Okay my interest is peaked

[Zap]

I recently, looked in here, this being a tactical game and commentary from owners of the game have me officially on the fence.

Your, impressions of the game so far/ Its not as complicated as ASL right?

[IronFist00]

I love the game, both the PC adaptation and the board game. Western Civilization Games has shown me a lot by implementing both the PC unique Persistent APs and the board game faithful Classic APs. I love being able to choose which way to play the game on the PC.

I own and play Conflict of Heroes, Band of Brothers, and Combat Commander. I've dabbled in Lock-n-Load and Valor & Victory. I find myself coming back to CoH (and BoB) the most.

Its complexity isn't what ASL is but then I usually don't think complexity equals better or more realistic. A well thought out abstraction can be just as good and much more playable, which in my opinion is the situation with Conflict of Heroes.

[Zap]

I have none of the games you mentioned. A virgin, HA, ha so to speak. Nor do I have the boad game of this game. So I'm going on what owners can present to me. Are there enough sceanios to keep one busy for a while.

Or is playing someone by computer better?

[junk2drive]

I'll like it better when they have something besides East Front. I've played too much EF.

It is a game, not a simulation. I know you like Steel Panthers and if you like board games you should like this game. The lack of leader units puts off some people but the CAP system is OK. What I really like is the flow. And the 3D units and maps.

[Gerry4321]

Hello Zap:

I don't play the boardgame but I have seen the rules and they are not complicated at all compared to ASL. In the computer game, the system does all the calculations for you and shows you the modifiers so you can quickly learn those modifiers.

ASL, imo, uses great rules details to simulate tactical combat and many will thing because of the detail that it does this well. COH uses more abstractions and so far I think it is a very innovative system.

As Paul said the main advantage it has is the great interactive flow. Both players are constantly involved and it plays very well in H2H play.

Gerry

[Wolfe1759]

CoH has about the same level of complexity/detail as Squad Leader rather than ASL. For me this is a very good thing as after playing through the tutorial scenarios you have pretty much got the game rules understood, from that point on you can concentrate on your tactics and playing the game rather than (as for me is the case with ASL) referencing the rulebook or struggling against the system.

CoH has just the right amount of detail where the actions of and differentiation between units feels right on the (virtual) board.

There are 25 scenarios plus a point buy scenario and a scenario editor included in the game and ten or so user made scenarios available on the forum.

[z1812]

What games do you play Zap?

[Richie61]

CoH is NO way near as complicated as SL or ASL. It's a good board game conversion!

I wish it had the following:

1) Leaders. I have the board games, so I can understand the CAP system. I don't like it, but I understand why it's there.

2) PBEM. Having to have both players on the server at the same time to me is tough, but the game needs to be played that way.

3) Better graphics, but I think they are working on it. I like the 2D views like Squad Battles & the Board games. Again, I am old school. [:)]

For the price, it's a good game to try.

[IronFist00]

Hi Richie61 - I know yours is just a wishlist but I wanted to respond anyway.

I agree with your #2 (I love Battle Academy and Panzer Korps PBEM+ ability) but as you mention, it just wouldn't work with the CoH game-flow.

Your #3 is answered in the current beta patch and will be officially when it goes to a released patch. It contains the board game counters and the actual boards in full hi-res detail. It's very nice and I use them all the time. The same situation with full implementation of the Classic AP ruleset, i.e. the board game rules in the same patch.

Finally I actually prefer the abstraction of the CAPs over having a physical leader counter present (along with the system's reduction of CAPs as units are destroyed). I think it fits better with the KISS principle UWE has maintained for the CoH series. For me, this is what keeps CoH getting played both online against friends or at home with the wife compared to Combat Commander. But I understand different strokes for different folks.

[Ratzki]

ORIGINAL: VR_IronFist

...
Finally I actually prefer the abstraction of the CAPs over having a physical leader counter present (along with the system's reduction of CAPs as units are destroyed). I think it fits better with the KISS principle UWE has maintained for the CoH series. For me, this is what keeps CoH getting played both online against friends or at home with the wife compared to Combat Commander. But I understand different strokes for different folks.

I agree, the CAPs and cards do a nice job of representing leadership in the game. I could use with a little more variation in the cards, but am sure this will come as the game evolves.

[Zap]

ORIGINAL: Richie61



2) PBEM. Having to have both players on the server at the same time to me is tough, but the game needs to be played that way.

3) Better graphics, but I think they are working on it. I like the 2D views like Squad Battles & the Board games. Again, I am old school. [:)]

For the price, it's a good game to try.

Yes, the server thing would be difficult. But how about me playing the AI. Enough to keep excitement level high?

Old school here. 2D view works for me. But if 3D is there and it looks good to me i will use it

[Zap]

ORIGINAL: z1812

What games do you play Zap?

Not as many games as i have on my shelf, lol. Steel Panthers, Tillers CS. I've been playing for some years. Lack of more of a variation being played is due to 18 years of long work hours. Just made it hard to fit them in.

[Rtwfreak]

ORIGINAL: Zap

I recently, looked in here, this being a tactical game and commentary from owners of the game have me officially on the fence.

Your, impressions of the game so far/ Its not as complicated as ASL right?

No it's nowhere close to ASL imho. It's more like old Tiller games in the campaign series only down to squad level instead of platoon. It's pretty simple too like Battle Academy just point and click to move and fire. It's colorful I'll give it that if you play with counters but rather small and not much detail if you play with the 3d or isometric units. I'd have to say I much prefer Battle Academy over this as at least Battle Academy has some random maps (user made) and unit selections.

[Richie61]

ORIGINAL: Rtwfreak
I'd have to say I much prefer Battle Academy over this as at least Battle Academy has some random maps (user made) and unit selections.

THIS! Great series, good AI and server play without both people on at the same time! [:)]

[IronFist00]

I love both Conflict of Heroes and Battle Academy (along with Panzer Korps). I do give the nod to the CoH system over BA when played to its fullest (Classic AP mode with Shared Activations and Group Actions). It breaks the IGO-UGO of most games including BA. However I do like the PBEM+ system BA sports but that wouldn't work in CoH to be fair.

You can't go wrong with either game, or both (my preference). All though I do wish BA had more official campaigns that could be played as the Germans (also my preference). That's a solid plus towards CoH for me. Needless to say for that reason along, I cannot wait for BA2. There's only so many times I can play Blitzkrieg.

Oh and I also cannot wait for WCS' "Kursk 1943: Storms of Steel" sequel/expansion (not sure which) to CoH: AtB. I'm drooling at playing with the mid-war infantry and heavy Tanks, especially the Panther G.

[Zap]

Well its been 3 years since I bought a matrix game. Just bought this one today. It seems to fit what I'm looking for. Hoping this will give me as many happy hours of play as CS series did with that purchase. I hope to be saying the same about this game 3 years down the road.

[Jamm]

Welcome aboard Zap, I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice.