FAQ: "Should I Buy This Game?","FOF or AACW?",etc.

[Gil R.]

Periodically, someone begins a thread on this forum asking whether he should purchase a copy of "Forge of Freedom," and that question elicits numerous responses from those who know the game well. I thought it would be a good idea to provide links to such threads, which are often buried several pages down, so I've gone back a few pages to find the most recent ones:

tm.asp?m=1484660
tm.asp?m=1487404
tm.asp?m=1442016
tm.asp?m=1594005
tm.asp?m=1771521

On a related note, often those who have already bought "Forge of Freedom" will start a thread to post positive feedback, and providing links to some of these also seems potentially useful:
tm.asp?m=1628107
tm.asp?m=1647010

[Gil R.]

Oh, and here's a poll thread surveying how often people play detailed battles, thus making use of FOF's tactical engine: tm.asp?m=1374597

[Gil R.]

Since one of the most common questions among potential customers of "Forge of Freedom" is whether this game or AGEOD's AACW would be more to their liking, I thought I'd post this list of threads in which there are substantive discussions of the issue.

As a perusal of these threads will show, this is not some deviously clever list that through selective omission makes FOF come out as the clear choice. My thinking here is that it is much better to lose a sale after a potential customer realizes that FOF would not be the game for him than for that person to unwittingly buy FOF and then bitterly complain in every forum and group until the time of Ragnarök about how much he hates it.

The list of forums and threads:

AGEOD:
http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3608
http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4455
http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4640
http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4542

Matrix (General Discussion):
tm.asp?m=1430986

Matrix (AACW forum):
tm.asp?m=1499807
tm.asp?m=1492398
tm.asp?m=1525082

Matrix (FOF forum):
tm.asp?m=1628107
tm.asp?m=1491068
tm.asp?m=1455076
tm.asp?m=1449936
tm.asp?m=1523704
tm.asp?m=1568955
tm.asp?m=1771521

Wargamer:
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.asp?m=225277

OctopusOverlords:
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=52507

Battlefront:
http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ulti ... 9;t=021741

Paradox:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/sho ... 9&t=300951

[Gil R.]

Those who are considering purchasing "Forge of Freedom" sometimes ask to see the manual, but since it is against Matrix's policy for game manuals to be distributed separately such requests cannot be fulfilled. However, it is possible at least to post the Table of Contents, which gives an idea of the depth and scope of the game, so I've attached a copy. Note that the manual is divided into Basic Game, Intermediate Game and Advanced Game, which is intended to help players learn the full game gradually.

(By the way, here's a link to the FOF promotional video, which gives an excellent idea of what the game is like: tm.asp?m=1633941 )

[Gil R.]

Time to begin an index of FOF vs. WBTS vs. AACW threads:

Matrix (WBTS forum):
tm.asp?m=1839803
tm.asp?m=1858228

Wargamer:
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=300750
http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=365200