Posts made by Cobalt

OK, I just got back from playing my first Flames of War WWII table-top wargame tournament and all I can say is that I much prefer the Axis & Allies Miniatures gaming system.

The conversion project is complete. See each stage in detail at: www.battlevault.com

I look forward to trying out this AAM conversion force in my first Flames of War tournament on October 4th.

After much persuading by my brother, I am starting to make the switch to the Flames of War community. At least we are able to make good use of our many Axis & Allies Minis. Check out my brother’s conversion process:

http://www.battlevault.com/Gallery/gallery13.htm

I really wish Axis & Allies Miniatures had caught on and built a gaming community like Flames of War.  :-(

I like the AAM rules alot … just can’t find any local players. As for local Flames of War players, ther are at least 10 of them. BattleFront miniatures must be doing something right with their WWII minis game.

@Cobalt:

You can participate in this campaign on three different levels: strategic board game, War at Sea Miniatures (for the naval engagements) and Axis & Allies Miniatures (for the ground battles).

Just saw the Turn- 2 Results and options for Turn-3 posted for the current Avalon Hill Guadalcanal online campaign and was disappointed that none of my AAR’s or narratives were posted. I have no idea if my efforts of playing all these games solo are making any difference in the campaign or if “High Command” is even reading them. Some sort of weekly results tabel or chart would have gone far to alleviate that.

Maybe I do need to switch to Flames of War like my brother has been bugging me to do for over a year now. At least they have a published ranking system and you know where you stand in their gaming community.

@Motdc:

At least the game isnt about killer units.  Pretty much everyone can hurt everyone.  No Tigers running around

Yes, you made a good list of unit options. Were Stuka’s on the list, and if not, should they be?

The only other way this might be an interesting scenario is if the Poles had small pockets of resistance at pre-defined sectors of the map. The Germans have the big objective of Luksusowa in the SouthEast corner of the map within a certain time limit. Do they rush for the finish or do they secrure their flanks as they proceed?

Yeah, I found the great articles on the Guadalcanal game at the Wizards website and we did play with the 10 reinforcement errata.

I haven’t noticed any problems with my crusiers. I’m not a historical miniatures purist so as long as they are the right color, a little bit bigger than a destroyer, but smaller than a battleship … I’m good to go.

This has been a hard scenario to get interested in, particualry when you know nothing operational or strategic was held in the balance by the the tactical actions of a few brave Poles. I guess that’s why I lean towards historical scenarios based on campigns where either the stakes were high like Stalingrad or Normandy, or where neither side has land, air or sea superiority like North Africa or Guadalcanal.

Thanks for writing it though Motdc, it has been good to learn about the early war units and now I can say I have finally played with a cavalry unit in a game!

Well, I’ve checked out all three options recommeded by Motdc and it looks like the Vassal game engine has the most potential for my particular interest. There seems to be a large game community already built around this engine. They do have some Axis & Allies Miniature and War at Sea mods, but I have only experiemented with the BattleLore board game so far. (It’s done very well!)

Thanks for all the feedback from the Axis & Allies Guadalcanal veterans out there! I look forward to trying game #5 soon.

Having looked over the two options previously listed my Motdc, that I am surpised to see Battlegrounds was made with Macromedia (now Adobe)Director. I thought that developing tool was going the way of the dinosaur and being replaced by Flash.

I was hoping the future digital gaming table would from an open source like Java so those of us inclined can tinker with it to make the specific games we want to play.

More to follow …

Thanks for the leads Motdc!

I’ve played my 4th game using the Battlebox and I don’t think it’s going to last much longer. Too many dice get stuck towards the end of the row. I’ll try the Boardgamegeek option next. Thanks for the lead.

Played my first face-to-face Guadalcanal game tonight. I lost in Turn 4 as the US player due to a failed effort to take New Georgia, I think. Here are some lessons I learned and wondered if I missed anything else:

• Don’t ship a bunch of US supplies up to New Georgia until the results of the amphibious assault is determined. The US practically gave the Japanese the supplies to build an extra airfield and get an early lead on victory points

• If bombers and support fighters are going to assist in the amphibious assault, keep them in the same sector as your own fleet for the extra AA power. I practically lost my whole air fleet by trying to take out his ships in a sector that he, as the second player just converged over 8 fighter squadrons.

• Seems like the tide of this game can be determined pretty early by the failure or success of taking New Georgia.

• Still need to figure out submarine attacks and hits. Something doesn’t feel quite right. How many dice do you need to sink a sub? Will one die roll of a “1” or “2” just walk up the box side until it reached “Submarine”?

@Motdc:

Umm, thats 132%…

I guess it’s not hard to tell that I am a former grunt :-D

It has been an interesting scenario so far. You (Motc) have done a great job with the assets you have available. My only recommendation, this coming from playing the Polish defender with little room to hide from long range German artillery, is to maybe give the town one or two more hexes and not acnhor it in the far South-Eastern corner of the map. I’d be glad to make you a custom map if you have something else in mind.

Also, I prefer a set historical build that has been play tested for both sides rather than giving players the option for builduing their own forces. We all know there are killer builds out there that are more for just winning the game than keeping to historical force organization. I myslef am guilty of this having picked two Bofors for this scenarion instead of more troops. I would really like to see games that have a 66% soldier, 33% vehicle, 33% artillery point ratio.

Not intended to be a replacement for real face-to-face gaming, I am interested in helping out with the next step of online miniatures gaming. My remotely located brother and I are long time war gamers and we have tried multiple ways of playing turn based war games online. He is a big Falmes of War player and I prefer Axis & Allies Miniatures.

The one thing that keeps him away from playing by forum here on this site is the drawn out process of stating your actions and rolling die via individual posts and then copying those results to MapView. Do you (that is anybody with a remote inkling of programing knowledge) think it is feasible to build a real-time Java based engine that sdepicts all of these functions, as well as real-time chat in a single user interface.

What are the legal implications? Even if we are doing something like that for non-profit, would Wizards unleash the lawyers from Mordor on us?

Hello Sharps54,

You have alot of gaming choices for you and your son in Northern, VA:

GameVault, Fredericksburg, VA (about 3 miles west of 95 on Route 3)

• Gaming spot of choice for myself and my youngest son (11)
• Excellent gaming space
• Excellent stock of game stuff
• Best customer service ever, ever, ever
• Active gamining forum ( www.thegamevault.net )
• good mix of board games, card games, tabletop miniatures and role-playing games

Game Parlor, Woodbridge, VA (next to Potomac Mills Mall off of 95)

• Excellent gaming space
• Several gaming clubs
• HUGE inventory

Gamerz, Fredericksburg / Falmouth, VA area (near Rt. 218 and Chatham Square)

• small inventory
• mostly roleplaying, card games, and collectible minis
• Xbox gaming stations
• popular with teens
• Gaming spot of choice of my 15 year old son

Maybe we can do a Father / Son match some time!

Hey Shemar,

I did not know you were in Richmond, VA. I’m up in Fredericksburg,VA. We need to do some face-to-face Axis & Allies gaming some time. I play mostly at the GameVault in Fredericksburg,VA where we have a small, but fairly deciated boardgaming group.

Take care - Brian

I have made 3 new MapView modules to help me play the current Avalon Hill online Guadalcanal Campaign. They are heavilly wooded and one (Jungle Map_03) includes a shoreline. Feel free to download these MapView mods for your own Axis & Allies Minis games at:

http://www.battlevault.com/Campaigns/Guadalcanal/Guadalcanal_01.htm

MOTc, feel free to copy these and place these in your orginal post if you like.

Once I get through supporting the current Guadalcanal Campaign, I’ll turn to making some other new MapView mods.

If you are looking to buy the minis, contact MOT here on this forum. I believe he is selling his whole lot.

As for starter packs, I recommed buying both the orginal and the current versions. The original version has the 2" hex maps and improperly scaled vehicles. The current version of the starter pack includes the new 3" hex maps and 15mm scale vehicles.

Your idea about using Axis & Allies Miniatures to play out the strategic / operational level turns of the board games is good and several of us, as well as the current on-line Avalon Hill Guadalcanal campaign do the same thing.

Good look with your gaming efforts and consider trying playing Axis & Allies minis here via this forum.