Just started up a Normandy '44 "West of Caen" scenario with Barthheart.
There is something to the big map, with all the pieces arrayed in a way that none save my own incompetent commanding can disturb; with the computer running all the combat calculations; with the nice sound effects thundering back and forth between the sides; and above all else with the awareness that I'm caught between Vance rumbling ashore at his three beaches and Der Doofus sleepily refusing to release the Gottverdammte tanks I need to push Vance back to Blighty, that makes for a fine, fine evening's gaming.
I'm glad that all the splendor of games like "Company of Heroes" and even CMx2 haven't taken away the simple love of a hex-and-counter game run under the loveless supervision of a PC.
Best of the Holiday, Gentlemen.
Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
Very cool, Cyrano. Your post makes me smile in contentment, and I'm not even the one playing the game. O0
I thought this was a board game. What software are you using for the game calculations?
NM: You must be playing the Tiller game, no?
We're using JT's Panzer Campaigns Normandy 44. It's my first try at the Panzer Campaigns series so we'll see how that goes.
I've not tried this series before because I'm a little put off by the fact that the counters on the map don't have any factors on them ...none at all. You have to click on a hex and look at a side bar to see what's there and in what shape it is. Hard for me to quickly look at the map and grasp what strengths I have where. Other than that I'm liking the game mechanics and I have an excellent mod that upgrades the graphics very nicely.
But Jim is correct, it is nice to get back to hex and counter style wargaming. \
So far my Brit and Canuck paras have landed and captured the bridges over the Orne and several others. The Royal Navy and Air Force have been plastering targets on the beach and inland. Troops have just set foot on the beaches. Now to get out of the sand before Hitler wakes up!
When I dropped the graphical mods into these JT hex & counter games, it was like a whole new world. Made it much more engrossing for me, not having to look at that stock map which resembled a cartoon mass murder scene.
Yeah it sure makes a difference... this is what I'm looking at now..... O0
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1294.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fb613%2Fbarthheart%2FCapture_zps102fd791.jpg&hash=a19dfb9262c7a9fd21636c9e217974a39ba35ccf)
Man, Photobucket sucks now that they don't link to the full sized pics!!! >:(
Quote from: Barthheart on November 27, 2014, 08:42:39 AM
Man, Photobucket sucks now that they don't link to the full sized pics!!! >:(
I use TinyPic, although you gotta upload one at a time and often have to type in the advertising/bot-check thing.
It's funny, as my eyesight fades a bit, counters are less and less appealing as conveyors of information. Some of the MMP stuff is simply ridiculous as I know I'll need the magnifying glass to have any hope of understanding what they're trying to communicate.
Then again, I've been playing JTS stuff for so long that it's old hat for me to use the on-map counters as a point of reference and pull the actual information off of the side (or bottom) panels.
Best,
Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
I find myself playing JTS/HPS titles more than about anything else these days. The breadth of the historical periods that there are games available for, the different game scales, and the similarity of the engine across the different series make these an easy choice when I'm in the mood for a chit shuffler. Having cut my teeth on the old Avalon Hill titles back in the '70s, counter pushing means wargaming to me. Games from VR Designs and SSG are favorites too.
That certainly isn't to say I don't enjoy the CM games or Graviteam Tactics and their ilk. I do, but I'm interested in other periods than WWII and Modern - usually more interested. I'm completely obsessed with Renaissance warfare right now, for example. While you can get a taste for the period from Pike & Shot, the only computer game out there that really has the depth and accurate depiction of the battles of the period is JTS Musket & Pike: Renaissance.
The other thing I've come to really enjoy about the games in PBEM. Even when I'm beat from a long day of work, I still have the energy for a leisurely turn or two.
Quote from: Barthheart on November 27, 2014, 08:42:39 AM
Man, Photobucket sucks now that they don't link to the full sized pics!!! >:(
imgur is your friend...