A few 1.04 Impressions

[borsook79]

After reading a lot of posts (and also taking part in one "discussion") about game-breaking changes in 1.04, I was paying a very close attention to those things when playing my new East Front LCG. Allow me to share two small impression connected to that:

1. First issue that was much discussed were AT staying invisible after firing and Art being too powerful. Indeed I very fast run into such an AT and I must say I found the idea very fun and challenging. While the AT remained unspotted, from the graphics I was perfectly able to tell from which hex it was firing. (which feels pretty realistic to me) So I was able to lay there all the artillery fire I could. Which brings us to the second subject... I must say I find the opposite of what I've read here, ART and Air support still mostly do nothing and for my liking it is too weak.

2. New Assault rules - after the 1.03 quirks with leaders being corrected I must say I really like it. The results seem to be quite realistic - e.g. when I assaulted a disrupted inf with tanks it retreated every time, it seems a more realistic result than being destroyed like in old rules.

All in all I find the patch a very enjoyable addition and would like to thank for all the work put into it. Before I get accused of fanboism it is not that I find it perfect. Personally I find it a pity that patches concentrate so much on OOBs while there are a few small (that shouldn't take a coder more than 30 minutes) improvements to the UI that would be very welcome. e.g. the game remembering Unit bases and thermometers settings (like it does when you press "m" or "u") or the ability to play more than one LCG (i.e. separate saves). That would be really great, but still it is very good!

[tide1212]

Borsook The first time I got shot at by hidden anti-tank guns it made me jump [:D] The Arty was adjusted so that it didn't cause so many kills I have to admit it was a little high [;)]
Thanks for the compliment. your not a fan boy either. While the game will never be perfect it will get better still.

[cw58]

Borsook,

I agree with you that overall, the 1.04 update was definitely a step in the right direction. I, too, like the hidden fire feature. As I play only against the AI (and usually attacking), I find it gives Hal a little much-needed help. The new assault rules are also good. I don't believe there would have been nearly the furor over them if it had not been first released with the 0 AV bug.

I also like the on-map aircraft, the AA fire bug has been fixed and I especially like the new engineer capabilities. One thing I would like to see for them is the permanently out-of-supply issue, at least for mine engineers. Maybe instead of making them out-of-supply, they could become disrupted and take a large morale loss. That way, it would take them several turns to regain morale and finally become undisrupted and able to lay more mines. For short scenarios, it should make no difference. But for some of these long scenarios, it would make them more than one-shot wonders. Another hard-code issue to be sure, but it's an idea.

It's easy to focus on the few things we don't like and forget about the larger picture. So in my opinion, definitely a positive update. [:)]

[junk2drive]

I'm glad they put in the options. I'm playing the Sealion LCG and started with all on except armour facing. Being an older LCG, I got hosed on all my assaults. Started over with extremes off. Did much better.
 
For future designed battles, the designer should state in the briefing which options are recommended for play.

[borsook79]

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

I'm glad they put in the options. I'm playing the Sealion LCG and started with all on except armour facing. Being an older LCG, I got hosed on all my assaults. Started over with extremes off. Did much better.

For future designed battles, the designer should state in the briefing which options are recommended for play.

Usually both work fine with majority of scenario (ok, except the visibility option), you just have to apply different tactics.

[kool_kat]

1. First issue that was much discussed were AT staying invisible after firing and Art being too powerful. Indeed I very fast run into such an AT and I must say I found the idea very fun and challenging. While the AT remained unspotted, from the graphics I was perfectly able to tell from which hex it was firing. (which feels pretty realistic to me) So I was able to lay there all the artillery fire I could. Which brings us to the second subject... I must say I find the opposite of what I've read here, ART and Air support still mostly do nothing and for my liking it is too weak.

I like the AT "invisibility" mode also. It seems realistic to me that a small caliber gun would be difficult to spot after firing its round - especially if the enemy spotter is in a targeted moving AFV! [X(] However, I have found both artillery and air support to be effective. I am currently playing a PBeM game - WF "Terror at Borisov" and as the Allied player I am blessed with large numbers of artillery and 6 air strikes. Both my artillery and air strikes are putting a "hurting" on the attacking German forces! [:D]

2. New Assault rules - after the 1.03 quirks with leaders being corrected I must say I really like it. The results seem to be quite realistic - e.g. when I assaulted a disrupted inf with tanks it retreated every time, it seems a more realistic result than being destroyed like in old rules.

I agree. The ver. 1.04 assault rules are a nice change and more realistic then the buggy ver. 1.03 and unrealistic "herd and destroy" tactics attackers could use in the earlier patches.

I am also very glad that the variable visibility rules were made optional in ver. 1.04! [:D]