First Impressions

[TheHellPatrol]

ORIGINAL: Dave Ferguson

Kind of dissappointed as you can't mod a scenario or produce one of your own. All the scenarios end in 1945 and it would be good to have the end date that you want.

I was wrong in presuming there would be a scenario editor [:(]
or am I missing something?

A big minus for me.

Under the options menu in the game setup you can toggle off 1945 so the game plays on[8D].
It was stated earlier that there was no editor per se but editable script files[8D].

[Dave Ferguson]

Well never mind about the lack of a editor for now

I tried a couple of turns of the tutorial and then dived into the 1939 scenario.

This is what has happened so far, after I stumbled up to the fall of France.

Poland surrendered at the end of turn 2, lesson learned is once you have the surrender trigger beseiged don't attack elsewhere, it just causes unneccessary casualties.

Turn 3 saw my mini wolf pack mauling a convoy en route from Canada. Redeply to west and a question, why can't my battleship get out of the Baltic Sea?

Turn 4 and more convoy mauling, redeployments, repairs and build some garrisons and a tank

Turn 5 destroyers catch my u-boats, ouch! score allies 4 axis 2

Turn 6 shift u-boats and blast another convoy. Question, can you switch the autoscroll off? It keeps jumping the map when I move to the button box

Late January 1940 declared war on Holland and Belgium, they lasted longer than historicaly so it might be agood idea to invade early

Crikey, I just lost a panzer corps to the French armour, the allied air strikes are an irritation as well

June 27 Paris surrounded and I shut down the rest of the battle to concentrate on Paris.

Paris is real tough, it took until August 26th to force a surrender. The coup-de-gras was administered by the luftwaffe, or what was left of it!. the lesson here is you HAVE to kill more than 5 defender points per turn to attrition the garrison, it gets 5 points back during the allied turn.

Thought so far, amazing carnage and the AI is not to hot, it does not know when it is best to withdraw. I am sure I played a bad game and now have to build up for Barbarrosa plus conquor a few more countries.

just look at the August 26th casualties, the UK total is really weird as the BEF never went to France.

[Syagrius]

Strange indeed, how the Brits have lost almost a million men without sending troops in France???

[SurrenderMonkey]

I'm sure that you can't get out of the Baltic until you capture Denmark and open the Skagerrak (sp?) Strait.

[ravinhood]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

ffs Matrix!!!!! [:@] I only just bought two games from you!!! She'll kill me!

Hahahaha no new game for gew. You'll have to buy HER something now before you can get anything else or you're being SELFISH.

EDIT: Before Judge has a hissy fit thinking I quote the below from him they are from others in the thread that I took special note of and just wanted to save space and not make another post.

I "played" the tutorial as my learning game, and the AI is a bit weak in it,

and the AI is not to hot

It seems that if you move a unit 1 hex, or it's movement limit, once you de-select the unit, it can no longer move, or attack.

Oh this is not good to read not good at all.

[bssybeep]

Spent some more time with the game playing as the Axis.  My strategy is to focus research on naval, armor, and industry.  Then keep the west busy with a Uboat war while I build up an Army Group South (to take resource rich regions in the South of Russia) and an Army Group North to drive on Moscow.  I'm doing better with my uboats as I now attack in packs in the middle or closer to the Canada/US side of the ocean.
 
...fun game, definitely has that "just one more turn" quality.

[TheHellPatrol]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

I "played" the tutorial as my learning game, and the AI is a bit weak in it,

and the AI is not to hot

It seems that if you move a unit 1 hex, or it's movement limit, once you de-select the unit, it can no longer move, or attack.

Oh this is not good to read not good at all.

1) It's just a tutorial
2)There are 7 levels of difficulty for those interested.
3)You'll soon remember after a couple mistakes[;)], it's not a killer.
Finally, the game is too fun and so much like Panzer General with an added "mini-game" of Convoy warfare AND strategic bombing[8D] that it's too good to pass up for a measly $49.[:'(]

[cdbeck]

Now now RH, you didn't quote my entire statement. I said the tutorial AI was weak, as it was toned down. The normal one is not that bad.

SoM

[Texican]

First impressions:

Decent game. Application kind of sluggish (it seems). AI appears to be decent, which is very important in these kinds of games. Don't care for the music; something a little more bellicose or period, or even classical might have been better. Will play this game with the music off.

Unit types are good, research seems good, production seems simple.

One detail on leaders, I did not agree with all the ratings, but everyone has their views. Still, I think the British General Montgomery ought to warrant a bonus on defense. If there was one thing he was good at, it was building an iron-clad defensive position.

Will play the game some more before formulating further opinions.

[blighty]

I am enjoying it, but so far the AI can't handle an aggressive Axis player by June 1941, I have taken
Poland
The Low Countries
Denmark
Norway
UK (just the mainland they have not Surrendered) Due to Sealion I have not done much against Convoys
Italy is advancing on Cario
 
I am now moving up to attack Russia
 
This is on Normal though I think for the Axis a harder level is recommended
 
I will try the Allies after this game.
 
I think I may be looking for PBEM players at some point, as the game is very good, supply is done well, the tech is good as it makes you think about future ops and upgrade based on that, production is good, it does not take 2 years to build some armour like some games, overall I like it, although I am seing some room for improvement
 
 

[Texican]

ORIGINAL: blighty

I am enjoying it, but so far the AI can't handle an aggressive Axis player by June 1941, I have taken
Poland
The Low Countries
Denmark
Norway
UK (just the mainland they have not Surrendered) Due to Sealion I have not done much against Convoys
Italy is advancing on Cario

I am now moving up to attack Russia

This is on Normal though I think for the Axis a harder level is recommended

I will try the Allies after this game.

I think I may be looking for PBEM players at some point, as the game is very good, supply is done well, the tech is good as it makes you think about future ops and upgrade based on that, production is good, it does not take 2 years to build some armour like some games, overall I like it, although I am seing some room for improvement

First time I played I was the Allies. Poland lasted two months, France got attacked in Feb. 40 and lasted through to the Fall, after destroying 3 panzer corps. For some reason the AI on these grand strategic-level games is just not up to par, not any of them out there. Can't understand that.

But then, the music and graphics are not up to par either, for a $49.99 game ($59.99 if you want the CD). The map in this game reminds me of the bland faded maps from old SPI boardgames in the 1970's and 1980's. The playing pieces are okay, but 2D??

I'd ask Matrix to do what they can through patches to ratchet up the AI, that's most important, and I'd also ask them to realize this is 2007, not 1993, and 3D designs with decent artwork are the standard they should be competing with. They cannot continue to pass this minimalist stuff off on us. The last two or three purchases I have made for Matrix games have been regretful.

Matrix, please hire a 3D artist. Hire a musical composer. Give us a little gloss and polish.

Otherwise, the scale and simplicity of this game are just fine; just needs a little more work.

[JudgeDredd]

Son of Montfort
...if I recall PnzGen only allowed you to repair if you were at least a space away, at least this is what Fantasy General allowed

I think you are incorrect there...or it was a feature of Fantasy General. I'm pretty sure in Allied/Panzer General, a unit could repair if it was next to an enemy unit...but at a much reduced rate.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

ffs Matrix!!!!! [:@] I only just bought two games from you!!! She'll kill me!

Hahahaha no new game for gew. You'll have to buy HER something now before you can get anything else or you're being SELFISH.

EDIT: Before Judge has a hissy fit thinking I quote the below from him they are from others in the thread that I took special note of and just wanted to save space and not make another post.

I "played" the tutorial as my learning game, and the AI is a bit weak in it,

and the AI is not to hot

It seems that if you move a unit 1 hex, or it's movement limit, once you de-select the unit, it can no longer move, or attack.

Oh this is not good to read not good at all.

Well, RH...I am selfish because I bought it. I earn my money...nothing wrong with spedning it [;)]

I'm not finding the AI that easy at all...in fact, it seems to be plugging the gaps quite well.

I took Poland and Holland...but I am still trying to get through Belgium and the AI is stacked up....and doint very well holding me back.

One thing I do think should be fixed (and was mentioned earlier). Either units should not be allowed to repair next to the enemy, or they should be able to repair at a very reduced rate.

At the minute, trying to go through Belgium, I have 3 units sitting adjacent to a Belgian unit. I attack with one and I exact 2 damage. I attack with another an exact another 2 damage. I attack with my armoured unit and I exact 3 damage. So the Belgian unit is down to 3. Now, I cannot move any of those units because I have attacked with them...so I can't move any units in for the final hit. Next turn, the AI has increased the unit to 10 again (or moved it and I did not see it...but I don't think that's the case).

I am playing Axis with 1 extra level of "help" for the Allies.

[cdbeck]

I agree with the repair issue. Try taking Oslo with two corps that land with low supply. You will be out of supply in no time, and although the Norwegian unit will have very low effecitiveness, it will heal nearly to full every time. [:@]

I suggest taking Denmark first, if you plan an Olso attack (I used Norway for production and jumping off for Sealion). That will path some supplies to your beleaguered troops and allow you to add a third corps from Copenhagen.

EDIT: It was certainly that way in Fantasy General, you had to move the unit from the front lines to heal up. That game distinguished between kills and wounds. Wounds could be healed at the front lines, while regaining kills required that the unit not be adjacent to another unit.

Another Edit: Glad to see you joined us Dredd. I knew you would cave eventually! [;)]It is worth the money, the game is fantastic!

SoM

[JudgeDredd]

Bloody good fun. I've been looking for a "Panzer General" type game for years, and it's here...with muscle

[Dave Ferguson]

I would be careful about making units non-adjacent to the enemy in order to get replacements. Your German army in russia will die quickly if you do as there are never enough units to cover the front and allow units to move back for reinforcement. Repairing units will result in lower quality eventually anyway especially when you have conscription introduced.

It seems the trick to reducing a unit is to cause more than 5 casualties in a turn as there is a limit to 5 repair points.
Tactical air is important plus it might be better to hit with the panzers first because of the shock bonus.

I do find it funny that you can move and fight but not fight and move, maybe units that don't move get a combat bonus?

[Charles2222]

These five repair points, is it possible, with the exception of the early game of course, to drain an enemy so much during a turn that he will not fill the attacked unit with repair points? Is there some pool of repair points or does each unit get 5 repair points regardless of anything else?

[ravinhood]

Well, RH...I am selfish because I bought it. I earn my money...nothing wrong with spedning it [;)]

 
Lol Dredd you remind me of me in my younger years when I had already purchased several new games and went ahead and purchased another not having played any of the others I purchased to completion yet. Played a few minutes of one, then another then another, then buy another. lol You've got the sickness Dredd. You just want to buy new games, you don't really want to play them or play them enough to finish them, all of them, and play every scenario they come with. But, since that is a lot like me, as you get older you'll start to realize what you are doing and then you'll become like me even more and start "bargain binning" for games, because that will be a new challenge and fun thing to do, see how many games you can get for $50 instead of paying $50 for every game. hahahaha You will be assimulated.

 

[Hanal]

ORIGINAL: Dave Ferguson

Well never mind about the lack of a editor for now

I tried a couple of turns of the tutorial and then dived into the 1939 scenario.

This is what has happened so far, after I stumbled up to the fall of France.

Poland surrendered at the end of turn 2, lesson learned is once you have the surrender trigger beseiged don't attack elsewhere, it just causes unneccessary casualties.

Turn 3 saw my mini wolf pack mauling a convoy en route from Canada. Redeply to west and a question, why can't my battleship get out of the Baltic Sea?

Turn 4 and more convoy mauling, redeployments, repairs and build some garrisons and a tank

Turn 5 destroyers catch my u-boats, ouch! score allies 4 axis 2

Turn 6 shift u-boats and blast another convoy. Question, can you switch the autoscroll off? It keeps jumping the map when I move to the button box

Late January 1940 declared war on Holland and Belgium, they lasted longer than historicaly so it might be agood idea to invade early

Crikey, I just lost a panzer corps to the French armour, the allied air strikes are an irritation as well

June 27 Paris surrounded and I shut down the rest of the battle to concentrate on Paris.

Paris is real tough, it took until August 26th to force a surrender. The coup-de-gras was administered by the luftwaffe, or what was left of it!. the lesson here is you HAVE to kill more than 5 defender points per turn to attrition the garrison, it gets 5 points back during the allied turn.

Thought so far, amazing carnage and the AI is not to hot, it does not know when it is best to withdraw. I am sure I played a bad game and now have to build up for Barbarrosa plus conquor a few more countries.

just look at the August 26th casualties, the UK total is really weird as the BEF never went to France.

I wonder if the UK casuality list includes Minor Allies.......

[Charles2222]

One catch to your little theory, rh, is that you have been able to bargain bin in the days when wargames were aplenty at stores. Nowadays that's not happening, except for sims and FPS's.

As far as internet purchasing goes, I don't know about you or Dredd, but I don't trust the delivery system to get it to me, although, I think I have always received all the stuff I order (go figure). It's just that to see it in a store is security. It's being able to play it right away if you so desire. My postal service is so lousy you're lucky to get something in a week. There's also that momentum consideration too, known to others as get-them-while-they're-hot, to where if I have to wait for a week to get something I likely be so focused on something else during the interval, that my enthusiasm, if there were any, will have likely taken somewhat of a beating. I don't know what it is, but this happens to me on mail orders for some reason. It's like, great, I'm glad it arrived, but it inevitably ends up arriving at a bad day of the week or something like that, to where I don't jump on it right away or I'm so involved in another game I hate to tear away. I guess you guys that don't work 3rd shift don't have that problem that much, but to buy somethign at a store is still far superior, because you're probably not buying it just before you're fixing to drag off to bed or work.

I guess that was part of th e old days too wasn't it? Where part of your buying a game at the store was the immediacy of it. If it was one that just got released, assuming you had a shot at getting it, whatever you were playing took a back seat because you knew you could play the new game right away. When the game just gets delivered to you in some random manner it's just not the same.