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Author Topic: Operational-level sc-fi wargames?  (Read 6031 times)

bayonetbrant

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on: July 27, 2020, 04:44:04 PM
Or, OCS IN SPAAAAAAAACE!


Operational level games in the sci-fi realm can be tough, b/c a lot of the 'cool' sci-fi stuff like jet packs and hovertanks get pretty abstracted once you start aggregating companies into battalions.

This is one reason why the old Mayfair Games' Hammer's Slammers game felt more like "Panzerblitz with puzzle boards" than an actual Slammers game.

The old TSR microgame Revolt on Antares ended up depositing those special abilities into the leader counters that were on the table.


Most of the 'recent' sic-fi combat games seem to be minis games that are 1:1 figure ratios, or big space fleet actions, like Polyversal or the Star Wars space shootout games.

Outside of BattleTroops I don't know that we've had a solid operational-level sci-fi wargame since before I was in high school.



Did I miss any out there?  Are we just not going to see any b/c they don't really make sense for the genre?  Or is everyone just too toy-obsessed?
« Last Edit: August 15, 2020, 09:25:08 PM by bayonetbrant »

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Silent Disapproval Robot

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Reply #1 on: July 27, 2020, 06:48:42 PM
Toys are fun!  Operational level stuff is not.



Barthheart

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Reply #2 on: July 27, 2020, 07:09:25 PM
Federation and Empire is a very deep operational sci-fi war game.

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #3 on: July 27, 2020, 07:13:30 PM
Federation and Empire is a very deep operational sci-fi war game.

And it's how many years old?   :whistle:

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mirth

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Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 07:15:59 PM
Federation and Empire is a very deep operational sci-fi war game.

And it's how many years old?   :whistle:

Oh that's a disqualifier   :idiot2:

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #5 on: July 27, 2020, 07:28:27 PM
Part of the point was these things don't really exist at all today.

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mirth

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Reply #6 on: July 27, 2020, 07:37:14 PM
Part of the point was these things don't really exist at all today.

Federation Commander does really exist today.


http://www.federationcommander.com/

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #7 on: July 27, 2020, 07:57:04 PM
It's almost like you're trying to miss the point

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mirth

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Reply #8 on: July 27, 2020, 08:01:15 PM
Why ask a question if you've already made up your mind about the answer? Just so you can be snarky?

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #9 on: July 27, 2020, 08:41:22 PM
Was legitimately asking two different questions

1) is there sufficient differentiation in the sci-fi aspect of operational level games to actually make them feel like a sci-fi games instead of "OCS a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away"

2) are there any operational level sci-fi games that have come out in the last 20 years that aren't toy-based minis games?


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bbmike

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Reply #10 on: July 27, 2020, 09:16:46 PM

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mirth

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Reply #11 on: July 27, 2020, 10:35:06 PM

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #12 on: July 27, 2020, 10:50:52 PM
I was asking the wider audience to see what their thoughts were

Somehow, that really didn't seem like a crime

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mirth

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Reply #13 on: July 27, 2020, 11:10:06 PM
Your snark isn't a crime. We've all seen it plenty.

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ojsdad

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Reply #14 on: July 28, 2020, 12:58:06 PM
Not sure, but Starfire may have operational components to it.  And it's still getting updates and new editions. 

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