Hey there! I've been playing a ton of 2.06 and using old Patton's Best documents for reference. I'm very fond of this game but (like anyone who plays and makes games, I suppose) I have some criticisms and suggestions for improvement on top of some bug reports and questions.
Found/Possible bugs- If there is 1 or less to hit, and I get a 2, it counts as a Critical Hit and kills the enemy.
- I have had Days where the Resistance will be "Heavy" and then every sector I check is Light or empty. It might be because I'm sticking to roads, but even when there are farmhouses or forests this still happens.
- Sometimes enemy units will Shift Positions and end up overlapping. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that tabbing through enemies does not give their description in the little message box under the combat visualization window.
- I was asked to capture Marshland, which I cannot enter.
- Sometimes after battles (I haven't figured out what the conditions are for this) I will have a crewman who will be labelled with an open or closed hatch who cannot spot at all (even if they should be able to, given their current action). Changing the Hatch status fixes this; not sure if changing the Order does.
- I have destroyed all resistance with my starting attack, but then still had to pass a turn (and then have random encounters rolled for, which may include an enemy unit joining the fight, continuing the encounter). Not a big deal, but it does mean that the message doesn't mean too much (other than "wow!", of course
).
Questions- I can't switch between Direct or Area Fire. I assumed I'd be able to pick one for HE and get different to-hit results or something (or, at the very least, be able to Area Fire upon unspotted units), but I cannot. I assume this is by design, and area/direct fire just refers to smoke/gas shells having an easier to-hit table?
- Does anything happen when my tank is Spotted by an enemy light vehicle? I was under the impression that my tank always has a 5% chance to be fired at by enemy units (up to 20% if I attacked them that turn).
- As it stands I have no idea what Sector Control is supposed to do. I assumed it would increase/decrease the chance of Friendly Actions, but Patton's Best rules do not suggest that this is true (or that it has any effect at all).
Criticisms- As far as I can tell, all of Patton's Best rolls are d100s. The 2d6 conversion isn't really getting in the way or anything but I do like my d100s. Is this a sort of copyright-avoidance thing, and/or to encourage yourself to build your own game as much as possible?
- I really like the idea of Rescue missions but they are often difficult or impossible to reach in time given random placement on the map. Perhaps limiting the distance from the player platoon's current location could improve things?
- It's a bit hard to tell what (if anything) you're supposed to do during a Counterattack. Is there ever a reason to leave your map location? instead of repeatedly Awaiting Enemy Attack?
- Counterattacks also feel like the longest phases in the game. I'm not sure if this is because not enough time passes between attacks, or if it's just because combat phases generally take longer when you've found cover and any larger vehicles approach to attack and you're as cautious as I am.
- Perhaps most significantly, I feel like there's a bit of a "rock and a hard place" problem in the game's structure with Strict crew control. Armoured Commander is largely composed of dead-or-not possibilities, which is realistic and enjoyably tense, especially given how the player can mitigate many of those risks both by better play and by exchanging combat effectiveness for safety. However, many of the risk-taking choices present an unfortunate problem with the 89-day-long(!) campaign - there are many situations where completely reasonable combat actions could still result in a game over, well into the (extremely long) campaign. I have opened the hatch with my Commander to help destroy an enemy tank (the last enemy unit on the board), only to have my Commander killed by enemy small-arms fire after the attack, despite the absence of "nearby" (on-the-board) infantry. This ended a 9-day run, and the only way I could have avoided it would have been to take more crew safety perks or to ignore the possibility of using the Commander to assist other Crew rolls. At any rate, I am playing through a game with Casual rules for the Crew, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I believe the structure of the game with Strict tank selection and Casual crew works well with the "high score" setup of the game.
Suggestions- Unsure if you're interested in adding in-game text that could further obfuscate the rules, but the game would become more atmospheric if "destruction via friendly action" were put into more detail (even if it were just random choices per enemy type in a hex on that turn.) "Enemy Tank destroyed by friendly Tank Destroyer fire; Friendly field guns failed to penetrate Unidentified Enemy Tank; Friendly artillery missed MG squad;" etc. it'd be more opaque than "friendly action" is right now, but it'd be cool to read. (It'd also be nice to see Advance Fire's effects through this text; ie "Advance Fire destroys enemy squad" or what not. That would make the benefits of Advance Fire clearer to newer players.)
- I would diversify the possible random events, including deadlier effects. As it stands there is almost always the possibility of instant death, and I would be interested to see this extended to mines and enemy artillery. (Related suggestions below.)
- It seems strange to me that artillery can only kill infantry squads and not tanks (or, of course, the player tank). Of course, all of this would increase the instances in which the player and/or their tank/crewmen could instantly die, but it would not necessarily hinder Casual mode.
- I notice that Panzerfaust attacks are not currently in the game. Perhaps they could be worked into giving Light Arms squads a way to pose a threat to your tank beyond attacking exposed crew members.
- If Sector Control has no effect on the game at the moment, it would be nice if Sector control was more relevant. Changing the aggressiveness of enemy units based on sector control (especially if infantry are given attacks that can threaten your tank) and/or modifying the Random Action board would be my suggestion.
- Related to the Panzerfaust suggestion, it would be interesting if excessive Sector Control by Germany would open the possibility that Light Arms squads engaging in short-range attacks on your tank (ie, satchel charges), instead of simply "peppering it with small arms fire". (Perhaps attempts towards this would generally fail, and/or possibly result in the squad being destroyed by allied fire? Many possibilities here.)
Thanks a lot for reading all of that, and best of luck developing this awesome game further!
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