Lt. Best,
1. I like the Campaigns.
a. Due to their length, I haven't finished very many yet, though. I've had two dropouts in Gettysburg campaigns, but they were both near the beginning of the first battle, and I don't think either one was related to the length of the entire campaign.
b. I haven't played them enough to know if they are balanced or not. I have completed two Corinth campaigns (including one against the A/I!), and won both of them. I have another nearly finished (when General Gast returns), and I fully expect to win that one, too. On the other hand, this was General Gast's first opportunity at a Corinth campaign and I took advantage of that. I'm on the first battle of a Corinth campaign against General Salvemini, who quite apparently knew more what he was getting into. Although I expect to win this first battle, the margin of victory will not be nearly as high this time. I'm having fun.
2. The more games & scenarios available, the fewer all club members have in common. There were only 5 Talonsoft CW games. There are now (so far) 6 HPS games, and the larger maps and campaign options allow so much more to choose from. Add in all the custom scenarios, and there are a lot of options out there. I wouldn't have it any other way, but it does make it harder to find a single scenario that everyone shares.
3. Like role-playing, after-action reports ebb and flow. At one time there were many after-action reports available. If a person seeks after-action reports for ideas on how to play the same scenario himself, refer to item #2. There are fewer reports on any single scenario because there are so many scenarios to report on. If a person wants to read the reports for the vicarious thrill of seeing a battle through someone else's eyes, that's something else entirely. Since each after-action report would presumably deal with a scenario few have already played, it falls on the writer to describe much more in his report (forces available, terrain, road network, geographic objectives, etc.) than he would have to do for a scenario many were already familiar with. Some people would rather play a game than write about it.
There is also a plethora (no, I didn't just spit at you -- that's a big word I just learned [:)] !) of locations to post these reports. When I first joined the club, there was a CSA HQ site where these were posted for the Rebels. Now, for the CSA side, there is the War College and the Southern Raiders Tavern, and (I think) one of the Confederate armies even has an army-specific place to post such reports -- all of which have their own separate security measures.
Your humble servant,
Gen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory
David W. Mallory
ACW - General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America & Cabinet Member
CCC - Sergeant, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army
|