Burden of Command Announced

[Mad Russian]

More comments about the game:

http://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2017/06/burden-of-command-by-green-tree-games.html

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Similar to GMT Combat Commander?

BoC is a leadership simulation with normal battlefield chaos added. The leadership you give counts as to how your soldiers will respond on the battlefield. It will also influence their losses, morale and efficiency. The game doesn't come with a set of pat answers. Each choice will give you different results. Some of those choices, like Grandstanding - jumping up in full view of enemy soldiers and dragging your soldiers forward by the strength of your will and your American Courage into the American Carnage, could easily get you killed.

Where Combat Commander has totally random events BoC has situational events. In other words Combat Commander has events that are purely random. BoC has events that are based on the choices you've made and the results of your actions on the battlefield.

Good Hunting.

MR

[jomni]

Good layer of immersion. But hope it doesn't get in the way of variety and replayability ?  The choices should be based on the situation (coming from the hex battlefield) and not scripted into the mission so that they are triggered all the time.

[Apocalypse 31]

Will you get you or your men killed?

Most certainly.

Anyone can be leader when things are going right 

[Mad Russian]

Good layer of immersion. But hope it doesn't get in the way of variety  and replayability ?

Let's take a look at replayability.

You actually fight each battle on a hex grid map with forces that will more than likely respond differently each time you play the scenario. As you progress into the campaign those differences will have a greater impact on the end result. So while the main choices will remain the same the campaign should never play exactly the same.

To give you some background, I've been making scenarios for computer games since the old Combat Mission days (HSG was a group I started for Combat Mission scenario generation), through Panzer Command Ostfront and then with Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm/Players Edition. I generally create historically based scenarios, Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm (Players Edition) being the sole exception to that rule. I strive to create scenarios that are both reflective of the actual fight and have choices that give the battle a high replay factor. I'm bringing that same gaming experience to BoC to the best of my abilities.

Good Hunting.

MR

[jomni]

Ok. Let's see how things turn out.  Good luck on your project.

[lhughes42]

In regard to an earlier post, Combat Commander is a significant influence. For its remarkable evocation of battlefield chaos and the stories that flow from that.  There are a lot of boardgame influences:
-- (A)SL -- of course!
-- CC -- chaos
-- Band of Brothers -- chaos extends to command
-- Conflict of Heroes -- push your luck and simplicity of design
-- Fields of Fire -- command points and focus on command
-- Ambush -- RPG
I'm hoping we'll stand on the shoulders of giants in that regard. I'm going to do a development blog on those influences eventually. I emphasized the PC inspirations on the website for the more general audience. But a lot of the creativity in design these days -- IMHO -- comes from the boardgame space.

For you guys I can't resist this John Hill (may he rest in peace) quote:
"Squad Leader was a success for one reason: it personalized the board game in a World War II environment. Take the "leaders," or persons, away from it and it becomes a bore. Though this may sound surprising, the game has much in common with Dungeons & Dragons. In both games, things tend to go wrong, and being caught moving in the street by a heavy machinegun is like being caught by a people-eating dragon. Squad Leader was successful because, underneath all its World War II technology, it is an adventure game, indeed Dungeons & Dragons in the streets of Stalingrad."
  We're going a bit more down the "historical experience of leadership path" than D&D but still the analogy has merit.

[FarAway Sooner]

The concept sounds absolutely fascinating.  I like the notion that making the exact same choice won't trigger the same event:  An order to rush an MG nest might be ignored, or your men might crawl, instead of conducting the ordered charge, etc.  Having a bell-curve distribution of likely results for each such choice makes it a lot more fascinating.

For this game to absolutely blow my socks off, I only have one last hope:  Can we please dispense with the "Takes Objectives X, Y, and Z by Turn 9 to win a Decisive Victory, by Turn 11 to win a Strategic Victory, and by Turn 14 to win a Tactical Victory"?  That mechanic works well to introduce tension and a challenge, but after having played it in umpteen different games, having to face it in every scenario I play feels kinda tired to me.

[Mad Russian]

For this game to absolutely blow my socks off, I only have one last hope:  Can we please dispense with the "Takes Objectives X, Y, and Z by Turn 9 to win a Decisive Victory, by Turn 11 to win a Strategic Victory, and by Turn 14 to win a Tactical Victory"?  That mechanic works well to introduce tension and a challenge, but after having played it in umpteen different games, having to face it in every scenario I play feels kinda tired to me.

The objectives will be setup on triggers. Most of those will be timed for two reasons.
1) No battlefield commander has ever had as much time as he wanted to complete his mission.
2) Putting a gamer under a bit of a time crunch is one of the few ways to submit the gamer to the stresses of a combat situation. I'm hoping that you won't have people shooting at you while you are at your computer. That can't be killed if you make the wrong decision. That there won't be smoke in your eyes or mines set off that could maim you for life.

In lieu of all those issues I try to make the scenarios be a bit tight on the time scale so you get some stress. So that you feel somewhat like a leader that has to put up with the two stated issues above.

Having said that, the objectives are likely to be event triggered as to how well you do. It will be a combination of IF you accomplished your mission AND how many losses you took doing it.

And then there are the secondary objectives. The game is structured to have a reward system. What does that mean exactly? It simply means you can earn medals. So, if you do exceptionally well you could be rewarded. Taking and HOLDING secondary objectives are a part of that structure. But beware of the Germans. Are you an aggressive commander and are always looking to be an over achiever? To be one that always wants to clear the map? If you do you way well find yourself wearing a Bronze Star, Silver Star or Medal of Honor. You may well find yourself and your men dead too for trying to accomplish too much. The choice, of course, is yours. When you capture your main objectives you will be given the choice of whether to continue the attack or to consolidate and hold what you have.

Will you go home a live hero? Will you go home a live soldier? Will you go home a dead hero? The choices you make in the campaign will determine which outcome you get.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Apocalypse 31]

Stress of combat, you say?

Add timers to the decisions then you'll see some real stress.

You have 5 seconds to make this decision:

[Rayfer]

Stress of combat, you say?

Add timers to the decisions then you'll see some real stress.

You have 5 seconds to make this decision:

Great idea....but maybe a little more than 5 seconds, it would take me that long just to read the choices!   

[Steelgrave]

Ok, I want this game now. Geez, I don't want to be a fanboy for a game that's not out yet but it sounds like a day one buy for me.

[Mad Russian]

It's okay to be a fanboy for this game. It's fine. Even though we've just begun to scratch the surface of telling you what you'll find inside the game.

For example, the amount of historical research and accuracy should meet the most stringent requirements. The game development group includes veterans from all branches of the service and multiple time periods as well as from countries besides the United States. The game uses some after action reports and maps taken straight from the national archives. John McManus, the author of "American Courage, American Carnage", has supported the project from the beginning. Because the game is based on the actions he describes in his book he has given the project his support with all his research done for the book. We have extended that research out in multiple volumes of research books, as well as internet sites, ourselves. The results should speak for themselves when it comes time to fight in the game.

Selections for the scenarios include battles in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. The battle they thought was their toughest was at a place called Cisterna di Latina. One of the toughest fights any US Infantry Regiment has ever been in.

So, go ahead, be a fanboy!

Start your career in North Africa and see if you have what it takes to get you, and your men, home alive at the end of the war!

Good Hunting.

MR

[bbmike]

Stress of combat, you say?

Add timers to the decisions then you'll see some real stress.

You have 5 seconds to make this decision:

ONLY if it's an option. I would not want to play that way.

[FarAway Sooner]

For this game to absolutely blow my socks off, I only have one last hope:  Can we please dispense with the "Takes Objectives X, Y, and Z by Turn 9 to win a Decisive Victory, by Turn 11 to win a Strategic Victory, and by Turn 14 to win a Tactical Victory"?  That mechanic works well to introduce tension and a challenge, but after having played it in umpteen different games, having to face it in every scenario I play feels kinda tired to me.

The objectives will be setup on triggers. Most of those will be timed for two reasons.
1) No battlefield commander has ever had as much time as he wanted to complete his mission.
2) Putting a gamer under a bit of a time crunch is one of the few ways to submit the gamer to the stresses of a combat situation. I'm hoping that you won't have people shooting at you while you are at your computer. That can't be killed if you make the wrong decision. That there won't be smoke in your eyes or mines set off that could maim you for life.

In lieu of all those issues I try to make the scenarios be a bit tight on the time scale so you get some stress. So that you feel somewhat like a leader that has to put up with the two stated issues above.

Having said that, the objectives are likely to be event triggered as to how well you do. It will be a combination of IF you accomplished your mission AND how many losses you took doing it.

And then there are the secondary objectives. The game is structured to have a reward system. What does that mean exactly? It simply means you can earn medals. So, if you do exceptionally well you could be rewarded. Taking and HOLDING secondary objectives are a part of that structure. But beware of the Germans. Are you an aggressive commander and are always looking to be an over achiever? To be one that always wants to clear the map? If you do you way well find yourself wearing a Bronze Star, Silver Star or Medal of Honor. You may well find yourself and your men dead too for trying to accomplish too much. The choice, of course, is yours. When you capture your main objectives you will be given the choice of whether to continue the attack or to consolidate and hold what you have.

Will you go home a live hero? Will you go home a live soldier? Will you go home a dead hero? The choices you make in the campaign will determine which outcome you get.

Good Hunting.

MR

I'm okay having a finite number of turns to do things.  I'm glad to hear that casualties also have a very real impact on how you do.  That was one of the biggest holes in Unity of Command, which I consider to be one of the best turn-based strategy games in the last decade.  I just hate games where it's a puzzle-solving exercise, and there's no way to win impressive victories or unlock lots of content unless you play it a couple times to figure out where all the enemy units will be.