The New Anchor Games

[rerathbun]

I was passing through Alabama, so I had the chance to visit Avalanche Press today. I asked Dr. Mike about some of this. It seems (based on sales) that anyone who (1) plays PG and (2) is interested in the eastern front, already owns Eastern Front. Once in a while a copy will sell, but not enough to justify paying for parts storage.

Also, the Panzer Grenadier series has improved greatly (map art and scenario quality) since Eastern Front was released. Updating the game would require new-game-level effort for a retread. He'd like to revisit the early war eastern front eventually, but if he does, it will be a completely new game (or two or three). By that I mean new maps, new counter mix and completely new scenarios. No updates of old scenarios. After all, EF covered only a miniscule percentage of the actions fought on the eastern front in the early years of the war. There are plenty more to fight.

As for supplements, many of them are also reaching the end of their sales lives. Avalanche Press is still a very small operation, and they need to focus their resources on items that will sell. The new standard for supplements is Marianas 1944 or Winter Soldiers, titles that require one or at most two boxed games to play. The older ones that drew pieces and maps from four or five (or more!) games were always a tough sell for everyone but a few hardcore fans.

Things are definitely improving at Avalanche Press. No more releasing updates of old titles just to have something to put in the store (Edelweiss IV anyone?). There are new boxed games and books coming down the pipeline all the time.