Prefer: abstract tactics or immersion experience?

[The Graeme]

Been playing PBEM CMBB scenario of mine titled 'Graziani Gets His' in which dug-in Italians in North Africa are assaulted by British under O'Conner (played by Soviets with Brit lendlease equip).

Landscape open rolling 'dunes' topped by rocky outcrops. 35 turns. Brits have quite a distance to go to close with Italian line. Game thus far consists of long distance duels between AT guns and tanks & MGs.

Am quite taken by the site of tracers arcing across the dark sky, distant flashes of gun fire, rockets streaking down from airpower, isolated units pausing in the immensity of the open landscape, etc., etc.

Point I'm getting at is: I enjoy playing the game of course, but I also very much enjoy it as an immersion experience. I routinely take my time every round to witness events from the point of view of virtually every unit, including visible enemy. Like being 'in' a movie. Enjoy watching at least as much as I do playing.

My question is, are there players who can't be bothered to 'waste' their time? For whom the attraction is strictly the decision-making, the working out of tactics, who view the screen mainly to grasp what is going on, say from a high angle, never bothering to take the 'over the shoulder' viewpoint? Are there players whose main interest is to 'run' the battle rather than view it?

Of course, everyone has to act as commander in order to get thru the game, but I also like to 'experience' the battle from the viewpoint of every unit, in part to 'feel' the consequences of my decisions, but also to put myself 'in' to the battlefield as it were.

Be there those who prefer to play the game purely as an abstract tactical exercise, putting demands and challenges on their decision making, hence the attraction, but all else is mere eye-candy of little purpose?

I'm just curious.

Myself, I hate to rush through a game. I want to witness everything as it unfolds.

[ November 12, 2003, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: The Graeme ]

[tailend bryan]

i'm one of those who can't be bothered-the attraction to me is a time pressure thing, commander's of the past didn't have time to go from unit to unit viewing how the battle was going, it was more of reports and a good view of the battlefield that the commander based his orders on,okay you must win most if not all your games but i like the human error element it makes for more intresting battles. have you ever play TCP/IP and how lond did it take you

[dugfromthearth]

I really like immersion but get it more from FPS.

I have to say that the more I look at the details in the game the more interested I am. Like watching a squad throw a grenade into a pillbox, or a flak gun rotate around with the guy on it. The detail is amazing. I'm not used to that in this type of game so I haven't really looked for it.

I get more immersion setting up the maps and scenarios.

[easytarget]

depends on how many games i've got going on to be honest

right now i've probably got too many

joined blitz recently and got hit up for a bunch of games all at once

i have trouble saying no

so right now i'm concentrating mainly on over all command and unit movemet more than enjoying the sites and sounds

that being said, in some of them i have watched a few times from the position of each sides armor to get a better understanding of what's shooting at me - just in the last minute of one of those games i've discovered that AT guns are the ones bouncing shells off by kv-1 and not the afv (which apparently suffered damage i wasn't sure of till this last minute of the battle at closer examination)

so i'd say it pays to stop and smell the roses occasionally even as a over all battlefield strategic commander approach

the intel can be invaluable

[The Graeme]

Hmmm, interesting responses.

Tailend Bryan, you said: "The attraction to me is a time pressure thing:.

Not me! I'd play a real time game if that's what I wanted. Half the attraction of this game is being able to take as much time as I need to consider my next move. I get enough time pressure at work. I want to enjoy myself. To relax. That's why I don't play TCP/IP.

"Commanders of the past didn't have time to go from unit to unit..." Yes, but if I wanted ultra realism I'd use those eye level campaign rules. After all, overhead view is equivalent to every Company CO receiving air photo recon.

Other side of the coin, I know of at least one chap who plays strictly by overhead view. That negates the whole 3d sense of wonder CM provides.

Besides, I check out every unit's point of view not so much to find out precisely what is happening so much as to 'experience' what is happening. I don't play simply in order to win, I also play in order to enjoy myself, and experiencing the awesome 'reality' of the game from multiple perspectives provides that enjoyment.

Of course, the implication is that seeing everything is very gamey from an overall Commanders point of view, be you Battalion or Company level. But that's assuming I play strictly as the overall commander. I don't. When I issue instructions to, for example, an isolated tank out of touch with the rest of my force, I'm doing so as that particular vehicle's tank commander. In that sense, I 'play' multiple commanders down to the NCO level.

As for the element of chance, I leave that up to the enemy player, be it AI or human.

I believe my approach maximises the entertainment value of the game and gives me a great deal of pleasure, more than I would get than if I was strictly absorbed in the task of winning.

But then, that's just my approach.

[xerxes]

For my first view of a film, I love riding in the commander position of a tank that I think is going to engage. Taking a frontal armor hit is a serious shock to the system. I find it most exciting on my very first viewing of the film. Watching an infantry close assault on a tank from first person is also quite fun.

[markl]

Hi,

Depends on the map. I recently played a scenario by Sergei road attack or something that I watched a lot of the movies because the map was so good.

The tank hunter team throwing their satchels at the AI bunched up tanks, made good viewing.

If the map is flat and open like a board, I use it like a board.

I watched a few movies from your WWI scenario with all the craters starting with a "Y" (bad memory for scenario names)

Cheers