[WarInEur] Artillery

[Bruce Denney]

I play more games now than before - reasons

 

1)       with computer I don't have to fight for table top space

2)       I don't have to worry about the cat chewing up counters

3)       I don't have to worry about the map getting tipped over and hit

4)       If I get the bug to play something else - I don't have to pack up
the game and put out the next one - no issues with saving positions

5)       If I find I need to restart it is not as much of an issue.

 

I miss having the full board out in front of me at once - and sometimes I
miss actually handling the counters and rolling die.

 

Using computers is, to me, a no brainer.

 

Where I have conflicts is with the "style" of game playing. In this I mean
between a system like we are dealing with in CWIE and a system like
Cyberboard and ADC2.

 

With the CWIE system we are working on I like the fact the system does the
more menial work of counting movement points and supply ranges. It handles a
lot of the rule details that tend to get missed in play. The down side is
that we are stuck with the programmer's understnading of the rules. Also if
I have a house rule or variation I like I cannot use it, unless it has been
coded into the system.

 

The other side is Cyberboard and ADC2 which is more like having the board
game in front of me. It supplies the map and counters but I am responsible
for making sure I follow the rules and do all my MP counting, calculating
odds, ect.. (just for what it is worth I prefer Cyberboard to ADC2 since it
looks and feels much more like a hands on board game - if the design is done
right). Also these systems allow the player to modify existing games or
create their own games from scratch. I have created several Cyberboard
versions of old SPI and Avalon Hill games for my own use (obviously
distributing such a game box can bring up copyright issues and this has been
a matter of much discussion on Cyberboard lists).

 

I like what I am seeing with this CWIE and it plays well for a very specific
game (once we get al the bugs out). I also have a Cyberboard version which I
was playing before I found this. CWIE does play much faster but there are
things I miss.

 

As I said - Computerized "Board Gaming" is a no brainer. IMOHO it has a
chance to bring back the old style gaming that existed once upon a time.
Each style has its own particular use.

 

As for low point, it was when I moved onto responsible family life with a
family and I no longer had room or time to work with my favorite games. This
lasted from about 1985 until I discovered ADC2, then Cyberboard and then
CWIE.

 

As it is I am eyeing my dining room table and I can feel my Advanced Squad
Leader Boards and Counters complaining about being left out of the fun
(Although there is a Java online version - here I just like handling
counters)

 

Bruce

 

 

 

  _____  

From: warineur-bounces at mailman.halisp.net
[mailto:warineur-bounces at mailman.halisp.net] On Behalf Of sgminfo
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 2:21 PM
Cc: warineur at mailman.halisp.net
Subject: Re: [WarInEur] Artillery

 

  

 

I have noticed an interesting fact with the computerized games...


I suppose the more difficult to answer questions are these...

Do you do

1.more gaming now, than you did 5 years ago?
2.If you do, when was the lowest point of gaming in your life?

I use the term gaming advisedly...

Raw hours do not necessarily catch the situation...

For example,
War in Europe "on the ground in cardboard" took maybe 3-4 times as long to
play a turn as it does on the computer.

So you might take less time playing, but actually do more...



-|steve|- 

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