Computer Driven

[hammurabi70]

Does anyone know of or tried games using commercial software which provide a Kriegsspiel environment? I am thinking of the two-player games that have been produced. What do people feel about them?

[Martin]

I keep planning to try a 1914 game using 'The Operational Art of War'. It's a reasonable system with a powerful editor. OOB, map, scale, turn length, weather, reinforcements, replacements, intel levels and even events can be modified.

Main downside for k/spiel is that it's not simultaneous orders then resolution, but player 1 then player 2. I don't think that's insuperable though.

Would work well for your desert war game. In fact you will find that there are several already designed among the hundreds of scenarios avai'alble.

Martin

[King_Rufus]

It has been suggested that GETTYSBURG - SCOURGE OF WAR - itself a later version of TAKE COMMAND - permits a multiplayer online Kriegsspiel like hidden movement experience,with even use of written messages. It is possible also that some of the board wargame engines on the web, egs. VASSAL, TZUNTZU and WARGAMEROOM.COM, permit hidden movement modules to be designed for them. Other resources on the web included BERTHIER, which is campaign management software.

[hammurabi70]

Interesting idea; any takers?

[Martin]

I bought this game recently and would definitely recommend it to kriegsspielers. Using the 'historical' difficulty setting, which among other things restricts your camera view to that of your general on horseback, means that it reproduces the limited information and chaos of the battlefield very well. Commanding a division or corps is really quite a challenge. At least I have found it so!

The screen view is much like that of the Rome Total War series. Graphically, it's perhaps a shade below the latest of that series, but it's still pretty good. Unlike those games though, this is a real attempt to model the constraints that commanders laboured under.

On the higher difficulty settings you need to send orders (and receive reports) by courier, just like in a k/spiel. There is a good deal of variety and flavour in the courier system, although I have found so far that you don't get many reports back. Others have commented on this in the game forums, and they are working on a mega patch, so hopefully this will be addressed.

It may not be an issue anyway in the multiplayer game, and I would be very keen to try this with anyone else who buys the game. Supposedly you can play with up to 10-12 per side, and the computer handling any unfilled positions.

You can download a demo here. It just includes tutorials, but the higher level ones are quite meaty.

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?127278-Gettysburg-Scourge-of-War-Demo-Released

Martin

[Ike]

Fascinating! Wonderful idea of limiting one's actual view and knowledge to a pre-battle briefing, your general's POV and messages received during the battle. Downloading the demo and interested in seeing how well it works. Sounds good, though and it may be worth a spin around the block. Great potential, depending upon the details.