Volga 3 & 4 , three years, Money Grab?

tmanmerlin

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Here is the end of it for me. Will I miss having these, yes. Will I be at a loss for having ASL to play, NOOOOOOO. :)

As a collector, it was hard, but I've decided to put my cash with other publishers for sure.


The end of a two and a half year correspondence.

***
Hi maureen, please issue me a refund for my two stalingrad orders. its been a year since we discussed this and there is no end in sight.

mark

Maureen Customer Service <maureen.criticalhit@yahoo.com>
  • To:Mark -----

    Mon, May 2 at 9:43 AM



    Mark:

    Even though it goes against our policy, your copy has been earmarked and the counters have already been printed
    for your copy. I have issued a credit to your AMEX account today for the amount for $91.88 for both Volga 2 and 3--
    which is now less than the cost of just one of the Volga's.



    Sorry to see you go.

    Maureen-Customer Service

    ***

    welll ...... there are so many things to be said, but I'd rather review the Bog rules for playing Kursk !!! Now I have $93 to spend!!!
 

hongkongwargamer

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Even though it goes against our policy, your copy has been earmarked and the counters have already been printed
for your copy
. I have issued a credit to your AMEX account today for the amount for $91.88 for both Volga 2 and 3--
which is now less than the cost of just one of the Volga's.
I love how they craft each copy for each buyer. (BUUUUU---sht! .. argh, excuse me)
 

Paul_RS

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As an example. Over the years I have accumulated a number of CH countersheets. When sorting through the counters I found I had fifty six Su 76m Counters.

Now, unless I design something that would utilise that number of counters, the maximum number of Su 76m’s I think I can use any published scenario, unless I’m mistaken, is the monster scenario from The CH Berlin game (a good module BTW) where there are 14 listed across the scenario cards ( base counter mix has 6, I think). This is just one example. It stands to reason that most scenarios designers will stick to the base counter mix limits, or assume that if playing ftf that there may be an option to up the number assuming both players have the core modules.

I literally have thousands of counters that will never see the light of day.
CH counters are a mixed bag, some are very, very well done, others are not so good. Don’t know what the most recent counters are like as I haven’t bought any CH material for many years.

But, I’m sure there is a market for counters out there. Time to test that theory over the coming weeks.

cheers

Paul
H’mm, maybe there isn’t a market. Now on their 2nd relisting. At this rate I’ll struggle to give them away.
 

tmanmerlin

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Did Volga 3 and 4 ever come out? I don't see it for sale on e-bay, so I suspect not ??
 

WallysWrld

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Status:
Volga 3 and 4 not out yet, per latest CH emailer (dtd 9/23/2022), target is 4th Qtr.
Stumbling block appears to be map portrayal decisions.
Some examples, should Stalingrad map be:
  1. gutted style, buildings partially or wholly rubbled, or perhaps pristine and rely on counters
  2. should map simulate spring, winter, fall, or summer
  3. colors ... traditional vs brownish vs greyish, subdued etc.
  4. trench-lines or no trench-lines, fortifications or not, shell-holes or not, or bit of everything
  5. railroad lines ... along hex-sides or middle or combo of both
  6. hex map constraints vs actual topography vs combo of both
  7. hex size, standard or larger
That said, a Central Stalingrad large hex map came out (see attached).
Its sort of a combo/proof of concept of the above, a mini-module part of CH 4_1 Annual bundle re-issue [$49.95 x 70%(coupon) = $34.97 for the bundle]

22810
 
Last edited:

Paul_RS

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Status:
Volga 3 and 4 not out yet, per latest CH emailer (dtd 9/23/2022), target is 4th Qtr.
Stumbling block appears to be map portrayal decisions.
Some examples, should Stalingrad map be:
  1. gutted style, buildings partially or wholly rubbled, or perhaps pristine and rely on counters
  2. should map simulate spring, winter, fall, or summer
  3. colors ... traditional vs brownish vs greyish, subdued etc.
  4. trench-lines or no trench-lines, fortifications or not, shell-holes or not, or bit of everything
  5. railroad lines ... along hex-sides or middle or combo of both
  6. hex map constraints vs actual topography vs combo of both
  7. hex size, standard or larger
That said, a Central Stalingrad large hex map came out (see attached).
Its sort of a combo/proof of concept of the above, a mini-module part of CH 4_1 Annual bundle re-issue [$49.95 x 70%(coupon) = $34.97 for the bundle]

View attachment 22810
That looks like a straight copy of the Campaign for the Railway Station map that was published in On All Fronts many, many years ago. Tom Morin was the designer IIRC. Whether the scenarios are the the same or not I wouldn’t know.
The original was just a black and white line drawing. I enlarged it and coloured the map myself. Of course the same area is already covered in Valor of the Guards.
 

Actionjick

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That looks like a straight copy of the Campaign for the Railway Station map that was published in On All Fronts many, many years ago. Tom Morin was the designer IIRC. Whether the scenarios are the the same or not I wouldn’t know.
The original was just a black and white line drawing. I enlarged it and coloured the map myself. Of course the same area is already covered in Valor of the Guards.
I don't think On All Fronts gets the recognition it really deserves. One of the first SL/ASL publications IIRC.
 

Paul_RS

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I think On All Fronts is great, wish I could go to the library and read all the issues.
Some of the illustrations were a bit cartoonish at times but they also had plenty of scenarios from top designers looking for an outlet for their talents. I have all the issues that had ASL related material in them.
 

Gunner Scott

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RT seems to be regurgitating alot of old stuff of late. I still really like the Vietnam war stuff, but publishing the Ukrainian war with Russia stuff just seems a bit odd and perhaps a money grab?

scott
That looks like a straight copy of the Campaign for the Railway Station map that was published in On All Fronts many, many years ago. Tom Morin was the designer IIRC. Whether the scenarios are the the same or not I wouldn’t know.
The original was just a black and white line drawing. I enlarged it and coloured the map myself. Of course the same area is already covered in Valor of the Guards.
 

Paul_RS

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RT seems to be regurgitating alot of old stuff of late. I still really like the Vietnam war stuff, but publishing the Ukrainian war with Russia stuff just seems a bit odd and perhaps a money grab?

scott
It's not a recently initiated trend, it's been happening for a very long time. But, hey you pay your money, and you take your chances. I don't buy CH stuff anymore and haven't done for a very long time. But TBF I have been caught out on pre-orders with other wargames companies where I paid up front and the games failed to materialize. I eventually got my money back and the company in question lost a customer for life. Not ASL BTW.
 

Carln0130

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That looks like a straight copy of the Campaign for the Railway Station map that was published in On All Fronts many, many years ago. Tom Morin was the designer IIRC. Whether the scenarios are the the same or not I wouldn’t know.
The original was just a black and white line drawing. I enlarged it and coloured the map myself. Of course the same area is already covered in Valor of the Guards.
That's exactly what it is.
 

Hutch

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Status:
Volga 3 and 4 not out yet, per latest CH emailer (dtd 9/23/2022), target is 4th Qtr.
Stumbling block appears to be map portrayal decisions.
So, this hasn't been playtested on the correct map, they plan to release it within 3 months?
 
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