Well, since most of the free world has tomorrow off, figured we'd kick the weekend off early.
For me, GTAV, MGSV, maybe some ARMA and Call to Arms.
Happy New Year everyone.
Back from visiting family and ready for STANAVFORLANT to take one a Soviet amphibious task force in CMANO[/b.
Happy New Year to everyone....
I think i finally found the energy to stick to a couple of specific games:
- Grand Ages: Rome Gold. Playing the first campaign which i have never completed yet (shame on me).
- Horizon. Playing on small maps, trying to complete the different quests. Small maps are fairly intensive and i hadn't tried them before.
Cheers
PBEM extravaganza - Con and CMBS, Cyrano and HoN, KyzBP and PBEM
Some EU4 as Castille, grabbed all the missing DLCs, learnt a lot from my England playthrough, now starting a Castille game on ironman to unlock awards - very tense on ironman!
Mordheim, theres a wake for Jason and some piss taking for Gus
Some 'Battles of Normandy' and maybe Elite if I can work out how to take off (thanks for the advice, 'Geek).
Got home yesterday to find out I lost one of my electric mains so I only have half my circuits. The half I do have does not include my office where the pc is.
Once I get it back I plan to finish my Steam Xmas shopping, playing some of the following and hopefully getting in touch with Freyland and Millipede to plan our next civ 4 session.
games I plan to play are:
HoI3
Civ4
PoE
Ck2
Binding of Isaac
Maybe try to learn some Vicky 2 and DC case blue.
Well I work all this weekend (the next four nights), so probably not much gaming time for me. Whatever time I do end up having will likely be split between Pillars of Eternity, Age of Charlemagne, and possibly cracking open that copy of Homeworld I picked up during the Steam sale.
Iracing- Looks like its Road Atlanta this week
FM2016- 2nd year in the Premiership with Sheffield United
Dabble in Assassins Creed Syndicate and the Witcher 3
Quote from: Martok on December 31, 2015, 09:18:55 AM
Well I work all this weekend (the next four nights), so probably not much gaming time for me. Whatever time I do end up having will likely be split between Pillars of Eternity, Age of Charlemagne, and possibly cracking open that copy of Homeworld I picked up during the Steam sale.
I'll be playing some Attila: Age of Charlemagne (I've been wiped out as the Avars and am now trying Mercia).
Some Vassal
Some Armored Warfare
I'm trying to get back to Rome 2 but keep tripping-over Civil War II and Pillars of Eternity. Happy 2016 Grogs everywhere. I'll have a Manly drink for you all tonight. O0
Ace Patrol, Wings Over Flanders Fields and Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai.
Turn #3 of our CS Middle East PBEM, scenario aptly named as The Crossroads (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=15700.msg412184#msg412184). Bought GameGuru Premium from Steam Sales. Interesting to see how it can assist in terrain design. Later, some solitary boardgaming with PanzerBlitz Hill Of Death Santa brought to me from Boardgamegeek market.
Life is good. Happy New Year 2016!
I was hoping to play some Star Wars LCG via Tabletop Simulator with Bison but I've just been informed that I have been switched to night shifts Fri-Sun so I'll be working instead.
Happy New Year everyone! I finally committed to learning and playing the beast called War in the Pacific: AE. I'm finally 'getting' it and actually completed the first two turns. The experienced players on the Matrix forums have been of great help, especially with how the automated convoy system works. That alone was a god-send. There is also a full campaign with a 'quiet China' option that allows you to concentrate on the Pacific almost exclusively.
Quote from: Gusington on December 31, 2015, 10:26:10 AM
Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai.
I'm sorely tempted to buy this on Steam sale even though I've put all of 6 hours into Shogun II since buying it in 2011 (...personalized Steam stats, a blessing and a curse...)
BMS if I manage to get in any stick time.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. The old girl works just fine on my rig and I picked it up for a cool $3 on Steam.
Happy New Year everyone!
I had the whole week but didn't get in nearly as much gaming as I was hoping. Did a lot of napping and reading. Most of the gaming time I did have was spent in Elite. I had every intention of launching my grand circumlocution exploration mission around the galaxy this week but instead I just flew around in my Cobra and shot things up. Made some good credits off of a kill 30 pirates mission yesterday. Made 500k from the mission plus bounties. Good news is I have enough credits for some last minute upgrades for my asp before I set out.
With all the flying I've done in Elite I've also had the urge to do some proper flight simming, so I'm going to buy Prepar3D v3.1 today along with something new from Carenado. Looking at either the E50P Phenom 100 or the Hawker 850XP HD. Will be my first jet aircraft since I started sim flying again. Up until now I've been strictly flying prop/turboprop aircraft.
CMANO, KSP, and FCRS will probably see some time as well.
I'll be watching UCG continue his advance through Australia in our WiTP:AE PBEM because, well, I can't seem to do anything about it. In the downtime I'll continue to work my way around the learning curve of the Long War mod for XCOM. :uglystupid2:
Happy New Year everyone!
Shamefrul dispray Sandman. Get in there and get FOTS...you owe it to yourself.
Why, just a few hours ago I squealed with delight as my Imperial gunboats, lurking offshore, shelled the hell out of some Shogunate troops and helped me win a siege. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
GET IT
For me, it's Distant Worlds: Universe. I just learned that propulsion power isn't baked into your "baseline power needs" value, which could explain why my ships never seem to be flying at full speed and firing all their weapons during combat...
Not so much fun Gus when it happens the other way around. >:(
^You got shelled by the AI?
Shamefrul.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftreasure.diylol.com%2Fuploads%2Fpost%2Fimage%2F659679%2Fresized_second-last-samurai-meme-generator-shamefur-dispray-ef5ebb.jpg&hash=d1bcfda6f211de72ba3f5a0b6864e8cf5630c2e8)
Yeah, funny watching my little Imperial troops running like hell to avoid incoming. Funny until the shells started landing.
The AI in Shogun 2 FOTS is such a c*nt. I mean that in a good way. I just spent the last 2 hours retaking my domain capital (Nagasaki) after getting gang-assaulted by three different factions.
But I did get my capital back. And I've finished a British trading quarter in my port. Gonna save up some money, buy a Warrior class warship, some Parrot guns and some Royal Marines and really get this campaign going.
Stop tempting me! Not listening. Not listening. :tickedoff:
Played the Long Dark and Stranded Deep. Freaking awesome survival, open world, crafty type games.
You know you want it.
I'm actually getting interested in playing Rise of the Samurai for the first time...can anyone recommend any books on the Gempei War?
I loved Lords of the Rising Sun by Cinemaware on my Amiga circa 1990 - hoping Rise of the Samurai lets me recapture some of that magic.
Yeah, so I caved and bought FOTS...and Nobunaga's Ambition too, for that matter...
Curse you, Steam Sale. Curse you!!!!
I got fed up enough with Elite that I uninstalled it. Game can only troll me for so long before its no longer enjoyable and it hit that point several hours ago.
Got my Prepar3D v3 install sorted so tomorrow I'll be doing some flying around in that. Looking forward to seeing, if any, the performance improvement from v2.
Sandman:
<Mr.Burns>
excellent
<Mr. Burns>
I am King Fernando VI de Villena and i have played EU4 Castille all day!
I have stolen princesses back from Neopolitan kings. I burned down the city of Lisboa. I have spent the night with Catherine of Aragon and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the African continent at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
No.
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 03, 2016, 06:05:19 PM
I am King Fernando VI de Villena and i have played EU4 Castille all day!
I have stolen princesses back from Neopolitan kings. I burned down the city of Lisboa. I have spent the night with Catherine of Aragon and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the African continent at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
I have heard of you, actually. I hope the infection clears up quickly.
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 03, 2016, 06:05:19 PM
You may have heard of me.
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
..?
Been reupholstering crap for days now; is it the weekend yet?
:'(
Happy New Year guys.
I too have been playing Shogun 2 FOTS since picking it up on Steam last week. Great addition to the Shogun series. Only complaint is that unit speed (for the ai that is) during tactical battles is quite fast. By the time I position my troops they get flanked six ways to Sunday and I haven't won a manual battle yet. My sabre cavalry can't even outrun the enemy spearmen! How can a man carrying a spear run faster than a man holding a sabre on a horse. Anyway great game, maybe there is a Darth mod out there that has more realistic unit speeds.
I've also been putting a lot of time into AGEOD Civil War 2.
Football Tactics is a surprisingly addictive turn based soccer game with an excellent 'just one more turn' feel to it. O0
seriously, had a great session - went thru the Castillian civil war, which i clearly wasnt supposed to win, and lost complete control of the country in approx 3 mins of game time, 103000 rebels??? Gave into their demands which werent that different than my own anyway just a change of ruling family. The first 15 years mainly involved me, Aragon, Portugal, France, Austria and England all tied up by mutually supporting and non supporting alliances waiting for the first one to make a mistake. Portugal blinked first and attacked Morocco bringing in Aragon as an ally, I waited for them to get tied up in North Africa and then declared on Portugal. Aragon was too busy and England was fighting the War of the Roses, only Naples was left to attack me and they were decimated by Austria who joined me in the struggle - and so began a 40 year on and off war with Portugal.
I diplo annexed Navarre and got claims on France and england but the politics is too complicated to attack at the moment. In one peace deal with Portugal i took their African colony which basically shut down their African and Cape ambitions. They landed in Brazil shortly after me, I had a plan for Portugal so left them to South America and went after the Carribean - i own Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and shortly Cuba and will sort out the trade there.
In Africa ive discovered the Cape and slowly working my way towards it with coastal colonies. This is pretty much most of Plan A and then we'll look at India and North America. The Iberian Wedding fired a while ago giving me Aragon and Naples in a personal union, and in about 6 years i should be able to form Spain.
Thats it for now
W8 try the Radious mod for FOTS. I am no Clausewitz but it has helped me win manual battles. And the manual battles in FOTS are fantastic!
Thanks for the tip Gus. I'll check it out!
I played Shogun 2 and FOTS with the Darth Mod and loved it. It improved both battle and campaign AI a lot. FOTS With the Darth Mod my all time favorite TW campaign.
I spent the vast majority of the weekend playing GTAV on my new rig. I messed around with a law enforcement mod that basically turns GTAV into a police simulator, but then I got back into the standard story missions, some of which are truly great. Its really a great game.
Played some:
- Horizon
- Grand Ages Rome
- Imperium Galactica 2
And went to the theater to see the last Star Wars....
Quote from: Dammit Carl! on January 03, 2016, 10:30:26 PM
Been reupholstering crap for days now; is it the weekend yet?
:'(
Who let you out of the sweatshop?!
It's difficult to find good slave drivers these days. >:(
What does the Darth Mod do for Shogun 2 FOTS compared to Radious?
Awesome bit on the best and worst TW games from RPS:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/best-total-war/#more-338313
We've had knock down drag out fights here over the years on this very topic.
It's a New Year so it's time for a brawl. I agree Shogun 2 was the best TW game but I liked Empire too. I liked the world-wide economy and the 3 continent strategies it required. Napoleon was very good but very limited in scope and the only thing wrong with Rome 2 is the AI almost always stays in the cities. Rarely have I fought a genuine land battle against it. Loved the New World and all it's gold opening up in M2TW and the siege battles, and the first gunpowder units( if they were mine). Rome TW was my first TW experience and so holds a special place in my heart to this day. Attila is also great but takes place in the most chaotic TW world ever. Reminds me of New York City in the 70's.
I would have loved the musket ones if they didnt screw up in several aspects. In both games the AI was shoddy and could not seem to form a line, they just shambled about doing nothing. Empire had lag and was horribly optimized, napoleon ran better but it was completely centered in europe and limited in scope
The only TW games with muskets and other firearms that I really have a handle on is Shogun 2 FOTS and the early firearms represented in M2TW. If Empire had been more coherently put together it would have been one of the best games evah.
A TW set in Brooklyn in 1979 would be epic. The Warriors: TW.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coneyislandfilmfestival.com%2Fprograms08%2Fimages%2Fwarriors10.jpg&hash=4cf9a417c495222b4597947ed476ec4d33fb8387)
Can you dig it?
My favorite TW game is Shogun 2 as well. It has the best battlefield ai out of all the TW games I own and I own quite a few.
Never really understood the hate for Empire. In terms of map, economic depth, and military options it is the best since the game spans the world. I've never experienced any performance issues with the game. It's battlefield ai is admittedly weak for anyone who has good tactical skill. For those who are not too familiar with TW style games Empire's battlefield ai is ok I suppose. Overall I love Empire and have spent a lot of time with it. Try it again using Darth Mod Empire and you will be surprised.
Don't really care for Attila and it's not the historical subject matter that disappoints me. It's the fact that you just wander around razing cities and live in tents out in the open like a berber is what turns me off. I like managing fixed empires better.
I suspect the new Warhammer TW game is going to be some kind of wander around the world and doing cool stuff and being entertained by prettiness but not actually playing a strategy game where you manage the economy and infrastructure of a fixed empire. I could be wrong though. We shall see.
^I like a 'proper' empire as well.
Also in Empire: TW I never really felt I had a handle on the new firearms tactics.
Less so in Napoleon TW.
To me, the biggest obstacle with the TW games, all of 'em, is the tediousness of the early game phase. I just find that I almost always lose interest in a campaign before I can establish a viable, reasonably self-sustaining nation/empire. Not a hegemonic, world-beating empire mind you, just a decent-sized state with half a dozen provinces that can defend its borders while also launching campaigns into enemy territory...
It just takes too long to build up your cities and forces. Everything is always so damn expensive -- upgrades to buildings, troops other than the most basic militia/spearmen, troop upkeep, agent actions (always ridiculous -- "35% chance to sabotage an enemy building -- and it will only cost you 50% of your treasury." awesome!).
The amount of resources you need to sustain a full-stack army -- which is still less than 5000 men, even on "ultra" setting -- just strikes me as absurd. And then you get into a big battle and that carefully crafted army is in tatters and will take many turns to recouperate. Meanwhile, your completely undefended southern border is under attack from 2 enemy powers, etc.
I bought the Charlemagne add-on for Attila and it's the same old thing. I guess this is CA's way of striking 'balance' in the early game, making you scrape and crawl from a state that can barely sustain 2000 troops and a navy larger than 3 ships into something more formidable. But man if I don't just get bored and frustrated before I can build up to something more interesting...
My all time funniest TW moment came when Empire first came out. Watching the enemy Mohawk Hatchet men marching in perfect lock-step toward my troops was just hilarious. With their war paint and feathers they looked like a Gay Pride Day parade. I actually enjoyed the musket battles though the fort-wall scaling infantry was somewhat of a joke. The mods made the game much better.
^What's the best all-encompassing mod for Empire?
Quote from: Gusington on January 05, 2016, 11:17:55 AM
^What's the best all-encompassing mod for Empire?
I'd say Darthmod, the latest version thereof.
Quote from: Sir Slash on January 05, 2016, 11:09:55 AM
My all time funniest TW moment came when Empire first came out. Watching the enemy Mohawk Hatchet men marching in perfect lock-step toward my troops was just hilarious. With their war paint and feathers they looked like a Gay Pride Day parade. I actually enjoyed the musket battles though the fort-wall scaling infantry was somewhat of a joke. The mods made the game much better.
For me, the thing that really let all the air out of Empire TW (which I was ridiculously, childishly excited about at the time) was the early-on revelation that the campaign AI couldn't launch overseas invasions, and so all those turns I'd spent as England were pretty pointless because the home isles were invulnerable....
Yeah, there was a *lot* wrong with Empire TW at launch. Obviously, Rome 2 launch was pretty catastrophic as well...
^Darthmod fixed the overseas invasion issues in Empire TW, didn't it?
Kinda. The AI would land troops occasionally but would never reinforce them. They also seemed incapable of transferring troops between continents.
Quote from: W8taminute on January 05, 2016, 10:51:00 AM
My favorite TW game is Shogun 2 as well. It has the best battlefield ai out of all the TW games I own and I own quite a few.
Never really understood the hate for Empire. In terms of map, economic depth, and military options it is the best since the game spans the world. I've never experienced any performance issues with the game. It's battlefield ai is admittedly weak for anyone who has good tactical skill. For those who are not too familiar with TW style games Empire's battlefield ai is ok I suppose. Overall I love Empire and have spent a lot of time with it. Try it again using Darth Mod Empire and you will be surprised.
Don't really care for Attila and it's not the historical subject matter that disappoints me. It's the fact that you just wander around razing cities and live in tents out in the open like a berber is what turns me off. I like managing fixed empires better.
I suspect the new Warhammer TW game is going to be some kind of wander around the world and doing cool stuff and being entertained by prettiness but not actually playing a strategy game where you manage the economy and infrastructure of a fixed empire. I could be wrong though. We shall see.
Some of the rps stuff has highlighted province management and the advancement of buildings - there has to be some kind of progression built in by research and building construction otherwise all the goodies are on the table from the start
Quote from: sandman2575 on January 03, 2016, 12:56:42 AM
Yeah, so I caved and bought FOTS...and Nobunaga's Ambition too, for that matter...
Curse you, Steam Sale. Curse you!!!!
Please post impressions of
Nobunaga's Ambition if/when you get around to playing it!
Quote from: Gusington on January 04, 2016, 05:52:49 PM
Awesome bit on the best and worst TW games from RPS:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/best-total-war/#more-338313
We've had knock down drag out fights here over the years on this very topic.
While Shogun 2 isn't my personal favorite game in the franchise, one can't deny it's earned the near-universal praise it's earned over the years.
Interesting that they ranked Attila second; I suspect that'll prove to be a controversial choice. I've done nothing more than dip my toe in the main campaign (having spent most of my time with the Chucky DLC), so I'm not sure how much I can comment on it yet.
I still honestly believe the original Medieval is overall the best of the series, but I'm glad they at least thought well enough to rank it as high as they did.
Never played Nappy, never wanted to (even if it was by all accounts better than the pile of shit that was Empire :buck2: )...
...But I can't believe it was better than the original Shogun. I suspect the real reason RPS didn't rank it after Medieval was to avoid having the two original Total War titles back-to-back. ::)
I'll definitely concur with Empire being the second-worst title in the series. In fact, it's really almost a tie for dead last.
Of course, my biggest objection to the list is the placement of the two Rome titles. They should definitely be swapped. Yes, Rome II is an undeniably flawed game, but it's also fun with a ton of atmosphere, an AI that's at least okay, and was in fairly decent shape after numerous updates.
In contrast, Rome was a hot mess that never really got fixed at all -- but no one ever noticed simply because she was pretty. >:(
I had an Empire game with the Darth Mod as Spain and the enemy English landed an army against me in Spain. My allies, the Italians also sent an army to help by ship. :o After defeating the English, they got back on their ships and sailed away but the Italians never did. They just stayed and wandered around Spain, my own personal guard dogs.
Quote from: Sir Slash on January 05, 2016, 02:30:57 PM
I had an Empire game with the Darth Mod as Spain and the enemy English landed an army against me in Spain. My allies, the Italians also sent an army to help by ship. :o After defeating the English, they got back on their ships and sailed away but the Italians never did. They just stayed and wandered around Spain, my own personal guard dogs.
That's pretty cool. (I assume that's Darthmod's campaign AI at work, not just patched-up vanilla ETW.) Have to say, reading this thread has me itching to reinstall ETW+Darthmod.
@Martok -- Given my shamefur dispray of shameless Steam Sale binging, I have no idea when I'll get around to Nobunaga ;D but I'm definitely curious. What attracts me is that is sounds like it's kind of the inverse of Total War, placing emphasis on empire management and diplomacy while making battles less 'the main event' of the game. This has always been my gripe with Total War -- the strategic elements are still so rudimentary, and the game is still mostly about the battles -- which are fun, don't get me wrong, but can start to get repetitive real quick.
I like seeing how folks rank the different TW games. To be honest, I think they're all pretty great and not sure I love any one of them a lot more than the rest. Rome 2 -- esp. with DEI mod -- has become an excellent game. I think my thing with TW is: I want to love them more than I do. They feel like they're on the verge of "greatest strategy series of all time," and yet for reasons listed above, I also find them extremely frustrating and have a lot of trouble maintaining momentum with any of them...
This I can say (although I will get pelted with virtual rotten tomatoes around here for saying so): I detest Warhammer in all its garish, ridiculous manifestations and am relieved there's zero chance I'll buy Warhammer TW. Mostly CA just needs to get going with Medieval III TW, IMO...
(Feel free to pelt away) ;)
^Many agree with you.
To be fair, RPS did mention that Rome 2 Emperor's Edition is very much better than Rome 2 was upon it's original release.
And also to be fair, I had a great time with the original Rome TW when Barbarian Invasion was released.
But for me Shogun 2 FOTS is the pinnacle.
I'm also interested to see Sandman's Nobunaga impressions. I've always admired KOEI games from afar but never played any. Another reason why I am excited for Oriental Empires when it releases, hopefully with a better title...
Quote from: sandman2575 on January 05, 2016, 02:48:25 PM
Mostly CA just needs to get going with Medieval III TW, IMO...
I believe there's an awful lot of folks -- and not just here -- who feel the same way. With the possible exception of a Total War title set in ancient/medieval China (and with
Oriental Empires hopefully coming out later this year, my appetite there should be at least partially satiated there), Medieval 3 is far & away the TW game I most want CA to make next.
The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2016, 09:39:00 AM
The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.
That would be nice. Its long overdue.
a little excited puppy part of me thinks its already in development, warhammer is a seperate team, so the other guys are doing something......
and if/when M3 is announced, like said puppy, ill pee all over the floor
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 06, 2016, 09:46:42 AM
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2016, 09:39:00 AM
The chatter over at TWC is that the Charlemagne DLC is the precursor for M3TW. Take that as you will.
That would be nice. Its long overdue.
Couldn't agree more,
Jarhead. Playing the
Age of Charlemagne DLC has only whetted my appetite for a sequel to MTW/VI.
Now whether or not the TWC folks have any idea what they're talking about is very much up for debate, of course. 'Twould be fantastic if it turned out to be true, though.
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 06, 2016, 09:52:24 AM
a little excited puppy part of me thinks its already in development, warhammer is a seperate team, so the other guys are doing something......
and if/when M3 is announced, like said puppy, ill pee all over the floor
Also, this. It's embarrassing to admit, but I can't deny it. ::) :-[
Medieval 3 would be great as long as they don't forget the Monster Bombard unit. They can leave the Inquisitors out this time for my part though. BTW there is a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" mod for M2TW for you China-Centrics.
Have you played it?
No I haven't. I saw it over at the Total War Center just the other day. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link.
Link to the TW Center home page. http://www.twcenter.net/ Scroll down to the 5th article for a video review. Or look at, forums/medieval 2 hosted mods/ rise of the three kingdoms :-[ If this turns out to be wrong.