Initial impressions

[7thcav]

I have been playing tactical war games as a hobby since the mid 90's and one thing that has been painfully apparent is that although graphics have improved dramatically over that time period the quality of the available AI has lagged well behind.......until the release of Command ops " Battles From The Bulge" . I find BFTB's AI to be impressive to say the least. IMO my purchase of this title has been one of my most worthwhile ( if not the most worthwhile ) investment in a game to date.

Regards
7thcav

[Lieste]

The same principles & underlying AI has been used by Panther in one of gaming's "best kept secrets" since (at least) 2002 - the publication date on my CD of RDOA from the second publisher CDV, with Battlefront the first, possibly a year earlier.

Each of the subsequent patches and new programs has expanded, refined and added to the program, but the original still bears scrutiny [&o]. (Actually the very first was slightly earlier again (1998?) and Eastern Front (Kiev 1943?), but I haven't had the opportunity to ever try that one....

The next package, after the CmdOps version of HTTR slated for this autumn, is an expansion pack for part of the Eastern Front, which is a return to Panther's roots...

[wodin]

Everytime I here the Ost Front mentioned I get excited.

Welcome 7thcav...it's an amazing game...and the patch due out apparently changes it into an even better one!

[7thcav]

My first post was a tad general in nature so I figured some reasons why I have the opinion I do was in order.

1. I have found Daves comment in the video tutorials that the AI can do a " Reasonable Job " to be accurate and something of an understatement at times, leading to an exceptional level of re-playability.

2. There are times when I like to micro manage my forces and at other times I don't. The game happily obliges me ether way I chose to play ....never seen that before in a game. Another product of a superior AI.

3. Its clear to me that the folks at Panther games have spent a huge number of hours playing tactical war games of one kind or another......it shows in the attention to detail in there games. From the important stuff such as the LOS,Pathing and threat assessment tools down to the simple things like an audible tone when a message pops up on the screen. Messages that dont block large amounts of real-estate and requir some type of action on my part to get them the hell out of the way.The zoom controls are very well done as is the GUI in general.

4. The historical accuracy is exceptional good, I have found very little to complain about while digging through the oob's and equipment.I found a couple of things that I will post about elsewhere.

5. Although the forums here seem a bit quiet at the moment, I dug back through them from day one and didn't find much evidence of the all to common need to try to rip each others heads off over things like the frontal armor quality of the stug IIIg. Speaks very highly of the community.

6. Community mappers and scenario designers have created some extremely good and challenging scenarios.


One thing that I do wish was here is  PBEM availability for the multiplayer side of the game. IMHO that would definitely have helped that side of BFTB.

Regards
7thcav

[wodin]

PBEM is tricky as it's realtime....

We have the new patch to look forward to which (so the say) makes it like a whole new game.

[sweeteye]

I to wish there were more interest in multiplay.I keep thinking about setting up a teamspeak server for BFTB....it is not really needed for MP but I know it has been great for flight sims.

[7thcav]

ORIGINAL: sweeteye

I to wish there were more interest in multiplay.I keep thinking about setting up a teamspeak server for BFTB....it is not really needed for MP but I know it has been great for flight sims.

You can add me to the list available MP opponents shortly. Unfortunately I canceled my TS2 server subscription a couple of months back. I wouldn't be opposed to setting it back up if it would get used. In the mean time there are other options such as skype or msn messenger.

[Wiggum]

Never thought about MP, mostly because i dont know how to play the game without pause.
I like to review the situation and think twice before doing anything. I expect in MP you have to be fast...

[Arjuna]

In MP the game pauses whenever either player pauses.

[buzznaut]

Have been playing more and more of CoTA and BFtB and am eagerly awaiting patch and add-on pack. Was hoping that there are folks still interested in setting up a multiplayer session sometime who are active and able to play in the evening on US EST. If anyone is interested or available just respond here or send me a message.

[7thcav]

I am US pst but have reasonably flexible hours.

[Genghis Khan]

Myself, I got started with the old board games "Blitzkrieg", "Panzer Leader" and what I believe is the best board game, "Squad Leader". But
the major problem with board games is finding an opponent and, let's face it, FOW is a real pain to simulate. With the advent of computers
(yes, I'm that old [:D]), I came across "Europe in Flames"-- which now sells as "John Tiller's Campaign Series" -- and I played that for
quite some time. After awhile, however, it got too predictable and I hadn't bothered to play for a few years. Then, a couple of months ago I
decided to look around the internet to see what was new in war game simulations and as I'm sure you are aware, there's an awful lot out there
to choose from. Unfortunately, a lot of the games seem to focus on the 3D "Eye Candy" aspect of things with strategy and tactics taking a
back seat, especially with real-time play. With the "turned based" games, nothing looked to be a real improvement on my old stand by "Europe
in Flames", although the "WeGo" based games look to have some promise. When I came across "Command Ops" I thought: now here is something
special and I began to delve deeper. Naturally, the deeper I dug the more I was convinced that it was the best system out there, granted I
am having a little difficulty with the topographical maps and it's LOS (or area of sight) representations, but I think it's just a matter of
an adjustment period on my part. Since I bought the game (coming on two weeks now) I can honestly say that I am thoroughly impressed and my
only regrets are that I missed out on HTTR and COTA and that I only ordered the DVD and not the colour manual. Well, as I am still climbing
the Learning Curve, I should be spending more time playing the game and less time flapping my gums on this forum.[;)]

[Trigger Happy]

Pbem could work with some house rules, like you can only interfere with the game in 6 hour intervals (0600-1200-1800-0000), or maybe not...