Computer games question


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    Posts: 41
    (5/21/01 11:23:13 pm)
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    I play a few 'puter games and my favorite is Axis & Allies; Iron Blitz Edition. I was wondering if anybody else has played it, and what they thought of it. Does it have any real factual bearing of how things went or could have went? Playing the Computer is not that great, but head to head is quite a challenge.


    Edited by: shooter22 at: 5/22/01 12:24:31 am

    Senior Chief Moderator Staff
    Posts: 590
    (5/22/01 9:57:32 am)
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    Don't have that one, I play Steel Panthers alot...

    Computer Games are generally two or three steps behind the easy (about 3-4 on the ten scale) board Wargames when it comes to realism, AI is still pretty limited. The advanced board games are the most realistic. (1-10 Ratings would put "Risk" and Chess at about a 1, PanzerBlitz at about a 5, Squad Leader at about an 8, I've never played any higher...)

    But the make up for it in "playability" because you can set up and play an entire complicated scenario in 45 minutes to an hour, a board game takes that long to set up! Plus you don't have to do all the calculations for line of sight, and then consult all the tables for hit probability and penetration and stuff.

    I wish the PC gamers wouldn't try to reinvent the wheel and just take some of the best board games and turn them into discs.

    You know, some of the best historical research has been and is being done by the wargame companies. Those factors on the counters are the result of many years of study into esoteric things like power to weight ratios, speed of turret traverse, ground pressures, track width, whether it had a 3-4 or 5 man crew, radios, etc, and that's just for the AFVs. Getting say info on a Polish TPs tank matched against a Czech T-35 is pretty detailed research. Much less figuring the effectivenes of a Romainian Sniper firing from a woods at a moving exposed Russian tank commander 450 meters away!

    As far as board games go, they are FAR from being games as much as "living" history, thats why the mitltary used them to train. You can learn a helluva lot more about actual weapons and tactics and mil history from them than any book.

    PC Simulations are more like games though, not necessarily to learn from.

    I WISH somebody would put Squad Leader on PC though, that one is GREAT, with all the different Modules. My son and I must have $2-300 wrapped up in it, but it takes so darn long to set up and play, we never seem to finish a fight.

    Except the Tractor Factory one...what a meatgrinder.
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