Wargamer's Corner

Oh, here we go again. War in the East 2, Decisive Campaigns Ardennes, and Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm all on sale again on Steam.

I think I'm definitely going to get Decisive Campaigns, not sure on the others. They are in a bundle that saves an extra 10% though, so yeah, math.

The first two are good. The third one, the team never was able to fix all the bugs and has actually started pushing new fixes into the Southern Front builds, as I understand it. I found the game to be overly fiddly about unit placement and such. Just never got comfortable with it.

Picked up Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter today. It's very much to the film Greyhound what Cold Waters is to Red Storm Rising.

Not sure whether that's good or bad, Rat Boy... What do you think?

It looked interesting to me but there were some complaints it was pretty bare-bones at this time.

Robear wrote:

The first two are good. The third one, the team never was able to fix all the bugs and has actually started pushing new fixes into the Southern Front builds, as I understand it. I found the game to be overly fiddly about unit placement and such. Just never got comfortable with it.

Interesting, thanks. I'm definitely getting Ardennes, as I've been wanting to do a Let's Play on a wargamey wargame and have been waiting for that to go on sale a bit. War in the East 2 is definitely on the list as well, but the only reason I'd get it now is to save the 10% in the bundle, but that seems not the smartest reason. Think I might just wait for November/December when the timing will be better.

I might hold off on Flashpoint then, sounds a bit less than ideal, and ... time.

Ardennes is quite a good game. Very polished, challenging, easy to get into but lots of fun. Start as they suggest, with the small scenarios, get used to the system as you work your way up.

Robear wrote:

Not sure whether that's good or bad, Rat Boy... What do you think?

It looked interesting to me but there were some complaints it was pretty bare-bones at this time.

I enjoy the core loop of tracking and engaging U-Boats, which is pretty much the only thing fully implemented at this time.

Robear wrote:

Ardennes is quite a good game. Very polished, challenging, easy to get into but lots of fun. Start as they suggest, with the small scenarios, get used to the system as you work your way up.

Will do, thanks!

Sigh.

I bought all 3 games...

Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes
War in the East 2
Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm

Further proof that my logical brain and my emotional brain are two separate things.

Well, at least you have a lot of good gaming ahead of you.

Robear wrote:

Well, at least you have a lot of good gaming ahead of you. :-)

Yes! My Shelf of Opportunity, as I like to call it.

And I was doing so well with my "Play 3 Buy 1" strategy too.

Zilla Blitz wrote:

Sigh.

I bought all 3 games...

Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes
War in the East 2
Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm

Further proof that my logical brain and my emotional brain are two separate things.

I've been putting some quality time into Flashpoint Campaigns lately. I really like the Wego system that they've built. Like Robear said, it's a bit buggy but nothing that you can't work around. The worst bug I've seen is that sometimes I click on a unit to check LOS and the LOS display appears on the other side of the map. The fix is to just save, quit out of the mission, and go back in. A pain, but really, no big deal. Their next game is coming out soon so prepare your wallet for that.

The concerning thing about the bugs is that it still has serious problems this long after release, and the devs have kind of punted to trying to fix the remaining ones in the new game...

The other problem I had with it is that it can be deeply unforgiving in mistaken placements. Don't know if they allow an undo, now.

I started in on Ardennes last night. Am I not finding the tutorial, or does one not exist?

I found the semi-tutorial in the first pages of the manual which tells you how to move and attack using the Arracourt scenario, but that doesn't help with the other 90% of the game.

Not complaining, mind you, just wondering. I was able to push units around, play some turns, and things are starting to get sorted.

There is no explicit one, but the scenarios, going from small to large, will get you into the game pretty well. I do advise strolling through the manual, especially if this type of game is not that familiar to you. But there's tons of info in the game itself, and if you are are puzzled by a mechanic you could look it up.

It's a learn by doing situation, but it's not that onerous as you've noted. Vic pretty much a one-man shop, with contractors brought in to help in particular areas, so we fans tend to sort of forgive him this kind of shortfall. And to be fair, his audience tend to be highly experienced with this sort of game.

But that's not an excuse for not having a tutorial.

Robear wrote:

There is no explicit one, but the scenarios, going from small to large, will get you into the game pretty well. I do advise strolling through the manual, especially if this type of game is not that familiar to you. But there's tons of info in the game itself, and if you are are puzzled by a mechanic you could look it up.

It's a learn by doing situation, but it's not that onerous as you've noted. Vic pretty much a one-man shop, with contractors brought in to help in particular areas, so we fans tend to sort of forgive him this kind of shortfall. And to be fair, his audience tend to be highly experienced with this sort of game.

But that's not an excuse for not having a tutorial.

Thanks!

It's not a reason to not like the game, for sure.

I was more surprised than anything, just because it seems highly polished. Like, it feels like there would be a tutorial given how good everything else looks.

Rat Boy wrote:

Picked up Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter today. It's very much to the film Greyhound what Cold Waters is to Red Storm Rising.

Early Access, but it sounds very interesting. When I was a kid I spent hundreds of hours playing a game with a red LED computer, a map board, a protractor, and a crayon to hunt a submarine. Then with the first Harpoon game my favorite activity was sub hunting. I've read that most of this game takes place in the chart room, which sounds about right. Please let me know what shape it is currently in.

Zilla Blitz wrote:

I started in on Ardennes last night. Am I not finding the tutorial, or does one not exist?

I found the semi-tutorial in the first pages of the manual which tells you how to move and attack using the Arracourt scenario, but that doesn't help with the other 90% of the game.

Not complaining, mind you, just wondering. I was able to push units around, play some turns, and things are starting to get sorted.

The game was lacking in a good tutorial, which is odd given the magnitude of changes from the previous DC game, Barbarossa. Unit posture and supply should be the next things you concentrate on. Check the Matrix Games forums for new player tips regarding successful attacks and unit micro-management.

For DC Ardennes I found this video playlist useful: Strategy Gaming Dojo

I haven't played a lot of the full campaign yet but what I'm learning is that the traffic and logistics details are critical and while the game will give you all the information you need, it won't wallop you upside the head to remind you that you're in trouble. Instead, your units will just perform like crap.

Thanks, gentlemen! I've been reading through the rulebook with the game open, just getting a sense for the numbers and some of the stuff under the hood. There is definitely a lot more going on with the game than meets the eyes.

I'll check out the forums and the videos. Thanks!

qaraq wrote:

For DC Ardennes I found this video playlist useful: Strategy Gaming Dojo

I haven't played a lot of the full campaign yet but what I'm learning is that the traffic and logistics details are critical and while the game will give you all the information you need, it won't wallop you upside the head to remind you that you're in trouble. Instead, your units will just perform like crap.

Yup, if you don't keep an eye on unit readiness, and try to attack with troops that are tired and disorganized, you are gonna have a bad time for sure.

Victoria 3 is *out*! Downloading now.

Robear wrote:

Victoria 3 is *out*! Downloading now. :-)

I hope that it has a better launch than Imperator.

Holy sh*t this is a full-fledged country simulator. The economics alone are composed of many different interlocking systems, but each is explained in depth via tooltips (and more, and more, and more tooltips). Meanwhile, while you're zoomed in, freight travels around the countryside, citizens celebrate advances with fireworks... It's a sort of living map.

You can add buildings, change production techniques in various ways, change ownership and state investment, examine long-term trends and civilian reserves in industries (an industry that's doing well will add to its reserves as well as pay out to its investors, while one that is doing poorly may be burning through cash). And there's a whole 'nother interface for your trade centers that I have only looked at for a moment.

The complex interface of the first two games has been replaced by a sensibly labeled set of buttons to access information and actions together. The tutorial journal also has "why" as well as "how" explanations for what it asks you to do, getting you immersed immediately. And there are five overview "lenses" at the bottom that can give you a high-level look at your country at any time.

This edition of the game is really explanation-forward. I did not entirely expect that.

Absolute first tutorial impression? Polished. Deep. A spin the dials and push the levers and see what happens game. Pick your country and try to develop it into the kind of state you want it to be over time.

Can you develop an evil state?

Isn't that what the entire era is about?

I'm sure you can, Hockosi. Theocratic Authoritarian Industrialists? Bring it on! (...whether it survives is an exercise for the player...)

I played for an hour or two as Sweden last night, mainly doing the various tutorial tasks that pop up. There's a ton going on in the game, but I felt like the tutorial is giving me a starting beachhead on the game. Still lots I don't understand, but I can start to get things done.

Definitely a pleasant experience, and I think it'll be even more pleasant after another few hours.

Is anyone interested in a PBEM++ match of Strategic Command American Civil War?

The game IMO is more a strategy wargame based on the civil war than a pure wargame. But here is plenty of wargaming in it. As well as Diplomacy, Research & production. Management of your factions "fighting Spirit" is essential to doing well.

Interesting game. I love Strategic Command Word War II World at War, as well.

It looks like we have a new expansion for Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2! I've been holding off really diving into this one because its so complicated, but now may be the time.

https://youtu.be/AgrcCuxUKdY