Slitherine

Reference: viewtopic.php?p=189381#189381

I gave myself an early Christmas present and purchased Battlefield Academy with the French Expansion on the Dec, 23rd for less $32 (US)!

As some of you might already know I'm a very big fan of CEAW GS and devote a lot of time to that game. However; as I stated in the thread referenced above, one of my favorite boardgames years (and years) ago was Avalon Hill's Squad Leader/Cross of Iron. I also purchased the Microsoft/Atomic Games Close Combat series over a decade ago.

I'm still learning the basics of BA playing through the Desert Campaign scenarios against the AI. Maybe one day I can advance to playing against another human but I've still got a bit of learning to do as AI is challenging me. I find this game superior to the Close Combat series and a great computer equivalent to AH's Squad Leader/Cross of Iron; just like CEAW was a great computer equivalent to AH's 3rd Reich. However; unlike these both of these board games with thick rulebooks with print far too small for me to read without my reading glasses the computer takes care of all the mundane details, rules interpretations and, in the case of BA, line of sight calculations. Also, the BA game engine includes air and artillery strikes. AH's CC/COI did include artillery strikes but the mechanics in BA is so much straight forward.

I had given up playing board wargames in the mid 1980's. It's such a pain and hassle to setup and keep out. With computer games all of this is taken care of for me and it allows me to play a scenario or a few turns in the amount of time it used to take me to setup.

If you're like me and enjoy WW-II wargames I think Battlefield Academy is a must and to be able to get that game plus the French expansion for less than $32 is just an offer I couldn't pass up. Also, for the strategic WW-II gamer, CEAW ($29.99 US) with the GS expansion (free) is a great deal too.

Glad you are enjoying it. Since you mention Victory in the Pacific in the other thread, you might like my Pacific campaigns in the scenarios forum.

junk2drive wrote:Glad you are enjoying it. Since you mention Victory in the Pacific in the other thread, you might like my Pacific campaigns in the scenarios forum.

I'll have to check them out.

rkr1958 you sound a lot like myself.

Big fan of Squad Leader as well as Steel Panthers and BBC BA captures the fun just as much as they ever did.

Also a fan of CEAW and like how close it comes to achieving my old fav A3R. Not exactly the same, but close.

It's a bit pricey according to some, but you might want to check out Command Ops Battles from the Bulge from Panther Games as well. All the fun of real time, without the stupidity of RTS games.

DSWargamer wrote:rkr1958 you sound a lot like myself.

Big fan of Squad Leader as well as Steel Panthers and BBC BA captures the fun just as much as they ever did.

Also a fan of CEAW and like how close it comes to achieving my old fav A3R. Not exactly the same, but close.

It's a bit pricey according to some, but you might want to check out Command Ops Battles from the Bulge from Panther Games as well. All the fun of real time, without the stupidity of RTS games.

Thanks for the tips.

Hey, I just noticed something ... someone is keeping up with the number of games I've played. Is it the AI?

Also, I see the AI is keeping up with my wins and losses too. I'm working my way through the Desert Campaign scenarios and I'm stuck on "Frontal Attack". I've probably played that scenario six times and I just can't seem to close the deal. I am figuring out things about the game and game mechanics though. I moving too slow. I'm walloping the AI with respect to losses but I'm just moving too darn slow (i.e., cautiously) and not getting to all my objectives in time. I'm determine to meet all objectives before moving on.

Well I guess the 8th time was the charm as I finally met all the objectives in the frontal assault Desert Campaign scenario. For the start I had used the two Bishop tanks primarily for indirect fire but initially only against infantry and gun positions. I found out though that their indirect fire is an effective tank killer too even against the Panzer III. I didn't realize that indirect fire could be so effective against tanks. Is this a function of the type of axis tanks in the desert campaign? Anyway, I've promoted myself from this scenario to the next one, which I think is the rear guard / retreat one. I am learning more of the subtle of the game and how to protect my softer targets (i.e., trucks and troop carriers) when advancing. I still have a lot more learning to do.