Anybody here like playing Axis and Allies Anniversary Edition?

[Castout]

@Skybird

I'm aware of Settlers of Catan Skybird just haven't given it enough attention to get me interested while it is certainly very popular.

As for chess. Chess is too abstract to me. The mere strategy is in the move and combination of which, which also doubles as the rules hence the abstraction of strategy which just can't be carried nor related to real life. It's a purely abstract strategy game one which is so abstract that it is purely a strategic game.

As for the others the recommended and interesting titles have overloaded me and that to think I still have a few titles to go after myself. My collection is still so small and I'm not planning to go obsessive on this hobby. It's costlier than PC gaming that much is obvious. I'
ll take a look at the given link though and see if the local retailer has them if they got me interested. Duels are not my thing but the outguessing your multiple enemies I just can't help not to be addicted to that kind of gameplay, the chaos and the trying to plan and seeing what you plan unfolding succeeding under all the chaos and uncertainty.....nothing beats that.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Castout

The mere strategy is in the move and combination of which, which also doubles as the rules hence the abstraction of strategy which just can't be carried nor related to real life. It's a purely abstract strategy game

What do you complain about? It'S at the very basis of any cosim, and has been seen as a valuable tool for military training as well. Compared to it, a cosim's sequence of play and strategic "depth" - I would not call it that - is shallow, and just a sequence of repetitive automtically carried out actions (for that reason real-time strategy games, at least all I have ever tried over the past 15 years or so, hardly are strategy games at all, they do not pose a challenge to your strategic imagination - you just find the one winning playing mechanism that is successful and then repeat that one in every match with your mouseklicks as fast as you can, mostly it is about in what seqeunce to produce units, and producing them fast). The basis of any strategic thinking is the balacning of the three factors space, time and matter (fields, moves, pieces) in various, ever-changing constellation, and how the one can be traded for the other. When you think of it, any military problem comes down to a constellation of these three factors, from logistics over Blitzkrieg to gaining important grounds.

Chess is not about a given strategy in a specific constext or environment, like in a cosim where you have these and no other rules and this and no other map, and such counters and no others. It is about strategy itself, and the need to constantly change and adapt it. A Cosim does not give you that challenge raised by ever-changing challenge, it'S always the same limited set of types of challenges. A cosim teaches you strategic thinking at best in the context of the game system, but not beyond. You cannot carry it over to for example economic problems or behaviour at the stock market in reality, because your way of handling space, matter and time within the cosim'S context cannot that easily, if at all, taken over to the way you want to set up the policy and competitive behaviour of your business company. Chess trains your strategic thinking at a much more profound, basic, general level less depending on the context of the rules of that game, and that game alone. And that's why you can benefit from that in real life as well - not from the rules of chess, but your habit of being used to handle and balance these three factors on the chessboard, and in a cosim and in real life as well: space, time and material. It'S a bit like being a "culture-free" (="game-rules-free") training of strategic thinking.

Not related to real life...?! I must say that chess has had a certain, maybe not spectacular but still undeniable influence on my way of thinking and analysis. It'S hard to tell whether I liked chess because it met my analytical mindset, or my analytical attitude emerged due to having learned chess (in my early childhood). Probably a mixture of both.

However. The other things chess can teach you wonderfully, are: patience, and discipline. Not before and not after the right time has come, you carry out the most appropriate action. And that also is an art you can use very well in life. The right move at the wrong time, the wrong figure for the right task, a misled situational understanding while having advantage in time and material - and you nevertheless spoil it. Only when all three come together, you secure the win: time, space and material.

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BTW, there are quite some competently done PC cosims. It helps you to save table-space, and money.

A classic is The Operational Art Of War III, which is a reference title. I do not like the font and am not happy with the itnerface, but I must admit with that complaint I seem to be alone - I never heared anyone else complaining about it (except the fonts).

I currently digged myself into the matter of Modern Campaigns: Danube 85, doing the full campaign with the front from Denmark down to Austria. Again, I initially cmplained about the interface giving me some visual problems due to the smallnesss of some things, but I have adressed that by using a map mod, and having edited the design of unit counters myself, so now it is a bit more friendly to the eyes, or so it seems to me. A title I also would recommend.

And available for free, there is Steel Panthers: Main Battle Tank (or World War II, if you prefer that era). Still an outstanding title, despite the looks showing it's age.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Skybird

A classic is The Operational Art Of War III, which is a reference title. I do not like the font and am not happy with the itnerface, but I must admit with that complaint I seem to be alone - I never heared anyone else complaining about it (except the fonts).

The new patch (3.4), which is now in beta, changes the graphics extensively, and I believe there are new fonts as well. Though I don't think the interface itself is changed too much.

I haven't played it yet, though, waiting for the completed release.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

The new patch (3.4), which is now in beta, changes the graphics extensively, and I believe there are new fonts as well. Though I don't think the interface itself is changed too much.

I haven't played it yet, though, waiting for the completed release.

Ha, that is synchronicity - I got 3.4173 (a new Alpha even is 3.4196 or so) just hours ago, and had a first look at it. Maps look much better, and as far as I remember: the counters as well (or I get fooled by memory, I am not sure). However, the fonts are still the same golden bitmap fonts in microscopic dimension, against no neutral but greyish background structures and greyish pictures. I checked the forum of theirs, first visit there since 2006 or 2007, I think, a hint at how to chnage the fonts to Windows Arial did not work - or I misunderstood something vital. Many people seem to complain abpout the fonts, back then and still now. I wonder why they have not adressed it over the past 3-4 years, if such complains are coming up time and again.

I tried some font mods as well, but they seem to be for earlier versions 3.2 and before. Somebody posted a screenshot of simple fonts yellow against dark grey and white against grey background, no structure and pics. It was relief to the eyes, my eyelids started to clap up and down in applaus extatically. But not in my version. The stupid interface buttons, also no joy to look at, also had been simplified and kept in 2-colour 2D only, which also helped a very lot.

If you find out something, let me know please. I always hated to bypass TOAW3 due to the frustration of needing to stare at the monitor until it hurt (on 2 different screens). Currently I exclusively focus on Danube 85, but in some weeks or months I would love to give TOAW3 another visit, if the fonts now can be altered.