Tactical squad based games

[hrvojej]

What games of this sort have you played, and which ones would you recommend playing? I really liked Fallout Tactics, Jagged Alliance 2 and Incubation, but there doesn't seem to be all that many of games like that at all. If you have any suggestions about some recent titles that are worth looking into in the spirit of the aforementioned titles, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.

[Jacque Schtrapp]

I haven't really played any games of this type. I am interested in suggestions of the best ones to try though.

[LordMonarch]

X-Com series are the classics.

Laser Squad Nemesis is the best current on out there.

Jagged Alliance is adequete.

For more click here The Home of the Underdogs

[econ21]

hrvojej - good question and I don't know the answer. Jagged Alliance 2 was brilliant - one of the best games ever; Fallout Tactics was pretty good too. Nothing more recent has really caught my interest, although I saw mention of a forthcoming X-Com game (Aftermath?) in a recent mag that got me salivating. The original X-Com was arguably even better than JA2 but too dated to enjoy much today. [If you are into PBEM, there is a revamped X-com by E-mail that some people like]

The only other recent games I've played that find similar are the Icewind Dale I and II. Yes, I know they are role-playing games, but to my mind they focus on squad-level tactics, albeit in a DnD setting. I still find them inferior to true RPGs like Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate 2, however.

[Knight_Yellow]

try close combat series

u control squads of german or american infantry in normandy berlin etc.

very good

PS. some tanks in there too.

[Lehesu]

RAVEN SHIELD The a.i. is not the brightest at shooting at distant targets, but they are very effective at clearing out rooms. Fun game.

[Longshanks]

Quote[/b] (Knight_Yellow @ Mar. 27 2003,17:14)]try close combat series

u control squads of german or american infantry in normandy berlin etc.

very good

PS. some tanks in there too.

I agree, the original Close Combat and Close Combat III:The Russian Front were both great games. I haven't played the others in the series though.(I believe there are two others, A Bridge too Far and Battle of the Bulge)

They are a little older too so should be on the discount shelf.

[chilliwilli]

Or if you are looking for a game that costs nothing and are a fan of America you might want to look at America's Army. Its unbelievabely good for a free game, but the ones you pay for are better.

[spiffy_scimitar]

Xcom, the first one, is great, but good luck getting it to run. Stay far, far away from Xcom:Terror from the Deep, though. Somehow the graphics got worse, and the gameplay got a lot more tedious. No idea for the third one.

I have to admit Myth2 was my favorite online tactical game of all time, I must have played Myth 1 & 2 for about 3 years off and on. Nothing's captured me online like these ones did. I heard the third one was poor and developped by another company so I didnt try it... I know a bundle of the first two games is available, though I dunno if anybody is still online, it's quite old now.

[Cheetah]

Quote[/b] (spiffy_scimitar @ Mar. 27 2003,20:41)]Stay far, far away from Xcom:Terror from the Deep, though. Somehow the graphics got worse, and the gameplay got a lot more tedious.

No no no no no ...
Terror from the deep is a true classic, it is a must have, how could anyone say this about it

[Knight_Yellow]

theres 5 close combats

the latest being close combat 5 invasion normandy (less tanks more inf)

i think theres a 6th GI combat but it tried to go 3d and sucked realy bad it got 40% and the game crashed everytime i tried to select a sherman tank

[Major Robert Dump]

hehe cheetah, Terror from the Deep was a good play, but the missions were Long and Often....you just get back from saving a 6 story frieghter that took an hour to clear, and you get another call immediately to clear another...the last level was truly a bitch to handle...

XCOM 3 is an entirely different game, whereas you have politics to deal with. Some of the groups you need (like wapons and vehicle suppliers) and others you don't (like the space ball league) and still others (like the drug dealing gangs) you can make friends with or attack and loot their weapons. You can go hostile on anyone you want. The vehicle selections are really cool in 3, as is the music. There is a labor pool for hiring, so sometimes soldiers are available and sometimes they arent.
Also, if u have a slow machine always play battles in real time, Its cooler that way anyhow.

The game is not for everyone. A lot of people hate it. I like it a lot, and if I ever get it back from my friend I will try the game one last time on the superhuman setting for shits and giggles...

[el_slapper]

Spellcross. Free(& legal) download at the-underdogs.org

[Asmodeus]

Ahhh I LOVE the X-COM games but sadly I cant get them to run under Win XP Pro.

X-COM Terror from the Deep and X-COM Apocalypse are my favourites.

tip - Never let rookies throw Pulse Wave grenades unless you have 8 or 9 medics and an undertaker handy


'these Aquatoids come apart easy'

[chunkynut]

Apocalypse was massive. Loved it but way too hard if you ask me. Never enough money, soliders, friends etc and far too many alien insurections and there f**k off ships MRD is true it is great in real time and the squad battles are brilliant. To get money/weapons i always smashed a drug dealers slum first ..... are the memories

[LordMonarch]

Quote[/b] (chunkynut @ Mar. 28 2003,05:39)]Apocalypse was massive. Loved it but way too hard if you ask me. Never enough money, soliders, friends etc and far too many alien insurections and there f**k off ships MRD is true it is great in real time and the squad battles are brilliant. To get money/weapons i always smashed a drug dealers slum first ..... are the memories

And REAL-TIME . We waited so long for it too come in real-time.

Close Combat is a medicore game at best and the Rainbow Six games..........poof.......

[hrvojej]

Thanks for the replies, folks.
Yes, I've looked at many games at the Underdogs site, but most of the oldies (including Spellcross) don't work on my machine, although it's a win98. The problems are mostly video-card related, but I don't think I'm going to do all the tweaking necessary to get them to work, however. That's why I was asking for an advice about the more recent titles. And yes, I've played all Myths and Close Combats and liked them very much, but I was thinking whether there are any games that include turn-based action, inventory, skills, etc.
IMHO, this genre is sorely underrepresented nowdays, and I don't see why that is the case. Oh well, some day something might come out that will provide the same feeling as defending the ghoul fortress in Fallout tactics.

[Shahed]

Anyon tried WW2 RTS game from maddox, creator of IL-2.

[Shahed]

BUMP

[Knight_Yellow]

thats not out yet?


im going to get it but i thought it had been delayed

[Shahed]

O Ok .

[Major Robert Dump]

Well Chunky if you dont mind I'll let you in on a little stategy.....

#1: Droids dont have brains, so droids cant be brainsucked. Always send them in on point with the biggest guns.

#2: Let some of the non-vital organizations go ahead and be ovverun by aliens. You don't need them, and you can raid them later and have to fight both their army and the aliens. Its great fun, gives your men experience and make you some money.

#3: Never undersetimate the power of 30 hoverbikes with medium lasers. Swarm the enemy ships. The really, really big ones will be tough but by then you will have some tougher vehicles. Always keep a fleet of bikes though, and remember they dont have to be manned...send all vehicles against ships without drivers, and use a reserve vehicle to take troops to the crash site.

Dont use the human missles. they usually miss and hit buidlings or your own vehicles. And get rid of most of your wheeled vehicles, since a swarm of 40 assault craft tends to destroy roads. The city will slowly rebuild the roads unless they are bankrupt, and i usually just kept one APC to use to drive on patrol and shoot cars I thought were ugly.

#4: About 1/3 of each base should be defensive structures. You can camp in these when a base is invaded. And use your scientists and engineers as cannon fodder, since soldiers are harder to find. When you get next tech level of def structure, upgrade them one at a time. If u do them all at once u will be screwed if u get invaded.

#5: sniper rifles and human pistols suck. use auto cannon HE and INC rounds and blow everything up unless you are on a raid, then aim carefully so you dont blow up grnades which blow up booty. Also, the tommy guns work well, but only give them to people who are marksmen and leave them on full auto. Give the explosive round guns to the bad shots, but always make sure they are in front with the droids so they dont shoot your troops in the back.

Damn, i need to get the game back. I never beat it on superhuman.

[jayrock]

anyone know if theirs a pogram that will allow me to play xcom ufo, and xcomtftd, on a new system, i can load it, but the time moves so fast, i cant control any of the actions....

[Major Robert Dump]

YEah Jayrock, i used to have it on my old HD but its not there anymore. It made the game more playable although it still went just a tad quick on world map....

I'm looking for it now.

[Major Robert Dump]

Here you go, Jay. I used MoSlo but I hear the At-Slo one is good too.

Mo SLo eval DL at bottom:

http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/deluxe.asp


At Slo (this is a good Xcom page)

http://devisraad.com/xcom/

[Michiel de Ruyter]

For tactical/operational war-games, check out this site:

HPSSims

I myself have Pz. Campaigns 1 to 3 (Smolensk, Normandy and Kharkov), which are tactical/operational wargames (up to a massive scale)... They also have a few tactical games on squad level.

[Crandaeolon]

For a great, possibly the best, turn-based tactical-level WW II wargame (50 yard hexes, individual vehicles and infantry squads) I'd recommend to try out Steel Panthers: World at War.

(http://www.matrixgames.com/games/WorldAtWar/)

Best of all it's totally free, though it's a largish 420 megs download.

[Major Robert Dump]

Bump for Jayrock.....

get my links for the XCOM slow down tools m8

[el_slapper]

Side note for SPWAW : if you begin "free" campaigns, don't forget to lower drastically the overall amount of purchase points before beginning the campaign. Otehrwise, you'll never finish it.....

[Demon of Light]

Following Dave's lead by bumping the oldest topic in the Tavern. Maybe this should go to the Arena??