Matrix Games Forums

This version of WIR was one that was based on the game designed by the company down in Australia or so it was said to me. I remember the Australian game and it does not seem to me to be the one this one was based on.
When I downloaded this game it strikes me as being a first draft of a planned revision but for what ever reason they never finished it and just put it out on the site for free as is.
I write this as I would like to know the true history of where this game came from and why it was never finished, what game it was based on and why it never made the matrix line of great games.
Can some kind soul help an old man out here? thanks in advance

Madgamer (still confused)

This is Grigsby's game the was originally a DOS version.  Matrix got the rights to the code and updated it slightly to run in Windows.  A few bugs were fixed as welll, that is all I know ...

I dont know we will know sometime the true story of WiR. A really fantastic wargame designed a lot of years ago but still some of us playing and enjoying. And Gary is doing the remake. Take a look in case you miss that http://www.2by3games.com

That is what I was thinking and I played that game a lot but when I got my computer upgraded I could not play it any longer. The Matrix version is not the same as there are added features like the east front tie in rules and the game just does not play quite the same as I remember it (I am getting old) but I could be wrong.
I still think that the free version was actually the first step in redoing the game but was put up for free and the project was dropped till 2x3 games started to redo it as you mentioned. It seems more complex with the new stuff that has been added...but maybe it is just me. I will buy the new version when it appears
but 2010? Hope I am still kicking by then LOL Thanks for the info.

Madgamer

I first bought Gary Grigsby's 'War in Russia' for the Atari 16 bit computer/games consol in the 1980's. WIR was re-issued for PC by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) in the 1990's, it is a development of a previous Gary Grigsby title 'Second Front'. The other title in this group is 'Western Front', which never had the development of WIR and is still in ver. 1.0, however I have a graphics update and editor, which brings WF closer to the latest WIR.

WIR became the 'War in Russia - The Matrix Project' with ver. 2.1 with a major series of changes and bug fixes, led by Arnaud Bouis. Through many developments and attempts to set and re-set the game balance, it has reached the current ver. 3.3. Additionally, there are various mods, house rules and scenarios from other people that have appeared in this forum and are available on the web, the names of the people who have provided this material are too many to mention, but many are still contributors to these pages.

The attachment lists the development changes since WIR ver.2.0, but does not include all the private mods and senarios produced by other people outside Matrix.

The older games are available on the 'Underdogs' site and apart from private mods the development of WIR has stopped, pending the completion of Gary Grigsby's next East Front title. However, as the new titles have become very large and complex, taking a long time to play, I think that there is a lot of life left in WIR and WF. [:)]