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I have a few questions about this title.
The wargamer review on the previous title was not positive. After reading the developer notes on Armchair General it seems that many of the issues have been addressed.
After looking at the screenshots it looks like no stacking of units, is that a correct assumption?
The Matrix product data page says Adobe PDF E-book (download and physical). I was under the impression that physical copy games would have a manual. Perhaps I am wrong on this but I would like to know if a physical copy gets a manual.
I have been looking for a game like this for a long time. There are other titles similar to this, Gary Grigsby's title through Matrix and a Battlefront title. I haven't bought one yet because they usually have AI issues or realism issues. I know that this will not be as complex as many of the games that I play but I would love to have opinions on this title vs. the other choices.
Thanks.

For $30 I am happy printing my own manual.

Can't address the physical manual issue.

As far as comparing to Grigsby's World at War --

Time of Wrath is at a much lower scale. Turns are a week, rather than 3 months as in Grigsby's game. ToW is what I'd call an operational game, rather than Grigsby's strategic game. The user interface is better in this game by far.

Comparing it to Strategic Command II: that's a decent game, but ToW is hands down better. Supply is critical in WWII games, and ToW models it much more intuitively. SCIIs naval game is ... different - I can't say better, than ToW. Both leave a bit to be desired as far as naval games go, ToW's is better now than it was with Road to War, with the addition of air strikes into sea zones. And then there was SCIIs bizarre map, with squares for movement, as compared to ToWs gorgeous map and hex movement.

ORIGINAL: stormbringer3
I have a few questions about this title.
The wargamer review on the previous title was not positive. After reading the developer notes on Armchair General it seems that many of the issues have been addressed.
After looking at the screenshots it looks like no stacking of units, is that a correct assumption?

That's correct - as far as I know all of the main issues with Road to Victory have been addressed in Time of Wrath. There's now hex by hex weather, naval and air interaction and a much improved AI, among other things.

The Matrix product data page says Adobe PDF E-book (download and physical). I was under the impression that physical copy games would have a manual. Perhaps I am wrong on this but I would like to know if a physical copy gets a manual.

I'm glad you noticed that, it's true that not all physical copies include printed manuals. We make it easy to see which do and which don't in our Online Store and our Product Pages. Just look at the front page for the online store where it shows you the different "Edition" logos and explains what each one means as far as what's included in the physical copy.

I have been looking for a game like this for a long time. There are other titles similar to this, Gary Grigsby's title through Matrix and a Battlefront title. I haven't bought one yet because they usually have AI issues or realism issues. I know that this will not be as complex as many of the games that I play but I would love to have opinions on this title vs. the other choices.

I'll let others respond to this, but IMHO this is a very good grand strategy game with a lot of depth and plenty of "what if" options.

Regards,

- Erik

After looking at the screenshots it looks like no stacking of units, is that a correct assumption?

You are right, no stacking

I think other issues have been answered.

Looking at the AAR done by chuck it looks like the map is bigger... or rather I should say the hex's are smaller in the sense more hexes in each country?  I hope that is making sense.  It seems like perhaps the default unit will be divisions rather than corps as in RTV.  Any comment on that?  Heck I will have the thing this evening when I get home and register RTV then download (I always forget to register! I must own a dozen Matrix titles!)
 

Looking at the AAR done by chuck it looks like the map is bigger... or rather I should say the hex's are smaller in the sense more hexes in each country? I hope that is making sense. It seems like perhaps the default unit will be divisions rather than corps as in RTV.

The map is the same in size, but there is much more features on the map.
Also the OOB has been completly redesigned and there is much more div size units than corps.

Now the map is full of natural obstacles which were overlooked in RtV. Also units are moving a bit slower so as an effect the map can be seen as bigger.

I haven't had time to play it past one turn as I am checking everything out with googly eyes. However, I can say this, it is beautiful and the issues I remember gamers complaining about have been incorporated into this title. I don't remember all of them of course, but this is a major improvement over RTV! Boy is it!

Now where was I, oh yeah, taking my first turn... [8|]

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

Can't address the physical manual issue.

As far as comparing to Grigsby's World at War --

Time of Wrath is at a much lower scale. Turns are a week, rather than 3 months as in Grigsby's game. ToW is what I'd call an operational game, rather than Grigsby's strategic game. The user interface is better in this game by far.

Comparing it to Strategic Command II: that's a decent game, but ToW is hands down better. Supply is critical in WWII games, and ToW models it much more intuitively. SCIIs naval game is ... different - I can't say better, than ToW. Both leave a bit to be desired as far as naval games go, ToW's is better now than it was with Road to War, with the addition of air strikes into sea zones. And then there was SCIIs bizarre map, with squares for movement, as compared to ToWs gorgeous map and hex movement.

I'd agree from the screenshots that the number of hexes and detail makes this look like an operational game. That said, I'm curious as to why major rail lines are not depicted on the map; particularly for logistical purposes. If the game was more strategic looking, I would understand not having discrete rail lines (like Third Reich). But this looks more like SPI's War in Europe in scale, and that title had rail. Just seems a bit incongruent to me.

Rail capacity is handled through strategic movement, which only goes from city to city. The map is between operational and strategic scale, the game itself has a bit of the same mix.