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CaptainRightful posted:Risk, Axis & Allies, Stratego... 
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Dec 16, 2016 02:55
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WAR DOGS OF SOCHI posted:How is this even possible? Are you only buying COINs and CDGs?
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Dec 16, 2016 03:00
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WAR DOGS OF SOCHI posted:How is this even possible? Are you only buying COINs and CDGs? I don't think it's that far-fetched these days. Only 3 of the games in BGG's top 10 are hex games. My progression was something like Axis and Allies -> Twilight Struggle -> Triumph & Tragedy -> Maria -> Cuba Libre -> Napoleon's Triumph -> Big rear end U.S. Civil War
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Dec 16, 2016 03:00
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Nary a hex in my collection either.
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Dec 16, 2016 04:20
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CaptainRightful posted:Risk, Axis & Allies, Stratego... that said stratego isnt that bad on the curve also if you don't have hex and counter games you dont have empire of the sun smh
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Dec 16, 2016 05:04
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My only hex wargame is EotS, unless you count Neuroshima Hex.
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Dec 16, 2016 13:20
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I can't get enough hexes in my life
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Dec 16, 2016 14:36
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COOL CORN posted:I can't get enough hexes in my life
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Dec 16, 2016 14:37
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Tekopo posted:How many times you been married? No, that's exes (only the once)
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Dec 16, 2016 15:00
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Happy Battle of the Bulge day. I should be starting my Last Blitzkrieg game today, I just wish I had room to set up all four maps.
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Dec 16, 2016 18:34
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No Retreat! Russian Front just came in the mail today, after all that hype about the first printing. Any rules I should watch out for, general gameplay advice, and average playtime lengths I can know about? OCS Tunisia II report: I've been solitaire playing both the short Battle of Kasserine scenario and some of the early turns in the full campaign. Unfortunately with holidays approaching I'm probably not going to get a chance to get further into the game right now. Main first thoughts right now are this does seem like a good jumping off point for the series after Reluctant Enemies the troops slowly feed into the game rather than having giant stacks of counters all up front. Sicily II has a smaller map and you don't have to plan air drops, but it does have some heavy navy involvement and amphibious landings that Tunisia II doesn't worry about; and the counter density is much more upfront and much, well, denser. That Tunisia II is still in print, relatively cheap, and has quick turns (relatively speaking) make it an appealing entry point for the system. Of course the biggest hurdle is having room for a 44" x 34" map with extra space for spare counters, holding cards, reinforcements, etc. and being able to leave the game out for that long. The full campaign taking 50 hours (according to box time) is definitely a reasonable estimate. There's always VASSAL, but even with all the counter management in OCS I prefer seeing the whole game on the table. There are shorter scenarios, I could see the shortest one being a two to three hour game if you're good, but you know you want to play that full campaign. It's sitting there, taunting you. EDIT: Speaking OCS and Bulge, if anyone has any knowledge on how Beyond the Rhine plays; I'd love to know. It's a big OCS game and I guess it takes a year+ for good info to come out on a monster like this. Trynant fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Dec 16, 2016 |
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Dec 16, 2016 20:24
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I just got no retreat myself and played a game. I think the biggest things I had issues with were supply rules and the counterblow rules. I also didn't do any rail movement and I saw afterwards it was pretty important for the soviets. The one thing I'm still iffy on is the retreat rule. I guess you just get to pick as the retreater?
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Dec 16, 2016 20:57
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Trynant posted:No Retreat! Russian Front just came in the mail today, after all that hype about the first printing. Any rules I should watch out for, general gameplay advice, and average playtime lengths I can know about? According to the CSW OCS thread it plays really well... transitioning from a Tunisia like state with lowish counter density and fluid fronts to rigid lines to allied steamroller stomping all over the remnants of the Thousand Year Reich.
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Dec 16, 2016 21:05
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tomdidiot posted:According to the CSW OCS thread it plays really well... transitioning from a Tunisia like state with lowish counter density and fluid fronts to rigid lines to allied steamroller stomping all over the remnants of the Thousand Year Reich. Argh don't say things like that! I just ordered Sicily 2 (to join Tunisia 2 (unplayed) and Reluctant Enemies (in progress)) and I had to physically restrain myself from buying Beyond The Rhine and The Blitzkrieg Legend. Got Last Blitzkrieg at the same time though.
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Dec 16, 2016 22:32
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I'd sell my own kidney for OCS market garden
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Dec 17, 2016 01:00
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Tekopo posted:I'd sell my own kidney for OCS market garden *retrieves scalpel* Not if I sell
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Dec 17, 2016 02:28
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Tekopo posted:I'd sell my own kidney for OCS market garden IIRC Beyond the Rhine has market garden in its earlier turns (campaign starts at September 5th 1944 and has the areas of Market Garden in the game). Thing is that a specifically Market Garden is slightly smaller scale than OCS really fits for. Looking at the units in SCS's It Never Snows and you have mostly companies and battalion units moving around (by the way I can't speak for the other SCS games but It Never Snows has some decent stuff going on thanks to its road march and air-drop rules adding needed flavor to the barebones series rules), where Beyond the Rhine is working closer to a regiment, divisional and corps scale. I'd dare wonder if a OCS Market Garden specific game would require more warping of OCS ruleset that it'd be a different type of game. So what I'm saying is Battalion Combat Series Market Garden needs to exist? EDIT:Also I'm saving my breath for a good deal on Burma. It's kind of a testament to the series how the overall same rulesets can cover drastically different scenarios. Looking at each box of OCS the flow of combat and decisions being made are very different. Blitzkrieg Legend being three different 6-turn campaign games each using one map but a lot of counters, versus Tunisia's small counter density two-map 58 turn game, etc. Trynant fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Dec 17, 2016 |
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Dec 17, 2016 03:15
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Well TCS has Screaming Eagles in Holland.  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4342/screaming-eagles-holland
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Dec 17, 2016 03:33
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Trynant posted:IIRC Beyond the Rhine has market garden in its earlier turns (campaign starts at September 5th 1944 and has the areas of Market Garden in the game). Thing is that a specifically Market Garden is slightly smaller scale than OCS really fits for. Looking at the units in SCS's It Never Snows and you have mostly companies and battalion units moving around (by the way I can't speak for the other SCS games but It Never Snows has some decent stuff going on thanks to its road march and air-drop rules adding needed flavor to the barebones series rules), where Beyond the Rhine is working closer to a regiment, divisional and corps scale. I'd dare wonder if a OCS Market Garden specific game would require more warping of OCS ruleset that it'd be a different type of game. They'll never do a specific OCS MG because of OCS's fixed time scale and hex scale. An OCS MG will literally take 4 turns and be about 25 hexes by 10 hexes using BTR's scale. They might do a scenario though, like how Time for Trumpets is basically OCS Bulge. I'm so happy I won OCS Burma used off eBay for £32 shipped when it was OOP. 
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Dec 17, 2016 03:35
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SavageMessiah posted:Argh don't say things like that! I just ordered Sicily 2 (to join Tunisia 2 (unplayed) and Reluctant Enemies (in progress)) and I had to physically restrain myself from buying Beyond The Rhine and The Blitzkrieg Legend. Got Last Blitzkrieg at the same time though. Honestly, the one I most want to try is TBL. Full campaign in 13 turns? Yes please.
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Dec 17, 2016 03:55
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tomdidiot posted:Honestly, the one I most want to try is TBL. Full campaign in 13 turns? Yes please. Yeah that's the one I wanted the most too. It also helps that that one I could conceivably set up whereas a 4 map game is a bit out of my reach.
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Dec 17, 2016 04:43
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I've been trying to learn TCS. It is surprisingly hard. The LOS rules are possibly the craziest thing I've ever seen in a game.
Obfuscation fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Dec 17, 2016 |
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Dec 17, 2016 21:00
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Obfuscation posted:I've been trying to learn TCS. It is surprisingly hard. The LOS rules are possibly the craziest thing I've ever seen in a game. It's definitely a state-of-mind type game. I think the designer was trying to create a type of experience over a purely mechanical exercise. Kind of like a long form Fields of Fire (which may or may not be a good thing.) The LOS formula does throw a wrench into things though. It's a case where trying to be more clear just wound up confusing the hell out of everybody. Since TCS terrain doesn't really use "hard edges" it makes slopes and things like buildings/woods, etc more complicated to account for. A lot of it comes to "is this unit tucked up against this hill enough to be safe?" If you're familiar with ASL conventions maybe just run with those since they should do most of the time. Math is for when things can't be eyballed too easily. This link might have better resources http://www.gamersarchive.net/thegamers/archive/tcs.htm Commence contour vs. pancake debate
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Dec 17, 2016 23:14
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Last Blitzkrieg AAR part 1 Here's the setup of the Kampfgruppe Peiper scenario, with some loose front line annotation:  The post it notes denote the bottom boundary of the scenario. The Germans start with a good situation, already starting to encircle the Allies. Here's the situation after turn 1. Sorry for the blurry image, I'll double check it after the next turn.  You can see that the 12th SS Pz division closed up the gap in the front line at the top. There were some brief skirmishes all along the front, but the real headway was made in the south, where KG Peiper and the 3rd Fallschirmjager division pushed the American 14th Cav almost to extinction, but there's one recon battalion left. Now that I mostly know what's going on, it plays really easily and really quickly. It's like OCS but without the bloated supply rules. Really loving it so far. And it's very solo friendly because you can just put all the divisional markers in a cup and pull out a random one each time! I'm probably going to start doing that next turn just for fun. I'm sure I've gotten a ton of rules wrong, but, whatever, I'm having a lot of fun with it. I haven't played a system in a long time where I stood back and said, "wow, that... really makes sense, the way that works. That's pretty smart." Good on ya, Dean Essig. Also I'm impressed with myself for thinking to put all of a division's markers on a single post it note at the bottom. Really removed a lot of the clutter from the battlefield.
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Dec 18, 2016 04:20
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lol just ordered OCS burma and baltic gap on BGG   Well at least I got the 1/2 map OCS lineup on lockdown.
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Dec 18, 2016 06:25
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Me, Teo and iNinja played out four turns of OCS Sicily over the weekend. It's very hard for the allies to make progress! But they do have a far more powerful army than the axis and you definitely feel the screws tightening. Great game but takes a hell of a lot of time to play because of the stupid landings.
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Dec 18, 2016 12:57
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Some pics: Post landings, CW in the east suffered from very bad landings but a lot of Italians surrendered.  Grow counterattack! American divisions are in trouble (one is underneath the DG counter) while monty gathers up in the east!  Herman Goering division takes heavy casualties after the Americans (commanded by iNinja) break the pocket and maul. Eventually HG is forced to retreat and the allies have pretty much consolidated their hold. I really liked Sicily II. No silly boundary effects, and with supplies being forced through ports, you have more control on how many supplies your opponent receives since you can slow down their supplies through strategic bombing. The air war is very significant in the game as well, and shows the overwhelming force of Allied air forces and how the LW/Italian air got ground down. Things that were annoying were the landings: tomdidiot is right that the game needs a full scenario but with feet on the ground (the operation husky isn't quite the same). But overall this is a minor quibble and the game overall makes up for it and flows really well. Overall I really liked it and can't wait to play Tunisia II (which just about fits on my table).
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Dec 18, 2016 13:23
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Last Blitzkrieg AAR end of turn 2 (of 5) Here was the situation at the end of turn 1 And at the end of turn 2  The Americans got reserves sent in as the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions. They both entered the top of the map. The 1ST INF was sent down to try and head off KG Peiper before they could get to the victory points. Unfortunately it looks like they may be too late to make much of a difference. The 9TH INF was sent eastward to bolster the top of the frontline, and they have nearly wiped out the 326th VG, having pocketed them well. Unfortunately they ARE in supply because they're on an entry hex, so they won't disappear due to isolation. They, along with the 2ND and 99TH INFs, managed to break through in the north, with hopes of counter-encircling the Germans. As for the Germans, they got a couple units in the south with the 3rd FJ DIV (the light blue blob). They also got von Heydte's FJ DIV, which landed one hex away from where the 1ST INF was set to enter. They got steamrolled in one activation by the Big Red One. But, the SS divisions in the south did manage to finally overrun and wipe out the 14TH CAV DIV. The Germans are thrusting forward and are threatening to cut off the Americans' supply. What will happen next?? Stay tuned! Count Thrashula fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Dec 18, 2016 |
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Dec 18, 2016 16:36
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The Bulge always feels like 'Boundary Effects: The Game' to me 
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Dec 18, 2016 17:00
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Lads, Campaign for North Africa just ended at $182 on eBay and I was only BARELY strong enough to ignore it. Next time it's under $200 I don't know if I'll be able to resist. Is this the point in my life where I need to join some sort of support group?
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Dec 18, 2016 17:50
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tomdidiot posted:Me, Teo and iNinja played out four turns of OCS Sicily over the weekend. It's very hard for the allies to make progress! But they do have a far more powerful army than the axis and you definitely feel the screws tightening. Great game but takes a hell of a lot of time to play because of the stupid landings. So wait, did y'all play face-to-face or did Tekopo lay out the maps and you played on skype or something? I'll be interested to see how Tunisia II works for y'all. Also Tunisia II has a really good "smallest scenario" which is a 3-turn big battle. The campaigns are fairly different in that most of the play is a slow feed of troops rather than the huge deployment that Sicily II gets. I still need to figure out how the gently caress to keep my supply chains in OCS organized enough to not bog down turns. It's like OCS is a wargame with a Roads & Boats pick-up-and-deliver mechanic driving its movement and attack.
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Dec 18, 2016 18:03
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Trynant posted:I still need to figure out how the gently caress to keep my supply chains in OCS organized enough to not bog down turns. It's like OCS is a wargame with a Roads & Boats pick-up-and-deliver mechanic driving its movement and attack. That's what I love about OCS and why I'm really excited to get DAK in the mail on Tuesday, because I feel like the North African campaign is where the whole supply clusterfuck really shines.
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Dec 18, 2016 18:22
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Trynant posted:So wait, did y'all play face-to-face or did Tekopo lay out the maps and you played on skype or something? 
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Dec 18, 2016 18:55
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Tekopo posted:Face to face gaming Legends speak of such a thing. So, it's true then?
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Dec 18, 2016 20:51
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WAR DOGS OF SOCHI posted:Legends speak of such a thing. So, it's true then? Also I bought DAK1 (cause it's cheaper apparently) in order to achieve my mad goal of having every single Med OCS game (regardless of reprint, I'm not bothering with Sicily I and Tunisia I). Must complete the collection! This will also allow me to do an RE -> DAK -> Tunisia -> Sicily campaign 
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Dec 19, 2016 11:51
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Tekopo posted:Tis true indeed. Maybe one day you shall experience the sweet bliss of Face To Face gaming. Tunisia I is basically fixed by Tun II anyway. What you do want, however, 8is a full Sicily game...
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Dec 19, 2016 12:47
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tomdidiot posted:Tunisia I is basically fixed by Tun II anyway. What you do want, however, 8is a full Sicily game... Tekopo fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Dec 19, 2016 |
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Dec 19, 2016 12:51
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So I'm confused by the "solo playability" rating on a lot of boxes, particularly with games that don't advertise that they're solo. How is this not a binary yes/no? If a game is, say, 7/10 on the solo-scale is that saying it's easier for me to play both sides against myself than say a 4/10 on the solo-scale? What are the friendly factors for solo?
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Dec 19, 2016 18:58
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al-azad posted:What are the friendly factors for solo? Lack of hidden information mostly.
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Dec 19, 2016 19:23
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al-azad posted:So I'm confused by the "solo playability" rating on a lot of boxes, particularly with games that don't advertise that they're solo. How is this not a binary yes/no? If a game is, say, 7/10 on the solo-scale is that saying it's easier for me to play both sides against myself than say a 4/10 on the solo-scale? What are the friendly factors for solo? For added confusion, some solo-playable games use that for the non-solo scenarios. Space Empires 4X is marked "2" on their website, with an explanatory note. At least my box is marked "9", but they really should update those pages (also the so-called living rules, updates are never pushed).
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Dec 19, 2016 21:30
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