Phantom Leader for the iPad

[scarypharaoh]

Well, to be honest, this game is very strong in terms of its systems and gameplay. But, it's DEFINATELY less of a looker than Battle of the Bulge. I personally can see past that and appreciate the challenge of difficult campaigns, however, fair warning to anyone interested, it's not a graphical tour de force 😃
The dice animations are nice tho!

@Lordgek With regard to the 3MA podcast, it's easily one of the best podcasts out there for strategy gamers. It's not a particularly comedic podcast, but the guys REALLY know their stuff. I especially recommend any episode with Bruce Geryk on the panel, he is an extremely compelling orator and is very knowledgable about his wargames. He has actually played the original board game of phantom leader and his insight into the iOS version is great.

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by scarypharaoh

Well, to be honest, this game is very strong in terms of its systems and gameplay. But, it's DEFINATELY less of a looker than Battle of the Bulge. I personally can see past that and appreciate the challenge of difficult campaigns, however, fair warning to anyone interested, it's not a graphical tour de force 😃
The dice animations are nice tho!

@Lordgek With regard to the 3MA podcast, it's easily one of the best podcasts out there for strategy gamers. It's not a particularly comedic podcast, but the guys REALLY know their stuff. I especially recommend any episode with Bruce Geryk on the panel, he is an extremely compelling orator and is very knowledgable about his wargames. He has actually played the original board game of phantom leader and his insight into the iOS version is great.

While I completely forgot they had a podcast, I've long been a fan of both Tom and Bruce from back in the day when they had a regular column in Computer Gaming World.

[Pitta]

Originally Posted by LordGek

I'm tempted but a little scared. Most historical games annoy me due to one simple aspect, historical accuracy. Contrary to what it might sound like, I don't give a shoot about how historically accurate a strategy game is but IF THE DEVS DO, it will likely mean a lot of heavily scripted missions in which the AI has been programmed to either act like his historical counterpart or will at the very least have the same basic unit setup (3 tank brigades in this corner and an infantry platoon over here).

In my ideal randomized deal, the individual units would be historically accurate but their exact makeup and placement would not attempt to be historically accurate. Much like the war was at the time, there would be a lot of adapting to the situations you find yourself in and not simply replaying some exact recreation of a battle. I want my strategy to be based on what I'm seeing as the game unfolds and not what I know of a battle from reading a history book.

With Phantom Leader's card and dice nature I'm reasonably confident all of the campaigns will be immensely replayable and, while based on historical events, not be some entirely scripted affair.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but be aware that Battle of the Bulge is EXACTELY what you say.
They use and place on the very first day the units with historical precision, and reinforcements are always the same as per history, BUT the actual game is not historical precise at all (for explicit design by the devs) meaning that the (very little) randomness of the game lend to a completely different situations in every game. Think chess....always same board, always same units...but always different game.
If you listen to latest 3MA latest episode (completely devoted to BotB) they explain perfectly this.
Said that, the game is almost encyclopedic on the infos provided about the real battle...so you have that too.
I highly recommend the game.
Hijack ended

[LordGek]

So I grabbed the game and have to say the game being simulated is pretty impressive, but the UI isn't that friendly or intuitive.

Little things like not knowing, even after reading about the game phase I'm on, which cards I needed to select (like was I only choosing the weapons I wanted to use this phase with one of my jets before hitting continue or did I need to choose for all jets at once).

To the game's credit they did at least make it easy to access the full rules at any point in-game and nicely walked you through each game phase. While this might almost sound like a contradiction to what I just said in the last paragraph, it isn't. I felt the game fully stated what the point of each phase was but sometimes it wasn't clear how to do what was being asked.

Also worth noting, this game is a really nicely polished simulation of a board game. So, for example, when firing a rocket at a target, you'll see and hear the rolling of ten sided dice and the chits representing both the rocket and target, not some cute little animation of a rocket firing from your jet at the target.

I really like how the game even factors in politics into the game in a clever abstract way. Every target site in the game has a political rating which I can only assume is an abstract combination of the potential of civilian casualties and political sensitivity (whoa, China would not like us flying that close to their border). If the war is not perceived to be going well or word gets back home that you're napalming villages willy nilly, your hands will be tied when selecting the target of your next mission.

[september]

You make it sound quite a clever game, peaked my interest. Recommended or still processing?

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by september

You make it sound quite a clever game, peaked my interest. Recommended or still processing?

I guess still processing. It is a very clever game with a neat mix of cards and dice, but I have to say that it still feels a little overwhelming for me.

When folk that Ghost Stories was hard to fully wrap their heads around, they had nothing on this one!

It does have a little of everything though!

-Lots of tough decisions to make with very limited resources (do you let your star pilot sit out a few sorties to get his head back together or let him fly a bit foggy since your down too many pilots?).
-The neat concept of "Special Options". It's like an in-game currency (whoa, before you go there, this not some IAP nonsense, this is an amount preset at the beginning of the campaign) you can dole out for all sorts of special purposes (R&R for pilots, extra special ordinance, more target options, etc.). As far as I know it is just set at the beginning of the campaign but there might be ways to earn more within a campaign. There is NEVER enough of this to comfortably go round so you need to spend it very judiciously.

Any veterans of the game have some tips on key early startup tactics?

[september]

Thanks for that, I'll wait to hear after you've played a bit more but it is sounding quite decent.

[scarypharaoh]

I can honestly say that lord Gek is not exaggerating the extent of how hard this game is. I felt a real sense of achievement having completed some campaigns. Until I realised that "completed" does not mean "succeeded at". I have yet to perform anything other than abysmally!
If this kind of challenge appeals (which it does to me) then I definately recommend checking it out.

[CoreyB]

Originally Posted by LordGek

I guess still processing. It is a very clever game with a neat mix of cards and dice, but I have to say that it still feels a little overwhelming for me.

When folk that Ghost Stories was hard to fully wrap their heads around, they had nothing on this one!

It does have a little of everything though!

-Lots of tough decisions to make with very limited resources (do you let your star pilot sit out a few sorties to get his head back together or let him fly a bit foggy since your down too many pilots?).
-The neat concept of "Special Options". It's like an in-game currency (whoa, before you go there, this not some IAP nonsense, this is an amount preset at the beginning of the campaign) you can dole out for all sorts of special purposes (R&R for pilots, extra special ordinance, more target options, etc.). As far as I know it is just set at the beginning of the campaign but there might be ways to earn more within a campaign. There is NEVER enough of this to comfortably go round so you need to spend it very judiciously.

Any veterans of the game have some tips on key early startup tactics?

Startup tactics I use:

When choosing pilots I like to pick 1 or 2 who need a lot of exp. to promote then use my S.O. to auto promote them. I rarely us S.O. for weapons, only for that, rest and fuel. Pilots with a cool factor are better then fast pilots IMO. When beginning the campaign I know it's fun to jump right into a large mission with all your fresh pilots but politics can really slow you down if your not careful. Make sure you jump on the mission that gives a politic bonus. Always equip ECM. I could go on and on, it's really a great solitaire game. If I think of any other starting tips I'll let you know.

[iPadisGreat]

Originally Posted by CoreyB

Startup tactics I use:

When choosing pilots I like to pick 1 or 2 who need a lot of exp. to promote then use my S.O. to auto promote them. I rarely us S.O. for weapons, only for that, rest and fuel. Pilots with a cool factor are better then fast pilots IMO. When beginning the campaign I know it's fun to jump right into a large mission with all your fresh pilots but politics can really slow you down if your not careful. Make sure you jump on the mission that gives a politic bonus. Always equip ECM. I could go on and on, it's really a great solitaire game. If I think of any other starting tips I'll let you know.

Please do go on if you can. I am taking notes as I had tried playing Phantom Leader twice unsuccessfully...