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Chump Farts
May 9, 2009

There is no Coordinator but Narduzzi, and Shilique is his Prophet.
If we were to get decent fonts it would punish the true believers who bought in with the old fonts.

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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
I think maybe the Unity of Command guys are reading this thread, because the Red Turn DLC just got a discount for Gamersgate, knocking it down to 2.49 USD

Also coming out of left field is another War in the East scenario pack, The Lost Battles:

* Smolensk 1941
* Operation Mars / Jupiter
* Battle for Moscow (Operation Typhoon + Soviet counter-offensive late 1941-early 1942)
* Operation Bagration
* Vistula to Berlin, 1944-1945
* Courland Pocket, 1944-1945
* Liberation of Leningrad
* Operation Konrad (Budapest 1945)

* Winter Counter-offensives (Operation Mars/Jupiter, Uranus and Saturn late 1942-early 1943)
* Stalingrad to Berlin (full campaign with a late 1942 start)

gradenko_2000 fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Apr 26, 2013

The General
Mar 4, 2007


Edit: Nothing to see here

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Matrix Games sale alert :alarm:

They're running a "Deal of the Week" promotion: Forge of Freedom and John Tiller's Battleground Civil War get knocked down to 19.99 USD

Opinion: Forge of Freedom is a mediocre game. The good parts are that it has both tactical and strategic play, and that the difficulty levels are very adjustable, and the gameplay is somewhat easier to learn compared to AGEOD's American Civil War*. The downside is that the game is stuck in eye-bleeding resolution without windowed mode, and problems with the strategic modeling and realism make it feel like you're playing Risk sometimes. I'd say hold off (and get the AGEOD game instead) unless you really want the tactical+strategic integration.

I don't own John Tiller's Battleground Civil War, but having played his Panzer Campaigns series I imagine it's a fairly simple and intuitive system, with the advantage of giving you all the battles instead of having to purchase multiple individual games.

* There's a third strategic level ACW game, Gary Grigsby's War Between the States, but I have no idea how that measures up.


The real kicker here is the implication that Matrix Games might actually start running cyclical sales more often.

Obfuscation
Jan 1, 2008
Good luck to you, I know you believe in hell
Forge of Freedom is from the same guys as Crown of Glory, right? CoG is the only game ever where I've truly enjoyed tactical battles that are bolted on to a strategic engine, but from what I remember the UI was kinda bad and you could only play at a tiny fixed resolution.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Obfuscation posted:

Forge of Freedom is from the same guys as Crown of Glory, right? CoG is the only game ever where I've truly enjoyed tactical battles that are bolted on to a strategic engine, but from what I remember the UI was kinda bad and you could only play at a tiny fixed resolution.

Yes, it's from those same developers. I admit that the tactical integration is done well, particularly with cavalry/scouting having an effect on the terrain and your deployment, but the resolution just feels painful to try to work through. GH's goon-participation LP also exposed quite a few weaknesses.

V for Vegas
Sep 1, 2004

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Now, I just need Conquest of the Aegean and War Plan Orange to go on sale.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

I would agree wit the opinion, but say that at that price that Forge of Freedom is worth it.

Necroneocon
May 12, 2009

by Shine
Assault on Communism is out! Wooo! The latest expansion for Strategic Command Global Conflict! Yay!

Campaigns: (it's only 25 bucks)
1941 Barbarossa
1942 Case Blue
1942 Case Blue – Frontline (You position your armies)
1943 Citadel
1943 Citadel – Frontline (You position your armies)

1941 Operation Kita-Go (Alternate History)

Japan begins negotiations of peace with China and back down from war with Indo-china. The Soviets worry of a surprise attack in Siberia and rely on the spy ring in Japan to provide answers. Unfortunately they are captured and disinformation is fed to Stalin that Japan wants peace.

Germany and Japan plan a massive assault on the Soviet Union in secret. The hypothetical Operation Kita-Go becomes reality and the Red Army is pressed from both fronts. It is June 22nd 1941 and Stalin’s Russia is completely under siege.

1943 Operation Typhoon

And the new features

Assault on Democracy comes next in 6 - 8 weeks

While I love fighting for the Motherland :russia: I think AoD will have cooler campaigns

Especially with Invasion of America.

Necroneocon fucked around with this message at 15:53 on May 1, 2013

Necroneocon
May 12, 2009

by Shine

gradenko_2000 posted:

Matrix Games sale alert :alarm:

They're running a "Deal of the Week" promotion: Forge of Freedom and John Tiller's Battleground Civil War get knocked down to 19.99 USD

Opinion: Forge of Freedom is a mediocre game. The good parts are that it has both tactical and strategic play, and that the difficulty levels are very adjustable, and the gameplay is somewhat easier to learn compared to AGEOD's American Civil War*. The downside is that the game is stuck in eye-bleeding resolution without windowed mode, and problems with the strategic modeling and realism make it feel like you're playing Risk sometimes. I'd say hold off (and get the AGEOD game instead) unless you really want the tactical+strategic integration.

I don't own John Tiller's Battleground Civil War, but having played his Panzer Campaigns series I imagine it's a fairly simple and intuitive system, with the advantage of giving you all the battles instead of having to purchase multiple individual games.

* There's a third strategic level ACW game, Gary Grigsby's War Between the States, but I have no idea how that measures up.


The real kicker here is the implication that Matrix Games might actually start running cyclical sales more often.

I hate to double post, but all of Gary Grigsby's game are amazing and fun and still hold up to this day despite the eh graphics. Gary Grigsby is my hero.

Baloogan
Dec 5, 2004
Fun Shoe

Necroneocon posted:

I hate to double post, but all of Gary Grigsby's game are amazing and fun and still hold up to this day despite the eh graphics. Gary Grigsby is my hero.

Yeah, the Grigsby Brand is gold with me. Grigsby means I will have lists of FUN details to gently caress with.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Looks like they just released another patch for WITE, version 1.07.07, to fix the squads-not-upgrading bug. Probably too late to save the Axis in uPen's LP, but anyone with games running in the mid-to-late-war should look at upgrading.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Welp, our Case Yellow PBEM game of DC: Warsaw to Berlin has officially stalled for reasons unknown.

It's a pity because we just re-enacted the Battle of Teutonburg forest except with French armoured divisions.

Serpentis
May 31, 2011

Well, if I really HAVE to shoot you in the bollocks to shut you up, then I guess I'll need to, post-haste, for everyone else's sake.

Alchenar posted:

Welp, our Case Yellow PBEM game of DC: Warsaw to Berlin has officially stalled for reasons unknown.

It's a pity because we just re-enacted the Battle of Teutonburg forest except with French armoured divisions.

I'm just waiting to get completely encircled again having underestimated how hard it is to blow a loving bridge deep behind your own lines two turns before the Germans get there :sigh:

Mind you, we knew Group B was going to have web issues, so he might be back shortly. Must thank him for not staying longer than his holiday pass to Eben Emael, actually.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Serpentis posted:

I'm just waiting to get completely encircled again having underestimated how hard it is to blow a loving bridge deep behind your own lines two turns before the Germans get there :sigh:

Mind you, we knew Group B was going to have web issues, so he might be back shortly. Must thank him for not staying longer than his holiday pass to Eben Emael, actually.

What I really want is to get this game over with so I can ask to see some screenshots of what you guys could see each day.

Serpentis
May 31, 2011

Well, if I really HAVE to shoot you in the bollocks to shut you up, then I guess I'll need to, post-haste, for everyone else's sake.

Alchenar posted:

What I really want is to get this game over with so I can ask to see some screenshots of what you guys could see each day.

I'll give you a verbal clue for most of the Belgian ones: "Bridge survived" and/or my complete noobitis showing.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Serpentis posted:

I'll give you a verbal clue for most of the Belgian ones: "Bridge survived" and/or my complete noobitis showing.

We were amused last turn how you managed to trap an entire corps of your own troops behind a blown up bridge.

1stGear
Jan 16, 2010

Here's to the new us.

Alchenar posted:

We were amused last turn how you managed to trap an entire corps of your own troops behind a blown up bridge.

Its not trapping your own men with a tactical error, its ensuring victory by discouraging retreat!

Serpentis
May 31, 2011

Well, if I really HAVE to shoot you in the bollocks to shut you up, then I guess I'll need to, post-haste, for everyone else's sake.

Alchenar posted:

We were amused last turn how you managed to trap an entire corps of your own troops behind a blown up bridge.

If you're talking about Namur (I think you are?) it was more that there was no way in hell they were going to get to friendly lines and I wanted to make an urban speed-bump. That and K Corps was just its HQ by the time it got back there anyhow.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Serpentis posted:

If you're talking about Namur (I think you are?) it was more that there was no way in hell they were going to get to friendly lines and I wanted to make an urban speed-bump. That and K Corps was just its HQ by the time it got back there anyhow.

No I'm talking about Aarschot.

Serpentis
May 31, 2011

Well, if I really HAVE to shoot you in the bollocks to shut you up, then I guess I'll need to, post-haste, for everyone else's sake.

Alchenar posted:

No I'm talking about Aarschot.

Ah, if I'm right this time that was a wonderful blend of noobitis and bridgeitis. "Oh phew, the French and Brits are here to do the hard work, I'll blow the bridges so the Germans can't outflank them quickly, fall back and let them do the hard work... what do you mean, it survived all bar the final attempt and I'm stuck here? And I forgot they've got far better places to defend?" :downs::downs::downs:

Fat Samurai
Feb 16, 2011

To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.
After reading both uPen's and Grey Hunter's LPs of WitE, I went and picked up Unity of Command, because I'm not hardcore enough for ToEs. I've discovered that I have an almost pathological fixation with avoiding casualties as much as possible. Throwing Russian pixel mens to their death in desperate battles to barely scratch the enemy seems bad.

I guess I'm not going to become a power mad dictator anytime soon. Hurrah, I guess?

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Serpentis posted:

Ah, if I'm right this time that was a wonderful blend of noobitis and bridgeitis. "Oh phew, the French and Brits are here to do the hard work, I'll blow the bridges so the Germans can't outflank them quickly, fall back and let them do the hard work... what do you mean, it survived all bar the final attempt and I'm stuck here? And I forgot they've got far better places to defend?" :downs::downs::downs:

My view is that the game is essentially won - the Belgian army is about to be pushed up to 70% ish casualties and I've enveloped the entire reserve line that the French tried to throw up - the Allies just don't have the troops available to form a coherent front anymore.

Serpentis
May 31, 2011

Well, if I really HAVE to shoot you in the bollocks to shut you up, then I guess I'll need to, post-haste, for everyone else's sake.

Alchenar posted:

My view is that the game is essentially won - the Belgian army is about to be pushed up to 70% ish casualties and I've enveloped the entire reserve line that the French tried to throw up - the Allies just don't have the troops available to form a coherent front anymore.

Yeah, it's been really depressing watching the Belgian loss percentage just rocket up past 50% after Turn 3 or so. Though I'm impressed Liege held on so long because of how it was actually a complete failure of command and control penalties (thanks, game, for giving an entire corps about 15 AP for 3 continuous turns before they could blow bridges or occupy forts...)

Tomn
Aug 23, 2007

And the angel said unto him
"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
But lo he could not. For the angel was hitting him with his own hands

Fat Samurai posted:

After reading both uPen's and Grey Hunter's LPs of WitE, I went and picked up Unity of Command, because I'm not hardcore enough for ToEs. I've discovered that I have an almost pathological fixation with avoiding casualties as much as possible. Throwing Russian pixel mens to their death in desperate battles to barely scratch the enemy seems bad.

I guess I'm not going to become a power mad dictator anytime soon. Hurrah, I guess?

When I first got Unity of Command, I tried to play it safe (as the Soviets) and not cause unnecessary casualties, though I did send folks into meatgrinders sometimes to soften an enemy up. I eked out basic victories and got stuck on the third mission before wandering off.

A little while ago I gave that third mission another shot. I was rusty, only half-remembered the way the game worked, and was tired to boot, so I figured I'd just gently caress around. I ended up getting my center encircled, outnumbered and outgunned and by game's end they only had two divisions left. My right completely evaporated as I sent them into either wildly superior forces or sent them into charges to cut enemy supply lines that saw themselves being cut off and surrounded in turn.

My LEFT, however, comprised of extremely effective mechanized troops and armor, blitzed their way past the German defenses and smashed the guard at Rostov in a screaming, suicidal charge against entrenched positions that finally threw out the Germans and saw me in control of the vital German railway hub of the mission, thereby cutting off the victorious but exhausted German center from supplies and giving me a Brilliant Victory. I was as surprised as the Germans probably were.

So yeah, in Unity of Command, you don't get points for how many men you have left over at the end of the mission. Get the job done, get it done quick, and get it done hard.

uPen
Jan 25, 2010

Zu Rodina!

Fat Samurai posted:

After reading both uPen's and Grey Hunter's LPs of WitE, I went and picked up Unity of Command, because I'm not hardcore enough for ToEs. I've discovered that I have an almost pathological fixation with avoiding casualties as much as possible. Throwing Russian pixel mens to their death in desperate battles to barely scratch the enemy seems bad.

I guess I'm not going to become a power mad dictator anytime soon. Hurrah, I guess?

If you're playing as the Germans this is the correct approach, inflict massive casualties while preserving the strength of your stronger formations as much as possible. If you're playing the Red Turn DLC it's the exact opposite. Throw away 4+ rifle steps to take 1 step off a panzer? SOLD.

1stGear
Jan 16, 2010

Here's to the new us.
Whenever I'm playing UoC as the Russians and waffling on whether or not to send Russians to die for the Motherland, I always think "What Would Stalin Do?"

The answer is always attack.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Serpentis posted:

Yeah, it's been really depressing watching the Belgian loss percentage just rocket up past 50% after Turn 3 or so. Though I'm impressed Liege held on so long because of how it was actually a complete failure of command and control penalties (thanks, game, for giving an entire corps about 15 AP for 3 continuous turns before they could blow bridges or occupy forts...)

As the Germans it's really easy to forget that the reason the Allies make bad decisions sometimes is because the game forces them into fuckups :P

Not having a Dyle line of any kind is going to prove to be a serious issue over the next couple of turns; Brussels is already untenable and the BEF is still scrambling to form a line.

Chump Farts
May 9, 2009

There is no Coordinator but Narduzzi, and Shilique is his Prophet.

Alchenar posted:

As the Germans it's really easy to forget that the reason the Allies make bad decisions sometimes is because the game forces them into fuckups :P

Not having a Dyle line of any kind is going to prove to be a serious issue over the next couple of turns; Brussels is already untenable and the BEF is still scrambling to form a line.

I had a perfectly good line until some jerkass panzer corps broke through to the south and forced me to move a full corps away from the balance of my force and leave my LOC (lovely reserves) to man the Brussels line. Then the other panzercorps hit said reservists and welp.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

Jakse posted:

I had a perfectly good line until some jerkass panzer corps broke through to the south and forced me to move a full corps away from the balance of my force and leave my LOC (lovely reserves) to man the Brussels line. Then the other panzercorps hit said reservists and welp.

You do actually have a coherent line on Brussels now. The only problem is that some jerkass panzer corps just seized a river crossing to the west of it.

e: catching an entire French infantry corps stacked up and not ready to fight was probably the decisive turn. I'm punching in three directions at once and there's maybe the forces to stop one of them.

Alchenar fucked around with this message at 21:48 on May 3, 2013

jaegerx
Sep 10, 2012

Maybe this post will get me on your ignore list!


Alchenar posted:

You do actually have a coherent line on Brussels now. The only problem is that some jerkass panzer corps just seized a river crossing to the west of it.

e: catching an entire French infantry corps stacked up and not ready to fight was probably the decisive turn. I'm punching in three directions at once and there's maybe the forces to stop one of them.

Stop talking and post pictures already. I've been trying to avoid war gaming but you people are making it hard. Now I see a really good pbem game going on. Ugh. Is this decisive battles? Show me where to spend my money!!!

Chump Farts
May 9, 2009

There is no Coordinator but Narduzzi, and Shilique is his Prophet.

jaegerx posted:

Stop talking and post pictures already. I've been trying to avoid war gaming but you people are making it hard. Now I see a really good pbem game going on. Ugh. Is this decisive battles? Show me where to spend my money!!!

Pictures are pre British moves on May 17th, 1940.



Belgium has lost a great deal of forces, but using rivers and fortresses they have formed a valuable line. French troops are reinforcing gaps.



Panzers! On the 16th they started to break west so Britain was setting up their reserve corps here. Germany then wheeled north to strike the gap in the weakest British corps. (This caused Britain to slide back, cut off one German regiment but most likely cede some horrible crossing). Britain also sticks to cities and forests due to the hegemony of the Luftwaffe over the air.



Ugh. This breakthrough forced me to send my best corps (first) here. The northern regiments were fine, but 1 Div, 1st and artillery regiments were reduced to 700 men and supports between the two of them. Hiding in forest and cities is key, getting forced out means you are Stuka bait.



gently caress you, Guderian. Guderian never went to Sedan. Hitting here was a pivotal point between French 9th and 1st and the main impetus to divert British I Corps.



gently caress.

Buy this game and play with us. Our co-op game was hilarious but we beat the Polish AI, I swear!

uPen
Jan 25, 2010

Zu Rodina!

Jakse posted:

Buy this game and play with us. Our co-op game was hilarious but we beat the Polish AI, I swear!

I own this and case blue from that sale awhile back and I've sunk some time into the smaller scenarios but I understand basically nothing about this game.

Chump Farts
May 9, 2009

There is no Coordinator but Narduzzi, and Shilique is his Prophet.

uPen posted:

I own this and case blue from that sale awhile back and I've sunk some time into the smaller scenarios but I understand basically nothing about this game.

I don't have case blue but I would play you in any scenario any side in WtP because it is really that good. Takes a while to understand that CV is even more an estimate than WitE but the color coding and highlighting makes it much easier than WitE.

I may Let's Play this if there is interest but my Commander: the Great War game is never going to loving end because Operation Sea Lion in 1915 is going just like you imagine it would.

Das_Ubermike
Sep 2, 2011

www.oldmanmurray.com

uPen posted:

I own this and case blue from that sale awhile back and I've sunk some time into the smaller scenarios but I understand basically nothing about this game.

Ditto this. I played a few turns of the Polish campaign and I had problems understanding supply, AP and terrain effects. I was hoping Gradenko or someone would make a how to play post similar to the ones that were made for WitE and WitP.

Alikchi
Aug 18, 2010

Thumbs up I agree

This is what Alchenar's attack looked like when I first noticed it on the 13th May in our PBEM (lovely imgur compression):



Here's what I said in an email to the other Allies:


quote:

That's basically all of Panzergruppe Kleist, and they're attacking straight west out of the Ardennes instead of much further south towards Sedan etc (as historically). This is a shortcut Manstein plan.

As you can see I don't have much covering this gap, just the cavalry army. Alchenar used the 7th Luftlande to cut off my infantry division protecting a crossing and it has now been shoved into near-surrender. First Army is deployed and dug in along the Samber to the north. Just above this screenshot is the beginning of the British line.

So this is good and bad. Good, because the Germans are attacking in close proximity to French First Army and the BEF, our two strongest forces. Bad, because I have basically no reserves here, while I've been building up the far south Sedan front heavily. Also, we're still constrained by Dyle.

I'm moving in infantry divisions by railway to build up a line in the forest along the railroad in the bottom/right area of this screenshot but it's gonna be dicey. my DLMs and DCR armoured divs are deployed in the forests and towns to try and counterattack exposed regiments, then pull back.

I am nervous about those loving Panzers.

:goonsay: Welp. Those three infantry divisions you see (the corps Alchenar mentioned) were caught barely off the railheads without having time to deploy, so I had to try and slow down the whole Panzergruppe with what I had laying around. Speedbumping.

Alikchi fucked around with this message at 05:27 on May 4, 2013

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
I can try writing something to cover basic controls and concepts, but I've been holding off because I don't really know as much about this game as I do WITP/WITE. For example, I only just discovered this morning that there's a toggle control if your units will retreat after taking 25% losses, or 50% losses, or stand-and-die, which might have come in handy playing as the Netherlands :suicide:

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

uPen posted:

I own this and case blue from that sale awhile back and I've sunk some time into the smaller scenarios but I understand basically nothing about this game.

The basics all really fall into place - Action Points are both movement and fighting (like WitE). CV is an abstraction (like WitE) but more heavily modified by unit types and terrain. Supply travels down the line further by road and rail and is passed from HQ to HQ to units (like WitE).

Stacking is different - you can throw as many units into one space as you want, but they take exponentially increasing penalties for being crammed into too small a space. That's how I gobbled up Alchiki's XI Corps whole in the space of 4 days - I caught each division stacked up in marching order in single hexes when the stack limit is around 1 regiment per hex. Incidentally, what really mattered there was me managing to get that intact bridge over the river immediately. If that hadn't happened I'd have been stuck.

Combat is a little obtuse but there are some ways to eyeball it:

All things being equal, terrain is the most important modifier and needs to be looked at. Rivers reduce attacking power significantly. Tanks are terrible at attacking in towns and forests (yeah Alchiki, that's how a single infantry regiment held off your armoured division). And so on.

Some unit types are good against others and that's the usual.

Stationary units entrench over time. This basically gives them an HP bonus.

Morale determines how many hits a unit can take in combat before it starts to retreat - very low morale might mean a rout and massive casualties. This is important because units with low morale but with high readiness and well entrenched will fight well until they are forced out into the open, ie. the Belgians (nothing can make the Dutch fight well - sorry gradenko but that retreat toggle will do nothing for units with only 20 morale).

Readiness is the most important attribute by far though. Units with low readiness simply don't fight back.

Alchenar
Apr 9, 2008

What happens when you get those combat calculations wrong? Why, you send tanks to make an amphibious attack into heavy forests to try to clear out light infantry:

How not to save your infantry division.

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ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010
Is that IGOUGO (i.e. like chess) or WEGO? I really like WEGO games better, because you have to take your enemy's probable actions into account, not his actual actions. It feels a little weird to just sit there and let the enemy push you around until he is done, after which he graciously allows you to push him around.

:qq: My Immersion!

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