Why does this page exist? Its very simple. Critical Hit has about the worse customer service of any "vendor" I have seen, experienced, or heard of. I've purchased several things from Critical Hit such as Scotland the Brave I, Jatkosota, Soldiers of the Negus, and of course Platoon Leader to name a few. Platoon Leader's last release is required by Critical (S)Hit newest modules. I got fed up knowing that the original Platoon Leader I purchased, the free upgrade they provided (due to the unplayability and bugs in the original) no longer works. And having to buy another release really pisses me off. Personally I am fed up with having to continue to buy somerthing that was supposed to work correctly the first time.
Lucky for us ASL'ers. Heat Of Battle has picked up the gauntlet and will release their "Platoon Leader" equivalent soon, called "Company Commander." Meanwhile if having to continously upgrade your Platoon Leader doesn't make you happy, or maybe your just tired of buying underdeveloped add-ons, or sick of Critical (S)Hits lousy customer service (try getting Ray Tapio to answer your email) then read on...
I have posted both good and bad comments in here. All excerps are from the Advanced Squad Leader listserve. So before you spend your hard earned money with Critical Hit, you may want to take a moment and read this section.
Gents,
Thought I would sound off on this before the thread gets the ax. I've been lurking on this one, but now it's time for my 2 cents, I reckon.
I guess you could now call me a former CH customer. I've vowed to myself in the past that I would never purchase another CH product but usually break down when some new CH module appears. I caved again when STBII was released. Now, I like what Ian has done and this is, for me, a truly interesting battle. But, as most of you have read by now, there is some trouble with the map. The colors don't jive with the STBI and some terrain features (like walls) are difficult to see. I wrote to CH and Ian and asked if something would be done to rectify the situation. I'm not asking for another copy of the map. I would be happy with some more errata to add to the list that would make it easier for me to determine what's what and make the package more playable. So far I have yet to receive a reply. I'm guessing that my request has fallen into the nut mail bin.
Now, on to PL 2.5. Personally, I think the folks at CH should have made the rules set freely available the moment ATTB and STBII shipped. It would have been a good faith gesture to players in general and to those who have already invested time/money in CH products in particular. However, as all of you can see, this is not the case.
Anyway, that's my two cents. I'll go on record here as vowing never, ever to purchase another product produced by CH. Since they are now a business, and not just a bunch of hobbyists interested in "the Game", I think consumers should not give them the benefit of the doubt anymore. I, for one, will not.
Yours in ASL,
Jim Shetler
From: Matt Romey
>James Shetler wrote: >Personally, I think the folks at CH should >have made the rules set freely available the moment ATTB >and STBII shipped. It would have been a good faith >gesture to players in general and to those who have already >invested time/money in CH products in particular.
It *WOULD* have been a good faith gesture for CH to include the PL2.5 rules in TTB, or even to put them on the website like they said they would. But it seems obvious to me that CH doesn't give a flying fuck about the ASL community. "But they are a business" you may say. Well, so are MMP, HoB, ToT, SP and others. But the difference is that these guys have the best interests of the hobby first and foremost; ahead of making money. At least I believe that. They love ASL, and have friends and peers whose respect they desire. They do what's best for the hobby because they want to gain and retain that respect. But CH doesn't care one lick about the respect of the ASL community - that is obvious from their silence on this issue up to now.
This is in no way a condemnation of the designers of CH products. Most of them, I believe, are guys who just want to do something cool for the hobby. They either don't know (or don't notice) that CH is screwing ASL consumers everywhere by releasing under-developed (at least on the CH end) products at inflated prices.
Flame away. I'll most likely delete it promptly anyway.
Matt "The customer isn't the only one who gets screwed by CH" Romey Balboa, CA maromey@mmm.com
I just purchased Pointe du Hoc, and I need the sheet that includes the reinforcement group costs for the German side. For whatever reason, it was not included in the packet. Is there anyone out there that might be able to send me a PDF file or other electronic media file of the page? I also have a fax number that I can give anyone who might not mind faxing a copy to a number in Alexandria, VA. Send me a short not and I will forward you the number.
I sent two notes to Critical Hit, but they have yet to respond on the shortcoming.
Thanks
Duncan
