Booted up after long break..

[wodin]

I booted the game up after a long break from it and I have to say please forgive me for forgetting how good it is.


Really enjoyed it. Mission 1 in School Teacher Campaign a Decisive Success. Well that made me happy as the game has kicked me all over the shop numerous times.

Itching now for the next game to be finished and released! Also my thirst for WW2 version kicked in again..

The turn mechanics are just superb and nail biting.

Thanks

[CapnDarwin]

Glad to see the game still has appeal as we work on the next one. [8D]

[wodin]

I've always loved the plan, sit and watch games probably Football Manager on the BBC B many moons ago being the first.

It's nail biting, tension filled and thrilling. Why I loved\love Combat Mission,Dominions 5 and other WEGO games.

[GiveWarAchance]

Is this game hard to learn?
I have bought this game already, the base game Flashpoint but not the German expansion yet.
I tried it once and felt overwhelmed cause I'm not good with complexity so I never went back to it.
Recently I tried a game called 'Wargame: Red Dragon' which is similar but it felt arcade-like & is basically a shallow multiplayer type game but is easier to jump into and learn probably due to the arcade aspect but it feels like a meal at Mcdonald's instead of a proper wholesome meal.
I want a cold war game with more realism but that means complexity too.
How hard is this game to learn? I am wondering if I can brave the storm of complexity to be able to learn it before my willpower wilts.
I made a cardinal error and bought another game Gary Grisby's War in the West which I only tried for 10 minutes before uninstalling cause it was overkill for me. The reason I made the mistake is cause I liked Gary Grisby World at War A World Divided despite the awkward name it is a nice game and easy to learn and has nice solo campaigns that give big boosts to the AI side to make it challenging. And I think it might be good for email games too but haven't tried that.
Is this game good for email games? I could get into that after playing it solo extensively to learn it and hopefully get reasonably adept at the basics of this game.
Do people find this game difficult to learn? Are you playing both solo and email games?
The reason I bought this game is cause I like the cold war era cause I played another game about it, and the graphics in the pictures on the Slitherine product site look incredibly good.
Sorry for this messy post.

[jack54]

I don't think it's hard to learn. It's WEGO so you enter your orders, the other player or AI enter their orders and then there is the resolution phase where all you can do is watch until the next orders phase.

It may take a little while to learn the Interface but it's nothing too complicated.

Each unit can be given up to 3 way-points with 'hasty' or 'deliberate' move speed followed by an end stance 'Hold' or 'Screen'. Your units will move and fire on there own, no micro-managing.

There is an option to allow your staff to call in artillery.(AI control) You can still enter Bombardments yourself but I usually let the staff handle it.

IMHO it's a great game. If you like WEGO and Cold War it's worth learning.

Ask away if you have questions there's a very helpful group of forum members and the Devs give excellent support.

[CapnDarwin]

jack54, thanks for jumping in and helping out. [&o]

[GiveWarAchance]

jack54, thank you for reply.
I like how the units can do attack move just with waypoints and artillery handled by staff.
I will try some single player missions and campaigns. Hopefully I can get the hang of it.
Do you play by email at all? Or people prefer solo missions?

[JoeMK]

I'm new to this game too, enjoying it for about this year's Easter time. I started with the very, very helpful tutorial mission scenario! Thanks to the devs for writing this accompanying and amazing "Quick Start & Tutorial Guide". Then I proceeded with short missions. And just now I'm making my plans for the "Eyes, Ears and Teeth" - scenario, which, potentially, seems to become a very nasty affair. But let's see what my planning will do when the game starts. Whether the chosen option to start is adequate to the AI's plan in the beginning and, as things develop, does my plan have sufficient degrees of freedom to counterattack unintended progress: this is pure excitement. What I have learned so far, you never can plan with sufficient reserves, not even do you get enough ammo of type smoke and mines (playing as NATO): You have to plan with and command "frugal" forces...
I agree to jack54: It's a great game. And besides the WEGO mechanism also the game's wonderful asynchronous command cycle system is to underline.

[CapnDarwin]

As noted above, it is a good idea to run through the Quick Start and Tutorial Guide a couple times to get familiar with the UI and see how units respond and perform under various orders. Also check out this thread on the scenario naming conventions so you can find the small scenarios to start with (like A Time to Dance) and also understand the correct "side" to play. If you are playing as NATO you want to start those "N" coded scenarios to have the correct setups for the map and enemy.

Link: tm.asp?m=3432270

Enjoy the game! [8D]

[jack54]

ORIGINAL: GiveWarAchance

jack54, thank you for reply.
I like how the units can do attack move just with waypoints and artillery handled by staff.
I will try some single player missions and campaigns. Hopefully I can get the hang of it.
Do you play by email at all? Or people prefer solo missions?

I always play against the AI. The AI can play a scenario differently which makes it fun. It's hard coded to be aggressive so you can set up some kill zones yet the scenario design still makes them challenging. The Scenario names that start with H are designed head to head (2 player).

Enjoy the Game.

[GiveWarAchance]

Thank you Joe, Darwin and Jack.
Nice advice to check the scenario for which side to play as.
I will do tutorial and then some N missions against AI.
Hopefully my forces don't get brewed up too badly too soon.
In Red Dragon game, my whole force of Abrams tanks and M113 APCs were turned into blackened wrecks before even getting to the assembly point I sent them to.

[HeinzBaby]

Hi GiveWarAchance,

I found Red Dragon, thou good fun, a typical first person click fest..

This is a fantasic Sim, nothing like Red Dragon, the WEGO system is brutal when all things go wrong and wonderful when all goes accordingly to plan (as per a well executed ambush/artillery strike).

In the 'Mods and Senarios' tab scroll down to you find 'How do YOU play' and read through them, great opinions and advice to soak in,
then replay both the tutorials a few times.
Enjoy the learning curve.

[CapnDarwin]

I myself, consider Red Dragon to be a RTS game and not a "war game". I'm heavily biased since I don't like RTS games. Every once in a while, I will see a new one with some shiny new feature and click buy just to be disappointed that it is Orcs versus Humans in a new flashier packaging. So clearly not my cup of tea. That said, as folks are pointing out, our game is very different, has a learning curve, but it is easy to understand and control. If you are new to war games or a WeGo system or the Cold War, it may take a few plays of a scenario to understand the mechanics of the battlefield, planning (critical in real life - see the AARs sub-forum for great examples), and how to effectively use the various types of equipment found in the game. Feel free to ask questions or make comments on your impressions of the game. [8D]

[GiveWarAchance]

Red Dragon does have some fun factor to it but seems chaotic and messy and unrealistic. The only thing I like about it are the sounds, but should admit that I only tried 2 battles one solo and one multiplayer and lost motivation, so I ought practice it more before saying it is rubbish but I'd rather invest time in learning this Flashpoint game cause it seems much more of a high quality, realistic game and the graphics are lot better.

I like this WEGO concept where both sides enter their orders and see how they play out against each other.
I haven't had time to dive into it yet but will in the next few days. I'll report back my progress.

[CapnDarwin]

We will be interested in your feedback. Happy Hunting! [8D]

[wodin]

I agree. Very few realtime games I'd class as a wargame. In fact Graviteam Tactics and Hearts of Iron series (continuous time rather than realtime) are about it. The Wargame series I don't class as a wargame.

Personally I think WEGO is the best mechanic for Wargamers.

ORIGINAL: CapnDarwin

I myself, consider Red Dragon to be a RTS game and not a "war game". I'm heavily biased since I don't like RTS games. Every once in a while, I will see a new one with some shiny new feature and click buy just to be disappointed that it is Orcs versus Humans in a new flashier packaging. So clearly not my cup of tea. That said, as folks are pointing out, our game is very different, has a learning curve, but it is easy to understand and control. If you are new to war games or a WeGo system or the Cold War, it may take a few plays of a scenario to understand the mechanics of the battlefield, planning (critical in real life - see the AARs sub-forum for great examples), and how to effectively use the various types of equipment found in the game. Feel free to ask questions or make comments on your impressions of the game. [8D]

[demyansk]

I have Flashpoint, the only thing I dislike is the way the scenarios are listed. Difficult to determine what side to play. Other than that, good game and I like the we go games. Put the orders in and watch.

[wodin]

My gripes are helicopter vulnerability and LOS\LOF when in built up areas.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[GiveWarAchance]

ORIGINAL: CapnDarwin

We will be interested in your feedback. Happy Hunting! [8D]

This game is quite good. I bought the Flashpoint Germany expansion too after trying red storm.
I like the graphics, sound effects and the burning remains of destroyed equipment on the field.