Gunner

Thanks for the recommendation!

Bruce, what single volume (in English) would you recommend on the Polish-Soviet war? It's been on my radar for a while as something that deserves some attention and this episode pushed it up the priority list a bit. On another note, I'll second OCS Burma as being excellent. It's just incredible that a single system can do such a good job representing so many diverse theaters. Well worth a look, and it even works as a good intro game to the series.

Has anyone checked out the newer Kharkov and Across the Dnepr Second Edition releases from SSG? It claims to be a successor to the Decisive Battles series and looks like it came out in 2008.

I think choosing between EU3 and CK2 as intro game comes down to a couple of things. First, as Rob says, personal interest and background knowledge trumps just about everything when it comes to getting into strategy games. So, if there is something to work with in that area then follow it as long as you can. Second, I think EU3 is better for people that are familiar with strategy gamers. It has many of the same conventions you see in something like Civilization or even basics like Risk. Making the leap from there isn't too bad. For those that haven't become accustomed to raising armies and painting maps their preferred color, CK2 works because it is about people. In addition, the vague mechanics it has don't seem to bother many non-strategy gamers as much because they aren't used to breaking down and analyzing games as systems yet.

Ascension is really wonderfully done. The artwork isn't great, but, as Troy says, each picture is distinctive enough that you'll quickly develop an association between a blob of colors and its gameplay effect. I've even managed to get the mostly non-gaming fiancee hooked on it. Two thumbs up. Another group to check out are the Reiner Knizia games that have been ported over. My favorites are Samurai and Ra. Samurai is a perfect candidate for iOS and has a well done AI to go along with it. Ra should be one of the worst out there when playing against the computer with it's central bidding and bluffing mechanic. Despite that I can't get enough and it ends up filling a strategy solitaire role for me. Next on my list are Titan and Neuroshima Hex thanks to TMA's recommendations. Bruce, you did a great job making me want to check out Titan despite making it clear that doing so on iOS is foolish for newcomers. Hopefully the new speed settings will make for a better experience.

Very cool, looking forward to seeing how this develops!