New Wargamer Friendly?

[traemyn]

To OP: I share some of your experience, or lack thereof, in this genre and I would recommend you get WiTE. Previous to WiTE, the only war game of this type I had played was GG WaW and High Command: Europe 1939-1945 (screenshot) and I have had no problem learning WiTE and am still having a blast playing it!

[henri51]

Another Matrix game much simpler than WitE is Commander Europe at War, that has just had a major player-made upgrade. CEAW covers all of the European WW2, so you have subs, navies and convoys to take into account, not to mention France and North Africa and other things. But it is much easier to learn and has less micro-management than WitE. Although CEAW covers a wider war, it is not a monster game like WitE.

For a newcomer to wargaming, WitE has two things that could turn off a newcomer:1) its mind-boggling complexity; 2) the size of the game and the amount of micromanagement. So here is what I recommend: if cost is not an issue, buy WitE and give it a shot, and if it turns out to be too much for you, get Advanced Tactics or CEAW or Battlefront's Strategic Command (which is about the same scale as CEAW). If cost IS an issue, start off by buying one of the simpler games then later, if the idea of a monster game does not put you off, get WitE when you are more comfortable with the size.

There is another thing that could hinder a newcomer: when you play against the AI, you do not get to see the AI moves except for the recon and bombings phases, and all you get to see is the result, that is the changed map. Although you can see the locations of battles you do not get the education of watching the enemy moves that you get in other wargames.Experienced players can guess what the enemy did, but it could be confusing for a newbie to find some of your units missing and enemy dispositions changed.

Having said this, I think that EVERY wargamer should buy WitE just to encourage what is one of the best wargames of all time. Of course if this means starving your family or your dog, then maybe wait a bit...

Henri

[emcgman]

Mainly the way I look at the wargames is there are 2 main different types. Maybe this will help you decide. Before I state this, however, I want to say that all the games mentioned above are awesome.

But here's the main difference as I see them.

There are games like Advanced Tactics and WITE, which include production and research. And supply has to be more micromanaged.

Then there are the games like Kharkov, Across The Dnepr, and The Operational Art of War, which are purely strategic and tactical and do not include production or research. These games play more like a game of chess on steroids.

So please understand the difference before you buy wargames.

Hopefully, you have enough of a budget to try at least 1 of each, because they're all good as I say.

I believe there is demo of Battles in Normandy, or the original Korsun Pocket, might have to visit SSG site, link is at top of respective forum page.

Hope this helps.

[Krec]

This game is so easy to play and only gets better the more you play and start getting deeper into it. the beauty is you can play the smaller scenarios and get the feel without going into the mega monster campaigns.