Ray Tapio soon developed more ambitious visions for Critical Hit, seeking to create--and sell--a variety of ASL compatible projects such as scenario packs or even historical modules.  In short, he wanted to turn it into a business.  Wolkey and Tapio soon parted ways over differences of vision.  Over the next 12 years, Critical Hit involved a number of people at different levels (including Steve Pleva, Steve Swann, Mark Porterfield, Dave Lamb, and Kurt Martin, to name a few), some more or less permanently and some considerably less so, but the driving force behind Critical Hit, for good and for ill, has been Ray Tapio.  Out of all the producers of ASL-compatible materials over the years (other than Avalon Hill), only Critical Hit and MMP have been able to turn their efforts into a serious business, and MMP did it through inheriting "official" ASL.  Critical Hit accomplished it the "hard" way, as a third party publisher.  It is a not insignificant achievement, but it was not done without bumps along the road, making Ray Tapio and Critical Hit the most controversial subject in all of ASLdom.   

The history of Critical Hit may be divided roughly into three phases:  1) 1994-1997, 2) 1998-2002, 3) 2003 to the present.  During the first phase, Critical Hit as such was primarily Critical Hit Magazine.  However, Ray Tapio gradually expanded into new areas, such as themed scenario packs.  He published one of his own design, Jatkosota, and reprinted scenarios and scenario packs originally produced by others.  Production values at this time were relatively low, although one pack, Soldiers of the Negus, did have a die-cut countersheet.  By 1997, however, Ray Tapio had begun publishing themed historical modules with high-quality map artwork.  It was this very success which brought him into conflict with ASL's official producer, Avalon Hill, over trademark and copyright issues.  For years, Avalon Hill had looked the other way while publishers of ASL newsletters around the world had appropriated official ASL artwork and the layout and "look and feel" of scenarios and other components.  However, Avalon Hill changed its mind when Critical Hit's products started increasingly showing up on hobby store shelves.  After allegedly sending cease-and-desist letters to Critical Hit, Avalon Hill sued Critical Hit and even had some of its materials seized.  A settlement was finally arrived at by late 1997.  After this, Critical Hit took more pains to avoid duplicating the artwork or "look and feel" of official ASL products and stopped using the term "ASL" in the names of its products (which led to its ASL-compatible products being called "Squads and Leaders" products).  However, Critical Hit was able to continue to produce such products.

This ushered in the second phase of Critical Hit's history, from 1998 to roughly 2002, when it seemed as if a dam had burst as Critical Hit scenario packs and modules flooded the market, especially in 1998-99.  While some people appreciated the new supply of ASL goodies (as official products were released at a glacial pace), others were skeptical about quality control and Critical Hit's ability to adequately playtest and develop so many products in such a short period of time.  Concerns were raised about corners being cut and indeed, as in the instance of Ruweisat Ridge, where a playtest version of a historical map was printed as the final product, there was evidence to support such a view.  During this period Critical Hit's reputation took a dive and by 2001, few people were recording many playings of Critical Hit scenarios published during this period onto ROAR, the on-line database of ASL scenario win-loss records.  At the end of this period, though, Critical Hit seemed to attempt to turn the tide by releasing three large historical modules jammed with counters, attractive maps, and scenarios (Genesis '48, Guerra Civil, and Dien Bien Phu).  It began to provide more such goodies in its magazine as well.

The third phase of Critical Hit's history is characterized by the dominance of the ATS (Advanced Tobruk System).  For some time, Critical Hit had been trying to create a squad level World War II tactical wargaming system of its own, presumably so that it would not be so dependent upon another company's product.  The first attempt at such a system, the Combat! series of games, was only partially successful.  However, from the wreckage of Combat! came a new system by Ray Tapio, inspired by the 1970s wargame Tobruk.  ATS, though it had growing pains of its own, did develop into a successful system.  Though obviously inspired by ASL in a number of respects, it had some significant differences, especially in that it was impulse based and that each ATS game, unlike ASL, was entirely self-contained (no need to carry around all those boxes of rules, scenarios, counters, and maps).  It was also less complex than ASL.  People liked it.  The success of ATS meant that ASL-compatible products would from now on be secondary for Critical Hit.  Typically, Critical Hit would release a product for the ATS system, then use its historical map to develop ASL-compatible scenarios and sell them to ASLers.  Although Critical Hit would, from time to time, release products directly designed for ASL (such as its popular Hero Pax series of scenario packs), most of Critical Hit's attention would now be devoted to ATS.  In some respects, this was a positive development, as it made it much less likely that the market would again be flooded by a multitude of hastily released ASL products by Critical Hit.  This phase too is marked by an increasing involvement by Michigan ASler Dave Lamb in the design, playtesting, and development of Critical Hit's ASL products, and this also helped raise the general quality level.

During the 12+ years of its history, several general observations can be made about Critical Hit.  The first is that its greatest problem has been consistency.  Ray Tapio has seldom bothered to stick to one scenario card format (not even between games in the same series) or artwork style.  He has started "series" of packs or modules but abandoned them after only one product to start some other series.  It was only in the early 2000s that he finally seemed to settle on a consistent pattern of map graphics; he still has not settled upon consistent counter layout (except for AFVs and guns) or scenario cards.  Foolish inconsistency may indeed be the hobgoblin of petty minds, but one could wish for a little more wise consistency on the part of Critical Hit.

A second, and more admirable, generalization about Critical Hit has been its willingness to take chances in terms of subject material.  Though it has produced products featuring "safe," popular World War II topics such as Stalingrad and Normandy, it has also been daring as well.  It has published cave-heavy late-war PTO modules like Ordeal Before Shuri, Blood & Iron, and Uncommon Valor.  It has produced amphibious landing modules such as Pointe Du Hoc and desert modules like Ruweisat Ridge.  It has featured non-World War II conflicts such as the Italo-Ethiopian War, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Spanish Civil War, the Irish Civil War, and the French-Indochina War.  The very nature of these more specialized products mean they may not be as popular as the next Stalingrad module will, but they are a godsend to those ASLers who are interested in such subjects and might otherwise wait forever for a chance to explore that interest.

Over the years, Critical Hit has produced an abundance of ASL scenarios and products.  Some have lacked in quality, but others have been quite good.  On balance, the positives probably outweigh the negatives.

Without a campaign game, players have only the module's 10 scenarios to consider.  They do not represent the air/glider drops themselves, or any actions that night (the only night scenario in the module actually takes place on June 8), but rather actions from the morning of D-Day through June 9.   Most actions represent American airborne (and occasionally glidermen, represented by 6-6-7 squads) fighting against mediocre German troops who are sometimes backed up by old captured French tanks.  The scenarios tend towards the small size; of them, AA1 (The Milling Crowd) and AA2 (Ambush at Cauquigny) have had the most play and seem well balanced. 

Airborne Stand, the 2nd Edition of the module, was produced after a new version of the map was printed to include in an ATS game on the same topic.  The new map includes not only all the terrain from AAKB, but also the southern part of All American: Timmes' Orchard.  As Critical Hit has done in so many other cases, it re-used the map for an ASL compatible product.  In this case, the scenario cards are printed on cardstock rather than glossy paper, but the booklet with historical and designer's notes was not reprinted.    Somewhat inexplicably, though the scenarios in the 2nd Edition seem to be the same as in AAKB, they are all given different names.

Critical Hit also published an All American Gamers Guide, with additional materials (including scenarios and a campaign game) for all three All American modules.

Like its predecessor, AATO features scenaros that tend to be small to medium sized, although there are larger scenarios than in AAKB.  Only one uses the entire map (although another one does use part of the AATO map and all of the AAKB map).  There is only one night scenario; only two scenarios have any vehicles.  There are also two SASL missions, AA Mission 1 (The Gathering) and AA Mission 2 (Luftlande!).  Overall, it is an attractive product. 

Critical Hit also published an All American Gamers Guide, with additional materials (including scenarios and a campaign game) for all three All American modules.

The main attraction of this module is the chance to play on this striking historical map, although the enjoyment is lessened somewhat by the small hex sizes.  This is an issue in the campaign games more than in most of the scenarios (however, some people were disappointed that only four scenarios came with the module, although a fifth, very meaty, scenario appears in Critical Hit Magazine's special Stalingrad issue).

Opinion on this game is sharply divided between detractors and fans; in the end, it may come down to subjective and individual preferences.  The map was re-used twice, once in Valor of the 37th Guards, with larger hexes but a smaller map area, and once more in Stalin's Fury, which uses just a small portion of the map with very large hex sizes. 

Ten scenarios grace AASH (using a layout different from both of its predecessors).  Whereas the previous two AA modules had scenarios that tended towards the small, the scenarios in AASH tend towards the really small, including one which features 5 half squads fighting it out with one enemy squad and 6 half squad companions.  The small size of a number of these scenarios, combined with their infantry-only nature and a lack of complex special rules, means that this is actually a historical module that could be used to entice and teach beginning ASLers.

Additionally, a "Behind Utah Beach" campaign (of sorts) is provided.  This is not a Platoon Leader campaign game, nor really a campaign game in the sense typically thought of in ASL, but rather a simple way to play multiple scenarios from the three AA modules to gain "Campaign Victory Points" to determine the overall winner. 

Also "of sorts" are the variant counters provided.  The counters are unmounted counters drawn on the inside cover of the module, meaning players have to cut up their module and glue the counters together.  Few players will want to do this.  Luckily, none of the counters are required to play the game; indeed, most of the counters are entirely superfluous (duplicating existing counters).  The exceptions are BAR and BAR gunner counters; there is an optional rule that lets American squads deploy into two half-squads and an SMC BAR gunner.  The rule is considered "experimental," which means that they are partially written out and players are enjoined to "use your common sense for the rest."  Few players are likely to try (a fully worked out version of the rule appeared with mounted counters in Pointe Du Hoc not long afterwards, but did not prove popular).

Critical Hit also published an All American Gamers Guide, with additional materials (including scenarios and a campaign game) for all three All American modules.

The scenario selection is not that great.  Most of them are very small.  StB1 (Honey Trap) features 4 British AFVs versus 5 German AFVs and 3 half-squads.  StB3 (Seaforth Objective) pits 4 German squads and a halftrack against 6 British squads and a carrier.  StB4 (Looking for Trouble), only four turns long, has 3 German half squads and an armored car defending against 4 British squad-equivalents, two carriers, and an AT gun.  StB7 (The Flank of the Black Bull) is all armor, with 10 British AFVs taking on 7 German AFVs.  StB8 (The Lost Platoon), also only 4 turns long, features 2 British squads and 1 half squad against 2 German squads and 3 half squads.  Not that many ASLers are going to be interested in so many scenarios that are so small.

The campaign game (The Crossing Sweepers) is only three campaign dates long, which makes it an excellent introductory campaign game (although it seems like the Germans have something of an advantage).  Overall, however, this is not that great a module.

2nd Edition:  The 2nd Edition was made possible by a new, larger version of the map created for an ATS game on the same subject.  Nothing else was changed, except that errata was incorporated.

The countersheet included with the module includes a new German squad type (5-4-7s) and the "controversial" U.S. Army Ranger squads.  The Ranger squads are 7-6-7 squads which can deploy without a leader (more or less as Finns can).  However, a deployed ranger squad is replaced by two 3-4-7 half squads plus a 1-6-8 BAR gunner.  It is the SMC with the Browning Automatic Rifle which is controversial, as it proved open to all sorts of ahistorical abuses.  As a result, the BAR gunner rules were not widely accepted by ASLers. 

Action takes place on a fairly attractive map depicting the beaches and bocage of Pointe du Hoc.  It does a good job of representing the many enclosed fields.  The campaign game that uses this map is 7 campaign dates long, which makes it fairly manageable, but includes the amphibious landing.  The five scenarios are also fairly complex (including one scenaro depicting the landing).  Four of the five scenarios involve NOBA, so players should be familiar with those rules.  Probably for this reason they have not seen very much play.  They range in size from very large to quite small. 

Pointe Du Hoc will not appeal to everyone's tastes, but for D-Day and amphibious enthusiasts, it may prove rewarding.

The map is a fairly attractive representation of the environs of Stonne, but the use of shades of green for every elevation level (perhaps done for reasons of economy) makes the map somewhat confusing and hard to parse.  A wider range of colors (as, for instance, in Kampfgruppe Peiper) would have been much more user-friendly.  Making matters worse, some of the crest lines could be darker and more obvious (some players trace them to make them more visible).  Additionally, the map is printed on glossy paper, which can cause frustrating glares (Critical Hit later abandoned this type of paper for its maps).  A reprint of the module would profit greatly by a redone map.  The 32 counters provided mostly represent French tanks.  Stonne 1940 has six scenarios, which range in size from massive combined arms actions to quite manageable tournament sized scenarios. 

One Platoon Leader campaign game is included with the game; it has 8 campaign dates.  Both sides have a lot of purchase options ranging from motorcycle platoons to a wide variety of tanks and armored cars (especially for the Germans).  Both sides also have opportunities to attack.   Unfortunately, the campaign game is said to be flawed, because of a terrain bottleneck that essentially forces all German vehicles to go through one sunken road, which can be easily defended by AT mines and guns.  However, Critical Hit Magazine Volume 6 Number 2 provides two additional campaign games for the Stonne map (as well as two additional scenarios, a play aid, and other supporting material).

Despite its flaws, Stonne 1940 still has much of interest.  However, it is probably a good example of a module that could afford to be fixed and reprinted. 

2nd Edition:  In 2007, Critical Hit released a new, expanded version of Stonne 1940 (following an ATS conversion).  The centerpiece of the new edition is a redone map, which is significantly nicer than the map in the original module.  The color palette is much better and the map is printed on matte paper stock.  The extra campaign games from Critical Hit Magazine are now included in the 2nd edition, while the module now includes a full 16 scenarios, giving it a great deal of play value.  The scenarios have a very balanced mix of small, medium-sized and heavy scenarios, the latter including several meaty scenarios that use most or all of the historical map.  However, a couple of scenarios feature only armor for one side (such as "Closing Up," which pits 2 French B1-Bis tanks against 7 Germans squads, 2 AT guns, and 2 tanks); such scenarios are usually not as much fun.  Overall, however, the 2nd Edition Stonne 1940 seems to represent a considerable improvement over the original.

The most famous, or infamous, aspect of RR is its large map, which was actually a playtest map created by Dan Dolan, which Critical Hit's Ray Tapio decided to use as the actual map that would appear in the published version of the module.  As a playtest map it was not bad, but its crude nature is far from suitable for a professional publication. 

Despite the map, RR has a good reputation.  The campaign game is only four campaign dates long, which makes it very manageable in size (there is also an option for cutting out the initial campaign date, which takes place at night).  The scenarios, not surprisingly, are vehicle intensive.

The map is not particularly well-done.  Not only is it not that attractive, but the vast and unrelenting stretches of jungle and kunai aren't very interesting, visually or tactically (later designers learned how to include scattered open ground hexsides and other minor terrain variations to make such maps more subtle and interesting). 

The campaign game, with only 5 campaign dates, is one of the more manageable campaign games available, although there is not much variety in the purchase options.  The scenarios are all small or medium-sized and easily playable; there are no caves, panjis, paddies, or other complex rules.

The history of Those Ragged Bloody Heroes is mildly controversial.  Prolific ASL designer Steve Swann first conceived of the idea of a Gona historical module, which he titled "Mud & Blood."  With some research help from Australians Paul Haseler and Mark McGilchrist, he designed the module and submitted it to Critical Hit, where it sat under consideration for quite a while without being published (Haseler and McGilchrist have said that its campaign game was "too static").  However, in 1997, Critical Hit contacted Haseler and McGilchrist and asked them to develop a Gona module--this became Those Ragged Bloody Heroes.  Steve Swann felt slighted (although there was a later Gona scenario released designed by him); this eventually resulted in a rift between Swann and Critical Hit.

A number of the counters on the countersheet that came with Arnhem: The Third Bridge are actually designed for use with Those Ragged Bloody Heroes.

As with its predecessor, it has an uninviting scenario selection, featuring many tiny or all-armor scenarios.  StB11 (Pip Roberts' Run) has 17 British AFVs versus 2 German squads, 4 German half squads, 2 FlaK guns, and 5 AFVs.  StB12 (Justify the Losses) has 3 German squads, a half squad, and 4 AFVs against 12 British AFVs.  StB13 (Siegel's Stand 1) features 6 British AFVs and 9 squads against 4 German half squads and 5 AFVs.  StB14 (Siegel's Stand 2) depicts 7 British AFVs against 4 German AFVs.  Stb15 (Position Be Buggered!) has only 1 German squad, 3 half squads, and 1 AFV to defend against 2 British half squads, 2 carriers, and 3 Stuarts.  StB16 (Shout for PIATs) has 6 German AFVs  pitted against 6 British squads, 2 half squads, 2 carriers, and 2 AT guns.  StB19 (Destruction of a Squadron) has 7 British AFVs and 4 crews versus 2 German AFVs, three squads and an AT gun.  Although there are a few scenarios with more depth, meat, or variety than these, there are not enough.  Most ASLers will not find most of the scenarios in StBII very appetizing.

StBII also has two campaign games, CG2 (Forged in Fire) and CG3 (The Lion Rampant).  The former (with only three CG dates) uses only the StBII map, while the latter (also at only 3 CG dates) uses the maps from both StB modules to create a massive (in map size, anyway) campaign game.  These are both very short campaign games that might be suitable for players wishing to try a campaign game and see what all the fuss is about without having to commit themselves to months of play.

Still, StBII, like its predecessor, is not that exciting a product.

2nd Edition:  The 2nd Edition was made possible by a new, larger version of the map created for an ATS game on the same subject.  Nothing else was changed, except that errata was incorporated.

The most important component in OBS is its large map, centered on Kakazu Ridge (it is interesting to compare the map with the Kakazu Ridge map in ASL Journal 2).  The terrain is definitely interesting, although the many different levels on the map make it rather complex.  The hexgrid is printed in an odd, gray color which often makes it somewhat difficult to see.  Overall, however, it is an attractive map.  It also contains some interesting special terrain, including subterranean tombs, as well as some fairly complicated terrain, such as crag-brush-orchard hexes. 

Special rules include new weather types (downpours and typhoons!), U.S. scout squads, the Japanese 330mm spigot mortar, GR-6 sound locator devices, and air to ground rockets.  The campaign game, CG1 (That Damned Hill!), is a massive 48 CG date campaign that requires considerable stamina to finish. 

Many of the scenarios in OBS are complex and not well suited for beginners, using caves, NOBA, air support, night rules, bombardments, sangars, convoys, rice paddies, or other rules.  This complexity may be one reason why the scenarios are little played.  Of the 8 OBS scenarios, the one without any complex rules is OBS8 (Rubble Trouble).  OBS7 (Suicidal Tendencies) and OBS2 (Hold the Ridge!) are also relatively easy to play.

Because of the actual and perceived complexity of this game and its scenarios (some rules perceived as complex, like Rice Paddies, actually don't pose as much of a problem in practice), this module is rarely played.  In a sense, this is a shame, because it actually provides a variety of types of tactical actions that can be found in few other places within the ASL world.  For experienced ASL players who have an interest in PTO scenarios, this may well be one of those forgotten products worth a try.

Uncommon Valor's map (on which 6 of the 8 scenarios take place; the other 2 use geomorphic maps) is fairly unattractive, dominated by browns and grays.  However, it would probably be hard to make the ash-covered volcanic island of Iwo Jima very attractive. 

Uncommon Valor came out at the same time as Critical Hit's other late-war PTO module, Ordeal Before Shuri (depicting actions on Okinawa), and shares some of its characteristics, including the use of complicated rules (7 of UV's 8 scenarios, for example, involve caves).  However, less care seems to have been put into creating the UV rules and charts than was taken with OBS.  One Platoon Leader campaign game is included, CG1 (Flesh Against Concrete), which, at 20 campaign dates, is fairly substantial.  It has received play from the few people who have dared it.

This is one of the lesser played historical modules, because of its subject matter and complexity.  Although it has some fans--mostly former Marines--it may not be to most people's tastes. 

TTB was the second of three ASL historical modules to represent the fighting for the "bridge too far" (the others being Heat of Battle's God Save the King, which came out first in 1994, and MMP's A Bridge Too Far, which was released last in 1999).  Designed in the early 1990s, TTB was originally submitted in 1994 to Avalon Hill for consideration and release as an "official" ASL product.  Unfortunately, the mid-1990s were a bad time to submit anything ASL-related to Avalon Hill, as the company was undergoing considerable turmoil at the time and it was not even certain if it would continue to support ASL.  After a prolonged and no doubt agonizing period, it fell through, and Kurt Martin brought The Third Bridge to Critical Hit, where the campaign game was changed into a Platoon Leader campaign game (more or less). 

TTB's centerpiece is its map, a dark-hued, realistic depiction of Arnhem in the environs of the bridge.  It is by far the most attractive among the maps in the three different Arnhem modules.  Ironically, it is also the map which receives the most criticism, as some people claim that it is "unplayable" because many of the buildings have edges that extend slightly beyond their hexsides.  Actually, this is no problem for play at all and helps recreate the dense and constricted nature of terrain in Arnhem (with fewer opportunities for bypass).  It is one of the nicest maps ever produced by Critical Hit.

Despite its attractiveness, TTB is not played very often, perhaps because the "official" Arnhem module was released shortly thereafter and overshadowed this unofficial product.  In any case, it certainly deserves a look, especially as many of its scenarios are very reasonable in size. 

A number of years after TTB's initial release, Critical Hit released an "upgrade map" for TTB (originally created for an Arnhem ATS game), which used two mapsheets with larger hexes to represent the terrain covered in the original map (the artwork is the original artwork). 

In 2007, Critical Hit released a 2nd Edition of TTB.  This edition included a single historical map, somewhat larger than the original (but smaller than the above-mentioned "upgrade map"), but did not contain a countersheet.  It did, however, include a new, ninth scenario designed by Dave Lamb.

For ASLers, one of the more unusual aspects of this module is the tremendous range in time that it covers--actions depicted occur from January 1944 through May 1944, as the Allies repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to conquer the slopes of the Cassino massif.  The eight scenarios include a January 1944 French attack, a February 1944 German counterattack against the Americans, a February 1944 German counterattack against the 4th Indian Division, a March 1944 German ambush of an American/New Zealander/Indian armored column, and 4 May 1944 Polish attacks.   The four Platoon Leader campaign games are equally varied.  CGI (American High Tide on the Cassino Massif) depicts an unsuccessful assault by the U.S. 36th Infantry Division in February 1944, CGII (The Tiger Attacks) represents an unsuccessful assault by the 4th Indian Division a week later, CGIII (Once More Into the Breech[sic]) depicts the initial Polish II Corps assault on Cassino in May 1944, and CGIV (Diadem) represents their final, successful attack a week later. 

Particularly in terms of campaign games, this module offers much to ASLers.  Unfortunately, the module is nearly fatally flawed by one of the most unattractive maps published by Critical Hit in an ASL-compatible historical module.  Crudely hand-drawn, it is a monotonous series of different hues of brown-green-grays that are hard to understand and unpleasant to look at.  The map cries out, "Please don't play me!"  This is unfortunate, as several of the scenarios in the module are interesting, particularly CAC2 (One Last Try).  If any older Critical Hit map ever deserved an updated, more attractive version, it would have to be this one.