We received the following press release. --RL Toronto, Ontario, Canada (February 13, 2002) - L2 Design Group has signed an agreement with Jack Radey, designer of Korsun Pocket (KP), to make that highly-respected operational wargame its second product release. The tentative publication date for KP-2 is early 2003, coinciding with the 59th anniversary of the battle fought in January-February, 1944. "We feel this is a real coup for us," said Art Lupinacci, President of L2. " Korsun Pocket has a strong, positive reputation similar to Streets of Stalingrad, our first game to be reprinted in an enhanced, modern edition. Reprinting these two classic wargames is exactly the sort of vision we had for our company when we started talking about becoming game publishers." "To see this game out again is really exciting," added Jack Radey, designer of Korsun Pocket and several other historical simulations released through Radey's company, People's War Games, as well as other titles published by 3W, Spearhead, and Clash of Arms during the "golden era" of board wargames. "I'm looking forward to working with L2 to make KP-2 as special now as it was to me twenty-three years ago." Korsun Pocket is a "monster" game initially released in 1979. It was one of only a few titles nominated for a Charles Roberts award in 1980, and KP won a Game Designers' Guild Select Award that same year partly in recognition for its ground-breaking research using Soviet, German and other sources. Less than 3,000 copies were published, one thousand released boxed and the rest in ziplock bags. KP has been a much sought-after collector item. Korsun Pocket was also known as Cherkassy Pocket by the Germans and the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Operation by the Soviets. The Soviet offensive in the winter of 1944 was the first major encirclement battle since the prior year when the German 6th Army was surrounded and destroyed at Stalingrad. In fact, this battle became known as "little Stalingrad on the Dnepr [River]" and was the first time a German SS division (the 5th "Viking") was destroyed in combat. Korsun Pocket covers the entire battle from January 25 to February 17, 1944. The second edition includes new historical information recently uncovered in Soviet archives. KP-2 features more than 2,000 standard 1/2-inch, full color unit counters redesigned to help keep track of supplies, a critical element for both sides. Many of the supporting components such as the multiple scenario setup sheets will also be printed in full color. No retail price or pre-publication period has been decided yet, but KP-2 will be a limited edition, with the final print quantity based upon the number of pre-publication orders received. Updates on the second edition of Korsun Pocket, as well as sample components as they are finished, can be viewed on L2's web site, www.L2DesignGroup.com. The web site will have an order form for KP-2 with shipping prices posted later in 2002. Pre-publication flyers can be obtained by contacting the web site or by writing to L2 Design Group, 3044 Bloor Street West, Suite 956, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M8X 2Y8. About L2 Design Group L2 Design Group was formed in 2001 by Dana Lombardy and Art Lupinacci, co-designers of the third edition of Streets of Stalingrad. Lombardy and Lupinacci (L2) are dedicating their efforts to reprinting classic wargames with state-of-the-art graphics and improved rules systems to "make great games available again, and accessible to today's wargamers." Back to 1st Quarter 2002 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com