Octopus Overlords

I'm going to grab one or two strategy games but I wanted to see what everyone here is currently playing, thus increasing the opportunity for some PBEM or online MP.

I have HTTR (I still need mucho practice), but I'm considering Flashpoint Germany and HOI2. I'll probably download the BiN demo to see if I can get into that (the amount of information on screenshots is overwhelming but players seem to say that you quickly grow accustomed). Anyone else considering at GG:WAW later this month?

No fast-paced RTS games, please. I hesitate to say "no RTS" only because of what people might consider an HOI2-like game.

Anyhow, what are you playing?

Still playing Age of Wonders:Shadow Magic. I don't often get enough time to play a full game, which explains why I'm still playing it. Classic game, I hope that they bring out a third part soon.

Still playing CIV 3 with the rise and rule mod, and if i ever get broadband illl download that cool looking heroes of might and magic 3 mod, but its too large for me to download on dialup sadly .

I'm replaying Tropico 2. It might be the best citybuilding game to date...its only real flaw is a repetitive-feeling campaign; it could use some event scripting. It's recommended if you enjoy building (or pirate! arrr) games.

Ironrod wrote:I'm replaying Tropico 2. It might be the best citybuilding game to date...its only real flaw is a repetitive-feeling campaign; it could use some event scripting. It's recommended if you enjoy building (or pirate! arrr) games.

What do you know about building games?

Lately I've been playing R:TW a lot still. Specifically the superb SPQR mod. Also been doing some Dominions 2 off and on. Still an awesome strategy game. And finally I've been playing Alpha Centauri again.

s

Ironrod wrote:I'm replaying Tropico 2. It might be the best citybuilding game to date...its only real flaw is a repetitive-feeling campaign; it could use some event scripting. It's recommended if you enjoy building (or pirate! arrr) games.

I've been playing that a lot lately as well. It's what is mostly to blame for my neglect of Morrowind over the last week-plus.

I'm playing a lot of HOI2 at the moment. Also Galactic Civilizations and the Civ3 franchise.
I've ordered and got coming in the HPS title France'40.

Freedom Force 1 and 2. On deck is either Warlords Battlecry 3, Warlords 4, or Warhammer: Dark Omen (for the 20th time at least).

Rome Total War. both sp and on-line, lots of fun.

Also Dawn of War, Warhammer......great fun much different than RTW.

Still have Dominions II on my comp... play it occasionally but we really need some mp going on that.

Lately it's been Rise of Nations: Gold Edition. Sweet mother of god.

I'm always down for some mp strategy.

R: TW, Dominions 2, Dawn of War, Kohan II, Freedom Force, Silent Storm, HTTR, Korsun Pocket.

Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

http://www.madminutegames.com/

The only other one I play is Combat Mission Afrika Korps and Squad Assault Western Front.. Both excellent.

FFG909 wrote:Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

Because we all know how fake the battles in R:TW look.

s

I'm playing a game I can't talk about, so the odds of playing against anyone are pretty remote, since if you had it, you couldn't talk about it either.

I occasionally fire up Galactic Civs and I'm plodding my way through a huge galaxy. Not much multiplayer chance there - it's single-player only.

If you get BiN, I'd be happy to give you a PBEM game, though. I haven't played it since Siljanus and I played a small scenario months ago.

Sepiche wrote:

FFG909 wrote:Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

Because we all know how fake the battles in R:TW look.

s

No, its because the average roman legion didn't have 225 wardogs that mowed down rows and rows of soldiers.

My point was, Bull Run is authentic. RTW was about as authentic as PacMan. Which is probably why its collecting dust on my shelf. But i'm a wargame and strategy gamer, and with that comes some requirements for attention to detail.

FFG909 wrote:

Sepiche wrote:

FFG909 wrote:Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

Because we all know how fake the battles in R:TW look.

s

No, its because the average roman legion didn't have 225 wardogs that mowed down rows and rows of soldiers.

My point was, Bull Run is authentic. RTW was about as authentic as PacMan. Which is probably why its collecting dust on my shelf. But i'm a wargame and strategy gamer, and with that comes some requirements for attention to detail.

Which is why I don't build war dogs when I play R:TW.

Not that any game I've ever played has gotten anywhere close to realistic, if you want to split hairs, but I suppose everyone has their hang ups.

Sad that you let a great game like Rome go to waste for one simple hang up though. You should check out some of the mods in the works like Europa Barbarorum. It's a mod backed by a lot of various history buffs that are attempting to make an extremely accurate campaign.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showforum=60

s

FFG909 wrote:

Sepiche wrote:

FFG909 wrote:Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

Because we all know how fake the battles in R:TW look.

s

No, its because the average roman legion didn't have 225 wardogs that mowed down rows and rows of soldiers.

My point was, Bull Run is authentic. RTW was about as authentic as PacMan. Which is probably why its collecting dust on my shelf. But i'm a wargame and strategy gamer, and with that comes some requirements for attention to detail.

CWBR is a decent game, but the interface is clunky, the graphics are awful, and the game is no more "authentic" than the Sid Meier Civil War games (which I love). I am not defending the authenticity of Rome:Total War, but using Civil War Battle of Bull Run as your shining star of authenticity is not going to get us very far.

Well, I'm still playing Flashpoint Germany and liking it. The recent patch that allowed you to set unit behavior and radio traffic on a global scale rather than having to do it unit by unit was a good improvement along with some AI changes. I look forward to the next patch with further refinement of the AI. But recently I've also been playing Highway to the Reich again and really enjoying it. The AI in that game to me is relentless, making me appreciate the victories I get. I just downloaded a user made Battle of the Bulge scenario called Seven Roads to Hell for HTTR which takes place around Bastogne. I look forward to giving it a spin sometime although that other game (SH3) is going to take some of my attention away this weekend.

Rome Total War - for fun and amusement, online and offline. I love the battles and tactics. I play online against Dacians, Britons (damn those chariots), and Carthaginians and I always play for Rome.

Galactic Civilizations - great single player game with disappointing graphics but with a challenging A.I. My good gaming friend is bored by the sameness of it all (a highly developed planet looks like a newly discovered one, and the space battles are hoooohummmm) but if you focus on the overall strategy it'll grab ya.

Chess - I play online at ICC mostly but I'll play tournaments and coffeehouse chess virtually every Wednesday at a local diner. I'm a Class A player with delusions of Expert status.

Authenticity is overrated: gameplay is the sine qua non for me. So Civil War Battle of Bull Run (which I have) may have the correct brigade commanders and courier system or whatever: it's fun. That's what I care more about.

Oh, I forgot to diss someone's choice of strategy game: well, next post.

JonathanStrange wrote: Galactic Civilizations - great single player game with disappointing graphics but with a challenging A.I. My good gaming friend is bored by the sameness of it all (a highly developed planet looks like a newly discovered one, and the space battles are hoooohummmm) but if you focus on the overall strategy it'll grab ya.

That's a good description of GC. I have high hopes they'll be able to add some more polish and keep the same core game in the sequel. I'm looking forward to trying that.

s

Sepiche wrote:

JonathanStrange wrote: Galactic Civilizations - great single player game with disappointing graphics but with a challenging A.I. My good gaming friend is bored by the sameness of it all (a highly developed planet looks like a newly discovered one, and the space battles are hoooohummmm) but if you focus on the overall strategy it'll grab ya.

That's a good description of GC. I have high hopes they'll be able to add some more polish and keep the same core game in the sequel. I'm looking forward to trying that.

Stardock is "Somewhat" competant, the problem is they elected to not put multiplayer in GalCiv2 despite everyone wanting it. Add that to all of the "Problems" in the company right now, and you can bet it will be another year before its released, features have already been cut from the design document.

Rome Total War, when I can tear myself away from WoW. Favorite strategy game since Total Annihilation. Odd, since I hated Shogun and Medeival.

Very much looking forward to GalCiv 2 (the real Master of Orion 3) and tentatively looking forward to HoMM5. I know, I know - I'm praying that Ubisoft is going to pretend 4 never happened and make 5 just like 3, with updated technology. PLEASE UBISOFT DON'T LET US DOWN!

Should really try Tropico 2, it's been on my backlog for a long long time. Loved the first one.

Discovering Spellforce for the firstest time ever.

EU2. Norway is hard to build up with the pesky Sweden and Russian countries :-/ Korea is too hard to do anything with the AGC-EEP mod.

Tried HOI2. I find it boring. It seems to go slower than EU1/2, HOI, CK, and Vicky, even on the highest speeds. Makes the game very boring when you don't play a major country (I like playing minors). The new tech system is nice, if made a little too simplistic for my tastes.

Did you see this Strategy Six-Pack from Paradox?

I'm playing Nexus. Can't get Ground Control II to work online.

FFG909 wrote:

Sepiche wrote:

JonathanStrange wrote: Galactic Civilizations - great single player game with disappointing graphics but with a challenging A.I. My good gaming friend is bored by the sameness of it all (a highly developed planet looks like a newly discovered one, and the space battles are hoooohummmm) but if you focus on the overall strategy it'll grab ya.

That's a good description of GC. I have high hopes they'll be able to add some more polish and keep the same core game in the sequel. I'm looking forward to trying that.

Stardock is "Somewhat" competant, the problem is they elected to not put multiplayer in GalCiv2 despite everyone wanting it. Add that to all of the "Problems" in the company right now, and you can bet it will be another year before its released, features have already been cut from the design document.

Meh... single player only doesn't bother me at least. I hadn't heard they were having problems in the company though. Hopefully won't impact the game too much.

s

FFG909 wrote:Civil War Bull Run, from MadMinute games.. Plays like a real strategy game, not arcadey and fakey like Rome.

http://www.madminutegames.com/

I'm playing that too, getting slaughtered at it though. In SP I just began playing Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. Had it for a while, but never spent time with it. In PBEM, I'm playing Alpha Centauri and its expansion in two separate games, and will probably get into a PBEM Civ III game as well. I'm also getting in to Nexus, which looks to be great so far.

I'm also trying to get into the "Battles in Normandy" demo. Never played the K-Pocket 1st one and I'm feeling very overwhelmed at the moment.

It's very good and very strategic but the turns take forever and I can't imagine how long a turn will take on the bigger battles with more pieces. And I also find it hard to tell which pieces I haven't moved yet and the pieces are so darn small.

Maybe you get quicker at it as time goes on but right now I'm on the 11th turn, have been playing it about 2 hours a day and I am on my 6th day at it.

I just don't know if I would have the time to play the full version. I think I liked Panzer General better...

28 replies and I still don't know what HTTR is.

Oh, and I'm playing Dominions 2.

In various stages of R:TW and RoN. Will probably move to Battle for Middle-Earth soon.

yossar wrote:28 replies and I still don't know what HTTR is.

Oh, and I'm playing Dominions 2.

Highway to the Reich. A "real time" (not an RTS) operational (?) level, WW2 game. It's a very interesting implementation that uses command heierarchies (you're not meant to command each unit, although you can) and order delays. It's tough but really good.

the last one i played was a little Disciples II around christmas time...great game 8)

for some reason, i am very full into strategy games right now.

axis & allies - currently on hiatus halfway through a US ww2 mode game
nexus - 5 or so missions into it.
act of war - picked this up as brothers in arms wasn't available. pretty cool red alert/c&c generals feeling to it. 7 missions in
heritage of kings - installed but not played much beyond a few mp games
bfme - haven't installed yet. (thanks vinda-lou)

on back burner
s: howw2 - finished brits, 1/2 way through the russian. feel need to start up again though

i don't play more than 1 strategy at once, but for some reason i can't get enough of them right now.

lately I've been playing:
Darwinia
Pirates!
Warlords 4

Spartan (currently playing Rhodes holding off the Persian invasions)
Rome: Total War (will be much better with Europa Barbarum mod)
HoMM 3
Jagged Alliance 2 (waiting for the NightOps mod)
Crusader Kings (waiting for the new patch)
Master of Magic is cool (waiting for MoM 2)

Massive Assault
Freedom Force (does that count? hmm)

Currently playing Rome: Total War.

To answer the questions that have been posed earlier in the thread, because, yes, I actually read each and every post :

1. I'm also planning on getting Gary Grigsby's World at War

2. I'm also checking out the HTTR: Seven Roads to Hell multiplayer

I would be interested in multiplayer action for both. Most likely I will have more time for GGWaW since its turn-based PBEM, but I anticipate having free time sometime to play HTTR: Seven Roads to Hell multiplayer (maybe in a few months).

I'm mostly a strategy gamer, but most of my gaming time is going to Morrowind right now.

In the queue
Darwinia demo
Children of the Nile demo

In rotation I always have one of these going on.
GalCiv
Civ3
Dominions2

The fun "10 minutes till I must quit" games
Pirates!
Worms

Olden Moldies that I pull out now and then when I am ill.
Colonization
King of Dragon Pass
Imperialism2

I've been meaning to start a JA2 game for a couple of years now, and have just never gotten around to it. Oh, yeah Shadow..watch? I've got that one to play someday as well. I know sometime I'll pick up Freedom Force 2 eventually. I've been meaning to pick up Crusader Kings as well.

I see those great $2 games at gogamer and I think....Man, I don't have time to play great games that I like, why would I spend money on more?

raydude wrote:
2. I'm also checking out the HTTR: Seven Roads to Hell multiplayer

I would be interested in multiplayer action for both. Most likely I will have more time for GGWaW since its turn-based PBEM, but I anticipate having free time sometime to play HTTR: Seven Roads to Hell multiplayer (maybe in a few months).

Just played the Seven Roads to Hell scenario last night. Damn, that German AI was relentless. Near the end I thought things were winding down then the Germans came at me from a new direction and bitter fighting took place in the outskirts of Bastogne!

I wish HTTR had PBEM.