I really want The Devil’s Cauldron, but GODDAMN it’s expensive. I need to get off my ass and just learn to play ASL.
Hexes allow you to move a distance of X in six directions, though. With squares, you can move a distance of X in four directions and a distance of (X times 1.41421356…) in four others. Sure, you can round it up to 1.5, but many wargamers are the kind of pedants who prefer genuine equality. ;)
CotA update
Tried to play through Tanks at Platemeen (or some such name). First time was doing ok unti I left my left flank unguarded. The damn Kiwi Btn. left their positions on my right and marched right into my rear! Damn cunning AI.
Second time I went for a frontal assault backed with arty to try and push the Kiwis out the way first thing. End result? Complete fail. I placed my form-up-point about 1km from the Kiwis, well inside their LOS, which meant it was fairly heavily shelled. This royally screwed my attack and my guys made no headway. I’ll try again soon.
It’s the v2 and you are playing as Axis?
I’ll try it tomorrow but then I’m a pathetic noob with wargames.
Btw, I suggest to try this map graphic set that I compiled from two other sets. I think it looks better than default.
I’ve actually got the first two starter kits and some local guys that are willing to teach me to play. I don’t know what my issue is.
I’m not sure that’s the file you meant to link.
This is a game I am anticipating too. I have the boardgame version, but haven’t played it yet, the rulebook is quite thick! To have the PC figure all that stuff out for me will be much preferable.
Ooops, fixed ;)
v2? Thanks for the terrain file btw. I’ll pick it up shortly.
Completed “Maleme: The Kiwis Fight Back”, where again I attempted to kill a bunch of my countrymen! Seems to be a thing these Aussie game designers like to set up the player to do. How rude!
Well, this battle went well and I got a good sense for the cut and thrust of things. Without going into too much detail I had to deal with these sorts of interesting issues:
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Keeping a flank secure while also providing enough room for the body to squeeze past my right flank guard and the coast (which was my left flank).
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What to save my arty for. It really makes a difference in breaking up counter-attacks.
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Pushing a weak Btn. forward to hold a position was a gamble, but it paid off. They kept the enemy far enough away from the airfield that reinforcements that arrived the next day were able to form up safely, and push through to take the town.
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Getting support into useful positions.
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Exploiting success and coordinating redeployment.
Interesting fight and the first one (other than the tutorial) where I felt I knew what I was doing and I was executing plans well. Good stuff!
If patched up to date you should see a v2 after the name of the mission when you start a new game.
Just asking if it was the same version.
For some old-school single-battle SPI games, hexwar.com is pretty nice. If they only had some sort of modern business model, it would be a pretty incredible resource.
I haven’t patched up yet, I’ve been downloading the file at work as it’s too big for the hotel (well, too big for my budget anyway).
I’m kinda thinking this would be a fun game to AAR. I’ll have to chose a battle and do that I think. As soon as I’ve completed the advanced tutorial perhaps.
Well, you’ll have to restart the download, as a new patch was released today ;)
what? Where? I see no mention of a new patch on their site or their forum.
Good point. I can definitely see the appeal from a mini-expansion standpoint, and at first glance the modular approach did appeal to the programmer in me. I didn’t think much more on it at first, as I have a good memory for game stats and rarely needs such references, but then I watched my son fumble through his stack of rules cards and saw it wasn’t as slick in practice as I had guessed. Beats not having any rules aids though, which is probably what those small expansions would otherwise have.
Yet another vote for C&C:Ancients. The basic gameplay is very easy to grasp (for a Memoir’44 veteran) and yet the game feels a lot more like a proper wargame. It’s hard to describe how the battle seems to unfold like a real thing should. Or like I imagine it should.
I know a couple of ASL fanatics who can’t stand the ‘randomness’ of Commands & Colors games. For example, a unit with a single block firing full strength seems to be one of the unbearable mysteries of the C&C system. Doesn’t bother me a bit to be honest.
I could complain about the quality of the C&C:Ancients components, particularly the board, but not this time.
Found the patch info -> http://www.matrixgames.com/news/news.asp?nid=503
Had to damn well look hard for it though.
Managed a marginal victory as the Kiwis on the final suggested Malme mission. Damn, that was a tough, tough battle.
They’ve addressed the board in the most recent expansions. Both the Barbarian and Civil War packs come with very durable boards with reverse sides you can link up for “epic battles”.
Troy
I just think of the blocks as morale, not casualties, which makes perfect sense for a period battle.
The only problem I have with block loss is the weird lengths to which players will go to preserve almost dead green units. We ended up making house rules that Auxilia and Light Cavalry were worth half a victory banner, the other green stuff was worth nothing, and lowering the victory point by a unit or two (depending on scenario) to compensate. This greatly improved the feel of the game, as players now happily throw their skirmishers forward to screen blue and red units.