Complicatedness?

[TriumphRider]

I know its not a word, but honestly, how complicated is this game to play? Is there a really steep learning curve i.e. Pacific War or is it a pretty straightforward system? Is there a lot of micromanaging or is the player pretty much focused on the strategic aspect of the game?

Also, what scale is the game on? Armies and Corps? Just Corps? Can Corps be combined to make Army groups?

[SMK-at-work]

It's simple - but quite addictive none-the-less.  I've been beta testing for a few months now & am stil enjoying it despite essentially having only 1 scenario to play! [:)]

[Hentzau]

In comparision to Hubert Carter's Strategic Command how does it stack up? Not too much more difficult?

[Moltke71]

The word is "complexity".  Evidently, the game is at corps level.

[SMK-at-work]

Compared to SC2 it is very similar - movement is a lot simpler since you can only move 1 hex/turn unless using strategic movement.  But there is stacking, which introduces a different dynamic.  Naval is simpler, research is simpler, air war is simpler.

[cdbeck]

I meant to ask, how is the research handled? I saw somewhere that one had to decide to look into tanks or poison gas, for example. Does these offer simple, abstract, +1 to combat type benefits, or is technology a bit more fleshed out?

SoM

[7th Somersets]

Each strategic phase - the main powers are able to allocate production resources to different things. The amount of resources that your country produces depends on a number of factors (eg the British need to use a lot of supply ships to get the raw materials - the Germans may find themselves short of food that in turn affects production)

The resources can then be allocated across a wide range of things including new troops, replacement troops, naval resources, research, diplomacy, entrenchments.

So far as research is concerned - if you decide to conduct research, you get choices to put resources into different areas. You can, for example, choose to develop poison gas (which - once a certain level of research is achieved - enables gas to be allocated to artillery units that help in offensives for a limited number of times - to represent the benefit frrom gas until countermeasures are developed), improved aeroplanes, improved artillery, tanks. You can actually build armoured units - while air warfare is dealt with in an abstract way at each strategic phase.

It sounds complicated - but is in fact straight forward to carry out.

Overall the game gives you a lot of options as to how you conduct the war, but the actual game play is uncomplicated.

Regards.

[7th Somersets]

SoM
 
Have a look at the following link for screenshots posted by SMK showing some of the menu's and options
 
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1167882
 
There is a 'Strategic Phase' screen shot for Bulgaria - showing the things that resources could be put into (If Bulgaria had very many)
 
Further on you see a screen showing Germany's Research and Development options - they have 2 points to spend. the different colours represent different levels of research that they have achieved.
 
Regards.