Armchair Dragoons Forums

Wargaming => The Modern World => Topic started by: Undercovergeek on July 10, 2022, 06:22:10 PM

Title: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Undercovergeek 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

Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Staggerwing 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart 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:
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Sir Slash on July 11, 2022, 10:55:22 AM
 :fingerscrossed:  Fingers crossed it's great.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart on January 31, 2023, 10:55:45 AM
Released today!  :groovy:

Who’s in?
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 31, 2023, 11:31:01 AM
I'm waiting until UK/Commonwealth are added into the mix.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: bbmike 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!
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Undercovergeek 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
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Boyerwulf 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: bayonetbrant 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 :)
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: W8taminute 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Sir Slash 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:
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Boyerwulf 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Rekim 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.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Sir Slash on February 03, 2023, 11:58:05 AM
Yes, weapons can be repaired and put back into operation or not and remain broken. Not sure about ammo limitations. Weapons can also be captured and used if the units are the correct type, crews for guns, squads for MG's and mortars, Leaders for single weapons--bazooka for instance. However not all the weapons abilities maybe available such as limits to type of ammo.

Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart on February 04, 2023, 11:48:14 AM
Having fun with this. It's really well done. Some warts to be polished off but nothing that stops the fun.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Double Deuce on February 04, 2023, 08:58:49 PM
Having fun with this. It's really well done. Some warts to be polished off but nothing that stops the fun.

 I've been wondering about how bug free this game might be (was disappointed with "Tigers on the Hunt" another SL/ASL type clone. Alot of the complaints I see appear to be from people who have never played a tactical board wargame, much less SL/ASL. At least if the developer is going to actively tweak it, that would be a good sign. Looking forward to more feedback. 
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart on February 04, 2023, 10:29:35 PM
Having fun with this. It's really well done. Some warts to be polished off but nothing that stops the fun.

 I've been wondering about how bug free this game might be (was disappointed with "Tigers on the Hunt" another SL/ASL type clone. Alot of the complaints I see appear to be from people who have never played a tactical board wargame, much less SL/ASL. At least if the developer is going to actively tweak it, that would be a good sign. Looking forward to more feedback. 

I haven't come across any bugs. There maybe some need of scenario tweaking/balancing, but everything works the way it should. I read off one bug in the saving of progress during campaigns not working correctly but the Dev says he's on it.
To me, this game plays smoother than Tigers on the Hunt. Just feels better.

Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Sir Slash on February 04, 2023, 10:52:45 PM
Yeah, I had one, just one, instance of the mouse cursor disappearing briefly from the screen. It was interacting with the objects on the screen but was just not visible for a minute. Happened two or three times but came right back on immediately after. It was during the tutorial where you're trying to capture the enemy soldiers and I was spinning the camera around and in & out trying to see where the stairs were at in the buildings. Probably just a camera spinning thing. Otherwise, no problems here. Also the AI does it's turns very quickly, almost too quickly sometimes. So no need to sit and wait for it to get done with it's part.  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Double Deuce on February 05, 2023, 01:37:57 PM
 Speaking of the AI, since it's a solo player game . . . challenging/predicable?
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Barthheart on February 05, 2023, 02:04:07 PM
It's pretty good. It does make, what I think at the time are, some questionable moves sometimes but overall it seems OK. I'd say above average. At least what I've seem so far.
Title: Re: Second Front WW2 TBS strategy
Post by: Sir Slash on February 05, 2023, 11:26:49 PM
I agree. I won my first scenario last night, "The Farmhouse", Ger. vs Russ. The LOS Tool is a must and so easy to use, just hit the 'F' key and move the courser over any hex to see what is visible from there. It almost felt like cheating a little. I made one huge mistake by moving into a hex visible by the enemy and they routed 2 squads and a leader with MG fire.  :doh:  But I recovered and won in the end. After I hit the, 'A Few More Turns' button and was surprised to see the Russians rally and make a come back after the Victory Location over the next several turns before I was able to totally eliminate them. It was great fun.