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Willard

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  1. For what it is worth... http://www.wargamer.com/articles/readerschoice_awards_2006/ *Of course I it won't be difficult to guess who will say that the above is worth nothing.
  2. Peterk - Understand your concerns. Admittedly games like HTTR or COTA / Take Command take some getting used to. There is an element of distance in the process/decision making cycle as you are not moving every single counter involved in the assault. To me that is refreshing...by my nature I don't like to micromanage things ala Paradox's latest incarnation of Hearts of Iron, etc. I own and play both CMBB and HTTR/COTA. As I indicated earlier, I believe CMBB is an evolutionary half-step before HTTR/COTA. That being said, it still is an improvement, IMO, over the hex/counter/turn games. However saying that "game play was and is poor" is quite different than what you were saying that you didn't enjoy it. I would strongly urge you try out HTTR...the RDOA demo isn't the refined system you see now with HTTR and COTA. In final analysis, all this really does become moot if you don't have fun with what you play. When I see COTA/HTTR as exciting, innovative and refreshing, another will see it as just another detached RTS clickfest. My hope is that others will take the plunge away from the old stand-by and try something new...I think they may be suprised by the results if they give it a fair shot.
  3. Jason - You basically have proven my point - that those gamers that fancy themselves as traditionalists dismiss these type of "real time tactical" or "pausible continuous time" games completely out of hand. On what basis do you claim the "game play was and is poor"??? You provide absolutely no analysis or commentary to support this claim whatsoever and miss my point completely. I am not disparaging turn/hex/counter games at all. There are plenty to like and enjoy. But it is a stretch to think that any innovative game play has come from that system. By your own admission, the system has been around for 3 decades with basically no change or innovation. Introducing the PC to the mix has done nothing except speeding up calculations and making the game easier to play over long distances. As for your comments about "rule lawyering," you mis-represented my initial point. To say that a comprehensive understanding of a game system doesn't provide an advantage is illogical. How can it not over a less experienced opponent? I never mentioned anyone trying to game another opponent by "interpreting" rules one way or another. To use your example, Chess - Go and Bridge have pretty well understood rules for those that play and for those that don't, there are ample resources to verify. Consequently I would agree that there is no place for "rule lawyering." Contrast that with whatever version of AH rules for Advanced 3rd Reich to discuss arcane paradrop rules or war entry ratings you are using and that is "rule lawyering." As for PC & graphics power, if your thought is that they have replaced the role of the player, you once again missed the point. If your idea of fun is spending hours calculating odds and die rolls, great - have at it. If your idea of fun is micromanaging units of the Normandy invasion down to the squad level, great - have at it. Just cause a game has a thousand counters that you move on a thousand hexes doesn't give it "game play depth" anymore than than provides "immersion fun factors." Seriously, last time I read a history of D-Day, I must have forgot the part about Ike moving every squad on the invasion beaches. That being said, I don't dismiss the contributions of hex/turn/counter games like you of these RTT or PCT games. Whereas you seem to believe that they are the "final stage" of wargaming, I view them as just the previous step in the wargaming evolutionary scale. Combat Mission moved the bar a little bit, but RTT/PCT is the next big innovative step forward.
  4. Some random musings on various battle engines: IMO, the AA (airborne assault) engine and MMG's Take Command are the way of the future. They really are an evolution of the Close Combat series and SMG's Gettysburg (and add-ons Antietam, WNLB, ANGV) and are the sweet spot between turn based/hex/counters and RTS (like Sudden Strike). Games such as Combat Mission series are really just a turn based/hex/counter game in 3D...with the added improvement of simultaneous WEGO turn resolution that isn't really possible in table top games. That being said, I do enjoy what the Combat Mission series offers, but absent the 3D graphics, it really is just a "half-step" in the evolution of wargames. Given that wargaming is steeped in a lot of tradition (i.e. all those hex and turn guys), I view CM as a necessary stepping stone to the innovative future of wargaming in games like COTA or Take Command. RTS clickfests certainly have some semblance of strategy (none to my liking, but that is a matter of taste) and with their major contribution to the genre being the incorporation of eye-popping graphics. This is an important feature in that it demonstrates that games can be both well balanced, strategically challenging and still look-good (think the hot chick who has a brain!!!). I think it is simply a matter of time before graphics and pc power approach a position where the AA engine can be used to plan a battle and the player can zoom in to see things played out in a 3D environment. This is what MMG is doing right now, albeit on a smaller battle scale, and what AA COULD do (graphics and size/scope being the limiting factor now) in the future. That is why both of these game series are INNOVATIVE giant steps for the wargaming genre. The fact that they may not be recognized as such now isn't as important (unless you are the developers and need $$$ from sales ) as the fact that 10 years down the road, game designers will be pointing to those 2 games much the way we look at Close Combat or SMG's Gettysburg today. The basic fact of the matter is that a lot of these hex/counter/turn games have simply been ported to PC to allow for solitaire or PBEM play. That isn't really innovative as much as it allows the gaming community to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of the table top in the basement. Now that the "basement' is bigger and the PC calculates the odds/die roles, nothing has fundamentally changed in the way the game is played except that you don't have to worry about the dog knocking over the table! Unfortunately that is what the majority of the wargaming world has failed to perceive in their hesitance to embrace games such as COTA/HTTR/TC2M. Sure Close Combat and SMG were big commercial hits, but has really anyone come out with anything comparable in the past decade? The strange part about all this is NO ONE has capitalized on that "pausible continuous time" strategy movement despite the commerical success of those 2 series. If I had to go out on a limb and commit wargaming heresy, I would bet that this is because the great majority purchasers of the CC and SMG phenomona WEREN'T your traditional hex/counter/turn wargamer. Those games appealed to Joe Q. Public and as much as the traditional wargamers lament the apparant demise of their chosen hobby every year, deep down inside the last thing they want to see is the common man encroach upon the boundaries of their sacred "elitist" hobby. Why??? The answer is really simple. IMO, for years the hardcore wargamer had a simple advantage over his many opponents in that they "knew" the odds or all the quirks of the hex/counter/turn games. This knowledge of statistics, arcane rules, etc were the difference between the great wargamer and your journeyman wargamer. Heck, how can a guy be expected to just pick up a copy of Advanced 3rd Reich and sit down and play in one night? Just trying to set up for the first time is enough to bump off all but the most committed player. But sit down and load up Sid Meier's Gettysburg and the tables have turned. Knowledge of "soak off odds" or "river movement rules" are meaningless. Now strategy, intuition, audacity and cunning...the qualities that seperate the real battlefield commander from the boys are paramount. And those "pausible real time" games reward those commanders that understand this. Sure there is still the element of "counter strength" in understanding the relative strengths of your combat units etc, but the difference between victory and defeat is no longer based upon who can add up the damn counter odds fastest. Now victory or defeat is the result of the commander best being able to "visualize" the battle and make the right decisions, committing the right level of forces at the decisive time & location on the battlefield...and all this in REAL TIME!!! That is why AA or TC is superior to hex/counter/turn. Making decisions when you have hours to review each and every variation and permutation of counters is fine and dandy. With enough time, 1 out of a 1000 chimps will type out Dicken's "Great Expectations" also. But put a time limit on that decision making process...where decisions are made with imperfect information...and you get quite a different result. I kind have the view that hex/counter/turn games are something were everything goes clockwork like the German train and mobilization schedule in WWI. There are really no suprises and everything is mechanical. Of course the reality is quite different - as the saying goes, no plan survives first enemy contact. Unfortunately hex/counter/turn can't recreate that most important aspect of warfare, which is why AA or TC are IMO the gold standard in wargaming today.
  5. Just purchased CM3-AK Special Edition... My question is, do I need to patch this edition in anyway or is this the most "recent" version??? Thanks for the help!
  6. Wartime Command Saw this screenshot preview in the Wargamer. Looks like CM to me. Anyone else hear about this?
  7. the music used in Strategic Command has been used for AFN (Armed Forces Network) tv commercials. my wife and i heard it on tv once and she asked me why the tv was playing music from one of my games!!!!
  8. Hans- Would you be kind enough to send me the complete set of Small Battles? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Will
  9. Matt- I downloaded the rules sets for CMBO from the CMHQ. However when I double click on the exe file, the rules sets don't load up. Any suggestions? [ October 18, 2003, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: Willard ]
  10. Moon/Madmatt-- Thanks for the info. I appreciate you both taking the time to respond. I visit the SC forums alot--I purchased SC when it first came out, but don't post alot. However, I want to thank you both for you quick response and also for you work here on the forums. You guys are probably the best Admins I have ever seen on a site...keep up the good work! Its forums like here and and people like you that bring Battlefront new customers or repeat customers (like myself). Thanks!
  11. Hi all--- Need some help from the resident experts. Posted in the CM-BB forum also, but it appears that thread was hijacked. Hope you guys can help. Just played demo for CM-BO and CM-BB and WOW!!! Totally awesome!!! I can't believe I missed out on these games. Anyway, I am looking to purchase the games, but need advice on what to get. It appears that there are several versions out--- CM-BO CM-BO Special Edition (Does this come with extra special effects when the Death Star explodes? ) CM-BB CM-BB Special Edition and finally the CM-BO/CM-BB Bundle. Anyway, I was hoping you guys could give me advice on what to get and what the major differences, if any between the different versions. Thanks!!!
  12. Hi all... I just played the CMBB demo (dl from this site). I have to say it is fantastic... I can't believe that I have missed this. Anyway, I was hoping old timers could help me out with some purchasing decisions. I understand that there are two versions of CMBB and CMBO (regular and special edition). Which version should I get? Also, is it worth it to get CMBO or is that included in CMBB? Thanks in advance for the advice.
  13. Go to download page, the 1.07 patch has been officially released.
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