ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
There's a fairly steep learning curve and it took me 3 tries to get a decent game on normal (a near win, but not quite.)
If, (not to make anyone blush [:D] ), one of the elite players is having this kind of difficulty on normal, that may be a clue!
FWIW, I speculate that-
The game options offer a lot of help with all things political, but very little on the command side. Yes, you can choose mild winter, but many never get that far. Even the controversial helper buttons only benefit the soft side of command, not combat power.
The combat system is complex... to the point that others have mentioned about avoiding engaging panzers and how mech. infantry is better suited to many situations. Since most attacks that fail do so because they run out of action points, it's important understand how to gauge probable success by both strength and remaining APs. There's much here counter-intuitive to other games, for example, training yourself to avoid looking at the combat box numbers as "odds".
Staying on tempo, for the Germans, is difficult and unforgiving. The Soviets can snowball on you so quickly. Plus you will discover very quickly that, even on normal, they counter attack weakness.
It's difficult to adjust your estimates of what is needed for a successful attack from turn to turn, as the Soviet adjusted power shifts so rapidly the first 5 turns. Literally, a move considered too conservative on turn 1 by turn 6 is a wild overly aggressive maneuver.
My tentative conclusion is that if you want German player's to learn how to get through a full game, they will need help on the command side.
Thank you Vic and Cameron for a wonderful game! [&o]
