Publisher/Date:
Critical Hit (2018)
Product Type:
HASL/Historical Module
Country of Origin:
U.S.A.
Contents:
Historical map composed of 9 glossy 12" x 18" heavy paper/light cardstock map panels, 1 5/8" countersheet (176 counters) and 1 1/2" half-countersheet (140 counters) for 316 die-cut counters total, 8 pages rules, 5 scenarios.
King Red/Green Sectors is a strange product from Critical Hit covering part of the British Gold Beach landings on D-Day–specifically, the King Red and King Green sectors of Gold Beach. Stripped to its essentials, it basically is a smallish slice of Critical Hit’s Gold Beach module separated from that module and given a blown-up map. But it also duplicates part of another of Critical Hit’s Normandy series of products, King Red + Operation Deadstick. In essence, it seems to be Critical Hit trying to find a way to get people to buy their products all over again. Even Critical Hit seems to know this is cagey, as its product description for KRG is almost description-free. Critical Hit tries to describe it as a “new experience,” but the new things it mentions are things like “more water [hexes] for a longer run.” Critical Hit refers to it as a “study” and claims that it is “great for solo play.”
The KGR map is large, though this is in part because it has larger-than-normal hexes; each hex is about 1.13″ across, larger than Red Barricades hexes. The map has to be assembled from 9 glossy 12″ x 18″ heavy cardstock/light paper map panels, which can be irritating with that many panels. Because of the large hex, each panel is only 12 hexes x 16 hexes. The map depicts beach and some hinterland hexes. The artwork appears to be substantially the same as on Gold Beach and King Red + Operation Deadstick.
KGR also comes with 1 1/2 countersheets. The full countersheet provides British-colored landing craft, as well as some German vehicles and fortifications. The half countersheet provides 60 4-5-7 squads (but no half-squads), as well as leaders, heroes, some random SW, and Bangalore Torpedo counters. The 8 pages of rules explain the beach terrain features, including special beach obstacles and fortifications, as well as “Tetryl Heroes” and the aforementioned Bangalore thingies. One page is actually a helpful set of charts with information about the beach obstacles, beach terrain, and gun cupolas. Most of this will be standard stuff for anyone who has purchased one of Critical Hit’s British beach landing modules.
The module only comes with 5 scenarios, quite a small number for a product currently costing $79.95. It appears the scenarios are simply reprints, perhaps slightly modified. KGR1 (WN33) is derived from the King Red + Operation Deadstick scenario of the same name, for example. The same is true for KGR2 (Posted the Letter) and KGR4 (C Company’s Turn). KGR3 (“A Magnificent Day’s Work”) appears in Gold Beach. The final scenario is KGR Macro (King Green/Red Sectors) and is a “monster” scenario depicting the entire beach landing in this area. It is 24 turns long.
It’s hard to come up with a reason why anybody should buy this product. It’s not a more convenient way to play a “slice” of the Gold Beach landings, because the map is so large (because the hexes are large). The scenarios are not original but “borrowed” from other products still in print. At the same time Critical Hit published KGR, it also published a product of a similar nature, Mike Green Sector (featuring Canadians on Juno Beach). It is entirely possible that Critical Hit will slice up its various Normandy modules into yet more portions like this in order to re-sell its products to the same people who bought the full modules.
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