So, how is it?

[bairdlander2]

ORIGINAL: Barthheart

ORIGINAL: Kipper

Can anybody tell me if NATO symbols are available or moddable?

Nato symbols don't come with the game. Not sure if that can be modded..... not sure it would work in this context anyway.

No NATO counters,no thanks.Pass on this.

[JudgeDredd]

It's very good imo. A little rough round the edges, as alluded to in this thread, but everything seems to work out the box. Very stable (for me...no CTDs here).

It's not grognardy in the slightest. A very lite game (very PG), but I'm finding it great fun.

[junk2drive]

JD do you find it to remind you of Memoir 44 as well?

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

It's very good imo. A little rough round the edges, as alluded to in this thread, but everything seems to work out the box. Very stable (for me...no CTDs here).

It's not grognardy in the slightest. A very lite game (very PG), but I'm finding it great fun.

Do you think it has captured your attention for long? You and me both leave games pretty quick. [;)] I'm on the fence here...

[bssybeep]

It's a fun, lite wargame that does remind me a lot of PG. I ended up with that "just one more turn" feeling while playing, which is really good as I find it hard to stick to one game for any length of time lately. Looks nice at 1600 x 1200 on my wide screen monitor as well.

[Adam Parker]

ORIGINAL: Valgua

Is it "grognardy" enough?

Hi Valuga. Having played the game until it crashed, I can give my opinion as follows:

1. The game is aimed at the young and adults. A confused market segment not suited to the grognard. Being aimed at the young, you'll experience things such as the playing of music when you take an objective hex, followed by a pop-up telling you how wonderful you are. For the adult, at the end of a scenario you'll get an historical abstract of what actually happened - this is excellent.

2. The game is designed around its 3D art first and gameplay later. In other words, the game is designed to be played zoomed in for the really nice looking zoomed in graphics. Panzer General, a game more of strategy and grand tactics was aimed to be played with a reasonable playing area in front of you. Even Panzer General 3D ensured this. Operation Barbarossa doesn't think that this is important. Accordingly, you feel like you're pushing around soldiers rather than divisions.

3. The game improves on one element of Panzer General in that after you move a unit, you can select another and then go back to the first and fire with it.

4. The game falls short of Panzer General with fewer scenarios of a purely linear nature.

In summary, Operation Barbarossa I've found is very "wargame lite" with less user friendly features than Panzer General and a very confusing pre-game graphics set up utility caled Ogre.

Is it worth risking $35 USD? Yep - but wait till it's stable.

I'm enjoying my equally recently purchased, Matrix/SSG Kharkov Disaster on the Donets game much more. And it took me a year to get around to buying that. That's a grognardly game.

Hope this helps.
Adam.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

It's very good imo. A little rough round the edges, as alluded to in this thread, but everything seems to work out the box. Very stable (for me...no CTDs here).

It's not grognardy in the slightest. A very lite game (very PG), but I'm finding it great fun.

Do you think it has captured your attention for long? You and me both leave games pretty quick. [;)] I'm on the fence here...

I don't know, but one thing I do like about it...it's easy to pick up and quick to play. I've not sat and played it endlessly since I got it...but I have fired it up 3 times in the 2 days I've had it and played it a couple of hours each time...then went to one of my other 40 or so games I have installed....I'm just not that into devoting time to one thing. I wish I was. I wish I was like these hradcores that play WitP and nothing else...but I'm not.

It'll be on my hard drive for a while and that's because you don't need a degree reading to play it.

Ask me in a week and I can give you a more honest answer.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: Adam Parker

ORIGINAL: Valgua

Is it "grognardy" enough?

Hi Valuga. Having played the game until it crashed, I can give my opinion as follows:

1. The game is aimed at the young and adults. A confused market segment not suited to the grognard. Being aimed at the young, you'll experience things such as the playing of music when you take an objective hex, followed by a pop-up telling you how wonderful you are. For the adult, at the end of a scenario you'll get an historical abstract of what actually happened - this is excellent.

2. The game is designed around its 3D art first and gameplay later. In other words, the game is designed to be played zoomed in for the really nice looking zoomed in graphics. Panzer General, a game more of strategy and grand tactics was aimed to be played with a reasonable playing area in front of you. Even Panzer General 3D ensured this. Operation Barbarossa doesn't think that this is important. Accordingly, you feel like you're pushing around soldiers rather than divisions.

3. The game improves on one element of Panzer General in that after you move a unit, you can select another and then go back to the first and fire with it.

4. The game falls short of Panzer General with fewer scenarios of a purely linear nature.

In summary, Operation Barbarossa I've found is very "wargame lite" with less user friendly features than Panzer General and a very confusing pre-game graphics set up utility caled Ogre.

Is it worth risking $35 USD? Yep - but wait till it's stable.

I'm enjoying my equally recently purchased, Matrix/SSG Kharkov Disaster on the Donets game much more. And it took me a year to get around to buying that. That's a grognardly game.

Hope this helps.
Adam.

That's a fairly good mini-appraisal. But I think you're being a bit harsh with the Ogre thing. It really wasn't all that difficult...I know I got there after you...but it's no worse than other games (Panzer Command:Kharkov does the same thing with setting up graphics). I much prefer that method to the "get in game, change settings and restart game" method.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

JD do you find it to remind you of Memoir 44 as well?

In a "lite enjoyable wargame" way, yes. Very easy to pick up and play. What's hard to master is the finer points...where you are going to place your resource points for fuel, ammo and strength...not "gamey" - just lite. Very easy to fire up and play quickly.

[Rosseau]

As a veteran gamer who has all the Matrix titles (despite only 2 posts!), I feel it is a good buy. However, you will need to use the editor to get the most out of it. I quickly grew bored of the Panzer General titles, but not this game, if that helps. Far better than the recent Conquest! Medieval Realms as well.

If you are a veteran and have only $35 to spend, then of course buy an SSG game from Matrix or the recent HOI3. But if you've got the spare cash, Op Barb is fun and the editor offers lots of options.

[LarryP]

Well I took the plunge. I will post more of what I think later, but so far after about 30 minutes, it is a much better game than what I expected after reading many posts. I have been looking for a game that does NOT require my face to be buried in a manual. WiTP-AE takes care of the manual in my face craving quite well. So a break is needed and this may do the trick.

[EagleMountainDK]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

ORIGINAL: LarryP

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

It's very good imo. A little rough round the edges, as alluded to in this thread, but everything seems to work out the box. Very stable (for me...no CTDs here).

It's not grognardy in the slightest. A very lite game (very PG), but I'm finding it great fun.

Do you think it has captured your attention for long? You and me both leave games pretty quick. [;)] I'm on the fence here...

I don't know, but one thing I do like about it...it's easy to pick up and quick to play. I've not sat and played it endlessly since I got it...but I have fired it up 3 times in the 2 days I've had it and played it a couple of hours each time...then went to one of my other 40 or so games I have installed....I'm just not that into devoting time to one thing. I wish I was. I wish I was like these hradcores that play WitP and nothing else...but I'm not.

It'll be on my hard drive for a while and that's because you don't need a degree reading to play it.

Ask me in a week and I can give you a more honest answer.

Hi JD,

Looking forward to your opinion in a week [:)]

When you described yourself it sounded a lot like me.... I have even bought WiTP:AE just to see what the fuss is about. HOI3 is waiting for the next patch. AI War is loaded up when I need a quick fix. Ka-50 when I need to focus... The list go on.

I played the original PG games but will not bother to get them to run on my new 64 Win 7 gaming rig, and is always on the lookout for a beer and pretzel game. So please keep us informed [:)]

Cheers
Mark

[Kipper]

ORIGINAL: rosseau
I quickly grew bored of the Panzer General titles, but not this game, if that helps.

You grew bored of each Panzer General in less than 5 days?

[Adam Parker]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

But I think you're being a bit harsh with the Ogre thing. It really wasn't all that difficult...I know I got there after you...

That's really nice of you Judge.

I suppose I was one of the first to encounter it and hence Erik bore the brunt of the shock.

I just wish I was told about it first too, maybe then I'd be more accepting of it.

For the life of me, I still do not know what the difference between its settings are and I don't believe anyone (give or take some smart ones) who hasn't Googled them does!

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: Adam Parker

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

But I think you're being a bit harsh with the Ogre thing. It really wasn't all that difficult...I know I got there after you...

That's really nice of you Judge.

I suppose I was one of the first to encounter it and hence Erik bore the brunt of the shock.

I just wish I was told about it first too, maybe then I'd be more accepting of it.

For the life of me, I still do not know what the difference between its settings are and I don't believe anyone (give or take some smart ones) who hasn't Googled them does!

Well I couldn't agree with everything you wrote, now could I [:'(]

[LarryP]

ORIGINAL: Cougar_DK
Hi JD,

Looking forward to your opinion in a week [:)]

When you described yourself it sounded a lot like me.... I have even bought WiTP:AE just to see what the fuss is about. HOI3 is waiting for the next patch. AI War is loaded up when I need a quick fix. Ka-50 when I need to focus... The list go on.

I played the original PG games but will not bother to get them to run on my new 64 Win 7 gaming rig, and is always on the lookout for a beer and pretzel game. So please keep us informed [:)]

Cheers
Mark

That makes three of us. I too get bored with games way too soon that don't mesmerize me. It's costly. I also play AI War and Chris Park keeps updating the game almost daily, week days that is. Fantastic space game. HOI3 seems to be too much of a waiting game for me. Sit and read the pop ups. Wait for another patch. Wait.

I played OB last night for a couple hours and had great fun. It was exactly what I wanted for a "night on the couch with laptop" game. I had the most trouble with running out of fuel and ammo. I will read about that today and hopefully do better tonight with the same scenario.

Tooltips are everywhere while hovering the mouse over items. Help that shows shortcut keys, hints, and scenario information in case you need to see again the cities you need to take. It's nice that the weather report gives a two day forecast so you can plan your planes accordingly, since they don't shoot or bomb if it is foggy or worse. I learned that the hard way. [;)]

The graphics are fine for me, but it would be nice for some gamers to be able to choose from other options from the posts here I've read.

There are some niggles here and there, like sentences that go off the dialog box, saving a game over a game with the same name gives no warning, and the mini map does not always keep track of the main window which to me is the most annoying.

I am used to Ogre as it is just another 3d rendering third party utility like SlimDX is for AI War, with the exception of a pop up menu that's somewhat primitive. It's nice to have that menu pop up before each game though, because if it were inside the game and you made an adjustment that locked it up, you may not get back into the game to change it. Then a reinstall would be in order. It's too bad that some kind of tooltip doesn't tell users what each item is for. A couple of them are kind of cryptic. Here is a link to the Ogre3d site: Ogre3d Site

I really haven't played it long enough to comment accurately anymore yet. So maybe I'll be back! [X(]

EDIT: I read pages 38-39 in the manual and it cleared up the supply problems I was having.

[Rosseau]

Wanted to touch on HOI3, not to pimp the game, but out of love for the hobby. And as I already have all of Matrix's games, I am sure they won't mind!

Even assuming you have played the demo and read all the posts over at Paradox...

--I hated the constant popups from HOI2, as well, but that seems to be adjusted now
--The new map and interface are elegant and the new HQ routine is very cool, IMO
--Because provinces are now x4, it adds a whole new operational feel to combat. (I have modded about 14 ahistorical scenarios (buffed up and played minors like Romania, Finland) and had a great time playing solely on an operational level rather than tackling Germany '36-'45.)
--Almost everything in the game is moddable, even by a rookie like me. So cool to be able to build OOBs and mod unit characteristics and icons, etc.

Got it for $32 bucks at Gogamer and already got 100 hours of fun in. That's a bargain.

[LarryP]

You did something I have been wanting to do and that's play at an operational level rather than the large Germany campaign. I have been wondering how it plays without the HQ's turned over to the AI? The way I play it now, I just watch and wait. Boring.

Do you suffer a lot of penalties for managing your HQ's and troops on your own? I have read is a few places that you do. I hope that is wrong.

[Erik Rutins]

No objection to the topic, but please don't hijack this thread, take it to General Discussion.

[LarryP]

Dang it, when I posted my reply, I thought this was the HOI3 in General Discussion. I am really sorry Erik. [&o][&o][&o]

I can't believe I did that. When I saw rosseau talking about HOI3, I assumed it was another reply in the HOI3 thread which I also am posting in. I did this because I get replies sent to my email, and when I saw the subject matter, I thought it was the HOI3 thread. Had I originally seen his post here I would have known better. My bad...