What's the most advanced wargame you can buy?

[Geckocalypse]

I've been looking into buying more simulation games and was wondering what are the absolute most realistic sims you can get ahold of without actually being in the military? I have Steel Beasts and some CM games and was considering getting something like CMANO or Tacops. Then I saw some stuff like Decisive Action or Point of Attack but never heard of them before yesterday. Could someone give any recommendations for sims of any time between WW1 and Modern?

[Badger73]

I suppose the most realistic sim is the one that wounds or kills you . . .

Short of that, I think Combat Mission is an exceptional tactical wargame and Command Ops 2 a very good operational wargame.  Unlike RTS shooters, they let you see the battles unfold and show you the how your decisions affect combat results.

[Geckocalypse]

On 5/20/2017 at 5:06 PM, Badger73 said:

I suppose the most realistic sim is the one that wounds or kills you . . .

Short of that, I think Combat Mission is an exceptional tactical wargame and Command Ops 2 a very good operational wargame.  Unlike RTS shooters, they let you see the battles unfold and show you the how your decisions affect combat results.

I realize that it's a really dumb question, but I was just wondering what similar games people on here play. Was thinking about buying something on the operational sxale, but I don't know if I would enjoy the way they play.

[kraze]

Combat Mission games are the most realistic by far. There are other tactical games with a focus on realism that I like: Graviteam Tactics series, Steel Panthers (originally DOS series but since massively updated by Shrapnel Games).

You can also try older Close Combat games (specifically any that have dynamic campaign maps) to see if you'd like them now, I play them once in a while, currently have CC The Longest Day installed. And if you don't mind stepping into slightly gamey territory but still with realistic theme running through them - Men of War series, Wargame series and recent Steel Division which is actually a lot closer to being a proper wargame than its predecessors (Wargame series).

And then there's Jagged Alliance 2. It may be an atypical suggestion for this topic but when played with 1.13 mod (which is what BMS is to Falcon 4.0) it's quite a realistic and in-depth tactical game that surely pulls all the right strings in a Combat Mission player that is me

Edited May 25, 2017 by kraze

[Geckocalypse]

3 hours ago, kraze said:

Combat Mission games are the most realistic by far. There are other tactical games with a focus on realism that I like: Graviteam Tactics series, Steel Panthers (originally DOS series but since massively updated by Shrapnel Games).

You can also try older Close Combat games (specifically any that have dynamic campaign maps) to see if you'd like them now, I play them once in a while, currently have CC The Longest Day installed. And if you don't mind stepping into slightly gamey territory but still with realistic theme running through them - Men of War series, Wargame series and recent Steel Division which is actually a lot closer to being a proper wargame than its predecessors (Wargame series).

And then there's Jagged Alliance 2. It may be an atypical suggestion for this topic but when played with 1.13 mod (which is what BMS is to Falcon 4.0) it's quite a realistic and in-depth tactical game that surely pulls all the right strings in a Combat Mission player that is me

 

I have havel most of those. Men of War is actually what made me want to look for more realistic games.I was looking at Steel Division and Steel Panther. I was also debating on buying War in the East, but I'm not sure if I would like a game on that scale.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Geckocalypse

[Johnny Canuck]

CMANO, which is the successor to the Harpoon series is very realistic and there's a few add-ons for it as well. As for WWII based tactical (my favourite), I'm good with the CM series.

[Geckocalypse]

13 hours ago, Johnny Canuck said:

CMANO, which is the successor to the Harpoon series is very realistic and there's a few add-ons for it as well. As for WWII based tactical (my favourite), I'm good with the CM series.

Yeah, I was thinking about picking that one up, too. It looks neat, but I think I would prefer ground combat.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

If you want seriously detailed wargaming you need to step away from the computer and take a look at Leading Edge Games' dice & paper ruleset, Phoenix Command.

[Geckocalypse]

2 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

If you want seriously detailed wargaming you need to step away from the computer and take a look at Leading Edge Games' dice & paper ruleset, Phoenix Command.

Except for the fact I don't have anyone to play with. I'm pretty sure I've heard of that game before. Isn't that that the game that was literally designed by a rocket scientist?

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I don't know all that much about Leading Edge Games, but I don't know of any other game where you can determine the actual medical consequences of a gunshot wound, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility. 

[StieliAlpha]

On 26.5.2017 at 0:03 AM, Geckocalypse said:

I realize that it's a really dumb question, but I was just wondering what similar games people on here play. Was thinking about buying something on the operational sxale, but I don't know if I would enjoy the way they play.

Difficult question, indeed.

A lot of tactical level games have bee mention already. 

If you care for the grander level, have a look at Gary Grigsby's games over at the Matrix games site.

Just to pay tribute to a classic board game: A while ago, John Kettler mentioned an incredibly detailed micro tactical game in another thread. Ask him for the title. As I recall, very basic graphics, downloadable with counters, rules and all. And: An amazing level of micro detail.