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Author Topic: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy  (Read 5304 times)

Undercovergeek

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on: July 10, 2022, 06:22:10 PM
Tim Stone (he of the wargaming section of RPS fame) started his first impressions review with this

‘’Pike & Shot in 2014? Airborne Assault: Red Devils Over Arnhem in 2002? Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord in 2000? Sid Meier’s Gettysburg in 1997?… Give me a moment, cornerites. I’m trying to remember the last time a brush with a new wargame engine left me this excited.’’

The rest of the write up is here

https://tallyhocorner.com/2022/07/second-front-first-impressions-part-i/

I’ll admit the artwork is a bit jarring but I get the impression this game does a lot of things other WW2 titles can’t - needless to say if he’s excited it’s worth considering

It’s on my list




Staggerwing

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Reply #1 on: July 10, 2022, 10:16:16 PM
There is a thread over on a certain other forum that has been following this game's development with one of the developers regularly posting screenshots and stuff. It went kind of dark about half a year ago so I assumed it was hitting some snags. Now it seems that there are Steam keys being mailed out for a two week long open Beta. Good news as the game does look cool and since Steel Tigers is reportedly stuck in dev hel we will have something nice to hold us for now.

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Barthheart

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Reply #2 on: July 11, 2022, 08:26:32 AM
Yep, this has been on my wish list for a long time. It was great to hear that it was in beta. Should be a blast. :bigthumb:

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Sir Slash

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Reply #3 on: July 11, 2022, 10:55:22 AM
 :fingerscrossed:  Fingers crossed it's great.

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Barthheart

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Reply #4 on: January 31, 2023, 10:55:45 AM
Released today!  :groovy:

Who’s in?

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Silent Disapproval Robot

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Reply #5 on: January 31, 2023, 11:31:01 AM
I'm waiting until UK/Commonwealth are added into the mix.



bbmike

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Reply #6 on: January 31, 2023, 12:01:18 PM
If it's anything like the old SSI Soldiers at War (basically XCOM WWII) then count me in!

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Undercovergeek

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Reply #7 on: January 31, 2023, 12:30:11 PM
As per the original post Tim is doing a number of pieces on the game over at THC as opposed to a one shot review

Not in yet but maybe soon



Barthheart

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Reply #8 on: January 31, 2023, 12:58:50 PM
If it's anything like the old SSI Soldiers at War (basically XCOM WWII) then count me in!

It is nothing like that. It’s basically ASL on PC… much better done than Tigers on the Hunt.

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Boyerwulf

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Reply #9 on: February 01, 2023, 09:27:39 AM
 I'm loving it so far. It really is squad leader for the PC. We talked about games replacing other games on Mentioned in Dispatches, this has the potential to do just that with ASL, and other tactical WWII games.
 It has a great tutorial, and an extensive rule book.  AI seems to be competent. Learning all the iconography can be a chore, but is ultimately helpful once you learn it.  It is all turned, and phase based. Tutorial does a decent job of showing how to use the different phases to your advantage.  Game is highly moddable, and I expect a flood of player created scenarios to come out on the STEAM workshop.

 The biggest thing holding this game back at present, and Cyrano will lose his shit over this, is that it's not multiplayer yet (as far as I can tell). The designer did say "While a turn based game is generally well suited to multiplayer, it is essential that we are sure that all the game mechanics work well in a single player atmosphere before adding a multiplayer option".  With further expansions, and improvements, I can really see this being the standard of which other tactical WWII games are compared.



bayonetbrant

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Reply #10 on: February 01, 2023, 11:30:03 AM
I'm loving it so far. It really is squad leader for the PC. We talked about games replacing other games on Mentioned in Dispatches, this has the potential to do just that with ASL, and other tactical WWII games.
 It has a great tutorial, and an extensive rule book.  AI seems to be competent. Learning all the iconography can be a chore, but is ultimately helpful once you learn it.  It is all turned, and phase based. Tutorial does a decent job of showing how to use the different phases to your advantage.  Game is highly moddable, and I expect a flood of player created scenarios to come out on the STEAM workshop.

 The biggest thing holding this game back at present, and Cyrano will lose his shit over this, is that it's not multiplayer yet (as far as I can tell). The designer did say "While a turn based game is generally well suited to multiplayer, it is essential that we are sure that all the game mechanics work well in a single player atmosphere before adding a multiplayer option".  With further expansions, and improvements, I can really see this being the standard of which other tactical WWII games are compared.

sounds like you're well on the way to writing an official review for us :)

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W8taminute

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Reply #11 on: February 02, 2023, 02:22:07 PM
If it's anything like the old SSI Soldiers at War (basically XCOM WWII) then count me in!

SSI's Soldiers at War was a great game!  I really miss it.

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Sir Slash

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Reply #12 on: February 02, 2023, 11:46:35 PM
I got it Day 1 and am enjoying it a lot so far. It's much deeper than what the look of the game would seem. Plus the price is right at under $40 on Steam. And all the soldiers look like the stone heads on Easter Island. Who wouldn't love that?  :biggrin:

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Boyerwulf

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Reply #13 on: February 03, 2023, 08:51:46 AM
Following up with some more observations.

 Not a fan of the game locking scenarios, till you win other scenarios. Some of the scenarios are not very well balanced, and it will take quite a bit of luck to win them.

Weapons seem to break a tad too often. Nothing worse than losing a scenario because the 105mm on your Sherman, and a 60mm mortar with a squad, decide to break permanently on the same turn.

Spotting is pretty straightforward, but who remains hidden after firing, and who doesn't is perplexing.

 That being said, I am still very much enjoying it.



Rekim

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Reply #14 on: February 03, 2023, 09:23:02 AM
Weapons seem to break a tad too often. Nothing worse than losing a scenario because the 105mm on your Sherman, and a 60mm mortar with a squad, decide to break permanently on the same turn.

The odds of a weapon breaking when fired are (generally) 2.77% in ASL. In other words, the result of rolling boxcars.

Some weapons (relatively few) are more susceptible and will malfunction on 11 or 12 (~8%)

In ASL, weapon malfunctions model ammo shortage as well as breakage. There is also the possibility of repair. I haven't made it through all of the tutorials yet, so not sure if this is the case in Second Front.