Wargamer's Corner

I think the trick is to play the first few games as a country that's NOT directly involved in WWII, or at least not on one of the major fronts.

Having said that, I dip into the game from time to time and after 15 hours or so according to Steam, I still wouldn't say I fully grok how everything plays together.

Yeah, HOI3 is probably the most complex Paradox game by a long shot. Mainly because you have all of the government-political-diplomacy-research management stuff of a "normal" Paradox game plus a chit-based wargame underneath it. I can get along OK with the top level stuff, but the wargame part still perplexes me. And this game is set up explicitly to make war pretty much inevitable, so that's a problem. Unless you play a South American country, then there's really no war part to speak of, which is why they are usually pointed to as being the perfect learner countries: learn the other stuff first then try to figure out the wargame part.

It was the chits and the army structure and hierarchies that confused me the most when I tried a major power. I might try the South America route, that certainly worked for me in Vicky 2, when I directed Argentina for the full game, had no wars and ended up with a top-of-the-line railway network

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.

I think your enjoyment comes from what you want to bring to the game. I played seven hours of HOI3 and I plan to get back to it. I want in there to be an absolute d*ck of a dictator and had plenty of fun that way. I had actual sociopaths working in my government!

I first played as Canada.

It was pretty boring, but I got to send a motorcycle brigade to Spain. So.

I'm just dipping my toe into HoI3 as well and the Order of Battle stuff is definitely the most intimidating part.

Here's a link to part one of a two-part OoB tutorial video that I found helpful. The same guy also has another 8-part tutorial series that's pretty good at spelling out all the basic systems in the game.

wordsmythe wrote:

I first played as Canada.

It was pretty boring, but I got to send a motorcycle brigade to Spain. So.

Were they some of the Hell's Angels that plague Quebec?

So who is up for some COH2. First trailer is out. Game comes out in March but beta starts in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVcE...

Strangeblades wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

I first played as Canada.

It was pretty boring, but I got to send a motorcycle brigade to Spain. So.

Were they some of the Hell's Angels that plague Quebec?

No. Mind you, we were working on, like, having paved roads in Quebec at the time.

Morgoth13 wrote:

So who is up for some COH2. First trailer is out. Game comes out in March but beta starts in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgVcE...

I need to practice my CoH 1, first. Played very little of it. Need to go through boot camp again.

wordsmythe wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

I first played as Canada.

It was pretty boring, but I got to send a motorcycle brigade to Spain. So.

Were they some of the Hell's Angels that plague Quebec?

No. Mind you, we were working on, like, having paved roads in Quebec at the time.

Oooo. Fancy.

Got a tip from RPS that Achtung Panzer Operation Star, Steel Fury Kharkov 1942, and a couple other games are on sale as a bundle over at Strategy First for $5. I've been meaning to give Achtung Panzer a try for a little while and Steel Fury looks pretty good too and has some nice mods available.

Downloading now.

Those are good, hardcore tactical/operational games. I'm not terribly accomplished at any of them, but I enjoy them. Great deal.

So the Red Turn DLC for Unity of command is finally out!

Additionally there's the 1.04 patch for the base game, which includes a full scenario editor.

Just picked it up! Buying direct still gets you a Steam key, so definitely go through their website.

I'm hoping there is a good deal on Unity of command during the winter steam sale. It looks good, but I am still too engrossed in Hearts of Iron to pay full price for another WWII strategy game.

Unity of Command is more like Panzer General than HoI or it's ilk. Easy to get into, plays quickly. Fun rather than work.

Robear wrote:

Unity of Command is more like Panzer General than HoI or it's ilk. Easy to get into, plays quickly. Fun rather than work.

The full game is also only $20, less than half of a full game. It's a bargain!

Robear wrote:

Unity of Command is more like Panzer General than HoI or it's ilk. Easy to get into, plays quickly. Fun rather than work.

The full game is also only $20, less than half of a full game. It's a bargain!

I'm bummed that I haven't gotten further into this yet, I'm only on the Little Saturn mission, though it's my second time through it after screwing it up the first time.

What I do love about it, though, is that I can fire it up and play just a turn or two for 15 or 20 minutes as I have moments of free time. It's kind of like having a wargame set up on the dining room table to play in bits as I walk past.

I'm also bummed that only 3 people on my Steam friends list have this game. Go buy it!

I bought my copy direct, before they gave out Steam codes.

/hipster

tboon wrote:

I bought my copy direct, before they gave out Steam codes.

/hipster

So did I. They gave everyone who bought it direct from them a code when it came out on Steam.

fleabagmatt wrote:
tboon wrote:

I bought my copy direct, before they gave out Steam codes.

/hipster

So did I. They gave everyone who bought it direct from them a code when it came out on Steam.

Oh, so now you're saying 2x2 Games doesn't love me?

tboon wrote:
fleabagmatt wrote:
tboon wrote:

I bought my copy direct, before they gave out Steam codes.

/hipster

So did I. They gave everyone who bought it direct from them a code when it came out on Steam.

Oh, so now you're saying 2x2 Games doesn't love me?

:)

Mmmmmaybe.

Could be that they are just antipyritic.

Yay, more Unity of Command! For each of the last two campaigns I spent pretty much an entire week on nothing but those missions. So, this time I'll be sure to wait until a light week since I clearly will be unable to control myself. Not sure why it gets such an addictive hold on me.

Anyone pick up Battle of the Bulge for iPad? I'd be interested in hearing some impressions, if anyone has it.

Only played the first scenario through twice - so just initial impressions. It's very polished. It's more of a boardgame puzzle than a pure operational wargame. The gameplay is keyed into a time frame mechanic, whereby you can only activate an area and the units within once throughout a day, and the movement/combat actions are also limited. The time taken for that action is randomly generated I think, so it could take 30 minutes or it could take 2 hours out of the day. So you have to plan, in what order you perform your movements. Its a mechanic I've not really seen before, so it's unnerving at first, but I'm interested in exploring it further. The presentation is steeped in history, and supplemental documents add a lot of background information. If you like wargames, or boardgames it's probably worth the effort.

Theres a (p)review(s) here:
http://pockettactics.com/2012/12/12/...
http://www.gamezebo.com/games/battle...

PWAlessi wrote:

Anyone pick up Battle of the Bulge for iPad? I'd be interested in hearing some impressions, if anyone has it.

yes i bought it via the kickstarter. ive played 4 matches so far. lost each time. tough AI. anyways its very good, very accessible, tough to master. i definitely recommend it.

PWAlessi wrote:

Anyone pick up Battle of the Bulge for iPad? I'd be interested in hearing some impressions, if anyone has it.

Played through the short scenario and got the short-circuited decisive victory for crossing the Meuse on the long one. So, I haven't gotten a whole bunch of turns in, but my impressions are quite favorable so far. Playing as the Allies in particular looks like it'll be pretty exciting and challenging.

Needless to say, the graphics and interface are phenomenal. Pretty much put on a clinic on how to make an iPad game with boardgame conventions.

I know this thread gets more love so I'll post this here: Looking for two players for Solium Infernum game. I got myself and one another lined up. Newbies and experienced pros are welcome to apply.