WITE2 Teaser

[Hanny]

ORIGINAL: CapAndGown


Was this a computer adaptation of the old Avalon Hill board game?

Its boardgame inspiration was the 19734 monster board game drang_nach_osten http://generalstab.org/armory/europa-se ... ach_osten/

[Shupov]

I had SPI War in the East. It was truly a monster game that was too big to play without computers!

[Hanny]

ORIGINAL: Shupov

I had SPI War in the East. It was truly a monster game that was too big to play without computers!

I still tend to think of those monster games ( SPI Terrible Swift Sword etc) as a major commitment of time and effort, and WiTE is the same mindset for me.

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Shupov

I had SPI War in the East. It was truly a monster game that was too big to play without computers!

Love that picture. We managed to set it up and play it on a ping pong table in the garage in early 1975. We had 5 players IIRC. We got to 1942 playing it 1-2 nights a week for about 3 months. It took us this long to figure out the game out of the box was unbalanced and we only later found the addendum that had come out with a major rule change re Soviet industry on map shutting down. But even so, we had a lot of fun with that game. I played it solo for at least one entire summer in high school when it first came out. I later got Drang Nach Osten but never found much time to play it. It did seem to be more realistic than WitE. Those were great games.

[RedLancer]

The new WitE2 Forum is now up:https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tt.asp?forumid=1795&p=&tmode=1&smode=1

I've made the first post but to save time here it is too:

In preparation for the release of War in the East 2 in the Spring, Roger (loki100) and I are going to be making posts to showcase some of the game’s new features that improve on the mechanics of both the original War in the East and War in the West. Feel free to ask questions as we go. As Roger has also written the Manual he has a lot of detailed background knowledge and he’ll also be posting an AAR, starting in January, so you can see the features in play there too.

In this first post we are going to look at some of the more subtle changes that we have made to ground combat and movement. On their own they don’t seem to be big changes but collectively they have quite a significant impact on how the turns play out. There is now a complex interplay of administrative movement, command preparation points , Assault HQs and combat delay.

Roads & Movement

One of the first things you may have noticed with the new map is that each hex now has a road value. Including roads has allowed two changes to be made in the rules. The first is more obvious. Moving through hexes that have poor terrain (like heavy woods and swamps) or weather (mud and snow) but do have a road is cheaper than those that have no roads at all. The second change is a little more complex. It is called rear area administrative movement – any unit that moves along roads in hexes that were friendly at the start of the turn and have no interdiction will pay a reduced movement cost. This will save from 1MP per hex if the road is poor up to 3MP per hex if the road is good. This represents movement in a convoy rather than in a tactical formation. In essence moving a turn later means that units can move further. In reality the impact of adding roads is somewhat counter intuitive as it focuses movement into manoeuvre corridors as this screenshot shows. The soviet player is choosing not to defend in the bottom right corner as the terrain is so unsuitable. Showing roads as a more visible dark red can be toggled on/off.



Command Preparation Points

We all know that before major offensives or when preparing a deliberate defensive operation the more time that you have to prepare pays dividends. This preparation time is now factored into the game and we call it Command Preparation Points (CPPs). CPPs are gained by units that have remaining strategic movement points at the end of the turn. However those units in a friendly hex that haven’t moved or fought at all will gain the biggest improvement. The more CPPs you have the better the effects. CPPs increase attacking CV, reduce fatigue due to movement and in defence improve the chances of calling in artillery support. However as units move and fight they lose the CPPs they have gained. Going hell for leather is no longer necessarily the best policy. A more considered advance, with units moving in echelon and taking advantage of the administrative movement rules, may be a more sustainable approach; even before logistics are factored in. CPPs are such a game changer in successful operations that we thought an extract from the manual would be of benefit to prove the point:



Assault HQs

Another new feature replicates the focus of the Staff on the operations of specific Armies and Fronts. Players can now designate a number of the high-level HQs as Assault HQs. This increases the command point capacity of the HQ so more units can be attached with no penalties. Subordinate HQs and Units also gain a number of bonuses from Assault HQ status: these include gaining Combat Preparation Points faster, an increased chance to pass support checks and extra artillery ammunition for soviet artillery before 1944. There is however a catch. Units under an Assault HQ can only build to level 1 fortifications.

Combat Delay

Combat Delay was first introduced in WitW. It represents the time consumed in a turn by combat within a hex and which doesn’t immediately impact on those units who did not take place in the attack itself, and therefore saved MPs. Depending on the amount of combat in a hex an extra charge of up to 9 MPs can be charged on a unit that is leaving the hex. This prevents the tactic of using infantry units to clear a hole in the line and then charging through with motorized units who have a full allocation of MPs. The screenshot shows not only the black star that indicates a combat delay but also the new symbols that remind players that movement is generating fatigue (teardrop) and losing CPPs (crossed swords)



Together these four new elements pose the player with a whole new range of challenges, options and trade-offs. How you focus your staff effort and push your units will impact their ability to fight.

In our next post we are going to have a look at the new realistic weather system and the variation that it offers.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Shupov
Did any of you play War in Russia? I thought it should have been mentioned as part of GG's WitE lineage. I would call it WitE0. It came out in 1984 and I played it for years with some of the same people who migrated to WitE in 2010.

I remember getting War in Russia in 1984, big gray box with two (!) floppy disks and a great laminated map for planning. Much thinner manual and a much simpler game, but still the entire Eastern Front on the computer. Enjoyed many great hours of gaming with that one.

[Light4bettor]

That was the first serious war I game I played (Apple IIe). The games cover art made an impression on me- The damaged German helmet with the SSI logo on the bottom of the title. Enjoyed reading through that manual. Really added immersion to the game. Innocent days when you didn't have a clue what war could really entail.

[Light4bettor]

That box art from Guadalcanal, Bomb Alley, WIR (1984),etc etc, was excellent marketing and compelling art. Revisiting it again now, I would love to get my hands on that art for display purposes. I dunno if you still have any rights to it, but it would if you could release that box art again. Nostalgia.

[RedLancer]

ORIGINAL: Loammi

Watching the release clip, it appears little improvement has been made on the map. I know there's an awesome map mod floating around someplace, which eludes me so far. Are there any plans in improving the map at all?

The map has been completely redone including all the coding, topographic projection and artwork.

The new WitE2 map is a mosaic - each hex has its own art which is built from several separate elements with embedded alpha channels. WitE uses tableaus just like a traditional painting. Artistically the WitE2 map is significantly harder to create because you don't see the finished product until you load the game and you have to have pixel accuracy between hexes as the game builds the picture. Tableaus are so much easier to draw to a much higher standard. I expect this is why you think little has improved.

The reason the WitE2 now uses a mosaic (with its inherent artistic challenges) is because it is so much less computer resource hungry: resource that we can re-invest into other improvements like a more realistic logistic system. Another big advantage is that as we have gone along we have been able to change hex types, move rivers, rails and roads and add new locations in moments making the map much more accurate. Finally having a map built as a mosaic allows us to show more dynamically what is happening in each hex - this can be the ground conditions like mud, rail usage or the freezing of rivers. My particular favourite is that the woods and forest art now change with the seasons.