution. It shows every authentic piece of equipment. You can also see the oriental features of the faces for the individual soldiers.

I told Ray that I was quite pleased with the end result. All existing and new modules will get this treatment. Omaha will be quite stunning.

 

[Scott_Blanton]

Based on what I was reading at the CH web site, there will be 3 versions of DBP 2nd edition.

1. Box set, direct from CH only.
2. Bagged version, 2nd edition.
3. Bagged upgrade for previous owners. Has new counters, maps, etc.

This kind of agrees with Dave's post above #55.

Scott