Some people have a passion for only some aspects of WW2. There are some gamers who just aren't all that interested in the Pacific-Asian War and would probably prefer just playing WIE. I recall back in the days of playing table top tank miniatures it was either armored warfare on the Eastern front or nothing for some. I recall a lot of gamers who viewed anything outside of the German-Soviet struggle as a sideshow.
For others it might be the hex scale in WIE that they prefer. The map isn't as cramped. More room for maneuver and envelopments.
I remember in my Advanced Third Reich days that I was not remotely interested in the Pacific theatre so what you say makes sense.
The bigger scale does indeed lead to more tactics I guess.
Are the decision events fun, more detailed? Do they make for a more colourful game?
(I remember in ATR picking a random what if chit and gleefully planing my strategy accordingly: advanced fighters for Germany, better Italian troops, etc...)
In the World in Flames forum there is a guy who keeps checking in every now and then to remind everyone how disappointed he is that the single-map scenarios have not been implemented. He's not interested in playing the global war, just Europe and Germany in particular.
As somebody who grew up games like Risk with Axis & Allies I always see WW2 as a planetary struggle, but different strokes for different blokes.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist ...." Union General John Sedgwick, 1864
W@W is cramped. But it is the biggest expression of the global conflict WW2 was that we have (as far as I know). That is why I love it. I too remember the Advanced Third Reich as the epic war game experience. And then Empire of the Sun came out. Added together - that was the new epic! That was the biggest expression of WW2 simulation ever! I would love for SCWW2 to be that. Redesign the Pacific theatre on the scale of War In Europe and sew them together. That to me would be the ultimate game experience.
Hearts of Iron plays on a global scale too, but many aspects of that games' design just never appealed to me. Then there is Matrix World in Flames, but with no AI and a persistently buggy convoy system that's a non-sale for most gamers.
Empire of the Sun, of course !
I tried HOI4 a few times, get excited and then demoralized by the complexity. It takes too long to learn for me and I'm not having fun while learning.
I tried Warplan, and have the utmost respect for the developer, and read all the dev diaries to appreciate teh game design choices. But it was not for me, because there was no replay of a turn, just a list of text results you have to cross reference with the board to find out what happened (and I really like finding out what my opponent has turn by watching the film of his turn), and I had difficulty with the management part of the game. But great concepts in there though, like the way it handles organisation, and offensives with trucks, adds a bit of WIFiness to it.
So I think I will stick with WAW for now, based on your comments.
