I’m curious to see how much I engage with World of Flames. From what I understand the 4k counters give you variety, as only a (relatively) small number of them are on the board at once.
The factor that I’ve realized now, though, is that setting up World of Flames means that the gaming table I set up in an open space on the second floor would be tied up with that one game for a long time. I’ve got a handful of other games I want to play as well.
This means that we might have to restart the plan to invade the Piano Room. I’m not sure the wife will like that, because we just negotiated my withdrawal there, and the table in that room now has some sewing crap on it. I might need to launch a surprise attack when I know she’ll be out for a few hours. Move the sewing stuff off and set up a game with a few hundred pieces. Pretty sure this would drop DEFCON a level or two though.
I played those two games quite a bit 20-25 years ago. I even remember creating alternate scenarios.
I’m hoping this summer I can go through some of those older games, and sort through which ones I want to keep to play and which ones I want to shuffle off to Ebay to fund new purchases.
Some of those older games managed to capture the flavor of the battles being simulated pretty well. All depends on the quality of the design more than anything I think. More is not always better, despite what my 16 year old wargaming self thought. Today we have a lot of games, both board and digital, that go by the premise that if a lot of data is good, an immense amount of minutia must be even better.
I’m also finding, at least in the case of Afrika Korps, that Board Game Geek is a great place to update them with current rules, errata, clarifications, and other handy play aids.
I downloaded a 3rd edition rule set for Afrika Korps to replace the 1st Edition I had, and a turn marker/replacement chart that makes that record keeping easier. There are entire counter sets you can download to make everything really snazzy looking too.
Wow, Panzer Blitz. I first saw that in 1974 when visiting my grandma. My uncle had bought it and left it at home when he left he house. I saw it and asked my dad if we could play. I was only 12 at the time.
Anyway, now i have only one game. WIF from ~ 1988. I have not touched it since then. What can I do with it if I am not going to play it ever again? I’d like to see it go to someone who wants it as opposed to the trash can.
Third Reich, I bought that in middle school. A friend of mine and I played it once. As the allies, I think on the first turn I landed all of my forces in northern Germany and drove into Berlin. He never wanted to play again and I never found anyone else to play it with me.
I am doing a counter inventory as I organize. All of these games are from my youth were I didn’t really care about things. I have organized PanzerBlitz, Luftwaffe, and Squad Leader.
For Luftwaffe, I am missing one P40 our of two.
For Squad Leader, I am missing 2-3 halftracks for the Germans and Americans. A buddy of mine is a bigly ASL fan so he might have a few,
The original 1977 Squad Leader was IIRC a John Hill design, elegant and streamlined yet managing to capture the nub of its subject matter. Subsequent expansions gradually eroded the elegance and streamlining and while they added “chrome” and detail, I’m not at all sure they really improved the game as such. That includes ASL, which while an amazing thing in its own right, is more of a lifestyle than a game you pick up and put down.
Whatever you do, I’d recommend against tossing it out unless it’s moldy or all busted up. The market for used war games seems functional on Ebay. If you did a counter check and put up some photos, you could probably move it that way and get a decent amount of money for it. Alternatively, I bet someone here would love the game for shipping.
Yeah, I have a friend who is trying to get me to play ASL. I’m reluctant, mainly for the reason that it seems almost like a way of life. I feel like I could play ASL or everything else I own. And ASL looks expensive (and somewhat confusing) to get into. Lastly, I’m a little hesitant to support Schilling, even though as a Red Sox fan I’m definitely forever conflicted about him.
I’ve been looking at Lock 'n Load some, but that seems determined to become an ASL alternate, with the same complexity and spawning system of expansions and core packs and rulebooks, etc.
I’m a bit more interested in Combat Commander, which seems to be an ASL-Lite, but for the moment I want to concentrate on playing the games I’ve got.
If you are interested in Lock & Load, check out the digital version. It seems to be evolving into a pretty direct representation of the board game, and it’s cheap, only five bucks for the core game.
Yes, I picked that up on a Steam sale a while ago and now it looks like they’ve added a bunch of modules. I’ll have to load that up and give it a shot. At the very least that’s probably a decent way to wrap your head around the rules.
I also have a friend who is really into ASL. I never thought the regular SL rules were exactly beer and pretzels. I am also a big Red Sox fan and have the same conflicts with Schilling,.
I generated a list of my missing SL pieces and hopefully my ASL buddy has extras.
I did the ASL lifestyle for about five years. For me it was a terrific experience, and I don’t regret it, but for most people it’s probably not worth the colossal investment of both time and money. One way to put your toe in the water is to buy the ASL Starter Kit #1 and see whether it appeals to you. That simplified ruleset gives you the basic idea.
Most wargames I play solitaire, but ASL I actually played face-to-face, with a local acquaintance and eventually at an AvalonCon, where I went 3-2. One guy I played against seemed to be cheating, using a dice tower that constantly spat out snake eyes for him. I still won. I also played online for a while, first just using IRC, then Vassal. Eventually I played mostly solitaire. I do like that one can set up, play and finish a typical ASL scenario in an afternoon. And I like the story the game tells. But the rules for the full game are a huge lift.
Like @Mark_Crump , I’m a Red Sox fan but I’m not eager to support Schilling.
I just got the base game when it was on sale, so I don’t have any of the other modules yet. However, I know they have been discounted on Steam sales. So if you’re not in a rush, you can save some cash by waiting for the next Steam sale. Their summer sale should run around June 24-July7-ish.
Good idea. The base seems to have enough to me to play around with and with a sale coming up there is no point in grabbing anything else just yet. Thanks.
Yeah, just fiddle around with the base game, which is constantly being updated. The game really is sort of early access, but fully playable. More like constantly under construction.
My turn to play “Guess the Game” only I don’t have an answer. One of my PanzerLeader games I got from a buddy, and these were mixed in. His copy was also missing a few pieces, but I have an unpunched copy of that one at least.
