Matrix Games Forums

I was wondering why this campaign was chosen? Is it the scale of it or something else?

I always thought of the attempt to relieve the Stallingrad kessel was rather hopeless given the weather, terrain and enemy.

I am just curious why this one was picked.

Also, are to expect future campaigns to be released? Will it be as an add on or a whole new game?

ORIGINAL: Mad Cow
I was wondering why this campaign was chosen? Is it the scale of it or something else?

A combination of reasons, as always. The subject is interesting to many wargamers, though rarely represented in wargames. The time period (Late 42) allows us to include a number of very key units for the Eastern Front in general and gives us a time when German and Soviet forces had some very interesting operational and tactical pros and cons. The campaign starts with a German attack and ends with a Soviet attack, so it's great to give players who like one side or the other a chance to go on the offensive.

Also, are to expect future campaigns to be released? Will it be as an add on or a whole new game?

If all goes reasonably well, yes. I would expect some add-ons first, then a whole new game if everything meets our expectations. There are a lot of campaigns I would really like to do with this engine.

Regards,

- Erik

Your answers concerning the campaign makes sense to me.

I hope that if you do an add on for the game it will cover Fall Blau and the fight for Stalingrad, including Uranus.

[:D]

I, for one, have no interest whatsoever in Uranus.

[;)]

Liar...

[:-]

Great choice for a campaign in my view. Decent amount of material available to the scenario designers, interesting time period, sense of mission. Surprising, but well chosen.

All the best

Andreas

I would have liked to see something on the western front, since there hasn't been a good ww2 tactical game on the west front since CMBO.

The Ardennes Offensive would have been excellent.

Not complaining, just saying.

ORIGINAL: Mad Cow

I would have liked to see something on the western front, since there hasn't been a good ww2 tactical game on the west front since CMBO.

The Ardennes Offensive would have been excellent.

You think the German task was any less "hopeless" there?!

Give it time, Vinny. If this one is a success there's a whole war to chose from.

I like the time period for its weapon line-up. Each side has pros and cons in its major weapons, communications, etc. There are no King Tigers and such. Its a period when the Germans had rebounded from its inferior armor fleet.

But I hope the game can capture the elements that actually made weapon systems different. I am very much interested in the command and control aspect as well as the observation and communications effect.

ORIGINAL: Hertston

Give it time, Vinny. If this one is a success there's a whole war to chose from.

ahem...."when" it is successful.

I don't understand neither the question nor the answers to it.
Given the scale of the maps (2km wide or so?) and the forces available for each scenario (battalion?) without the scenario designer telling us about where the actions happens, the only way to discern if these screenshots are happening near Stalingrad, Rzhev, Demyansk or Voronezh (whatever) would be by a methodical, grognardy inspection of materiel or the correlation of forces. It's Russia, it's the winter of 1942-1943, what's the difference anyway? Unless we are getting very detailed and historically accurate maps.
Why the need to bind a tactical game to an specific situation that could be solved at the operational level only?
I don't need to be enthused into accomplishing big faits (destroying or saving the Sixth Army) to enjoy a good tactical fight. Besides, in real life my accomplishments would mean little to the operation.

Absolutely can't agree with that. In scenario design great care should be taken to provide a realistic and interesting setting for the fight, embedding it in the operational context. That's my personal approach, and I could not care less for a scenario that just says 'Here are your forces, go and kill the other forces' in the briefing.

YMMV.

All the best

Andreas

Hi,
For a single scenario, could be. But for a whole game?

For the game I guess it enables them to have an out of the box campaign with a setting, and one that is easier to market than, say, calling it 'Winter Warfare 1942/3 in Russia', which is what it really would be, were it to have a full scenario editor.

All the best

Andreas

Good point on marketing. If the game engine proves its worth, the least thing I want out of this release is it selling poorly. I will take marketing as the answer to my previous rant.
Regards,