Turn-Based Strategy Games

[Karstein]

RE: Kings Bounty

If you powers up your scouting skill you can see exactly how many of each ememy is stacked in a unit.

Yeah, but that still doesn't help in every situation. Another case I just encountered was in the deserted castle in Verlon Forest - went down there to help that guy out at the top and decided to search one of the pictures to see what was in there... cue 1.1k skeletons jumping out and insta-aggroing me. I only managed to win the battle in the end by killing everything and kiting a stack of about 100 melee skeletons around with my beholders for about 120 turns until they were all dead.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, but that still doesn't help in every situation. Another case I just encountered was in the deserted castle in Verlon Forest - went down there to help that guy out at the top and decided to search one of the pictures to see what was in there... cue 1.1k skeletons jumping out and insta-aggroing me. I only managed to win the battle in the end by killing everything and kiting a stack of about 100 melee skeletons around with my beholders for about 120 turns until they were all dead.

yeah, I ignored that castle until nearly the end. I probably could have done it a bit earlier--certainly by the time you're able to waltz through the Dwarven kingdom with little worry--but I got owned so many times by those damn spiders really early in the game that I just stayed away for a long time.

Forgot about it, actually.

I found that one of the earliest quests--help the guy from turning into a werewolf is also nearly impossible if you get it as oon as you can. It's a limited time before he changes, but that cave and those troops are really hard at a low level. I didn't really believe the "before midnight" part of the quest b/c those tend to be rare in games. I mopped it up some time later, and dude was a werewolf, anyway. oh well.

 

[boozie]

I really liked KB TL, but I couldn't get into AP because I was unable to duplicate the army shop mod that I used in TL. I get too frustrated whenever I sustain any losses without the mod (Mod would let you buy troops of any stack you currently have in your army at ~5x normal cost, so I wouldn't have to worry about running out or running back to restock). I've asked around everywhere for it and the best I could find is a working version of the mod for Crossworlds but I only own AP.

 

[DaveSimmons]

In AP you do get the 2 reserve slots immediately so you can keep some spare units there, at least until the vendors run out of that unit type.

If you have paladins and inquisitors you have 2 stacks with resurrection to reduce your losses, and you can do even more with the phantom and resurrection spells.

Despite that it did require a fair amount of running back and forth to top off my stacks though, since playing as a mage means every unit is needed.

 

[boozie]

In AP you do get the 2 reserve slots immediately so you can keep some spare units there, at least until the vendors run out of that unit type.

If you have paladins and inquisitors you have 2 stacks with resurrection to reduce your losses, and you can do even more with the phantom and resurrection spells.

Despite that it did require a fair amount of running back and forth to top off my stacks though, since playing as a mage means every unit is needed.

I know there are plenty of options to bring back troops, but there are still scenarios where it isn’t easily preventable at which case I wouldn’t mind paying a LOT of gold to top off my stack.

Call it a crutch, but really it’s more the perfectionist in me and the feeling that well crap this next battle will be hard, if only I didn’t lose those few troops from the previous battle. Now do I run all the way back to XXX (this mod also allows you to forget where XXX is for every type of unit) and come back or not? Or do I try that fight all over again? (not a good option either)

As far as the reserve goes, 2 slots isn’t enough for lots of reasons. I like the option to be able to buy a new unit on the fly without stopping off at a base, so that sucks up one slot right there. Then if you have any extra unit you want to keep around (which is really the main point of reserve imo) that sucks up the 2nd spot. Even if I gave myself one filler slot, my other 4 units are still at risk.

I could play the game without the Mod, it’s just not as pleasant after having the taste of the way it could be.

 

[zinfamous]

well, there are cheats that you can type in. I suppose, if you relaly want the effect of the mod, you could type in the army cheat to max out your stacks, then type in the gold cheat to reduce your gold the equal, or fair amount that you wanted.

:\

 

[Kaspian]

HoMM VI will be out in a couple of months

I've been looking forward to that game. I tried HOMM V demo a while back (before it was released) and did not care to much for it. II and III have been my favorite of the series.

Kas

 

[Kaspian]

fallout tactics is such an underrated game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_Tactics

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/fallout_tactics

One of my favorite turn based strategy games. You can still get in on steam.

 

[DaveSimmons]

GoG.com has Fallout Tactics cheap and DRM-free. The combat isn't quite as deep as Jagged Alliance 2 and the squaddies lack the personality of JA2 mercs, but the graphics are nicer and there is a decent story to it.

 

[Borealis7]

KB + AP were great i loved them.
the obvious recommendations is HoMM 3 if you dont mind the dated graphics (and 5 if you like prettier games).
i also recommend Age of Wonders 2 and Fantasy Wars (can get quite hardcore if you don't plan your moves right).

 

[Wyndru]

Is turn based. Not too much strategy involved though.

 

[Schadenfreude]

fallout tactics is such an underrated game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_Tactics

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/fallout_tactics

I really, really enjoyed playing FO:T until the game inexplicably decided to flub my savefile . . . damn buggy *&^$: f course, this was way back when the game first came out, so who knows, it may be more stable now.

But I also really, really enjoyed the original Silent Storm: too bad it's stuck embedded with SecuROM.

 

[Karstein]

Started playing Frozen Synapse and it's good fun so far. Certainly appeals to my Laser Squad side.

Only a couple of gripes so far - the first is that the AI seems suspiciously active in changing its mind between each turn. For instance, they might send a squad member down a hallway one turn and for no apparent reason send them walking backwards along the way they just came the next - right after you'd carefully setup one of your gunners in the direction they were originally heading.

The other gripe which is slightly more minor is that - although there is a plot playing out through campaign - the designers decided to make your 'character' as generic as possible. In Laser Squad, having named squad members and enemies such as Corporal Jonlan and Sterner Regnix made it a far more memorable occasion than just 'green guys vs red guys'. It's a shame you don't get to keep a squad and name them as you wish.

Anyway, if you like a bit of turn-based tactical shootery, you can't really go wrong with this. I do find it a bit odd that they're only selling licenses in packs of two, so try and split the cost with a friend.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Got it, started playing; it's a little heady at first (I've been out of the TBS-style games for months now) but it's definitely a solid title.

The two-license thing; I believe it's a short-term promotion where you can give a full license to another player. So for the time being you're getting a BOGO deal when you buy it off directly off the website. It's still the same price for 1 license off of Steam (you can register your license on Steam if you've bought it off of the developer's website directly too, btw).

Started playing Frozen Synapse and it's good fun so far. Certainly appeals to my Laser Squad side.

Only a couple of gripes so far - the first is that the AI seems suspiciously active in changing its mind between each turn. For instance, they might send a squad member down a hallway one turn and for no apparent reason send them walking backwards along the way they just came the next - right after you'd carefully setup one of your gunners in the direction they were originally heading.

The other gripe which is slightly more minor is that - although there is a plot playing out through campaign - the designers decided to make your 'character' as generic as possible. In Laser Squad, having named squad members and enemies such as Corporal Jonlan and Sterner Regnix made it a far more memorable occasion than just 'green guys vs red guys'. It's a shame you don't get to keep a squad and name them as you wish.

Anyway, if you like a bit of turn-based tactical shootery, you can't really go wrong with this. I do find it a bit odd that they're only selling licenses in packs of two, so try and split the cost with a friend.

 

[Karstein]

Definitely getting into the skirmish/multiplayer-side of things now - Dark Elimination is great fun. Absolutely love blasting rocket after rocket across the floor while I try to engineer something with my gunner/shotty guys in front. Had moderate success so far just because I'm incredibly impatient and am always trying to flank my opponent.

Other favorite thing: having a turn end half-way through a rocket flying across the screen towards you and trying to work out the best way to maneuver out of there.

 

[paperfist]

Definitely getting into the skirmish/multiplayer-side of things now - Dark Elimination is great fun. Absolutely love blasting rocket after rocket across the floor while I try to engineer something with my gunner/shotty guys in front. Had moderate success so far just because I'm incredibly impatient and am always trying to flank my opponent.

Other favorite thing: having a turn end half-way through a rocket flying across the screen towards you and trying to work out the best way to maneuver out of there.

Looks like an interesting game. It's TBS? I see a lot of movement going on. Also, is all of the wall structures destructible?

 

[Karstein]

Yeah, you go through the 'planning phase' where you try and work out what's actually going to happen and move your squad accordingly. Then you commit your move and watch the action.

I'd recommend watching this.

And yeah, all walls are destructible with rpgs.

 

[Skott]

Heroes Of Might & Magic VI is due out later this year. Trailers have already been released.

 

[Karstein]

Just a heads up - you can buy King's Bounty: Platinum Edition for $8.74 from GetGames right now. You can also get The Legend on its own for $2.

Never bought anything from there, but it was recommended on RPS.

 

[twinrider1]

I miss X-COM TFTD.

The best game ever. I played that game until the sun came up way too often. Just one more mission, then I'll go to bed.....

I see it's on Steam. Has anyone tried it there?

 

[boozie]

The best game ever. I played that game until the sun came up way too often. Just one more mission, then I'll go to bed.....

I see it's on Steam. Has anyone tried it there?

Yea it's just rigged to run through DOSBOX. Runs fine, though you may need to tinker with the sound and/or some other files for windowed mode. Nothing Google can't fix.

 

[Karstein]

So I picked up HOMM V in the Steam sale and all I can say so far is... how the hell did 1C get away with making such a similar game?

 

[Albatross]

http://www.xenonauts.com/game-overview
Apparently, this will be a proper X-COM remake,so we`ll wait and see.

 

[Slew Foot]

So I picked up HOMM V in the Steam sale and all I can say so far is... how the hell did 1C get away with making such a similar game?

Other way around. Kings bounty came out before HOMM

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I've been playing a lot of x-com apocalypse lately... although I've been playing the battles real-time... Sigh, I hate playing modern games (UFO: Aftermath in this case(I know it's kind of old too, but the new x-com is going to be an fps(fml))) and having them just make me want to play older better games instead : (