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MMP has a WBC sale coming up, are any of their games worth getting?
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Aug 7, 2015 00:20
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Multiman publishes those hardcore grognard games that if you like that kind of thing they're some of the best that do that, but some of those games need three or more tables to fit the god drat maps on a full campaign. They also do a lot of series games; here's a few series: ADVANCED loving SQUAD LEADER; Standard Combat Series; Operational Combat Series if you can handle the rules (there are shorter games in the series like Reluctant Enemies); I'd leap on the Grand Tactical Series even though I know that's the collector in me and probably not the gamer. Keep an eye out for It Never Snows; Day of Days; ASL stuff; Reluctant Enemies and Blitzkrieg Legend. ASL Starter Kit 1 is imho some of the best wargaming (at a tactical level) you can get.
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Aug 7, 2015 02:33
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I'm doing army lists for a Squad Leader game right now and I'm pretty sure we could have finished Cuba Libre by this point.
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Aug 7, 2015 02:35
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StashAugustine posted:I'm doing army lists for a Squad Leader game right now and I'm pretty sure we could have finished Cuba Libre by this point. Do both at the same time  Winner of Cuba Libre gets the game balance advantage for his side in your next ASL scenario.I wish BV was available for the sale  .
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Aug 7, 2015 02:38
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StashAugustine posted:I'm doing army lists for a Squad Leader game right now and I'm pretty sure we could have finished Cuba Libre by this point. SL kiiiiinda blows and the changes in ASL are very necessary.
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Aug 7, 2015 02:54
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cenotaph posted:SL kiiiiinda blows and the changes in ASL are very necessary. What are the changes between the systems? The big issues I have with SL are that tank rules are fiddly as gently caress and secondly that there's little attrition (stacks are either alive, alive but subject to morale check, or vaporized.) I haven't played in years until tonight though.
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Aug 7, 2015 02:57
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StashAugustine posted:What are the changes between the systems? The big issues I have with SL are that tank rules are fiddly as gently caress and secondly that there's little attrition (stacks are either alive, alive but subject to morale check, or vaporized.) I haven't played in years until tonight though. I'm no expert. I've only played the infantry rules for both systems enough to know I wasn't interested enough to buy in. I recall the firepower table in ASL being a lot less randomly lethal than SL, which probably addresses your attrition complaint. You can have one self-rally per turn in ASL as well which helps alot. Oh, the SL op fire rules are broken for reasons I can't quire remember.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:02
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StashAugustine posted:What are the changes between the systems? The big issues I have with SL are that tank rules are fiddly as gently caress and secondly that there's little attrition (stacks are either alive, alive but subject to morale check, or vaporized.) I haven't played in years until tonight though. Some of the changes from what I've looked at (I've only read about the changes because for dumbfuck reason tutorials on how to play ASL assume you've played a 20+ year out-of-print game and want to know what's changed): Multiple levels of buildings. Op-fire leaves residual fire markers that damage troops that walk into same spot later in move phase. Tank rules pretty much got an overhaul and are more consolidated instead of being spread out between expansions like SL was (still super complicated to me...). Units, not even just stacks, all have flipsides and essentially can be in four different states (full strength, broken, half-squad, broken HS...and then dead). There's also this fiddly but not unwelcome idea that units can drop in rank if they fail morale, and you actually replace their piece with a shittier tier piece. I really can't comprehensively list the changes entirely. Jim Stahler's tutorials at texas-asl.com do a good job though.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:14
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Trynant posted:Day of Days This is an amazing game but won't be on sale because anything that came out this year isn't going to be on sale.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:50
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Man ASL uses counters for tank turret facing? That is the worst poo poo. Is there a game that has similar scale (WWII or later infantry/tank skirmish with customizable scenarios) but is less fiddly? I played Memoir 44 and it felt a little too far in the other direction for my taste.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:55
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StashAugustine posted:Man ASL uses counters for tank turret facing? That is the worst poo poo. I normally recommend Conflict of Heroes. The counters and maps are beautiful. Sadly the base game doesn't include a random scenario generator, but Academy plan on releasing one later this year. It's also limited to the Eastern Front at the moment, with Guadalcanal coming out in the beginning of 2016.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:59
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What about the baby games such as a victory lost? The odds of one me getting a monster game to the table are pretty slim - unless I can solo play the game. 25% off is a decent deal, even better if I can ever find someone to play against. My wife would laugh and walk off at these games.
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Aug 7, 2015 03:59
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StashAugustine posted:Man ASL uses counters for tank turret facing? That is the worst poo poo. The only *worse* poo poo, *sir* is that there are not 16 unique counters per turreted unit to properly represent current turret facing when cross indexed against the units relative armor on a given turret face! With an additional rule for possible gun mantlet impacts when in the forward arc.
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Aug 7, 2015 04:02
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Tekopo posted:Does anyone know anything about Triumph & Tragedy? It seems pretty interesting although it seemingly got overshadowed by Churchill. I just got Triumph & Tragedy in the mail a few days back and punched out all the counters/put stickers on all the blocks/read the rules. I'm not sure what to think of it yet but hoping I can convince both of my roommates to try a game or two. Standard block wargame with dice rolls, but it seems to be set up for very ahistorical possibilities and has a lot of card play. It's a 3 (or 2) player game of the West/Capitalist vs. Axis/Fascist vs. USSR/Communist centered on Europe that lasts 10 turns from 1936-1945. Game begins in 1936 with all 3 sides at peace, and except for a max strength Russian infantry in Moscow, British fleet in London, and French fortress representing the Maginot Line, every nation is free to place cadres (of any type of unit!) in their national/colonial cities based on population, with the Fascist/Axis nations placing double their population. For example, the German setup is 6 cadres in 3 pop Berlin, 4 cadres in 2 pop the Ruhr, and 2 cadres each in 1 pop Konigsberg and Munich. So the Axis player could theoretically start the game with 12 German naval units as Berlin, the Ruhr, and Konigsberg are all coastal territories, any mix of fleets, subs, or carriers. Comedy option: start the game with 12 carriers. I have no idea how balanced the combat is yet, but all of the units cost the same to produce, regardless of unit type. 1 "Production" required per new cadre or building an existing unit to a higher step. Production equivalent to the least of your industry, population, or resources tracks. Resources are obtained by controlling certain territories, population from controlling territories with cities, and industry from building it up via card play (and can be strategically bombed for permanent reductions). The card play seems to be the most interesting part of the game from my reading over the rules. You can spend 1 Production per card draw during the production phase of a turn, and must discard unused cards down to your hand limit at the end of a turn (7 for Axis, 6 for the West, 5 for USSR). Everyone begins the game with cards equal to their hand limit, Axis gets double their hand limit. There are two decks to draw cards from: Action and Investment. The Investment cards usually have a number of factory icons in the middle, and a different technology on the top and bottom. You can play a number of Investment cards with total factory icons equal to whatever number your faction requires to advance your industry track, or you can play two Investment cards with matched technologies to acquire the tech. There's a handy surprise! ability in that you can play matched techs face down in your "vault" and reveal them at any time during the game to instantly acquire the tech. The drawback here being that each set of matched techs in the vault counts as 1 for your hand size and certain Investment cards allow other factions to spy on your vault or steal tech from it, some Investment cards are "Intelligence" cards allowing espionage actions when played. The Action cards have a season and letter/number combo in the middle and a different neutral nation on the top and bottom. During the Diplomacy phase of each turn players can play their Action cards to influence a neutral nation. Influence from two factions cancels each other out, and influencing a nation that already has another faction's influence from previous turns reduces it. 1 influence turns a neutral into an "Associate" that provides you with their resources and population. 2 influence turns a neutral into a "Protectorate" that automatically becomes a "Satellite" of yours if another faction attacks them, which requires a declaration of war on you. 3 influence is automatic Satellite status; the neutral is under your control, no more influence is possible, and the neutral becomes "armed" automatically placing units of your choice in its territories. The other use of the Action cards is the letter/number combo in the middle being played for activating your units in combat. Each year/turn has 3 combat seasons, and the Action cards will be valid for Spring, Summer, or Fall. The USSR gets its own Winter season that any Action card may be used for. The number on the Action card (I think it's 1-4) is the "combat value" or how many blocks you can move in that season, and the letter is a priority code to determine turn order among the factions during that season. The game has multiple paths to victory and remaining peaceful as long as possible seems viable, the one bonus to being at war being the more factions you are at war with the less your Industry costs to upgrade. Your faction receives 1 victory point for each of the 4 levels of "Atomic Bomb" tech research you have achieved, 1 VP per Production Level, 2 VP per enemy capital or sub-capital captured, and VP from Peace Dividends. You lose 1 VP for each Declaration of War you made on another faction. At the beginning of each year if you are at peace you receive a "Peace Dividend" that has a value unknown to the other players, each chit is +0, +1, or +2 VP. You can achieve an Economic Victory by demonstrating a total of 25 VP at the start of a year. A Military Victory is achieved by controlling two enemy capitals or sub-capitals at any time. The Atomic Victory is won by reaching the 4th level of Atomic Bomb development and having an Air Force unit capable of moving to an enemy capital. If none of those victories are achieved the faction with the most VPs wins at the end of 1945. Overall it seems like a fairly simple and straightforward game, but there are a lot of options available to all 3 factions and I'm really looking forward to giving it a try. It has simple bluffing mechanics in that during the Diplomacy phase you may play a card to influence a neutral or you may pass; if all 3 players pass in a row the phase ends. During the Command phase for each season of combat you may pass or commit an Action card face down; on the reveal everyone finds out if any faction was playing the wrong card for the season or if they were faking with an Investment card (Investment and Action decks have the same back). I also like the random play order: at the beginning of each turn a D6 is rolled to determine which of the 3 factions starts and whether play passes clockwise or counter-clockwise around the table.
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Aug 7, 2015 07:06
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Ropes4U: I recently grabbed MMP's Kingdom of Heaven and am very glad for it. Great game, beautiful components, absolutely oozes with medieval theme. All nine scenarios (as in, real scenarios, not a "grand campain late start" kind of deal) are playable in an evening. Caveats: - It's the kind of game that at first looks to be obsessively laden with chrome, but once you power through a scenario it turns out it's probably lighter in that regard than, say, Unhappy King Charles, or Paths of Glory. - It's probably much too random to treat it very seriously as a competitive thing, especially before players attune to a more cautious, fleet-in-being style the game is assuming.
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Aug 7, 2015 07:38
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Anyone got to play Wing Leader? It triggers all sorts of warm memories about never learning how to land in Wings of Fury as a kid.
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Aug 7, 2015 10:10
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StashAugustine posted:Man ASL uses counters for tank turret facing? That is the worst poo poo. Combat Commander! Plays quick and has an excellent random scenario generator. Tanks aren't introduced until like the 4th expansion though.
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Aug 7, 2015 10:18
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Band of Brothers: Ghost Panzer. Ghost Panzer in particular has a decent focus on hot panzer action and allows some slight customization of forces for fog of war purposes.
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Aug 7, 2015 10:21
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Narrowed my choices down to one or two of the below: ASL starter kit #1 Reluctant Enemies It Never Snows Kingdom of Heaven A Victory Lost Ropes4u fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Aug 7, 2015 |
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Aug 7, 2015 14:34
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Decided to order Reluctant Enemies and ASL Starter Kit #1. I hope I can one day find someone to play them with.. I guess I will want a Formica clipper and trays now.
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Aug 8, 2015 01:06
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So I'm trying to come up with some ASL house rules solo play to determine defender placement to remove my own bias, or at least provide a more random setup. So far I've thought of: - DR to determine defender's knowledge of initial placement, and if they get advantage - DR deployment direction and style I'm wondering if I should come up with something to determine combat style (IE: Always shoots at leaders ASAP, etc) Thoughts? quote:Player rolls DR
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Aug 8, 2015 01:26
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You should look into getting Solitaire ASL 
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Aug 8, 2015 01:56
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COOL CORN posted:You should look into getting Solitaire ASL Can't find any 2nd Edition SASL, and I think it's out of print with no expected re-print. Most of the stuff I've found online referencing SASL doesn't have any charts or rulesets. There's a PDF about some solo rules but as far as I can tell its a dead link. So for now, I'm stuck with making up my own rules as I bring my game to work tomorrow and play a solo game. Gotta make a 12-hour shift less boring somehow! *edit* I may steal some stuff from your ASL thread COOL CORN, apologies in advance. Jobbo_Fett fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Aug 8, 2015 |
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Aug 8, 2015 02:06
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Go for it. I've been slammed at work and haven't had a chance to do an update in a while
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Aug 8, 2015 02:11
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COOL CORN posted:Go for it. I've been slammed at work and haven't had a chance to do an update in a while Hmmmm, I could always just make a post about my game in your thread, if you're okay with it.
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Aug 8, 2015 02:13
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Morholt posted:Combat Commander! Plays quick and has an excellent random scenario generator. Tanks aren't introduced until like the 4th expansion though. As much as I love Combat Commander I don't think it's a game that someone who is looking for an ASL-lite experience would necessarily want. The map scale is completely different and every scenario is the same size to accommodate the game system. Even the "tanks" in the fall of the west battlepack are piddly little early-war things that are represented in a really abstract way. It's an awesome game but it's specifically designed to provide a particular type of experience rather than ASL's comprehensiveness.
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Aug 8, 2015 02:55
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You guys sure love sign language
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Aug 8, 2015 02:57
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Has anyone played PQ-17, what's their thought's on it and does it take too long to play? My friend wanted to play a Naval game and it's the only one I have but he's a little scared off from how big the rulebook was and that it looks like its going to take awhile to play.
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Aug 8, 2015 03:57
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cenotaph posted:As much as I love Combat Commander I don't think it's a game that someone who is looking for an ASL-lite experience would necessarily want. The map scale is completely different and every scenario is the same size to accommodate the game system. Even the "tanks" in the fall of the west battlepack are piddly little early-war things that are represented in a really abstract way. It's an awesome game but it's specifically designed to provide a particular type of experience rather than ASL's comprehensiveness. I took a look at the rules and while the lack of AFVs is a disappointment it looked interesting enough that I'd like to try it. My problem with SL is that its super fiddly in order to provide as close to a fully simulationist experience as possible, but I generally prefer games that have some abstraction in order to make it play faster. Unfortunately I'm not really sure how I can try it out, maybe browbeat my brother into playing me on VASSAL.
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Aug 8, 2015 06:05
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cenotaph posted:As much as I love Combat Commander I don't think it's a game that someone who is looking for an ASL-lite experience would necessarily want. The map scale is completely different and every scenario is the same size to accommodate the game system. Even the "tanks" in the fall of the west battlepack are piddly little early-war things that are represented in a really abstract way. It's an awesome game but it's specifically designed to provide a particular type of experience rather than ASL's comprehensiveness.
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Aug 8, 2015 10:46
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Stop resisting ASL yall. Embrace the monster, love the monster.
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Aug 8, 2015 10:56
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The best "lighter game" substitute for Advanced Squad Leader (since y'all fuckers won't let the acronym be) from what I've played so far has been the Band of Brothers series (Ghost Panzer is the one I've played). The series doesn't do the card-chaos of Combat Commander and keeps very defining features of Squad Leader stuff in play. Biggest difference in game-flow is that movement in Band of Brothers is impulsed based as opposed to the "player takes their whole turn in one go" format. Advanced Squad Leader can be more interesting in that regard because it creates a really cool ebb-and-flow of using your movement to get into devastating defense points that an impulse-movement kind of pacifies. Advanced Squad Leader pretty much does opportunity-fire in the most pleasing way I've played in a squad game (though the skirmish minis game Earth Reborn trumps it with interrupts leading to a choice of actions rather than simply counter-attacks).
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Aug 8, 2015 15:02
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quote:Location: Vierville Wilkommen Kommandant, Due to the Allied invasion, it is of critical important that you secure the town of Vierville. Reconnaissance of the area suggests that Allied, possibly US, forces are without support weapons or armoured vehicles. Unfortunately, so are we. At your disposal are several infantry elements that are on their way to wrestle control from the enemy. We believe that several allied units have already reached the outskirts of the town, but we cannot be certain until our troops arrive. Victory Conditions The Americans win at game end if there are no Good Order German units in buildings N5, N6, M4, and L3 code:US Forces deploy on the board along hexes N3, N4, M5, L5, with no more than 1 MMC per hex Tactics discussion This is my first time playing Advanced Squad Leader, so let's see what I think can be done in the allotted time with the units I have at my disposal. Since this is an all infantry scenario, I won't have to worry about support weapons. At the same time, however, I won't have any heavy weapons to help dislodge tough opponents. The Southern part of the map has lots of wooded hexes, but are far away from my objectives, while the Northern part of the map contains lots of open ground and little protection. I like to play defensively my first time around with a new game so I'm thinking about playing this cautiously. To that effect, my Eastern forces will deploy into K10, I10 and H10, and my Western forces will deploy into I1, G1, and F1. This will allow my forces to either move into the cover of the woods with views down streets and at some buildings or, from the West, move into buildings immediately. I'm expecting house to house combat and maybe some melee too. Board State as of Rally Phase of German Turn 01  *The scenario only uses hexes A through V **Russian counters have been placed on US counters to act as fog of war I know its just the deployment/first turn rally phase, but should I add more photos? More text?
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Aug 8, 2015 19:35
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I should also mention I plan to post this in COOL CORN's thread, making it easier for me and so I won't have to steal the awesome OP he posted.
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Aug 8, 2015 19:53
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German Turn 1 We have nothing to rally and no targets in LOS, can move right on to the movement phase (MPh)  First to move is our 4-4-7 (f), with his 4 movement factors (MF), traverses some open ground before ending his movement on the Woods-Roads for a total of 4 MF. Second to move is our stack with a 4-4-7 and our 7-0 leader (Sgt. Baumann). They travel East through open ground, then North-East on the road before entering the stone building in I4, for a total of 6 MF.  DEFENSIVE FIRE ACTIVATED As the Germans move into the safety of the stone structure, the Americans swiftly retaliate with the first fire of the day. An 8-1 leader (Cpt. Highsmith) paired with a 7-4-7 paratrooper open fire on the Germans.  The DRM is as followers: -1 for FFNAM (First Fire Non-Assault Move) -1 for Leader ability +2 for 2 orchard hexes between shooter and target +3 for stone structure = +3 DRM The US player rolls a 5! 5+3 = 8 and since the paratroopers have a firepower of 7 (the first number in 7-4-7) it is checked on the 6 FP for the Infantry Fire Table (IFT) which gives us... A Pin Task Check (PTC)! The Germans must roll a DR for each unit, equal or lower than their morale. The leader must roll first.  The leader rolls a 4, and passes his PTC.  The 4-4-7 doesn't, however, and has a Pin counter applied to him. He must end his movement and his firepower (FP) is halved. The unit may not advance during the Advance Phase (APh). That ends the Defensive First Fire.  In the West, the remaining 4-4-7 (h) moves East into the stone structure in I2 for 3 MF. In the East, our 3 stacks move West. Sgt. Alonzo and his 4-6-7 move to I7 with a good line of sight down the road. The 4-6-7 (H) following them ends in the woods at I8. The last 4-6-7 (J) has to end L8 because he only has 4 MF. Next turn I'll want him in a house. Next: US Turn 1
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Aug 8, 2015 21:39
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Feel free to use my thread all you want. It is called LET'S play, after all
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Aug 9, 2015 04:05
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(Picture from WBC this weekend, ignore everything except for...)  ASL POCKET RULEBOOK CONTAINING ALL OF CHAPTERS A-G FOR $40 IM SO HARD RIGHT NOW Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Aug 9, 2015 |
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Aug 9, 2015 04:09
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COOL CORN posted:Feel free to use my thread all you want. It is called LET'S play, after all When I get good enough to not have to check the rules every 2 moves (And second guessing all my moves) I'll probably try my hand at bigger scenarios. I picked up Starter Kit #3 recently... and I'm so very very tempted to grab Rising Sun while the sale is on-going, but I still need BV I'm starting to understand the woes of modules being out of stock/print.
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Aug 9, 2015 04:10
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Jobbo_Fett posted:When I get good enough to not have to check the rules every 2 moves (And second guessing all my moves) I'll probably try my hand at bigger scenarios. I would almost say go ahead and grab RS while the sale is going on, but it would suck to have a game you can't play while you're waiting for BV to come back into print
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Aug 9, 2015 04:13
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| # ? May 17, 2024 17:49 |
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COOL CORN posted:I would almost say go ahead and grab RS while the sale is going on, but it would suck to have a game you can't play while you're waiting for BV to come back into print You should see my Steam library! HEYYOOOO!
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Aug 9, 2015 04:20
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