Quick newbie question

[Duality]

Hello all,
I just recently came across Panther Games and the AA series. Battles From the Bulge looks great and I can't wait until it is released. While I was looking for away to get familiar with the series I noticed that there is not a demo for Conquest of the Aegean, but I think there is one for Red Devils Over Arnhem. I'm sure that quite a bit has changed since 2002, but if I check out the demo for Red Devils Over Arnhem will it give me a general idea of the game mechanics in the AA series? I've been playing hex based games for quite a while so I'm curious as to how this no hex, realtime format feels.

Thanks,
Brent

[GShock]

I just recently got COTA and i never liked hex-based games. It's artificial to say the least, thinking that armies move one unit per side per turn or even one entire side per turn.
The feeling of real time in COTA is simple, and of course, complex at the same time. You can order units at any moment on any terrain on map since the grid is only there for range calculations.
You play on a plain paper map which doesn't display accurate height steps unless you use a tool, in that case you will see what each unit can or cannot see according to weather, suppression, time of the day and of course according to what the target is also doing. Units are displayed on NATO symbols or with a generic unit-type icon and each unit has a breakdown of its exact content. So u have a full feeling of realism here. That's what commanders DREAMED of having at that point in time...but well we got the PC now![&o]

An important part of the real time strategy concerns the synchronization of orders. The farther an HQ is from the "boss" the worse this HQ staff is, the longer it will take to formulate in concrete the orders you gave it...and, in turn, this HQ formulates sub-orders for each sub-unit according to general parameters you have pre-established.

An easy example is the airstrike. You get the call there's a support airplane in the combat zone and u point a target for it. The strike will come in the next 5 minutes. You don't know exactly when and you don't know whether that target will remain there when the strike comes or not.

The same can be said about orders. You give assault order to a village but since you are a n00b when your troops assault the enemy has already abandoned it so you capture empty ground.

Of course...once you master this whole system, having the troops do exactly what you want them to do, and when you want them to do it, is a huge satisfaction.

Thank God there's the pause button you can use to plan your moves!!! [;)]

[Lützow]

ORIGINAL: Duality

While I was looking for away to get familiar with the series I noticed that there is not a demo for Conquest of the Aegean, but I think there is one for Red Devils Over Arnhem. I'm sure that quite a bit has changed since 2002, but if I check out the demo for Red Devils Over Arnhem will it give me a general idea of the game mechanics in the AA series?

Yes, it does. Just keep in mind, the engine has quite evolved since Red Devils. You may also consider the thread about CotA I started in general board some days ago.

[Llyranor]

The RDOA will give you somewhat of an idea of what the series plays like. Make sure you read the tutorial/manual properly, though. Just jumping in blindly means you won't get much out of the demo.

However, bear in mind that the engine has had many many many upgrades/improvements since RDOA. Every new installment adds new features that are pretty neat and really add to the gameplay. RDOA will give an idea of what the basic gameplay will be like, but the actual games (HTTR/COTA) are much better.

The RDOA demo is what sold me on the series and I haven't been disappointed.

IIRC, BFTB will have a demo or something.

[Duality]

Ok, great. Thanks for the info everyone. I will download the RDOA demo and check it out.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Duality
Ok, great. Thanks for the info everyone. I will download the RDOA demo and check it out.

Caveat : this beta bunny didn't like the RDOA demo at all as it felt a bit cramped size- and feature-wise. This has been remedied in HTTR and COTA so if you get the same feeling as I did back then, don't chuck the series straight away as a lot, and I mean *a lot*, has changed since the RDOA days.

If you want to have a really good impression of what playing games like this is like, check out MarkShot's mini-guides :

HTTR : ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/highwayto ... 6-2005.zip

COTA : ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/conquesto ... 2-2005.zip

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Duality]

I read through both of those guides and you are right quite a bit has changed. Even with the missing features the RDOA demo did give me a fairly good idea about the flow of the game. The flexibility to decide how much you want to micro manage the units is pretty amazing. I'm pretty much sold on BFTB, the question now is whether or not to pickup COTA or HTTR while I wait for the new release...

Thanks again for the info. It is much appreciated.

[Llyranor]

If you are going to pick up HTTR/COTA (which are excellent, Panther has been winning wargaming awards for a reason), now's a good time to do it. They're on sale! http://matrixgames.com/news/545/Matrix. ... liday.Sale! (though you can get a retail copy of HTTR cheaper at the NWS online wargaming store )

It's fine if you decide to get BFTB alone, but if you think you want the other games as well, I'd recommend playing them in order (HTTR --> COTA --> BFTB), since you'd be moving forward feature-wise. Going back (and missing some of the new cool tools) will be harder.