Matrix Games Forums

Howdy!

Ok, long story short. I've wanted to, for YEARS, recreate WW2 from the start to the finish. I thought about mini's. but the staggering amounts of $$ needed for all the mini's I would need quickly squashed that idea.

Next, is PC games. I saw Theatre of War, but it's only the European fronts. I've looked at this game here, but it reminds me of Panzer General. Is this game that simplistic?

I really can't tell if this game is somewhat like PG or if there is some micro management involved.

I've heard ToW sucks, and because it doesn't cover any Pacific or North African land conflicts I'm hesitant to buy.

I know SP would do, but I HATE the top down view [:@] Basically, is this a beer and pretzel's game?

Thanks!

Beer and pretzel game--hardly not. It is the closest you will find to Avalon Hill's Panzer Blitz/Panzer Leader series on the computer. I have been playing this series since it was first launched by Talonsoft, and continue to come back to it. I am enjoying seeing a rebirth of this old classic.
 
It does have it weak points, but is does a very good job of simulating platoon level combat in WWII.

Of course, let it be known this game may also be enjoyed with beer and pretzels. In my case Bud Light and Snyders Sourdough.[:D] Semper Fi

LOL

Thanks guys. I'm just trying to find the best PC game on the market that will suit my needs. I might have to look into this one a bit more.

The interesting thing about this series is that it can be complicated in the big scenarios, but the smaller ones can be quite simple and quick to play as well. So you can taylor it to your personal gaming tastes quite easily. That's one of the reasons I like it so much.

I wouldn't even consider ToW ahead of the vastly superior Combat Mission games from the same stable (Battlefront) anyway, although they are equally unsuitable for your project. CS bears very little resemblance to PG, they are totally different scales for a start, the CS are tactical games like SP:WaW. Actually, if you are familiar with miniatures games CS would be a pretty good choice - it's about as close to a miniatures game on computer that you can get, for WW2 anyway. I can't think of a better option at the tactical scale. 'Beer and Pretzels'? No, although I would call CS 'accessible' rather than 'hardcore'.

As for "recreating WW2 from the start to the finish" I'm not sure operational level wouldn't be a better bet, at least if you want to to finish! TOAW would be your best bet there.

Personally, I came to the Campaign Series straight from PG and PG2. It was a hard adjustment but well worth it. I played Avalon Hill's PanzerBlitz and Panzer Leader growing up and found these games great replications, especially if you're looking for P.O. action (my preference) as opposed to PBEM play.

One thing you might not like, though. You can't control the selection of your forces, upgrade them, etc. like you can in PG and PG2 due to the fact that it's more grognardish (grognardian?) with regards to OOB and historicity of force composition.

I have TOW but it runs like hell on my computer (pretty old system, I admit). So I can't really comment on it.

I'm with you, I tried to get into SP:WAW but never did for some reason.

One more caveat:

CS does fall victim to the Hogan's Heroes accent from time to time while looking at a stoic horribly-framed photo of Von Rundstedt. [:D] Gotta love it.