IslandInland
Posts: 716
Joined: 12/8/2014 From: YORKSHIRE Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer Just saying, I bought a couple of titles during the D-Day sale (many thanks), that started at 12 bucks and ended up like 7 bucks (Canadian). Battle of the Bulge and Drive on Moscow are great little games. I gave both an install and proceeded to clumsily play a few minutes of each. I think they are potentially a lot of fun. Compare them with some powerhouses of our hobby, such as Gary's War in the East and War in the West, and well, yeah, you get massively detailed, brutally complex, highly involved massive doses of time investment. Some serious manuals to read, and quite the printouts too. I won't say they are not worth the money to anyone wanting them. But, if I could undo my purchases, and I have made quite a few impulsive purchases too, I'd gladly say "nah, what was I thinking? I don't have the time factors needed any more than I have the table space required for my monster sized board game wargames. War in the East is about as sizable a 'doable' challenge, as setting up the physical product Fire in the East. I paid some serious cash to end up with War in the East just the base game purchase. That game cost me more than Battle of the Bulge, Drive on Moscow, TOAW IV, and Kursk Battle at Prochorovka. I've pondered Order of Battle DLCs (nice prices). But, it seems too similar in game style to my Panzer Corps collection. Frankly, I think my money was better used on the smaller, more manageable/playable, more completable designs regardless of whether they might be lighter on hyper levels of detail and simulation. I have War in the East and War in the West, as well as World in Flames, installed on my system. To be honest though, the thoughts in my head to the effect "oh I'm going to get around to them eventually" sound like the same bullshyte I hear in my head when thinking of my large board game wargames. I like the Panzer Corps design for the ease of getting into them. I like the Battle Academy design, for the ease of getting into them as well. I can sit down, and play the game, and likely have the current activity conclude with a completed game session. When I first got into wargames in the 70s, a wargame wasn't something that used an entire day to play a turn. I want more of what Battle of the Bulge or Kursk Battle at Prochorovka is offering. I'm currently waiting on Steel Tigers. I'm worried that it's going to try and beat Steel Panthers a design that was polished for 20 years, on its opening release. I'm not sure of the opening price, likely in the 60 buck range. To be honest, I'd rather buy it the way Order of Battle is sold. A free base game, and a whole lot of DLC goodies for 10 bucks or so. I'm beginning to shy away from the 80 dollar mega games. I'm even getting shy with the 45 dollar games on sale for 35 bucks. I'm getting tired I suppose, of mega designs that require mega time, and mega commitment just to begin playing them. I've got more than a few titles I'd gladly sell if it was even possible. But we all know, once registered, it's yours for good. Part of me wants to throw out the printed manuals/books and delete the installers, and just pretend I never bought them. Ive bought a number of the tablet-based wargames from Joni Nuutinen. The only real downside is once you get over the thrill of having handheld wargames, you realize, it's just no fun looking at a screen less than 10 inches in size. And carrying around a 10"+ sized tablet is a lot of weight in a purse. Are you designers listening out there? Stop pretending your wargame needs to be the most complete, most detailed mega experience. I'd rather you made 5 decent sized simpler titles you could conceivably use a common software basis for, and charge 15 bucks for, than just one title trying to be perfect for 50 bucks. And it's basic math, 5x15 is more money too. There are a LOT of good battles to choose from. I'd be getting Desert Fox from Shenandoah if not for the fact it's only an iOS title. I might grab Korsun from Yobo even though the battle isn't one of my favourites routinely. I'm planning to start insisting on both Shenandoah and Yobo to release more content. I'm going to see if Joni Nuutinen might do something to make his titles into a PC release. More drama.
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I saw generals create imaginary "masses of manoeuvre" with a crayon and dispose of enemy concentrations, that were on the ground and on the map, with an eraser. Who was I to criticise them, hero as I was of a hundred "Chinagraph wars" of make-believe?
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