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Tower Games newsletter March 07

Tower Games Newsletter

March 07
 
 
Tower Games

 

Hello there, fellow mad wargamers,

We have some great news for you which, I have to say, has taken quite some time to get together. This is why you haven't had any newsletters from us for a while. 'Cause we were busy working on our...

World War Two Game; "Lightning War."

That's right, folks! We have been busily hammering and chiselling away, putting Lightning War together. And now it is released. If you go to the Games Room and open up a new game you will now see two directories, one for Line of Muskets (our American Civil War game) and one for Lightning War (World War Two punch up).

  
 
New Games Room
  
 

Lightning War; World War II punch up.

It's basically a divisional level game. Each piece on the board represents one company, with the ability to order an entire battalion with only one order. Of course you can give individual companies orders if you really want to.

Here are the basic rules;

  • Each hex is 500m across. Each strength point represents 50 men.
  • A unit's default order is "in battalion".
  • If you give a battalion commander an order, all companies in that battalion will attempt to follow the order (if on the default order of "in battalion"). However, you can give an individual company a specific order.
  • A "move" order is fast but horrible if you get shot at while in column.
  • A "probe" order is sniffing out the enemy carefully, ready to fight, but not pushing hard.
  • An "assault" order is push hard ahead, ignoring casualties.

When all orders are in, the move, run and shoot happens. And the bullets fly and the machine guns go "thud-thud-thud".

In the first scenario you basically are in charge of something like a US brigade, four battalions, and you have to clear a town and surrounding hills of about the same number of Germans. In this scenario the AI is a bit dumb and doesn't know to reposition his forces according to what you're doing. So have fun.

Just a word of warning to the wise; don't use the Move option except to move away from the enemy. Use the Probe or Assault options to get close to the enemy (as above).

Again, as with Line of Muskets, this scenario is there to help you learn the rules before moving onto other more difficult things. There is no artillery, tanks, anti-tank guns, air power, etc, etc. These, and other exciting things, are yet to come.

And there is also a two player version.

So for all you people out there who have been waiting for a WWII game, 'cause you really don't like standing up when someone is shooting at you, come along and try this for size. Lots of fun.

  
 

Lightning War Tutorial

US troops gets ready to assault a hill occupied by Germans.
 

  
 

Online Editor

And, naturally, as you would expect, more and more scenarios are on their way. However, Lightning War is going to be very different from Line of Muskets in one very significant way. We will (one day. Don't ask when) have an online editor. So if you have a great WWII battle you want to fight, you will be able to put it together and have it launched right here on Tower Games.

We always wanted to do this for Line of Muskets but, alas, one learns only through hindsight, and we really only just learned how to do this.

And, of course, if you find anything strange happening with the game, please let us know. Debugging is an ongoing thing, and we would very much like to fix any bugs.

Gettysburg Day 2, July 2nd 1863

The biggest battle of the American Civil War is now on line. The climax of the war, on top of Little Round Top, comes alive as the busiest day of the war springs into action. Both entire armies of Northern Virginia and The Potomac are here, each trying to bite each other to death. The entire battle field is represented. For 4 to 7 players.

Line of Muskets; March Columns. Again.

Well, we had a few more complaints. Then Ekrommen smashed me to bits with March Columns in a way that made us think. Hats off to Ekrommen because what he did was perfectly legitimate, but we also knew March Columns weren't supposed to be so powerful.

Now, I know some of you will say "told you so". However, it was the incredibly tricky way Ekrommen proved the point. He had this wonderful tactic of soaking off bullets with brigades in Line, while units in March Column slammed into the side, missing all the musketry. You could have heard my jaw hit the ground as my entire army was vapourised by berserk march columns as they went through my army like a bull through a china shop.

So, after I stopped sulking, Dan had a really good look at the code again. And, well, goodness, he found an arithmetical error that made March Columns at least five times more powerful in close combat than they were ever supposed to be.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the bug is now fixed and march columns now really die if they go into close combat.

You have been warned.

That's all for now. See you next time.

Regards,

From Chris, the editor, and every one at Tower Games.

  
 

 
   
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