Angola is awesome

Angola is so awesome. It has perfect balance between randomness and control. The rules are very nicely streamlined (and very easy to learn) while still allowing for some nice chrome and variation. Very nice depth, but, amazingly, even with analytical players, there is little or no downtime -- this is not only because of the streamlined rules, but also because the really big decisions are simultaneous (and so easy to reign in those prone to over-analysis). The game rewards smart play and punishes recklessness, but it also avoids one-sided contests while still moving everyone forward to a resolution. The combat has just the right amount of room for lucky swings, but still preserves a very mature and balanced probabilities in the determination of outcomes. Just the right balance between hidden and public information. Great tension. In short, I cannot imagine a better multiplayer wargame for 4 players.

Many of us are in our first PBEM games, I'm leaning toward your conclusion. It's damn good fun.

Though I must say the one thing that is really lacking is the fog of war. If you had a piece of paper there would be virtually none, to be honest. You can observe most things being deployed and it's rare that stacks swap units to potentially increase the fog.

Should I be playing this instead of Dune or TI:3?

S.

Dune and TI:3 are distant memories to me, but one thing that stands out is that I remember those games having more metagaming than in Angola. The team play in Angola doesn't really make room for mobilizing one or two opponents against a fourth or fifth.

You should absolutely be playing it, Sag. I don't think it replaces either of those other games.

Sagrilarus wrote: Should I be playing this instead of Dune or TI:3?

S.

I'm surprised you're not all over this Sag as it is one of the few games out where players are on a team against another team.

I'd love to have at this one, but I can't find a second person for wargames let alone numbers three and four.

My 12yo just played Field Commander: Alexander with me tonight so there's hope.

S.

Ah, Sag, all you need to do is move to the hub of Vernon/Rockville CT and we could play wargames to your heart's content.

I even promise that I would wear my cleanest dirty shirt for such occasions.

There's a wargame club nearby that I just stumbled onto, but my fear of new groups is making me nervous to attend. Granted wargamers are generally a more conservative and dependable crowd. I may look into heading out there way to see what it's like.

Just watch -- they'll be great guys, but only play eastern front.

S.