Indulge my silly goofy question

[undercovergeek]

How would such a game play out?

Every battle of ww2 on a tactical level?

I don't see much fun in Okinawa or any Japanese held lump of coral the marines have to take back?

And what unit scale? Company? Each man like brothers in arms - you'd be old and grey before you got to d day

[Sir Slash]

CM 1 Had many mods including a PTO mod and Spanish Civil War scenarios as well as an early ETO mod too. The pacific mod was great but because of the games limitations on amphibious landings, any scenario that included one could be murder to try to win-- like the Tarawa scenario in the mod. Still they were well done and added a whole new feel to the game. And I still miss them.  :'(

[acctingman]

How would such a game play out?

Every battle of ww2 on a tactical level?

I don't see much fun in Okinawa or any Japanese held lump of coral the marines have to take back?

And what unit scale? Company? Each man like brothers in arms - you'd be old and grey before you got to d day

Not every battle.....but having access to every nations OOB and the ability to throw together a battle covering all the aspects of ww2.

Creating every battle at a platoon/squad level would take 2 lifetimes  :o

I'm still searching. I need to try some demo's. CM x2 is just too complex for me, for now.

JT games are just too dated for me, as SPWaW and I just do not like the clunkiness of either game.

As cartoonish as it looks, I think I will go with the Battle Academy series (as a few have suggested).

I LOVE world war 2, historically. Love the equipment, the battles, the generals, the tactics/strategies involved, but I have ZERO gaming experience in it.

I'm an MMO'er. That's been 90% of my gaming experience in the last 25 years.

I need to start off slow.....baby steps, and Battle Academy is probably a good starting point. With the original series and it's 5 or so xpacs, it covers almost the entire war (minus the Pacific).

From there, maybe I can move on to something a little more accurate and challenging (Combat Mission x2 games perhaps)

[Philippe]

Probably Steel Panthers, though Squad Battles comes in as a close second.  Battle Academy is worth a mention, but it only covers Europe.  The two Combat Mission series (CMx1 and CMx2) are the best tactical games out there, but they only cover parts of Europe. CMAK from CMx1 will give you some early war, but not as much as Steel Panthers.

I really wish someone would take the land war in Asia a little more seriously.  I'm excited that Order of Battle's latest game covers the first part of the war in China, because I'm hoping it will start a trend.  There's a lot more to that war than mopping up little islands in the Pacific covered with jungle:  Khalkin Gol and Nomohan, the long war (and march) in China, the blitzkrieg in Malaya and the fall of Singapore, Burma and the invasion of India, Imphal and Kohima, the Soviet blitz in Manchuria.  We suffer from cultural myopia so none of that stuff exists.

I keep wanting to get Order of Battle so I can play Rising Sun, but I suspect I won't like that kind of game and I hear the AI is a bit wobbly in places.

[acctingman]

Probably Steel Panthers, though Squad Battles comes in as a close second.  Battle Academy is worth a mention, but it only covers Europe.  The two Combat Mission series (CMx1 and CMx2) are the best tactical games out there, but they only cover parts of Europe. CMAK from CMx1 will give you some early war, but not as much as Steel Panthers.

I really wish someone would take the land war in Asia a little more seriously.  I'm excited that Order of Battle's latest game covers the first part of the war in China, because I'm hoping it will start a trend.  There's a lot more to that war than mopping up little islands in the Pacific covered with jungle:  Khalkin Gol and Nomohan, the long war (and march) in China, the blitzkrieg in Malaya and the fall of Singapore, Burma and the invasion of India, Imphal and Kohima, the Soviet blitz in Manchuria.  We suffer from cultural myopia so none of that stuff exists.

I keep wanting to get Order of Battle so I can play Rising Sun, but I suspect I won't like that kind of game and I hear the AI is a bit wobbly in places.

I believe the BA 1 series covers it all expect the Pacific.

SPWaW is just too dated for me and clunky, but yes, it offers the entire war

[undercovergeek]

Did we say panzer general?

[Philippe]

I actually rather like Battle Academy.  And Bill Peters (of Tiller Napoleonics fame) designed the Metz campaign scenarios. 

The game isn't as tactically intense as Combat Mission, and it does have a few annoying game conventions, but you do find yourself using something resembling real tactics to solve the scenario puzzles.

If you do get Battle Academy 1, make sure you take a look at my flag mod.  I don't have a screenshot handy right now, but here's a link to the Matrix forum:



http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3843216


Everybody seems to think that making a historical flag mod is about putting swastikas on German flags.  But the hardest part about the Battle Academy mod was the American flag.  It's infuriating how many games get the American flag wrong, and the difference between a 48-star and a 50-star flag is incredibly easy to spot (you don't need to count the stars: the modern flag's stars are in a checkerboard pattern, the WW II flag's stars were in straight rows and columns).

I never made a flag mod for Battle Academy 2 because it isn't really needed.

[acctingman]

Did we say panzer general?

IMO, Panzer general is too simple. Running around with 10 Maus tanks doesn't feel right to me. Neat game and it's immensely popular, but it's not for me.

[Philippe]

That was the word I was going out of my way not to use when I was talking about Order of Battle Pacific.

[GJK]

People are right. It doesn't exist.

It does but not in a computer game.  If CM did the Pacific, then yes, you could play a bunch of scenarios in order from early war to late, from Europe to the Pacific.  That doesn't exist though.  The Tiller games may have the range of selection of scenarios but it isn't going to work for you aesthetically.  It does exist on the boardgaming front and if ASL isn't a consideration, Combat Commander (GMT Games) could be something to look in to as they have modules for all fronts of the war. 

EEk!  I completely slighted the LnL series...they would do nicely here as well have probably the most beautiful of graphics of all the games out these days.  Check out www.lnlpublishing.com

[acctingman]

Thanks GJK

[JasonPratt]

I honestly don't understand what's wrong with JT's Campaign Series. Except for blingy graphics, it has everything you want, from West Front to East Front to PTO. And its gfx are better than most JT games. And it's more complex than Panzer Generalish games, but not as complex as Combat Mission (or arguably even Close Combat). It's turn based; it has campaigns of linked scenarios; it's multiple squad-level combat. It doesn't feature much naval and air action, but it's a multi-squad level game. IT HAS BICYCLE SQUADS!

Bicycle.

Squads.

On bicycles.

It has that kind of unit variety.


I thought we used to have a campaign AAR here on Grogheads, for one of the linked campaigns (Germans vs Russians). Maybe that was at WarGGLGGLSLSHTTHHHEEENAMETHATSHALLNOTBESPOKENNNN...?

[acctingman]

I honestly don't understand what's wrong with JT's Campaign Series. Except for blingy graphics, it has everything you want, from West Front to East Front to PTO. And its gfx are better than most JT games. And it's more complex than Panzer Generalish games, but not as complex as Combat Mission (or arguably even Close Combat). It's turn based; it has campaigns of linked scenarios; it's multiple squad-level combat. It doesn't feature much naval and air action, but it's a multi-squad level game. IT HAS BICYCLE SQUADS!

Bicycle.

Squads.

On bicycles.

It has that kind of unit variety.


I thought we used to have a campaign AAR here on Grogheads, for one of the linked campaigns (Germans vs Russians). Maybe that was at WarGGLGGLSLSHTTHHHEEENAMETHATSHALLNOTBESPOKENNNN...?

Can't agree with you more Jason, but I'm going to sink my teeth into the Battle Academy series for now. It's probably more "dumbed down" than the CS, and that's good. I need to start somewhere. When BA get's too easy for me, then I'll start with the CS or maybe something a little more complex than BA

Thanks for your contribution to the thread, much appreciated  O0

[Philippe]

I honestly don't understand what's wrong with JT's Campaign Series. Except for blingy graphics, it has everything you want, from West Front to East Front to PTO. And its gfx are better than most JT games. And it's more complex than Panzer Generalish games, but not as complex as Combat Mission (or arguably even Close Combat). It's turn based; it has campaigns of linked scenarios; it's multiple squad-level combat. It doesn't feature much naval and air action, but it's a multi-squad level game. IT HAS BICYCLE SQUADS!

Bicycle.

Squads.

On bicycles.

It has that kind of unit variety.


I thought we used to have a campaign AAR here on Grogheads, for one of the linked campaigns (Germans vs Russians). Maybe that was at WarGGLGGLSLSHTTHHHEEENAMETHATSHALLNOTBESPOKENNNN...?

Bicycles are one of the many reasons I will always love France '14.

My problem with the Campaign Series is that I dislike the UI.  That circle in the upper right hand corner of the screen drives me nuts.


The Campaign Series tend to be better games because at the time it was made Tiller wasn't running the show.  It was a Talonsoft extravaganza, and they signed on some of the best board game designers in the industry to write/adapt their scenarios.  Many of those designers ended up sticking with board games, because with a board game you can crank out dozens of designs ad libidem without being at the mercy of a programmer who doesn't always get it.

For me, that's a really compelling reason to play the Campaign Series.  But I don't because I simply don't like the interface.

[Bison]

Battle Academy is a lot of fun and I found that over time the graphics actually grew on me.