Wargamer's Corner

Shouldn't the new CKII stuff be out soon?

Robear wrote:

Shouldn't the new CKII stuff be out soon?

Sometime in May, I believe. Possibly slips to June. But only announced release date is "Q2".

Interesting news about Slitherine/Matrix and Games Workshop. I agree that it would be kinda surprising for GW to put out a digital version of the base 40k game, but I can't really come up with a more plausible idea from them. As DanyBoy pointed out, Fields of Glory seems like it would give them a bit of experience on the miniatures conversion front.

I also wonder if any games that come out of this partnership will follow the current Matrix strategy of releasing the PC version from their site only. GW would presumably have the pull and desire to get broader distribution on Steam.

I need something. I need a good strategy game on Facebook (that tome with faces) or my Android. I needs it. I've been trying to mainline my PC but it's hard to cook it on a teaspoon.

Facebook isn't gonna happen, really.

On Android I assume you've played Uniwar, Great Little War Game and it's ilk. If you have a tablet then Combat Mission is about as good as it gets. Template Assault is basically Space Hulk.

Strangeblades wrote:

I need something. I need a good strategy game on Facebook (that tome with faces) or my Android. I needs it. I've been trying to mainline my PC but it's hard to cook it on a teaspoon.

Get an iPad, yo.

Gunner wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

I need something. I need a good strategy game on Facebook (that tome with faces) or my Android. I needs it. I've been trying to mainline my PC but it's hard to cook it on a teaspoon.

Get an iPad, yo.

*sighs*

garion333 wrote:

Facebook isn't gonna happen, really.

On Android I assume you've played Uniwar, Great Little War Game and it's ilk. If you have a tablet then Combat Mission is about as good as it gets. Template Assault is basically Space Hulk.

Oh oh oh. Nope, I've never played Uniwar. It looks great! Thanks garion333!.

A Goodjer said the way Android is increasing its market share (100 million Galaxies sold or something). So hopefully, more devs will produce for both iOS and Android.

March of the Eagles patched. Looks like they fixed one of the game's major annoyances: "ping-pong"ing armies after battles (a notorious Paradox game occurrence), amongst a host of other things. Also, mod support was added. I will fire up a new game today and check it out.

Edit: Yeah the changes in the patch are good, much less BS defeated armies wandering around re-capturing provinces. One thing though: currently there's a bug with naval supply that causes fleets to disappear due to being out of supply. Until Paradox fixes this (early next week according to posts in the MotE forums), you need to modify defines.lua, located in the common directory under wherever MotE is installed. You need to change this line:

NAVAL_SUPPLY_RANGE = 1.0,

to this:

NAVAL_SUPPLY_RANGE = 3.0,

This is located on approx. line 76.

After war with Prussia, Russia is set up for a show-down with the Frenchies:
IMAGE(http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/560969538441315702/F454A471CFADBD7DB151DD769B0269C2F729280E/)

So I finished my first game of March of the Eagles:

IMAGE(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/2013-03-24_00002.jpg)

Fun game. Will play again soon. Certainly *not* a traditional Paradox game though (the "You Win" screen should ne enough to tell you that ).

Sweden was robbed!

wordsmythe wrote:

Sweden was robbed!

Yeah and I was the thief.

Thug livet, yo.

Have some potentially exciting news after a bit of sleuth work this week: I think Unity of Command may be getting an iOS port. It's actually based on very little and it's hardly more than a hope at this point, but idle speculation is fun!

Anyway, Matrix (who is at least involved with 2x2 Games to some degree) posted an announcement on Facebook this week looking for a Python programmer to help port a game to iOS and Android. They mention that the game is already on PC/Mac/Linux and that it uses the Cairo graphics library for Python, both of which fit for Unity of Command. (See this thread by Tomislav for some details on UoC's implementation).

Probably a case of wishful thinking for the most part, but the hope is there for me at least now. UoC would be great on a tablet.

wordsmythe wrote:

Sweden was robbed!

Well, how about Poland?

Spoiler:

I haven't been following this thread so many apologies if this is viewed as redundant or repetitive.

Did people enjoy March of the Eagles? And what are your thoughts about the game? I haven't played it myself and saw a mixed reception elsewhere on the net, but i have been considering picking up the game (maybe during a sale?). I have heard that it is generally more focused on warfare then some of Paradox's other grand strategy games (which is fine if that is implemented well).

Thanks!

Nevermind, I don't want to derail the thread, I just realized there was some March of Eagles discussion a page or two back. Sorry.

Wr3nch - welcome, derails are our (my) business.

MotE got slagged by some Paradox fans because it is not EU3: Napoleon, in my opinion. It is different from anything else I have played by them. It is a weird game because it is not operational level (despite what Paradox says) and it is not grand strategy (too many things I would consider to be core element of a grand strategy are missing). But I think as a game with a theme it is fine; the pieces work well together. Everything is simplified and streamlined and the game plays much much faster than the usual Paradox game. It is one I will come back to after my currentardor for Vicky2, rekindled by the HoD DLC, has been somewhat cooled.

UCRC wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Sweden was robbed!

Well, how about Poland?

Someone's done it. AAR here.

HI Tboon,

Thanks for your thoughts regarding March of Eagles...a great succinct description! Based on what you wrote I may end up giving it a try. Up to this point I have not spent a lot of time with a deep Paradox game (despite owning many and picking up a few Matrix games during their holiday sale), but I am starting to feel that I am at the right place in my life and my gaming interests may have aligned suitably. March of Eagles sounds like it might be a good first step into this section of the hobby before I dive even further into EU3(4), HOI3(4), CKII, or Victoria 2 (I am also interested in HoD).

Long-form strategy games have tempted me for a couple of years now since I have been listening to 3MA and actively reading Rock, Paper, Shotgun and both institutions get quite excited about and make really compelling arguments for Paradox-style strategy games.

Thanks again, this is helpful.

Wr3nch, my advice would be to start with CKII. That's outside of what you choose to do with MoE. But CKII is the best of the ones you listed.

CK2 is never a bad choice. I think it is very accessible considering it has a more personal flavor, although there is still some learning curve to climb.

I think MotE is also a good choice for the opposite reason: it is not personal at all and there is a lot less to do and keep in your head in a given game. CK2 is ultimately about relationships. MotE is ultimately about building huge armies and flinging them at other huge armies.

You can't lose either way, I think. I love CK2 to death and while I don't love MotE nearly as much, I think it is competent and fun in its limited way.

And of course we are all here to answer questions, if you have any.

I've started an AAR for this Android mobile wargame set in North Africa. Really enjoying it to be honest, and its kicked my arse a couple of times now, mainly due to my lack of skill with fuel conservation, and enemy activity behind my lines once I've pushed on.

Setup and Turn 10
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=83203

spelk wrote:

I've started an AAR for this Android mobile wargame set in North Africa. Really enjoying it to be honest, and its kicked my arse a couple of times now, mainly due to my lack of skill with fuel conservation, and enemy activity behind my lines once I've pushed on.

Setup and Turn 10
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=83203

Very cool, wish it was available for iOS.

spelk wrote:

I've started an AAR for this Android mobile wargame set in North Africa. Really enjoying it to be honest, and its kicked my arse a couple of times now, mainly due to my lack of skill with fuel conservation, and enemy activity behind my lines once I've pushed on.

Setup and Turn 10
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=83203

Wooo! Finally, some wargames for Android. At least ones that look deep. Can't wait to try it.

ALSO: Do you have Twitter acccount? TELL ME!

Strangeblades wrote:

Wooo! Finally, some wargames for Android. At least ones that look deep. Can't wait to try it.

Yeah, Joni has a good collection of games now on the droid, and you can get American Civil War, WWI, and plenty of WWII action - even a medievil one (but I've not tried that one enough).

Strangeblades wrote:

ALSO: Do you have Twitter acccount? TELL ME!

I do have a twitter account, it's @spelk, but I don't really use it much, other than my blog posts send notifications to it.

Does Matrix publish/develop/spit out any wargames taking place now? Like if WWIII happened (minus nukes)?

There's not a ton out there. It seems like what are available are the "broad" wargames that are more systems than specific games. For example, The Operational Art of War and Advanced Tactics: Gold are both scenario-based games and have modern scenarios in addition to WWI and a bevy of WWII engagements.

Wargames, already a niche market, don't seem to be too eager to make modern setting games. I think that from a tactical/operational/strategic level WWII was the sweet spot as far as infantry, armor, air, and naval involvement, hence the large, large, large amount of games made for that conflict. An accurate reproduction of modern tech would make for a very different game, perhaps just drones and a big red button? Modern warfare has changed so much since WWII.

Anywho, under Products you can sort by time period. Here's a list of all the games that Matrix publishes that are tagged "modern".

Thanks Michael. I was thinking of nation vs. nation scenarios found in Tom Clancy books.

Strangeblades wrote:

Does Matrix publish/develop/spit out any wargames taking place now? Like if WWIII happened (minus nukes)?

Not a computer game, but the boardgame Next War: Korea looks fantastic.

Matrix has put a few pictures up for the upcoming Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm, which is set at the end of the Cold War. Not quite modern, but pretty far in that direction at least.