Matrix Games Forums

I really like this series. After playing Paradox games I thought I would find it difficult to go back to turn-based games but this on, with it's table-top leanings and simplicity, is very enjoyable even just against the AI.

But there are some things that, if a sequel was made, would be nice to see addressed:

• Multi-turn moves. It is beyond frustrating to discover that you have forgotten to move some transports stuck in the mid-Atlantic or Pacific, and so they will take one more turn to arrive. You should be able to issue orders that are carried out over more than one turn.
• I'd like to see convoys as units on the map. This would liven the naval war (which is a bit lack-lustre to be honest). They could be automatically moved units going along the convoy routes which you could defend or ambush depending on the side you are on, with attack/defence statistics that depend on your spending on convoy-escorts. This would also be more realistic than the present game of shuffling subs and destroyers.
• Some more "colour" in the technology field. E.g., Rather than developing "level 2 tanks" they should be "Panzer IIIs".
• Assymetry. Countries should be more distinguished from each other and less a case of applying a similar template to what units you are going to build. To support this the present unit-statistics could have an additional decimal-place added to them (e.g., instead of an attack stat of 9, the attack stat would be 90) so there is more room for bonuses and maluses (e.g., the UK gets level 1 fighters - Spitfires - with slightly higher defence stats than the Germans do etc.).
• This assymetry is particularly important in the naval field. Italian battleships were built to a very different standard than German battleships, with different gun-calibres, ranges, etc. etc. It is hard to show this with numbers falling mostly between 1 and 10, but with a scale of 1 to 100 easier to show.
• Variants. This flows from assymetry - the player should be able to choose what type of weapons-system they want to highlight different attributes. At it's most simple this might be something that just happens only in certain circumstances - you might be asked to choose between the Porshe and Henshel designs of the Tiger 1 and get different attributes and tank-graphics for your heavy tanks depending on which is chosen. A more developed embodiment of this concept might see multiple variants being unlocked for every level of certain technologies (tanks, aircraft etc.) which you can choose between, either when starting developing of the next level of technology, or when upgrading units.
• More transparency in the supply stats. Preferably give the units a fuel stat that they use up when they move (this would naturally open up the game to including oil production which is drawn down when units move). Preferably ever unit should also have an ammo statistic similar to the ones that artillery units presently have. Fuel and ammo can be refreshed automatically from stocks.
• The game should support more than two factions, so that e.g., the USSR can be a third faction in a WW2 scenario. This would support multi-player better, and open up more possibilities.

1. Additional scripting features:
- add #END_DATE

- allow multiple #LINK attributes per event

- ability to add a clickable hyperlink in the #NOTES text block

- removal of the "dummy" script attribute reqirements, such as:

#LINK= 0[0]
#CONDITION_POSITION= 0,0 [0,0] [0,0] [0] [0]
#NATIONAL_MORALE_TRIGGER= 0 [0]

(these should be set by default if they are not present within an event block)

2. Additional editor features to include ability to fully customize unit types. It is currently very limited within a unit type class.

2. Better engineering implementation and ability to fortify resource hexes

Nice post! I agree with all points so far.

My 2 cents, mostly related to UI..

• Give us separate counter options for Zoom levels 1 and 2. So we could choose 3D counters for zoom1 and NATO for zoom2 (or vice-versa). I for eg, love the 3D counters but on zoom2 they are very hard to distinguish, and so I prefer using NATO at that level. Right now it's possible to do by editing some files, but it would be great to have the option supported by default.

• Give us an option to "sleep/awake" whole groups of units. This could be made through a map overlay (like convoys) for click and drag over groups of units, or through a selector to pick all units of same type. So we could, for eg, put to sleep all units except HQs for easier organization of armies, of a whole front that we want to forget/keep on defense for now, or just zeppelins, etc (among other permutations).

• Give us a map option/overlay to visualize different unit types. Perhaps a map like (again) the convoy one, with a unit selector on the side that makes units of the type selected blink. This would help to fast visualize different armies/fronts compositions and where to deploy newly produced units. Sometimes I want to find that ground attack plane but forgot where I have left it. Such a feature would help with this.

• A "Trench levels" overlay, similar to the Supply one, only showing the trench levels instead of supply numbers. This would be very useful to know where your lines were weakened by the AI last turn(s) and thus where you need to reinforce/re-entrench.

• Create an option "Unwatch allied moves". So when delegating nations to the AI, we could opt to NOT see their moves, which would speed up AI turn times (sadly, a bit too slow right now).

• Automate armies (HQs + their respective corps/divisions). Similar to what Nobunaga's Ambition series allows, making them into autonomous forces and give them strategic settings like designated targets/cities, stances like defensive/offensive/balanced/supporting other armies, etc).

Thinking again, some of my suggestions above could be solved by having a general "overlay" feature, filterable by various functions. Eg:

- Aerial interception/coverage overlay,

- Unit strenght overlay,

- Trench level overlay,

- Artillery coverage overlay,

- HQ coverage overlay,

etc.

Another thing I'd love to see going forward is more differentiation between units of same type across different nations. Right now, if I understand it correctly, only tech level and xp factor in this. But historically different nations' units had different competency degrees due to different doctrines and gear, that could be reflected in the game. Eg: Germany armies both in WW1 and WW2 were known to worth more than double their French counterparts, meaning a single German corps unit should be stronger than their French counterpart on similar tech and XP level. Same for British vessels in relation to other nations' conterparts.

SC WW1 actually does something to this effect by giving ANZAC units more "Demoralization" effect than others of same type, but it feels, frankly, weirdly implemented in that game, considering other units that also deserved such differentiation (Canadians, German Sturmtruppen, Italian Arditi, etc) were completely ignored. So it ends up feeling like an incomplete step in this direction.