Liberation, the game that saved PG

[larry marak]

The Daily Content for July 14th was a publisher's preview of Liberation 44.  Being a compulsive hobbyist, I printed it out and added it to the file I keep for that game (there are about 80 notebooks in my man-cave).  I put it right next to the FIRST publisher's preview of Liberation 44, done years ago.  In it Mike was proudly announcing the arrival of PG fourth edition counters, deluxe thick tiles more than twice the thickness of standard counters.  This was to be the new standard for fourth edition games.  The feedback he got loud and clear was that the new counters were so much thicker than the earlier ones that they would make 4th edition PG physically incompatible with earlier products.  As a result, the brief experiment with monumental counters at Avalanche press came to a halt.  4th edition came to mean new rules and tables only, with color terrain charts.

[joe_oppenheimer]

Given the problems with the dark maps and the absurdly thick counters it would make more sense to say, "Liberation, the game that nearly killed PG."

[larry marak]

Like all good aphorisms, both observations acknowledge the same thing...i.e., great minds run in the same channel, or only fools think alike; one man's meat is another man's poison, but sauce for a goose is sauce for a gander.

Imagine having to keep completely separate your 3rd and 4th edition counters from 2 years ago on up.

[campsawyer]

Given the problems with the dark maps and the absurdly thick counters it would make more sense to say, "Liberation, the game that nearly killed PG."

Agreed and I would add that how APL customer service treated people who pointed this out was the "nail in the coffin" for me.

[larry marak]

Some sort of map upgrade package (at least) should have been offered. I bought the new printing of the Saipan maps when offered..my originals were too dark to allow play.

[J6A]

One of the only games I don't own, although I'll be ordering it on the sale.

[larry marak]

While I haven't seen whether the map issue has been corrected (it most likely was, Guy and Mike both recognized the problems) it will be a purchase well worth it J6A. Perryman works always are.

[leonard]

In my opinion, the original thick counters were perfectly OK and were even easier to manipulate...The scenarios seem very interesting even if I haven't played many of them.
However there are clearly some problems with the maps ! First, it is true that the printing is way too dark. It's not very pleasant but not a big deal since terrain features are clear enough to avoid confusion. What I really dislike in these maps is the terrain they depict : it cannot be Normandy. Indeed most of the terrain configuration in Normandy is very compartmentalized with small fields often bordered by hedges/hedgerows. Most roads are aligned along these hedges and there's not much room for vehicle flanking movement. The Airborne map is much more correct in that respect. The lone exception is the wide expanses of land south of Caen but it doesn't claim all four maps to be open country ! Can the game have the right feeling if the terrain guides you in manoeuvers that are not historical ?

[zaarin7]

I've been to Caen and the terrain to the south and west is far more open than to the east. Also along the coast and for a few miles inland I saw no hedge rows. So if the fighting is supposed to be on the more open terrain then it is correct. Also the impression I got was Lib 44 covered 21 Army group in the post Normandy advance too. Was that incorrect?

[Hugmenot]

I like the extra thick counters of Liberation; they are not slippery at all when stacked 6 or 8 deep. My maps were too dark under plexiglass but fine without it.

I played a few scenarios and thought they were good. I could not figure out why both sides had hidden units in some of them because on side was on the move.