Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    A few years ago I used to be a serious gamer myself.  As others
    in this conference will agree, the Amiga is a step above most other
    PCs when it comes to games, especially graphics intensive games.
    There doesn't seem to be gobs of wargames available, but I haven't
    really looked very hard yet.
    
    I did just buy Silent Service, a sub game, and found it to be one
    of the better strategy games for the Amiga.  It has a good balance
    of interesting graphics & sounds, quick decsion making and simple
    tactics.  One feature is its use of many levels of maps.  With each
    level is more detail to a point where you'd think there wasn't enough
    memory.  The trick is that it uses Fractal patterns to draw the
    coast lines.
    
    The pamphlet that came with Silent Service had a list of some other
    strategy games that looked reasonable.  I have heard of one wargame,
    Kampfgruppe, which is supposed to have been one of the best selling
    games for the C64 a few years back.  It will probably be my next
    purchase for the Amiga.  I'm still waiting for someone to write
    computer versions of all those Avlon Hill games like Rail Baron,
    Panzerblitz, Panzer leader, 3rd Reich, War at Sea, Victory in the
    Pacific, Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Allies...
    
    What kinds of wargames interest you?  armor battles, fantasy games,
    napoleonics, sea battles, campaign games, futuristic spaceship battles?
      

    
    To begin, I'm most interested in WWII and modern era games. I just
    saw a demo of Panther Games "Fire Brigade" that looks great! They
    only did it for the Amiga and the MAC so they weren't dragged down
    by the 8-bit machines. That's the type of game I'm interested in.
    A boardgame on the computer, in essence!
    
    One of it's features that I really liked was that if you put MACs
    (or Amigas) back-to-back, cabled together you can play "ftf" with
    another player without having to be actaully face-to-face!
    
    Have you seen the version of Silent Service for other machines?
    I'm interested if it was a quick port or did they really take advantage
    of the 16bit architecture and the better graphics?
    
    -Ray
    

    I used to have an Apple and had many wargames.  Strategic Simulations
    puts out some good ones (and some lousy ones).  One of the best
    wargames I ever played by them was called Battlegroup.  It was a
    sequel to Kampfgruppe (mentioned in .1) and when Kampfgruppe came
    out for the Amiga I bought it immediately.  My recommendation is
    this: DO NOT BUY THIS PATHETIC PIECE OF TRASH!
    
    The game system itself is great, just as Battlegroup was, but this
    game was released about a year before it should have been.  It is
    so full of bugs it is virtually unplayable.  I can only play because
    I had played Battlegroup.  The scoring system is screwed up, your
    forward observers tend to fire on their own artillery, it exits
    the order phase for no reason, etc.  I don't think this game even
    went through alpha testing much less beta.  I am appalled that SSI
    would release such an unfinished product.  They are too good a company.
    Maybe, someday, a usable version will be released which I would
    be happy to own and play 16 hours a day, but until then I would
    look elsewhere.
    
    Andy Humphrey

    
    I have to agree... Kampfgruppe was the third game I bought for my
    Amiga and it's been one of the least played... Is it only the Amiga
    version? I ask because it's constantly one of the highest rated
    games in "Computer Gaming World" magazine.
    
    I'm searching for a source for Panther Game's Fire Brigage but so
    far haven't been succesfull. I'm going to put an entry in the Australia
    notes conference and maybe an Aussie wargamer will give me a hand.
    
    I also came across an ad in Amiga World for a game call "Blitzkreig
    in the Ardennes" (not exact, I don't have that copy here with me)
    by a company along RT128. I called and talked to the developer and
    it sounds REAL good. He said it has much more of a boardgame flavor
    than most other's on the market with complete control over the actions
    of every piece. I order a copy and it should be here any day. I'll
    post a review once i get a chance to play with it.
    
    -Ray
    

    I'm sure it's just the Amiga version of Kampfgruppe that is the
    problem.  As I said, Battlegroup on my Apple was marvelous and probably
    the best of the dozen wargames I had.  I really hope SSI releases
    a playable version at some point because I miss it...:-(