Grognard Wargamer Thread!

TheWombat · 2013-01-04T10:52:13.000Z

z22:

Can someone suggest a WW2 game for me, with these “simple” requirements:

[ul]
[li]Preferred full global map
[/li][li] Not super complex. I don’t want to have to micromanage 2,000 units or ammo or infantry clothing.
[/li][li]I prefer 2d graphics to crazy 3d units and terrain that I feel interfere with the UI
[/li][li]Multi-player, preferably play-by-email as built in feature or able to handle save file passing.
[/li][/ul]

In me feeble novice search I found and am aiming at these:
Strategic War in Europe: Seems perfect, but don’t know how it handles PBEM. I know it’s Europe only. Do they have, or plan on having, a full global version of this?

Hearts of Iron III: Seems great but I think it may be too much. I couldn’t find if it has PBEM or even hotseat.

Any other suggestions? I’m a big Axis & Allies boardgame fan, but need something to play between the 2-3 months breaks between times I can find players to play the boardgame. Thankie!

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=231&Itemid=362 Strategic Command Global Conquest comes to mind. There’s a demo, too.

Rod_Humble · 2013-01-04T11:14:05.000Z

Just Europe but I recently played the patched version of http://www.matrixgames.com/products/344/details/Commander.-.Europe.at.War.Gold

It was rather good. Feels like the old 3rd Reich board game. Also its on sale right now.

Dejin · 2013-01-04T11:33:17.000Z

z22:

Can someone suggest a WW2 game for me, with these “simple” requirements:

[ul]
[li]Preferred full global map
[/li][li] Not super complex. I don’t want to have to micromanage 2,000 units or ammo or infantry clothing.
[/li][li]I prefer 2d graphics to crazy 3d units and terrain that I feel interfere with the UI
[/li][li]Multi-player, preferably play-by-email as built in feature or able to handle save file passing.
[/li][/ul]

In me feeble novice search I found and am aiming at these:
Strategic War in Europe: Seems perfect, but don’t know how it handles PBEM. I know it’s Europe only. Do they have, or plan on having, a full global version of this?

Hearts of Iron III: Seems great but I think it may be too much. I couldn’t find if it has PBEM or even hotseat.

Any other suggestions? I’m a big Axis & Allies boardgame fan, but need something to play between the 2-3 months breaks between times I can find players to play the boardgame. Thankie!

You could try Gary Grigsby’s World at War. I haven’t played this new version, but the old version was fun. It’s roughly at the Axis & Allies level of resolution at least as far as provinces/units go, although the actual game is a bit more complicated.

z22 · 2013-01-04T12:34:27.000Z

Wow, you guys are fast and accurate, thanks! Strategic Command Global Conquest seems to fit perfectly and the other two options look great too. Time to dive in! =)

Alan_Dunkin · 2013-01-04T22:07:55.000Z

shang:

5 hours left in the Kickstarter. The project ended up meeting all its stretch goals and the resulting game is massive.

Oh crap, I kept wanting to back this and kept putting it off, then I forgot about it till now and… argh.

— Alan

TimJames · 2013-01-04T22:36:24.000Z

I asked this in my backlog thread but I should probably ask here where people will know the answer:

Do I really need to play both Sid Meier’s Antietam and Take Command 2nd Manassas? If I’m short on time, can I just play TC2M these days? I didn’t realize Antietam was from 1998. I can play retro games but the real time animation does make it a little hard to take.

Please tell me if it’s safe to skip or if it’s critical for me to play it for historical purposes.

vyshka · 2013-01-05T14:16:35.000Z

shang:

5 hours left in the Kickstarter. The project ended up meeting all its stretch goals and the resulting game is massive.

I’m curious as to how they got the license since MMP had it and was working on a new edition at one point.

JoshL · 2013-01-05T16:52:30.000Z

vyshka:

I’m curious as to how they got the license since MMP had it and was working on a new edition at one point.

My understanding, and I want to make it clear that this is based on no actual factual information, is that all they own is the trademark. Since they are re-doing all the art and re-writing the rulebook, there are no copyright issues (c.f. the recent re-make of the Dune boardgame).

I’m guessing that, since for the last decade or two nobody has reprinted the game because nobody can figure out who owns the rights, that nobody is going to sue them.

I threw in $40 because the stretch goal bonuses seemed like they were worth the risk. I give about 50/50 odds that I’ll ever see anything from this.

scharmers · 2013-02-04T08:31:16.000Z

Quick shout-out to Steam and Iron, the all-meat-no-filler WWI dreadnaught slugfest by Naval Warfare Simulations. SAI reminds me nothing so much as the old classic naval sim Action Stations being dragged kicking and screaming from 1993…which is not a bad thing. SAI is ugly, it’s sparse, but it’s impeccably researched, has a good AI and UI (unlike some less friendly WWI naval sims out there…), and reminds me of those days of pushing ADG’s Battlewagons counters across the floor. Definitely boutique priced at $35, so already understanding and digging what Von Spee and Craddock were trying to do at Coronel (for example) is probably pretty much required. Tons of scenarios with a dynamic campaign on the way, a ship builder, scenario builder, etc. Fun stuff.

TheWombat · 2013-02-04T17:54:14.000Z

scharmers:

Quick shout-out to Steam and Iron, the all-meat-no-filler WWI dreadnaught slugfest by Naval Warfare Simulations. SAI reminds me nothing so much as the old classic naval sim Action Stations being dragged kicking and screaming from 1993…which is not a bad thing. SAI is ugly, it’s sparse, but it’s impeccably researched, has a good AI and UI (unlike some less friendly WWI naval sims out there…), and reminds me of those days of pushing ADG’s Battlewagons counters across the floor. Definitely boutique priced at $35, so already understanding and digging what Von Spee and Craddock were trying to do at Coronel (for example) is probably pretty much required. Tons of scenarios with a dynamic campaign on the way, a ship builder, scenario builder, etc. Fun stuff.

I bought that before I switched machines about seven or eight months ago, and have yet to redownload it. It is pretty cool. Man, though, I miss Action Stations. That was one great game.

Fishbreath · 2013-02-05T06:42:25.000Z

Yup, it’s a pretty great game. One of these days I’m going to Let’s Play the big Jutland scenario or something; I made it about halfway down the list of scenarios and reported on a lot of them starting on page 51 of this thread.

scharmers · 2013-02-05T09:18:12.000Z

TheWombat:

I bought that before I switched machines about seven or eight months ago, and have yet to redownload it. It is pretty cool. Man, though, I miss Action Stations. That was one great game.

Nostalgia, man :) I have it and its update installed on my Amiga emulator. It’s like playing a spreadsheet… and the only graphic screen is a non-realtime, barely-readable 320x200(!) plot with landmasses depicted as circles. And Savo Island turns take like 5 minutes to process.

I just wish the Divide by Zero could have snuck Fighting Steel’s source to somebody over there, so that NWS could have continued on using that engine with their current wargamings. SAI plus even rudimentary 3D would be even more awesome.

TheWombat · 2013-02-05T09:22:34.000Z

scharmers:

Nostalgia, man :) I have it and its update installed on my Amiga emulator. It’s like playing a spreadsheet… and the only graphic screen is a non-realtime, barely-readable 320x200(!) plot with landmasses depicted as circles. And Savo Island turns take like 5 minutes to process.

I just wish the Divide by Zero could have snuck Fighting Steel’s source to somebody over there, so that NWS could have continued on using that engine with their current wargamings. SAI plus even rudimentary 3D would be even more awesome.

Oh, I remember it well. Lots of circle and squares and lines, mostly. But a killer damage model and gunner formulas, and the only game to really capture some of those smaller Solomon Islands battles well, really.

Janster · 2013-02-05T10:03:04.000Z

Tim James:

I asked this in my backlog thread but I should probably ask here where people will know the answer:

Do I really need to play both Sid Meier’s Antietam and Take Command 2nd Manassas? If I’m short on time, can I just play TC2M these days? I didn’t realize Antietam was from 1998. I can play retro games but the real time animation does make it a little hard to take.

Please tell me if it’s safe to skip or if it’s critical for me to play it for historical purposes.

Having not played Sid Meiers Antietnam, I can’t vouch for it, but I did like Take Commands 2nd Manassas, I liked it and played it quite a bit despite being neither a civil war buff or fan of the period.

TimJames · 2013-02-06T20:12:04.000Z

Some new El Alamein info at the Shenandoah Studio site.

That’s a lot of territories on the early map mockup.

Scotten · 2013-02-07T06:46:09.000Z

Can anyone recommend a WW2 grand strategy game that falls somewhere between Hearts of Iron 3 (researching the coffee cups you troops will use) and Battlefront’s Strategic Command WW2 Global Conflict (way too arcade-y for me)?

Or can you automate enough things in HoI3 to tame the beast? I played it a little, but never reached the top of the learning curve.

Fishbreath · 2013-02-07T06:59:34.000Z

You might try a HoI2-based game; they’re generally like HoI3 but a little more abstracted.

tgb123 · 2013-02-07T07:22:37.000Z

Gary Grigsby’s World at War:A World Divided should fit the bill.

ScottyA · 2013-02-07T07:24:04.000Z

Scotten:

Can anyone recommend a WW2 grand strategy game that falls somewhere between Hearts of Iron 3 (researching the coffee cups you troops will use) and Battlefront’s Strategic Command WW2 Global Conflict (way too arcade-y for me)?

Or can you automate enough things in HoI3 to tame the beast? I played it a little, but never reached the top of the learning curve.

I agree with Fishbreath. Give HoI2 Darkest Hour a look. It’s what I’ve been playing recently and it really does fit nicely between HoI3 and SC. You can find it for $5 pretty regularly. Also if you do pick it up, grab latest beta patch. It’s not a requirement but it does add a few nice things.

Joe_Bolt · 2013-02-07T15:34:30.000Z

Question for the grognards: I started playing Battle of the Bulge on iOS recently and was wanting to make a jump to a PC WWII game. What would be an easy transition? I was looking at Unity of Command, is there anything you guys would recommend? What is the PC gateway drug of choice?