Comparison?

[balto]

What is the difference between JT Squad Battles and Campaign series?

I ask because I would have thought Squad Battles would have crushed Campaign in popularity..,but I am pretty sure Squad Battles is kind of dead. So why is Campaign still more popular than SB?

And if I go with WW2 Campaign series.., do I have to be a PC genius to get it to work?

[Zovs]

Well I am no expert on this subject matter but I do that the obvious is that one series is a tactical level game (i.e. squad battles) and the other is an operational level game (i.e. campaigns).

Why would you think that the squad battles series would crush the campaign series?

I think a lot more folks are interested in the operational side of war gaming than the tactical side. I can bear witness to the truth of this from many decades of board war gaming. There are far more operational and strategic level war games then tactical games in print. Essentially the most popular tactical and most successful by the way is Advanced Squad Leader. But that is just one series that has had great success. At any war game convention (other than those specifically designed for ASL) the vast majority of folks that show play operational and strategic level games.

With regards to computer war games I would think this still is true. Only Steel Panthers holds (or has held) the tactical arena like ASL. Sure there are other tactical level games out but none as popular, but operational and strategic level war games are by the score. The most popular to date are the GG War in the East/West and SC WW2/WIE games. Also rising is Warplan and TOAW has been around in one flavor or another since 1998.

Just my passing thoughts.

[balto]

Campaigns is operational?

[Big Ivan]

My two cents since I'm one of the Campaign Series guys on this forum and over at the Blitz Wargaming Club.

I play it almost exclusively and it is tactical with platoons not squads like in Squad Battles. It has direct fire, indirect fire, day & night plus supply channeled through Headquarters units. Units are all in strength points(SP) where 1 SP of infantry is around 5-7 men, 1 SP of towed guns is 1 gun and 1 SP of vehicles is 1 vehicle. It has weather albeit over simplified and even airpower. It covers from start to finish World War II very well Europe and the Far East.

The other game Campaign Series Middle East (CSME) covers the Arab-Israeli conflicts from 1948 thru 1985. In this game you get a feel to see how technology in weaponry improved over the decades across essentially the same game engine.

Both games are good Campaign Series and Squad Battles. But IMO Campaign Series has the larger following.

Hope this helps!

[Zovs]

Oh sorry brain Fart I was thinking of the Campaign series here:

https://johntillersoftware.com/PanzerCampaigns.html

[balto]

Big Ivan, is the AI in JT Campaigns pretty good (not sure what other description to use)? Are there a bunch of high intellect PC tweaks (I am not smart) I need to know to get it to work on a modern PC?

Zov, no problem. Your info on ASL was very interesting, I looked that up and did not realize how dominant that was at events (that were all cancelled this year).

Thank you both

[Scud-from-theblitz.com]

Hi Balto,

I have yet to play against an AI that I thought was good and JTCS is no exception. It shines, however, when playing against an opponent through email. I've never played SB, but I just checked the SB forum at the Blitz and it seems pretty active. I bet they'd bristle a bit if you posted that "...pretty dead" over there. [:D] I'd pay to see it, though: https://www.theblitz.club/message_board ... php?fid=13

As for JTCS working, you just click the installer, but you might have to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (google it for the installer, 32 bit or 64 bit version depending on your computer), only if JTCS doesn't run after first installing.

Scud

[Big Ivan]

ORIGINAL: balto

Big Ivan, is the AI in JT Campaigns pretty good (not sure what other description to use)? Are there a bunch of high intellect PC tweaks (I am not smart) I need to know to get it to work on a modern PC?

Zov, no problem. Your info on ASL was very interesting, I looked that up and did not realize how dominant that was at events (that were all cancelled this year).

Thank you both

balto, I find the A/I in John Tiller Panzer Battles a lot better than the same in John Tillers Campaign Series. In JTCS the original A/I dates back to the early 1990's. Kind of old. But as Scud suggested where JTCS really shines is playing an opponent through PBEM. I'm also sure the development team for the Campaign Series is working feverously to improve the A/I in the new generation of games coming out, namely Campaign Series Vietnam. See the forum above for Sneak Peaks in Vietnam.

There is also a group of guys (over at the Blitz Squad Battles forum I think) that are exploring playing that game and others real time across an open server. It looks like they are having some success with it! That could be a big plus for a lot of games and gamers.

BTW Zov, thanks for your post as well. Don't sweat it, I figured that what you meant.

Cheers all!