Roger's Scenario Thread

RogerCooper

@board-3659 said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@RogerCooper I would suggest you play and review Civil War: A house divided. It's probably the most complex triple-A game (Resources management, varying victory conditions, battle mechanics that make the game more historical, Up-keep, seasonal changes, etc.) I found but once you get the rules, it's great (despite the insets).

I don't like complex scenarios, because of their complexity and the inability of the AI handle them well. Multiple resources can by a problem for the AI. If I want an area movement American Civil Wargame, I can play "Victory and Glory: The American Civil War". There is only so much the TripleA engine can do.

board 3659

@rogercooper I need to play more to see if the AI has an issue (mainly play hard and fast mode a few times and see if I can beat them consistently). I still think you should try to play it though as it would be interesting hearing your thoughts.

RogerCooper

@board-3659 said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@rogercooper I need to play more to see if the AI has an issue (mainly play hard and fast mode a few times and see if I can beat them consistently). I still think you should try to play it though as it would be interesting hearing your thoughts.

I will give it a try soon.

RogerCooper

Name Britannia: Roman Invasion-Alliances Alternative
Description Roman Invasion of Britain
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Britannia:_Roman_Invasion-Alliances_Alternative

Good Points

Interesting Situation
Fast-playing

Bad Points

Poorly balanced units result in spamming
No victory conditions
Not much chance for the Romans

mattbarnes

@rogercooper This is a reply to your review on Big World 2: Rise of the Axis.

The Game Notes say to put Politics "on" to get the most from this scenario, ie with the powers not all at war at the start. However, there seems to be no such option in the game setup. Please can you advise?

PS I'm sure the community are all grateful for your excellent scenario thread. I detect in the reviews that they are typically from the perspective of a solitaire player against AI. Would you mind including a PvP perspective in each review too please? I play solely PvP. Sometimes you may give a negative review to a map that the AI cannot handle, whereas it might make a good PvP option. Thanks, Matt

RogerCooper

@mattbarnes said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@rogercooper This is a reply to your review on Big World 2: Rise of the Axis.

The Game Notes say to put Politics "on" to get the most from this scenario, ie with the powers not all at war at the start. However, there seems to be no such option in the game setup. Please can you advise?

PS I'm sure the community are all grateful for your excellent scenario thread. I detect in the reviews that they are typically from the perspective of a solitaire player against AI. Would you mind including a PvP perspective in each review too please? I play solely PvP. Sometimes you may give a negative review to a map that the AI cannot handle, whereas it might make a good PvP option. Thanks, Matt

I will check into Big World 2: Rise of the Axis.

As for PvP, it is too time-consuming to play PvP using TripleA. If I am making that kind of commitment, I would play face-to-face. TripleA's competent AI is a big plus for the game. Feel free to create your own PvP-oriented scenario thread. I would subscribe to it.

RogerCooper

@board-3659 said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@RogerCooper I would suggest you play and review Civil War: A house divided. It's probably the most complex triple-A game (Resources management, varying victory conditions, battle mechanics that make the game more historical, Up-keep, seasonal changes, etc.) I found but once you get the rules, it's great (despite the insets).

I tried this out. It is full of pointless complexity. All the resource management comes down to the simple fact that the North can outproduce the South. There are some good ideas in the game, such as the combat mechanics, but not enough to justify all the other stuff.

RogerCooper

Name Ur-Quan Slave War
Description Space Opera warfare in the Star Control galaxy
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Ur-Quan_Slave_War:_Masters_Edition

Good Points

Colorful, varied units

Bad Points

The lack of air and sea units limits options

RogerCooper

@rogercooper said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@mattbarnes said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@rogercooper This is a reply to your review on Big World 2: Rise of the Axis.

The Game Notes say to put Politics "on" to get the most from this scenario, ie with the powers not all at war at the start. However, there seems to be no such option in the game setup. Please can you advise?

Looking at the XML, it seems that the designer put in a complex set of political triggers but did not update the initial relationships. This should be fixable. After finish the mod am I currently working on, I will revisit Rise of the Axis.

mattbarnes

@rogercooper Thanks for looking at this but I think it’s OK. Politics look wrong when you first load the game but appear to get set per the Game Notes at some point in the first turn.

RogerCooper

Name Global War v3
Description World War II on a large map
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Global_War_v3_Rules

Good Points

Reasonable unit density
V3 unit rules

Bad Points

Russia is too weak and falls quickly
No victory conditions

RogerCooper

Name Pacific
Description The original Axis & Allies: Pacific game implemented imperfectly in TripleA
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Pacific

Good Points
*A reasonably close port of the published board game

Bad Points

Too easy for the Japanese to take India
AI can't handle the unusual victory conditions

RogerCooper

Name Big World : 1942 - Factions
Description 1942 on the Big World map with some minor powers included
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Big_World_:_1942_-_Factions

Good Points

A straightforward game

Bad Points

Axis is too strong

RogerCooper

Name The Shogun Advanced
Description The Sengoku Period in Japan on a huge map
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shogun_Advanced

Good Points

Shows the importance of mountain passes and forts
Army size is limited by maintenance costs and build caps
Historical special units
Political rules
An interesting map style (the image shown here was made with map blends off, the real map is much nicer)

Bad Points

The huge map can be hard to deal with
The game starts with everyone at war with everyone
The AI has some trouble dealing with the politics and lacks focus

RogerCooper

Name WW2 Phillipines - v2
Description The Japanese invasion of the Philippines
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/WW2_Phillipines_-_v2

Good Points

Interesting Situation
Straightforward unit values

Bad Points

The Japanese and American sides are pointlessly split into multiple players
Little resemblance to the actual, shoe-string campaign
Favors the Japanese strongly

RogerCooper

Name Zombieland USA
Description Zombie outbreak in the United States
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/Zombieland_USA

Good Points

Unusual asymmetric situation

Bad Points

Doesn't make sense even its own terms (Zombies are doing strategic planning?)
No victory conditions

RogerCooper

Name World At War Variant - v3
Description World War 2 on a large map
https://axisandallies.fandom.com/wiki/World_At_War_Variant_-_v3

**Good Points

Lots of interesting unit types
Lots of nations

**Bad Points

Ahistorical production values
The AI overbuilds the "Defense" unit and does not attack as the Americans

ebbe

@rogercooper
for the total picture: the Advanced Shogun map with blend on: !

Shogun map1.jpg

board 3659

@rogercooper I mean I am fine with the idea like Smart zombies can exist and imo are a cool concept. I mean is the turn base way Axis and Allies games play unrealistic already?

RogerCooper

@board-3659 said in Roger's Scenario Thread:

@rogercooper I mean I am fine with the idea like Smart zombies can exist and imo are a cool concept. I mean is the turn base way Axis and Allies games play unrealistic already?

Being turn-based does not make games unrealistic. Any type of simulation will need a certain level of abstraction. A&A is not a very accurate simulation, but it does simulate WW2 to a certain extent.

I am fine with introducing fantastical elements like zombies. But if you do so, they should be done in a consistent way. If zombies are the living dead (or infested/crazed humans) the game should explore what that means. The typical, contemporary view of zombies is that they are mindlessly aggressive. In A&A&Z, they are an older concept, the Draugr of Scandinavian folklore, where they are corpses animated by evil spirits (including the souls of the body's former inhabitant). That justifies their ability to coordinate tactically to some extent.