Matrix Games Forums

So what is your first impression of the game?

Only just started with it but the new user interface(both in menus and in battle), enhanced graphics and sounds are a big improvement over the free version.

I mainly play with a desktop gaming PC but was delighted to see that even my 7-year-old Lenovo Thinkpad T420 with some crappy integrated Intel video without a dedicated VRAM is able to run this game reasonably well.

My best part:
1) Wide regional map and I can select the zone where I want to fight.
2) I can select wide range of time frame.
Based on 1 and 2, IMO this game can work as a good single play sandbox.

3) Seems easy to mod, add new units or factions or etc... Top-view like Close Combat reduced the burden for graphic work, if anyone want to add new units.
4) Map modding: I'm still learning, seems not easy. But still, this game offers a tool for map editing. I wish they offer more detailed map-making manual.
Based on 3 and 4, IMO this game has some good potential to be grow further. Who knows? Someone can try Yom Kippur mod with Golan Heights regional map. Someone can try Korean War mod with Korean regional map.

Very first impressions, and only based on 2 hours of use so far.

1. Could stand a few basic printed tutorials that walk you through things step by step. Videos are fine, but sometimes being able to refer to something that is right in front of you to work from as you go along is even better.

2. Needs a better way of depicting terrain height and contour. Even using the "paper" map, or the ISO views to get an idea of the different elevations, it is still difficult. I'd rather have the paper map look like a standard 1:50000 tactical map from the eras depicted. Maybe in the standard view, terrain height could be shown by graduated color variation with the highest being the lightest, and then getting darker as elevation decreases? ISO mode I take it is supposed to be a sort of 3D look, but for me it doesn't do much at all. Just my opinion though.

3. Overall graphics are very good when it comes to vehicles and aircraft. Anything that can depict for instance, American vehicles in Olive Drab, MASSTER, and MERDC camouflage by time period gets my vote!

4. A short set of instructions on how to create a new, or modify the existing database would be very helpful.

There is a lot of great potential here. As I get more experience I'm sure things will get more and more intuitive, but I still think written examples and tutorials with illustrations should have been included with the initial release.

Hows the AI?

ORIGINAL: zoikkis

...was delighted to see that even my 7-year-old Lenovo Thinkpad T420 with some crappy integrated Intel video without a dedicated VRAM is able to run this game reasonably well.

Think you just sold me re the crappy integrated Intel video. 2nd Bde 8th ID Baumholder 74-75. 8TH ID Hqs Bad Kreuznach 85-88.

Will this game be able to be modded to WW2? Just curious

Nice work on the new title.

I'm very much delighted to have a game like this set on Cold War period, such an underrated period for wargaming. Lots of opportunities.

As for the game itself, scenario designer is a blast. I jumped right into the game without checking the game guide or any manuals, and AI has been decimating me so far. Says enough about me as a commander that I managed to lose 5 T-72s without even seeing a trace of the enemy.

Even in its 1.0 stage, game is rather polished and reasonably good.

Soviet garbage, I still think we would have crushed them

Only a few minutes with the game. Initial first impressions are very good. Here are some things I quickly noticed.

Great editor options
Huge maps
Pretty maps
Smooth and fast zooming
tooltips galore
Nice UI so far
Zoom to cursor (such an often overlooked asset)
On display hotkey menu
First time information popups (press F1 to see the popup again after its first automatic display)
A ton of depth with unit options
Love the cell shaded unit graphics look with the clean outlines

All of this gleaned while still in the deployment phase. I've yet to even start the proceedings.

Absolutely impressed. I'm more excited about this title at this point than I have been in a long time.

mo reb

I just bought this based on the videos and watching other on YouTube. I have no familiarity with the original. Not too crazy about the time period. I used to be more into it back in the 70's and 80's when it was current. Still from playing it a little I find it enjoyable.

As mentioned above an Arab-Israeli mod would be great. If it could be modded for the modern period that would be really great! The modern Korean Peninsula, the Ukraine/Eastern Europe or even something involving China would be interesting.

I'm sure down the road Norway and the Turkish region could be covered. I remember playing GDW board-games that covered hypothetical NATO-Russian fighting in those regions.

This sort of feels like the computer version of the GDW Boots and Saddles series

My first impression- Great stuff...
I bought and downloaded it last night and dived straight into the mission generator to create tiny battles to learn on, and was so hooked that I couldn't put it down and was still playing it long past my normal bedtime without once looking at the manual because it's so smooth and easy to get into.
Equipment choices end at 1991 but there's scope for plenty of future expansions and maps and factions to cover everything up to the present day anywhere in the world as well as older conflicts like Nam etc..

Played two battles - the first scenario and generated my own small defensive battle.

AI did a great job in both, quite disconcerting to be losing units and not know where from. I thought AI did a good job defending the river crossing in the first scenario, I certainly lost quite a few BTR-70's.

In the generated battle, AI did well to use units appropriately, dropped the infantry to enter the town, used IFV to support the dismounted infantry and sent tanks through a path the infantry had cleared - good stuff. Infantry could have supported each other a bit better in the town but that's minor - always tough FIBUA.

Interface is smooth, relatively intuitive. Graphics & sound are excellent and a step up from the freeware version.

I'm still coming to grips with Command and Control - in the river crossing scenario as the soviets, (not sure if you can play both sides, so spoiler ahead if you don't want to know the Soviet ORBAT) - you get several HQs - I assume one for the three tank platoons and the two infantry company's get one each...but what if I want to split the tank platoons and give one each to an infantry company and leave one on overwatch - is there a way to attach sub-units to different commands? Also, is there an overall commander unit, say in this case a battalion HQ? can you designate one? Who do the scouts and mortars belong to?

An outstanding release IMO which is only going to get better!

Kudos to the team,

Cheers

Infantry dies pretty quickly in this game.

ORIGINAL: Emx77

Infantry dies pretty quickly in this game.

Depends what's firing at them..
Anyway a golden rule I tell newcomers to tactical wargaming is- "The enemy can't kill you if he can't see you, so get behind cover and he can't touch you"..

Or the mantra that was drilled into us at that time - "If you can be seen you can be hit. If you are hit, you are dead" The "modern" battlefield is SO much more lethal than WW2.

Hmmm I dunno, I play games like CMANO and Combat Mission Black Sea, and modern battlefield is much much deadly even compared to cold war.

Of course cold war is deadlier than WW2, but I think its degree is not that hugely different. Try 1960s or 1970s scneario, try fight of M48 vs T10/T55/T62, or M60 vs early T72/T64. They more or less feels close to WW2, at least to me. I also played Command Ops series and other WW2 Combat Mission and Close Combat, and in terms of fire power and FCS, early cold war battles (1960s~early 1970s) of this game feels similar to that of WW2 games.

Things become different from 1980s~1990s, but still, infantry can do something in here, based on your plan and geometry and other condition...

I finally had some time to sit down with Armored Brigade and go through the manual. Then I set up a small meeting engagement set in 1975 and 1280 points per side. I had 10 M60A1 RISE MBTs, two dismounted scout sections and two dismounted TOW sections. The Commies had 10 T-62s, 2 PT-76s, a BTR-60 Motorized Infantry Platoon, teo SAGGER sections and a BMP-1 command section. I put an objective in the center, there was a town n the north center bit mostly open fileds.

I was planning to have the TOWs overwatch across the map from the SW, one platoon of tanks move into an over watch position where the scouts were already situated and them move the other platoon onto the OBJ for victory.

I started the game and immediately made contact and massive tank firefight took place. I halted all my tanks as they were all engaged, spread out the attack platoon and after losing two in the overwatch platoon, I maneuvered the remianing section behind some trees to then advance to better spot.

My TOW gunners got into a fight launching TOWs but took DShk fire from a BTR and one team went down.

The fight lasted just over 4 minutes with the Commies taking a beating and their force morale broke and I won a tactical victory. I lost 4 tanks and one TOW team. The bad guys lost nine vehicles, mostly tanks and had their infantry beat up bad.

The game is intuitive. Commands are easy to give and manipulate. I'm sure there are nuances to learn but it was not difficult to get into.

Imagine my joy when I zoomed in to see my tanks and I found them in MERDEC camouflage and the Soviet tanks in their dark Russian green with numbers on the turrets. Just cool.

Being real time, the fight can come on you quickly and suddenly there is lots going on. But you can pause to give orders. They key is in setting the unit SOPs so they will act how you want them to. There is orders delay too, so they just don't start acting right away. This is all cool.

I can see an immersion coming here.

What's the best way to set up a battle like this? The zoom can go that low?

ORIGINAL: demyansk

What's the best way to set up a battle like this? The zoom can go that low?

What's the best way to set up a battle like this? The zoom can go that low?

I used a small battle area unfortunately I can't remember the exact size but it was around 1900 by 1900, 1240 points per side, armored force, meeting engagement and I manually picked both the enemy forces as well as my own. I moved the objective to the cneter of the map.