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[Little]

This game is tons of fun. There's a sequel in alpha testing right now. I've mostly been playing the first one. Made it to August 7th in the Patton's Best campaign, and had a blast. Anyone else tried either of these?

[BluarianKnight]

I haven't at all, but I'd like to see what it is. Would you mind putting a link out to this game?

[Dostoevsky]

One of those games I've always been meaning to try after reading about it on Rock Paper Shotgun (short news story with some links to at least one more in-depth article here).

Link to the game itself is here.

[zaimoni]

I is thoroughly bugfixed.  The complete rewrite was started due to it not being practical to get enough "player skill" into the ruleset.

II has given me problems, technically.  (The very latest alpha build is playable on my desktops, but he released three "stable" builds in a row that either didn't open or crashed to desktop at game start.  I'm certain they worked fine on his systems, so there's some packaging issue that's hard to test.)

[sudasana]

Yeah sorry about that - I've had trouble testing the packaged version before uploading the development releases. Still trying to smooth out the process, hopefully future versions will be more stable!

[EuchreJack]

I've played both, good games.

[Robsoie]

I gave a try to this AC2 and i'm very impressed.

I did a few battles and i am currently on my way to the objective, worrying about what's waiting for me.
On my first battle it seemed to be a lot of pain for my crew to spot and identify targets even with the hatch open, and the driver seemed to be in great difficulty to even move a full hexagon. Once the battle was spent i noticed i could actually improve my crew members, bought a skill for the driver to increase the chance of actually driving a full hexagon on a turn, and a skill for my designated spotter (the assistant driver) to increase his spotting ability.

It was much much better on the following battle
On the 3rd some heavy rain started, lowering the accuracy of my shots (figured out quickly i had to stop before shooting, it's ww2 era not modern tanks with all the electronic to help shooting while moving)

Managed to kill a couple german tanks on my way, along with some infantry and trucks.

some questions :
-Are the crew actually gaining xp (skill points) and if yes how are they gaining them ? by kills ? by doing an action ? by completing a battle ?
-on the concept of the campaigns, should i hurry on the map toward the objective or should i take some time clearing around the hexagon on the campaign maps , i mean is there an effect on the objective if i conquer more hexagons around the campaign map ?
-the game tells me that my group is 2 tanks, yet in the battle i seem to only have 1 is that normal or it is just because wip ?
-is the player tank all alone against the enemy whole army, or are other allies actually doing something during a campaign ?
-is hull down or smoke the only way to hide/lower chance from enemy fire, or is there LOS in the game modified by the terrain (are there hills, etc.. you can drive around ?)

[zaimoni]

Yes, buy skills before starting each campaign day.  Including the first day.

You only control one tank; the others are sort of in lockstep formation (and may get hit before you do).  Take a look at the allied fire messages.  Allied fire is significantly more effective than in AC1.

There are in-game events where allied (or enemy) formations take territory.

I'm not clear whether deviations from AC1 in the mission behavior are intentional, or choices of buildout order.  The most visible ones two releases ago were the inability to actually enter a new map, and the ability to capture territory in the fighting withdrawal mission type.  In any case, there doesn't seem to be much "alternate history" going on.

[Blaze]

How do stats like Perception, Grit and such work?

Also died on day 2 of the Poland campaign. Got ambushed by a 75mm who proceeded to wipe out my entire column before I could do anything. Then after 8 failed attempts to Hull down, got taken out by a single shot.

Good to see some things haven't changed.

[sudasana]

On my first battle it seemed to be a lot of pain for my crew to spot and identify targets

Depending on range, weather conditions, and the target's terrain, it can take a few turns to spot an enemy. But as you saw, increasing stats and adding skills improves this greatly.

figured out quickly i had to stop before shooting

Yes! Moving and shooting in the same turn brings a very large penalty. Your gunner needs time for the tank to stabilize and to find the target.

-Are the crew actually gaining xp (skill points) and if yes how are they gaining them ? by kills ? by doing an action ? by completing a battle ?

Right now, the chances for crew to gain an advance depend on the number of battles you had during that day. It's more of a placeholder system, however, and I think a more complex xp system would be better eventually.

-on the concept of the campaigns, should i hurry on the map toward the objective or should i take some time clearing around the hexagon on the campaign maps , i mean is there an effect on the objective if i conquer more hexagons around the campaign map ?

You get VP for each enemy hex you capture, and each friendly one you defend (if the enemy attacks you). Other than that there's no bonus to clearing the map, but the objectives do give you bonus VP for capturing them.

-the game tells me that my group is 2 tanks, yet in the battle i seem to only have 1 is that normal or it is just because wip ?

Units in the same hex on the battle map are stacked; use the mouse wheel to scroll between them. A number next to a unit indicates the size of the stack.

-is the player tank all alone against the enemy whole army, or are other allies actually doing something during a campaign ?

Everything is quite abstract; you can imagine there's a whole war going on out there, but your concern is with your tank, your crew, and the enemies that you encounter. You can do your part, but you can't change the outcome of the day or of the war.

-is hull down or smoke the only way to hide/lower chance from enemy fire, or is there LOS in the game modified by the terrain (are there hills, etc.. you can drive around ?)

Your own terrain has an impact on incoming enemy fire. Eventually there will be the possibility of having blocked lines of sight, but this hasn't been implemented yet.

[sudasana]

I'm not clear whether deviations from AC1 in the mission behavior are intentional, or choices of buildout order.  The most visible ones two releases ago were the inability to actually enter a new map, and the ability to capture territory in the fighting withdrawal mission type.  In any case, there doesn't seem to be much "alternate history" going on.

Right now the game won't generate a new campaign day map if you reach the end, but this is planned for the future. A few more mission types (including Counterattack) are also planned. My overall goal is to improve and expand on ArmCom1, without necessarily sticking too closely to the original design.

[sudasana]

How do stats like Perception, Grit and such work?

Also died on day 2 of the Poland campaign. Got ambushed by a 75mm who proceeded to wipe out my entire column before I could do anything. Then after 8 failed attempts to Hull down, got taken out by a single shot.

Good to see some things haven't changed.

Stats give bonuses to certain crew rolls, for example, spotting enemy units is easier for crewmen with higher Perception stat. Resistance to getting injured is higher for crew with higher Grit.

Yes - the 75s are really tough in early war! There's a hidden "fate point" system that will silently prevent a few hits each day, but after that, you're just as vulnerable as the real tank would have been.

[King Zultan]

How different is the second from the first, I've played the first one but not the second, also is the second in a playable state as I'd like to play it or should I wait a bit longer.

[sudasana]

How different is the second from the first, I've played the first one but not the second, also is the second in a playable state as I'd like to play it or should I wait a bit longer.

ArmCom2 is still quite rough around the edges and incomplete. The core gameplay is meant to the be the same as ArmCom1 but improved in almost every way. I'd say it's worth trying out, but still too incomplete to get invested in, for example, an entire campaign. I hope to put some intense work into it next week during some downtime at my job.

[Robsoie]

Thanks for the answers, it's a very good game, can't wait to see what you're going to do with its further development.