Second Front

If you play ASL and always wanted a way to play it on the PC with an AI opponent, buy this game! If you don't know what ASL is (Advanced Squad Leader) be aware this is a beautiful throwback to the golden age of board wargaming. ASL players will only need to familiarize themselves with the interface and digital mechanics since they already know the hundreds of pages of rules. For others they should take the time to read the manual and begin to understand the actual game mechanics. With this said though, the digital game removes all the burden of calculations necessary in the board game. What's beautiful here is the design is mostly transparent so the player still feels the calculation modifiers in play and so does not just act blindly as they play. The game quality of life improvements would go a long way making this a better iteration of the game. More hot keys are needed allowing the player to navigate the board and units better. As some have also pointed out an option to use gameboard chits for the units would be great too even if they are not the exact ASL icons and numbers. The isometric view sometimes makes it difficult to see where the units are exactly (can't remove trees)…

tedious scenario selection/ map creation and workshop DLs not editable.... it's not necessarily a bad game, but these limitations place too much restriction on my ability to enjoy it.

Bottom line: disappointing, clunky, and not engaging. Seeing this in the store I had imagined it as being a modern, possibly more minimalist, recreation of the classic Steel Panthers: World at War. I expected a nice, top down, hex-tiled, turn based strategy game but what I found was a mess. Effects on units are unclear. For example, clicking on a half track shows a green 17%, a red 1% and a loaded unit that has 2 of 4 icons remaining. What does any of that mean? There is no explanation and there is no hover text to explain any of it. Continuing further, I have an option to target the enemy. There's a dialog that shows 5% with one exclamation point and 5% with two exclamation points. No explanation for what that means. There's also not a clear way to tell how many enemies a unit can see. You have to click each known enemy and test if your selected unit has line-of-sight to it. anytime combat happens a bunch of icons flash on the screen. I got two fists and they got one. There was a red icon that flashed by with a guy holding a rifle over his head. Is that good because he's holding a rifle? or bad because its red? No idea - no explanation given, no text to explain it, and no game lo…

superb simulator for ASL, great already with an even better roadmap. AI is consistant and the best outcome is a scenario dusted in less then 30 minutes, with the workshop having 1000 more.

.

i would have loved the game because it reminded me of squad leader by avlon hill but note matter if i want to play a tutorial or campaign i have what i guess is a screen shot of a pointer with a N at the top of it which i can move a little but + and - makes it closer nearer but....