Combat Values

[Perelandra67]

developers have said they don't want this to be a "spreadsheet driven game" so I think we just have to respect that and play on, or move on.
As an ASL enthusiast, I think the comparison between totH and ASL is really going to hurt TotH. I think this thread has shown that a lot people want combat values and such information but the developers just aren't going there. While i think I might move on, I want to applaud the developers for creating this game.

[Gerry4321]

Try using the VASL mod by JMass. Lot of data on the counters to help you.Don't know if the game is implemented the exact same way but the MPs for tanks are working out so far.

ORIGINAL: proflui

Can some asl expert create an excel spreadsheet to show all the movement points for squad and afv in different command mode, plus the terrain movement cost. I do not play asl and in this state it is very difficult to play. Thanks.

[iPhoneAppz]

ORIGINAL: Vinya

Being an active ASL player myself, I find pretty lame not having the actual values and rules governing combat in a wargame. I can play the game with my ASLRB so I can refer to the actual ASL rules, but not knowing how those rules have been implemented makes that also quite unuseful.

If the problem is ASL copyright infringement, then this game should have never been implemented or sold.

just my 2 cents...

I would like to do that but I can't locate a copy of the ASL rulebook. I agree with you in that I shouldn't have to get an ASL rulebook to understand the rules of this game. I think that the game should present this information to the player, or the rulebook should contain this information.

[keas66]

I am exactly the opposite . I am enjoying the ASL feel as well as trying to interpret what is happening in terms of the ASLRB . Things keep happening that I wonder why and then I re-read the rules and go aha ! .That gives me a very great feeling of enjoyment with the product .

[proflui]

But not everyone play ASL and have the rule book on hand. So if anyone can post it as a "strategy guide" it would be greatly appreciated by someone like me.

[RockKahn]

I'm using the Undo button, or more accurately <Save Game, End Scenario, Load Game>. [:)]

It's the only way I know of, currently, to get an idea if a unit can make it to a specific hex, and other things. It's a pain, but sounds like it's WAD. It kind of defeats FOW sometimes, but it's about all I can do until some unit data is released or I learn the game better.

Maybe by the time I get through the tutorial scenarios, my Undo-ing won't be necessary and it'll become a little more intuitive. I have my doubts though.

[surfcandy]

I would like to just see a little more combat info like possible movement distance at movement start.


I definitely don't want a game as complicated as ASL. I don't want to compare this game to ASL or any other game.I sold all my modules on Ebay 10 yrs.ago because for me it was a ridiculous amount of rules and not equal to amount of fun.

[Monkie]

Interesting discussion and how we each approach a "wargame". I always looked at the numbers on the counters as simply being the system by which results were obtained, either you created a result against your target or you didn't.

Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

I see gaming as a historical narrative as opposed to a chess game with winning moves and absolutes. I guess that is why I never got into the scenario challenges in the old General magazine from AH.

[blackcloud6]

ORIGINAL: Monkie

Interesting discussion and how we each approach a "wargame". I always looked at the numbers on the counters as simply being the system by which results were obtained, either you created a result against your target or you didn't.

Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

I see gaming as a historical narrative as opposed to a chess game with winning moves and absolutes. I guess that is why I never got into the scenario challenges in the old General magazine from AH.

I agree with this. I think TotH is refreshing in that it casues one to think tactically, not mathematically. And you have to learn what your units can and cannot do, and that is including how far they can move, run, shoot etc.

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: Vinya
I find pretty lame not having the actual values and rules governing combat in a wargame.

+1

This alone has convinced me not to buy the game and I'm a guy who owns all the ASL titles along with dozens of extra duplicate counter sheets of units so we could play monster scenarios.

Call me paranoid but something nefarious seems to be afoot with such a blatant attempt to hide critical game data from players. There is no game play advantage to hiding the data and it actually makes the game far less user friendly by hiding it, so the decision to hide data must have had something to do with copyright concerns.

This would be a first for Matrix and they lose a lot of respect in my book if they were knowingly involved in this kind of escapade. If it is a copyright issue, then do the right thing, pay the license fee to the legal owners and make the game with the info on the counters as it should have been made...

Jim

[chrisleko]

ORIGINAL: blackcloud6

ORIGINAL: Monkie

Interesting discussion and how we each approach a "wargame". I always looked at the numbers on the counters as simply being the system by which results were obtained, either you created a result against your target or you didn't.

Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

I see gaming as a historical narrative as opposed to a chess game with winning moves and absolutes. I guess that is why I never got into the scenario challenges in the old General magazine from AH.

I agree with this. I think TotH is refreshing in that it casues one to think tactically, not mathematically. And you have to learn what your units can and cannot do, and that is including how far they can move, run, shoot etc.

It's really hard to think tactically when you don't know how far your units can move or what their combat capabilities are. The more I try to play the more I realize I can't without this information.

If I have to open up a blank map and put units on it in the editor, then go play it and see how far I can move them in one turn just to see what their movement value is, it's a big problem.

I've played the first tutorial scenario a few times and getting stuck in the open because I've run out of movement points and didn't know it is troublesome. Not knowing if I should hang out in fields or the forest because I don't know the cover bonuses is an issue with me. I can't think tactically when I'm given no info.

I had really high hopes for this game. I was craving a board-game like experience in a PC wargame. I love the scale, the map and mission editor is great, but the UI is just obtrusive to me actually playing. Sad to say, but it was easier for me to understand combat and decisions in War in the West than in this so far.

[Gerry4321]

I would really consider using the VASL mod. So far the data on the counters is a good match I think. Units have 4 movement points (6 with a leader) - costs 1 to move into most hexes, woods and bldgs cost 2, grain costs 1.5.

The tank MPs seem to be accurate in TotH. Just a thought.

[Storm72]

ORIGINAL: Monkie

Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

This is how I like to play as well.
For me its more fun to push counters - move - fire - be shot at - get pummeled or do some pummeling than poring over charts, graphs, ledgers, tables and flipping through hundreds of pages of rules to see what may or may not happen.
[:)]

[Angiel]

ORIGINAL: Gerry
.....Units have 4 movement points (6 with a leader) - costs 1 to move into most hexes, woods and bldgs cost 2, grain costs 1.5......

Yes, it is so.
Plus there's a bonus for road movement (+ 1 hex), and if it moves together with a leader (+2 hex). If it moves together with a leader and by road +3 hex.
Now we have to understand the combat ratio.
But was the movement such a big secret can not be revealed by the authors?

[Richie61]

ORIGINAL: Monkie
Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

This [:)]

[qwright38]

Completely agree with DJE, I would think if this game could be an exact copy of ASL it would but it can't be as that would breach copyright. By changing little things that can be either worked out or fixed by mods we can have the game we want.

Great game!

[:)]

[Vinya]

I totally agree with people saying they dont want to know wheter they have a 43% or a 12% chance to succeed in a given action, but we should have a good introduction to game mechanics...

For example, in ASL there is a fairly complex table (ordnance TH) that manages the bonus and penalties that have to be applied when ordnance shoots against something. This table has 23 firer based and 18 target based modifications. Some of this modifications include the number of MP the firer has seen another moving vehicle. If you shoot a moving target when it 'pops' in your view, you have to apply +4 to the die roll (2*6 sided dies, 2-12, the lower the better), while having a target adquired can provide -1 or -2 bonus. Not knowing how this modifiers work WILL cripple your chances of hitting anything and you will be wasting ammo (if you dont use regular AP) and shooting oportunities.

It is also very disapointing not having basic information on the UI, like how many MP you have used on a vehicle and how many you have left. Did any tanker in WW2 not know how far their tank could how and how long it would take? Those vital tactical details you should know before moving a tank (or any other unit) as you could get struck out of MP in a position the enemy will find and kill you. As it makes no sense shooting against an enemy you cannot effectively engage.

ASL is a very complex set of rules. There is no way to play if you dont know those rules (guess nobody likes being beated repeatedly because you dont know how to do it better). I am not saying we should have all the information, but we should have a lot more than what the game provides at the moment.

Regards

[Peter Fisla]

ORIGINAL: Monkie

Interesting discussion and how we each approach a "wargame". I always looked at the numbers on the counters as simply being the system by which results were obtained, either you created a result against your target or you didn't.

Never did I look at the numbers on the counter and think "Well my 76L has a 23% chance to hit if I drive it within 5 hexes of the side armor facing of the Panther giving me a 44.5% chance of penetrating hit... etc etc" I always looked at it as "I need to get a flank shot at that Panther so my infantry have a fighting chance of stopping this attack and if not Sgt.Johnson's squad is in big trouble in the village".

I see gaming as a historical narrative as opposed to a chess game with winning moves and absolutes. I guess that is why I never got into the scenario challenges in the old General magazine from AH.

Yes, this how I look at it was well...the historical narrative is what I was looking for.

[iPhoneAppz]

ORIGINAL: Vinya

I totally agree with people saying they dont want to know wheter they have a 43% or a 12% chance to succeed in a given action, but we should have a good introduction to game mechanics...

For example, in ASL there is a fairly complex table (ordnance TH) that manages the bonus and penalties that have to be applied when ordnance shoots against something. This table has 23 firer based and 18 target based modifications. Some of this modifications include the number of MP the firer has seen another moving vehicle. If you shoot a moving target when it 'pops' in your view, you have to apply +4 to the die roll (2*6 sided dies, 2-12, the lower the better), while having a target adquired can provide -1 or -2 bonus. Not knowing how this modifiers work WILL cripple your chances of hitting anything and you will be wasting ammo (if you dont use regular AP) and shooting oportunities.

It is also very disapointing not having basic information on the UI, like how many MP you have used on a vehicle and how many you have left. Did any tanker in WW2 not know how far their tank could how and how long it would take? Those vital tactical details you should know before moving a tank (or any other unit) as you could get struck out of MP in a position the enemy will find and kill you. As it makes no sense shooting against an enemy you cannot effectively engage.

ASL is a very complex set of rules. There is no way to play if you dont know those rules (guess nobody likes being beated repeatedly because you dont know how to do it better). I am not saying we should have all the information, but we should have a lot more than what the game provides at the moment.

Regards

Because of this, I'm on the hunt for a PDF of the ASL rulebook. If this game implements the ASL rules, I'd like to have the actual rules/tables required to play the game.

[mainsworthy]

you only need a couple of small charts, I don't know if its included in the vassal mod at vassalengine site