Wargamer's Corner

DanyBoy wrote:
Michael wrote:

Crossposting from the deals thread: the Matrix Holiday Sale goes through January 14th.

Any recommendations for the guy who's played Unity of Command and not much else?

This is a good question, I was looking at Panzer Corps maybe

The Tin Soldiers games are fun, turn-based miniatures set in the ancient world, as are the Field of Glory games for the various periods of Roman history. The Scourge of War games model civil war battles at a regimental/company/corps level, pauseable realtime, where you face not only the mechanics of tactical combat, but realistic touches like fog of war, delayed orders and the like. Wars In America is a good turn-based strategic game that covers the early 18th century through American Revolution and up to the War of 1812. The Battle Academy games are intro-level tactical turn-based games; kind of a tactical version of UoC in some ways. Battles in Normandy/Italy are operational level (not tactical but not strategic) turn-based games with a good AI, somewhat similar to UoC but maybe a bit more complex. Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge is a tactical dream game, pauseable realtime, not a beginner's game but very well done and accessible with some time put into learning the system (must have at least a basic understanding of combined arms operations or it's all gonna go to pieces on you...). Hornet Leader PC is an abstracted game of ground attack aircraft operations.

Those are the ones I'd look at first, depending on your interests, DanyBoy.

I was going to say Battle Academy, for sure. Birth of America 2 is a good intro to Ageod games.

Or War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition.... Just kidding. Stay away from that. 200 page manual and all that.

Thanks for the pointers. I think I'm going to give Birth of America 2 a shot, for a number of reasons: turn-based; strategic-level; easy on the eyes (the screenshots for Battles in Italy/Normandy were giving me fits); fewer units; a historical period that isn't WW2 or the classical period. Not that I'm uninterested in those periods, but I do feel like exploring other historical times at the moment.
This should be interesting.

Start with the smallest scenarios and work up. Remember that "armies" are essentially containers filled with units, which are also composed of smaller units. So you build an army by dropping leaders, brigades and divisions into it, up to the command limit of it's overall leader. That's maybe the trickiest part of the game. Well, that and bearing in mind weather effects over time.

I really wish Ageod would do another Civil War game.

garion333 wrote:

I really wish Ageod would do another Civil War game.

Like Pride of Nations?

wordsmythe wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I really wish Ageod would do another Civil War game.

Like Pride of Nations?

No, an actual American Civil War game. Pride of Nations is the entire world.

garion333 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I really wish Ageod would do another Civil War game.

Like Pride of Nations?

No, an actual American Civil War game. Pride of Nations is the entire world.

This is America. Outsiders aren't relevant.

I dunno, their previous one holds up pretty darn well...

garion333 wrote:

I really wish Ageod would do another Civil War game.

They did! It's just Roman instead of American!

Who casts dice, anyway? I strew mine. Silly Caesar.

Robear wrote:

Who casts dice, anyway? I strew mine. Silly Caesar.

I let them fly high.

DanyBoy wrote:

Thanks for the pointers. I think I'm going to give Birth of America 2 a shot, for a number of reasons: turn-based; strategic-level; easy on the eyes (the screenshots for Battles in Italy/Normandy were giving me fits); fewer units; a historical period that isn't WW2 or the classical period. Not that I'm uninterested in those periods, but I do feel like exploring other historical times at the moment.
This should be interesting. :)

Birth of America 2 is great. If you like it there is quite a selection of other games with the same system to choose from.

In this time of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Robear for turning me on to the AGEOD games.

If you can "grok" (I hope thats the right word) the AGEOD system, you will have just opened up a whole plethora of good strategy games about many different eras. But it's cracking the ice and diving in thats the hardest part.

In this time of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Robear for turning me on to the AGEOD games.

8-0 What have I done?

Robear wrote:
In this time of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Robear for turning me on to the AGEOD games.

8-0 What have I done?

Made me spend a lot of money on really cool games?

You probably don't remember, but you talked me into getting ACW when I was asking about Civil War grand strategy games, while also (I think) referencing BoA2. I picked them both up and, since then, most of the others.

So, I am just saying thanks!

I'm probably going to spring for Advanced Tactics Gold. It would be another entry in my quixotic quest for the Perfect Wargame. The Operational Art of War is close, but there are a few things (most notably the interface) that bug me. ATG seems to be close to that, though I don't think it will make it. I don't think my perfect game exists, yet.

I'm on the fence about Distant Worlds, and I'm very close to convincing myself that I need War in the East. I have some extra scratch from some audio work and think it needs to go toward something fun.

Well, I'm always happen to enable, Mr. Mare.

Michael, WitE is a lot of fun. You don't have to play the truly giant scenarios. The smaller ones can be quite satisfying.

And some Matrix sale questions for you good folks:

1) If I have FoG (I'm going to get the Eternal Empire expansion), do I need Tin Soldiers? What's the difference?

2) I know Birth of America 2 gets a lot of love here, but how is BoA? I have it on Steam, but have yet to fire it up. :/

3) How is Great Invasions? Looks neat, in a Britannia-esque kind of way.

Thanks! I can't believe I'm even looking at the monster East Front wargames on sale. I don't have the IQ for those.

I believe Tin Soldiers was an earlier version of the system, which covered ancient battles in general. FoG is Roman-focused, I think.

BoA is decent, but the system was much improved in the second version. In particular, it's easier to learn and get into. It will however completely remove your desire to play the earlier version.

I had zero luck getting Great Invasions to work. It's an oddball system, and there are so many more games that are somewhat like it (EU3 and CK2 are absolute standouts) that I'd avoid it entirely. Others may disagree.

If you're going to go East Front, then Gary Grigsby's is the Classic Wargamer way to go. It's the campaign, with various scenarios, and all the chrome that makes sense, in a clean, fun game system that is capable of eating hours and hours of time. You will essentially end up balancing supply and aggressiveness against each other, with weather being the deciding factor in how far you get as the Germans in any particular season. So you really have to hold the big picture in mind and use some self-restraint. This is why the scenarios are more fun for me - the "big picture" in those is smaller and more tangible.

If you want a bigger scope game, but with less attention to operational mechanics, consider Hearts of Iron III. But only if you are deeply attracted to it. Not for casual gaming until you know and understand Paradox systems.

And frankly, you can't do better than Crusader Kings II. It's not Matrix, but it's the best damn strategy game ever made for the computer.

BTW, gamersgate is a good place to get Paradox games (it's their service), and they have a bunch of sales over the next few days. Just for those new to the genre.

Robear wrote:

I believe Tin Soldiers was an earlier version of the system, which covered ancient battles in general. FoG is Roman-focused, I think.

I guess if I have FoG, I don't need Tin Soldiers. Thanks!

Robear wrote:

I had zero luck getting Great Invasions to work. It's an oddball system, and there are so many more games that are somewhat like it (EU3 and CK2 are absolute standouts) that I'd avoid it entirely. Others may disagree.

I hear the reviews were awful. Pity.

Robear wrote:

If you want a bigger scope game, but with less attention to operational mechanics, consider Hearts of Iron III. But only if you are deeply attracted to it. Not for casual gaming until you know and understand Paradox systems.

I have HoI 2. I'm the Paradox-shy strategy gamer here. I like EU3, but I haven't quite gotten my head around it, yet.

Robear wrote:

And frankly, you can't do better than Crusader Kings II. It's not Matrix, but it's the best damn strategy game ever made for the computer.

Yeah, I've got it and am in the tutorials. I'm sure I'll buy the Byzantine DLC before the sale is out. Again, just need to put in the time.

Thanks!!

Robear wrote:

BTW, gamersgate is a good place to get Paradox games (it's their service), and they have a bunch of sales over the next few days. Just for those new to the genre. :-)

+1. Plus, historically they have gotten patches faster than they get onto Steam. Although it is changing, if you've played Paradox games for any length of time, you know how important that can be.

Natus wrote:

Yeah, I've got it and am in the tutorials. I'm sure I'll buy the Byzantine DLC before the sale is out. Again, just need to put in the time.

Thanks!!

The tutorials don't give you much of an insight into a lot of the systems within the game. I learnt most from a series of Let's Play videos on YouTube - the best series was done by a guy called SeeKayEm99, who did a 'CK2 for newbies' series where he unites Ireland, and then another series where he plays in Italy and spends time recovering from a disastrous error. His newbies series goes through a lot of key concepts, some of which are not as obvious as you might think.

In other sale news: it looks like Their Finest Hour, the latest expansion for HoI3, is on sale for a much more reasonable $10 at various digital distribution sites.

HoI 3 is one Paradox game too far for me - I've never managed to get any way into it, nor have I found a Let's Play series that has assisted me. There's loads out there, but they all seem to be produced by people I can't follow very easily.

davet010 wrote:

HoI 3 is one Paradox game too far for me - I've never managed to get any way into it, nor have I found a Let's Play series that has assisted me. There's loads out there, but they all seem to be produced by people I can't follow very easily.

Misterbean on the Paradox forums wrote a pretty good tutorial AAR where he plays as Germany. Also available in pdf form if you prefer.