Nikolaj
1821
I don’t know how I missed this piece of news, but Ageod has apparently merged with Matrix and Slitherine. I wonder what happened with Paradox, but I guess that has to do with Napoleons Campaigns 2/March of Eagles.
Not only that, but they’ve announced that their next game will be AACW2, and that it will be released in 2013! About time, although I’m still waiting for that 30 Years War game that their community seems to want.
link
Tom_Mc
1822
I love AACW so here’s hoping good things for the sequel. There was mention that they’ll still be working with the AGE engine. I really hope that means they’ll work ON the AGE engine. Yes they made some good games but after the fiasco that was Pride of Nations I hope they work on the performance end. PON had some awsome features and great ideas but it just crumbled under the weight of it all.
They’ve done Rome with the engine and I still need to see how that turned out. Medieval would be a good fit. My layman view of history has me thinking the War of the Roses is more exciting though. I’m sure I can get alot of answers on how I’m wrong ;)
Tom M
Scotten
1823
Wow, thanks. I just realized recently that AGEOD was no longer affiliated with Paradox. I suppose this is good news, yes?
I think they have to work hard on the interface to see my money. the AGE engine is still good and it’s not like they have to do the UI from scratch (it’s already better than most wargames), so I really hope they do it. and the map. please please return to the hand drawn maps of the earlier games. I know they are more expensive and difficult to work with but the NCP/PON/AJE “style” is just ugly.
Nikolaj
1825
I’m pretty sure they will be working on the AGE engine. They’ve constantly been updating it, and AJE included some major tweaks to the engine, (at least some of) which were introduced in the other AGE games via patches. I haven’t played any Ageod games recently, so I don’t know much about the tweaks themselves, but I do know that Ageod is still updating and improving the AGE engine. I don’t think it will ever be able to properly run a game with the scope of PoN, though.
Ｙeah, I think Paradox needs to focus on grand strategy games, while Ageod focuses on war games. The AGE engine certainly isn’t fit for grand strategy, and in my opinion the clausewitz engine isn’t very good for wargames, although I haven’t played March of the Eagles. I don’t know what exactly happened between Ageod and Paradox, but Ｉ suppose Paradox wasn’t wasn’t impressed with the launch of PoN, and the fact that NCP2 was moved from the AGE engine to Clausewitz was probably a sign that things weren’t going well.
I’m a little concerned that 3 of my favourite game companies have now merged, since that might mean they’ll all close down at once if they make a couple of bad decisions. Then again, I don’t really know what I’m talking about, so maybe I’m wrong about that.
I agree that the hand drawn maps are much better looking, but of those three games NCP was the only one I found off-putting enough to not buy it. It wasn’t just the maps, but also the leader portraits, and the whole graphical style in general that I didn’t like. PoN and AJE are both acceptable to me, although I’d still prefer hand drawn maps. RＵＳ has an absolutely beautiful map, but it was done by a different studio, which might be the reason why the map was drawn.
strategy
1826
Johan commented a tiny bit on the matter in the March of Eagles thread.
Here’s the official comment on the split from AGEOD. And the announcement of their joining the Slitherine Group. From what I gather, it’s not quite the same kind of deal - the Slitherine Group appears more to be a lose confederation of developers doing the same type of games, rather than an employer/employee relationship (which I have the impression was more the case with the Paradox merger).
Canuck
1827
Matrix’s Panzer Corps (Panzer General re-make) is now up on Greenlight. Everyone please go to Steam and greenlight it so that they can make a shit ton of money and all the other Matrix developers will finally move over to Steam. Make it happen people!
tgb123
1829
I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned, but Lock 'n Load:Heroes of Stalingrad is actually approaching the finish line. Matrix has widened the beta tester base for the new build coming out this week.
I really like that the developer went out of his way to capture the board game flavor.
Wasn’t this started back during W.'s first term, or something? I’m only half-joking, as this game has been a perpetual near-vapor title on Matrix’s list for ages. It does look interesting though.
tgb123
1831
Between this, the PC version of Twilight Struggle and Grimoire all (supposedly) coming out this year, I can only conclude that the apocalypse is nigh.
tgb123
1832
The Windows version of Phantom Leader slipped in under the radar the other day (pun intended). It’s a direct port of the Ios version.
I’ve played two short campaigns so far. Now I need to figure out how to end up with a better ranking than “dismal”.
tgb123
1833
What’s amazing to me is how much I’m enjoying the game. If you had told me when I was 17 or 18 (1970) that one day I’d be planning air missions over Viet Nam and weighing the uses of napalm, I probably would have slashed my wrists.
Where can one get it, please?
tgb123
1835
Sorry. I thought Bruce’s article contained a link, but you can get it here: http://www.dvg.com/.sc/ms/cat/getcat?cat=Vassal%2FPDF+Games
One caveat: Apparently the developer personally fills all orders by emailing a download link. Which means if you happen to order while he’s walking the dog, taking a shit, or just on vacation (as I did), you might have a bit of a wait.
Oh, and despite the order link being on the page for Vassal titles, this is not a Vassal game.
Sorry, was reading this on my phone and likely missed the link, thanks. This is a single player game, right? I know the article mentions solo play, but the game site itself is very, very light on information on the game. :/
tgb123
1838
Strictly solo. There are 3 campaigns each (short, long, and medium) for '65, ‘67’ and '71 which can be played with either USAF or USN aircraft of the time, making for a total of 18. Lots of replayability since target opportunities are randomized. Most actions depend on a roll of a single d10, since this is based on a board game, but there’s lot of things you can do to modify the die rolls, and random events in a mission (there are three per mission) can really change your chances of success.
Each “day” of a campaign is a single mission, made up of phases and impulses. Here’s how a single day breaks down:
Pre-Flight
Draw Target Card(s)
Select Target and Move Politics Counter
Determine and Place Sites (AI does this)
Assign Pilots
Arm Aircraft
Target-Bound Flight
Draw Target-Bound Event Card
Place Aircraft
Determine and Place Bandits (AI does this)
Intel Air Defense Destruction
Draw Over Target Event Card
Over-Target Resolution (4 Times)
Jettison Decision
Fast Pilots Attack
Sites and Bandits Attack (AI’s turn)
One Pilot may Suppress
Pilot under attack may use Evasion
Slow Pilots Attack
Aircraft Move and Adjust Altitude
Bandits Move (AI does this).
Advance Turn Marker
Home-Bound Flight
Draw Home-Bound Event Card
Search and Rescue
Debriefing
Record Mission Outcome
Adjust Pilot Experience
Adjust Pilot Stress
K, that sounds awesome, thanks for that info! ;-)
If you want more information about the game, you can always check out the manual.
