Review

It is 1965 and the US ground war in Vietnam is in full swing. As a US Army commander, wage a counter-insurgency (COIN) war to secure the Ia Drang valley, on the border with Cambodia.
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jking142
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
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Review

Post by jking142 »

Hi, Team,

I enjoyed your game, and posted the following review on Steam:

"This is a very interesting wargame with extremely asymetrical sides. I liked the challenge of playing against an enemy that is entirely unlike my force, and the experience was very thought-provoking. Kudos to Every Single Soldier for such a tight game which focuses the player's attention on challenges far outside most wargames. I felt the realistic frustration of trying to prepare against an enemy that could arise anywhere on the map. Issues of sighting, supply and mobility were each crucial to making progress, as well as the challenge of very limited resources. Well done."

I do have one observation for the design team, which you might want to consider on your next sequel:

My only objection to the design is that resources are added for success, and subtracted for failure. While this seems fair, it is not very realistic, nor engaging. The game starts off with too few assets to complete the mission, with the reward of sending you more if you make progress. This is not good doctrine. I realize that war is messy. But senior officers do not generally send extra troops to areas that are already pacified, they send them to hot zones. They may send your replacement along with the reinforcements, but crippling the mission is not SOP.

Likewise, it makes the game very "tippy:" it can quickly become too hard, or too easy. That is, if you achieve some success, you get more troops and the enemy is less active, snowballing your success until it is not challenging, and therefore not fun. (Kind of like a 4X game that you have to run down the clock to the victory bell.) Conversely, if your early game goes poorly, you lose the opportunity to replace losses just as your enemy gains activity level. I can see this quickly reaching a point of no return. That honestly wouldn't be much fun either.

The alternative I encourage you to consider may be more realistic and maintain the challenge to the player. If your sector is getting quieter (due to your excellent leadership) your CO may just transfer one of your veteran companies to another sector with more trouble. Now, just as you start to breathe easier, your job challenge bumps up, instead of down. Maybe the enemy commander decides to double down against you because you are marked for death? Conversely, if some RPG frags your veteran unit in its chopper, maybe the CO chews you out and sends you some greenhorns. It won't fix everything, but it might help you recover. I think this approach might help maintain the challenge throughout the game, and keep the player on his toes without throwing in the towel. I bet most veterans would agree that the reward for a job well done is a harder job. ;)

Thanks for the fun game, and Good Luck!
-D
ErissN6
1st Lieutenant - Grenadier
1st Lieutenant - Grenadier
Posts: 788
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:34 pm
Location: France

Re: Review

Post by ErissN6 »

Daemone wrote:My only objection to the design is that resources are added for success, and subtracted for failure.
If your early game goes poorly, you lose the opportunity to replace losses just as your enemy gains activity level. This quickly reaching a point of no return.
Yes, that's what though with this game, we have to always be carefull, very knowing what we do instead of counting on luck. That's why GreenBerets are so important. It's not a game to be played being tired to be relieved after work...
GiveWarAchance
2nd Lieutenant - Elite Panzer IVF/2
2nd Lieutenant - Elite Panzer IVF/2
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Re: Review

Post by GiveWarAchance »

I found this game always difficult, even when I had a lot of success in making villagers pleased and snuffing out packs of badguys in the jungle. Sometimes I'd fail to supply units in time so they were lost, or the badguys showed up in large numbers in unexpected places, or they shot down my helicopters with RPG teams hidden along resupply flight paths in jungle too deep and too far away to secure with ground troops. So I think this game doesn't ever feel like "oh ya I've won this game already" at least for me anyways. Overall I found the game extremely challenging, and also very creative in design being completely unlike any other game.

I haven't played the Afghanistan sequel to this game so I'm wondering how it is.
dawks
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Posts: 32
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 1:36 am

Re: Review

Post by dawks »

/*blink*/ I just checked "Classic Games A-Z" and found no Forum for Afghanistan '11 ... dandy way to not engage players!


p.s. I've been doing WWW since 1994. I have never seen such a broken method for creating links. 2018 ... amazing ... viewforum.php?f=139
ErissN6
1st Lieutenant - Grenadier
1st Lieutenant - Grenadier
Posts: 788
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:34 pm
Location: France

Re: Review

Post by ErissN6 »

dawks wrote: Sat Oct 27, 2018 8:48 pmI just checked "Classic Games A-Z" and found no Forum for Afghanistan '11
Because it's not, A11 is still in Latest Releases, not already archived to Classic: http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=442
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