Which First Game...

[Stejones82]

Aye, you see the gruff I must suffer in this 20th Century focused community? The ability to purchase a commission is just no longer respected!

Lots of good words of wisdom, here, and I look forward to crossing swords - no - M-1s with you.

And even though Vietnam is the First Release, and thereby somewhat considered the immature title, it has quite a number of nice, smallish engagements with which to cut your teeth.

Ed, if he is not your opponent in other series, is a most entertaining foe. Never know what he'll do next. If you can get Jeff to help as an Instructor, he is excellent. Kolc and Landser have both been patient mentors with me, though they spank the hell outta me like a left-handed stepchild!

My favorite advice, and that which most helped me to transition from EAW to SqB which employs much more ranged weapons and in which LOS/LOF is absolutely critical to understand ............. get your first title and play a few games solitaire in the "hotseat" mode, i.e. playing both sides with FOW "ON". This will help you come to grips with spotting/concealment, ranged fire, automatic defensive fire, and the "feel" for a tactical game with weapons that have ranges well in excess of the standard 2D close view of the map. I typically play in view mode of hotkey "1" and only zoom in to hotkey "2" with small map sizes.

Develop the habit of watching the replays of PBEM games - much more valuable here than in EAW. Get a "feel" for the abstraction of weapons effectiveness, and realize that it is an abstraction. Watch your leaders, and try to take your time if on the advance. Plan to use ALL of the allotted time to achieve your objectives.

You will have fun, but unless you have little interest in squad level combat, be ready for Squad Battles to "take over" your gaming interest.

Steve