WWII ETO

Started by GJK, April 05, 2013, 09:01:54 AM

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Toonces

I don't think I can do Third Reich.  Have you considered something more operational and in print? 

I'd be interested in trying something D-Day related.  I'm fairly sure everything you need to play The Longest Day by Vassal is floating around on the net, and that lends itself well to team play...
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

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GJK

I had almost forgotten that GMT has a new ETO game on the P500 list - "The Supreme Commander" http://www.gmtgames.com/p-278-the-supreme-commander.aspx

Moderate complexity and solitare suitable.  I've been following it on CSW and like what I've seen.  Plus Charlie Kibler is doing the map so that was an instant buy for me.

Re: Longest Day - never played that beast, I'll have to go dig up the rules and have a look

Clip your freaking corners!
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Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
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"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

Barthheart

I played Longest Day back when it was new. 4 of us played the entire campaign setup on my friends pool table. His Dad was not impressed that we had it there for months.
Really good game but it took forever to play. Definitely needs to be done as teams or you easily forget troops.

bob48

Oh heck yes Bart. I played it as well, back in the day. I think all the charts and whatnot took up as much space as the maps.
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

Rekim

Quote from: GJK on April 06, 2013, 11:54:18 PM
I had almost forgotten that GMT has a new ETO game on the P500 list - "The Supreme Commander" http://www.gmtgames.com/p-278-the-supreme-commander.aspx

Moderate complexity and solitare suitable.  I've been following it on CSW and like what I've seen.  Plus Charlie Kibler is doing the map so that was an instant buy for me.

The Supreme Commander looks like fun alright.

I wonder what makes it so suitable for solo play if it is designed for multi-player? To my way of thinking, a game that ranks its self 10 out of 10 for solitaire play ought to fully support solo mode of play.

TheCommandTent

Quote from: Barthheart on April 07, 2013, 06:40:39 AM
I played Longest Day back when it was new. 4 of us played the entire campaign setup on my friends pool table. His Dad was not impressed that we had it there for months.
Really good game but it took forever to play. Definitely needs to be done as teams or you easily forget troops.

That is on my gaming bucket list.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

GJK

The rules for TLD are relatively short and pretty simple to digest (from what I looked at thus far)
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

Pinetree

MMP is also re-printing the SCS game The Mighty Endeavour which I've heard good things about.
Gen. Montgomery: "Your men don't salute much."
Gen. Freyberg: "Well, if you wave at them they'll usually wave back."

GJK

I have the original "Mighty Endeavor".  A solid game; I like Dean Essig designs for the most part.  My only real gripe with the game was that the German set up is static meaning that the German player has no say so in the placement of defenses in France.  I would of liked it to of been something more along the lines of "Fortress Europa" with the military districts that you could freely set up within.  I suppose that could be house-ruled however.  The expansion will be a nice edition but not sure if I will spring for it or not.

Meanwhile, I scored a copy of "Advanced Third Reich" (not yet shipped) and also got the Third Reich Player's guide and the Battleplan magazine that has several variants in it.  Reading the players guide, the first article summed up what it is that I enjoy about Third Reich (though it may be a turn-off for others):

"The result of a 2-1 (attack) in nearly all cases is a forgone conclusion; the attacker will capture the hex, and all that has to be settled is the price the defender exacts for the capture of that hex.  This makes THIRD REICH almost a perfect information game like chess, reducing the effect of the die roll on actual combat to a  minimum, and allowing quite complex maneuvers to be executed with confidence."
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

Rekim

Another sharp looking ETO map:

http://www.gmtgames.com/us/USE_Map_2012-12-07-Preview.jpg

from GMT's upcoming title Unconditional Surrender

GJK

That map (and the playing time) are two reasons why I chose The Supreme Commander to P500 instead of this one.  Is it me or does Europe look stretched (width wise) on that map?  Looks very "World in Flames - final edition"ish to me also (much prefer the classic look of WiF v1-4).
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

Rekim

Yes, The Supreme Commander map is prettier than Unconditional Surrender, and doesn't appear as deformed.

On the topic of sweet looking euro maps, Euro Front (Columbia Games) has one of the best. Euro Front is another monster that I would dearly love to play...but realize my odds of finding a local opponent rank right up there with winning the lottery.


GJK

Agreed- that is one of the best that I've ever seen for an ETO game.  I've never played a block game and wouldn't mind trying it some day.  I've priced Euro-front and it's just too much to spend on a game format (blocks) that I've never tried before.  I'll have to see if anybody in our local gaming group has a copy and wouldn't mind teaching a newb.
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

Rekim

If you are seriously interested in Euro Front and want to kick the tires consider picking up a used copy of the orginal East Front (I). It is the exact same game as East Front II, but with a smaller map and much smaller price tag (Euro Front is a combination of East Front II and West Front II). You'll be hard pressed to find a better wargaming system anywhere. Even in the BGG universe it is ranks @ 8.15 / 10

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22143/eastfront-ii

I own East Front & FAB The Bulge (another excellent block game) and I can link you to the rule books for either one if you're ever in the mood to try a block game via Vassal. A computer version of East Front is available from Columbia games which provides rule enforcement, however, it is very old and I have not been able to get the demo to run on Windows 7. I also own a copy of Block in the East but have yet to dig into that one.


GJK

You just reminded me about the computer version East Front.  Funny but I found that if you install the demo and then install the patch, it becomes the full version.  I found that out quite by mistake.  I even did a map mod for it.  I'll have to see if I can find it on my harddrive.

I might take you up on the offer to VASSAL EFII.  Let me get my Third Reich/A3R fix out of the way and then I'll send you a note.
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer