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I just got space empires close encounters and EotS on the same day. God dammit this is too much counter clipping. Also I've gotta buy deck boxes for EotS now. I wish this was a deep box a la COIN system. Really I wish bother were deep boxes.
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Sep 13, 2015 03:46
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Alright, close encounters is clipped (mostly) I cut two GMT counter trays in half, so each color has their own counter tray. System tokens are in a color coded canvas draw bag. I managed to cram all that poo poo back in the two tiny boxes they came in. Jesus. Now Empire of the Sun! Already sleeved, custom diced, just needs to be clipped. This stupid hobby is taking all my time.
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Sep 13, 2015 21:29
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I've been doing a Let's Play of Red Winter with goon participation. We had to take a hiatus about a month ago, but we're coming back! However, some players (Ropes4u, Fat Samurai) are MIA. I know they read this thread, so, guys - let me know if you want to keep playing! (We still have an opening or two, and we might need replacements. If you're interested in signing up, just click here to go to the thread!)
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Sep 13, 2015 22:16
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Tevery Best posted:I've been doing a Let's Play of Red Winter with goon participation. We had to take a hiatus about a month ago, but we're coming back! However, some players (Ropes4u, Fat Samurai) are MIA. I know they read this thread, so, guys - let me know if you want to keep playing! I'm coming sorry quit checking over the weekend!
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Sep 14, 2015 00:24
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  These are the upgrades so far. I did a little thinking, realized my collapsible dice tower that I customized for Twilight Struggle has two usable sides, and did what you see above. The ensign of the US Navy I printed out, and the rising sun was good ol crayola markers. Those are obviously the custom dice talked about a few pages ago. The card sleeves are available from BCW supplies, and I took an old deck box and photoshopped the cover image from the box and glued it on. I think it looks pretty snazzy, all things considered.
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Sep 14, 2015 01:56
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I've started finally playing Paths of Glory after learning the rules way back when. I love this game, it's so well made.
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Sep 14, 2015 15:11
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COOL CORN posted:I've started finally playing Paths of Glory after learning the rules way back when. I love this game, it's so well made. I played a game against my dad a couple of months back and I loved it. I like that it always feels like you're on the edge of disaster on at least one front, I imagine that's sort of what it felt like (although to a much lesser degree of course) to actually have to run WWI. I was a bit sceptical about how accurate it would actually turn out considering the map is so abstract, but other than me winning as the Central Powers in mid-1917 (mostly due to my dad being too aggressive) we both actually found ourselves put into similar situations to real life.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:32
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PoG works well as a WWI if you are both inexperienced in the game but once you actually know the game well it will almost never feel like WWI.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:34
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COOL CORN posted:I've started finally playing Paths of Glory after learning the rules way back when. I love this game, it's so well made. It's a fascinating game, though I'm not sure if I actually like it. Even after a dozen games, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, though I'm getting better at the early game. I've finally got someone interested in these heavier wargames, at least. I'm very happy to be able to get my Paths of Glory on the table. Next time well be tackling Empire of the Sun! I've also been toying with the idea of doing a PBF of Paths of Glory or Empire of the Sun, too. It's always interesting to see the different strategies people come up with.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:35
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Tekopo posted:PoG works well as a WWI if you are both inexperienced in the game but once you actually know the game well it will almost never feel like WWI. How so might I ask? I've only played about 2 games so far so wouldn't say I'm experienced in the way the game plays.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:43
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INinja132 posted:How so might I ask? I've only played about 2 games so far so wouldn't say I'm experienced in the way the game plays. I think he's referring to the fact that in WW1, both sides were constantly and frantically trying to keep all their units supplied and alive and being absolutely frightened that it could come toppling down at any moment. Which is how the game feels the first few times you play it I guess, until you know the game inside and out, when it feels more like WW1 themed chess than actual war.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:49
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The eastern front is way too important to the extent that it decides the entire war, russian collapse is difficult against an experienced AP player, the middle east theather is completely forgettable and due to how card economy works, almost always never played in, fights on the eastern front can quickly descend into dances of death until one side fucks up. There are people that are more experienced than me though that can give a better analysis of the game. I've played more Pursuit of Glory because it has more interesting fronts that all have equal importance.
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Sep 14, 2015 16:53
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Hmm, I sort of feel like that sort of actually was how WWI worked out (except for your point on the Eastern Front being the most important one). The Middle East especially was not tremendously important in real life until the Ottoman's collapsed (at which point it became very important of course). I dunno, I feel like Paths of Glory has the ability to recreate WWI depending on what the players decide to do, but as in a lot of games what happened in real life often isn't actually good for the player, e.g. the Russian Revolution. This leads to the player doing everything in their power to actively avert what happened in real life as it's strategically not a good move. This is just an inexperienced view though so it might be incorrect.
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Sep 14, 2015 17:08
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Oh yeah, I don't deny that the Middle East theater was less important, but in most of my PoG games it is not only unimportant, it is also completely static. That, to me, doesn't feel right at all. In Pursuit of glory, the Revolution is unavoidable: it will happen, it affects the game and the game is balanced around it (the only thing that differs game to game is when it actually happens). If the Revolution happens in PoG the AP player has hosed up pretty badly, because there are so many hoops that the CP player has to go through to make it happen in the first place.
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Sep 14, 2015 17:14
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Yeah I see what you're saying. Next time I play I'll report back on whether we had a similar situation to the first time and whether anything a bit out of the ordinary happened.
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Sep 14, 2015 18:09
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Played my first 2 ASL games (against a human opponent) over the weekend and all I can say is drat you COOL CORN for getting me so addicted to this  Edit: Played a Franc Tireur and a Rat Pack(?) scenario, now I need to get every scenario ever... and play them all.
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Sep 14, 2015 18:11
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Played my first 2 ASL games (against a human opponent) over the weekend and all I can say is drat you COOL CORN for getting me so addicted to this Ooh, which scenarios did you play? I'm also curious, had either of you played before or were you both new to the game? It seems like I'm in the vast minority as I learnt the game myself, I wasn't taught it by someone else.
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Sep 14, 2015 18:13
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INinja132 posted:Ooh, which scenarios did you play? I'm also curious, had either of you played before or were you both new to the game? It seems like I'm in the vast minority as I learnt the game myself, I wasn't taught it by someone else. Technically, I've taught myself but will definitely cite COOL CORN and the people I played with and against yesterday as helping me understand or delve further into the rules. I was even gifted a sniper dice, where he promptly got a kill against an infantry crew! The first scenario played was RPT-11 Butchers and Bakers, low unit count British vs Germans. I was doing pretty well, thanks to some bad rolls from my opponent but I got too cautious and didn't start moving men off-map until too late (I also might have forgotten that I needed to do that, whoops!) and when I stormed out to try and kill all his guys in CC, he got a super good string of rolls and basically broke all my squads. The second scenario was FT-12 On the top of Europe, another low-ish unit count with only HS, LMGs and Leaders. Free French vs Germans, where the Germans need to storm and capture a hill. Came down to the final die roll on the last turn in CC, but my stock MMP dice betrayed my men and caused a loss. Great for introducing someone to ski, hill and some terrain rules. My opponent was a different person for each scenario, the first guy was more of a rookie of ASL and we consulted the rulebook quite a bit, but that didn't stop 4 hours from vanishing. My second adversary was a way more experienced guy who preferred playing "fast and loose", in his terms. But enjoyable games and I'm anxious to play more.
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Sep 14, 2015 18:51
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 Do you have the Classic ASL scenarios? (numbered A, B, C, D, etc.) Those are a lot of fun and really drive home basic rules, adding a little bit on each subsequent scenario. edit-- http://www.multimanpublishing.com/Support/ASLASLSK/ASLOfficialDownloads/tabid/109/Default.aspx Click on "Scenarios from Classic ASL"
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Sep 14, 2015 19:02
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Would anyone be interested in a PBEM 1943 game of Empire of the Sun? Would that even be feasible? I rarely have time for live VASSAL play, but I feel like I need a guru to help me understand the finer points of the game.
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Sep 14, 2015 20:19
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COOL CORN posted:Would anyone be interested in a PBEM 1943 game of Empire of the Sun? Would that even be feasible? Yeah, PBEM is pretty simple with VASSAL. The offensive player would make his moves and pass it to the response player. He'd do any responses he has, roll for damage, then take his losses and pass it back to the offensive player, who would take his losses and then do post-battle movement.
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Sep 14, 2015 20:36
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Taran_Wanderer posted:Yeah, PBEM is pretty simple with VASSAL. The offensive player would make his moves and pass it to the response player. He'd do any responses he has, roll for damage, then take his losses and pass it back to the offensive player, who would take his losses and then do post-battle movement. Sweet. Sounds simple enough. Any takers out there?
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Sep 14, 2015 20:54
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COOL CORN posted:Sweet. Sounds simple enough. Any takers out there? I'd be up for it, though I haven't actually played yet.
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Sep 14, 2015 22:10
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COOL CORN posted:Sweet. Sounds simple enough. Any takers out there? I'm game though I'm not exactly a guru. My email is dtkozl@gmail dot com.
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Sep 14, 2015 22:25
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Sweet, messaged both of you.
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Sep 14, 2015 22:57
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INinja132 posted:Yeah I see what you're saying. Next time I play I'll report back on whether we had a similar situation to the first time and whether anything a bit out of the ordinary happened. I think it's rather telling that the WBC variant rules and the official historial varient rules both include: "Only Austrian and Italian armies may operate in Italy (move, attack, or advance into any space in Italy) and no German armies may end their movement (OPS or SR) in Trent, Villach or Trieste until the start of a turn at which THE AP (change from GMT rules) is at Total War" Apparently, it is way to easy for the Central Powers to get multiple Battles of Caporetto/12th Isonzo debacle the second Italy enters the war under the standard rules.
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Sep 15, 2015 00:44
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golden bubble posted:I think it's rather telling that the WBC variant rules and the official historial varient rules both include: One of the problems is Italy has a fixed setup and weak units and it's an easy way to get some VPs for the central powers that way. Paths of Glory and one of its cousins, Barbarossa to Berlin, have this problem where the ancillary fronts have high opportunity costs so you almost never see much action in them.
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Sep 15, 2015 00:49
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I don't know why they don't design CDGs with multiple fronts to have one ops value per front per card to force you to play in those areas. Like a WWII one could have West, East, and North Africa ops values on each card or something like that.
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Sep 15, 2015 00:54
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cenotaph posted:I don't know why they don't design CDGs with multiple fronts to have one ops value per front per card to force you to play in those areas. Like a WWII one could have West, East, and North Africa ops values on each card or something like that. Because it took Ted Raicer 10 years and 2 games to realize that ops tend to be better than events and games shouldn't be balanced around players only using 3 or so ops rounds. Having him realize that concentration of effort is better than dispersion unless there are significant countervailing factors would probably take another few game designs. (Also he designs around his belief the Germans could and should have taken Moscow in 1941 so all his WWII games are a little weird.)
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Sep 15, 2015 01:20
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COOL CORN posted:Started playing a game of The Hunters today, chronicling the adventures of Das Dikboot, a type-VIIA U-boat crewed by Kommandant COOLCORN starting in 1939. I've been thinking about getting the US/Pacific Theater version, Silent Victory, which is available for pre-order. Not sure though, I rather disliked how "passive" B-17 was, you really weren't playing it so much as watching/experiencing it. I don't think I'd find Silent Victory/The Hunters very enjoyable if it was too similar to that.
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Sep 15, 2015 06:53
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Barbarossa to Berlin is among one of the worst CDGs I've played, along with Wellington. I almost wish there were more CDGs like EotS but in reality EotS is such a tightly focused design that it would literally never work in any other theater of operation without heavy, heavy conversion and even then it would be something akin to taking Totaler Krieg and trying to make it work in the PTO (Dai Senso is not very good).
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Sep 15, 2015 10:28
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Tekopo posted:Oh yeah, I don't deny that the Middle East theater was less important, but in most of my PoG games it is not only unimportant, it is also completely static. That, to me, doesn't feel right at all. In Pursuit of glory, the Revolution is unavoidable: it will happen, it affects the game and the game is balanced around it (the only thing that differs game to game is when it actually happens). If the Revolution happens in PoG the AP player has hosed up pretty badly, because there are so many hoops that the CP player has to go through to make it happen in the first place. While I agree that the Near East doesn't see a lot of action, it shouldn't be completely static. There are a good number of VPs on offer for the AP that the CP will never be able to get back if the front collapses. The CAU is fairly OPs efficient for the AP to use, because they usually only need to spend one or two OPs to get the CAU and some trailing corps moving, while the CP will need to SR corps into position. Even if you don't expect the CAU to get the job done, the distraction they cause is more efficient on your actions than theirs. The MEF, unfortunately, is the complete opposite. They are OPs intensive, and require you to waste time with SR plays to set them up. They can clean up the front in a couple of moves, but they'll stop all other fronts dead. Still, it doesn't take too much to get them out, even if you don't end up using them. The best way to set them up in my opinion is to cull your low cards in Mobilisation/Limited War, get the MEF out in the first pass of Limited War, and SR some corps to them at some point. Keep most of your high value cards in your deck, so when the shuffle comes you'll have a hand of 4 and 5 OP cards and your combat cards. Go for a quick knock-out, and if it fails, just push to Total War. But that's still a lot of effort with a high chance of not having anything to show for it. The only problem is that the Allies are relying on the CAU and MEF to do their heavy lifting, and both can't be replaced when damaged, which will happen thanks to a pocketed Kemel silver bullet. So they'll do their thing for a bit, and if they fail, the entire theatre will become locked in time until the next army arrives. And while Paths does incentivise you to use all your different fronts/nationalities during a turn to maximise the effectiveness of your RP cards, this doesn't work in the Near East. Without repairable armies, Allied RPs get diverted to other fronts, and CP RPs patch up dead Turks and are then wasted. I also don't mind that the Russian Revolution is so hard to pull off. It is staged, so you do get benefits for partial revolutions, and just because it did happen historically doesn't mean it was bound to happen, independent of the state of the war. It certainly shouldn't be something that CP players can take for granted, and they should be forced to make, not wait for, Russia's collapse. If dances of death are a problem, try playing with a 'check' rule, where you must point out a potential supply cut opportunity to your opponent in their turn, before you can act on it. We started doing that to help new players get a feel for spotting supply threats, and have just continued to do so. It does feel a little strange to be constantly helping your opponent fix up their lines, but it does give the game a more satisfying conclusion. Exploiting an oversight is always fun, but the penalty for that mistake is so disproportionately high to any other blunder you could make in the game. The threat is still there, and like chess, you get to make that cut off when you've left the enemy with no other avenues to escape it. edit: Just remember that heavy culling as the AP to have a quick cycle deck at the end of Limited War only works if your opponent has missed some war status plays. If they are grabbing most of their war status events (heading towards 11 of 14 on the first pass), then Late Italy/Romania Entry will ruin your 5/5 cards. Ubik_Lives fucked around with this message at 13:08 on Sep 15, 2015 |
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Sep 15, 2015 12:39
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Quick EOTS question. The first turn of the 1943 scenario, the game is set up at turn 5, with four turn-5-entry units in the Delayed Reinforcements box. (1x Commonwealth bomber, 2x US Naval units, 1x US Army unit) Also, the Japanese reinforcement card shows 1x Air Flotilla unit, 1x Air unit, and 1x ground unit. So, during the very first reinforcements phase, the Allied units that are in the delayed box... they stay there, correct? And I roll for WIE for the US Army unit? And then turn 6 is when I get to place my turn 5 reinforcements on the board? And then the 3 Japanese units get placed on the board with no delay, correct? Reinforcements, at least on the Allied side, are explained so obtusely in the rulebook. But, maybe it's just that it works differently than I'm used to in other war games.
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Sep 15, 2015 14:39
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Yep, they stay there. The scenario points out that reinforcements/strategic warfare/replacements has already been conducted, so the stuff in the delay boxes is the turn 5 reinforcements and the delayed reinfs from turn 4 are already on the map. Japanese reinfs never get delayed. Don't roll for WIE in the stuff in the delay box, it has already been assumed to have been done.
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Sep 15, 2015 14:46
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Tekopo posted:The scenario points out that reinforcements/strategic warfare/replacements has already been conducted Doh, I didn't catch that.
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Sep 15, 2015 14:48
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CC: Europe was fun although I suck at it. Depicted and inherent LOS was a little weird to figure out at first but I think we got it. I was playing with my dad who played some Avalon Hill stuff when he was younger (and less blind) so he enjoyed it although he had a hell of a time reading the counters.
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Sep 15, 2015 15:22
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1942 EOTS setup... US gets free emergency move right out of the gate... Moving things randomly it is!
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Sep 15, 2015 18:14
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Well one of the videos says the obvious move is to put the two american and one dutch naval units in the 3 strategic resource hexes that are currently unoccupied so the japanese don't have a freebie. My only thought on it is you need to balance that with some sort of plan on what will do in the DEI. Obviously they are only ever going to be speed bumps but how they are speed bumps matters, such as if you are going to do the plan orange thing of reinforcing the Philippines. Just be mindful of where you plan on putting ABDA HQ, if you ever plan on using macarthur to activate, and I like to get the exeter involved because I'm overly aggressive.
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Sep 15, 2015 19:21
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COOL CORN posted:1942 EOTS setup... US gets free emergency move right out of the gate... If you go through the solo rules, there's a 1942 emergency move suggestion list for people new to the game. That may be helpful to get you started.
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Sep 16, 2015 11:04
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COOL CORN posted:1942 EOTS setup... US gets free emergency move right out of the gate...
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Sep 16, 2015 15:16
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