Against the Odds

[KG_Kharkov]

Anyone played any of the games that this magazine/game publisher puts out. This one on Berlin has gotten good reviews and looks interesting:

http://www.atomagazine.com/game_08.html

[KG_Panzerschreck]

wow, never heard of them. looks very interesting.

[KG_Kharkov]

Each magazine comes with a game that typically focuses on some military situation with long odds. They are well packaged (saw them at my local hobby shop) and come with a box for the pieces. Counter and map quality is supposed to be high.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

id love to have that battle for berlin version. :) that one looks pretty cool. i also noticed on their webpage that they seem to cover a wide range of time periods as well.

[KG_Kharkov]

Schreck:

Here's a review with pictures of some of the components and a discussion of an expansion for the game.

http://www.wfhgs.com/PDFFILES/WO11.PDF

It requires Adobe -- if you don't have that, let me know, and i'll try to get an html version.

Kharkov

[KG_AGCent]

I'd love to get back into tabletop gaming but I know of no one in my area who does. I know Panther does but he still hasn't found a way of getting me over to his house for dinner in the past 3 monthes as a way of making up for missing out on a concert that I paid for as his b-day present. So actually putting together time to do more than just counter sorting with him might be next to impossible.

I would love to get a subscription to this mag, but I fear that the games would just end up taking up space in my house as I don't do solitaire very well. I just can't seem to forget what I was planning on doing as the "other guys" enough to play fair.

[KG_Kharkov]

Some board games nowadays have internet add-ons (like Aide De Camp) which help you play via e-mail. I'm not sure how they work, but it's on my list of things to check out.

With TeamSpeak and the honor system, you could actually play board games. With a dicerolling utility that two people could share, it would be even better.

I've been toying around with this idea since I too would love to play some of these games -- this Berlin game for example looks awesome, and something like Russian Front would be a great KG type game to play.

[KG_AGCent]

Some board games nowadays have internet add-ons (like Aide De Camp) which help you play via e-mail. I'm not sure how they work, but it's on my list of things to check out.

With TeamSpeak and the honor system, you could actually play board games. With a dicerolling utility that two people could share, it would be even better.

I've been toying around with this idea since I too would love to play some of these games -- this Berlin game for example looks awesome, and something like Russian Front would be a great KG type game to play.

Let me know what you find out. If there are aids enough to make it pracitcable, i think I would be interested in doing something like this... in between WAITING FOR TURNS FROM FRANKIE.

[KG_Kharkov]

Here is information from the makers of Aide De Camp 2 (a computer program designed to let you play by e-mail)

http://www.hpssims.com/pages/products/adc2/ADC2-Main.html

Some games require you to buy ADC2 and then they give you the data to populate it.

Others like Russian Campaign, come with a limited ADC2 specifically designed for the game:

http://www.l2designgroup.com/TheRussianCampaignInfopg.html

Here's a summary of ADC2 and a competing product that I found on a chat board: I would say ADC2 is better in all categories, except cost. Others may disagree. Cyberboard is free, except if you consider a donation request as a cost. ADC2 does costs. All Cyberboard game modules (gameboxes) are free although they seem to be getting a little tighter on enforcing copyrighted products. Some ADC2 modules cost money also – those are generally new games for which the modules are available through the game company. Many other ADC2 modules for which the copyright is not enforced or for which permission has been provided are available without cost.

Both the ADC2 and Cyberboard systems provide a format for playing a game. A module (gamebox for Cyberboard) for a specific game is also required. Neither system has artificial intelligence or enforces game rules. In that perspective they are both like face-to-face play. Play in both systems operates essentially the same way. One player moves his forces and conducts his combat. The computer records the actions as a file. That player then sends via e-mail the file to his opponent. His opponent, who must also have the same utility and module, can review the turn and then conducts his own move and combat. This new file is then returned to the original player who continues the game. Both systems permit owners to design and construct their own modules. Both systems use the Windows operating systems with relatively primitive, low demand upon computers.

HPS Simulations produces ADC2. Dale Larson makes Cyberboard.