Like a spider crafting its web…
Not sure if anyone from qt3 is still playing, but I am always up for a game!
Just snagged my 600th win this weekend.
@JoshL did you ever stick with the campaign?
No, I chased after some other shiny thing. I may go back to it yet. You’re on my steam friends list, so I see you playing it, which reminds me of it.
I’ve been playing Though the Ages recently but… I miss Antihero, so I think I’ll be coming back into the fold. Expect an invite soon kosc. Don’t hold back :-P
I’ve been thinking about getting back into it soon. It’d have to wait about a week or so though.
New map back in September, otherwise not much. :)
I loved the main campaign of Antihero!
Dunno if I’ll touch multiplayer, but I was impressed with just the single-player experience and can recommend it to anyone who enjoys turn-based strategy.
Multiplayer is much, much better than single player. I highly recommend trying it out. With an async game (compatible with mobile) you don’t even need to spend too much time on it.
Yeah absolutely. The multiplayer is fantastic and with the asynchronous turn taking you can spit 'em out quick or chew on them for a couple of days – it’s up to you. It’s a very convenient turn-based strategy game to fit in, especially with it also being on mobile (and syncing with the desktop version).
I’m of the opinion that this genre is grossly underserved, largely because people are unaware of its importance. What genre specifically? Slow, strategic games that are deep enough, and yet short enough to play against other people.
I can’t play Civ multiplayer because it takes hours and hours. On the other hand, more complex strategy games eventually underwhelm because the AI is lacking. The Chick Parabola is in full effect everywhere: you spend hours learning the mechanics, only to eventually learn that the AI is incompetent. Modders can try to improve the situation, but usually it’s beyond fixing.
So that leaves you with playing against other people, right? OK well how about RTS games then? Those are quick and dirty, right? Well, unfortunately, they almost all follow the C&C/Blizzard school of design which means that rather than strategy dominating, it’s all about APM and clicking.
So the only category that’s left is strategic, slow games that are short enough to be played against other people. These range from computerized card and board games to slowed-down RTS games: Antihero, Chaos Reborn, Tooth and Tail, Armello are a few, but none of these are as popular as I think they should be.
Agreed. Tooth and Tail, and Offworld Trading Company are two fine bite-sized RTS games. Antihero and Chaos Reborn have been my async go-to games for the last few years. I’m working my way round to Frozen Synapse 2 after spending many hours playing the original on my PC and tablet. There were others like Panda Poet and Clairvoyance that filled similar gaps. I never got to play Skulls of the Shogun (and they recently switched off the async servers unfortunately). Through the Ages is really good but it’s not had the sustain I was expecting it to have!
And if you’re ever in the mood for something a bit longer, AOW3 works both co-op live and PBEM. I’ve been playing with a friend co-op, we set up he and I on one team and some AI’s on the opposing couple of teams and had a blast.
While this might partially be because I’m a bit rubbish at the game, even though I’ve played over 250 hours at this point, and that I was playing with a complete novice as a teammate, regardless the first outing we got stomped. We’re doing a bit better in the 2nd go of it.
My primary point being: the AI in AOW3 works, and works rather well.
I got AoW3 for my brother specifically for the async co-op but he’s never actually picked it up properly which is annoying! I’ll badger him some more…
Very good game @lordkosc! I’m so happy to have thwarted your 4HP thug death spiral! Might be a first. Feel free to send me another game invite!
You have enough masks? ;)
I was saving them for the victory ball! ;-)
Oh and the Masquerade game we just played has to be one of the longest we’ve ever had against each other. 23 turns! Closest I’ve seen from a quick skim up-thread is 20.
Oh I can make it last… Just the maps as of late seem so imba. :P