Turn-Based Strategy Games

[Immryr]

What build was that, for curiosity's sake?

i can't remember to be honest, it was a couple of years ago now.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Game recommendations?

Heroes of Might & Magic III (Complete edition rather than "HD" remake; I believe it's possible to play the former windowed, avoiding the upscaling thus).
Disciples II Gold Edition (scales up nicely: zooms out on the map, keeps battle, town, character etc. screens windowed - letterboxed). A hint - Disciples II played in high resolutions without Direct 3D hardware acceleration puts quite the strain on CPU; luckily, Direct 3D, if not "officially" supported, is accessible from the game options menu, looks just as nice - if you don't insist on blowing up battle screens etc. - and runs much smoother on a very modest GPU.

Are there any turn-based tactics games like Laser Squad or Silent Storm anywhere on consoles? Or mobile devices of today. (Nippon Ichi ones that I played don't do it for me.)

[KaizaCorp]

I spent many hours playing Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis growing up. Really enjoyed the emblem system and unlocking exotic classes. I've tried to go back to it a few times, but I can't handle the grinding anymore. There are ways around it with the Training mode although it can be slow going.

[BryanM]

The pacing in that game is really pretty slow. The PSP enhanced port grinds it down a bit more, by adding a couple more characters on the field, a skill system you have to invest in early with locked in paths, and higher HP to compensate for the added weapon skills. It really crawls in the earliest stages. (Though it obviously bypasses much of the horrific classic level grind, as you level up classes, not units. Now you get to grind skills instead~)

Something like Shining Force, you've got 12 guys, which is still too many, and it's zippity as it can be.

Always a trade off between pacing, the size of your army, and control. You want your game to move fast, but you also want a huge army and complete control. It's a sad example of how our desires cannibalize themselves. A cruel universe, this Roko's Basilisk is.

____


Anyone here try out the Fire Emblem gacha game? I haven't looked too much into it because it looked cheap and cramped. But some humans seem to like it for some reason.

[soprano1]

The pacing in that game is really pretty slow. The PSP enhanced port

Different games entirely, KOL is a prequel. LUCT is an enhanced port of a SFC/PSOne game. Funny enough, the main character of KOL

Spoiler

is one of the villains in LUCT.

[LordHypnos]

Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm basically through FE:13 (normal, classic), though there are a few paralogues left, and for one of them it looks like it would be beneficial to get all (or at least most) of my guys to level 20. It has been very enjoyable. The uneven leveling problem is mostly not too bad. I'm probably paying more attention than I'd like to to experience rationing, but it's not too noticeable.

Also am starting to mess with Vantage Master, and it looks pretty cool so far.

I know someone asked if empire builder type TBS are included in the thread breadth, and I would say, sure, why not? I don't know that I'm ready to commit to something like that at this time, just because I'm more into the slightly simplified gridded battled and mostly just battles, but I might try one eventually, and this ought to be a thread for anyone who wants to discuss TBS, anyway.

[Ruldra]

Also am starting to mess with Vantage Master, and it looks pretty cool so far.

One thing I really like about VM is that it has a system in place that automatically checks attack and spell ranges for you. Wondering if your archer unit can hit that enemy this turn? Right-click it and choose move+attack. The game highlights all units your archer can hit. If an enemy is highlighted, click on it and the game will show which hexes your archer needs to be to hit that unit. You can do the same to enemy units to check their ranges and see if a specific hex is safe to move your unit to.

You have no idea how much time this saves in planning your moves.

[tacoguy64]

I liked the old advance wars on the GBA, age of empires/mythology for the DS were some solid titles in the same vein. I remember wishing that they made more of them for the 3DS but the platform didn't get that many. Big fan of the Xcom series. I prefer the remakes myself but havent played part 2 yet. One of the best advise I can give for the original xcom is to level up your snipers. I'm really hoping the Switch gets more of these titles. Mario+Rabbids looks really good so I'm picking that up later.

Though my favorite game with turn based combat is the original Fallout 1 & 2. It's the best rpg of all time despite how buggy it is. And trust me, it is very buggy. But i really like the SPECIAL system and how it was implemented in those first two games. There is also Wasteland and Wasteland 2 which are similar to Fallout in being turn based rpg's set in a post apocalyptic world.

[LordHypnos]

Also am starting to mess with Vantage Master, and it looks pretty cool so far.

One thing I really like about VM is that it has a system in place that automatically checks attack and spell ranges for you. Wondering if your archer unit can hit that enemy this turn? Right-click it and choose move+attack. The game highlights all units your archer can hit. If an enemy is highlighted, click on it and the game will show which hexes your archer needs to be to hit that unit. You can do the same to enemy units to check their ranges and see if a specific hex is safe to move your unit to.

You have no idea how much time this saves in planning your moves.

That is a really REALLY useful tip!
Any tips on beating the phase 3 battles in normal difficulty scenario? They're really giving me hell.

[Ruldra]

Well, without watching what you're doing it's tough to give specific tips. But a general strategy of mine is to sneak a Guene Foss or Pelitt behind enemy lines to steal magic stones. That will force the enemy to send units after it, which means less units in the front lines and an opportunity to attack. And try to attack as often as possible with a unit that counters the element of the other unit.

May I ask which character you're using? That could make the game easier or harder for you. Wizard or Spirit requires more careful play, Savage is so good he can stay in the front lines and kill units himself.

[LordHypnos]

Well, without watching what you're doing it's tough to give specific tips. But a general strategy of mine is to sneak a Guene Foss or Pelitt behind enemy lines to steal magic stones. That will force the enemy to send units after it, which means less units in the front lines and an opportunity to attack. And try to attack as often as possible with a unit that counters the element of the other unit.

May I ask which character you're using? That could make the game easier or harder for you. Wizard or Spirit requires more careful play, Savage is so good he can stay in the front lines and kill units himself.

I was given Knight. Mostly have been attempting narrow shrine, so far, among the phase 3 battles.
Incedentally the pellit strategy is a big part of what the enemy is doing to annoy me. I have tried doing it back to him, but he has been pretty good about being able to take them out. Also I'm having trouble putting enough offensive pressure on him. I think he's probably summoning more units, which might be partly because he's controlling more stones, so perhaps if I were more aggressive with sending pellits after his stones it would help keep him from being able to defend himself as much. I will try this next time.

EDIT: I did have some luck defending my far back stones from pellits by leaving a hepitus back there, but it didn't work perfectly all the time.

[Ruldra]

If you're at Narrow Shrine you should have Blexe by now, it can one-shot Pelitt and two-shot Guene Foss. Use it to stop any heaven unit from reaching your back lines. In fact use it extensively, it's an overall great unit.

On this particular level you should rush to the center of the map and hold the line there. That way you'll have more stones than the enemy and can slowly win by attrition. Probably won't even need to sneak a Pelitt.

Knight is a good tanky character, you should have no problems with him.

[LordHypnos]

If you're at Narrow Shrine you should have Blexe by now, it can one-shot Pelitt and two-shot Guene Foss. Use it to stop any heaven unit from reaching your back lines. In fact use it extensively, it's an overall great unit.

On this particular level you should rush to the center of the map and hold the line there. That way you'll have more stones than the enemy and can slowly win by attrition. Probably won't even need to sneak a Pelitt.

Knight is a good tanky character, you should have no problems with him.

Alright. That is quite helpful. I was using a lot of Blexes, but I think I might not have been advancing far enough ahead. Maybe I'll leave a Blexe at the rear to take care of his Pellits and focus on being more aggro with my positioning. I'll report back when I get a chance to try this.

[LordHypnos]

Oh yeah, definitely worked. I moved pretty quickly to control the center (or might have been 1 further, I'm not totally sure). He still seemed to have more MP then me, though, so it probably was only center. Then somehow I managed to get a Guerne Foss to his backline, and was unmolested there for a while for some reason, allowing her to regain health on a stone for a while (she got hit pretty hard earlier). He only sent back D-Almas which weren't even attacking, plus GF has the type advantage. After flanking him like that, I was able to move my line forward until he only had like 2 stones in his control, and the very same Guerne Foss was able to get in a few magic attacks on him, and that did the trick, even with the healing from the D-Almas.

[Immryr]

I hadn't heard of vantage master before, it looks pretty sweet.