Wargame of the Year 2008 - the election thread

Since I bought just one wargame this year, I'm going to give it my vote.
That may mean that I don't have a good idea what the competition was
actually offering, but after all, buying a game is a form of voting too!


Close Combat: Wacht Am Rhein

Despite the many flaws of the underlying code which (I'm guessing) is
far too complex to fix, both this game and the earlier Cross of Iron are
great games. Yes, I often end up shouting at my monitor in anger and
grinding my teeth in utter frustration at the brain-dead and cheating
AI, and yes there's a bug somewhere in the code that has thus far
prevented me from finishing a strategic campaign, but the game itself
scratches an itch that I've had since I was a teenager re-enacting
famous battles with miniatures on table-tops.

There just isn't any competition in this niche. Steel Panthers had
something of the same sort of feel but that was turn-based. The
original Combat Mission games showed promise but were ruined by their
inflexible timing. The Close Combat games are/were a wonderful concept
poorly executed - and *damn* I wish somebody would rewrite the game
engine from scratch!


--
"Man will always be Man. We tried so hard to create a society that was
equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbor. But there's
always something to envy: a smile; a friendship; something you don't
have and want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there
will always be rich and poor; rich in gifts - poor in gifts, rich in
love - poor in love." - Comrade Commissar Danilov in "Enemy at the Gates"

Another "thin" entry:


1st place: Panzer Command : Kharkov. The only "true" wargame I bought
this year. A solid entry, even if it STILL hasn't got that special
feel. And I grew really tired of the german voices... The AI is
improving, though. Get it right next time!

2nd place: Armored Brigade, if that qualifies. There certainly was a
lot of updates, and it is interesting to follow Veitikka developing
this. But RELEASED in 2008?

3rd place: Mount and Blade, got it to Xmas and it is fun



Hmmm, I can feel my wargaming interest slowly fading these days. I
guess I'm not up to reading all those detailed rulebooks any more. It
is much easier to jump in a FPS and blast away - I played STALKER a
lot. And Fallout.


-Henius

Here are my votes for 2008:

1 - Birth of America 2 - Wars in America (5 points)

Yes, it's a remake/expansion, but it gave me more pleasure-for-euro than any
other title I bought. This game made me buy books about the wars covered by
the system (I delved for the first time into what the "War of 1812" was
about and how it was fought, finally), and it is overall my wargame of
choice for 2008.

2 - Panzer Command : Kharkov (3 points)

It was the compatibility with the earlier "Winter Storm" that made it.
Simpler than CM:BB, a little more "grand tactic" in its portrayal of the
battlefield, and with good graphics. The PC series is no substitute for an
improved CM, in my book, but it betters anything done by Battlefront after
CM:AK

3 - War Plan Pacific

I played only the demo, for now, but it was enough to have a blast. I'll buy
it in the New Year along with SAS WWII

* * *

NOTES/COMMENTARY

Let's look at my *real* 2008 wargames, shall we?

JT Campaign Series: I started again to play MP with some friends, and I just
love the cleaness of the system and how it allows you co concentrate on
grand-tactical maneuvering while not losing the "flavour" of technical
capabilities of the single units (overmaneuvering German PkwIIIs in the snow
with your T-34s in this game is still, for some reason, more a blast than in
other systems).

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin: Still above and beyond... you know
what )

Hearts of Iron 2 + mods and expansions: Every time I read a book about WWII
from a strategic/economical point of view I fire up this game.

Brigade Combat Team: Old, but clean and to the point. While I love both
TacOps and AATF (and the backward compatibility of the latter), in 2008 it
was BTC that gave me my fix of "Red Storm Rising".

Harpoon Classic Admiral Edition: A shining example about how Harpoon *can*
be coded and maintained (guys, when will you give us MP?). ANW would be the
perfect complement. Amen to that.

The Complete Carriers at War: Yes, the SSG's production from the '90s,
bought last year via NWS. Still the best game on the matter, and way above
the remake.

Highway to the Reich: A classic that never left my HD.

So, except for BoA2, my 2008 was made by old titles. Also, when a *demo*
beats every other title on the map for the third position, you understand
how meager was the year we just left. 2009, however, does seem full of
promises. I'll start with SES WWII.

ADDENDUM

3 - War Plan Pacific (1 point, of course)

On Jan 1, 2:36 am, "eddyster...@hotmail.com" <eddyster....TakeThisOut@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Yup, it's that time of the year again and there's again a Grand Prize
> for you to win : AGEod has graciously offered a copy of one of their
> games to one lucky participant. And to make it absolutely clear :
> voting for their games will *not* increase your chances of winning it
> (*).
>
> The Rules :
>
> 1) 1 (wo)man, 1 post - all votes in the open, no emails.
> 2) The game must have been published in 2008 or late 2007 – in other
> words : if you think a game published late in 2007 didn’t get a fair
> chance last year, feel free to add it.
> 3) Post your 1st, 2nd and 3rd place choices - 1st place gets 5 points,
> 2nd gets 3 points, 3rd gets 1 point.
> 4) Votes must be in before midnight (GMT) January 15th, 2009
> 5) In case of a tie, the award is shared.
> 6) People who for various reasons don't want to post an open vote can
> send me a mail - these votes will *not* be counted for the purpose of
> this election, but I'll post a separate result if the number of
> entrants is significant.
> 7) I've temporarily unplonked a couple of posters so that I see their
> vote as well.
>
> This is what's at stake for the developers - again created by Daniel
> Lamb :
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/25663989@N07/3118676906/
>
> To refresh your memory on what games got published this year :
>
> Montjoie
> Early American Wars : Mexican-American War
> American Civil War : Antietam
> Ancient Warfare : Gallic Wars
> Squad Battles - Winter War
> Origins of World War 2
> Panzer Command : Kharkov
> Clash of Steel II
> Strategic Command 2 - Patton Drives East
> HexKit
> XIII Century
> Gary Grigsby's War Between the States
> Birth of America 2 - Wars in America
> Kharkov : Disaster on the Donets
> World War 2 - Road to Victory
> Combat Mission : Shock Force - Marines Module
> Commander : Napoleon at War
> Ironclads : American Civil War
> Close Combat : Wacht am Rhein
> Squad Battles : The Spanish Civil War
> Modern Air Power: Air War Over the Mideast
> World War One : La Grande Guerre 14-18
> World War II - General Commander - Operation : Watch on the Rhein
> Strategic Command WWII - Pacific Theater
> War Plan Pacific
> Distant Guns : Jutland
>
> If you think I missed one (or several) feel free to add them - this is
> not a list of nominees.
>
> My vote :
>
> As always I'm putting fun before technical merit - but that's just me.
>
> 1st place : War Plan Pacific - no doubt the most fun I had (and
> having) with a wargame this year.
> 2nd place : Panzer Command : Kharkov - got an hour to kill and like
> Russian tanks blowing up in 3D ? - this is your game
> 3rd place : Gary Grigsby's War Between the States - imho technically
> the best wargame produced this year - complex, but not a monster.
>
> Greetz,
>
> Eddy Sterckx
>
> (*) This is how the winner of the AGEod game will be decided :
>
> 1) Every entry/voter is given a random number by me
> 2) When the election is over I zip this list, password protect it and
> send it to Mr. Beretta and everyone else asking for it - without the
> password.
> 3) I'll ask Mr. Giftzwerg to pick and post a number between 1 and ...
> 4) I release the password so Mr. Beretta and everyone else can check
> who won the game.

1. Panzer Command Kharkov

2. Gary Grigsby War Between the States

3. War Plan Pacific

As others have stated, this was not a banner-year for wargames.

AGEOD's World War One

more for it's obvious potential than it's current state.......but when they
fully patch it up, the definitive WWI strategy game.

JUTLAND

my bias is obvious. despite the completely repulsive copy protection,
there's a good game in there.




<eddysterckx RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1bab4c6d-45f1-4841-8127-dfd89f24dc75@r37g2000prr.googlegroups.com...
Hi,

Yup, it's that time of the year again and there's again a Grand Prize
for you to win : AGEod has graciously offered a copy of one of their
games to one lucky participant. And to make it absolutely clear :
voting for their games will *not* increase your chances of winning it
(*).

The Rules :

1) 1 (wo)man, 1 post - all votes in the open, no emails.
2) The game must have been published in 2008 or late 2007 – in other
words : if you think a game published late in 2007 didn’t get a fair
chance last year, feel free to add it.
3) Post your 1st, 2nd and 3rd place choices - 1st place gets 5 points,
2nd gets 3 points, 3rd gets 1 point.
4) Votes must be in before midnight (GMT) January 15th, 2009
5) In case of a tie, the award is shared.
6) People who for various reasons don't want to post an open vote can
send me a mail - these votes will *not* be counted for the purpose of
this election, but I'll post a separate result if the number of
entrants is significant.
7) I've temporarily unplonked a couple of posters so that I see their
vote as well.

This is what's at stake for the developers - again created by Daniel
Lamb :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25663989@N07/3118676906/

To refresh your memory on what games got published this year :

Montjoie
Early American Wars : Mexican-American War
American Civil War : Antietam
Ancient Warfare : Gallic Wars
Squad Battles - Winter War
Origins of World War 2
Panzer Command : Kharkov
Clash of Steel II
Strategic Command 2 - Patton Drives East
HexKit
XIII Century
Gary Grigsby's War Between the States
Birth of America 2 - Wars in America
Kharkov : Disaster on the Donets
World War 2 - Road to Victory
Combat Mission : Shock Force - Marines Module
Commander : Napoleon at War
Ironclads : American Civil War
Close Combat : Wacht am Rhein
Squad Battles : The Spanish Civil War
Modern Air Power: Air War Over the Mideast
World War One : La Grande Guerre 14-18
World War II - General Commander - Operation : Watch on the Rhein
Strategic Command WWII - Pacific Theater
War Plan Pacific
Distant Guns : Jutland

If you think I missed one (or several) feel free to add them - this is
not a list of nominees.

My vote :

As always I'm putting fun before technical merit - but that's just me.

1st place : War Plan Pacific - no doubt the most fun I had (and
having) with a wargame this year.
2nd place : Panzer Command : Kharkov - got an hour to kill and like
Russian tanks blowing up in 3D ? - this is your game
3rd place : Gary Grigsby's War Between the States - imho technically
the best wargame produced this year - complex, but not a monster.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

(*) This is how the winner of the AGEod game will be decided :

1) Every entry/voter is given a random number by me
2) When the election is over I zip this list, password protect it and
send it to Mr. Beretta and everyone else asking for it - without the
password.
3) I'll ask Mr. Giftzwerg to pick and post a number between 1 and ...
4) I release the password so Mr. Beretta and everyone else can check
who won the game.

On Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:36:02 -0800 (PST), "eddysterckx@hotmail.com"
<eddysterckx.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Yup, it's that time of the year again

Goodness gracious, didn't THAT come as a surprise!!!

I only bought the one new release game this year and I started a
couple of scenarios which had to be discontinued as I installed each
of the two patches so far released.

At the moment, (August 1943 game time) playing as German against all
AI players enhanced with +50% PPs (Easy) I have:
+crushed and completely conquered the USSR, (I've never played
EastFront games before)
+left the Med to the Italians (who have been comprehensively chased
out of North Africa) didn't go near Yugoslavia or Greece- too busy and
the PPs weren't worth the effort,
+built the Kriegsmarine up to a mighty force now rivalling the
combined RN&USN surface fleets
+defeated an English amphibious invasion of Denmark
+held an Allied invasion of Norway to a line south of Narvik
and am conducting a successful strategic bombing campaign against the
UK.

Now waiting on an Allied invasion of France BUT!!! I have the Vichy
regime poised politically to join the Axis, probably within six more
months and R&D on Tanks & Artillery is well advanced.

However, most of my gaming time is being spent in TW: Mediaeval II
(one of the games I'm catching up with after buying a new machine at
the beginning of the year) and I have yet to finish TW: Rome, too. But
they're OLD games, aren't they.

So my vote is for WWII:RTV

Most enjoyable.

> To refresh your memory on what games got published this year :
>
> Montjoie
> Early American Wars : Mexican-American War
> American Civil War : Antietam
> Ancient Warfare : Gallic Wars
> Squad Battles - Winter War
> Origins of World War 2
> Panzer Command : Kharkov
> Clash of Steel II
> Strategic Command 2 - Patton Drives East
> HexKit
> XIII Century
> Gary Grigsby's War Between the States
> Birth of America 2 - Wars in America
> Kharkov : Disaster on the Donets
> World War 2 - Road to Victory
> Combat Mission : Shock Force - Marines Module
> Commander : Napoleon at War
> Ironclads : American Civil War
> Close Combat : Wacht am Rhein
> Squad Battles : The Spanish Civil War
> Modern Air Power: Air War Over the Mideast
> World War One : La Grande Guerre 14-18
> World War II - General Commander - Operation : Watch on the Rhein
> Strategic Command WWII - Pacific Theater
> War Plan Pacific
> Distant Guns : Jutland


1) Montjoie
2) Birth of America 2
3) War Plan Pacific

On 2 jan, 02:03, "Rob P" <robertapoll....RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1. CM Shock Force 1.11 - I know this game got released a while back,

Well, that's the problem really - the "patch x.xx got released *this*
year, and now the game rocks" is not good enough to make it a 2008
release. Sorry, but they had their shot for WOTY in 2007.

> 3. Armored Brigade

Although I agree that it's pretty awesome, this game is still in beta
and is not officially released yet. I can imagine it being a very
strong candidate for next year's election though.

So, what do I do now ? Give Panzer Command : Kharkov 3 points, or do
you want to restate your vote ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

On 1 jan, 20:45, Henius <heniu....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> Another "thin" entry:
>
> 1st place: Panzer Command : Kharkov. The only "true" wargame I bought
> this year. A solid entry, even if it STILL hasn't got that special
> feel. And I grew really tired of the german voices... The AI is
> improving, though. Get it right next time!
>
> 2nd place: Armored Brigade, if that qualifies. ?

No - see reply to Rob P.

> 3rd place: Mount and Blade, got it to Xmas and it is fun

Added to the list

Want to restate your vote or do I go with

Panzer Command : 5 points
Mount and Blade : 1 point ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

On 2 jan, 09:18, "The DA" <thedevilsadvoc... RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
> Eddie, what about the 2 expansion packs for EU3, In Nomine and Napoleon's
> Ambition?  Assuming they're eligible,

Released in 2008, so they are eligible.

It's 5 - 3 - 1 points so I'll note you down for

EU3-IN : 5 points
WPP : 3 points

Ok ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

"Giftzwerg" <giftzwerg999 DeleteThis @NOSPAMZ.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.23c6a43393977d7798968d@news-east.giganews.com...
> In article <1bab4c6d-45f1-4841-8127-dfd89f24dc75
> @r37g2000prr.googlegroups.com>, eddysterckx DeleteThis @hotmail.com says...
>
>> Yup, it's that time of the year again and there's again a Grand Prize
>> for you to win : AGEod has graciously offered a copy of one of their
>> games to one lucky participant. And to make it absolutely clear :
>> voting for their games will *not* increase your chances of winning it
>> (*).
>

Looks like I didn't buy that many current wargames last year. Here are my
votes:

1. CM Shock Force 1.11 - I know this game got released a while back, but the
new patch really does make this game play like a dream. I've been playing
this one solidly between my coding!

2. Panzer Command Karkov - A great game, though the series took me a little
while to get into due to my CM bias. This is a good game, only limited by
the provided maps.

3. Armored Brigade - Someone else mentioned this one. I have the v495
version released last year and it is my first contact with this game. It is
awesome! Everything works so well and is easy to use. All it lacks are a
scenario editor and an OOB editor. The former is very important as one can
only play random battles at the moment which seems a bit of a waste of the
system.

Looking forward to many games next year, most to be released by Matrix. Here
is hoping that they see the light of day next year!

RobP

On 2 jan, 10:29, "M. Ziegler" <ziegle... DeleteThis @gmx.de> wrote:
> Im waiting for WWII-SAS (as digital download
> if possible).

It's out now - got the shipping confirmation mail this morning. Looks
like 2009 has taken a flying start.

As to digital download : +1 here - S&H, Customs and Burn installer to
CD are pretty high on the list of things I don't like paying for.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx