I'd like to do more non-WFB gaming. I've come to an understanding, and can tolerate the game at this point. But it remains a matter of being the default option, because it's easy to find opponents.
I believe I've written my opinions on Field of Glory. I own the rules and several supplements, and have played a few games but it never managed to really grab me. A lot of that had to do with some of the minutia of the mechanics.
I recently saw the announcement for the release of this:
http://www.slitherine.com/games/fog_pc
I haven't played computer games in a long time. The last one was Diablo 2, which isn't even a wargame. But it was enough of to time-waster for me to give up computer games for a long time, now. A lot of that also has to do with the lack of turn based games.
(I think my favorite game of all time was Age of Rifles, which I still own but unfortunately haven't been able to run on newer Windows machines. So it's been collecting dust for a while -- if anyone can advise me on how to get it to work, feel free!)
I'm tempted to give the FoG game a go. From what I've read, the association between the tabletop game and the computer game are in name only. Even if it was the same results, but with the mechanics hidden behind a computer moderated interface, I think I'd be willing to give it a try.
I'd be interested to hear any opinions. Especially from anyone who has played it. (Or any other turn based games -- 19th century and earlier only.)
ZeroTwentythree
painting toy soldiers
fighting their battles
Showing posts with label Field of Glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Field of Glory. Show all posts
29 November 2009
19 April 2009
All Quiet... Painting & FoG
A bit quiet here. Been painting away but nothing to show for it just yet. I've been doing a bit of commission painting plus a "secret figure exchange" thing at Warhammer-Empire, so I haven't really worked on anything for myself. I assembled & primed some figures while waiting for paint to dry. That's about the extent of it. ;)
Friday night I played my second game of Field of Glory. I had late Republican Romans, my opponent had Indians.
This time we used the terrain rules from the book, and my first impression of them is that they are typical of the rest of the rules: too heavy on rules, charts and dice rolls. It seemed way too involved to me, but I'm guessing it's aimed at a more competitive/tournament environment. The end result seemed to place too much terrain on the table, as well. I even chose two "open" options for terrain. I was lucky in the terrain "deployment" though, and a lot of it ended up in our deployment areas (especially my opponent's.)
After playing two games now, I'm picking up on a few things. Light cavalry, for example, seem useless for anything but pinning other troops in place while avoiding contact entirely. Roman legion seem to be a cruise missile troop type. Spanish Scutarii aren't too bad, either. I must have been outnumbered at lease 1.5:1. I was concerned about getting flanked ans so went ahead and weighted one side, while trying to stall on the other side to prevent my opponent from hitting me. In hindsight I should have thrown all tactics aside, moved forward in a big line and blasted through the Indians (regardless of troop type I would be facing) and simply cause overwhelming casualties before the flanks could be turned. Instead I tried all manner of stupid manuver, and still blasted through anything they contacted.
The rest of the guys playing said it was a bad match up, which I understand. But something still didn't seem right with the game. By the end, I was getting the hang of the pages of charts, modifiers, etc. and didn't need to look at them half the time. But I still think the game is a bit clumsy. Ar maybe, at best, it simply "lacks gracefulness."
On the other hand, I'd still like to give it another try. If nothing else, FoG has got me in the mood for big battle type games again. As enjoyable as WAB is as a bit more of a "beer & pretzles game" (in my opinion*), I'd like to play something that feels more like a large battle.
Along those lines, I also picked up a copy of Warmaster Ancients. I won a copy of their Warmaster Medieval suppliment at Cold Wars, so figured I should pick up the core book. I've played the original fantasy version of the game, which I enjoyed, and the historical version seems to have cleared up some of the spots I had a problem with. However I have not tried it yet, and there are new rules thrown into the mix, so I'd have to play a few games before knowing whether I'll like it or not.
* OK, maybe not the best term. But it's sometimes hard to take WAB seriously, especially at 2000 points or less. Once you have larger games it does start to look and feel more like a big battle. At lower point levels, small scale gimmicks or a bad roll of the dice can determine the outcome of the game. The flow of battle seems really fragmented. Like you've got a half dozen tiny, fairly manuverable pieces, and that's it. This isn't to say I dislike WAB. I enjoy it for what it is. (And it's also a good excuse to play the scale of all right thinking people: 25/28mm.)
Friday night I played my second game of Field of Glory. I had late Republican Romans, my opponent had Indians.
This time we used the terrain rules from the book, and my first impression of them is that they are typical of the rest of the rules: too heavy on rules, charts and dice rolls. It seemed way too involved to me, but I'm guessing it's aimed at a more competitive/tournament environment. The end result seemed to place too much terrain on the table, as well. I even chose two "open" options for terrain. I was lucky in the terrain "deployment" though, and a lot of it ended up in our deployment areas (especially my opponent's.)
After playing two games now, I'm picking up on a few things. Light cavalry, for example, seem useless for anything but pinning other troops in place while avoiding contact entirely. Roman legion seem to be a cruise missile troop type. Spanish Scutarii aren't too bad, either. I must have been outnumbered at lease 1.5:1. I was concerned about getting flanked ans so went ahead and weighted one side, while trying to stall on the other side to prevent my opponent from hitting me. In hindsight I should have thrown all tactics aside, moved forward in a big line and blasted through the Indians (regardless of troop type I would be facing) and simply cause overwhelming casualties before the flanks could be turned. Instead I tried all manner of stupid manuver, and still blasted through anything they contacted.
The rest of the guys playing said it was a bad match up, which I understand. But something still didn't seem right with the game. By the end, I was getting the hang of the pages of charts, modifiers, etc. and didn't need to look at them half the time. But I still think the game is a bit clumsy. Ar maybe, at best, it simply "lacks gracefulness."
On the other hand, I'd still like to give it another try. If nothing else, FoG has got me in the mood for big battle type games again. As enjoyable as WAB is as a bit more of a "beer & pretzles game" (in my opinion*), I'd like to play something that feels more like a large battle.
Along those lines, I also picked up a copy of Warmaster Ancients. I won a copy of their Warmaster Medieval suppliment at Cold Wars, so figured I should pick up the core book. I've played the original fantasy version of the game, which I enjoyed, and the historical version seems to have cleared up some of the spots I had a problem with. However I have not tried it yet, and there are new rules thrown into the mix, so I'd have to play a few games before knowing whether I'll like it or not.
* OK, maybe not the best term. But it's sometimes hard to take WAB seriously, especially at 2000 points or less. Once you have larger games it does start to look and feel more like a big battle. At lower point levels, small scale gimmicks or a bad roll of the dice can determine the outcome of the game. The flow of battle seems really fragmented. Like you've got a half dozen tiny, fairly manuverable pieces, and that's it. This isn't to say I dislike WAB. I enjoy it for what it is. (And it's also a good excuse to play the scale of all right thinking people: 25/28mm.)
15 March 2009
Home Again, Home Again
Back from Cold Wars, settled in and relaxing a bit.
As usual I had a good time, and enjoyed catching up with old friends as much as playing games.
I played in the WAB tournament, had three great opponents including Duncan MacFarlan who ended up winning the sportsman award. I won "first place" in the Medieval division -- a division in which I was one of two players. ;) My first game was against Teutonics, but then I was out of period with Sassanids and Early Crusader (El Cid). I had a win and two draws. More on that later.
I learned to play Field of Glory (FoG) later that night, in a Rome vs. Rome game put on by a friend. I've got mixed feelings on it so far. I think I picked up the game pretty quick, but it seems needlessly complex in places, and has a few wonky spots in which the mechanics seem a bit out of focus from common sense. I'm willing to give it a few more tries, though, and I do have to admit that seeing all those figures in a 15mm army, even in a "small" game looked more like a real wargame and/or battle than WAB.
I met Tony Reidy of Wargames Factory & chatted a bit, and got another box of Romans, so I can field a WAB army of at least 2000 points. To that end, I also picked up a few support troops (mainly Spanish skirmishers & some Numidian Cav) at Crusader. My ever-shifting Classical era plan is this... get Romans (with allies) done for doubles tournament at Historicon. If enough people sign up for the medieval division, then I will most likely play Burgundians. If not, I play Romans again. But who knows, I'll probably change my mind twenty three more times before then. A longer term goal would be to have enough to field two Roman armies (or one large one, obviously.) I'm not certain I can get the painting done in time, but I would love to run a WAB demo type game at Historicon, either Rome vs. Rome (which would require more Romans) or Rome vs. "Barbarians" (most likely Celts with a few Germans) which would possibly require a few more more Celts/Germans.
In any case, I've got a pile of painting to do. Romans, Celts, Gauls, Spanish, Numidians.... plus GW High Elves, Swiss, Undead, and more Spanish for other people.
But wait, that's not all... I was shopping around at the booths of a couple of dealers who sell a lot of 1/72 figures, looking for the Zvezda human knights for their "Ring of Rule" fantasy 28mm line. I struck out. BUT, I did find two boxes of the "Royal Infantry" from the same line, which are essentially 15th century European infantry. They are multi-piece plastics. I'm not sure if they are still producing them or how easy they are to get in the US or elsewhere. So I asked about them and was offered a price I couldn't pass up. ;) Actually, I told him I would definietly buy one box, but would like to open it up immediately to see if I wanted the second box. I ended up buying both boxes. Initial reaction is that they're not as crisp as some of the other plastics, and a few of the weapons are a bit oversized for historicals (which is what I plan on using them for) but I think they will still make decent Burgundians or Swiss (or Germans, maybe French... etc...)
I'll have some more comments, pics and maybe some WAB battle reports coming soon. But now, back to my relaxation.
As usual I had a good time, and enjoyed catching up with old friends as much as playing games.
I played in the WAB tournament, had three great opponents including Duncan MacFarlan who ended up winning the sportsman award. I won "first place" in the Medieval division -- a division in which I was one of two players. ;) My first game was against Teutonics, but then I was out of period with Sassanids and Early Crusader (El Cid). I had a win and two draws. More on that later.
I learned to play Field of Glory (FoG) later that night, in a Rome vs. Rome game put on by a friend. I've got mixed feelings on it so far. I think I picked up the game pretty quick, but it seems needlessly complex in places, and has a few wonky spots in which the mechanics seem a bit out of focus from common sense. I'm willing to give it a few more tries, though, and I do have to admit that seeing all those figures in a 15mm army, even in a "small" game looked more like a real wargame and/or battle than WAB.
I met Tony Reidy of Wargames Factory & chatted a bit, and got another box of Romans, so I can field a WAB army of at least 2000 points. To that end, I also picked up a few support troops (mainly Spanish skirmishers & some Numidian Cav) at Crusader. My ever-shifting Classical era plan is this... get Romans (with allies) done for doubles tournament at Historicon. If enough people sign up for the medieval division, then I will most likely play Burgundians. If not, I play Romans again. But who knows, I'll probably change my mind twenty three more times before then. A longer term goal would be to have enough to field two Roman armies (or one large one, obviously.) I'm not certain I can get the painting done in time, but I would love to run a WAB demo type game at Historicon, either Rome vs. Rome (which would require more Romans) or Rome vs. "Barbarians" (most likely Celts with a few Germans) which would possibly require a few more more Celts/Germans.
In any case, I've got a pile of painting to do. Romans, Celts, Gauls, Spanish, Numidians.... plus GW High Elves, Swiss, Undead, and more Spanish for other people.
But wait, that's not all... I was shopping around at the booths of a couple of dealers who sell a lot of 1/72 figures, looking for the Zvezda human knights for their "Ring of Rule" fantasy 28mm line. I struck out. BUT, I did find two boxes of the "Royal Infantry" from the same line, which are essentially 15th century European infantry. They are multi-piece plastics. I'm not sure if they are still producing them or how easy they are to get in the US or elsewhere. So I asked about them and was offered a price I couldn't pass up. ;) Actually, I told him I would definietly buy one box, but would like to open it up immediately to see if I wanted the second box. I ended up buying both boxes. Initial reaction is that they're not as crisp as some of the other plastics, and a few of the weapons are a bit oversized for historicals (which is what I plan on using them for) but I think they will still make decent Burgundians or Swiss (or Germans, maybe French... etc...)
I'll have some more comments, pics and maybe some WAB battle reports coming soon. But now, back to my relaxation.
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