Panzer campaigns mindset assistance

[jward]

Dear All,

I've been playing some of the HPS games that've been sitting on the shelf for awhile. As a former board gamer who played some of the monster games, I'm surprised to find the larger scenarios in these games intimidating.

For example, the full campaign in Bulge '44 seems mind boggling. Now, I do like detailed games and have no problem with the smaller scenarios, but how do you all mentally approach something like the full operational battles?

Thanks!

[Ricky B]

Stay away from Normandy then!

For me, keeping in mind that I need to focus on one area at a time, and what the goals are in that area, help me keep things together. At times I find myself jumping around to the areas that have a lot of action, but then I end up having to step back through everything trying to find what I skipped.

So be methodical, have a plan in mind, and do a section at a time. Doing it this way keeps the battle from being overwhelming, and typically things speed up once you are going. Not really help with the mindset maybe but it was I have to suggest.

[LBouton]

One option you might want to consider when thinking about playing a monster campaign scenario is to play a "team" games. With a team game, you will be reponsible for only a portion of the forces available to your side. On the downside, team games do take longer to play (since each turn has to be sent to each player for them to make their moves). The alternative is save an hour or two (or more) to do your turn. I also find that making a move is much more time intensive at the beginning of the game than later on.

Larry

[Turner]

One approach is to write down the OOB for the side you are playing, set current orders and keep them up to date as the situation develop. That way you won't need to keep everything in memory all the time but have something to fall back upon to quickly get a grasp of the situation.

[Al]

I use the 2D zoom-out & the jump map to get a "big picture" view of the battlefield. I also have a spiral notebook handy to make notes such as "Move the 99th Tea & Crumpet Division to coordinate xx,yy & set up a defense". I also use the AI Movement rule to move follow-on units. Hope this helps some.

[HMCS Rosthern]

I happen to be planning for a Bulge 44 campaign game right now. My recommendations:
1. Start with smaller sceanarios that are pieces of the general campaign, and play these through to the end. That will give you some insight into the capabilities of the units, the axis of advance, supply considerations, etc.
2. Make sure you carefully review your side's OOB, but not necessariy the other side. You should have a good memory of the general OOB.
3. Create maps and plan the route of advance or the defence. Once you have a plan stick to it, unless the situiation changes. I was playing the Peiper scenario (i.e., working my way up), and I did not plan. I found that I waffled in my objectives, and units were therefore muddling around on the battle field.
4. Keep notes on a move-by-move basis. Normally your planning maps should be your guideline, but from time-to-time, you may have a specific task for a unit. For example, if you know you want to move a bridging engineer to a certain hex, record it. In my Peiper game I lept forgetting where I wanted to move specific units.
5. Read books on the campaign.
6. Understand what it takes to win the game (objective hexes, how many units to destroy, etc.)
7. Make sure you and your opponent understand the commitment to the game. I happen to have an opponent who is OK with one turn per week, or even slower. We joked that we hope they have wifi at the retirement home. Other players won't be happy unless you give them a move per day (I wish I had the time). It's a committment, so get to work!

[Steel God]

There is some sound advice in these posts already. I will repeat some of the highlights so as to reinforce them:

1) Play some of the smaller scenarios that pertain to the bigger scenarios first (even if just against the AI) to get a feel for movement and capabilities. Playing the AI you can bang out many smaller ones in a single day.

2) Once you're ready for the campaigns you must have a vision/plan for how you want the game to unfold. Just as you did when you played board games. To get that vision look at the jump map.

3) To execute your plan work in order from top to bottom (or vice versa) so as to not miss any part of the board. Only deviate from that if something critical needs to be done first so others can exploit something else.

Relax and enjoy. In many ways these games have the feel of board games, at least all the good bits from board games.

[Bidermann]

" I also use the AI Movement rule to move follow-on units. Hope this helps some." AI please explane thats a new one on me.

[Steel God]

" I also use the AI Movement rule to move follow-on units. Hope this helps some." AI please explane thats a new one on me.

It's a feature that is built into all of the PzC/MC games. You can designate units to be moved by the AI by giving it a target location and then turning it over to AI control. When you click end turn all such units will move to the fullest extent possible towards the target you set. Not always in the neatest manner, and if they're not in a completely safe zone you can get into a lot of trouble that way, but in a big campaign with lots of rear area, you can save a lot of time by having the reserves move in this fashion. Control freaks like myself rarely ever use the feature ;)

[James Ward]

Dear All,

I've been playing some of the HPS games that've been sitting on the shelf for awhile. As a former board gamer who played some of the monster games, I'm surprised to find the larger scenarios in these games intimidating.

For example, the full campaign in Bulge '44 seems mind boggling. Now, I do like detailed games and have no problem with the smaller scenarios, but how do you all mentally approach something like the full operational battles?

Thanks!

I'm pretty new to this series. The suggestion to play the smaller scenarios is a great way to work up to the full campaigns in a lot of titles. It gets you familiar with the terrain in different areas, the forces involved and their capabilities. Then when you do the big boy you at least have some referance to what can happen in a given area of the map.