Some questions about HTTR

Real and Simulated Wars · Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:21 pm

Hi,
I am very impressed by the AARs in the "Drop Zone". I think I am gonna buy this game. I am a big fan of wargames. I played and play CC, Combat Mission, Korsun Pocket, Armored Task Force.
I never played the previous release of the AA series. So I would appreciate if somebody would answer some questions about the incoming release:
1) Is there a fog of war? Does it apply to the enemy forces too?
2) Is the enemy AI dynamic: does it change its battle plans according to my movements?
3) How is replayability? Will I find the same enemy units at the very same spot every time I start the same battle?
Thank you in advance.

coralsaw · Post by **coralsaw** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:38 pm

Hi there Chelco, welcome to the AA:HTTR forum!

Originally posted by Chelco
1) Is there a fog of war? Does it apply to the enemy forces too?

Yes, there is fog-of-war. The player receives intelligence reports about enemy units, that can be of varying quality and get progressively more accurate as he gets to better spot/engage with them. Your own units are, of course, well known to you, no FoW applies there.

AFAIK, the AI follows exactly the same rules as the human player, including fog-of-war settings. Spotting accuracy is based on the quality and freshness of the spotting unit, which means eg. that if you're dug-in and fresh, chances are you see a marching enemy before he does.

2) Is the enemy AI dynamic: does it change its battle plans according to my movements?

Yes, the enemy AI will change plans dynamically, based on its assessment of the current situation. If an objective is heavily contested by the human player, expect enemy reinforcements to appear right there where you don't want them.

3) How is replayability? Will I find the same enemy units at the very same spot every time I start the same battle?

There are scenarios with fixed starting points and reinforcements, which, if you play them more than once will get to a whole different game. This, because the AI is not scripted, but reacts to the game at hand. There are also scenarios (and the scenario editor allows for that of course) where reinforcements are widely variable in terms of troop-type, size, timing etc.

Hope this helps.

/coralsaw

Real and Simulated Wars · Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:46 pm

Thank you!
This is my kind of game. I am definitively in. Another quick question: how far from release is this game now?

coralsaw · Post by **coralsaw** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:55 pm

You are welcome, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

The release schedule IIRC is for end of September.

/coralsaw

Real and Simulated Wars · Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:58 pm

Thanks again.

JeF · Post by **JeF** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 8:55 pm

Originally posted by Chelco
3) How is replayability? Will I find the same enemy units at the very same spot every time I start the same battle?

Just wanted to add my modest experience on a very small scenario : Drive To Loenen.
Forces are small (Allies have one para regiment), it plays on the upper right corner of the map, length is 12 hours.

Due to pure evil from the scenario designer (you know who you are !), the ennemy does not always seem to be at the same place.
I played (and lost) this little beast at least 20 times. And I'm still having fun re-playing it. I'm still able to loose it BTW, but everybody has guessed

Cheers,

JeF.
[edited after a quick check in the Scenmaker that proves I sometimes have visions when I play -the- game]

Mr.Frag · Post by **Mr.Frag** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 1:27 am

Just to add, I bought the original and have gotten a couple hundred hours of fun out of it even though the new one is only a month or so away, you will easily get your money's worth out of the original prior to buying the new one.

JeF is quite right, no two games ever play the same even when playing the exact same scenario which does not have variable locations like the one that JeF keeps loosing

Because everything is dynamic, there is really no way to ever have things happen exactly the same way twice.

Real and Simulated Wars · Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:22 pm

Thank you guys for the responses.
I still can buy the original?

Txema · Post by **Txema** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:34 pm

Yes, you can buy the original game.

Look for "Airborne Assault" at www.duchet.com, for example.

Enjoy it !!!!

Txema

Real and Simulated Wars · Thu Aug 21, 2003 12:27 am

Thank you Txema. But given that Duchet is in UK and I live in the US it will probably cost me a fortune.

Kevinugly · Post by **Kevinugly** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 3:29 am

Check it out though, I believe 'Mr Frag' acquired his copy this way recently and it wasn't that expensive - it's on one of the other threads but I can't remember which one:(

Fallschirmjager · Post by **Fallschirmjager** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 4:08 am

Have someone from Europe buy it and mail it too you

it would be much cheaper that way

Sarge · Post by **Sarge** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 4:42 am

Originally posted by Chelco
Hi,
I am very impressed by the AARs in the "Drop Zone". I think I am gonna buy this game. I am a big fan of wargames. I played and play CC, Combat Mission, Korsun Pocket, Armored Task Force.
I never played the previous release of the AA series. So I would appreciate if somebody would answer some questions about the incoming release:
1) Is there a fog of war? Does it apply to the enemy forces too?
2) Is the enemy AI dynamic: does it change its battle plans according to my movements?
3) How is replayability? Will I find the same enemy units at the very same spot every time I start the same battle?
Thank you in advance.

Get the demo I did and was sold on the game 1min. in to the first battle. I wish I had the link for the demo for you but maybe someone here can post it for you. But anway what I am getting at is I know the demo of AA is not the new upcomming AA/HTTR but it did answer a lot of questions.

Mr.Frag · Post by **Mr.Frag** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 5:41 am

All I can add is that even though I only bought it a short time ago, I have racked up well over 100 hours now and have not even seriously explored any of the variations included. This does not even include playing against other AA folks, just solo vs the AI.

Any game that can actually be anything other then amusing when playing the AI must be given due regard as from my experiences over the last 30 years, the AI is generally an afterthought.

AA obviously was developed in reverse, with the AI concept first then the game wrapped around it resulting the the feeling that you are actually playing something with a "brain" for a change.

The only real weakness I have seen in RDOA (the original) is that armor tends to roll right into the fight and not exploit their range advantage, but Dave has stated this is corrected in HTTR. Obviously this is a AI only problem as a human player is not going to make the same mistake, but as such, it really doesn't affect the game in a large way, you just need to adjust how you use you armor to ensure that infantry gives them the extra cover to keep them from getting abused.

One of the huge factors that really shines through in this game is the detail level of unit effectiveness, training, command, etc. It is amazing to watch small elite units send enemy groups of 10 times the size packing after a brief firefight. Watching attacks automatically re-org and shuffle fresh reserves forward when front line units falter is something I have never seen in any other game, yet it all seems automatic in AA.

Real and Simulated Wars · Thu Aug 21, 2003 5:57 pm

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!!!! Your are all killing me. I will order it, what the heck...

Some questions about HTTR

Some questions about HTTR

Re: Some questions about HTTR

Re: Some questions about HTTR

Original game

Re: Some questions about HTTR