Least ASB AH Game

What I find is that most AH games tend to be quite ASB in their worlds, to put it lightly. We have 'Enigma: Rising Tide' and 'Crinson Skies' which are not bad games, just not really believable.

Apart from World in Conflict, which seems the least ASB of all, which AH game can be rewarded the 'Least ASB' trophy?
 
World in Conflict is probably the winner here; I can't really think of any other games that don't have some element of ASBism in it at some point, either at the begining (Soviet Atomic bomb on Berlin in 1945 in Freedom Fighters, still a good game) or the game itself (Churchill killed in NYC in the 1920s isn't far fethced, but the war blimps / aircraft carrier zepplins in Turning Point: Fall of Liberty kill it).
 
Actually, I don't believe Enigma Rising Tide is any more ASB-ish than some "serious" and "literary" novels and stories about the early 20th Century. German's wins WW1. Anglo-Japanese Alliance continues and becomes its own block (including the Royal Navy in Exile - sort of wierd, I admit, but cool), The USA grows in power. Three way global power struggle. Compared to Crimson Skies (the PC version which is really neat), Renaissance Fall of Man, Freedom Fighters and Turning Point, Enigma Rising Tide is by far much less ASB-ish.

Technically speaking, virtually any global strategy or war PC game is an AH game - and they are far less ASB than those above. I am currently playing "War Plan Orange" by Matrix Games, an AH wargame which is completely based on real world expectations of the late 1920's. It was a hoot when I sent a raiding force including the Amagi and Akagi (Battlecruisers, not Carriers) to shell San Diego shortly after the Pacific War started. I am partially in control of the Phillipines, China is still neutral, and I am hoping the British and Dutch don't get frisky. Unfortunately, the incredibly huge US battle fleet is steaming to an advance base at Rabaul (lousy French!) and it is only a matter of months until they move on the Marshalls and I get crushed.
 
Actually, I don't believe Enigma Rising Tide is any more ASB-ish than some "serious" and "literary" novels and stories about the early 20th Century.
True, but Germany's direct annexations of France and Britain are minus points, IMO.

I have to agree PCSwitaj here, World in Conflict is the least ASB of them. Although Hearts of Iron II is tempting, the fact you can play Hungary and invade the USA by 1950 does seem a little on the ASB side.
 
True, but Germany's direct annexations of France and Britain are minus points, IMO.

I have to agree PCSwitaj here, World in Conflict is the least ASB of them. Although Hearts of Iron II is tempting, the fact you can play Hungary and invade the USA by 1950 does seem a little on the ASB side.

That's cause it's not a railroad. If you were stuck doing the OTL thing the whole way through, it would be a very pretty video.

(Speaking of which, my panzers rolled into Delhi half an hour ago... :D)
 
I've got to agree with that myself. I'd appreciate more allohistorical events that push you a bit more towards OTL things (in effect showing historical inertia at work), but I can understand the difficulty of drafting events that make sense in all possible relevant scenarios.
 

Grey Wolf

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Technically speaking, virtually any global strategy or war PC game is an AH game - and they are far less ASB than those above. I am currently playing "War Plan Orange" by Matrix Games, an AH wargame which is completely based on real world expectations of the late 1920's. It was a hoot when I sent a raiding force including the Amagi and Akagi (Battlecruisers, not Carriers) to shell San Diego shortly after the Pacific War started. I am partially in control of the Phillipines, China is still neutral, and I am hoping the British and Dutch don't get frisky. Unfortunately, the incredibly huge US battle fleet is steaming to an advance base at Rabaul (lousy French!) and it is only a matter of months until they move on the Marshalls and I get crushed.


I saw that advertised and described in detail whilst I was researching the 8-8 Programme online and wondered how well it played.

I assume the Amagi and Akagi have a nice fleet train with them ? :)

The rest of it sounds perfectly reasonable

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Never played World in Conflict(looks amazing though) but I would go with HOI2.

It's pretty least ASB as a videogame with AI can get. Granted my Argentinian Empire has almost all of South America by 1941 :)
 
Call of Duty 4 is AH, and I find that to be relatively believable, story wise.

I agree with that statement. The way I see that it could have come about was if the Breakup of the Soviet Union was not a peaceful one, but rather like a repeat of the days immediately following the Russian Revolution, during the period of 1918-1920. That one mission with a younger Captain Price 15 years before the present (who of course is a recurring character in the Call of Duty series, including his two incarnations in Call of Duty 1 and 2), seems to confirm the notion of a Soviet Union that did not break up peacefully, thus leading to a loyalist and extreme nationalist faction.
 
How, just how is World in Conflict not ASB?
Well, it doesn't rely wholly on ludicriously serendipitous events to set up its story, and all of the technology used in the game is based on actual military equipment. The biggest problem WoC has, and indeed it's one common to all the "WW3 in Europe" stories that were inspired by John Hackett's World War III: August 1985 that appeared in the 1980s, is the fact that the invasion doesn't break down into an all-out strategic nuclear war within the first months of fighting.

What I find is that most AH games tend to be quite ASB in their worlds, to put it lightly. We have 'Enigma: Rising Tide' and 'Crinson Skies' which are not bad games, just not really believable.
We should all keep in mind that most AH-based games are not created to provide a realistic examination of the ramifications of a particular POD. For the most part, the AH is just used to justify whatever worldbuilding the designers want to do (though some, such as the team behind Resistance: Fall of Man, do try to build up meatier timelines than others).
 
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