Interested in the game...a bit wary of the wargaming systems

[mihnea_1309]

Hey folks!
Like many others around here I am very interested in this game, it sounds fascinating.

But I'm a bit worried about the military systems. To be honest, I am more interested in the non-military part of the game, although the combination with traditional 4X sounds great[:)]

Would I be able to get enjoyment from this game even if am not a full-on grognard? Note that I play and enjoy Panzer Corps 2 (on standard difficulty) so I get (and enjoy) the basic concepts of the genre even though I'm not any sort of masterful tactician. I am also a big fan of the Conflict of Heroes tabletop game so, even if that's at a smaller tactical scale, I am comfortable with LoS, range, terrain/unit modifiers as long as they do not get to complex. I suppose that's my experience so far in terms of wargaming.

My only other 'big' game from Slitherine/Matrix is Field of Glory:Empires (which I love)...just to give you a sense of the complexity level I am confortable with.

Put differently: if I'm not very good with the military tactics of the game and don't want to spend a lot of time on that, can I compensate that with a larger focus on the other systems, or would the AI roll over me? Only interested in single-player btw.

Cheers!
Thanks so much!

[KingHalford]

Hmmm... difficult to answer.

I think if you can manage Panzer Corps 2 and enjoy it, you've got a better chance than most, but the warfare in this is an order of magnitude more complex and if you're not willing to spend many turns ordering dozens of units in a huge war, you might not like the endgame as you'll usually be facing off against a powerful Regime and the game AI is very strong in this. Check out my current game as an example of this: HERE

I'd watch some Let's Plays to find out if it's your kind of thing.

[Splatsch]

As KingHalford said, it's a bit hard to give you a clear answer.

But I would like to add to his answer that you can choose the size of the planet : it could help reducing the "huge wargame" feeling. For my first game I started on a Moon (smallest "planet" amongst others), of small size (you can choose small, normal or big), to understand mechanics. I'm putting a screenshot to show you : you'll see almost the full "planet" on it (it's missing only two columns of hexes). And I'm easily at 8-10 hours of play, really enjoying my game
But the wargaming side is really strong, so you have to want to play a wargame (in short)

I would suggest you to take a look at some let's play from
Tortuga Power : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MEZTw3 ... Xc&index=1
or
DasTactic : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QbPel4 ... BmfPumt7eY
(maybe skip to advanced episodes when there are wars ? Or more recent playlists ?)

And take a look at Halford article ? https://explorminate.co/what-to-expect-shadow-empire/

Hope this will help !

[stormbringer3]

Both this game and Empires seem to have a lot of management in them. If you have played both, which is easier as far as how much management is in them?
Thanks for any opinions.

[mihnea_1309]

Thanks for the input, I think I'll take your advice and find some time to watch a playthrough and maybe look at the manuak before buying the game.

[Saros]

There is actually a 20% discount from matrixs in house publication Wargamer which expired tomorrow so better decide quick! (Code is 'wargamer20')

[mihnea_1309]

Yes, I'm aware[:)]
But I'd rather pay 100% with confidence that'll play the game, rather than 80% and have it sit on my computer.

[OldSarge]

You might want to look over Das Tactic's channel, he and other YouTubers have done and exhaustive amount of video on game play, it might help you decide.

https://youtu.be/FpqglzMWQ7w

I love FoG:E and am enjoying SE a great deal, but I'm from the wargaming side so my opinions would be somewhat biased! [;)]