ExitDose

Congratulations on hitting 300 episodes. Glad to hear Tom, again.

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2015/03/26/qt3-games-podcast-johan-nagel-and-vietnam-65/ It's not the full panel, but it is Tom and Bruce.

I started playing HoMM3 a few months back. I was surprised at how much it got its hooks into me. I'm terrible at the game, but something about it keeps calling to me. One little touch that I liked is that you only get a general idea of what the numbers are in an enemy force. I wish more strategy games would build around ideas like that. I especially liked that it didn't give you a number, just a general descriptor of how many. Is the Winter of Wargaming no more?

Is what he does in the context of promoting a product considered optimism? It seems to me that an ethical line is being crossed. He's not talking generally about the future of games, but specifically about the products that he is selling/promoting. In the past it was something to laugh off, but he's now doing that with a Kickstarter campaign. A substantial exchange of money took place. Those people are owed straight answers, not a bunch of lies and half-truths. Hell, they were owed that before he took their money.

He was asked if he was a pathological liar to determine if he has a psychological disorder that leads him to do these things. At this point in Molyneux's career, that is entirely fair to ask.

I've noticed that everyone that I watch play this skips buying skeleton keys. I've been bringing a couple with me whenever I can. They seem to pay for themselves. 'Whiff' means that they miss.

It's odd in the current board gaming environment, but I think that Multiman are concerned about piracy using VASL. The price and how regularly core modules go out of print are the things that have put me off ASL the most.

What's the story with Lepers? Mine all seem to whiff on most attacks, and when they connect it's about the same damage level of the other front line classes. Their other skills don't seem to offset it. What's their role supposed to be?

I doubt that it needs to be recommended, since it seems like it's being covered everywhere, but Darkest Dungeon should probably find its way to a 3MA episode in the near future. It's sort of a dungeon-crawling, XCOM-ish game with a Lovecraftian theme.

It doesn't sound like there are any plans to release the expansions, so I'm at a bit of a loss for reasons why anyone should buy the HD version over the Complete Edition over at GOG. I believe there's an HD mod for the GOG version.

I picked up Last Stand Arnhem during the recent Matrix sale; my first experience with Close Combat. I had a real bad experience with it. The interface was just so awkward and unintuitive relative to modern designs. Close Combat seems like one of those games that you should pick up if you're feeling nostalgic. I'll probably give it another shot in the future, but I haven't bounced off a game like that in a long time and it gave me a lot of reasons not to go back.

With Black Sea around the corner, maybe we'll get their thoughts on how well CM fares in the modern era. This is the first Combat Mission release in a while that I've been looking forward to. I love the system, but the choice of subjects in the past haven't been that adventurous.

Almost too much, I want every volume, now. I've been really impressed with the quality of the scenario design.

ASL? This is the episode where I stare mournfully at Decision At Elst and realize that I'll never play it or its ASLSK campaign. On the bright side, I discovered John Tillers Squad Battles series a few weeks ago, so I at least have that to scratch my tactical, turn-based itch. RIP John Hill

I'm sorry, what's arguable about that? Cultural conflict and integration doesn't always avail itself in the form of 'ethnic revolts', and there isn't a singular, catch-all time period where it should be important. My complaint was that EU treats ethnic revolts as the only outcome, which I find to be a missed opportunity. Cassus Belli becomes trivial in the late-game. I wouldn't applaud that design decision if that really is how they chose to abstract culture.

I think if there was any sweeping change that I'd make, it would be the complete elimination of the ledger. The ledger eliminates most of the FOW and it makes espionage largely pointless. If EU is their Civilization, that goes a long way to explain why I lose interest - and any semblance of difficulty - in the midgame.

I loved that element of Victoria II. I wouldn't mind something along those lines, as well as the crisis mechanic making its way into EUIV. The culture mechanics would be incredible during the Reformation.

I think that the representation of culture is an issue. There should really be more problems that arise as your country's diversity grows. Technically, some of that is there, but it's largely in the form of easily crushed uprisings. That it's a problem that easily goes away with the press of the magical culture-conversion-button is weird.

Like Troy, I thought that Harpoon had prepared me for playing Command. It did not. Any chance that we'll see a show for the hot new Gary Grigsby joint during the next Winter of Wargaming?

How about a show on the Pacific Theater and why it is so under represented at the tactical level?

Yeah, I'm aware of the difference. I'd just like to explore more of their titles. Battlefront caught my eye for the variety of scenarios.

I picked up this and Flashpoint Campaigns, based mostly on this string of episodes, from the Matrix Games sale. I'm loving both, and I'd definitely recommend grabbing Flashpoint while it's still at the 30 dollar price tag - its fifty dollar price tag is a little steep. I'm looking to grab two more of SSG's games before and I've narrowed it down to Battlefront, Battles In Normandy, and Battles In Italy. Anyone have a recommendation on which two I should go for? I hope there's a second Winter Of Wargaming on the way.

My experience with TLF has been a lot like my initial exposure to Crusader Kings 2. Fascinated but too lost to actually figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. Is there a good resource for this game that would help?

Ben Hull's Musket and Pike Battle Series from GMT is another good treatment of the era's warfare. It has some similarities to the Great Battles series, but has its own unique bits for initiative, cavalry reaction, and handling of command and control. I think it does the best job of modeling the period. Unfortunately as distinct as Hull's designs are, the game is a bit fiddly, just like his solo series Fields of Fire.

Has there been an episode for the Command Ops series?