I might be back

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

Well my advice is worthless if I won't use it myself I guess

That said, I am normally of the opinion, if you have something to say, say it where those you have to say it to will hear it.

So that's it in a nutshell. I will discontinue my lamenting over at Wargamer in the Battlefront sub forum, because it is pointless to do it there.

Don't expect me though to carte blanche reverse some of my earlier feelings vis a vis the Battlefront way of doings things in general.

That said, don't expect me to refrain from jumping on your head in here if the situation warrants it (and no I don't post messages with foul language or wierd pictures, way to juvenile for a guy my age).

First thing I want to say, is I want the powers that be to stop littering the forum with threads that are obvious refuse. A lock is only good for so much eh. If the post is a spam attack, just delete the dumb thing.

It makes it hard for anyone to scroll backwards from page one to see if anything is of interest.

Ok I didn't come here to rant about Forum dynamics, I said my piece on that, and that's it. If nothing gets done on that matter, well it ain't my forum, nor my head ache to run.

Regarding SC itself though, I do have some thoughts.

What in the blazes is with all the league insanity?

What is with all the postering?

Are you guys wargamers or class clowns?

By the way Rambo I saw you over at Matrix Games, hope you enjoy the site. They don't mind silly posts, the forum there has a healthy sense of humour.

I am going on record as saying I have not played SC to death, I still like it just fine. The measure of a good wargame is it stays a good wargame by virtue of a good design. If you play it 3 times a day for a solid year, yeah it will get boring, go get a real life for a while hehe.

I ain't interested in house rules, so don't bug me with them. Most House rules are for people that play the game to often and have lost the ability to be surprised.

I am not obsessed with playing ONLY the 39 Campaign game, and I usually prefer our getting to know each other games to be post 1941 Barbarossa campaign selection.

Of course there are those that think they are so much better than the leaders of the time. But in the end, playing the opening of the war endlessly ruins the experience.

I am not at the moment interested in joining a league. Certainly not any with silly sounding names.

I am not volunteering to participate in something like a "world championship".

I prefer to play each game individually and on it's own merits one at a time.

I have not uncovered any Gambits, nor have I mastered the fine art of the perfect tech purchases.

If you are new to the game, and want to play a veteran wargamer give me call. I won't promise to be a genius at SC (yet), but you won't be playing someone that plays the game to death till they have unlocked every possible permutation either (or at least the perfect first turn of the 39 campaign).

For those that don't yet know me (I ain't been around for a while), I am no one's idea of a novice wargamer.

I play SC because it is a well made game. Hubert designed a first rate easy to play grand strategy simulation. He did a better job at SC, than many other designers have done in their own games I also don't mind adding.

I have thought a few design elements might have been done differently, but I am not currently one of the individuals clamouring for SC2 or whatever you wish to call it at this time.

I am not earnestly in need of a 1.08 Patch either.

I am on record as being grumpy about there being no stacking like as in Advanced Third Reich, but I am not in need of Hubert making SC into A3R.

And that is that.

If you have thoughts to offer fine, if your only point in posting is to make idiotic comments, please do them in your own thread please.

You may attack my ideas, but personal attacks will be not given any slack.

I am not sure I will be posting many posts, the process of learning the design and commenting on the design is basically already old news.

The game is as done as dinner.

A good piece of advice, is to check out the SC Strategy Guide, the author did a fine job on it. It will likely answer any new comers questions more effectively than any question in here.

Attension Moon, I had thought about a fresh start account, but actually, I am really only wanting to remove the lower case "b" at the end of my identity ie Les the Sarge 9-1b. This was a notion I used initially when branching out from my origina over at Matrix Games. If you have the capacity to edit that lower case b, please do that for me. If this is possible, I will dispense with that new account I submitted today.

If it is not possible, then I would rather employ that soon to be accepted account, and delete this one. Yes I know seems like a petty thing, but I have converted all my other online accounts eleswhere to read Les the Sarge 9-1 (with no additives). I would rather it be that way if possible.

[kurt88]

So you're the famous Les the sarge everybody keeps talking about!

Nice to meet you finally.I guess I came here right after you left.

Well I'm not so perfect at SC either.Although I have been practicing alot lateley.

Looking forward to playing you someday Les.

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

Famous hehe I hope not

Well I am known here and there, hardly famous I would think.

I have encountered a few types in my time that won't have anything nice to say, but then we all know a few persons like that.

I am a forum veteran from Matrix Games though, I have a lot of people that know me from Wargamer, I am also active at Warfare HQ.

My latest efforts have been directed at working on the latest Mega Campaign for Steel Panthers.

I also have a sub forum for model makers at Wargame that was basically my idea (but no I don't own it nor run it hehe).

Regarding games with me, always open.

I think I am going to bill myself as the live interactive SC tutorial hehe. I should at least be a bit better than the AI hopefully

[kurt88]

double post sorry

[ September 26, 2003, 04:55 PM: Message edited by: kurt88 ]

[JerseyJohn]

Les

Glad you're back.

Till you mentioned dropping the b from the end of your tag I thought it read lb instead of 1b and figured it stood for an artillery piece -- a nine pounder! Not being an ofinance expert I have no idea if such a weapon exists but figured you for a retired artillery NCO. Les the Sarge 9-1 will take a little getting used to. Like Joe Friday shortening his Badge 714 to Badge 71; it just looks awkward.

This place is almost exactly as it was when you made you last farewell address, a few tags have wandered off and a few have wandered in.

Except for all this League and competition insanity. My approach to the game is exactly the same as yours, I like to putter around with it. If I wanted to be involved with competetion I'd get back into chess. Glad you noticed the strange shift toward Leagues and organizing. Probably everything moves in that direction after it's been established a while.

Agree on the bizarre amounts of time some members spend playing this thing: hundreds of games a year is mind boggling. Still, I defer to their opinions on the game itself as it's a cinch those guys know a lot more about it than do -- more in fact than I probably care to find out about as too much of that knowledge is game specific and also tied in to quirks and weakpoints in the design.

Meanwhile the 73rd (Overseas Battalian) of the Royal Canadian Highlanders have gotten together to throw you a welcoming Parade.

[kurt88]

Say Les,

Do you prefer TCP/IP play or PBEM,or maybe both?

In case of PBEM we could get a game started.

You can mail me kurt_vanlooy@hotmail.com

Normally I can manage a few turns on an evening.

[SeaMonkey]

Sarge, there's a new g-strategy game a brewing, could be a dud, but take a look, check out my post on "Road to War 1933". And by the way your comment about RDoA demo has got me to look into HttR, believe I'm going to try my first RTS game, wish me luck. Hell, I knew you'd be back...SC..."Gotta Luv it"

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

Thanks for the welcome Jersey. About all I would lose in an account switch is my member number in a lower digit range. And that is of no account to me. Anyone that knows me knows me enough to know I am not new hehe.

For those that wonder about the monicker, Les the Sarge 9-1 has no connection with my time in uniform. I was never more than a mediocre 031 grunt in the Royal Canadian Regiment in the 70's hehe.

Sarge 9-1 is my tribute to Sgt Kelso of the German infantry counter mix from Squad Leader. Kelso performed some incredible feats of heroism for me many years ago hehe. He was a 9-1 leader.

I am hoping to be that voice that people will hear when the cry for SC2 gets to loud. Just plain SC is a fine game. It doesn't need immediate fixing. I regularly promote it as one of the better choices for people entering wargaming.

If you can't play SC and enjoy it on your first evening, you might want to consider if you actually want to play wargames.

Kurt, I am going to send you an opening turn if that is cool with you. I will play Germans in 41 Campaign if that is cool with you. I will include in email what conditions exist in the game (game start options).

I will also give you my preferred game style preferences in detail for your approval. If they are acceptable, just send me your response turn.

For the record, I expect a person to get right of next game choice next game. So after this one, it will be your call.

I have not played other than PBEM so far. And only a few games, so I will ease into more agressive activities slowly.

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

I looked into that Road To War link, this comment was the key attraction for me I guess.

"The game is a turn based strategy game, defined as each team making its moves before agreeing to 'end turn', and only then are the moves actually carried out."

If that isn't WEGO then I guess I don't know what is. I personally like WEGO enough to play even a hohum design using it.

But until I see an actual demo, I guess there is no point in going much further.

They mentioned it being freeware, and that will catch a bit of attention.

But being free won't actually make it defacto worthless. And frankly, just because you pay for something, doesn't defacto make it any good.

I had such hopes for HoI the moment I saw it, and then poof all those hopes went up in flames. You could not even pay me to play that game.

1933 The Road to War only has one barrier in my opinion. And that would be, can a suitable wargame even be attempted beginning in 33. Hitler was damned lucky between 33 and 41.

Numerous times, if the Allies had had any balls, he would never have been around to make history.

And just as any wargame beginning in 39 often ends up being a game where the Germans seemingly hold all the cards, in 33 he was really more a bluff than a reality.

[JerseyJohn]

True, except the conditions of the Versailles Treaty weren't popular even in Britain and France! Winston Churchill referred to them as a travesty. I think any move by France leading to a military involvment in Germany would have brought down their government. In the long run staying in office is all most politicians care about. Being a politician himself, Hitler realized the situation and also realized the French were not going to oppose him.

The Versailles Treaty went way too far, of course it should have ended the war, as it had, but the Weimar Government made a poor move in accepting all it's conditions; they gave the victorious powers no reason to negotiate. The German Army still existed and in fact was occupying most of European Russia along with the Baltic States.

If the Versailles dullards would have had any foresight they'd have ended the war with Germany evicted from France and Belgium, Alsasce and Loraine returned to France, the German overseas colonies forfeit, but the Treaty of Brest Litovsk terms accepted in the East.

This would have killed the stab-in-the-back belief and left Germany, still a great nation even in defeat, with a posititve result for it's millions killed and maimed in the trenches. Beyond that it would have provided the bulwark against Bolsheivism they were so concerned about. As it was the dotes nearly handed Germany to the Bolsheiviks along with Russia!

Anyone interested in discussion along these lines is invited to The Road to War 1923 Thread -- started by yours truly -- elsewhere in the Forum. An interesting topic and hopefully more people will post to it; I'd really like to see different opinions on this almost forgotten point in history.

< Click Here for The Road to War 1923 Thread >

[ September 26, 2003, 06:22 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ]

[pzgndr]

Welcome back Les. What do you mean you just might be back? You're now hooked on SC, playing PBEM games, sold all your old ASL stuff on eBay ... You're here for good now.

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

Was just being sensible about it Bill.

I have been a lurker ever since I left, so I can say I might have never left, but well I was definitely not happy about the way things were (and might well still be).

But this thread has so far showed me that coming out of lurkdom might have been worth it.

I have watched the on again off again insanity and some days just wanted to yell out something.

I have noticed that some of the fire might be going out of some of the members. They need to perhaps try to stop playing SC quite so much and maybe quite so seriously.

It's just a game. Might be one of the better games out there for what it does, but there is indeed life outside of the SC forum.

Some of the silliness I think might have possibly kept some possible new blood from actually getting involved.

Nothing scares off a grognard faster than than petty stupidity.

Rather than our esteemed SC fanatics making the site look silly, they should be making the game look like the best thing since sliced bread hehe.

I am sure there are established wargaming leagues out there using the SC forum as the poster child for what to not make a good league look like hehe.

Oh and no, I ain't selling my ASL

Actually, I have rather enjoyed helping Don get ASL up and fun looking over at Warfare HQ.

Must be other ASL sites out there, but who cares, Don has done a great job making his a first and only stop ASL destination.

Now if I can only locate a similar A3R site (yeah must be one out there).

[ September 26, 2003, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: Les the Sarge 9-1b ]

[jon_j_rambo]

Les the Sarge --- Hey, what's up? This is Legend. You have an EXCELLENT, most incredible take I've heard in a long time! Sgt. Kelso from Squad Leader! It's been a long time baby. I absolutely love & miss SL. I never played ASL, but only Squad Leader, Cross of Iron, Crescendo of Doom, & G.I. Anvil of Victory. The combat system was a little shaking by rules interpetation, but once things were ironed out, a most enjoyable game. I tip my hat to you for mentioning Sgt. Kelso, only an old school original would know that counter. Give me Kelso, (better yet a 9-2), with a couple of squads in a 2nd level stone building on board #3, the village board.

The problem with SC is simple, it takes too long to play. With SL, you play in 3-hours a mid-size scenario. Yes, the dice rolls could screw up a balanced game with a mortar shot clearing out a hex, but so is life.

Les, that is why you say the Rambo 1st appearance on matrix games. I was checking out Cross of Iron, it looked cool. Pacific War didn't have live TCP/IP feature, so I wasn't interested. My problem (among many), is my computer is a piece of ****, it is an old E-machines, 64 MB, 466 MHz, etc. I also have dial-up. I need to spend some cash & get a real computer & get rid of dial-up.

Anyhow...I like your Sgt. Kelso take!

Rambo Loves Squad Leader

[Les the Sarge 9-1b]

This is it guys in minutes there won't be any Les the Sarge 9-1b, there will only be a Les the Sarge 9-1 (no "b").

Just got the okydoky for the new account, and this me is signing off.

The next time you see me, I will be just Les the Sarge 9-1.

Yee admins may retire this old me account at your pleasure.

[Les the Sarge 9-1]

Back sort of

Hey Rambo, your post was appreciated.

You know, you have been a royal pain in the butt in the past eh, but hmm anyone that can say such good things about Kelso can get some slack from me I guess.

Consider this a blanket pardon for anything you have done that might have irked me in the past

About SC taking to long though, man put down the slide rule, you are probably trying to hard. I like SC because it is a fast game to play.

But then again, I played quite a few games before I even attempted to even figure out what Research did.

Playing on dial up though, man my heart feels for ya man, I have braodband, it soaks up a lot of my next to nil pension, but it is my life blood.

My system I guess would be best described as a superior P3 wanna be. I can't run Battlefield 1942 enough to make it worth loading it, but it will play any wargame worth buying from 2002 back.

If you consider yourself a true Squad Leader type, then you need to have played Steel Panthers World at War via one of the Mega Campaigns sold from Matrix Games.

The core game is a free download, but hey its a major download for dial up.

Which means precisely nothing as I have routinely mailed what I call my Ultra Steel Panthers cd I make for those unfortunates stuck with dial up. You can look up that deal at Wargamer in their Steel Panthers forum if it intrigues you.

http://www.wargamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7276

The game Cross of Iron you were checking is to be the major new experience for the Steel Panthers fan basically. Picture SC with everything everyone has ever asked for all wrapped up in one new game, and then assume there was oodles of new things that no one had even thought of to ask for. That will give you a perspective on what we Steel Panthers fans are waiting on hehe.

By the way, I have had a hand in the creation of the 4th Mega Campaign, so I am fully aware of how cool it will be

This die hard Squad Leader fanatic gives Steel Panthers a two thumbs up seal of approval. If you haven't played it, you have been ripping yourself off of one of the best wargaming deals out there.

Lastly, you might want to come into Warfare HQ and check out the ASL forum.

http://www.warfarehq.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30

It's wall to wall Squad Leader fans.

[Moon]

Les, I'm going to have to start charging you for each mention of Matrix Games or the other two websites they own on our forums if you don't watch out Locking this thread, we all now know that you're back, talk about SC or head to the General Forum (where, I might add, there still exists a line between advertising and talking about the hobby), please.

Martin