Holiday Gaming Damage

[Gusington]

I am starting to get that feeling from Anno 1800 as I learn its dynamics and systems.

GIGGITY

[Labbug]

Got:
Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia
Total War Warhammer II DCL's
Interstellar Space Genesis
Master of Orion

[W8taminute]

I grabbed Total War: Warhammer II and Master of Orion (2016 edition).  Both great games but I really love that 'just one more turn' feeling with Master of Orion.  Can't stop playing it!

:)  not had that feeling in a while :(

Yeah me neither until I started Master of Orion.  I've had a few "I really need to go to the lavatory but I can't stop clicking next turn" moments with this game.  MOO has those elements that hook me in the way I used to enjoy the Civilization series.

[Tuna]

I grabbed Total War: Warhammer II and Master of Orion (2016 edition).  Both great games but I really love that 'just one more turn' feeling with Master of Orion.  Can't stop playing it!

Is Master of Orion turn based?

[W8taminute]

I grabbed Total War: Warhammer II and Master of Orion (2016 edition).  Both great games but I really love that 'just one more turn' feeling with Master of Orion.  Can't stop playing it!

Is Master of Orion turn based?

The strategic layer is turn based but the tactical battles are real time.

[88mmkwk]

I was feeling quite proud of myself this year for resisting all impulse buy urges between the (rare) JTS deals and Matrix Games Holiday sale.  Yes - strong in the force I was....

Until those sneaky bastards at Matrix games - clearly noticing I had not taken the holiday sale bait - decided to send me a 12-year customer anniversary coupon with three days left on the holiday sale.  They upped their game like a seductive siren who notices her charms are not working.  My last vestages of self-restraint melted away like a pad of butter in a hot frying pan.  I still have not played all the games I bought from them last time, and yet here's what I pulled the trigger on today:

Game	Regular Price	Holiday Sale	Final Price
Desert War 1040-1942	$39.99	$19.99	$11.79
War in the Pacific -Admiral's Edition	$79.99	$16.00	$9.44
Strategic Command WWII: World at War	$39.99	$19.60	$11.56
Drive on Moscow: War in the Snow	$9.99	$4.90	$2.89
Tigers on the Hunt	$49.99	$9.50	$5.60
Battle of the Bulge	$9.99	$4.90	$2.89
Gettysburg: The Tide Turns	$9.99	$4.90	$2.89
Civil War II	$39.99	$19.60	$5.91
Total:	$279.92		$52.97 :o

Even getting in to WitP:AE alone can be a lifetime pursuit, much less getting 7 others too....But i just couldn't resist a chance to score nearly $280 worth of games for $53.  I spent time checking out the forums at Matrix for each game on the list, and as far as I can tell, there's no stinkers in the lot.

Bulge, Moscow and Gettysburg are the Dollar Store scores at under $3 each and are for those days when work has beat me to a pulp and I need a simple distraction.  The crazy WitP-AE sale this year dropped the cost for the usually pricey groggie-fav from $79.00 down to $16.99 and my anniversary coupon made the final price a whopping 88% off the regular price!  No way I could miss out on such a great price!

Tigers on the Hunt was a pick up due to my many year dabbling in ASL.  This game will let me get in a quick ASL-type fix when I don't have time to line up a VASSAL opponent or schedule a FtF session with my local wargaming buddy.

I'm a fan of WWII desert warfare, so Desert War 1940-1042 also made the list.  I read the forum inputs and saw that some don't like the large unit stacks in the game. That doesn't scare me away.  Largely due to a young lady named Yvonne that I dated in my early 20's, I've loved big stacks most of my adult life ;).....

Strategic Command WWII was a buy as I have greatly enjoyed the War in Europe edition that came out first.  Civil War II made the list as I bought Alea Jacta Est last year on sale and found it a rich and rewarding game experience.  For $6, I couldn't resist hooking up with another AGEOD title.  Again, forum browsing showed this to be a highly regarded title.

I am a nutcase - how am I ever gonna find time for all these!  But I'm quite happy at this moment.  C'est la vie...Merry Late Christmas to me!  O0

[bobarossa]

I am a nutcase - how am I ever gonna find time for all these!  But I'm quite happy at this moment.  C'est la vie...Merry Late Christmas to me!  O0

I have purchased 20 games in the last 4 Holiday Sales (my Anniversary coupon arrives on Dec 27th!).  I have played only 3 of those games extensively and I've been retired that whole time.  It's not about playing them, it's about being able to play them if you want.

[Sir Slash]

Exactly! You can't play them if you don't have them so... why not? And besides, any day now they may decide to quit making them. Then who'll look silly?  :-"

[88mmkwk]

And besides, any day now they may decide to quit making them. Then who'll look silly?

And hence one of the reasons I am a big Matrix Games fan - most games I buy from them come with a Steam key that lets you take advantage of the convenience of auto-updates.  If Steam ever goes in the crapper, I can always download and re-install my collection old-school style via the My Page on Matrix Games.  Even when a game is available for a bit less on Steam vs. Matrix Games, I'll purchase from Matrix every time and then just request a Steam key from Matrix after I buy.

On a related topic, I've been quite curious what the massive discount given on WitP-AE has done for unit sales of that game.  It has a quite lively community on the forums, very helpful and welcoming.  It's really kinda cool to see a Phoenix rise up after so many years of having a small but dedicated following.  I gotta believe the Holiday sale price drop from $79.99 to $16.00 (or even $9.44 for yours truly) led to quite a surge in sales of it...

[Martok]

Between Steam, GOG, and Matrix/Slitherine, I spent around $60.00 on 4 games during the holiday season.  For me, I'd say that's reasonably restrained overall.  I could have easily spent three times that, but I tried very hard to to restrict my purchases to deals I just couldn't pass up -- and more importantly, to games I might actually play before the heat death of the universe occurs.  :P 

Got:
Total War Saga Thrones of Britannia
Total War Warhammer II DCL's
Interstellar Space Genesis
Master of Orion

That's a very nice list of strategy games you've picked up there.  I can happily recommend all of them.  O0 

I grabbed Total War: Warhammer II and Master of Orion (2016 edition).  Both great games but I really love that 'just one more turn' feeling with Master of Orion.  Can't stop playing it!

:)  not had that feeling in a while :(

Yeah me neither until I started Master of Orion.  I've had a few "I really need to go to the lavatory but I can't stop clicking next turn" moments with this game.  MOO has those elements that hook me in the way I used to enjoy the Civilization series.

I was pleasantly surprised by the new MOO game.  It's one of those underappreciated gems that deserves more love than it's received.  (Not that I blame the original MOO1/2 fanbase for rejecting it; Wargaming seriously f***ed up with how they marketed the game and directed its development.) 

Once I got past my expectations (e.g., it was never going to resurrect the franchise and/or return it to glory) and just took the game for what it was, I began to enjoy it.  Underneath all the "shiny" is a competently-made, highly-polished, space 4x that's easy to pick up and play, but without feeling overly "streamlined"/dumbed-down. 

It's not going to appeal to everyone, but for those who just want a nice 4x game with moderate depth and decent production values, one could certainly do worse than MOO:CtS.