Armored Commander II is a nice little gem of a game that I urge any tread heads out there to look at (the game is available on Steam).
The game is half role-play, half tank simulation with you taking over the care and feeding of your little crew through a campaign. Running a PzII through the Polish campaign for example.
Think the old AH Board game "Pattons Best"...that I suspect is an inspiration for the game.
Don't let simplicity of the game's look and feel fool you...there is a pretty sophisticated and serious tank simulation under the hood (I could throw a few barbs at gameplay...but the game is punching so far above its weight...that I won't bother).
Combat is somewhat abstracted... You start each campaign day on an operational board, deciding how to move forward. Do you recon that clump of trees first? Or roll forward guns blazing? Do you call in artillery and lose precious daylight? Once you encounter the enemy. you move to a tactical board that tracks the relative positions and ranges of each enemy unit. Each "turn" you can take over one of your crewmen and run that position. If you want to move, take over your driver and try to out flank that Polish tankette. But don't worry, while your "spirit" occupies the driver, your gunner is still picking targets and firing. Once you have found a spot to park, take over the gunner. Pick your ammo, careful not to deplete your stores. Turn your turret and fire. Shot hits are calculated based on relative movement, target size etc...so its no auto victory for you Mein Herr. Overall, combat feels somewhat like the recent GMT board game Tank Duel...and that is a good...no actually great thing.
At times, combat may actually be a little too realistic. Trading 10 rounds with a hull down Polish tankette in a woods before you get a hit may be realistic, but it can be a little tiring. I wish the game had a feature like my favorite baseball game, Out of the Park Baseball. OOP will let you play every pitch of course. However OOP also has a feature that lets you switch off resolution of every pitch...letting you just play the final resolving pitch (skipping all the strikes, balls and fouls). In theory I want to see every ball and strike...but after three innings of that...all I really want to know is if the batter gets onto base.
Armored Commander II also has role play elements. Your crew can be wounded. They also gain experience that give them realistic skills. Like a commander who is good at picking hull down locations... No gamey HP plus ups in this game.
Graphics are straight out of the days of the C64. Your mouse will not help you. Commands are given by keyboard. Still, all available commands are listed for easy access on the screen. The UI is pretty concise and becomes second nature quickly.
If a trip back to 1988 graphics puts you off...I still say, give this one a try. You won't notice the graphics after a while. Besides, the game is $6 on sale and as I said, it punches far above its weight...what have you got to lose?
There are 10 possible campaigns, with heavy emphasis on the early war. These campaigns range from Poland as either the Germans, Polish or (wait for it) the Soviets, the Soviet Finish Winter War as either side, the Battle of France as the Germans, UK or French, and finally 44-45 as the US or Canada. The dev is working on other later war campaigns including North Africa, but also the Spanish Civil War.
The game plays quickly, and has a light workload making it one of those games you can play quickly when you don't feel like getting too engaged.
Anyway, for $6 its a barrel of fun and leaves me wanting to see this game turn into a long running series; I can already see myself playing Armored Commander VIII from my retirement home (in a somewhat far off future)...:)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1292020/Armoured_Commander_II/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1292020/Armoured_Commander_II/)
I recall reading about a home-brew computer port of Patton's Best. Is this the retail follow up?
Edit- NM; just saw the PB reference.
Great summary of the game.
I just started The Polish Campaign with a Panzer IV D.
Groggy
Quote from: Staggerwing on May 17, 2020, 01:00:15 PM
I recall reading about a home-brew computer port of Patton's Best. Is this the retail follow up?
Edit- NM; just saw the PB reference.
It is. I tried it in alpha/beta and as a fan of Patton's Best I will most likely pick this up in the near future.
Picked the game up and have put a few hours into it. I'm enjoying it, but that realism thing you mentioned has bitten me. Here's the situation, a hex had a target of opportunity, so i recon and it's a supply dump, recon rated the enemy at 6 so i brought some air with me. Enter the hex and we have a TKS, infantry, truck, and armored train. This was the second battle of day 2, unfortunately my main gun broke on the first battle and i continued on. i managed to take out everything with the help of air strikes, except the train, and now also one of my MG is broke for the day so i'm down to the hull MG. I'm in a P38t, the armored train was effectively firing at me, even had to use some fate points to try to mitigate damage, but now i'm behind it [where it cant fire at me] and have been firing at it for ......awhile. Had a couple of good chances for a critical hit 47% but didn't roll good. Not sure what to do. Consulted the manual, but no hints there. I'm thinking leaving it behind might mess with my supply trace, and not sure i can move off this map anyway. So either keep plinking away waiting for the crit hit or try moving off the map, see if that works.
Forgot to mention i'm the only tank left of my 4, armored train took out the others.
finally just withdraw from battle, seemed like the only thing i could do.
Not gonna lie, I bought this thing like a flash earlier today on AzTank's report -- and I rarely buy early access anymore!
Still haven't played it, finishing up some other things. But I love everything I've read about it.
I'm over 3 hours in and can't stop playing :) Just starting day 4 in the Poland campaign. Don't think i'll have any trouble getting my moneys worth out of this title.
I feel like some AARs may be present in our future! -- or words to that effect! :smitten:
opps, posted in wrong thread, meant to be the C# Aurora LP.
Finished the Poland campaign, took 12 hours to finish. Things did get a little rinse and repeat in the later half. Taking shots over and over again at unarmed trucks got old, to many unarmed truck targets in general. Never did see any Calvary, the two most dangerous things were the AT teams and the 76mm guns, there was a lot of 37mm guns. My main gun jammed and broke a few times, got immobilized once and various MG's breaking, something breaks you cant use it until your combat day is over, it gets fixed before you start the next day. You can call in resupply if you run low, takes 30 minutes off your clock waiting for supply. You can end your day early at a cost i believe of half your VP or experience, can't remember which one and I never bailed on a day. The map you battle on could use some terrain graphics, weird that you can only get mouse over details on hexes that contain an enemy unit. The enemy does take ground back and try to cut your supply behind you, which means you wont be able to call for resupply. There was only one time in my campaign i needed to call for resupply. The fate points are nice touch to give you limited ability to manage the RNG, 3 might be to many points though, at least for this campaign.
Going to try a later years campaign. In the Poland campaign you use the same tank for the whole campaign, and there is really only one mission, advance and take ground.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49911391306_70de18ceb8_h.jpg)
Quote from: -budd- on May 18, 2020, 11:13:43 PM
Going to try a later years campaign. In the Poland campaign you use the same tank for the whole campaign, and there is really only one mission, advance and take ground.
Thanks for your review of the campaign.
Agree with your comments on trucks...too many of them in Poland.
Yes, I hope other campaigns have greater variety of missions.
Started the Canadian campaign, got my Sherman knocked out on the first day from a flank shot by a Stug. It's definitely a different experience, was fighting an AT gun from the front, had some infantry to my rear and a Stug appeared as reinforcement on my right. My fellow tanks got taken out and while my tank was bogged for 3 turns so i couldn't maneuver, the Stugs took me out after bouncing 2 previous shots off my armor. i was already out of fate points. Think i got used to not using recon and using my fate points willy, nilly playing the Poland campaign. Playing with the Firefly, 4 crew, the gunner also operates the only MG, so engaging multiple targets ain't going to happen. Didn't realize this until i was in trouble. Do i overrun the AT gun to my front and switch the gunner to the MG, or switch the gunner to the main gun and shoot at the Stug......plus i was bogged...damn :) When your tank gets knocked out you can choose a different tank to start the next day. I recommend skipping the Poland campaign, at least as the Germans, and play one of the others.
I have just started a French campaign as a Char I bis, hoping to give the huns a bit of the old "tank panic"
QuoteJust over a week ago I released Armoured Commander II to the public on Steam. At the time I was hoping for maybe 100 sales on the first day, and ideally reaching close to 200 by the end of the first week. The fact that more than a thousand of you have bought the game during its first week on Steam is enormously encouraging. I know that Early Access games are very hit or miss (mostly miss) but I'm thankful that you took a chance on my little game, I hope you're enjoying it so far, and I hope that you'll enjoy what's in store for the future.
Over the past week I've been responding to bug and crash reports on the discussion boards as quickly as I can, issuing fixes and updates, discussing improvements to the game system, and listening to ideas for the future. At the same time that I've been updating the current version 4.0 (10 updates so far, plus stealth updates to apply quick fixes), I've been working on the next major update, which will bring ArmCom2 to the early-war campaigns in North Africa. I've already published some preview screenshots on Steam, and I continue to work on the different terrain, weather, and units of this theatre.
My goal for 5.0 is to cover all the major campaigns of the early war, from September 1939 to the end of 1941, apart from the Eastern European front, which will be the focus of 6.0. This of course misses out on a number of important battles, such as the invasions of Norway and Greece, and entire theatres that are about to be pulled into the global conflict, such as the early phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937. These will hopefully also be covered in the future, but for now I want to keep my focus on the most central conflicts in Europe and North Africa, working from early-war, through mid-war, and into late-war, before turning to these other areas.
I'm very excited to see where this small community and this game will go over the next year or so. This is a passion project for me, something that I've been working on off and on for four years now (more if you count the original Armoured Commander too!) and so it's immensely pleasing to see the enthusiasm, energy, and excitement of the players.
Rev. Sudasana
I feel like the technically proper response to this is something like "squee!" :D :smitten:
Quote from: JasonPratt on May 22, 2020, 03:20:50 PM
QuoteJust over a week ago I released Armoured Commander II to the public on Steam. At the time I was hoping for maybe 100 sales on the first day, and ideally reaching close to 200 by the end of the first week. The fact that more than a thousand of you have bought the game during its first week on Steam is enormously encouraging. I know that Early Access games are very hit or miss (mostly miss) but I'm thankful that you took a chance on my little game, I hope you're enjoying it so far, and I hope that you'll enjoy what's in store for the future.
Over the past week I've been responding to bug and crash reports on the discussion boards as quickly as I can, issuing fixes and updates, discussing improvements to the game system, and listening to ideas for the future. At the same time that I've been updating the current version 4.0 (10 updates so far, plus stealth updates to apply quick fixes), I've been working on the next major update, which will bring ArmCom2 to the early-war campaigns in North Africa. I've already published some preview screenshots on Steam, and I continue to work on the different terrain, weather, and units of this theatre.
My goal for 5.0 is to cover all the major campaigns of the early war, from September 1939 to the end of 1941, apart from the Eastern European front, which will be the focus of 6.0. This of course misses out on a number of important battles, such as the invasions of Norway and Greece, and entire theatres that are about to be pulled into the global conflict, such as the early phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937. These will hopefully also be covered in the future, but for now I want to keep my focus on the most central conflicts in Europe and North Africa, working from early-war, through mid-war, and into late-war, before turning to these other areas.
I'm very excited to see where this small community and this game will go over the next year or so. This is a passion project for me, something that I've been working on off and on for four years now (more if you count the original Armoured Commander too!) and so it's immensely pleasing to see the enthusiasm, energy, and excitement of the players.
Rev. Sudasana
I feel like the technically proper response to this is something like "squee!" :D :smitten:
Thanks for posting this. Sounds like the guy has his heart in the right place. Also can't wait to see the goodness coming in updates.
This is a lot of fun.
I started as Under-sergeant Ahto Kvisto, in command of a Finnish Vickers 6 ton Mark E (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_6-Ton) armed with a 3-pounder. We are in fighting withdrawal with the Russians advancing. In my first day we are holding a position, its snowing. Infantry, scout cars and tank destroyers are advancing. First action is against an SU-12 truck-mounted SP gun, an HMG squad and an infantry section. We hold position, and destroy or rout the enemy. Next wave is a rifle section, AT rifle squad and a BA-20 mg-armed armoured car. In the process of engaging and destroying these enemies with no friendly losses, my 47mm gun goes kaput for the rest of the day. We are in the poo. I also notice that while my troop has held, the units on our flanks have given way and we need to withdraw or be enveloped. I request fire support but its turned down.
Next phase we have no gun and need to get out of the hex. As commander I'm throwing smoke grenades and when at one point we bump into some kind of enemy vehicle, I tell the driver to withdraw, assuming this would reverse out of range. Instead, it puts us back in the hex we left, with our friendlies even further to our rear! The next combats involve lots of smoke and advancing past enemy infantry with only coax to use against the Red forces. By the end of the day at 3.20pm (Der Ost in Winter) we have survived having not bumped into anything nasty, but we still have to get back to friendly lines. It isn't looking good.
I don't often dream about games, but I dreamed about this one last night! -- and I haven't even played it much yet! :smitten:
Quote from: smithcorp on May 24, 2020, 04:51:15 AM
This is a lot of fun.
I started as Under-sergeant Ahto Kvisto, in command of a Finnish Vickers 6 ton Mark E (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_6-Ton) armed with a 3-pounder. We are in fighting withdrawal with the Russians advancing. In my first day we are holding a position, its snowing. Infantry, scout cars and tank destroyers are advancing. First action is against an SU-12 truck-mounted SP gun, an HMG squad and an infantry section. We hold position, and destroy or rout the enemy. Next wave is a rifle section, AT rifle squad and a BA-20 mg-armed armoured car. In the process of engaging and destroying these enemies with no friendly losses, my 47mm gun goes kaput for the rest of the day. We are in the poo. I also notice that while my troop has held, the units on our flanks have given way and we need to withdraw or be enveloped. I request fire support but its turned down.
Next phase we have no gun and need to get out of the hex. As commander I'm throwing smoke grenades and when at one point we bump into some kind of enemy vehicle, I tell the driver to withdraw, assuming this would reverse out of range. Instead, it puts us back in the hex we left, with our friendlies even further to our rear! The next combats involve lots of smoke and advancing past enemy infantry with only coax to use against the Red forces. By the end of the day at 3.20pm (Der Ost in Winter) we have survived having not bumped into anything nasty, but we still have to get back to friendly lines. It isn't looking good.
Good stuff!
Quote from: smithcorp on May 24, 2020, 04:51:15 AM
This is a lot of fun.
I started as Under-sergeant Ahto Kvisto, in command of a Finnish Vickers 6 ton Mark E (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_6-Ton) armed with a 3-pounder. We are in fighting withdrawal with the Russians advancing. In my first day we are holding a position, its snowing. Infantry, scout cars and tank destroyers are advancing. First action is against an SU-12 truck-mounted SP gun, an HMG squad and an infantry section. We hold position, and destroy or rout the enemy. Next wave is a rifle section, AT rifle squad and a BA-20 mg-armed armoured car. In the process of engaging and destroying these enemies with no friendly losses, my 47mm gun goes kaput for the rest of the day. We are in the poo. I also notice that while my troop has held, the units on our flanks have given way and we need to withdraw or be enveloped. I request fire support but its turned down.
Next phase we have no gun and need to get out of the hex. As commander I'm throwing smoke grenades and when at one point we bump into some kind of enemy vehicle, I tell the driver to withdraw, assuming this would reverse out of range. Instead, it puts us back in the hex we left, with our friendlies even further to our rear! The next combats involve lots of smoke and advancing past enemy infantry with only coax to use against the Red forces. By the end of the day at 3.20pm (Der Ost in Winter) we have survived having not bumped into anything nasty, but we still have to get back to friendly lines. It isn't looking good.
Agreed, good stuff. I guess you can never tell just by the looks what will be fun.
Got my gun working again and made it back to our lines in one piece. Next day was a counter-attack and we pushed hard, getting into a nasty fight with some 47mm gun carrying armoured cars. One BA6 was immobilised and as i brought the troop forward to deal with it, it killed the rest of the my troop - 4 tanks - with 4 consecutive shots! I kept repositioning and trying to find hull-down positions as I traded shots with it, until i finally killed it after maybe 10 back and forth shots.
I then bravely pushed on, taking the hex in front, and then pushed right two hexes, taking territory without opposition. I've put quite a bulge in their line, but if they push in behind me I will have some trouble without any support!
Soviet armored cars were very boss-level. That 45mm cannon was the world's best vehicle weapon when it was developed, and the Sovs put it on everything they could find. Even their crappy first tank from back in 1928 eventually got one! (And it's in the game, as the worst tank available when invading Poland.)
Yeah, this game is definitely special. I don't really agree with people on Steam labeling it a "roguelike." It's more of a turn-based tactical tank sim with minimalist graphics and permadeath than anything that resembles NetHack or Rogue. More reminds me of ASL except streamlined and focused on a single tank and its crew caught in the midst of a larger scenario.
Can you change the key bindings ?
I notice it looks to be build for qwerty keyboards but in my part of the world we use azerty. (I think only Belgium and France use this so probably too small as a market)
If I recall correctly, yes you can set the keyboard for other layouts! -- including azerty!
Most (if not all) commands will stay the same. But plotting which hex to move into will change its bindings I suppose.
Alpha 5 post
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1292020/eventcomments/2246679252945759941/
Alpha 5 released, a lot of cool looking changes. You have to opt into on the games property page to download.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1292020
After trading shots and knocking out a Jadpanzer, over running two infantry squads attacking me with grenades, and charging an 88 and knocking it out, a Stug in the trees knocks me out. Day 1
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49952365781_27747e79b6_h.jpg)
A lot of fun changes in the alpha.
Quote from: -budd- on May 30, 2020, 09:25:52 AM
Alpha 5 released, a lot of cool looking changes. You have to opt into on the games property page to download.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1292020
Very exciting indeed!!!
There are some things I wish the game did better...hopefully these things will come in later versions. For example, friendly forces...sure I know the game is abstracting this level of detail...but it would be nice to see some friendly infantry or other armored forces to your left and right now and then. Or, better management of your platoon forces. Other than that, the game if moving along nicely.
Quote from: -budd- on May 30, 2020, 11:40:17 AM
After trading shots and knocking out a Jadpanzer, over running two infantry squads attacking me with grenades, and charging an 88 and knocking it out, a Stug in the trees knocks me out. Day 1
^Ouch!
Groggy
I see the Army was sending in soldiers with German families just in case. :o
Ahto and his crew are still alive as at 12 December 1939. The campaign has been a roller-coaster of fighting withdrawals, with adjacent forces not very effective at holding their ground, followed by counter-attacks in the snow. We've been fighting infantry, AT-rifle crews, armoured cars, AT guns and even one T26 tank.
I've been wary of getting cut off during withdrawals but it pays to really look at the map. I found myself trapped with my back to a river, unable to cross and had to attack forward and then across the enemy rear to get to a bridge (marked by tiny brown markings).
In attack I've started being bolder, attacking adjacent hexes from the flanks which has been effective so far, but in general we are getting pushed back hard.
I used skill points to give my gunner, commander and driver some useful skills though they haven't seemed to make a difference yet. My approach is to take the shot, even at 3% chance and to manoeuvre and reposition to try to raise my chance of a hit.
I generally never ask my crew to spot - right from the start of the day I have the commander directing firing, gunner on the MG or gun and driver driving. What are you doing? I sometimes have the commander's hatch open until I know what I'm facing, but I've had a few close calls with snipers. I'm not sure how much more effective it is to direct the gunner from an open hatch yet.
How do we feel about fate points? I have been using them, most often against infantry throwing grenades. is it cheating do you think?
Still enjoying this - had a few close calls where I've figured I'm done for, up against BA6s, SU12s and BA-20s, but we've pulled throuhgh, though an air attack killed one of my troop.
Forgot my attachment..
When you start going up against heavier stuff, you'll like the fate points ;) . Sometimes i forget i have them. The Dev put them in, so don't really think there cheating but you can always decide not to use them. I consider it a balance factor against the RNG, sometimes the enemy seems to get on a consistent roll of good odds. I try to save them for that FUBAR ambush situation.
Its been updated - old save games aren't compatible unfortunately.
Quote from: smithcorp on June 03, 2020, 06:42:01 AM
How do we feel about fate points? I have been using them, most often against infantry throwing grenades. is it cheating do you think?
I don't think it is cheating. Ultimately the game is about "the game", and having a good time. It is also an RPG creating stories...a close call is always more interesting than a sudden inglorious end.
One of my favorite books about WWI is "Toward the Flame". It is a war diary that reads like a novel. Anyway, it takes you through so much of the campaign...but then ends suddenly in the middle of an enemy attack when the author is wounded. There is nothing after that...it just ends. A game of Armored Commander II where your pixel protagonist is lost without fate points would feel like that...unfinished.
FYI, A bit off topic, but "Toward the Flame" is a great book. A downloadable copy of "Toward the Flame" is at:
https://archive.org/details/towardflamewardi00herv/page/n5/mode/2up (https://archive.org/details/towardflamewardi00herv/page/n5/mode/2up)