Like every issue, Schwerpunkt #14 is a shortish magazine combined with a dozen scenarios of no particular theme.  This issue's contents are essentially a long article on the French Army by Brook White, and players and designers notes for all of the scenarios.

However, as with Playboy, nobody buys Schwerpunkt for the articles.  They buy it for the scenarios (unlike Playboy).  Volume 14 continues a trend exhibited in the past several issues:  the scenarios tend towards the large in size.  In this issue, half of the scenarios are large in size, with the other half divided between small and medium-sized.  One scenario, SP157 (Edge of Extinction) does hearken back to the early days of Schwerpunkt, when small to very small scenarios were common (however, with its AFV-related VC and small size, it looks like it could be very dicey).

Scenario situations include Americans vs. Germans (Luxembourg 1944, Germany 1945), French vs. Germans (France 1940), Soviets vs. Germans (USSR 1943, 1944 [3]), Canadians vs. Germans (Sicily 1943), British vs. Japanese (Burma 1942),  Poles vs. Russians(Poland 1939), Americans vs. Japanese (Philippines 1942, 1945).  Every scenario except the PTO scenarios include AFVs; 7 have overlays.  As is typical with Schwerpunkt scenarios, SSRs are very light.  None of the scenarios have OBA, Night, or Air Support.  One scenario, SP157 (Edge of Extinction), uses an ASLSK board (w).

Several scenarios look more interesting than the rest.  SP158 (The Fond Dagot Drag-Out; yes, Schwerpunkt also continues its tradition of bad scenario titles), is an interesting early war French-German combined arms action.  SP162 (The Buddha's Belly) is a nice largish early war PTO scenario.  SP163 (First to Fastov) is a playable East Front armor action that will probably prove popular.  SP164 (Tanks But No Tanks; see previous comment on scenario titles) has the novelty value of Soviets fighting Poles; in early playings it has been one of the most popular scenarios.  SP166 (Blue Jacket Attack) is a quick-playing tournament-sized PTO scenario. 

Although the size mix of the scenarios could have been a bit more varied, overall, this is a very solid issue of Schwerpunkt.

Given these milestones, it is perhaps timely to take a (brief) look at Schwerpunkt and where it stands today.   Schwerpunkt occupies a somewhat unusual place in the ASL third party pantheon.  It has been around a long time, and is well known to ASL cognoscenti (especially because each issue of Schwerpunkt is debuted at the ASLOK ASL convention in October each year).  However, it is not that well known to more newish ASLers, primarily due to a distinct lack of marketing (the Schwerpunkt Web site is bare-bones and does not even have its own domain name; it does not accept on-line methods of payment; and does not have a strong presence with on-line retailers).  As a result, many novice ASLers will encounter other third party products before they come across Schwerpunkt. 

Moreover, though Schwerpunkt is well known to veterans, sometimes it seems that it is a bit too well known.  Perhaps because Schwerpunkt has been coming out each year so regularly (and always in the same format), some ASLers seem to take it for granted.  Many ASLers, too, have dated impressions of Schwerpunkt scenarios; one still sees comments about Schwerpunkt scenarios being small, even though the trend for some time has been towards larger scenarios (though see below).  Though Schwerpunkt scenarios still enjoy a high reputation, an increasing number of ASLers seem to be placing Schwerpunkt as the number two third party producer, in terms of scenario quality, behind the Friendly Fire packs.  One suspects that if Schwerpunkt took a year off on "holiday," more people might appreciate what they were missing. 

Several people have commented that Schwerpunkt scenarios seem a bit too similar sometimes; one person wrote on an ASL discussion forum that "frankly I am starting to find their selection more of the 'same old same old,'" and seemed to suggest that there were too many late war scenarios among Schwerpunkt's offerings.

This is an interesting assertion, and one that moreover can be checked for validity: 
 

The results of this tabulation are highly interesting.  Now, in any large collection of varied scenarios, one would expect a greater weight on late war scenarios, simply because the war was so much larger in 1944-1945 than it was in, say, 1939-1940.  However, even taking this fact into account, it is remarkable what a high proportion of Schwerpunkt scenarios are set in the last 18 months of World War II.  The chart clearly indicates a strong bias on the part of Schwerpunkt towards late war scenarios.  It is, moreover, a trend that has clearly increased over time (although Issue #14 temporarily reversed it somewhat).  There are a number of campaigns that Schwerpunkt has barely even touched, or in fact covered not at all.  Perhaps most remarkable is the dearth of East Front scenarios from 1941-1943, a period that other scenario designers have mined for material most profitably.  Given this substantial late-war bias, it can be perhaps be seen how some people might legitimately perceive a certain sameness to Schwerpunkt scenarios.

Now back to the (literal) issue at hand.

Schwerpunkt #15 continues the exact same format that all previous issues of the magazine have had.  It consists of a short (24 page) black and white magazine and 12 black and white scenarios (with no counter artwork) on glossy cardstock.  One wishes that Schwerpunkt might jazz up the scenario cards a bit, perhaps even trying a bit of color some day.  As is typical, the bulk of the magazine content is devoted to players' and designers' notes for the included scenarios; the magazine also includes a lengthy overview of Italian soldiers by Brook White.

The 12 scenarios are, as noted above, heavily weighted towards late war scenarios.  Indeed, Schwerpunkt #15 contains only one scenario set before 1944 (it should be noted that there is no "relief" in Rally Point #4, released at the same time, as the theme of that pack is actions that take place in May 1945).  Actions covered include Chinese/British vs. Japanese (Burma 1942),  Americans vs. Germans (Italy 1944, France 1944, Germany 1944), British vs. Germans (France 1944, Holland 1945), Canadians vs. Germans (France 1944), Soviets vs. Germans (Soviet Union 1944, Hungary 1944 [2], Germany 1945), and Americans/Filipinos vs. Japanese (Philippines 1945). 

In terms of size, Schwerpunkt #15 has a slightly better mix than last year; 3 scenarios are small in size, 4 are medium-sized, while the remaining 5 are largish.  As is typical for Schwerpunkt, the SSRs tend to be few in number.  Two scenarios have OBA, while none have Air Support or Night Rules.   There is a substantial emphasis on using geomorphic mapboards from Action Packs #4 and #5; half of the scenarios utilize one or more of these boards.

Among the scenarios, several are promising.  SP178 (Chiang's Finest) is a smallish, fun and playable Burma scenario  (it is interesting to compare it to the very similar FrF37 [Crossing Swords at Kyaukse], released by Friendly Fire at the same time).  Another good PTO scenario is SP177 (Tic Tac Toe), which pits the Japanese against a mix force of Americans and Filipinos led by a dangerous 9-2 leader.  The tactical situation and the victory conditions give this scenario a bit of an interesting twist.   SP176 (Smiling Albert) is a smallish action that pits five Tiger tanks against two American tank destroyers. 

The biggest scenario in the pack is SP169 (The Winnekendonk Cakewalk); the OB is as much a mouthful as the title.  In this scenario, a force of 17 British Elite and 1st Line squads, accompanied by a ton of AFVs (including 9 Churchills of various kinds, 6 Ram Kangaroos, and a lone Bren gun carrier) must capture a handful of multi-hex stone buildings (on boards 4, 53, and 57) from a German force of 12 squads, 3 StuGs, 2 50mm AT guns, and an 88mm AT gun.

Overall, Schwerpunkt #15 looks pretty good, though some early war actions would have been welcome.