DoaM game that plays zoomed out and zoomed in?

I'm looking for a game that is played zoomed out, and then zooms in to resolve battles. Nope, don't go suggesting Titan. I want something that is way way way less abstract.

I guess I'm just hung up waiting for a campaign mode for Battlelore (not that that game is awesome enough to deserve a campaign mode).

Suggestions?

Play a game of Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage. Instead of resolving battles with cards, each battle gets a game of Commands & Colors: Ancients. Use the Scenario X rules to build armies.

Let us know how it goes.

I think two Eagle Games might do what you're looking for:
The American Civil War and Napolean in Europe. I haven't played either, but I think there is the large strategic map but when battles are fought they go to a smaller battle board.

LvT

Oh drat. I was hoping for something that wasn't a wargame. Hmm.

I'm guessing you want something more detailed then the "zoomed in" battle board of A&A?

How much detail do you want?

Stellar Conquest came to mind for me, but you just ruled out wargames.

Zoomy spaceships and bug-eyed monsters though, does that help at all?

Sag.

What kind of crazy question is that?

I'm looking for a game that is played zoomed out, and then zooms in to resolve battles. Nope, don't go suggesting Titan. I want something that is way way way less abstract.

...

Oh drat. I was hoping for something that wasn't a wargame. Hmm.

So it has to be dudes on a map, but not a wargame... hmmm

Axis and Allies does it, but maybe too abstract for you.

Effectively Starcraft does it (by pairing off units)

Age of Conan has you fighting along a campaign track (on the board, but nevertheless in a different dimension). Btw, that is one of the things I really like about the game.

Detail.. Hmm. War of the Ring expansion companion games level of detail would be great, but even just Battlelore type would work for me.

Age of Conan sounds nice, as does Starcraft. I was looking for something with a battleboard though. It just feels way cooler.

Stellar Conquest looks like it'd be hard to find these days.

I might take a look at Axis and Allies. Hmm. It's not that abstract for me.

When I said abstract, what I meant was theme. I just want something full of theme. I could never get why a whole random mess of monsters would fight together on the same side for Titan. Titan would be perfect if it weren't for this. Unicorns and carebears and hydras fighting on the same side? WHY?

I just want a fucking Archon board game. Is that too much too ask?

Ken B. wrote:

I just want a fucking Archon board game. Is that too much too ask?

That is the greatest idea you have ever had.

It sounds like you want a tactical game that has a strategic campaign to go along with it. Here's an option:

Get a copy of the old Mighty Empires from Games Workshop. ME is a campagin game where you have to go out, scout the land, build your kingdom and eventually go to war with other people. You run around with banners of troops that have a point value. When the two banners meet up the normal procedure is roll some dice, consult a few charts and then subtract numbers from your banners depending on the loss.

An option of what you can is instead of rolling the dice to see what happens, you fight the battle out on the tabletop. For this I'd recommend the Warmaster system. The system is not hard at all compared to some other miniature games (the rules are long but once the system "clicks" it is very easy). To make Warmaster cheep all you have to do is download the files from the GW website for the rules and army list. To build the army just buy a bunch of cardstock, cut to size (10mm x 20mm I think) to create the bases for the units. On the cardstock you can either write the name of the unit or do what someone did on BGG and create shadows of the units to create a visual rank and file look.

This may not be exactly what you were looking for, but to me it sounds like what you're looking for.

LvT

If you want a 2 player game, and it's not really a DoaM one, the old Columbia chestnut NAPOLEON has this. Strategic map movement, tactical positioning in the combat resolution.

The problem with this kind of mechanic, where the scale changes so sharply and it requires effectively an entirely separate and distinct sub-game system, is that you're introducing A LOT of downtime for a micro-management/tactical game that usually isn't really worth it. WORLD WAR IV kind of has this, where you break out the battle on to a battle board and there's some really simple morale rules, an order of battle, and casualty selection. But it adds at least 10 minutes _per player turn_ without necessarily giving you all that much control over the battles.

STARCRAFT does it better. Line 'em up, play cards, done.

If you want movement and positioning a la TITAN...there's really not much that does that, at least not that you'd actually want to play.

Michael Barnes wrote:

If you want a 2 player game, and it's not really a DoaM one, the old Columbia chestnut NAPOLEON has this. Strategic map movement, tactical positioning in the combat resolution.

NAPOLEON can be played 3-player, too, though I've never tried it that way. The game is terrific fun, though. You're moving stuff around on a strategic-level map until a battle begins. Then, you line up your units on the battle boards and play a little tactical game to decide the outcome of the fight. The tactical game is sort of like HASBRO/AH's BATTLECRY, but quicker, simpler, less pretty, and without terrain effects.

It's been a while since I've played QUEBEC 1759, but I think I recall that it has the same thing. You arrange your units into three columns and try to break through your opponent's line. No battle boards are included in the box, you just line up the blocks on the table.

NAPOLEON makes distinctions between artillery, cavalry, and infantry units during battles. QUEBEC 1759 does not, as far as I can remember.

And if you want to go totally nuts with the concept, you can get into Warhammer (40k or FB) campaigns where you tie together huge table top battles into a large story arc involving all sorts of world conquest.

I've always wanted to get into one of the huge world spanning games with lots of different factions all battling it out for a year or two. Thinking about it now is making me want to do it even more.

clockwirk wrote:

Play a game of Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage. Instead of resolving battles with cards, each battle gets a game of Commands & Colors: Ancients. Use the Scenario X rules to build armies.

Let us know how it goes.

That's very clever. It would take, roughly, 100 years to complete a game of Hannibal I suspect, but that's an interesting idea.