Thoughts on Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

[sgoconnor]

How long does it take you to complete a single game turn? An average turn for me takes an hour plus, not counting reviewing the manual for a specific game mechanic (my first few turns took excessively longer). I’m curious if this is normal game-play or just my OCD causing me to overthink every move and decision.

BTW this is an absolutely fantastic game! The level of detail and historical elements are outstanding. I’ve learned so much more about Operation Barbarossa (which is a subject I thought I knew about).

Things that could be improved upon:

* Undo Last Move - allow a move to be undone if (and only if) the move being taken back revealed no new information. I’ve read the Developers responses to previous requests for this feature and understand it’s complicated and unlikely to occur.

* Decisions - The PP cost for some of the decisions seems out of proportion to the benefit/penalty incurred. This led me into a relationship “death spiral” with one of my theater Generals (damn you Fedor Von Bock!), which in turn led to higher PP cost, etc. I had to use the Help! PP button and all 40 PP to remedy the situation (going from negative 75 - terrible, to negative 23 - poor). Knowing the possible outcomes of some of these earlier decisions prior to choosing would really have helped (and knowing what I know now will heavily influence future playthroughs). I’m assuming Franz Halder had a general idea as to the possible outcomes of some of the dilemmas he was forced into making decisions on.

* The “Move FSB” decisions can be exploited for extra PP simply by ignoring them (i.e. not making any selection grants you 2 extra PP per turn). I’m not sure if this is by design.

* My biggest game complaint is the lack of transparency around combat odds. I’m surprised that this topic hasn’t received more attention. There are so many variables which aren’t made apparent to the player. Command range bonus, terrain modifiers (including river crossings), soft factors such as readiness, experience and morale. The impact of entrenchment on your odds isn’t made clear (1% bonus per level of entrenchment - that’s huge!). Even using “Report Status!” doesn’t give access to all of these variables. I’ve read the recommended 2:1 or 3:1 Power Rating attack ratio but from such a great game I expect more. It’s all there too but it’s under the hood and you just can’t see it. I feel that a simple enhancement of the Combat Setup screen (stack / concentric tool tip) is very badly needed (factoring in the known odds while still maintaining the fog of war). I’ve also noticed that the Power Rating displayed in the History screen is much more accurate for planning actions against the enemy.

All in all, I consider Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa a brilliant game and will evangelize it among my friends but with some small additions it could be a true masterpiece. I look forward to the release of Shadow Empire!

[lancer]

Hi sgoconnor,

Thanks for the compliments.

Undo last move is a popular request that Vic has answered at length elsewhere but in short, it's and engine feature that's difficult to do without allowing people to game the system as moving can reveal a lot of information.

Decisions and their PP cost, are as you've indicated, a matter of balance. I'd play another game and see if your thoughts change.

The Move FSB decision is working as designed.

Combat odds are a function of the underlying game engine which is within Vic's realm (he supplied the engine). I suspect at this stage of the games development that there won't be much movement in this area as Vic has his hands full with Shadow Empire.

Cheers,
Cameron

[Rosseau]

Ha, bought the game on release five years ago and finally playing it seriously. There is NO wargame that better represents leadership and role playing on any front of the war. A must-buy despite the issues below.

Sadly, the forums suggest huge cheating on the part of the AI no matter what side you play. Also, a very reliable friend and skilled player says it's just not winnable. Soviets spam conscripts and German AI blitzes all game. Wish there was a mod or way to alter some of this.

However, there is so much excellent chrome and wealth of detail to it I am finding playing hotseat against oneself is the way to go.

[sgoconnor]

Thanks for the response Lancer/Cameron - It's great to hear directly from the Development team. Really appreciated. Question: are you involved with "Shadow Empire"?

It looks as if "Shadow Empire" addresses the Combat Odds transparency issue. I noticed a detailed combat setup screen from a preview video. It'd be great to see this replicated in Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa.

Decisions - These Decisions are brutal. No joke. I'm at Turn 16 (mid August) and all the cracks are starting to show. My trucks are falling apart in every theater, rail conversion is down to almost nothing across the board, troops are exhausted but can't afford to rest, relationships are in the gutter, Panzers breaking down left, right and center, I have no choice but to ignore the Einsatzgruppen and Ivan is everywhere, with more arriving every turn. I feel like every turn I'm on the verge of disaster and not sure it can be rectified but manage to squeak by. I love the challenge and have made so many mistakes (wasted too much PP on unnecessary decisions and strayed my Panzergruppe HQs to far from the main tracks/roads to name a very few).

I really hope the game is beatable and plan to continue my play-through all the way to the bitter end. Ivan might be in just as bad a state as I am and could crumble at any moment!

[willgamer]

ORIGINAL: sgoconnor

It looks as if "Shadow Empire" addresses the Combat Odds transparency issue. I noticed a detailed combat setup screen from a preview video. It'd be great to see this replicated in Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa.

LOL! [:D]

If anything, SE shows how utterly unreliable the estimated odds are.

I've seen 1:2 and even 1:3 battles won and 128:1 battles lost. Yes, in many of these cases it's because the recon was dreadful, but these games are not simple attack/defense ratio resolutions. They involve multiple sub-rounds with many modifiers.

I consider that the combat info provided by DCB:Barbarossa is sufficient to make good decisions.

p.s. I'm just an average player, but I'm beaten DCB:B on difficult, so hang in there!