Matrix Games Forums

First impressions:
Maps and counters looks exactly how I wanted, very nice in other words. Everything is easy to see and understand and nothing looks "out of place". Terrain, cities and units flow togheter in a perfect harmony:D
Ingame music is also nice, one of the few games I played without having to turn it off. It sets the atmosphere just right, it's not too "boring", a bit of tension but not too dramatic. Sound effects are also good.

So I'm currently playing as Germans on beginner difficulty and no experience bonus for AI.
It's hard to judge playing against the poles but combat seems a bit faster and you can feel the advance of your units which is nice.
In AoD it felt a bit too slow and you didn't really feel the power of your units and especially your panzer units. So far it feels alot better, but yeah it's against Poland so it's pretty hard to judge (will be easier to know further in the game against the soviets).

I just defeated Poland and I got the two decision events about the border (first about honouring the pact and then the 2nd to revise the border). Overall it's very nice to see these kinds of events, it adds a whole lot to the game. Although I gotta say I was a bit disappointed since I was expecting to actually get to select which hexes I wanted and then negotiate with the soviets going back and forth until an agreement was reached (but I guess it's my fault for having too high expectations:D). But yeah overall it's still a very nice touch to the game.

Will comment on AI difficulty/intelligence once I'm up against some tougher countries.

Some Feedback and minor bugs based on first turns and after defeat of Poland:

Bugs:
-Hexes in southern Egypt messed up.
-City names disappears until UI pops up after zooming in and out.
-AI calculating supply (map disappears when this happens, would probably look better to see the map in the background)
-Polish Naval evacuation to UK event (message shown twice)
-Killed unit north of Modlin/Warzaw (got message "Mlawa has been destroyed by combat", was that perhaps the units name? Seems like an odd name for a unit)

"Negative" Feedback:

====Options before game starts====
- 3-D Units button (Doesn't change unit from 3d to counters, but I guess it will be fixed once more work is put into the menu)

====GamePlay====

-Disappearing UI (pretty annoying, In my opinion there should be a button to hide UI if you want instead of always disappearing automatically)

-Tank Movement speed (Minor thing really, but it feels too fast, should be a bit slower and feel more heavy imo)

-Movement hex highlights (If possible it would be nice to have an option to see numbers on each possible hex showing how many action points it costs to move there)

-Reports and charts (Would be nice to see more statistics with charts, especially stuff like amount of units,amount of cities and perhaps amount of offensive/defensive combat moves)

-No AI end of turn message (Would be nice to have a message pop up saying the AI has ended its turn. I was sitting looking at the screen for a minute after first turn before I realized it was my turn(there was no reports after first turn))

-Selecting enemy/neutral capital (Would be nice if that would bring up a window with some information about what country it is, if you're at war with them etc)

-Max zoomed out map (I'm not sure if it's final or not. I like simplicity but it would be nice if it would look a bit better and show cities or capitals etc)

-Weather zones (Not sure if it was just a coincidence but it feels like weather zones might e a bit too large, especially in Russia. At one point it was raining all the way from Leningrad to Stalingrad, maybe make them a bit smaller so some areas can have rain others clear etc)

-No Inf Division? (How come you can buy cavalry divisions and artillery etc, but no infantry division? Please add it)

Positive Feedback:

===Gameplay===

- Counters and Map looks very nice

- So far the speed of combat and advance of my units feels just right.

-Moved unit indicator (Really nice with the change in brightness on the counters, makes it easy to see what you can and can't move)

-Ctrl-Z function (very nice to have this hotkey although it might be nice to have a button for it aswell, I basically just tried it out of nowhere and didn't expect it to work at all, but nice surprise:))


So yeah, so far it's been a very pleasant experience! No major bugs and games runs very well. Now onwards to France!:D


Some questions:

-What does the stripes on hexes mean? Also what are the orange hexes?

-I read something about combined assaults, does that mean assaults like in Time of fury where you can attack with multiple units at once or is it just a bonus from adjacent units?

Just a minor thing, as a hungarian I really feel like Budapest should be moved to the western side of the Danube. The western side has much better defensive positions and is also where the germans and hungarians trapped in the city held out the longest.
Any specific reason why the city is on the eastern side? The Manfred Weiss factory was located in the southern parts basically between Buda and Pest, on csepel island, so that and the fact about better defensive positions on the western side makes it more logical to have the city placed west of the river.
I just think it's pretty important because of the great defensive line that can be formed between the area of lake balaton and Budapest, but with the city on the eastern side it's a pretty big hit considering you have to move across the danube instead of using it as a defensive barrier like the germans did in real life.

It's not possible to see supply in Libya(/North Africa?), I guess it's a bug?
Edit: I also can't see supply in Italy (maybe because they're not at war?)
Edit2: Yes, supply shows when they're at war.

Also all cities have the entrenchment value of the terrain they're on, and the hex picture on the UI doesn't show the city, only the terrain beneath it, shouldn't all cities have some bonus to the entrenchment value, like terrain they're on +1 bonus because it's a city?

-Killed unit north of Modlin/Warzaw (got message "Mlawa has been destroyed by combat", was that perhaps the units name? Seems like an odd name for a unit)

My guess is that was a fortification that got destroyed. You will get similar messages in France also.

And i agree on most of your change suggestions. [:)]

ORIGINAL: n0kn0k

-Killed unit north of Modlin/Warzaw (got message "Mlawa has been destroyed by combat", was that perhaps the units name? Seems like an odd name for a unit)

My guess is that was a fortification that got destroyed. You will get similar messages in France also.

And i agree on most of your change suggestions. [:)]

Ah yeah you're probably right on that, although I don't remember there being any fortification :/


I get the feeling the AI has no fow when it comes to naval combat. a couple of times I've been in combat and moved away more than 5-10 hexes but the AI just instantly attack the unit the next turn, goes diretly to it, either AI is very intelligent or it always knows the location I'm retreating to.
Anyone else experienced this?

Also another note on naval combat, it seems like the british are very overpowered in this area. I gathered all italian ships, all reinforced to 8-10 then I made a massive move on the british in the mediterranean, basically all my ships were down to half strenght after the battle. The british had about two thirds of their ships damaged to half, but next turn they completely destroyed almost my entire navy. It just feels like the hits are too heavy. Yes the british were better in this area but it just feels like the italian navy shouldn't be completely smashed in 2 turns.
Anyone else care to comment on this? How do others feel about this, do you agree or am I just a noob?

After conquering Yugoslavia and creating Croatia the hungarian city of Pécs falls under Croation territory, I guess the border is correct but Pécs should be north of the Drava river and the border.

Also shouldn't Croatia be bigger? As far as I know they should get significant parts of the coast.

I transported a german HQ to North Africa before I knew I would get one there in the future, but now I can't seem to get him back.. Have been sitting it the port of Benghazi for about 3-4 turns now (from summer to autumn) but I never get the transport option.. At first I figured it was due to rough seas/bad supply but now I'm starting to think something is wrong.. I can transport units to Africa just fine but not back :/

Edit: I guess it must have been too low MPP.

I just captured Cairo but then I got a big picture with message saying that the Italian forces surrenders in North Africa..

Also, I'm just south of riga at the river, I have a whole line of units guarding the river, no enemy hexes behind me, all units have supply of 5 but I can't reinforce them, why is that?

last thing, when there's rain and mud and you attack with a unit that should be able to move a step after the attack but can't because of bad weather, the unit doesn't change brightness even though it can't move or do anyhting. I'm guessing there is a problem with the game not understanding that becasue of mud it can't move and therefore it should change brightness.

ps. would love to get some replies by developers on some of my questions:)

last thing, when there's rain and mud and you attack with a unit that should be able to move a step after the attack but can't because of bad weather, the unit doesn't change brightness even though it can't move or do anyhting. I'm guessing there is a problem with the game not understanding that becasue of mud it can't move and therefore it should change brightness.

My guess isthat the color is still there because you still have AP left. But not enough to move. So it's actually an AP indicator, not movement indicator. I have noticed the same issue a few times.

well yeah, but if they can't do anyhing I want them to change brightness

About my riga reinforcement issue I guess it was because of mud. It works now when there is snow, but it's weird becasue there are railways and paved roads :/

First impressive move by AI on beginner difficulty:
Reestablishing connection to Kiev(already counter-attacked them in some locations).
Btw, does the amount of cities/towns and amount of units in a pocket affect the supply situation? If not, I think it should:D

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Just a minor thing, as a hungarian I really feel like Budapest should be moved to the western side of the Danube. The western side has much better defensive positions and is also where the germans and hungarians trapped in the city held out the longest.
Any specific reason why the city is on the eastern side? The Manfred Weiss factory was located in the southern parts basically between Buda and Pest, on csepel island, so that and the fact about better defensive positions on the western side makes it more logical to have the city placed west of the river.
I just think it's pretty important because of the great defensive line that can be formed between the area of lake balaton and Budapest, but with the city on the eastern side it's a pretty big hit considering you have to move across the danube instead of using it as a defensive barrier like the germans did in real life.

Thanks for this, great feedback. [:)]

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Also shouldn't Croatia be bigger? As far as I know they should get significant parts of the coast.

The problem is that we need the more coastal areas to remain Yugoslavian as otherwise they cannot produce Partisans.

First unimpressive move by AI:
I attacked it with the two units with blue circles, got it down to 2 strenght but instead of retreating or reinforcing it decides to be the spearhead, maybe it wants to increase moral of other units?

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre
The problem is that we need the more coastal areas to remain Yugoslavian as otherwise they cannot produce Partisans.

oh I see

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

I just captured Cairo but then I got a big picture with message saying that the Italian forces surrenders in North Africa..

Also, I'm just south of riga at the river, I have a whole line of units guarding the river, no enemy hexes behind me, all units have supply of 5 but I can't reinforce them, why is that?

ps. would love to get some replies by developers on some of my questions:)

Hi

The timing of the Italian surrender coinciding with your capture of Cairo is pure coincidence.

If your units have supply of 5 then they should be able to reinforce above strength 8, providing you have sufficient MPPs, haven't done anything with them yet, and they aren't adjacent to the enemy.

Hopefully one of these conditions makes sense as a reason why you couldn't reinforce?

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan
ps. would love to get some replies by developers on some of my questions:)

I understand, I'm playing catch up as this forum has caught fire over the last few days! [:)]

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Btw, does the amount of cities/towns and amount of units in a pocket affect the supply situation? If not, I think it should:D

It doesn't directly, but the fact that there is no connection between Kiev and the Capital, an Industrial Center or Supply Center means that they will be in trouble.

Move two more units adjacent to Kiev and you'll enjoy watching enemy supply fall further.

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

[snip]


I get the feeling the AI has no fow when it comes to naval combat. a couple of times I've been in combat and moved away more than 5-10 hexes but the AI just instantly attack the unit the next turn, goes diretly to it, either AI is very intelligent or it always knows the location I'm retreating to.
Anyone else experienced this?

[snip

The RN certainly has no problem hunting down my subs. Perhaps at a later stage in the war the ease with which they find them would be appropriate, but for January 1940, I think the subs should still have the advantage.

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Btw, does the amount of cities/towns and amount of units in a pocket affect the supply situation? If not, I think it should:D

It doesn't directly, but the fact that there is no connection between Kiev and the Capital, an Industrial Center or Supply Center means that they will be in trouble.

Move two more units adjacent to Kiev and you'll enjoy watching enemy supply fall further.

Ah thanks for the tip, and the replies!

Is moving units adjacent to the city the only way of decreasing supply or is it also affected by time, I mean as time goes by without connection to the country supply should run out aswell?

Kursk, Belgorod and Kharkov were all completely undefended, feels like all of them should have atleast a garrison.
It's soon 1943 and I've yet to see any major offensive from the soviet side. Biggest thing so far was the reconnection of Kiev with 3 units. Would really like to see some major offensives even on beginner difficulty.
My units are more powerful, I don't know if AI takes that into consideration but still would be nice to see a major concentrated push by the enemy somewhere along the front.

The AI has done a pretty good job defensively, I've seen it retreating to rivers but also sometimes they could be more aggressive and reach cut off units, but most of the time it's too passive in that area.
They also seem to be holding on to doomed places, but imo that isn't a big problem, pretty realistic with their bad military skills and Stalins 'no retreat' orders. I just hope they will get better with time.

I second the disappearing UI whenever you move around the map, very annoying. Playing in 1920x1080 and the top half of the ribbons options (purchase, research, etc.) is cut off, also disruptive.