“Available: Over 40 historical scenarios for SL-GI. Includes France, Russia, Italy and more. Send SASE. John Cramsie III, 8704 Greene Ave., Cottage Grove, NM 55016”
-- “Collectors Corner”, The Avalon Hill General, Volume 20 Number 4, August 1983, pg. 48
Other than the above ad and another appearing in the Avalon Hill General, I know little of John Cramsie III or the design and production of his scenarios. Looking in my searchable copies of the Avalon HIll General and On All Fronts magazines, and Google, produced no more information. Nonetheless, I think Mr. Cramsie and his eighty-eight published scenarios provide an interesting story about Squad Leader and early scenario design.
Mr. Cramsie produced historically accurate scenarios within the means available in the early nineteen-eighties, that is many trips to the library and much reading. A series of scenarios often follow a book, citing specific paragraphs in the Historical Overview, Aftermath and title. Even this poorly read writer recognized William Craig’s Enemy at the Gates as the source of scenarios 117 to 124 and B. H. Liddell-Hart’s, as editor, the Rommel Papers of scenarios 5 to 16. I’m sure the better read will recognize more. Designing a scenario from one’s historical reading assures the accuracy and context within which a scenario exists, enhancing the game’s feel of ‘realism’. Mr. Cramsie’s extensive reading has provided us with eight-eight scenarios based on historical actions and operations.
As mentioned, the scenarios are designed in series of eight that highlight a particular period, campaign or operation. I particularly enjoy the inclusion of maps showing key locations, terrain and units, fitting the scenario into the larger series as a whole. Reading the source material explains the bigger picture giving deeper context to the scenarios and emphasizing their importance to the larger operation. This connection to location, context and importance immerses the player in the story-telling of Squad Leader game play. For example, one understands the importance of exiting thirty squads in ‘Those Damned Hills’, as they must break through the enemy defensive line to reach Stalingrad (the next scenario). This gives a sense of movement and importance to the scenarios and really brings the Series to life. I consider it one of the more interested aspects of Mr. Cramsie’s designs.
I’m a guilty fan of the eighties and enjoy the retro look of the scenario cards too. They came from a time before Microsoft Publisher, when cut and paste was not done with Ctrl-C but actual scissors and tape. The time and effort it took to create a single card should not be lost on us. The attentive reader will notice a progression in the quality of the cards, with handwriting replaced with type and the facsimile quality of counters improving over time.
The Scenario Archive and Scenario Map have links to resources covering the scenario, for those wishing to read along with the scenarios.
Playability
The scenarios are fairly straight forward, presented in the standard format. At a time when smaller scenarios were gaining popularity, these seem unconstrained by the trend and a bit large. There are probably more leaders than I am accustomed to. Also, it would be nit-picking to say the use of French counters in 1943-45 was inappropriate, as by then their psychology, training and situation had much improved since the early blitzkrieg years. I can not speak to balance because I have no information on how, or even if, these were play-tested and the ROS has only a few games recorded. That said, I am not sure how important balance was to Mr. Cramsie compared with presenting the actual situation. There are several scenarios where balance is clearly ignored in favor of the actual one-sided situation. Perhaps these scenarios are best for those interested in the experience of playing through a campaign or operation rather than competitive play.
I assigned the scenarios to G.I.: Anvil of Victory because the rule-set was not indicated by the designer and there were some GIA rule references in the SSRs. However, the ads indicate they are SL-GIA. Players should use their own judgement in which rule-set to use during play.
For those who like maps, all the scenarios are geo-coded onto a Google Map here, click on the markers for detail. Also, all scenarios in the database are mapped in the Scenario Archive. You can generate maps by publisher, time-period, theatre, designer, nationality and more. Just select criteria and search. Once complete (results returned), than open Map button and click link.
Materials
I attempted to digitally reproduce the cards as accurately as possible. In some cases, there was a slight loss of quality when i scanned the physical cards, which were themselves either scanned or facsimiles. Some of the counters, particularly the Russian and US, were illegible either in the original card or the digital. In such cases, the counter can be identified by hovering (not clicking) the cursor over the counter and waiting a second or two for it’s description to pop up. Finally, the publication dates are estimates based on the appearance of ads in the Avalon Hill General in November, 1982 and August, 1983 in addition to the date of publication printed on the 117 Series. This batch adds forty new Cramsie scenarios to the forty-eight already in the archive, completing the eight-eight known scenario collection.
Special thanks to David Von Garvin for his kind contribution of the scenarios.
Download the John Cramsie III Collection, a 14 meg pdf of all eight-eight scenarios by series, with SSRs and maps. Alternately, the series and individual scenarios are available below. Additionally, the individual scenarios are in the Scenario Archive, although the latter lack maps.
I Scenario Organization
II Series
III Scenarios