Treacherous question

[Fhil]

You are woken up suddenly during the night by a demon next to your bed shaking you, coming from whatever terrible dimension he would come with such a terrible deed. He says: "Enough! From now on, you are granted permission to play only one of these JTS series, or else!"

- Squad Battles
- Panzer Battles
- Panzer Campaigns
- FWWC
- Modern Campaigns

 Which one will you choose and why? 

[phoenix]

PC. Best match of unit scale to map detail level and time per turn. Best graphics. Excellent, top-notch historical research (though PB has that too, and FWWC, but the graphics in those 2 is much less to my liking, the FWWC graphics are really awful with those strange hard hexes everywhere, dominating the view, cluttering everything, which is a great shame because otherwise I'd be playing that series a lot too...) PC maps are the maps which most look like a map of the actual place. PB maps would be excellent too, if they went down the line of the latest PC maps, with smoother, more fluid natural features and got rid of the 3D elements on the 2D map, which make the maps look a bit 'toy-like' imho. PC is the title, for me, where the graphics are fine and you are most able to read a book about a given campaign and it will be there in the game, recognisable from history. PB and SB and the finer detail games all lose out when it comes to the turn-based LOS and hit mechanics, I think, since getting damage historical over an entire scenario seems to mean it looks unhistorical each turn, and this combined with the weirdness of the LOS mechanic (discovering tanks right in front of you only the next turn etc etc...) means they're not really for me. i don't 'feel' the probs with these same mechanics at the higher scale, for some reason. MC is great, but hypothetical, which I don't go for. So, yeah, PC is the one, for me. It also beats all the Nappy titles, the P&M titles and the ACW titles for similar reasons, to do with match of scale to unit and time and the operation of the LOS and hit mechanics.

Oh. Was I meant to only say what I liked about PC? Sorry.

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

I consider MCs and PzCs pretty much the same. MCs being hypothetical is no big deal as PzCs has Sea Lion and the two Pacific titles. Plus, every title has what if, hypothetical, scenarios. So PzCs/MCs and PBs and Campaign Series. Very similar to Lays' Potato Chips, you can't play just one. :)

[larsonney]

PC because of the scale and time period...PZB is a close second.

[Mr Grumpy]

 the FWWC graphics are really awful with those strange hard hexes everywhere, dominating the view, cluttering everything, which is a great shame because otherwise I'd be playing that series a lot too...) 

This is where "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" comes into play as I think the FWWC graphics/map are far superior to PzC even after the Gold upgrade and I would struggle to play PzC because of this.

So graphics are a very personal thing......

[phoenix]

'So graphics are a very personal thing...... '

I know. It's true. And I don't mean to insult your taste. De gustibus non est disputandum, etc etc. I just want to register my disapointment, every now and then, that a game I really loved before that happened to it (F14 was out without jisonisation for a little while) was ruined for me, because I can't even see the terrain properly for the hexes. I have modded it at length, and still play the series, but my modding isn't up to the standard of the lovely new PC graphics. So what made your day, no doubt, Mr. Grumpy, ruined mine. The top down mods for SB also ruined things for me (and many others). C'est la vie.

[Mr Grumpy]

No problem at all, each to his own! 

[jim pfleck]

FWWC--I think they do an excellent job in modeling the fighting in 1914. Each game represents tons of battles and scenarios. And many of the scenarios are pretty balanced in terms of the "fighting" and most are balanced in terms of the victory point set up. I hope for a ton more games from the series (one more game to finish 1914 and I hope they keep going) but the three that are out offer years of gameplay and together easily a decade of playing.

[lezgo killemall]

PZC

I own most of the titles and love the work and care David and the team put into them.  To think that Smolensk is 21 years old and is (will be) as new as Schedlt44 that was just released still never stops boggling my mind.  

Merry Xmas to David and all of his crew and to all the Blitzers here.

[Steel God]

You are woken up suddenly during the night by a demon next to your bed shaking you, coming from whatever terrible dimension he would come with such a terrible deed. He says: "Enough! From now on, you are granted permission to play only one of these JTS series, or else!"

- Squad Battles
- Panzer Battles
- Panzer Campaigns
- FWWC
- Modern Campaigns

 Which one will you choose and why? 

Fuck dat Demon.  I would rather die on my feet then live on my knees. I'll play what I damn well please, when it suits, and the Devil and his Demons be damned.

  Helmet on, let's go Demon.