Re: [SG] comparing SG

--- Laserlight <laserlight@quixnet.net> wrote:

> Any listers want to
> give me a brief...I said *brief*...review of SG as
> compared to the
> other product?

Ok, it doesn't get any briefer than this:

WH40K is a game that sucks.

SGII is not.
 
Slightly longer version:

WH40K is based on Napoleonic tactics, and badly
thought out Napoleonic tactics at that.  Their minis
are cartoonish, emphasising skulls and close-combat
weapons.  They have over-large arms, heads, and
weapons.  Oh, and did I mention they ALL carry close
combat weapons?  Swords are the least outre of them,
chainsaws and so forth are pretty standard.  The rules
are written to revolve around close combat, with an
emphasis on "heros" and "demons" and other creatures
which go through regular troops like an unstoppable
force of nature.  Weapons ranges are too short for
effective fire combat, with most troops being able to
clear in 3 moves the entire range of 99%+ of all
infantry weapons (24", average move is 4, charge of
8).  Many strange troops (Tyranid, especially) can
move double that, effectively making them immune to
fire combat.  Most shooting doesn't hit, most hits
don't "Wound", and most wounds don't kill anything but
line troops--"heros" have multiple "wounds".  Every
single troop type has some sort of special rule that
applies to it for movment or combat, which means it's
unplayable without constant consultation of the
poorly-written rules.  How in hell alleged Englishmen
can muck up the English language as badly as is done
in those rules is beyond me.  Morale is a non-factor
for some armies (Tyranids) but since there is no
middle ground between "just fine" and "going home"
some squads pretty much fall apart after taking a
handful of casualties.	No measuring before shooting
is permitted, even for heavy weapons.  In the far
future, there are no laser rangefinders.  Many
weapons, including all indirect fire weapons, operate
as follows:  Guess how far away the enemy is.  Place
the middle of the blast marker exactally that distance
away.  Resolve damage.	No adjustment is possible. 
Ranges are really wierd:  Allegedly, ground scale is
the same as figure scale, so 1" = 2m (roughly).  So
infantry weapons have a max range of 48m and an
effective range of 24m.  Shoulder-fired infantry heavy
weapons have a max range of 144m.  These same
shoulder-fired heavy weapons are also the primary
armament of many-many tanks.  Oh, there's no vehicle
construction system.  Instead, you get the Evil
Empire's standard vehicles, none of which were
designed with any understanding of how armored
fighting vehicles actually work.  So you have tiny
vehicles (predator) sprouting 4-5 weapons systems,
with a 4-man crew and you can see there is physically
no room for a 3-man crew and an engine.  You have the
Land Raider, which carries something like 6 heavy
weapons, plus a full squad of 10 power-armored troops.

There's a lot more, but you wanted brevity.

> I have also just met some Advanced Squad Leader
> players.  Are there
> listers who can provide a (brief) compare&contrast
> between ASL and
> SG2?

ASL is played on hexmaps with chits and is horribly
complicated.  It's a fun game, if and only if you have
a LOT of time on your hands.  I enjoyed playing it for
a while, but it's pretty tedious and minutia-obsessed.

John

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