Request for online fellow players (Conquest, 2-player)

[Ottia]

Dear readers of the forum,

I'd very much like to have a go at traditional Conquest (2-players) after not having found anyone to play the game on the table for... years...

...since I am not what you would say experienced I'd like to start with one single game to let everything sink in (and also to learn using the tool without keeping many people waiting).

Thanks in advance to whoever might be interested

[Klaus]

Dear Ottia,

let's play, I'm very interested. You can start the adventure...

Kind regards

Klaus

[Fathom]

lost my playing friends years ago and recently discovered my board.Id love to play a game

[Klaus]

Hi Fathom,

you are at the proper place. I'm ready, too. We can start our match. Since you know this excellent game you won't be disappointed!
There is a Conquest tool which simplifies the course of the game. Tomorrow I post the links, here.
I'm happy that you joined.

Klaus

[Klaus]

Fathom, users of the freeware GIMP need the psd Conquest tool file here (click on the "download" or "herunterladen" button) and users of Photoshop (elements) need the pdf Conquest tool file here. If you don't like to use the tool we can apply the usual notification. But I recommend the tool. Nevertheless you should arrange the physical board in addition because of the better overview. You find a short description of the (Grand Conquest) tool here-

Klaus

[tomsgamer17111]

I am interested in trying a game of standard 2-player Conquest at a leisurely pace. I have the long-box edition from the 1970's and the last time I played was about 5 years ago. I haven't used GIMP before; remember downloading it once and it seemed rather confusing to use, but can give it another try. I'm located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA).

[Klaus]

Hi Tom....,

I'm delighted that you joined! Welcome to our little club. Actually I'm playing Conquest with Antonio on the 2-player board. Furthermore Andre, George and Andreas were active. We played a very interesting match of Grand Conquest on the 4-player board months ago. We intended to start a new match in the springtime, but due to the threatening corona situation in the USA George preferred not to play. Andreas comes like me from Germany (different region), the other are living in the USA, Canada and England.
I would like start a match, Tom... But I will ask Andreas and give him the advantage if he wants to play with you at first... I know he is a good Conquest player.
You could try to use the Conquest tool which you can download from this website. Nevertheless it's possible to use the official notation of moves instead of the tool.
You will be informed about forum replies if you choose the option "Notify me when a reply is posted".
Have fun and contribute your ideas, Tom...!

Kind regards

Klaus

[tomsgamer17111]

Thanks for hosting this forum. I have only played the standard 2 and 4 player Conquest and figure I should regain familiarity with the basics first. I'll have some time in the next two weeks to check out the tool.

I'm heavily involved in the wargaming hobby and develop Vassal modules for myself and for Decision Games. Vassal allows a developer to package graphics (map, smaller graphics for pieces, and some basic automations and reporting) so that you can perform moves using an open source application (free) to perform your moves. It allows for logging and to generate a jpg graphic of the game board as well. Theses games can be played in either real time or message/email turns (or even a combination). I'd be glad to elaborate if there's interest.

Video on intro to vassl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwQX1IKNQ-A

[Klaus]

I'm heavily involved in the wargaming hobby and develop Vassal modules for myself and for Decision Games. Vassal allows a developer to package graphics (map, smaller graphics for pieces, and some basic automations and reporting) so that you can perform moves using an open source application (free) to perform your moves. It allows for logging and to generate a jpg graphic of the game board as well. Theses games can be played in either real time or message/email turns (or even a combination). I'd be glad to elaborate if there's interest.

That's very interesting! Because I try to develop a similar project. Andre who is playing on this site, too, told me some months ago that it would be great to realize Grand Conquest on tabletopia.com with 3D pieces. I suppose that the concepts of tabletopia and vassal aren't very different. You could play online with the original pieces and other material but you have to know the rules of a game. Isn't it so? I agreed with Andre that it would be very nice to realize such a project on tabletopia. But nevertheless I was aware of the possible difficulties because of the special kind of the Grand Conquest pieces (some pieces can transport other pieces). I contact the tabletopia staff and they confirmed my concerns regarding the special character of the pieces and the creation of 3D objects out of miniatures. But I started nevertheless. At the beginning I tried to make 3D models out of many single photos. But this way wasn't successful. Then I searched and found adequate 3D models of the pieces. Now it's necessary to adapt the 3D models for tabletopia with a software like Blender. I'm not a designer, so I will have to learn (learning by doing) and try. Maybe the result will be ok.... Are you experienced in modeling 3D objects?

[tomsgamer17111]

I'm generally a 2D guy like many wargamers. Not familiar with Tabletopia. I picked up Vassal because I wanted to be able to play a fantasy wargame, viewed some youtube videos on it and discovered it wasn't too different from creating web-based training programs (something I used to do for a living).

In vassal, you'd represent the pieces with flat counters, and when you mouse over them, it "zooms" the stack so you can see its contents. I suspect it takes less talent to produce something with Vassal though it won't be 3D. I personally find 2D easier to analyze ... for example watching a Chess game in 2D vs 3D, it's easier to identify everything in 2D. As an example, on a whim this weekend I threw together a Vassal module for "Trippples" and it took about 5 hours (8x8 board with some checkers, 4 translucent playing pieces and a set of 48 square tiles with all permutations of 3 arrows pointing in different directions).

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/264913/ ... les-review

I was thinking that I'd check out the Conquest tool and see if I could just throw in the graphics into Vassal, map the spaces so that you can generate logging messages as pieces move from one space to the next, and a few add-ons (e.g. a counter for moves left, shortcuts to remove captured pieces, marker to show where a capture occurred for signaling recapture).

All the best,
Tom