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Anyone here play Totaler Krieg! and Dai Senso? I actually have them both. I see these giant games that are not one of the two "standards" (which I would classify as A World at War or whatever Advanced Third Reich became and Worlds in Flames), and wonder whether there is a grand total of like two guys playing them solitaire in separate basements somewhere.
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Aug 3, 2015 16:16
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Illegal Username posted:Played my first ASL game. Successfully defended Vierville by crudely sacrificing two squads and then murdering lots of germans. Feels like positioning is everything in this game. Well, it kind of is. Depending on your definition of positioning. But yes, the good players are always looking at things like cutting off (and keeping open) route paths, firepower that can be brought on various hexes, etc. COOL CORN posted:Also, this may be the best review of a board game I've ever read: quote:And yet when I emerge from the cabin with hair down to my waist and dice pips for eyes, I will not have actually lost a single day to the game, because in my alternate universe I never stayed at a job I disliked, never put off breaking up with someone out of guilt, never sat through a bad film or boring dinner just to be nice, never got stuck at a distant relative's house for the holidays, or went to a depressing funeral or a hopeless and demeaning job interview, or done any of the thousand things we tragically feel we must do as grownups but which slowly rob us of our spirit, and also somehow erode the value we place on innocent play. In the daydream my hands possess the ability to resurrect vanished hours, and I’ve collected enough to spread them around like GeekGold. Take them, I say to the gamers I pass as I walk home down that now sun-dappled country road, take them and stay young, count as many hexes and evade as many zones of control as you can dream of, and play as if we're all fifteen years old--back when the still-limitless world seemed to wait humbly, patiently, for our every daring move. I'm pretty sure this review actually ended with a single gunshot.  SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 21:29
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4outof5 posted:This is what happens when you let sex criminals make wargames Is that a GMT game?
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Aug 20, 2015 03:21
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Illegal Username posted:She wants to play a game of ASL tomorrow Happy. My ex-wife used to play ASL with me. I'm pretty sure this can't go wrong for you.
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Aug 23, 2015 03:06
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COOL CORN posted:Why did I buy A World At War I had exactly the same reaction. One of the few times I sold a game. I couldn't even pretend I was ever going to learn and play that thing. (How I can pretend that with the 100+ other games I own, including a full line of ASL stuff, I don't know, but don't judge me.)
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Nov 7, 2015 17:31
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Seriously though, I just like how much better they look, and that I won't have them fray or catch on other counters easily. It puts the lotion on its skin.
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Nov 19, 2015 04:54
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Jobbo_Fett posted:The more fun way to learn ASL is just playing with someone else. Make sure you have time to check the manual constantly, ask questions, and keep playing if you make errors. Except that I have found that people who try to teach ASL, while generally nice and well meaning, have an inability to actually teach it. They want to do all the cool poo poo, and their version of going slow consists of very rapidly spouting rules at you while doing truck overruns of Japanese Hero units, eventually just grabbing your pieces and playing your turn for you to "show you what would make sense to do in this situation." I'm being critical, but not critical of their good nature and intent, just of how easy it is to find someone who actually teaches the game reasonably well. I've just found that as such a lifestyle game, a lot of them have a very difficult time bring their minds back to a time where they had not memorized Case J and gyroscope modifiers and poo poo. SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Jan 6, 2016 |
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Jan 6, 2016 18:05
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Luck of the draw, I guess I really don't want this to get lost in the shuffle - these were all good people. None of them were assholes, or snippy, or anything. They just kept trying to start slow, but got notably impatient and sped everything up much too fast. The sorts that think if they explain 1/50th of a complex subject slowly for the first 5 minutes, that you will then be able to pick up the remaining 49/50ths in the next five minutes after that. Again, it's not their fault, and they're not being bad people. But honestly, ASL is something where, if you're learning it from other people, is going to be learned over a number of games. Starting someone off in a scenario that involves the Japanese and trucks, and kind of popping through vehicle overrun rules inside of a couple of minutes really means you're more interested in trying to play a game than teaching someone. Which is fine, but you probably should not expect the person to learn much (or not get frustrated with the result, as the game becomes a meaningless jumble of quickly stated unknown terms, as opposed to an actual enjoyable learning experience). (I'm also not saying I would do much better at teaching it. But I did find, contrary to common wisdom, that I it was much easier for me to learn ASL by simply sitting down and reading the rulebook and several of the very good examples of play that are out there than trying to learn it live with other actual humans.) SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jan 6, 2016 |
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Jan 6, 2016 19:12
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The people I've met and played with were super chill with me asking questions about really obscure stuff or taking time to check the rulebook multiple times.
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Jobbo_Fett posted:No doubt, bad teachers or fast players can ruin the experience for newcomers. Spot on. I actually just decided to play with my (then) wife, who said she was willing and interested. As mentioned, I learned the rules by reading the rulebook, and closely following through some detailed examples of play available on the internet. We then started with things like Guards Counterattack and Fighting Withdrawal, and I had a grand time. From there, we did a few scenarios just involving a tank or two, a gun, etc. Of course, I'm now divorced, and no longer have the dream of a built-in ASL playing partner. Such is life. (I do not believe ASL caused the divorce, but who the hell knows these things.) I now have a shitload of ASL stuff, because I'm retarded, and overbuy for nearly anything I'm interested in. I have pretty much all of the "official" things (other than Hakke Palle), including all the Annuals, Journals, and Campaign games, as well as a bunch of third party stuff. I'm tempted to get Hakke Palle just to keep everything "complete." But of course, I now have no idea what to do with all of the stuff, and it will probably in reality end up being a few thousand dollars worth of cardboard mouldering in my basement crawlspace. Yay. SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Jan 6, 2016 |
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Jan 6, 2016 19:42
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Bummer, sorry to hear about your divorce I've played VASL before - you run into the problem of most of the players on there being sharks (so far as I can tell). I'm a very casual player, and I do not tend to analyze games or learn much from playing to playing (I mean, I can generally avoid doing pants on head stupid things like not moving in stacks). So VASL can lead to a fair bit of stress. I have thought about getting back into it, however. (Separately, I just started my first ever online game of Through the Ages (the new version in this case), so I'm taking baby steps.) The truly sad thing is that I live ina major metropolitan area. I just want to be goony, and not ever have to play with other people, but instead just have this ability to play at home with someone where we have a nice collection of games and grow with them over time. Though I'm seeing someone new who at least outwardly says she likes games, and has played some Agricola: All Creatures Great and Small and Carcassonne with me and stated she enjoyed them, I'm suspicious. Both of whether the interest is really there long term, and where it will stop (I do not want to play only things like Carcassonne). Yes, I know the answer is to stop being goony and go play at a local gamestore or something. But whenever I go, I see the people sitting around the table, and it creeps me out. Maybe I'll just sit alone, in a barely lit room, with a small glass of scotch in one hand and a T-34 counter in the other, slowly rubbing it between my fingers, wistfully staring off into the darkness at a future that never will be. Or I could just buy Hakkaa Paalle and numb myself for 30 minutes with retail therapy, before the counterbalancing shame kicks in. 
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Jan 6, 2016 20:07
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COOL CORN posted:Man, for such a wonderful product, they're really racking up the errata. It's almost laughable at this point. When they obtain MMP level incompetence of reprinting the rulebook for ASL, but not actually incorporating any of the existing errata into the reprinted rulebook, instead requiring customers to go to various websites, print off errata line by line, cut said errata out by hand with a loving scissors or X-acto knife, and rubber cement it into the rulebook, then come talk to me.
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Feb 19, 2016 20:37
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StashAugustine posted:Discussion of Washington's War in the boardgames thread has me thinking- how is For The People? Mark Herman Civil War sounds nice but I remember someone- Tekopo IIRC- saying it was kinda dated? All I remember about For the People is, as a lifelong casual wargamer (e.g. I've played Advanced Squad Leader and Totaler Krieg, but only very casually, and neither is a lifestyle for me), that I read the rules about 4 times and could not figure out what the gently caress the river rules and some other systems were trying to do. It was unusual. As an attorney, I am usually fairly good about slowly parsing my way through rules explanations (I can understand them, even if I don't remember them 10 minutes later). For the People was just as confusing as gently caress for some reason. Go play Blue vs. Gray instead.
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Mar 31, 2016 14:52
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Well, I got Haakka Paalle, for Advanced Squad Leader. A module involving Finns. For a game I have not played in five years. But it's the last module. And I have all the other ones. How could I not get this one? Particularly since I was already buying Star Wars Rebellion, and this got me free shipping. Oh yes, I also have an Oregon Laminations 2.5" Deluxe Counter Cutter on its way to me. So that I can cut counters. For games I never play. Some times I sincerely question whether I'm retarded.
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Apr 8, 2016 03:45
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StashAugustine posted:Yeah Rebellion looks a little iffy If you think I am not going to give my 14 year old son the chance to evaporate my planets with a giant Death Star miniature, you are wrong. It is a father's duty.
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Apr 8, 2016 18:07
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silvergoose posted:Naw, used to throw balls for a living, catapulted Boston to a championship for the first time in many decades, retired, used his millions to start a videogame company and completely wrecked it and hosed over all his employees, got hired by ESPN to do sports commentary, and now got fired for being an rear end. Well, to be fair, he also completely wrecked and gently caress himself over as well. I mean, he's a guy who was making millions per year, that declared bankruptcy because of it. And while someone of his status will always have a way to make a few hundred grand a year (I think, if he works at it), his real money making ability (throwing 90 mile per hour curve-balls) isn't coming back. I actually recall an article by Schilling (I think in one of the ASL publications) where I actually thought he was memorably humble. He more or less said, the only reason he was a multimillionaire and not some schlub was because god gave him an arm that could throw 90 mile per hour curve-balls.
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Apr 21, 2016 19:48
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You know what I want? Evan Jones, the guy who made the Blue versus Grey card game, had prototyped and was going to make a WWII card game based on the Enigma system (which is what he called whatever the overall design for Blue versus Grey was). This was like 10 years ago or so. He never actually came out with it, so far as I can tell.
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May 9, 2016 16:42
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Buy the handbook (or whatever the small one is called), get a kindle/e-reader, or learn the rules enough to never need it again. kindle/e-reader would be great, as would any laptop, if MMP would come into the 20th century and put out a electronic version of the rules. I hate them so much some times. SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Jun 5, 2016 |
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Jun 5, 2016 04:04
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he1ixx posted:I scanned all of the rules into PDFs and put them on my iPad (and into DevonThink for quick searching) but I also ordered a cheap copy of the mini-rulebook today which I plan on spiral-binding for travel. I took my ASLRB to the shop today to review rules and check them as they played and it was a beast to haul around. At home, when messing around solitaire its great but traveling (which I didn't really expect to do but it was pretty fun so.. it'll probably happen again), I'll prefer the tiny text and smaller form factor over the massive tome. By far the cheapest place I've found for this stuff has been NSW Wargaming Store (http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/mmpasladsqle.html). The prices are the lowest and they have decent and fast service. I found them through Boardgamegeek but the guy who I met today (who has been playing since '85) said this is the cheapest place to buy ASL (and other stuff) that he's found. Did you rubber cement in the 30 pages (okay, I'm guessing roughly, it's probably more) of errata, that you cut out strip by strip from each of the pages?
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Jun 5, 2016 04:48
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Also, this is a truly strange coincidence, as I have spent the last several days slowly (over a few hours) clipping ASL counters with my Oregon Laminations 2.5" clipper. I also built the matchbox storage system for the counters (years ago), but it did not go particularly well. It is harder than you would think to get the things to line up reasonably when glued.
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Jun 5, 2016 05:07
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he1ixx posted:and a hyperlinked web version too... I had this at one point in time (and feel no guilt whatsoever, given the amount of ASL-poo poo I've purchased over the years, including, obviously, the 2nd edition rulebook). I got about 50% of the way through updating it with the ridiculous amounts of errata (I'm not computer savvy, so I was sort of figuring out how to do the updating as I went along, by trial and error). Now I think it is lost somewhere on the hard drive of my prior computer, and I have no idea how to get it again. The fact that they have not gotten this done as a company, when individuals have made brilliant versions of it as a labor of love, is just pathetic. (And no, the whole, "We're not able to make electronic versions of rulebooks because our license with Hasbro expressly forbids it is, so far as I can tell, a bunch of bullshit made up by fanboys who want to defend MMP's ridiculous practices - it appears to have, from my actual research on the issue, no real basis in reality.)
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Jun 23, 2016 18:41
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Lichtenstein posted:Personally, I hate the learn-as-you go structure of rulebooks (like Space Alert or Through the Ages), as being a boardgame sperg I am usually capable of learning the full thing from the get-go and the entire thing is just a big inconvenience when it comes to referencing poo poo later on. I do like inclusion of introductory scenarios, be it a simple set-up requring use of less rules (tactical games are great because of the variability of setup - start with the infantry, then add fancy weapons like mortars, then vehicles, etc.) or just a really limited slice of a full game to get quicker to the point of actually loving around with the components (Red Winter, FAB series). It's nice for both running a test turn to make sure you got everything right, and teaching others if need be. It was particularly cool in Unconditional Surrender, as it had like four micro-scenarios showcasing different mechanics and little summaries of which pages you might want to brush up for that one. I'm kind of the opposite of you. I do not mind the learn as you go structure, but I hate the modern trend toward the rules being separated into the retard version of the game, to be followed by the version of the game that you actually want to play. I have never played the "basic" version of a game, and I never intend to. I'm not stupid, I don't need to play a crippled version of something in order to grasp the full game. I'd rather not waste my time learning the crippled version, to then have to replace some subset of the rules in my mind with the "real" rules. Just give me the full game, and stop wasting so much drat rules space with a version of the rules I'll never use.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:34
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I'm pretty sure I still own everything official published for ASL (maybe I'm missing the most recently published Journal or Action Pack or something small like that, only because I have not really kept watch for the last year or two). I have played roughly 5 scenarios.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:46
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Hey, if I already own Yanks and Paratrooper (and every other ASL module published to date), is there any reason for me to get the new Yanks?
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Aug 16, 2016 19:48
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COOL CORN posted:Nah. Better counters/printing, newer style cardstock maps, and there's a bunch of scenarios from annuals/journals/The General. Other than that there's no "new" content. Yeah, I literally have 1-52 of the old hardbound maps, as well as all 52+ of the new soft cardstock maps. Because I'm a big dummy, and buy poo poo for hundreds (well, add it all up and probably thousands) of dollars that I don't play.
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Aug 16, 2016 21:04
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COOL CORN posted:Wait, you can PLAY ASL? It's actually quite creepy - ASL is like a snowball - once you own pretty much everything official for something that big, you start to fret not buying anything new that comes out, because if you ever do want it, it will be out of print and cost $1,000. So instead, you just fork over $150 for it now.
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Aug 16, 2016 21:07
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COOL CORN posted:I sold For King And Country to someone for $60 while it was still in print (and cost around $80 new). Now you can't find it for under $250 or so. I'm actually trying to remember if I bought for King and Country, or if I just relied on the fact that I had the underlying modules that it reprinted. I know I bought Rising Sun, even though I had Gung Ho and Code of Bushido.
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Aug 17, 2016 02:11
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COOL CORN posted:ASL.jpg I don't know why anyone would want to play something like that.
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Aug 17, 2016 18:29
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he1ixx posted:It really is. Lots of stories being told in those little piles of counters... I wouldn't know, given I can only see roughly 1/15 of the story for each counter stack. Though I know it is better if you are actually playing the game and therefore have a better idea what is in the stack, that level of counter density does actually become a turn-off for me. Particularly in a physical game (it's a bit easier to deal with in VASL).
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Aug 17, 2016 20:36
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Jesus I hate all of you. I had to go and look at what has come out for ASL since I stopped buying (and kind of stopped looking). Good god, they're really pumping poo poo out now, aren't they? A bunch of Action Packs, I think at least a couple of Journals, etc. (I already had the Haakee Loogee module, but only because I knew that was coming out even before my divorce, which was kind of when I stopped paying attention). I'm not sure why I did this. Now I really am in this horrible place of not wanting to fall behind (because the stuff inevitably goes out of print and quadruples in price), but also querying what the hell I would buy it for when I don't actually play the game. But it's so hard having everything up to like Journal 10, and then just stopping. Yes, I know that's a little crackers.
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Aug 18, 2016 04:43
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Finster Dexter posted:Get into X-wing Miniatures. Pretty sure it's less expensive than being an ASL completionist, but still has enough plastic spaceships to scratch that "gotta catch em all" itch. One thing with X-Wing is that I pretty much only play games with my family. So if I buy something like X-Wing, I have to buy both sides. I really like games where both sides come in the box.
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Aug 18, 2016 14:31
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So if one had all of the stuff for Advanced Squad Leader, and wanted to kind of dabble in it, but not make it a lifestyle, what would be the best way of going about that? I'm not even sure if it is possible.
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May 19, 2017 15:27
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SavageMessiah posted:What do you mean by "all of the stuff"? If you mean ALL of the stuff then I'm sorry to inform you that you've already made it a lifestyle. Well, I kind of mean all the stuff, as in all of the "official" products. I own pretty much every module, campaign, Annual, Journal, and Action Pack (with the exception of what has come out in the last year or so).
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May 19, 2017 15:49
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COOL CORN posted:Honestly if all you want is to dabble, sell off that stuff and buy the Starter Kit modules. Stripped down rules and way less pieces. Starter kits are for losers. Concealment or nothing, baby.
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May 19, 2017 16:13
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Jobbo_Fett posted:There's no solo ASL, unfortunately. Well, not a non-convoluted and super expensive one, anyways. There is a solitaire ASL module, which I have. But yeah, my understanding is that it is kind of lame.
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May 19, 2017 16:30
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Jobbo_Fett posted:I've only seen rules for version 2, I think. Fetches a decent price on ebay/etc, but it looks to be way more complicated than simply playing against another human Yeah, there is a first and second edition of it. I agree - the game is very complicated as is. I don't want to have to learn a second incredibly complicated system to play against myself.
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May 19, 2017 16:55
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There's a really good flow chart out there showing the fire differences for squads and support weapons during defensive fire, defensive first fire, etc. I'll see if I can find it. EDIT: Here we go: http://yankeegamers.org/resources/FFflowchartv3.1.pdf SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 22, 2017 |
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May 22, 2017 20:07
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gradenko_2000 posted:So when you say this, do you mean: Half-squads are used to give the opponent a dilemma: "waste" fire on smaller, less powerful squads and not be able to shoot at the big squads, or end up allowing smaller, less powerful squads to get in close and end up getting decent enough shots on you nonetheless. (And, of course, you may end up holding your fire for a better opportunity that never comes.) In addition, when a half-squad ends up closer than all of the other opponent's squads, it limits the ability to use defensive fire (because there are limitations on subsequent fire at only firing at the closest squad). Remember that half-squads (like other units) can "bump" into opponents and remove their concealment, and that firing also causes loss of concealment, so moving half-squads around also helps with the process of stripping concealment off of enemy units for advance fire/defensive fire in your opponent's turn. SlyFrog fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Jun 6, 2017 |
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Jun 6, 2017 12:42
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COOL CORN posted:Yeah this exactly. And don't forget that if you've DFF'd at something, you can't SFF at anything further than that. So if you can get a half squad in relatively close, you're safe to move full squads around behind it if it's taken a shot. I thought it was just that you had to SFF at the closest thing, not that you could not SFF at something further out than you DFF'd at. But it's been a while since I looked at the rules.
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Jun 6, 2017 13:34
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What the hell are Tankies?
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Jun 24, 2017 04:22
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gradenko_2000 posted:I finished storing my SK1 counters: Sees square corners, laughs at "finished."
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Jul 30, 2017 16:53
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