Wargame: AirLand Battle

[undercovergeek]

played my first MP last night (i think ive lost Huw to planet MMO) - and took the advice of a few posters elsewhere - 10 x 10 game

you get your own little force to look after, youre covered on the left and right and you can just nurse your small band to get used to the force disposition and who does what - i got creamed but it was fun learning why and how - long distance arty kicks ass, my challenger tanks didnt, air is so fragile but loved my recon gazelles popping up and down and launching at the delicate arty over the horizon - fun game, and relaxed

[Nefaro]

I've not had a lot of luck with arty.  It's usually so unconcentrated that I have to fire multiple missions before scoring any decent hits.  Then they've sucked all the supply out of my FOB.

[JudgeDredd]

...and relaxed

I know you said that before - but I honestly can't see what's relaxed about this game in the videos I've watched. It looks frantic. Maybe you're not as old as me or perhaps we just have different ideas of "relaxed"  :P

I'd love to own this - but I think I would actually have a heart attack.

[undercovergeek]

lol, i think if memory serves im older than you - im at 41 - but i hate fast RTS where you dont actually enjoy the game, never see your units, never get time to breathe in the game and watch it, its just all muscle memory click action til it says 'Winner' or 'Loser' - this is Starcraft for me, or Supreme Commander and even on some levels Company of Heroes.

I literally had 4 Centurions, 3 recon, 2 anti air units and a Gazelle and a Lynx at the most - spent a lot on air that never showed up - i dont know why but i havent even finished the tutorials yet so im sure i did something wrong, i just wanted to get out there and try it

i moved the recon forward with the Lynx, popped the lynx up to scan the horizon, when there were no enemy units we dashed for reverse slopes and forests - next step forward the lynx exploded, so the recon took up the reins until we came across some enemy armour, unleashed the centurions who also spotted a line of arty vehicles, called in an airstrike on that line and actually sat back and watched Tornados destroy the enemy - big smile, oh and then i got obliterated.

but i found no reason to click anything more than say once every 30 seconds or a minute - but again it was 10 x 10, i was on the extreme left, if the guy to my right had died - maybe a different story

[Jarhead0331]

...spent a lot on air that never showed up - i dont know why but i havent even finished the tutorials yet so im sure i did something wrong, i just wanted to get out there and try it

Once you purchase fixed-wing air support, you have to open the air support comms dialogue.  To order a sortie, you must select the desired asset in the dialogue menu list and then click on the target.

[son_of_montfort]

So, what I'm getting for all this is that Wargame: AirLand Battle is good and I should get it?

I wasn't gripped by Wargame: Escalation, does this one change and improve a lot to make it different? One thing I heard was notable was the removal of that god-awful unlock system for unit selection.

[JasonPratt]

I for one am inclined to get it from reading this thread. :)

(Not anytime soon, but still it's on my list of things to do.)

[Nefaro]

So, what I'm getting for all this is that Wargame: AirLand Battle is good and I should get it?

I wasn't gripped by Wargame: Escalation, does this one change and improve a lot to make it different? One thing I heard was notable was the removal of that god-awful unlock system for unit selection.

I've been enjoying it quite a bit.  Despite feeling rushed for clicky at times, they've done a fairly decent job of modelling a bunch of weapon systems from the era, in relation to each other.  I dig the late cold war setting, so that's part of the reason I'm getting my money's worth, but the actual game calculations look to be a bit more sophisticated than typical RTS games. 

Hell, I've been having fun with just single-player stuff mostly.  I'd like to drop in on some 10v10 as that sounds to have less workload than small match-ups.

[Jarhead0331]

So, what I'm getting for all this is that Wargame: AirLand Battle is good and I should get it?

I wasn't gripped by Wargame: Escalation, does this one change and improve a lot to make it different? One thing I heard was notable was the removal of that god-awful unlock system for unit selection.

If you did not care for Escalation, I'm inclined to think that you wouldn't care for AirLand Battle either.

[undercovergeek]

...spent a lot on air that never showed up - i dont know why but i havent even finished the tutorials yet so im sure i did something wrong, i just wanted to get out there and try it

Once you purchase fixed-wing air support, you have to open the air support comms dialogue.  To order a sortie, you must select the desired asset in the dialogue menu list and then click on the target.

ahhh, thankyou sir

[Jarhead0331]

My pleasure...be warned.  There will be a lot of lead and missiles chasing after your aircraft.  Survivability in the air over these battlefields is typically a few seconds.  Its rare I get any actual loiter time.

That being said, when a CAS aircraft drops its payload, it can be tide turning and devastating.  Fighter aircraft are also great for taking out rotary assets. 

[son_of_montfort]

So, what I'm getting for all this is that Wargame: AirLand Battle is good and I should get it?

I wasn't gripped by Wargame: Escalation, does this one change and improve a lot to make it different? One thing I heard was notable was the removal of that god-awful unlock system for unit selection.

If you did not care for Escalation, I'm inclined to think that you wouldn't care for AirLand Battle either.

You are probably right. Escalation was just too freaking hard. I wish W:ALB had a demo.

[Huw the Poo]

played my first MP last night (i think ive lost Huw to planet MMO)

Not at all, buddy!  I can't ever focus on one game even when I want to!

[undercovergeek]

played my first MP last night (i think ive lost Huw to planet MMO)

Not at all, buddy!  I can't ever focus on one game even when I want to!

here he is - woooohooooooo

now out for evening....... grrrrrrsn frzzzzzzn more mutley noises

phew - thought youd gone to the land of heaving bosoms again

[bob48]

lol - 'mutley noises'