Matrix Games Forums

Really quite enjoying the game. Depth and simplicty. Great AI

I am not going to make a habit of bumping posts that flatter me, but want to say thanks for the compliments starbuck.

Also thanks to all other players that made a compliment about the game.

And if we are on it: well also a big thanks to those that didnt make a compliment but bought the game none-the-less

Its very much appreciated. Especially after really long and sometimes pretty tough months of development to read from people happy with the end product.

Best regards,
Vic

Well done Vic!

Hi Vic

+1 to VR Designs 'happy customer' list. Great game and great support.

And have to admit that my previous attempts at self control on WtP all came to nothing - http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3106461 ... I bought it last week! And I'm not even concerned I missed out on the $10 discount ... well maybe a little [:)]

Cheers

^ just thinking about PirateJock's statement --

This is seriously not meant to be a plug for VR Design, but as someone who played (and will still play) DC Warsaw to Paris and thought it was one of the best wargames he had encountered in a long time -- I would seriously recommend to folks out there thinking about buying Case Blue to *also* buy Warsaw to Paris, and perhaps even to play through Warsaw to Paris first. As I am finding, but not really that surprisingly, Case Blue is Much Harder!! I'm glad I 'cut my teeth' on the Fall Weiss and Fall Gelb campaigns first! I learned a lot there that I'm putting into practice against the Soviets, but fighting the Soviets is a whole 'nother ballgame from taking on the Polish and French/Belgian/BEF armies.

If you play as the Germans, Warsaw to Paris really gives you the excitement of those early successful blitzkriegs. Fall Weiss and Fall Gelb are definitely challenging, don't get me wrong, but you do get that excitement playing the Germans of essentially outwitting the Allies with your daring panzer thrusts and encirclements. Playing Case Blue as the Germans, you really start to think "Oh man -- I'm making progress, but it is all coming at a serious cost... I guess this is why the Germans ultimately lost to the Soviets!"

In short... for anyone interested -- get both games. And seriously, maybe start with Warsaw to Paris first!

[font=calibri]I got DC-WtP last week and played both Fall Weiss and Fell Gelb. What a great game engine. Got  Case Blue this week and trying the smaller Voronesh scenario first. The Soviets certainly looks to be a tougher opponent. Better sharpen my skills first before moving on to the bigger scenarios. Thanks for the research and time you put into creating this instalment. [;)][/font]

Yet another positive from me. Read through the manual, went through the Tutorial (behaving myself and showing great self-control by not jumping straight into game) and started on the Vorohnez scenario, playing the Germans under Normal difficulty. Really took my time over it, got so engrossed by it that on checking my watch - it was nearly 4am in the morning (I'd been sat there 7 hours and it felt like nothing!!!! Thank goodness I'm not at work today!!!

Great game from what I'm seeing so far. A lot to learn I'm sure, but enjoying the process.[:)]

I agree, it is a very well done game, getting my ass handed to me by the AI and enjoying it. Vic, you gotta do the whole eastern front!! (pretty please? )

Or maybe the entire North Africa campaign.

It is quite good, its taken me a couple to get used to the UI but the game itself is fun and best yet so far the AI is actually a challenge without being cheap. ( Also a full 1941 WiTe style campaign would be awesome I'd buy it for sure )

I just downloaded this a little while ago. Played the tutorial and look at the manual and the game looks very detail. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one. [:)]

ORIGINAL: sandman2575
Playing Case Blue as the Germans, you really start to think "Oh man -- I'm making progress, but it is all coming at a serious cost... I guess this is why the Germans ultimately lost to the Soviets!"

Those AI T34s and KVs will punch you on the nose if you're not careful. Air attack the hell out of every Soviet tank unit you spot.

After the good words of some members on the German Strategycon Interactive forum.
After I watched the video on YouTube. After studying the manual and the matrix forum, I could not resist further. [:(]

In the foreword of the manual: 1.7. "A word from the designer" Vic writes DC 1 went a little bit under the radar.
No, it not went just a little bit, but totally!

After I've dealt a few hours with Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue, I can not understand why this great Decisive Campaigns series did not found much more fans. [&:]

I was very afraid Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue will disappoint me as well as Advanced Tactics gold did.
But no, Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue is good, really good. [;)]

ORIGINAL: Templer

After the good words of some members on the German Strategycon Interactive forum after I watched the video on YouTube, after studying the manual and the matrix Forum I could not resist further. [:(]

In the foreword of the manual: 1.7. "A word from the designer" Vic writes DC 1 went a little bit under the radar.
No, it not went just a little bit, but totally!

After I've dealt a few hours with Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue, I can not understand why this great Decisive Campaigns series did not found much more fans. [&:]

I was very afraid Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue will disappoint me as well as Advanced Tactics gold.
But no, Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue is good, really good. [;)]

The Sirens of CB claim another soul.

I really do feel that these two games have hit the sweet spot becuase they, IMHO, are so much like the boardgames that so many of us grogs cut our teeth on.

As far as the Uranus scenarios you really see how good a general Manstein was to patch up the front by spring 1943.

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack
Vic, you gotta do the whole eastern front!! (pretty please? )

More then this!
I would really love to start 1939 in Berlin and, if things goes bad, die in Berlin!
Produce an expansion with this scenario. Then consider this as a pre order!

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4

ORIGINAL: sandman2575
Playing Case Blue as the Germans, you really start to think "Oh man -- I'm making progress, but it is all coming at a serious cost... I guess this is why the Germans ultimately lost to the Soviets!"

Those AI T34s and KVs will punch you on the nose if you're not careful. Air attack the hell out of every Soviet tank unit you spot.

I definitely do. Air power really only seems to have much effect against AFV's and other unentrenched vehicles. My He-111s / Ju-88s seem to do very little to wear down entrenchment levels of infantry (much less inflict actual casualties). This is more or less fine by me -- I hate the tendency of many WW2 games to overdo the lethality of air power.

I am a few turns into the full Case Blue and I am already thinking there's no way I'll be able to match the historical German performance. I am alarmed at the rate at which my Panzer & Motorized divisions are getting depleted. There doesn't seem to be a battle they engage in where they don't lose 15-20 tanks -- and fairly frequent losses to "accidents". And not necessarily against other tank brigades or heavily entrenched infantry. I am finding that even attacking moderately entrenched Infantry Divisions in plains/grasslands with base entrenchment ~40, I still lose many tanks.

I find myself wishing that the 'ratio' for AFV's was not x5 but more something like x2. It's killing me to lose 20 PzIIIJ's in pretty basic engagements.

I also find myself wishing there was some kind of 'recovery' mechanic for losing AFV's. I.e. if you get 20 panzers "killed" in a battle, it seems that there should be some chance of recovering some of those vehicles -- not every tank "kill" in WW2 was a Catastrophic kill -- many were just mobility kills and the like, some of which could be recovered and refitted.

Willie Pete is working on modding the OOB for Operation Blau right now. One thing he told me is that the Soviet tank numbers in the game are much lower than the historical ones, so we'll have to see how tough it becomes with accurate OOBs set.

The ratios can be edited to any value you choose, I think,, but I'm not sure what the effect is. Any thoughts?

ORIGINAL: Templer

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack
Vic, you gotta do the whole eastern front!! (pretty please? )

More then this!
I would really love to start 1939 in Berlin and, if things goes bad, die in Berlin!
Produce an expansion with this scenario. Then consider this as a pre order!

s: Case Blue is goo

A grand campaign 1939 - 1945 (+) -- omg -- that would be so great. Maybe some day.. [X(][X(][X(]

ORIGINAL: hafer

ORIGINAL: Templer

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack
Vic, you gotta do the whole eastern front!! (pretty please? )

More then this!
I would really love to start 1939 in Berlin and, if things goes bad, die in Berlin!
Produce an expansion with this scenario. Then consider this as a pre order!

A grand campaign 1939 - 1945 (+) -- omg -- that would be so great. Maybe some day.. [X(][X(][X(]

I wish that day comes soon.
I've noticed in Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue longer scenarios bring more fun because of the enabled additional features.

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4
Willie Pete is working on modding the OOB for Operation Blau right now. One thing he told me is that the Soviet tank numbers in the game are much lower than the historical ones, so we'll have to see how tough it becomes with accurate OOBs set.

wow. this just makes me appreciate that much more the real-life accomplishments of the Wehrmacht during this operation. Right now, there are 4 different Soviet Tank Corps threatening my advance toward Voronezh. Well over 100 T-34s and KV-1s. I'm completely stymied as to how I'm supposed to break through this with my already worn down panzer div's from 4th Panzer Army...

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4
The ratios can be edited to any value you choose, I think,, but I'm not sure what the effect is. Any thoughts?

Do you mean effects on game balance? Or literally what the effect would be -- which is pretty straightforward I think -- i.e. if you changed the ratio of Tanks from the current x5 to something like x2, you'd simply lose less tanks when you take casualties in a batter: 4 tank 'kills' in a battle currently corresponds to 20 lost tanks. Lowering the ratio to x2 of course would just make that 8 lost tanks. But how that would affect game balance, other than to potentially make life much easier for the Germans, I'm not sure.