Need an "easy" game to learn

[Raikkonen]

I own many, many games from Matrix, but sadly I'm quite the novice when it comes to playing them. I even own WitE and WitW but I'm nowhere near playing them. I'm still just scratching the surface of learning all the mechanics of just a basic game. AARs just seem to confuse me more. Youtube videos help a bit but I feel like I am watching someone who knows what they are doing but I am not really learning anything that helps me progress.

I have two weeks at the shore coming up and I would really like to learn enough to start playing some of these games I have been buying. I figure two weeks of some dedicated focus to one or two basic games should give me a good basis to learn strategies I can then apply to some other games.

Can I get some suggestions of what would be some good games to get me past just blindly moving tiles and attacking?

The period doesnt really matter. I am planning to try again learning the Ageod system using BoA. My preference though is to learn something that gets me engaged with TOAW4

I have played Unity of Command with some success. Looking to get beyond that one.

Oh, part of my problem is I have a short attention span, so I tend to look for smaller scenarios with fewer units to manage to help get me going. Unity of Command seemed to offer that in the first few scenarios.

All suggestions welcomed and considered!

Tom

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Panzer Corps and Order of Battle are probably the ones you're looking for. There's supply and fuel that needs to be managed, but it isn't too complicated. Bonus objectives (such as being told halfway through the mission to divert to some other objective) will also help you figure out how to create a well-balanced army that is well positioned to respond to surprises (you'll need that on tougher games!)


- BNC

[DonCzirr]

Agree with post above.

After that - maybe John Tiller's Panzer Campaigns / Modern Campaigns.

Easy to learn and once you master one you can play them all.

[budd]

if you liked Unity, you'll probably be fine with and enjoy the Order of Battle series. You can download the demo which is free and comes with one scenario from each DLC.

[zakblood]

tt.asp?forumid=1239

Germany at War Barbarossa 1941

is another one, easy to learn and play and well solid regarding patches and fixes and balance etc

[Yogi the Great]

Battle Academy series

[Raikkonen]

Thanks for all the replies! I probably can be a more descriptive and specific. I have the games listed above, including all the HPS games, so I was happy for that suggestion of where to start with Tiller games. I will definitely be working on one of the Panzer Campaign games over summer holiday. In fact that's the type of game I'd like to focus on.

I have all of Panzer Corps and Order of Battle. I like them, but I find them to mostly be trying to figure out what recipe to use in each scenario to win with minimal casualties. i don't play the campaign game, I don't have the attention span for that. So it's only scenarios for me. As mentioned, I do find the objectives clearly stated, so it's pretty easy to know what I'm supposed to do in those games. I would lump Germany At War in the same group, maybe because the sprites look the same? I have it, but haven't tried it out yet.

I did try out Battle Academy and played a few scenarios. I found that to be entertaining, a bit similar maybe to what I described for PC and OoB - a clearly stated objective, short scenarios, and basically trying to figure out the recipe to win the scenario. I think I found Unity of Command the same - searching for the right recipe. Maybe that's my problem, I'm looking for more than there is? Maybe that's the game and that's all there is and I tire of that too easily?

Anyway, I'm looking at the shelf of games in front of me, and building on the desire to "learn" Panzer Campaigns and Tiller games in general, here's what I am really struggling to learn. Games like TOAW4, Tigers on the Hunt, Advanced Tactics Gold, WitW, WitE, Piercing Fortress Europa, Desert War, Decisive Campaign, Flashpoint Campaigns, even Command Ops. I go all the way back to V for Victory Series and then Operation Crusader. Started with Matrix on Battles in Normandy and Battles In Italy. I kind of lump all those games into a category different than PC, OoB, GaW, BA, etc.

I'm not a history buff and don't know a lot of the details about these events that I read about in the forums, but I do enjoy this type of game and I want to enjoy it more. I am an engineer (EE) with a good math aptitude (obviously being an EE) but never really liked history during my education. I'm more keen to it now, but it's still really superficial.

Maybe that summary will help a bit in trying to steer my original question? I do find the suggestions useful, so thanks for those. In fact, I plan to give GaW a try tonight!

Tom

[MrsWargamer]

Here's a thought.

You might not want to be starting with computer games, you might want to consider mobile games. No I'm not talking dumb arcade titles, there ARE some good titles out for mobile devices.

Small General has a second evolution called Small General Eastern Front. It's very much along the lines of what you are interested in.

Joni Nuutinen has some titles under the category listing Conflict Series, very agreeable difficulty range, and yet still genuine wargames. There's Revolutionary War, Civil war, Spanish Civil War, WW1 WW2 and Korean titles to consider. He has 75 entries to consider, some are demo files.
You can see these titles if you go on Google Play and search them out.

[Red2112]

ORIGINAL: zakblood

tt.asp?forumid=1239

Germany at War Barbarossa 1941

is another one, easy to learn and play and well solid regarding patches and fixes and balance etc

+1. There´s plenty in there for all!

Also, you can always crank-up the difficulty once you are comfortable with the game.

[rocketman71]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

Here's a thought.

You might not want to be starting with computer games, you might want to consider mobile games. No I'm not talking dumb arcade titles, there ARE some good titles out for mobile devices.

Small General has a second evolution called Small General Eastern Front. It's very much along the lines of what you are interested in.

Joni Nuutinen has some titles under the category listing Conflict Series, very agreeable difficulty range, and yet still genuine wargames. There's Revolutionary War, Civil war, Spanish Civil War, WW1 WW2 and Korean titles to consider. He has 75 entries to consider, some are demo files.
You can see these titles if you go on Google Play and search them out.

Yes, very good recommendation. Joni (Conflict Games) continuously update his games and they are very good despite the "basic" look. There are free demos (limited amount of turns) for just about all his games.

[Alan Sharif]

Battle Academy sounds like the right suggestion to me.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: Alan Sharif

Battle Academy sounds like the right suggestion to me.

Yeah, he mentioned that. With that in mind, I recommend you to look up other games that make use of the same engine and new Archon engine: Pike & Shot, Sengoku Jidai, and Field of Glory 2. I have BA and Sengoku Jidai, and even though the games look and play very much the same, Sengoku Jidai has more depth and detail.

[RFalvo69]

I would add "John Tiller's Campaign Series" to the suggestions. It is a rich and deep game without being too complex, and it covers all WWII theatres at tactical level. You can start with the smaller scenarios and then build your way up. As an added bonus, every unit and battle are accompanied by a description - so, if you don't know what, let's say, a German Sdkfz 231 is or what it was used for, you can get all the info you need before employing it on the battlefield.

The game, BTW, offers so many different scenarios and situations (plus an editor) that it will keep you occupied for months and maybe more.

[DonCzirr]

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

I would add "John Tiller's Campaign Series" to the suggestions. It is a rich and deep game without being too complex, and it covers all WWII theatres at tactical level. You can start with the smaller scenarios and then build your way up. As an added bonus, every unit and battle are accompanied by a description - so, if you don't know what, let's say, a German Sdkfz 231 is or what it was used for, you can get all the info you need before employing it on the battlefield.

The game, BTW, offers so many different scenarios and situations (plus an editor) that it will keep you occupied for months and maybe more.

Yep - best thing as well, is that they have some pretty awesome free demos offered on their site for Panzer Campaigns , Panzer Battles, Napoleon etc


and you can also get cut down versions of full games on IOS or Android. (Modern Campaigns, Panzer Campaigns and Civil War)

[Raikkonen]

I like the idea of the JT Campaign Series. The more I think about my question, it's really related to seeing a bunch of tiles on a map (or a 3D map in JT Campaign series case) and trying to figure out a strategy for what to move where, how to attack, etc. I'm usually just moving as many units to an enemy and just trying to hammer away without knowing the nuances of the units and how to best use them. e.g. tank on tank? tank on infantry? infantry on tank? artillery first then hammer away?

BTW, I have all the games mentioned here so far, so I can really start anywhere. I'm trying to build enough of an understanding of how to learn the resources in a game and how best to use them. The brute force method I've been using doesn't strike me as the best approach.

As an example, running through tutorials, I seem to learn how to do things, but not why I'm doing them. So I usually learn basic mechanics of the game, and then the tutorial usually says something like "you can assault, change posture, etc." but I don't really get why I'd do any of those options and in what setting. Maybe I just need more trial and error?

Tom

[Raikkonen]

Any opinion on just forcing myself to fixate on Flashpoint Campaigns, TOAW4 or TotH? So many scenarios for the last two, maybe there are enough small scenarios that just focusing on those two games, with a handful of small scenarios beyond the tutorials would be worthwhile in achieving the two week vacation goal??

[Rosseau]

You've probably combed the forums already, but the AAR below is quite good at illustrating TotH:

tm.asp?m=4506432

TOAW IV has some great AARs too, and while I love Flashpoint, it might not be nitty-gritty enough for you to experiment with tactics, as you don't control individual targeting, etc., as in most HPS games like Squad Battles. Anyway, good luck!

[budd]

Don't think I'd start with either TOAW4 or Flashpoint. There both fine games that I enjoy but TOAW4 has a bit of a learning curve to play effectively and the command delay in Flashpoint may be frustrating for you. Haven't played a bunch of TOTH to have an opinion. If you want to step up from the Panzer Corps, BA, OOB type games the campaign series or panzer battle series would be a next step in my opinion. What about campaign series middle East? I have hard time going back to the old campaign series since they added all the bells and whistles to the middle east version.

[MrsWargamer]

Somehow, combining the word 'easy' to learn with Tigers on the Hunt, a design desiring to be a computer realization of the pinnacle of board gaming complexity seems to be a mistake

ASL is the definition of rules lawyering. Likely the most complicated board game ever created.

I have yet to take the plunge with TotH, but it's mainly a cash reason. Easy is not a term I'd apply to it, any more than I would not use the word 'easy' with Gary's War in the .... series or the World at War title.

[Red2112]

Actually Tigers on the Hunt uses the "Starter Kit" rule set (ASLSK) which is like 12 pages of rules.

Once you know what you can do in each of the 8 turn phases, the rest is done by the game. There´s a handy color-coded chart with the 8 phases and what each side can do in each phase over at the TotH forum. If you learn that, then all you have to do is play the game, the AI will take care of all the numbers.