[ds2] DS2 Flavor

4 posts ยท Mar 25 2000 to Mar 26 2000

From: Laserlight <laserlight@q...>

Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 21:51:06 -0500

Subject: [ds2] DS2 Flavor

Brian B (don't know which one) said:
> It seems that those of us for whom DS II is our favorite GZG

DS2 is not as elegant as FT. Which is reasonable, because it has to cover more
elements (boats, tanks, infantry, aerospace, artillery) than FT (ships,
fighters), but it does make it harder to learn.

For those of us who are simple-minded...uh...for those of us who
want a little less detailed game, I suggest Ogre--but consider
the units to be companies, not individual tanks or squads. Scale would be
something like 1 hex = 500 meters. You can fight out a regimental attack
pretty quickly. I've modified Ogre a bit and added a dash of DS2 to it, and
I'll write it up Real Soon Now....

> This is both a boon and a bane. On the positive side, it means

You mean all the different weapon types and sizes aren't enough for you? Good
heavens, man, think! You could tell a FSE ship from a NSL vessel by a glance
at the ship record sheet, right?

Example: Alarishi panzers are all fusion powered and either grav or walker
mobility; they normally mount DFFG's, since the horizon is usually less than
20" away (that's for a 3900km world, IIRC, and our systems only have a couple
of inhabited planets that large), andDFFG's are best at close range.

Islamic Fed tanks might usually be turbine powered, hovercraft, with MDC's.

From: Brian Bilderback <bbilderback@h...>

Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 10:41:18 PST

Subject: Re: [ds2] DS2 Flavor

It was me, Brian Bilderback.

And no, DSII is not an elegant game, nor is it as gritty as I imagine SGII
must be. but it does have it's niche, and some of us actually enjoy playing in
that niche. I was introduced to wargaming via Squad Leader, a game I loved
until I moved away and lost my gaming mentor as a teenager. DSII seems to stir
in me the same feelings that SL did. I enjoyed battletech for a while, but it
was just too complicated to allow for the scale of play I
wanted. And O.G.R.E. was a little TOO simple and big-scale for me. DSII
fits nicely in the middle.

As for telling a vehicle's nationality by it's design, that would require some
familiarity with te nationality. And perhaps adding subtle nuances to each
nation's weapons is a bit overdoing it, I was just curious.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>
Reply-To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
To: <gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: [ds2] DS2 Flavor
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 21:51:06 -0500

Brian B (don't know which one) said:
> It seems that those of us for whom DS II is our favorite GZG

DS2 is not as elegant as FT. Which is reasonable, because it has to cover more
elements (boats, tanks, infantry, aerospace, artillery) than FT (ships,
fighters), but it does make it harder to learn.

For those of us who are simple-minded...uh...for those of us who
want a little less detailed game, I suggest Ogre--but consider
the units to be companies, not individual tanks or squads. Scale would be
something like 1 hex = 500 meters. You can fight out a regimental attack
pretty quickly. I've modified Ogre a bit and added a dash of DS2 to it, and
I'll write it up Real Soon Now....

> This is both a boon and a bane. On the positive side, it means

You mean all the different weapon types and sizes aren't enough for you? Good
heavens, man, think! You could tell a FSE ship from a NSL vessel by a glance
at the ship record sheet, right?

Example: Alarishi panzers are all fusion powered and either grav or walker
mobility; they normally mount DFFG's, since the horizon is usually less than
20" away (that's for a 3900km world, IIRC, and our systems only have a couple
of inhabited planets that large), andDFFG's are best at close range.

Islamic Fed tanks might usually be turbine powered, hovercraft, with MDC's.

From: Laserlight <laserlight@q...>

Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 18:43:16 -0500

Subject: Re: [ds2] DS2 Flavor

> And no, DSII is not an elegant game, nor is it as gritty as I

Oh, I agree. You have a trade off between elegance and detail. FT, as I said,
essentially has two major components: ships and fighters. DS2 has artillery,
armor, infantry, aircraft, and ships. In to adequately simulate it, you have
to have more
detail--therefore less elegance.

> wanted. And O.G.R.E. was a little TOO simple and big-scale for

Simple, fast-play games have a certain attraction for me--I can
fit them into the schedule, every month or two. If I'm lucky.

> As for telling a vehicle's nationality by it's design, that

Well, if you're doing the designing, then you design different weapon fits for
different nationalities. It would be nice if there were published designs for
the GZG Major Powers, you'd know that NSL tanks usually have HKP while FSE
armor depends on HELs...but weren't you just saying that what you liked was
the generic nature of DS2?

From: Brian Bilderback <bbilderback@h...>

Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 16:29:37 PST

Subject: Re: [ds2] DS2 Flavor

Yes, it IS the generic quality I like so much. my point was, I couldn't look
at a record sheet for any unit of any of the games and tell you by it's makeup
what nationality it was, simply because I DON'T follow the culture of the
"official" powers. I wasn't complaining, simply stating the fact.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>
Reply-To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
To: <gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Re: [ds2] DS2 Flavor
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 18:43:16 -0500

Well, if you're doing the designing, then you design different weapon fits for
different nationalities. It would be nice if there were published designs for
the GZG Major Powers, you'd know that NSL tanks usually have HKP while FSE
armor depends on HELs...but weren't you just saying that what you liked was
the generic nature of DS2?