New boardgames

[Berkut]

I like it, but want to restart our campaign now that I know what I'm doing. 

Then just say so.

[CountDeMoney]

Any of you guys have any experience with GMT's "Combat Commander" series?  I want opinions.

[Berkut]

Any of you guys have any experience with GMT's "Combat Commander" series?  I want opinions.

I like it - it is pretty fun. Very chaotic, which is kind of cool, but it doesn't feel very "real" a lot of the time.

[Habbaku]

Any of you guys have any experience with GMT's "Combat Commander" series?  I want opinions.

I recommend CC : Pacific over the earlier iterations.  More fun to be had, I think, as the action builds up a lot faster and there are more "neat" things in the decks.

[Habbaku]

I like it, but want to restart our campaign now that I know what I'm doing. 

Then just say so.

Burdett wouldn't play any more if we started over and you know it.

[frunk]

Only played CC:E but the chaos is a lot of fun once you get used to it.

[dps]

Just bought Twilight in the East, but it won't be delivered for a few weeks.

My next game I just got to have is The Killing Ground, but people seem generally reluctant to give up their copies...

You should have gotten March to Victory/Over There and played WWI in the West instead.  Of course, I'm biased on that, and MtV is out-of-print, so you'd have to get a copy on e-bay or something.  OTOH, OT is playable without MtV, so it's still a good buy even if you can't get MtV.  And you get the campaigns in Africa and Pershing Expedition, too.

[Delirium]

Is that the insanely detailed WW1 game that makes Twilight in the East look like Snakes and Ladders?

[CountDeMoney]

Is that the insanely detailed WW1 game that makes Twilight in the East look like Snakes and Ladders?

Yes.  MTV/OT is standard Europa fare;  the counter density is so thick, you can actually see soldiers going over the top if you look closely enough.  There's more offmap charts than CENTCOM uses, and I think Beglium is 1:1 scale.

[dps]

Is that the insanely detailed WW1 game that makes Twilight in the East look like Snakes and Ladders?

Yes.  MTV/OT is standard Europa fare;  the counter density is so thick, you can actually see soldiers going over the top if you look closely enough.  There's more offmap charts than CENTCOM uses, and I think Beglium is 1:1 scale.

Lol.  Belgium is actually at 16 miles to the hex, just like the rest of the European maps.  (The non-European maps are at 64 miles to the hex.)

I don't actually ave Twilight in the East, so I can't make a direct comparison, but my impression is that The Great War series (which so far is just MtV/OT) overall is more complex, though basic combat resolution is more straightforward than in Twilight in the East. Combat in TGW series has tons of modifiers, but except for the artillery rules, 90% of the time, the only ones you have to deal with are the ones for terrain, fortifications, and supply, which is pretty standard wargame stuff.  Well, national will, too, but that only changes occasionally, so it's not that big a factor.  Most of the complexity is in the production and replacement systems, and there's a simplified production system that I'd recommend if you're playing one of the scenarios and not the full war.   And you can play the full war in the West with the MtV/OT package if you want, and it doesn't necessarily end in 1918--there are hypothetical OBs to play past then if the Central Powers haven't collapsed yet (though of course, it's possible that they'll collapse earlier, or even win in 1914 by taking out France).

The advanced air rules are pretty complex (basically Europa air rules, but more detailed), but there are very few air units until late in the game, so you can kind of ease into them, and they're optional anyway--the basic air rules are pretty simple.

There's a 3-tiered naval system.  The basic system is really simple;  it doesn't use any counters and just gives the Allies some transport capacity and a little bit of naval gunfire support.    The intermediate naval game uses counters to represent groups of ships, and is fairly complex, though if the players are smart, the High Seas Fleet will just stay in harbor and the Allies will keep everything except their transports and escorts on patrol/dedicated reastion in case the Germans sortie.  (A daring and very lucky German player can really screw up the British by coming out to fight and beating the Royal Navy, but it's a huge gamble.)  The advanced naval rules go to individual ship counters for captial ships, but it's still in design and will be an expansion (and propbably the last thing releases in the series, or close to it).

Beyond that, there's rules for everything.  If it played a part in WWI, even marginally, it's probably in the game.  Includiing, but not limited to:  cavalry charges (usually a bad idea even in 1914, and almost always a really bad idea by 1918), gas warfare, engineering and trenches (d'uh),  irregular units and guerilla warfare (mostly restircted to Africa), leadership,  early tank warfare, zepplins, observation balloons, etc.

[Delirium]

I have a friend who's been telling me about a really complex game he's involved in, playing the Caporetto scenario. I think that may be it...

[dps]

There

I have a friend who's been telling me about a really complex game he's involved in, playing the Caporetto scenario. I think that may be it...

There is a Caporetto scenario, so that's likely. 

The Italian secnarios are good, especially if space is a concern, because they can be played on one map.

The series rules are available for free download from the the HMS/GRD website (http://www.hmsgrd.com/download_page.html) if you're interested.  The OB's, charts, and game-specific rules aren't available on-line, but the series rules should give you a good general idea what the game is like if you're interested.

[The Minsky Moment]

Just ordered Ici, C'est la France!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29379/ici-cest-la-france-the-algerian-war-of-independenc

The Ali-la-Pointe counter closed the deal.  (but where is petit Omar)? 

[Oexmelin]

If your looking for players online, there is an ongoing game in the French Village.

[CountDeMoney]

Great extended preview of Spearpoint 1943 coming out soon.

http://www.frontlinegeneral.com/FG_News_Jan_10.pdf

Met this guy at last year's Historicon.  Sharp dude.  Works as a consultant for DoD, does this stuff in his spare time.