No BS Assessment

[sfbaytf]

How is WitE single player in scenarios, Campaign and h2h?

I don't expect miracles in single player as AI hasn't reached a level of human competence yet... With self driving cars, drones, advanced AI intelligence built into certain software these days that will change. I've warned a family member in pilot training that automation will soon take over flying for economic reasons alone. Back in the day when you took a flight on an airliner there were 3 highly paid and skilled people in the cockpit-Pilot, Co-pilot and Flight Engineer. Today its just Pilot and Co-Pilot. Tomorrow you'll just see Human Pilot (System Engineer) and the rest will be automated and the human pilot will just be there for show and for the time when the s**T hist the fan...and to take the blame when things go wrong.

All this AI will eventually filter down to gaming, but that day is for the future.

What cheats is the AI given in WitE? I've been playing GG games since the early 90's and I've had endless hours of entertainment. I've purchased just about everything GG has put out, even if I haven't played them much if all all-this included WitE. I own the base game as well as all the modules.

Before I consider jumping into this beast single player I'd appreciate know what to expect. Once I get my feet wet I'll consider h2h.

[AlexSF]

the AI is very decent when playing defensive in particular the Soviet during the campaign if you play the German to learn the game. On the offense it sucks, can't do pockets and keep them which is the heart of this game. On the defense it tries to escape pockets and is a decent enough opponent.
I would do some of the scenarios called "road to", some of them are very short like the 'road to Minsk" one and are perfect to grasp most of the mechanics.
Then of course a game against a human is 10 times more fun and harder.

[CapAndGown]

To really get an idea of what a H2H match might be like, I would suggest playing against yourself. Set both sides to human control. The AI makes it way too easy for you to get an idea of what could actually be accomplished by a human opponent.

[sfbaytf]

The AI being more decent on the defense sounds about right in general. I would generalize that defense is usually better in most games vs the AI. If playing against the AI as the Axis and you manage to pull off a great encirclement, wipe out a bunch of units and blow a large hole in the Soviet lines, how well does the AI recover?

I’m playing a Campaign for Italy game in WitE and the Axis puts up a pretty decent defense aside from getting units cut off and wiped out from time to time. Where it does fall apart is when I do amphibious end arounds and aggressively break out. I don’t think the AI learns from the experience so that is something of a go to.

In WitW the AI is given some “cheats” to compensate and I would guess the same is true here. I’m not expecting perfection as we’re re not yet at a point where AI is near human levels, but we’re working in it.

I’ve played 2 full Campaigns in WitP as well the Coral Sea scenario numerous times vs another human so I’m familiar with the 10x more fun aspect. I also know just how consuming it can become too. I was doing 2-3 turns a day and more on the weekends for months of not a year.

It looks like WitE is getting a new version soon. Might be better to wait before getting too involved?

I also have Hearts of Iron 4 with most of the DLC and just installed the Black Ice mod so I’m learning that and seeing how that might compare.

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: sfbaytf
I’ve played 2 full Campaigns in WitP as well the Coral Sea scenario numerous times vs another human so I’m familiar with the 10x more fun aspect. I also know just how consuming it can become too. I was doing 2-3 turns a day and more on the weekends for months of not a year.

[X(][X(][X(][&o][&o][&o]

[sfbaytf]

ORIGINAL: CapAndGown

ORIGINAL: sfbaytf
I’ve played 2 full Campaigns in WitP as well the Coral Sea scenario numerous times vs another human so I’m familiar with the 10x more fun aspect. I also know just how consuming it can become too. I was doing 2-3 turns a day and more on the weekends for months of not a year.

[X(][X(][X(][&o][&o][&o]

Played right after AE was released and it was loads of fun. Other games was in previous version. Haven't touched WitP since. My life pretty much revolved around that beast-work then WitP with things like food as required.

I can only imagine what a full Campaign game in WitE is like and against a real human. I'm just not sure how good I am in a land focused monster game like WitE. I notice different 1941-45 Campaigns games- AV, Sudden Death, ect. Any preferences?

Hopefully GG will get around to adding a 1941/42 module to WitW and update WitP. I also would love to see Eagle Day/Bombing the Reich brought up to modern Windows standards.

[CapAndGown]

I would say that WitE is much easier than WitP. I got through 2 years of a WitP campaign as the Japanese. Quite a chore. Because there is less micro-managing of your air units in WitE it is not so much of a chore. (No altitude settings, fewer air units, other factors.) The Soviets are more of a chore than the Germans since the Soviets have many more units and in the beginning the situation is much more dire for the Red Army.

[sfbaytf]

ORIGINAL: CapAndGown

I would say that WitE is much easier than WitP. I got through 2 years of a WitP campaign as the Japanese. Quite a chore. Because there is less micro-managing of your air units in WitE it is not so much of a chore. (No altitude settings, fewer air units, other factors.) The Soviets are more of a chore than the Germans since the Soviets have many more units and in the beginning the situation is much more dire for the Red Army.

Never played Japan in full campaign. I've heard the first turn setup is a real chore and you need to get it right. Once kaito buto is done and the oil runs low your options as Japan are limited from what i understand. The end game where you're pushing around ground units as the allieds was always my weak point. The air, naval and logistics part I got down pretty well.

I played some of the scenarios in WitE and said to myself holy smokes. Compared to WitW and WitP the size and scope of ground units involves is simply astounding. You can just tell by comparison why the Eastern Front was were the war was won or lost. The scale is epic.

I still don't quite understand the air part of WitE. I have seen from some youtube videos that you want to keep near rail lines to stay in supply.

[eskuche]

As others have said, WitE is mostly a game about pocketing. Immediately subsidiary to that is manpower and force management as well as replacement management. Similarly, managing supply (which is easier than in WITW because of unlimited rail line throughout) ensures that as the Axis you are able to effect said pockets.

More nitty gritty details include manual allocation of airgroups (of 20-40 planes generally) to ground bombing, airbase bombing, ground support, which is different from the bigger picture automatic setting in WITW and WITE2. There are no individual pilots here, but regimental fatigue and such must be watched for and handled.

In sum, these factors mean you can kind of forget about the air war and probably play at 90% capacity but to really master the game against a human you need all of the above as well as some metagame knowledge.