The Game Box
March 28, 2024, 03:37:45 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: The new site is Running.
This one is closed.


sign up here: http://thegamebox.gamesontables.com/
 
  Home Help Search Gallery Links Staff List Login Register  
  Show Posts
Pages: 1 [2]
16  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: American Civil War Gaming - General Discussion on: July 20, 2014, 08:07:06 pm
Yeah, I've never tried any of The Gamers Civil War Brigade series games. To date, my only experience (and a very enjoyable one, at that) has been with their SCS games. How would you say CWB , or for that matter, LOB complexity compares to other Gamers series? Is it closer to SCS, or OCS? I am getting ready to dip my toe into the OCS end of the pool with Reluctant Enemies, but for the most part, I still prefer the less complex SCS model.

I'd say midway between, IF you're used to other tactical systems like GBACW. If you're not
used to fire and movement stuff in pre-20th Century, it's gonna take some getting used to.
The orders writing also throws some people for a loop.

The rulebooks are big, but not terribly complex, IMO.

OK, good to know. At this point, I think I may defer going for LOB or CWB, as I'm enjoying the shallow end of the pool with A5A. I have to ask - does anyone have any suggestions for other ACW games of approximately the same complexity and scale as A5A? That game is really hitting a sweet spot for me!

Also, I should mention that last weekend we had a party for my son, who recently graduated from high school and will be starting college this Fall. Our son's Boy Scout scoutmaster and assistant scoutmaster came to the party. While they were over, they stopped down in the gameroom, and saw my game of A5A Gettysburg set up. They were both utterly captivated! Both of these guys are interested in the Civil War, and one just participated in his first reenactment. However, neither had ever seen a board wargame before, and they were just fascinated with the map and the unit counters. Both of them had taken the troop to Gettysburg, so they were recounting what they had learned at the battlefield park while referring to the game map! I think I might just have two new wargamers in the future!
17  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: American Civil War Gaming - General Discussion on: July 20, 2014, 07:53:35 pm

desertfoxleo is already asking the exact same questions I would, so carry on.

He's a great person to have on a site.



Why thank you, Enrico! I never took to Consimworld's Social Forum, but this place you've created is already starting to draw me in. I think it's the great folks you've gotten to cross over that's the key, and the ease of posting here. I really could see this place taking over the role of the BGG wargame subdomain general forum.
18  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: American Civil War Gaming - General Discussion on: July 20, 2014, 01:05:38 pm
Good to know regarding LOB complexity. As for "Great Campaigns", I do own what I believe was the prototype for that series, the Victory Games "Lee vs. Grant - the Wilderness Campaign" I've never played it (I say that about too many of my wargames, but I'm working on that issue), but it seems to fill a niche in ACW gaming, as it appears to be operational in scale, as opposed to tactical/grand tactical, or strategic.

I agree, BTW - those new counters look like they belong in a WW2 or post-WW2 game, not ACW. At the very least, a different font might have made them look at bit less...modern. However, the map looks gorgeous, and I do remember that about the original series - the maps were some of the best looking maps I'd ever seen for any wargame.
19  Gaming Stuff / Sports Games / Re: Baseball Games on: July 20, 2014, 01:00:59 pm
For the PC, I love Baseball Mogul - played a number of seasons, and might pick it up again.

For boardgaming, my favorite was Statis Pro - I liked some of the random event things that could happen, like a game called because of a severe weather warning (might have actually said "tornado warning", but I'd have to check). I also had the Statis Pro basketball game, and played that quite a bit, back in the day (late 70's, early 80's). I also have SI's Baseball game, which had team charts somewhat like their football game, Paydirt. I liked it, but Statis Pro is better. I was certainly aware of Stratomatic, but I just never pulled the trigger on it - I probably should have, as I'm sure I would have loved it. In general, back then, I liked sports games at least as much as wargames. These days, I don't play them as much, but if someone were willing, I'd still sit down to one.
20  Gaming Stuff / Sports Games / Re: Football Games on: July 20, 2014, 12:55:50 pm
To me, the football games breakdown into two camps - 1) strategy, and 2) stats replays. My favorite strategy game was, well, AH's "Football Strategy". I played in a number of different leagues over the years, though keeping people engaged over an entire season (especially when their team was losing) was always a challenge. My favorite stats game was also AH's "Paydirt" - I think I have the '71, '72, '76, '77, and '78 season charts for it. As a Steelers' fan, these are pretty good seasons to have! There is a modern day version of this game, I believe it's call "Data Driven Football", and uses the same system and they are making team charts every year. I really think I may have to buy into that system.
21  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: American Civil War Gaming - General Discussion on: July 20, 2014, 12:50:14 pm
Yeah, I've never tried any of The Gamers Civil War Brigade series games. To date, my only experience (and a very enjoyable one, at that) has been with their SCS games. How would you say CWB , or for that matter, LOB complexity compares to other Gamers series? Is it closer to SCS, or OCS? I am getting ready to dip my toe into the OCS end of the pool with Reluctant Enemies, but for the most part, I still prefer the less complex SCS model.
22  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: Wargaming tournaments - why bother? on: July 20, 2014, 12:46:01 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bellis_Antiquitatis

An Ancients miniatures wargaming system. I knew a guy who was into it, but I never played it myself. I'm generally too impatient to paint minis.
23  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / American Civil War Gaming - General Discussion on: July 20, 2014, 12:38:24 pm
I thought I'd start a general discussion topic on gaming the American Civil War (I used to just call it the "Civil War", but I've found that, apparently, there have been civil wars in other countries as well! Who woulda thunk it?

I'm starting this because my latest gaming effort is Eric Lee Smith's "Across 5 Aprils", which I'm playing solo in preparation for a F2F session with my buddy Dan. I'm playing the Gettysburg scenario and the chit-pull mechanic is making solitaire play quite enjoyable. Here you see the situation at the end of the first day (night is falling), with neither side scoring a decisive victory, so it's on to Day Two!



I have to say that the ACW has never been my number one wargaming subject (sorry to say, but yes, World War Two still holds that spot, though not to the degree it used to dominate my gaming). In part, maybe it's because I grew up in the North (Pennsylvania), the Civil War has never been that hot of a topic here (I'm guessing that perhaps in the South, Civil War gaming is more common/popular). However, and I'm sure I'm not the only wargamer who can say this, but recent reading on the subject has kindled new interest in gaming this war. In my case, having finished the first entry of Shelby Foote's classic trilogy on the Civil War, and having started the second one, has gotten me to thinking about the war and wanting to game it. As Dan expressed an interest in gaming Gettysburg, I thought this would be a good opportunity to scratch that Civil War gaming itch I had developed while also trying out a game in my collection that I've never played.

Yes, it's true - Across 5 Aprils was one of those games I've had in my collection for years (I don't even remember when/where/how/why I bought it), but had never played it until now. Man, I was missing out, but better late than never. Also, I have not played many chit-pull games, but I am thoroughly enjoying this experience, which seems a good way to protray the poor communication and coordination of 19th Century armies.

I think after this, I want to give the other four battles in the box a go, while I'm also looking to start a campaign of Smith's "The Civil War", another Victory Games classic covering the entire war at the strategic level. I'm aware that there is a new game on the horizon which is considered the spiritual successor to "The Civil War", so that might be in my future...time will tell.
24  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: What has happened to BGG Wargaming General Forum on: July 20, 2014, 10:29:06 am
I just posted many of the sentiments on the other thread here - the "Who Are You" thread in the F**k It forum! I'm not quitting BGG, but dang, the wargaming subdomain general forum has really become a deserted alley littered with bags of stinking garbage and winos sleeping under shopping carts. It's the same old dreck day after day, though as I noted in the other thread, I'm not contributing any earthshattering content either, so I can blame myself as much as anyone. Hopefully, some enthusiastic wargaming dialog can develop over here (maybe I can even find the energy to contribute in such a manner - but don't anyone hold their breath on that!)
25  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: Best of AH 'Classics' on: July 20, 2014, 10:14:54 am
When I think of AH "Classics", I think of the games AH themselves labeled as the "classics"...

Gettysburg
Waterloo
D-Day
Stalingrad
Afrike Korps
Battle of the Bulge
Midway

I might be missing a few, but they were mostly the best of the original flatbox games, I think. Of these, Afrika Korps is still the best one for me, and I've played it again only a couple of years ago and still had a lot of fun with my buddy Dan. I also played Battle of the Bulge again, also with Dan, and using the advanced rules, it was actually a very fun and pretty solid wargaming experience. I played Stalingrad solo again a year a go or so, and I'll say this - while it does not model the actual operations on the Eastern Front very well at all - no breakthroughs and exploitations, no massive pockets of enemy troops, it IS an engaging game to play, and I do see the attraction that people had to the game. Waterloo was the first "real" wargame I ever played, and I've played it a couple of times in recent years and still found it enjoyable. Frankly, I like 'em all, because they are accessible and can all be finished in a long afternoon. That's refreshing because as much as I like bigger games that take multiple sessions to complete, it's nice once and awhile and come up for air with a relatively light play of one of the "Classics".

As for AH games that do not fall strictly within AH's self-defined "classics" grouping, I'd say three games stand out:
- Rise and Decline of the Third Reich
- The Russian Campaign
- Panzerblitz (and Panzer Leader)
I've played one or more games of all of these in the last five years, even with all of the newer fare in my collection. There is a lot of gaming goodness in these boxes. There are gamers out there that will tell you that these are dated designs and that there are better, newer choices out there, but I still enjoy playing these, as do my main wargaming buddies, so I suspect they will continue to get played in my group.
26  Gaming Stuff / Military Games / Re: Wargaming tournaments - why bother? on: July 20, 2014, 10:01:03 am
I've often wondered what the attraction is as well, but that's because of how I approach wargaming. I am rather competitive, so it's not the competitive aspect that is at issue in my case, but it is the camaraderie of wargaming. Simply put, I wargame with friends, or, at the least, acquaintances. Playing a wargame with someone I don't know, in a competitive setting, in a public place quite frankly sounds awful to me. I like having some friendly banter during play, and some tangential discussions of the history behind the game's subject, or even some totally off-tangent ramblings on sports or current events. I can't imagine doing that with a total stranger, especially if I'm in a competitive setting. These kinds of things never sounded appealing to me, though I wouldn't mind watching others play - I do like spectator sports, after all. 
27  General Category / Fuck it all / Re: Board Game ****es! on: July 20, 2014, 09:54:25 am
Just stumbled upon this place, when I wondered where Calandale had gone. So, yeah, seems like another cycle of disillusionment with BGG is on the upswing, and it seems like a lot of it has to do with the moderation, once again. I myself have never had any run-ins with the "law" over there, but it seems that almost everyone else has on one occasion or another. Thing is, it's not the moderation that's becoming a problem for me, it's the increasingly banal and repetitive postings. I will freely admit, though, that I'm not really helping to create what I'm looking for either - I'm more of the problem than the solution. You know what I'd really like? I'd like meaty posts that are more like articles in the old wargaming mags of yore - Fire & Movement, Moves, Strategy & Tactics, Panzerfaust & Campaign. Except, we'd all be writing these articles, and commenting on each other's articles.

I'm part of the problem, though, because it's been some time since I've attempted to write such a post/article, and yet I'm waiting around for someone else to do the heavy lifting, while I simply sit back and wait for interesting things to magically appear. I don't think I'm lazy per se, but the normal rigors of living leave me precious little energy (or time) to craft the kind of content I'm talking about. I suspect that it's much the same for everyone else, which is why our dialog in the BGG wargames subdomain seems to have devolved into little more than a wargame-flavored Chit-Chat den. So, I find more and more that I'm just clicking through page after page of inane comments and snarky retorts over there, finding little or nothing of substance.

Of course, I'm not sure things will necessarily be any different anywhere else, here included. I've only just arrived here, so I haven't had a chance yet to explore, but I'd have to think the same problem I described above will manifest here as well - the lack of time/energy to create really engaging content. Plus, I recognize that not everyone has the same expectations or desires for a forum. I might be looking for a place where I can read an endless stream of immersive wargaming commentary, but others might just be wanting to relax and shoot the breeze, without fear of heavy-handed moderation. That's fine, of course, but it simply means to me that this nirvana I seek may be unobtainable, regardless of venue. So be it. I may keep dropping back in here from time to time, though force of habit is strong with me, which means I will still spend time at BGG, even if I do continue to find that content is becoming more and more sparse.
28  General Category / Fuck it all / Re: Who are you? Why are you here? on: July 20, 2014, 01:22:44 am
I'm here now, so there's that...
Pages: 1 [2]
Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
Free SMF Hosting - Create your own Forum

Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy