I decided to open a new thread with a call for a few good players to post their AARs of grand campaigns NOT starting in 41. I have not seen any recently and I feel it would greatly benefit the developing/testing of the game, and it would be great fun! I welcome comments from developers and experienced players and I would be happy to start a campaign AAR myself, but it will need to wait a few weeks. I still need to step up my game a bit, to make it interesting for others. If anybody wants to play PBEM with me on one of the shorter scenarios set in 42 or later (Red Army Resurgent? Decision in the Ukraine?) feel free to send me a PM!
As a living I work with computer programs that simulate the evolution of complex physical systems (think weather..but bigger
) . To understand if my code correctly simulates what happens in the real universe I always test against a 'known solution'. If I know how the system should behave in the short term, then I can make long term reliable predictions and I can experiment with 'what ifs' to learn new things! If the system deviates from my expectations soon after the start, then something is amiss. See the connection with GWITE? So here is my argument for the dire necessity to test GWITE with grand campaigns that start later than 1941: the longer one plays the 41 campaign the more it will deviate from the historical outcome and the more difficult it becomes to judge game balance or decide if certain game features are 'realistic' or 'gamey'. Simply put, there is no way measure that in a consistent way, which leads to endless forum discussions but only to small improvements in the game mechanics. In other words, it is hard to judge if a grand campaign game simulates 1943 correctly if the Wehrmacht has never suffered through the Stalingrad disaster or if the SU player has been more careful managing his manpower in the Summer of 42. There is no standard of reference to judge how things go!
This is only a small list of things that would be much better evaluated starting from a 1942 GC or even better in 43 or 44.
- using HQ build up for the Soviets
- the best Wehrmacht strategy against major Soviet tank breakthroughs.
- managing the Luftwaffe after it loses air superiority
- tank and AFV losses ratios for both sides with the new tank models available in 44
- taking Berlin!
Note that I am not implying that one should stick to '100% historical' choices. The fun part is to try new things. It's a game afterall. But certainly starting from a well know situation would help improving it. For example, AGC should still get badly mauled in 44, but how hard would it be to take Berlin by Spring 45 facing a competent German player? GWITE has been around for almost one year..and basically we have no idea!
I understand that the mad dash for Moscow and the blizzard counterattack have a certain appeal, but going for the Volga, stopping the Steppe Front in 43 or crossing the Oder in 44 and *not* having to replay the first move over and over and *not* worrying about getting the Lvov pocket just right ... that sounds like a lot of fun to me.