Early Impressions

[Barthheart]

I caved in last night and bought this because I really like the visual style of the game and the reports of a good AI.

I managed to play the tutorial scenario, then the intro. scenario then the 1st 2 scenarios of the German Campaign between 8 and 10:30 pm last night. And all without reading the manual. Really, really good UI. Well done all.

It's a lightish game. I'd say more brain power need than Panzer Corp., addition of supply line and central command attachable assets means more thinking involved. Not quite as much thinking required as DC: Warsaw to Paris, this has fewer units and is a higher scale.

Like I said I really like the visual style of the game. I'm a hex and chit guy from way back so I like NATO style pieces too but these pieces are very well done. Lots of info right onthe piece. If someone makes a NATO style mod I'll probably use it but for now I'm enjoying the view.

The AI is good. Not prefect, but very good. It is very unforgiving if you give it the chance.... and some scenarios it's very hard not to do that as you don't have a lot of units to fill all the holes.

Battles, so far, are fluid. You just really need to focus and not get side-tracked into battles that are not getting you closer to the victory hexes. Perfect victories are hard, haven't had one yet, but winning a scenario is not impossible. This should lead to re-playability as you can try different approaches to see which one gets you the best level of victory.

I'd like to see some larger scenarios with more area, maybe all of the southern front for example. Is there going to be a scenario editor? Can we make our own maps? Mods that focused on other fronts would be fun with this engine.

I think it's worth the $32 CDN I paid just for the chance to help fund an innovative new game style. And it's fun too!

Well done all.

[2xTom]

Hello,

thanks for your first impression. This is very useful for us to see and was in fact a very popular feature in the beta test. We got 70 or so first impressions there [&o]

We will make the tools (scenario editor etc) available eventually but don't hold your breath on when. Our first order of business post release (after we add the undo button, yes yes) will be to work on the scenario editor because it's not very good even for internal use, let alone release to the public.

Map editor will be the most difficult as it's a rather complex pipeline that includes GIS, several custom scripts, an editor application and post-processing in GIMP. It's an unwieldy beast to be honest... no promises on that one at all [:(]

[jomni]

This is a nice unique feature.
I think keeping them automated reflects the historical circumstances and doctrines of both sides.
If we open them up to the player, then it might tip the balance and become gamey and unrealistic.
Maybe the devs could consider this and make it an optional rule.

[Hanal]

A definite buy but I made a promise to myself that I will not purchase another game, until I finish the Panzer Corps France DLC....

[darrellb9]

Your 1st impressions pushed me over the edge bh and I bought it couple days ago and am glad I did [:)]

Agree with pretty much everything you said.

Grew up in 1970s playing board games so NATO counters are always a must for me but I find I don't miss them in this game. I really like the graphics style/color choices made. The game as a whole feels like it's a finished and polished product which is rare these days in this genre.

I've played the tutorial/intro scenario and am 3 scenarios into the campaign as Germans. The AI does seem better than most. In the 1st scenario of the campaign I made a single mistake and then had to waste 2 turns re-establishing supply to the 8 units the AI cut off in the S end of my line thus missing any prestige gain for the scenario. Argh. Panzer Corps let me get away with that kind of stuff [:D]

Only changes I'd like to see so far are pretty minor and would be:

1. ability to have the supply and terrain icon overlays display over the units rather than making the units disappear.
2. if selected unit can't get reinforcements then disable that button rather than having to open the dialog to find that out.

Great Game IMO. Great job 2x2.

[Noakesy]

I think another important point is the way that the company released the product - it was really very good. I had heard nothing about it, then it appeared on the forums as a future release with a lot of work obviously already done. The publicity, screenshots and info were excellent. They highlighted the relative strengths and weakenesses pretty accurately (i.e. it's not WitE and it's not pretending to be). Then, the most stunning thing for me with a computer game, they said it would be released on a certain date, and lo and behold they then released it on that date! Stunning.[:)]