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I've finally got a decent grasp on Twilight Struggle, and can see why it's ranked as high as it is, holy poo poo. Even though I'm still pretty terrible at it, I can see the depth and strategy involved; it's really a gem. Two questions: 1) What's the general consensus on Labyrinth: The War on Terror? As far as I can tell it's basically a modern analogue to TS and seems to play very similarly. Might be fun for when I want a change of pace from TS. 2) Would anyone be interested in a PBEM game of TS via WGR or VASSAL or that Excel spreadsheet that's floating around? I'm starting a new job tomorrow and won't have time to play real-time, but would probably be able to email back and forth throughout the day. Also, that way I can analyze my moves and get to know the cards really well.
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Nov 3, 2014 07:24
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COOL CORN posted:1) What's the general consensus on Labyrinth: The War on Terror? As far as I can tell it's basically a modern analogue to TS and seems to play very similarly. Might be fun for when I want a change of pace from TS. Not great. It's got some interesting ideas, but it suffers from some of the wrong kinds of randomness. The terrorist player has to roll random chances for every single action they take, sometimes meaning they get no actions despite paying for 3. And the US player's success is tied to a die roll modifier track that can go too far in either direction for balance. Most of those interesting ideas later made it into the much better COIN series (Andean Abyss, Cuba Libra, A Distant Plain, Fire in the Lake) by the same designer. Look at those instead.
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Nov 3, 2014 07:34
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On the subject of COIN: A) GMT just released the first of two preview articles for Gallic War, describing the factions and some of the broad systemic changes needed to port the COIN system to an ancients setting. A few things that stuck out.
B) GMT also released a teaser image on Instagram for the seventh (?) COIN title, an as-yet unnamed COIN Ancients game dealing with the fall of the Roman Empire in Britain. Little information is available, but what scraps have fallen out are really enticing.
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Nov 3, 2014 08:56
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I'm am astounded at the speed they are designing and getting this games out at, considered how well made and deep they are. How many they got working on this?  In any case, I wasn't that excited about Gallic War before reading that article, but now it's sounding like a must have.
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Nov 3, 2014 15:04
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The reason why they are churning them out is because some of the newer ones are designs made by other designers and not strictly speaking Volko.
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Nov 3, 2014 15:06
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Dre2Dee2 posted:I'm am astounded at the speed they are designing and getting this games out at, considered how well made and deep they are. How many they got working on this? Liberty or Death, at least, isn't Volkho himself, although he's giving some input on playtesting. I dunno about the Britain game, though- I suspect GMT leaped on the 'COIN Ancients' thing. give me mick collins already gmt
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Nov 3, 2014 15:06
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So I was out in a boardgaming weekend and I was crazy enough to attempt to do a full game of Unconditional Surrender (spoiler: we didn't finish it). We went from September 1939 to June 1942, which was a pretty good going anyway. Some highlights included: -Italy joining the Axis early, getting crushed in North Africa and pretty much being forced to just spend the rest of the game doing not much of anything except interdicting allied shipping in the Med. -Yugoslavia, Finland, Romania (although it ceded lands), Turkey and Spain joining the Axis (the Axis did pretty well in Diplomacy). -France almost not falling after getting to 4 NW and October bad weather coming around, only to be denied by November having fair weather again. -Invasions of Hungary, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland (of course), Bulgaria, Greece and Iraq by the Axis and French Syria and French North Africa by the Allies: by the end of the game the only neutrals left were Sweden, Portugal and Ireland. -A failed invasion of Valencia by the Allies after Spain joined the war. -A failed invasion of Gibraltar by joint Spanish/German forces. Overall the game was really awesome but we did 8:30 pm to 3:30 am and then 10:30 am to around 6:00 pm the next day and by the end of that I was mentally exhausted. Still worth it.
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Nov 3, 2014 15:26
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That sounds really cool. I'd love to play a full game but I don't really have the space to leave it unpacked. Did the Soviets get to fight at all?
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Nov 3, 2014 15:37
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Yeah, barbarossa happened and the germans managed to get historical advance in the south but hadn't reached either Leningrad or Moscow in the north. We were too tired out by the time we reached the Summer 1942 campaign but the russians were in good shape by then.
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Nov 3, 2014 16:52
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Wargoons, I'm looking for recommendations. Gotta populate the giftmas list with something or other. I've already got Twilight Struggle, all four COIN games, Sekigahara, and A House Divided. (I've also got War of the Ring, A Game of Thrones, Eclipse, and Chaos in the Old World for non-historical games.) That said, I've got some picky tastes. Here's what I'm looking for, in order of importance: 1) Unique conflicts. By which I mean, not WWII in Europe, for the love of god. I get into historical games because I like learning the shape of conflicts that I'm unfamiliar with. I'd like to shy away from the big wars that get all the coverage in history textbooks in the US. So WWII, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War are all turn-offs. (The First World War gets a pass because it's been a fascination of mine since high school. Blame Erich Maria Remarque.) Africa, Central/South America, and Asia focuses are a plus. 2) A political element or other outside influence. By which I mean, something that the commanders have to consider besides pure tactical maneuvering. As Matt Thrower put it, "Strategic games without a political dimension feel empty, the marching jackboots echoing strangely in a half-filled room." Things like the support/opposition mechanics in COIN, or the DEFCON/MilOps brinksmanship in Twilight Struggle, or the uncertain allegiances in Sekigahara, or managing the relationship with the US/Pakistan/Laos and Cambodia in CL/ADP/FitL. It doesn't even have to be a strictly "political" thing--managing the ringbearer in War of the Ring would qualify for me. 3) Not dicey. I realize that COIN is a rarity with its Euro-as-hell mechanics. But don't make me throw warhammerfulls of d6s, please. Block or card mechanics in place of dice are a plus. 4) Not pure solitaire. If I want to play by myself, I'll buy something off Steam. This is what's kept me away from Navajo Wars/Comancheria, though I haven't really looked at their 2-player co-op variants. 5) Available without having to camp eBay. I'm working on a wishlist, after all. I can only be so cruel to someone giving me a gift. Of course, if there's some perfect game that I'll only ever get by scouring auctions and trade threads, well, I can always just ask for money... So, any thoughts?
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Nov 3, 2014 20:51
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Maria.
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Nov 3, 2014 21:14
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The Last King of Scotland? (I did not actually play it) (it's not actually about Scotland) It definitiely ticks #1, it immedeately came to my mind when you asked for an under-represented conflict. It has some political elements. Morholt fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 22:33
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I've heard of Last King of Scotland, and it pinged my radar. But the only review I've seen gives an impression of very swingy luck. I should read the rulebook.
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Nov 3, 2014 22:47
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Actually I skimmed the rules now and it is a bucket-of-dice, roll-to-hit design. 
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Nov 3, 2014 23:01
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Lichtenstein posted:Maria. No joke, this one. Maria is a 3-player asymmetric political war about the succession of Austria-Hungary. It uses poker-like cards to resolve conflict and political events/elections. One player uniquely plays two factions that essentially conflict each other and somehow this works because of the way the board is laid out (it's essentially a battle on two fronts). It's hitting every check mark on your list. Not to mention it's one of the few games uniquely designed for three-players and works wonders at that level (though 2 players is possible). EDIT: And oh hey two copies are in stock at amazon for MSRP or close to it. EDIT EDIT: Interestingly enough while I don't recall this game being amazingly high ranked on BGG; through some different data filters someone calculated that this is essentially one of the most highly ranked games by people who have it in their collection. Trynant fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Nov 3, 2014 23:11
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Maria is good. Pursuit of Glory is still my favorite wargame I've played so far. WW1, Turkish forces. The four fronts with limited actions to spend between them works well in terms of decisions and tradeoffs. It also means you can get varied playthroughs depending on how the Allied powers devote their invasion forces. My only issues with it are the difficulty to teach, and a trigger for the Russian Revolution that can sometimes come too early or too late.
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Nov 3, 2014 23:14
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Successors, about the aftermath of Alexander the Great's death, was pretty cool the couple times I tried it. Sort of like a multiplayer Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage. Has a "Prestige" system, based on who is perceived as the rightful heir to Alexander (e.g. who controls his sons, marries his daughters, buries his body, etc), that gives an alternate path to victory. Hard to find now, though. If you want something more like Twilight Struggle, you can't go wrong with 1989. While TS is an amazing game, I've always felt it was a little "on rails", and 1989's events go a long way to alleviating that. The Power Struggles that happen when a Country is scored are also really cool. I've heard some good things about Unhappy King Charles, but I haven't played it myself. If nothing else, there's the War of the Ring expansion!
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Nov 3, 2014 23:29
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Well I just bought Fire in the Lake and Guns of Gettysburg. Now to probably never get them to the table. I'm also wildly tempted to go in on the P500 of Liberty or Death.
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Nov 4, 2014 15:33
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:Well I just bought Fire in the Lake and Guns of Gettysburg . Now to probably never get them to the table. I'm also wildly tempted to go in on the P500 of Liberty or Death. Obviously you should LP Guns of Gettysburg so I can live vicariously though you.
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Nov 4, 2014 15:43
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I'm tempted to do a PBP of FitL now that I have a good grasp on it. It's also held fun solo, even though I just don't use the flowcharts because they hurt my brain. I'll get to those eventually.
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Nov 4, 2014 15:57
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COOL CORN posted:I'm tempted to do a PBP of FitL now that I have a good grasp on it. Do you just play as all the factions yourself?
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Nov 4, 2014 16:00
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:Do you just play as all the factions yourself? I started off playing as the two COIN forces against the flowcharts for the insurgents. Eventually it was getting late and I had two more coups to go so I just played all four myself because it was a lot quicker. I've been playing Twilight Struggle the same way. It's a lovely life I lead.  Edit-- I meant to type lonely. Either works.
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Nov 4, 2014 16:39
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COOL CORN posted:I started off playing as the two COIN forces against the flowcharts for the insurgents. I got FitL not too long ago myself and haven't really had a chance to get into it, if you ever want to try VASSAL or PBEM or whatever, let me know!
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Nov 4, 2014 22:24
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Ditto for me on any Vassal COIN games, now the Jets have blown their season I'm pretty free sundays 
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Nov 5, 2014 00:31
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I know this isn't the most impressive showing, but it felt SO GOOD: I've been playing the iPad version of Phantom Leader (not a great iOS app, but a functional if too-literal adaptation), and I was getting frustrated, because every campaign was a series of unmitigated catastrophes. I finally started figuring things out, though, and it turned so fun so quickly. I can see how brilliant the design is now. I think it's time to start punching out Thunderbolt-Apache Leader chits. I also want to track down a copy of Warfighter, DVG's recent card-based special forces thing. Has anyone here played it, and if so do you have any thoughts?
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Nov 5, 2014 15:54
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Wikipedia Brown posted:I also want to track down a copy of Warfighter, DVG's recent card-based special forces thing. Has anyone here played it, and if so do you have any thoughts?
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Nov 5, 2014 16:02
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Oh hey Matt Thrower reviewed Fire in the Lake on Shut Up & Sit Down, and he dropped the "I'm so wargame it's scary" gag for a straight review. It is an interesting point made there how the conflict abstracted in the board game portrays the war differently and more accurately (?) than Hollywood portrayals had done. On another note, while it's rather far too late to be asking this question, how the hell to people supposedly get the monster game actual god-damned physical table presence? I hear mythical accounts that these sprawling paper fields of complex chits actually do leave their box on some blue moons; but I'm curious is there's any actual reliable method for doing so.
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Nov 5, 2014 16:38
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Trynant posted:Oh hey Matt Thrower reviewed Fire in the Lake on Shut Up & Sit Down, and he dropped the "I'm so wargame it's scary" gag for a straight review. It is an interesting point made there how the conflict abstracted in the board game portrays the war differently and more accurately (?) than Hollywood portrayals had done. -Have three brothers -Have a shitload of dad's old Avalon Hill games -Have too much free time Simple
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Nov 5, 2014 16:56
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Have a table where you can afford to leave stuff on it for months on end. Or go to a 4 night boardgaming convention and see if there is a free table
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Nov 5, 2014 16:59
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Designate a photoshoot day and fake it for the internet.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:01
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How do people play monster games in general, or the COIN series specifically? I generally start hyping my group up to the idea, start asking them which faction they'd identify with, which tactics sound more appealing. I also bait the hook with other superficially similar games. FitL and twilight struggle especially work towards urging the other to the table. It also helps to have a group that's not afraid of long games. Mine tends towards 3 hour games more often than not, so it's not a huge stretch to suggest we set aside a Saturday to play a particularly deep game.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:22
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COINs are doable in a day, most monster games are not (I'm guessing that Trynant didn't mean COIN because he mentioned paper maps and chits). People might be willing to play a 7 hour monster, but you get something like the 50 hour full campaign of Unconditional Surrender and people start to think you have some sort of mental condition.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:26
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Tekopo posted:I was interested in Warfighter when I saw it in a local shop. Isn't it a fully co-op game? Yeah, it's 1-6 players, all cooperating against the system.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:40
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I haven't played a 50 hour monster, but if I were going to, I'd just leave it set up on the table between sessions. I have a dedicated game table though, so it might not be a feasible solution.
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Nov 5, 2014 17:56
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Tekopo posted:COINs are doable in a day, most monster games are not (I'm guessing that Trynant didn't mean COIN because he mentioned paper maps and chits). People might be willing to play a 7 hour monster, but you get something like the 50 hour full campaign of Unconditional Surrender and people start to think you have some sort of mental condition. And then there's stuff like Battle for Normandy   
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Nov 5, 2014 17:59
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Lord Frisk posted:I haven't played a 50 hour monster, but if I were going to, I'd just leave it set up on the table between sessions. I have a dedicated game table though, so it might not be a feasible solution.
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Nov 5, 2014 18:00
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Hmm, I suppose setting a time for "this table will be nothing but hexgrid war" for a week or more is going to be a solution I need to look for.COOL CORN posted:And then there's stuff like Battle for Normandy Guderian's Blitzkrieg II's board game geek profile says it has a 75 hour playtime. That's one of my games trying to hit (and stay on) the table. Except I don't think my table will fit it. The map at full is 8'5" by 11'9". That's one example of about a dozen of these assholes that challenge my ability to keep something on a table for days at a time.
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Nov 5, 2014 20:20
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Get some folding banquet tables. They're pretty cheap and you can put them in the basement or garage when not in use.
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Nov 5, 2014 21:05
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Anyone interested in taking over for the MIA french generals in my NT PBP?
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Nov 6, 2014 11:38
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Trynant posted:Guderian's Blitzkrieg II's board game geek profile says it has a 75 hour playtime. That's one of my games trying to hit (and stay on) the table. Except I don't think my table will fit it. The map at full is 8'5" by 11'9". 75 hours is exceedingly optimistic. The full campaign has ~150 turns. If you know what you're doing and playing fast rather than careful you can do an active turn in about 90 minutes per side. I played at Monstercon a while back, we had 9 players (4 German, 5 Soviet) and we got through 9 turns in 4 days of playing 18 hours a day. Best gaming experience of my life by a large measure, but it was only 9 turns. Hit me up via PM if you want to talk OCS. I've been playing for a really long time.
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Nov 6, 2014 13:40
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