Matrix Games Forums

UPDATED WITH PART I, II, III, IV, V
Hi all,

our friend youtuber Paradogs Gamer has posted the first of a series of videos about our upcoming wargame Strategic Command!

Strategic Command | 1939 Storm over Europe | Part 1 - War Preparation

Strategic Command | 1939 Storm over Europe | Part 2 - Assault on Poland!

Strategic Command | 1939 Storm over Europe | Part 3 - France is next!

Strategic Command | 1939 Storm over Europe | Part 4 - Strengthening the borders

Strategic Command | 1939 Storm over Europe | Part 5 - Icy shores of Denmark

Looks really nice!

I was quite astonished, though, by the values on the diplomatic screen

Romania 60% towards the Axis? in Sept 1939??
Iraq 20% pro-Western???

where does that all come from?

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/0 ... ion-tamer/

Another review I found yesterday. If you read the article it hints at a possible release date. I hope it is on target. The reviewer is more into tactical games but it looked to me like it had all the flavor of the SC series that we've all come to love.

Hmm 1 tier of some techs seems a bit limiting.
And Germany seems to have a low soft cap for an amount of units.

ORIGINAL: The Guru

Looks really nice!

I was quite astonished, though, by the values on the diplomatic screen

Romania 60% towards the Axis? in Sept 1939??
Iraq 20% pro-Western???

where does that all come from?

Hi

Romania's setting doesn't have any great effect. It does mean that the Axis could try diplomacy to bring her into their camp earlier, but it's probably not a worthwhile use of diplomacy. Germany has bigger fish to fry.

Iraq itself will change during the game in response to Axis successes, though it normally ends up conquered by the Allies, possibly being liberated if the Axis do very well.

Poland looks way stronger than it should be - or better Germans seem very understrength (especially as by what seen in the video - each German corp individually attacking a Polish Army struggle).
Again experience gains seem meaningless by the looks of when units are selected. Units should gain more experience - and / or lose less when they get replacements.

Most people take Poland in 3 turns, but it can be done in 2. It certainly is not overpowered! Experience is modeled, but so are organisation and supply and general tactics and the Germans are ahead on those type of factors which give them significant advantages in a head on fight. However the way to win is not to fight units one on one. You punch holes, go around the rest and head to Warsaw while cutting the others troops off. You have almost complete dominance in air power. I tend to ignore the strongest Polish units and let them attack me if they want to becomes involved.

I saw that in the vids that Germany gets a lot of points ( more than from Sweden) from... Norway...
Apart from Swedish iron ore passing through Norwegian waters in the winter, I really don't see what Norway contributed to Germany's economy (Norway was an unindustrialized poor contry - during the war, Norway and the Polish General Government area where the two only occupied zones that Germany had to ship supplies -food mostly- into, rather than the opposite)

To answer to Guru here I think the "Norway" PPs are effectively Swedish which come through the Narvik route (anyhow used pratically only in Winter due to swedish ports getting iced).

This is a great gameplay preview!

I noticed that it appears that there isn't a railway movement feature. Is this right?

I also noticed that it seems that the initial main use of mpps (because there is never enough for everything...) seems to be logically geared towards research, reinforcement, and upgrading of existing units rather than the building of new units. This is because new unit builds have already been pre-queued with supposed mpp costs that are scripted rather than player determined. I just wonder whether it would be more interesting to have more mpps available without any pre-scripted builds, to allow more flexibility...

C

I think there is rail movement feature in SC3 (as it is in SC2) but it cost mmps, I guess the author of the video preferred to save mmps for Research & Upgrades vs a faster re-deployment

Thanks, I had neglected to remember this since I only just started playing SC2 in anticipation of SC3. I could never get into playing SC2 because of the square grid instead of hexes.
I am really excited about SC3 though and can't wait for it to be released!

C

ORIGINAL: CC1

This is a great gameplay preview!

I noticed that it appears that there isn't a railway movement feature. Is this right?

I also noticed that it seems that the initial main use of mpps (because there is never enough for everything...) seems to be logically geared towards research, reinforcement, and upgrading of existing units rather than the building of new units. This is because new unit builds have already been pre-queued with supposed mpp costs that are scripted rather than player determined. I just wonder whether it would be more interesting to have more mpps available without any pre-scripted builds, to allow more flexibility...

C

Hi

The scripted units will soon run out in a long war, so the emphasis will change as the game progresses... and over-investing in research or diplomacy can lead to an early defeat.

In terms of movement from Poland to the west, the German player can either operate units by rail for a cost, use Forced March, suffering a unit morale penalty in doing so, or march them at normal speed.

Bill

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

ORIGINAL: CC1

This is a great gameplay preview!

I noticed that it appears that there isn't a railway movement feature. Is this right?

I also noticed that it seems that the initial main use of mpps (because there is never enough for everything...) seems to be logically geared towards research, reinforcement, and upgrading of existing units rather than the building of new units. This is because new unit builds have already been pre-queued with supposed mpp costs that are scripted rather than player determined. I just wonder whether it would be more interesting to have more mpps available without any pre-scripted builds, to allow more flexibility...

C

Hi

The scripted units will soon run out in a long war, so the emphasis will change as the game progresses... and over-investing in research or diplomacy can lead to an early defeat.

In terms of movement from Poland to the west, the German player can either operate units by rail for a cost, use Forced March, suffering a unit morale penalty in doing so, or march them at normal speed.

Bill

Question, where is the option for a forced march? Been looking for it, but I am not seeing it. Or, is that option removed from SC2 and you just mean physically marching your units across the map from one border to the other?

To answer to Guru here I think the "Norway" PPs are effectively Swedish which come through the Narvik route (anyhow used pratically only in Winter due to swedish ports getting iced).

That's my point. germany seems to be getting those every turn

ORIGINAL: Scook_99

Question, where is the option for a forced march? Been looking for it, but I am not seeing it. Or, is that option removed from SC2 and you just mean physically marching your units across the map from one border to the other?

Hi

Double click on a unit. Not all units can forced march, there are rules a bit similar to in SC2.

But one big change is naval units have their own equivalent now, they lose 1 supply point when doing so but they move double their normal distance.

Also, check out the Manuals folder within the game's main installation for the Essential Guide (among other things) if you haven't already. [:)]

Bill

ORIGINAL: The Guru

To answer to Guru here I think the "Norway" PPs are effectively Swedish which come through the Narvik route (anyhow used pratically only in Winter due to swedish ports getting iced).

That's my point. germany seems to be getting those every turn

Hi

Germany will receive MPPs from Norway's convoy every turn, but the value of the Norwegian convoy will go up in winter while the Swedish one will cease altogether.

It's also my understanding that ore was transported via Narvik all year round, even though the proportion declined significantly when Lulea was free of ice. However, I have not seen detailed month by month figures which might be able to shed further light on the exact amounts dispatched via both ports (and other routes).

There are plenty of contradictory figures on the web, but an interesting comment on this is in Kersaudy's Norway 1940 which does say that the ore was transported via Narvik in winter, but that doesn't explain why on page 17 he says 'fragmentary information available by late September [1939] seemed to indicate a marked decrease in the iron ore traffic from Narvik to Germany' i.e. a decrease in late summer, which doesn't make sense if the ore was only transported from Narvik during winter.

Bill

Don't forget parts 6-8
And there are 2 other reviews on You Tube too

Just finished watching part 2. The sound effects brought back memories & almost a flashback. Looking forward to this one.

We have created a playlist with some of the Let's Play videos of Strategic Command on Youtube!

You can find it at this link:
https://youtu.be/k4gKAykukAU?list=PLk5K ... tH1H-lf9vJ