Grognard Wargamer Thread!

Scotten · 2013-06-21T10:55:49.000Z

Fishbreath:

I think the Panther engine could handle the unit count pretty easily, but IIRC it wouldn’t be able to handle pathfinding and other map operations on something the size of Crete. I’m pretty sure the hypothetical Malta scenarios covered the whole island, though. One of these days I’m going to do an AAR of one of those here.

Awesome! I owned the game back in the old days, but never had any opponents. :(

Brooski · 2013-07-06T06:19:00.000Z

Did anyone know that John Tiller has ported Modern Air Power to the Android and iOS?

http://www.johntillersoftware.com/Demos.php

Because I sure didn’t.

JeffL · 2013-07-06T07:57:05.000Z

Brooski:

Did anyone know that John Tiller has ported Modern Air Power to the Android and iOS?

http://www.johntillersoftware.com/Demos.php

Because I sure didn’t.

I can’t find it in the App Store. :(

PAL_1 · 2013-07-06T08:15:57.000Z

It is on iOS. Search “Modern Air Power - Modern”. Downloading now.

TheWombat · 2013-07-06T08:35:49.000Z

Brooski:

Did anyone know that John Tiller has ported Modern Air Power to the Android and iOS?

http://www.johntillersoftware.com/Demos.php

Because I sure didn’t.

I made a post in the iOS games thread, but didn’t think to do it here. The game is free, and I think there is IAP for other missions at least. If you’ve played his MAP on the PC, it’s pretty much the same thing it appears. I’m more interested in it as a potential harbinger of what Tiller might do for iOS/Android down the road with new games.

TimJames · 2013-07-06T11:11:34.000Z

You guys are going to have to tell me why I should play this.

Brooski · 2013-07-06T12:06:56.000Z

You shouldn’t.

ralfy · 2013-07-08T10:30:34.000Z

I’m not very familiar with computer war games, but I’m looking for something that’s a cross between Crusade in Europe and Panzer General, i.e., with the ff. features:

adjustable real-time with pauses and not turn-based
preferably military symbols rather than icons on a 2D map
historical names of units and commander names for each unit
division or regimental units that combine infantry, armor, etc., depending on the type of unit (e.g., 12,114 soldiers, 48 tanks, etc.)
actual numbers for unit constitution (e.g., 14,211 soldiers rather than 5 out of 10)
units deploy, entrench, fortify, etc., with lag time to do so
supply lines with depots, with lines that can be cut, and units weakened or prone to disintegration if this takes place
no attack or defense number rating but estimated losses for both (light to heavy)
air units attack and return to their bases
units may be reinforced with recon, etc., with the amounts and resource spent on recon determining the success of finding enemy units and determining their IDs and constitution (meanwhile, only estimates are given, e.g., around 8,000 soldiers and 50 tanks for a particular enemy unit)
campaign mode, but with multiple branches for different scenarios
weather, ground conditions, will affect air units, ground unit movement, etc.

etc.

Maybe real-time with pauses is the most important feature, together with historical names of units and actual figures, and a strong AI.

scharmers · 2013-07-08T10:37:40.000Z

And I would like a pony made of diamonds ;)

Fishbreath · 2013-07-08T10:41:23.000Z

Sounds like you’re looking for Command Ops! It’s high-fidelity and relatively small-scale (companies are the smallest units you concern yourself with; your forces in scenarios range from a brigade or so to multiple divisions). It doesn’t hit quite everything on your list (no campaign, very abstract air, no reinforcement of individual units, organic recon assets rather than tasking parts of units), but it’s most of it. I did an AAR of the tutorial and of the Bastogne scenario, if you’re curious how it looks minute-to-minute.

Nikolaj · 2013-07-08T19:26:53.000Z

Fishbreath:

Sounds like you’re looking for Command Ops!

My thought exactly! Doesn’t Matrix usually have some sort of summer sale, by the way? It might go on sale soon.

vyshka · 2013-07-08T22:41:23.000Z

I was thinking Command Ops as well. The current version doesn’t have a campaign, but it is a planned feature for Command Ops 2.

SamS · 2013-07-08T23:57:05.000Z

Tiller’s Campaign Series is on sale this week. I’m kind of tempted as it has a ridiculous amount of scenarios and I like the scale. But, that UI…

rezaf · 2013-07-09T01:02:34.000Z

scharmers:

And I would like a pony made of diamonds ;)

Quoted for truth, as this request list is a bit too expansive and explicit.

Anyway, for some reson this reminded me of one of the first wargames I played, way way back when I didn’t know the term and was a young one: Patriot.
It was based on Bush senior’s Gulf War, and I loved fiddling around with it examinging the countless equipment types and whatnot, but I couldn’t figure out how to effectively play the game. Most I ever accomplished was running some troops into minor skirmishes. I wonder if anyone else remembers the game…

rezaf

vyshka · 2013-07-09T01:22:28.000Z

rezaf:

Quoted for truth, as this request list is a bit too expansive and explicit.

Anyway, for some reson this reminded me of one of the first wargames I played, way way back when I didn’t know the term and was a young one: Patriot.
It was based on Bush senior’s Gulf War, and I loved fiddling around with it examinging the countless equipment types and whatnot, but I couldn’t figure out how to effectively play the game. Most I ever accomplished was running some troops into minor skirmishes. I wonder if anyone else remembers the game…

rezaf

Yes it was put out by 360 Pacific, the people that published the computer version of Harpoon. The interface seemed to be an attempt to recreate a simulation that was used by DOD at the time. Don’t know about the rest of it, but from what I recall it wasn’t well received. If it was anything like the DOD simulation I can understand why.

ralfy · 2013-07-09T03:53:41.000Z

Thanks! I will check it out together with the other games in the series. I found out that they are still developing the series with the latest one on battles in Greece.

JoshL · 2013-07-09T13:28:02.000Z

SamS:

Tiller’s Campaign Series is on sale this week. I’m kind of tempted as it has a ridiculous amount of scenarios and I like the scale. But, that UI…

Also on sale this week at Matrix is Battlefront, which I believe is an evolution of the Decisive Battles (Korsun Pocket) system. I’m pretty tempted by this (although it is still $20 for a 6-year old game). The matrix page says it runs at 1280x1024!

Anyone want to recommend it or wave me off?

SamS · 2013-07-09T14:26:16.000Z

Battlefront is good, but not really necessary if you have any of the other SSG games as the engine is same. Unless it has a scenario that you really want to play.

JoshL · 2013-07-09T14:30:28.000Z

The only other one I have is Korsun Pocket, which I sort of like, but the interface is just too outdated.

Canuck · 2013-07-09T15:13:29.000Z

Battlefront is sort of the black sheep of the Decisive Battles series. That’s not to say that it’s bad, just that it never really caught on with gamers and never got the extra user made scenarios that the other games got.