Understanding the CH Counters.

gulliver62

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OK, I will start with a few confessions.
- Yes, I am a total newb and really have no real use for any of these products (yet! there is a yet.)
- But, i'm obsessive....and I want them

I am researching in several places and having a difficult time distinguishing the exact nature of some (many?) of the CH counter sets for sale. My search skills are for sure not what the should be. I ordered some offbeat ones (Polish - Norwegian - US Rangers) to get a feel for them. Before I go spending a lot more $$, any help would be appreciated. There is not much description on the CH site and the picture isn't detailed enough (or include all the sheets) to do a real comparison. So...

a. Are some of the counter sets identical with different names? (e.g. Gold Beach Khaki British and Sword Beach Khaki British)
b. Are the Nationality sets duplicates of counters you would get in MMP modules but with different graphics and color? (and I'm not saying that is a bad thing at all) (e.g. Nationality Set 1 for the US and the counters you get in Yanks)
c. Are some counter sets duplicates of what you would get in the Nationality Sets but they are a sub-set that is included in one of the games? (e.g. ASL Western Front St. Lo and Nationality Set 1)
d. There appear to be scattered counters that would not appear in MMP products correct? (e.g. Russian Lend Lease vehicles)
e. Is there any set that might reasonably duplicate the counters that come with Croix de Guerre?
f. Is there any source that explains in reasonable detail the actual contents of each of the counter sets?

Any insight you can give me would be appreciated. Feel free to expand on my questions but I thought it best to start with some specific ones. Thanks for helping out the new guy.
 

von Marwitz

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One piece of advice before you spend a lot of dollars on CH stuff:

Take the time to search for and read through a number of threads here on CH, their products, their weaknesses & strengths, their designs, their playtest philosophy, their customer service, etc.

Of course, this is also true for other TPPs, such as BFP, LFT, Friendly Fire, Lone Canuck, Schwerpunkt, etc.

After you did so, you will be better able to judge what each company offers, what your preferences are, where it might be a good idea to sink dollars into and what to pass up. There is a lot of stuff out there, and unless money is not an issue at all, you want the best bang for the buck.

von Marwitz
 

RRschultze

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One piece of advice before you spend a lot of dollars on CH stuff:

Take the time to search for and read through a number of threads here on CH, their products, their weaknesses & strengths, their designs, their playtest philosophy, their customer service, etc.

Of course, this is also true for other TPPs, such as BFP, LFT, Friendly Fire, Lone Canuck, Schwerpunkt, etc.

After you did so, you will be better able to judge what each company offers, what your preferences are, where it might be a good idea to sink dollars into and what to pass up. There is a lot of stuff out there, and unless money is not an issue at all, you want the best bang for the buck.

von Marwitz
I agree with your comments but I believe in my opinion that CH's counters are top notch, up there with BFP's. MMP's are so 80's
 

bprobst

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Thanks for helping out the new guy.
Here's the best advice I can give:

Do not purchase any Critical Hit products.

If for some god-forsaken reason you ignore the above advice, try the following:

Do not purchase any Critical Hit products at full retail price.

Here's a third piece of advice: Do not buy more than one CH product at a time. The odds are very good that (a) the first product will drive you to despair, and a second might actively lead to self-destruction and (b) the second product will be the first product with a new name.

But seriously ... do not purchase any CH products. Ever.

It's no different ... no difference at all ... to just taking your wallet and throwing it into a furnace. Except that in the latter case, you won't feel like a complete idiot.
 

bprobst

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I believe in my opinion that CH's counters are top notch, up there with BFP's. MMP's are so 80's
What use are "top notch" counters that aren't worth buying? At least BFP give you something that you might actually want to use.
 

Gunner Scott

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I do agree with the oberst, The CH counters are ok but are not top notch, they are functional but usually unnecessary since the official core stuff covers all bases. As for BFP, I think they go overboard with additional counters and makes setting up a scenario way to painful at times.

Oberst Hussar writes:
What use are "top notch" counters that aren't worth buying? At least BFP give you something that you might actually want to use.
 

RRschultze

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I do agree with the oberst, The CH counters are ok but are not top notch, they are functional but usually unnecessary since the official core stuff covers all bases. As for BFP, I think they go overboard with additional counters and makes setting up a scenario way to painful at times.

Oberst Hussar writes:
Everyone to their own I suppose. For me CH counter art looks better than MMP's, add in the colour AFV's as well and winter clothing for those winter scenarios and you can always buy them with the 30% discount which is roughly $10 it's a winner. Also they have started doing a lot of the other nationalities.
 

Alan Hume

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I have to say I have been very pleased with the Critical Hit Black SS counters I bought, on a par with the industry standard nowadays I would say, they look very good

I am just hoping that they bring out a set of British counters as it doesn't look like For King and Country is going to be reprinted anytime soon (saying that of course then I have to see if I can afford to actually buy them, so much ASL goodness is coming out soon it's nigh on impossible to keep up so, yeah, even if they did bring them out I might be hard pressed to buy them)
 

witchbottles

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I believe the idea of complete Nationality countersets is long overdue, and I am glad to see both Alan ( battleground) and CH working to provide them.

The counters seem okay for the most part, at times there are errors. CH is well-known for shipping error-strewn counters (along with other items) to their customers at times ( a lack of product / quality control at the packing stage).

CH is also well-known for charging more for their sales, but that is largely driven by their own print on demand equipment costs nowadays.

You can find many CH counters that cover things you cannot find in any other product ( ie no one else I know has ever published a set of HJ counters along with their Unit substitution counters. Or a BAR gunner counter.)

I can say with some certainty that the UK units landed at Sword were not identical in formation, nationality, or equipment , to the units landed at Gold - on D-Day. So differences in ASL counters if one was building a full set of both would be likely, indeed.

Finally, for CH, it is always - caveat emptor. research and buy what you prefer and desire, after determining it may have a use and fit in your ASL kit. But I think this should be a good rule of thumb for ALL publishers of ASL stuff, myself. I skipped on DaE - ASLSK is not my thing - so I don't own any of its products.

:)

KRL, Jon H
 

kynken

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I will go against the norm, I think their counter work has gotten better over the years, but there seems to be an over-saturation of counters to drive you crazy. I have bought counters from them before, I'll admit it. Their different nationality approach is interesting. Now, the game system needs more French counters. I would purchase those from them.
 

Ranger 6

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CH is also well-known for charging more for their sales, but that is largely driven by their own print on demand equipment costs nowadays.
CH ceased doing its own printing a number of years ago. Everything now is printed through US-based vendors.

I picked up nat sets 1 and 3, the OD Yanks and gray Germans. Overall pleased with the products.
 

gulliver62

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I bought some small sets to check them out. Poles, Norwegians were different artwork and a very slightly different mix of counters. Rangers and Para. I actually like the OD of these counters better than the bright green of the official counters but they are slightly harder to read. Everything is harder to read for me it seems. I am pleased with them and will try to get a few pics over the weekend. I'll buy more counters for something different.
 

gulliver62

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I haven't found any evidence that they have done something that might be a French counter OOB. There are some French counters in the various incarnations of the Stonne product. I have not seen anything that would get around the need for Croix de Guerre.
 

Bob Walters

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Really, if you do not have all the nationalities you get them where you can. Yes I hear that at some point MMP will come out with a combination of CDG and Dinant in an HASL but no word as to when. If MMP announced that they would be publishing their French module in a couple of months then maybe it would be worth waiting. However, waiting say until the end of the year would be a drag. One might as well buy them now. Besides as an HASL I'll probably buy it anyway.
 

csiemers

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Sure would be nice to see up close samples of the French and Partisan counters. I'd almost consider it, but without seeing the counters better I'm very unlikely to pull the trigger.
 

Bob Walters

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Sure would be nice to see up close samples of the French and Partisan counters. I'd almost consider it, but without seeing the counters better I'm very unlikely to pull the trigger.
Yeah, I wish they had larger pictures on their website but the counters I have from them I find OK. They post pictures of the counter sheets but they are too small to tell the detail.
 
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