Couple of Questions

[JudgeDredd]

I'm looking for some info on this game, please...

• Do you see your planes "take off", fly to target, approach target or simply assign flights, send them on their way, watch some stats and see the results at the end?
• Is there any in game sounds (especially radio chatter)?

Basically, I'm asking if this plays anything like the Wings Over Vietnam game from HPS (haven't played it, but get the gist of it's play mode hence the questions above).

Thx for the feedback.

[Terminus]

You pick a target for the campaign day, assign pilots to the mission, arm the planes and start the mission. On the way in and out, random events can occur that affect your flight, like being bounced by enemy fighters or encountering bad weather.

Once at the target, you assign your planes to an approach vector (there's 8, I believe), fight your way past air defences and enemy planes to the target, which is in the middle of the box, and destroy it. You've got four turns, each of four phases, to get the job done once you arrive at the target.

There's sound in the game, but it's limited to whooshes and explosions. Anything you need to know gets shown as text.

[Umbriel]

I think he want to know if there is some "animation" or video inside the game.

For example : see a hornet launch at the beginning of the missing. Or a carrier landing at the end of the mission.

[StormcloudCreations]

There is a little bit of radio chatter type sound, gun/missile fire sounds, and explosions in the game, but not any "video" really...we didn't think it helped the game and it ended up something that would slow down the game anyway in the long run. There's some animation (explosions when you destroy something, animation that plays between some phases too). It's mostly a fun brain game. [:)]

[bssybeep]

Nice game.  I always wanted to try out the HL2 boardgame but didn't feel like dealing with the admin part of the game.  So the PC version with AI is right up my alley.  One nice addition (related to graphics) would be when you are arming your Hornets the Hornet graphic actually reflects your installed stores.  That shouldn't be to hard to implement, but would add greatly to the presentation.

[JudgeDredd]

mmm...not sure. For £14.99 it's almost worth a punt...but with War over Vietnam, you get to see your planes ingress, attack and agress...much like how one might view it in ATC, but in a simplified way.

But with postage, that's £25...I've always said...if only HPS had online delivery, they'd be richer and I'd be happier.

This one might just tip it because I can download.

[Southpaw Samurai]

ORIGINAL: bssybeep

Nice game.  I always wanted to try out the HL2 boardgame but didn't feel like dealing with the admin part of the game.  So the PC version with AI is right up my alley.  One nice addition (related to graphics) would be when you are arming your Hornets the Hornet graphic actually reflects your installed stores.  That shouldn't be to hard to implement, but would add greatly to the presentation.

I concur. That would've been nice... half thought it was showing me what my birds looked like until I noticed the bombs on my pure ATA plane. While easy to do graphically, I suppose there would be potential issues both with loadouts looking logical, especially since the game uses a weight point system as opposed to a complex exact weight/drag/etc calculation. It could've worked like (if I recall correctly) Falcon 3 where you clicked on hardpoints and assigned ordnance to each, adding and subtracting until you got something that worked, but Hornet Leader has its boardgame roots and, more importantly, seems to be designed around simplicity of design, which it does well without actually being simple.

I haven't gotten to play HL much yet, given that I'm supposed to be performing my normal job right now and not coordinating my squadron's strikes (much less posting about such [:-]), but so far it seems like a lot of fun and exciting. It's all visually abstracted, so it's no Flight Commander 2, Achtung Spitfire!, or (on some levels) even Down in Flames if people need to see the action. With a little imagination (which many board/war gamers have), you don't miss it, given the game's style.


Given this topic and the one further down about how similar HL would be to Flight Commander 2, however, I hope maybe some developers or would-be developers notice that there seems to be at least some demand for a good, graphical, tactical air combat game (with a strategic and squadron managerial level, of course) in the same vein as FC2, OTR, or AS! Peronally, I'd bite whether it was WW1, WW2, early/late Cold War, or modern. In all honesty, I'd even go for a sci-fi one like the original Renegade Legion: Interceptor.

[bssybeep]

"Given this topic and the one further down about how similar HL would be to Flight Commander 2, however, I hope maybe some developers or would-be developers notice that there seems to be at least some demand for a good, graphical, tactical air combat game (with a strategic and squadron managerial level, of course) in the same vein as FC2, OTR, or AS! Peronally, I'd bite whether it was WW1, WW2, early/late Cold War, or modern. In all honesty, I'd even go for a sci-fi one like the original Renegade Legion: Interceptor. "
 
oooh, "Renegade Legion: Interceptor" I remember that game, spent many an hour role-playing and leveling up my squadron.  Remember, the neat ship data cards that came with the game?  Each ship had an index sized card with stats and detailed illustration.  I would also purchase an updated graphical, tactical air combat game. 

[Veldor]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

I'm looking for some info on this game, please...

• Do you see your planes "take off", fly to target, approach target or simply assign flights, send them on their way, watch some stats and see the results at the end?
• Is there any in game sounds (especially radio chatter)?

Basically, I'm asking if this plays anything like the Wings Over Vietnam game from HPS (haven't played it, but get the gist of it's play mode hence the questions above).

Thx for the feedback.

The game is a lot more fun than it might look like in the screenshots. Personally I'd call it more of a strategy game as it is a bit abstract. Given the low price I think its win-win if your at all interested in the topic. Haven't been able to put it down myself...

[Dan Verssen]

I don't know about other people, but for me, the draw of the game is the time and thought investment I make in every mission, and then seeing how it comes out.
 
At each step, I try and make good decisions concerning which target to attack, which pilots to take, how to arm them, and finally how to tactically resolve the mission.
 
The fun is then seeing my plan work, or seeing it go askew and trying to get it back on track. In the worst missions the challenge becomes getting my guys out of there in one piece so that the entire campaign isn't wrecked by one bad mission.
 
I think Veldor is right when he says the fun of the game doesn't come across in the screenshots. Flying a tough mission, getting knocked around by defenders and scoring all but one hit on the target is very stressful not just for my pilots, but also for me the player. With all weapons expended, I then need to decide to bug-out or send them in at low altitude with cannons blazing for one last pass. To send them in and, against the odds, destroy the target is much more exciting than the screenshots can ever convey.

[JudgeDredd]

Well, I've just read that the War over Vietnam dows not give you the ability to choose aircraft and loadout, that the missions start with you in the air en route to target....I do NOT like that aspect of it, so I reckon I'll pick this up

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Well, I've just read that the War over Vietnam dows not give you the ability to choose aircraft and loadout, that the missions start with you in the air en route to target....I do NOT like that aspect of it, so I reckon I'll pick this up

Both restrictions in WoV have the same source, in that you start as the scenario was set up for you to start. Actually, starting with aircraft on the ground would have no relevance in gameplay terms. You can change load-outs (there's rarely, if ever, a benefit from doing so), but only by editing the scenario (which is easy, particularly in that respect).

The big fault with game IMHO is that there isn't a whole planning/ strategic layer there. It would have been a whole lot more fun if you had just been given (or decide on your own) targets and plan the attack yourself as part of the game proper. The planning and co-ordination would actually have been the heart of such a game, the RTS bit (in in the broadest sense of the term) is just watching the plan come together - or not, as the case may be.

I found WoV diverting for a while, but there is nowhere near the longevity of, say, Tiller's Civil War stuff. WoV and HL are very different sort of games, but as far as I can tell without having played HL (on my Christmas list, chaps) you are making the right call.