Commander - Europe at War Storms Into Matrix Games

[Alex Fiedler]

Relive the strategic-level thrill of romping across Europe, WWII-style

Matrix Games and Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) are excited to announce that they have reached a North American publishing agreement for the highly anticipated WWII grand strategy title, Commander – Europe at War, developed jointly by Slitherine and Firepower Entertainment. Matrix Games will now be providing their reliable digital download service and community support for Commander – Europe at War to give wargamers and WWII buffs the quickest, most reliable, and least expensive way to get the best strategy games on the market.

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Slitherine and Matrix Games have worked together fantastically in the past so we look forward to publishing their latest title. Commander - Europe at War has the smooth polish and great design of a popular strategy game but all the historical insight and authenticity demanded by a hardcore history buff turned wargamer.”

Iain McNeil from Slitherine Software added “We’re very excited to be working with Matrix on Commander - Europe at War, and we know they’ll do a great job for us. This is the first game released through our newly launched Kameleon Project, showing there is still a place for even the smallest development teams! Digital downloads will be a key part of Slitherine’s strategy over the coming years and Commander – Europe at War is the first game we have released designed primarily for this medium. We have worked very well with Matrix Games in the past and expect this release to be just as successful we enjoyed.”

Much like other Slitherine strategy games, Commander – Europe at War is easy to learn but hard to master. Research new technologies to gain an edge on your opponent, manufacture armies, fleets, and bombers, and use all your strategic and tactical might to best your enemy. To satisfy the hunger of history buffs looking for accuracy and realism, Commander – Europe at War includes detailed and realistic combat that models supply, morale, terrain, leadership, equipment, training, strategic weapons and fog of war. To capture the immense scope and distance of the Western front of WWII, Commander – Europe at War will include 6 epic scenarios including the famous Barbarossa campaign, D-Day and the battle for France, and a Grand Campaign that will let the player refight the entirety of European side of the Second World War the way they see fit!

[Mightfox]

It looks good, but I'm not seeing how it'll seperate itself from games like Hearts of Iron 2 and Strategic Command 2..though it has the advantage against Hoi2 of being able to start in 1942.

[Motomouse]

It won´t have to seperate itself from games like HoI 2 and SC 2. We will buy it anyway

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: Mightfox

It looks good, but I'm not seeing how it'll seperate itself from games like Hearts of Iron 2 and Strategic Command 2..though it has the advantage against Hoi2 of being able to start in 1942.

Don't see many similarities to HOI2 at all althought it's been quite a while since I played that. This is turn based, has PBEM, hexes rather than areas, looks like much simpler research, units are Corps, and the press release says "easy to learn" so that makes it much different! [;)]

Never played SC2. The screenshots do look quite similar other than the fact this is hex based and that one uses tiles.

[bluesteel]

I played them all and was a beta tester with Commamnder in Europe. Not the detail or length of HOI and I personally found it to be a much more challenging and enjoyable to play. Any specific question?

[JudgeDredd]

I think I read correctly that this going to be released by Matrixgames in USA only. Is that correct?

If so, who is the European publisher (although I would much rather get it from Matrixgames)

[JudgeDredd]

Nice graphics. Looks a little like Allied/Panzer General and fairly simple looking. I would liek to pick this up I think.

[JudgeDredd]

What is the duration of a turn? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month?

[David Heath]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

I think I read correctly that this going to be released by Matrixgames in USA only. Is that correct?

If so, who is the European publisher (although I would much rather get it from Matrixgames)

We will be offering world wide digital downloads.

David

[cdbeck]

I like the look of this (have been following it for a while). The major criticism was that it is an awful lot like Strategic Command 2 (although IMHO much better graphically). I don't own SC2 (the AI was initially very weak), but I like the style of gameplay and came VERY close to buying it. I would be interested in seeing some of the specific differences from SC2.

And David, Matrix is such a class act! Not that it matters to me, being an American. And I would just like to let you know that my Bronx is tougher than your Staten Island .

Sooo.... hows about them Yankees?

SoM

[Erik Rutins]

Actually, I think it's more like a cross between SC1, Clash of Steel and Panzer General, but there are some very nice innovations that work better than I've seen elsewhere. I'm enjoying the convoy/sub battles quite a bit and the lack of stacking has really been a non-issue.

[Duck Doc]

I have been watching this one for a short while on the slitherine website & it looks very promising.

The developers acknowledge they owe a debt to Panzer General & would like to evoke that classic with this game. One of the joys of Panzer General (the series) was the ability to evolve new forces as you gained combat experience in the game.

I understand this game uses research as a tool to upgrade forces but there doesn't seem to be any change in the unit graphics to reflect the change in force composition with newer & better & cooler weapons systems.

An example would be the evolution of a unit in Panzer General gaining combat experience & becoming an elite unit exchanging their PKWIV's for Panthers. It has been a while since I played or even thought about Panzer General & I may be fuzzy about how the game worked but you catch my drift.

How does the game manage this progression to newer & better force structure?

Dale H

[Mightfox]

ORIGINAL:  elmo3
Don't see many similarities to HOI2 at all althought it's been quite a while since I played that.  This is turn based, has PBEM, hexes rather than areas, looks like much simpler research, units are Corps, and the press release says "easy to learn" so that makes it much different! [;)]

Never played SC2.  The screenshots do look quite similar other than the fact this is hex based and that one uses tiles.

Well, it's not so much blatant similarity, but simply what the game offers. I mean, Hoi2 has the whole world, this doesn't seem to include the pacific front. And turn based is somewhat inferior, and I don't think hexes and provinces really make much different, as while hexes are more standard, provinces can allow designers to better model reality. The only advantage it seems to have is being able to pick up and play easier due to research/scale, so I'll probably still check it out if they release a demo and stuff.
But it seems extremely similar to SC2, which worries me because, IMO, SC2 was trash. Fighting was inaccurate, the season system was horribly inaccurate, and other things I forget since I uninstalled that atrocity. Though yes, it looks much better than SC2.

ORIGINAL:  Son_of_Montfort
I played them all and was a beta tester with Commamnder in Europe. Not the detail or length of HOI and I personally found it to be a much more challenging and enjoyable to play. Any specific question?

How is it more challenging? Is the AI better due to the simpler gameplay? Also, I noticed on one screenshot on the game's official site, there were s3 German armored units, and each one had a different icon. One has a Panzer 5 'Panther', one a Koenigstiger, and one a Panzer IV. Is this due to the tech level in the game? Are these represented as different units? Do King Tigers move slower and guzzle more gas?
Also, are there paratroopers? Is there any representation of elite/specialized infantry?

[IainMcNeil]

There are up to 6 levels of unit graphics. E.g. For Germany we use
Panzer IV C
Panzer IV H
Tiger I
Panther
Tiger II
Maus
 
Italy & France have their own level 1 units but then share the major nations graphics. Infantry & naval graphics dont change as there is nothing visually different to show. It's really the tanks & aircraft where you'll see the upgrades. It does look very cool
 

[cdbeck]

I see, thanks for the comparisons Erik. I'm excited to hear that Matrix is picking this up. I guess time frame of release would be an impertinent question? [8|]

SoM

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Dale H
An example would be the evolution of a unit in Panzer General gaining combat experience & becoming an elite unit exchanging their PKWIV's for Panthers. It has been a while since I played or even thought about Panzer General & I may be fuzzy about how the game worked but you catch my drift.
How does the game manage this progression to newer & better force structure?

Well, in a couple of ways. First, units earn experience and can lose it as they receive replacements. Second, when you research an improvement for a unit type, you don't automatically get that improvement. Instead, you can now see which units are eligibile to upgrade and you choose when to pay that cost, which is economic and also in terms of time since they basically have to reorganize for a turn.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort
I guess time frame of release would be an impertinent question? [8|]

Hm, how about "very soon" (tm)?

[cdbeck]

Sounds... expected... [:D]

Looks like a big summer for Matrix, CaW, Com:EaW, and maybe... Guns...

Nice!

SoM

[Fintilgin]

Will we be able to use counters?
 
I guess I'm just old-school at heart and don't like little icons very much. Otherwise the game looks great.

[David Heath]

ORIGINAL: Son_of_Montfort

I like the look of this (have been following it for a while). The major criticism was that it is an awful lot like Strategic Command 2 (although IMHO much better graphically). I don't own SC2 (the AI was initially very weak), but I like the style of gameplay and came VERY close to buying it. I would be interested in seeing some of the specific differences from SC2.

And David, Matrix is such a class act! Not that it matters to me, being an American. And I would just like to let you know that my Bronx is tougher than your Staten Island .

Sooo.... hows about them Yankees?

SoM

Oh...I am a Mets fan...... this year I think we got the Yankees beat.

David