Matrix Games Forums

After loading up for first impressions I decided to treat this like I would any normal game and just jump right in. I've made it to December 1940 as the allies. France fell in July 1940, Italy has just invaded Greece and Germany seems to be gearing up to invade Russia. Here are my comments thus far.

1. The game, so far, is pleasantly free of bugs. I had no problem downloading it or getting it going.

2. The only technical issue is that it seems to be too easy to inadvertently switch between the combat/move screen and the screen that has the tabs for production, diplomacy etc... Essentially, if my arrow touches the screen edge it automatically reverts back to the combat/move screen.

3. The sub game is a bit fiddly. Basically ships run back and forth along the convoy routes and, given the size of the map it can be easy to lose track of ships as you wander around the Atlantic and every now and again run into a sub.

4. I'm on the regular level and the AI has, thus far, done a competent job on land. It also seems to handle the subs well but when it comes to surface combat it charges out too easily and thus is easily ganged up on. Basically the Italian navy was too easy to destroy because it came running out.

5. I really like the research module. My only quibble is that there are too many options many of which will never be used. Given the sharp limitation on production points, there are only so many research avenues you can follow and some, for example naval, just don't seem to be worthwhile.

These are just initial impressions, I'm enjoying the game immensely. More as it develops.

5. I really like the research module. My only quibble is that there are too many options many of which will never be used. Given the sharp limitation on production points, there are only so many research avenues you can follow and some, for example naval, just don't seem to be worthwhile.

In my last game as allies I had the whole right side researched for the USA and was nearly done with the left side in 1944.
Easiest setting though.
I think the idea is to force you to choose a certain path. Go heavy on airpower, or naval. Or spend the PP on units.

And on point 4 I'd recommend to play a game as Axis. You'd be surprised how well the AI plays.

n0kn0k, Thanks for the tips!

I stopped playing last night when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. I reloaded and there were no problems with the reload and the game picked up again nicely. In the game the British have taken Bardia, Greece was invaded but is being pushed back and Germany is pushing into Russia. More comments.

1. I enjoy the various political choices one has to make such as the game goes along. I'm sure that the AI makes the same choices (such as forming an Afrika Corps and taking all of Poland) so it seems to be playing a good game all around.

2. It's a bit hard for me to figure out which corp/army is attached to which HQ and the difference that it makes. I may simply need to look in an obvious place, but I have not been able to locate that place yet.

3. I'm trying to figure out how to rebuild carrier air wings. Again, this may be obvious but I have not figured it out yet.

4. The loss messages and NM boost one gets from killing units are a bit hard to read. They go by quickly and are just a bit faint.

5. I like the various map additions. It may not have any effect on game play, but seeing what various regions of Europe are called is kind of cool.

6. Now that I figured out how to use them, I like the engineer units!

More as the game progresses.

3. Go to a port. Rightclick and there will be two reinforce options. One for the carrier and one for the aircraft.

Imho a nice addition would be to be able to reinforce aircraft when in range of a supply point. Like 10 hex from a city. As aircraft could just fly towards the carrier.

2. It's a bit hard for me to figure out which corp/army is attached to which HQ and the difference that it makes. I may simply need to look in an obvious place, but I have not been able to locate that place yet.

Select a HQ, units attached to it are in green, potential units that can be attached are in blue. I don't know what's the HQ range in number of hexes.
HQ have three modes: auto, auto-assist and manual.

From the draft manual:
Auto is the default and is automatically handled by the game engine, as described above.
Auto-Assist allows attachments to be set manually, but the game engine will provide assistance in
subsequent turns by automatically selecting replacement attachments if any of the units that had
been manually attached no longer fulfil the attachment requirements. So for instance, if the unit is
now too far away from the HQ, or has been destroyed, then the engine will attempt to find another
that can benefit from the HQ's command.
Manual allows attachments to be set manually under the same rules as for automatic attachments,
except that you will have to make all changes yourself. In subsequent turns you will need to keep
an eye on the attached units, because if one exceeds the attachment range or is destroyed then
you will have to create a new attachment yourself in a subsequent turn.
Once either Auto-Assist or Manual modes are selected, with the HQ selected you will notice
highlights in blue for units within its attachment range that could be attached to it. To change a
unit's attachment or detachment status, simply right click on a green unit and select Detach from
the drop down menu or right click on a blue unit and select Attach.

Had to take a couple of days off (damn work!) but I reloaded and, once again, I did not see any problems. A couple of very minor points.

1. The most recent load game option defaults to the autosave which may not be the most recent save file. So, perhaps the default could be to the most recent save? It prevents having to stop and reload when you forget.

2. Are we only supposed to be able to use counters and not silhouettes for this version of the playtest?

Again, there were no problems reloading the game and the game flow seems to be going smoothly. It's December 1941, the US came in the war early, Spain entered the war, has taken Gibraltar and has attacked Portugal. The Russians are in ok shape. They hold a line Leningrad-Moscow, Kursk, Rostov and have started a counter attack around Moscow. The allies are nearing Tripoli and the Axis navy continues to be a pain with lots of moving ships back and forth.

More as it develops.

Just reported a bug where my game got caught up in an endless loop of explosions for the first soviet winter effect. If I can resume this game I will. If not, I'll start a new campaign.

2. Are we only supposed to be able to use counters and not silhouettes for this version of the playtest?

3D Units
These are still a work in progress and many are not yet complete. The Germans have a full set and for some countries they use the Germans as placeholders, for others there are some completed and some that are missing. Feel free to try out the 3D unit mode option to get an idea of just how they will look and work in game, but for now it is recommended to still use the NATO counters as those are fully completed.

Thanks for letting me know.

As I posted in the bugs report, it seems that my first soviet winter issue resolved itself and I was able to continue but it took a long time to get through the winter (more than five minutes). Still, I'm now in April 1942. Stuck outside of Tripoli and the soviets are actually counter attacking near Moscow and have killed three units. As I recall from earlier versions of this game, getting inside the replacement cycle is crucial to eventual victory. A couple of additional observations.

1. It's great that the Soviets get the Siberians but they don't have the PP to spare to transport them to the front so they make a long long march from the Urals. As noted, it's April 1942 and they still have not been able to march to Moscow. I understand you don't want them to show up in Moscow (what if the Germans have taken it) but perhaps they could get a free transport on the turn that they show up?

2. I think I understand what I don't like about the naval system. As I've noted, it's a lot of tooing and froing. Historically the allies gave up on hunter killer packs trying to find Uboats since it's a big ocean and had their escorts concentrate on the convoys where they either detered subs or killed them (if they could). In the game, it's basicaly all hunter kiiler packs where you hope to find the Uboats and usually you can't.

3. One minor issue on the west front. I attacked a German air unit with allied air units. When the German air unit took a loss it showed up both on the screen with an explosion and a -number floating on top of the unit but the explosion also happened on the small unit information screen at the bottom. I don't think that there were double losses, just and oddity.

Still enjoying the game a great deal!!

but the explosion also happened on the small unit information screen at the bottom.

Sometimes there are escorts or interceptors under that display that you can't see, but the explosion is visible if they take a hit.