Slitherine

Please list your favorite campaign for Battle Academy and mention why you like it best.

As I have yet to play through all of them I will refrain from voting.

I only listed the Slitherine produced campaigns by name. All others are listed as "Other" in the poll choice. If you choose "Other" please list the name along with your response.

The poll will close on or about November 5, 2012. You are allowed to change your vote in case you made an incorrect choice the first time.

Sealion - Vote;, On the Beach. Why? Can be won by either side, but it (as always) depends on your opponent. However, as the Axis, very hard given a 'death' limit of 20 units. Win as the Axis = wow! But still good re tactics for both forces.

Leci

My favorite one is desert campaign because i like defend in this game

Nice use of the polling feature!
Me,..I like:
"A Christmas Surprise" - Axis should win,..although you can screw it up if you're not careful. You can win as Allies,..if,...you form a strong defense, and fallback as necessary.
"Clash of Armor" - Axis should win,..however it is possible (but difficult) to win as Allies. You must play extremely well to win as Allies.
"Desert Fort" - Allies should win, after all,..they own the flags and the high ground,.....however...Axis can win,..but ONLY if you use rock-solid tactics.

I like playing as the underdogs in all three of these scenarios.
I'll play as the stronger side to see if someone plays some tactics I hadn't thought of beforehand.

thanks for the poll! I voted for sealion, because that is one of those favorite "what ifs" historians love to argue about and to get to play such a campaign is cool... I find the market garden series of linked campaigns nearly impossible for me to win at, given the carry over of what units are left... realistic above all, but sad in how many forces i lost in just getting to the 5th mission... i love the desert campaigns and the normandy ones too.... and the france blitz is great too - to go up against those somoas are scary... thanks for a great game... its all good, and one of my all time favorite as a grognard since the 70s..

For me, Bulge had a great mix of scenarios and was very challenging yet educational.

As I've said elsewhere, I think Crete is great for developing infantry tactical skills. City River has become another favourite and I enjoy the opportunity to employ smoke and engineers.

I also agree that Sealion is a great "what if".

Thanks for running the poll!

I have completed the six campaigns provided by Slitherine. My favorite campaign is Market Garden, because it is a "carry over" campaign. You have to really manage your forces,because you will need them in future scenarios.

I love Battle Academy, but I am afraid I am not really good at it, because most of the scenarios took me multiple turns to win.

I do enjoy the challenge. I am best at defense, but I have improved very much on offense. I believe I would get clobbered in a game with a live opponent.

I am very much looking forward to Slitherine releasing the next group of campaigns and am hoping for the East Front in World War II.

My ranking of the campaigns based on my experience only from hardest to easiest is:

1. Hardest Campaign is Market Garden. "Arnhem The First Day" is the most difficult and the most important by far. Took me at least six tries before I won it. But, I did not have enough remaining forces to win the bridge counterattack scenario. You need as many units as possible to survive. I finally got really good at the first day bridge battle; after many more tries I came up with a workable strategy. I know it's hard to count a victory after you know most of the enemy positions, but it still felt really good! By having most of the units available at the bridge I won the remaining bridge scenarios on the first try. I did win the last three scenarios on the first try.
2. Next hardest is Sealion. The "Holding On" and "Dunkirk Revenge" scenarios are very hard. I only won "The Last Ditch" and "Counterstroke" on the very last turns of the scenarios. I did not win a single scenario in this campaign in one try.
3. Blitzkrieg. Very hard scenarios are: "Racing Ahead" and "Crossing the River". I won "The Last Ditch" on the last turn. I did not win a single scenario in this campaign in one try.
4. Normandy. "Operation Cobra" is very hard. Won "Holding the Ring" on the last turn.
5. Bulge. "Sealing the Ring" is very difficult. I won it on the last turn after three tries.
6. Western Desert Campaign. Won every scenario in one try.

I tried to play the campaigns in the order that they occurred or might have occurred historically: Blitzkrieg, Sealion, Western Desert Campaign, Normandy, Market Garden, and Bulge. I did get frustrated with Market Garden and skipped ahead to Bulge until it was finished. Then, I came back to Market Garden and stuck with it until I finished.

I don't want to give the wrong impression. Except for the "Western Desert Campaign", the scenarios I single out above were the hardest for me, but that does not mean the others were easy, because they were challenging and fun.

Blitzkrieg France -second scenario is difficult....

Leci

Just a point re my last post in this subject - the 'French' voices are terrible - indeed the same maybe said of some British scenarios!

Additionally and as an aside - why can't the belligerents units/icons show the actual flag of the country?

Leci

Just Played "Western Desert" and a couple scenarios of other campaigns...
Western Desert is acessible...defensive battles are good for learning the mechanics...and i got better on offense on each scenario....which is good because dfficulty seems to increase.

Won all scenarios on the first try, but not all objectives on some...and had some surprises and hard moments in between...and a lot of losses. So i can play again to try to improve results...

THIS GAME IS A LOT OF FUN...not too hard, but you have to think and plan ahead...if you just race at full speed you will lose your units fast!

And i also liked the "realistic" feel...the game has a lot of abstractions, but the "feeling is nice"...for instance:
- Matildas are very tough, but lack firepower
- Crusaders are faster but break down a lot
- You end up "liking" the Stuarts...even when they are actually not very good
- Italians are under par...but tenacious on defense
- 88s are terrible...you must plan your strategy to deal with them
- A German armoured attack always makes you flinch
- Scenarios feel nice...breaking the Italians, getting harder with the Germans, tough defense on Tobruk, handling 88s and finally...a Tiger to destroy!

I guess i will try Normandy next...

Yes, BA is one of those games that rewards the patient and the impatient alike!

Nothing like moving out into the open with US Paras only to get cut down by German MGs ...