1581

Finally arrived. It came ended up coming direct from the author (and signed) which is very nice and explains why it took a while.

It is a large spiral bound set of B&W photocopies. They seem to be taken from Soviet sources. The material is very useful for me as I am looking for good sources on unit positions for a specific offensive. I am less sure it would be of use to the general reader.

One nice bonus is at the back is it has a map of Soviet supply positions/ rail & refuling stations throughout the sector. This is particularly useful as logistics and communications is at the heart of the game I am working on.

Happy I got it but I would think it would be overkill if you were just trying to follow a battle through a history book.

1582

I recently bought Unity of Command after trying out the demo and adoring it. What I really liked about it was that it was a size that was easy to handle - not overly huge maps or an enormous number of units in play (in fact, I wouldn’t have minded if it were a bit bigger!) - while still striving for simulation values (among other factors, taking supply into account and respecting its importance).

I’ve always had a want-to-love relationship with war games. I really enjoy the kind of maneuvering and the factors one have to take into account in turn-based war games, but in practice, find most of the ones I try to be either on the simplistic side (like ignoring supply in an operational game) or too huge and unwieldy.

Now, I wonder, what else is out there, aside from Unity of Command, that might hit that sweet spot? Striving for a simulation, without going ridiculous on size - I want to make decisions and implement a strategy, but moving several hundreds (or thousands) of units individually is way too much detail for me.

I’d be particularly intrigued by good ancient / medieval (or fantasy) tactical battles (and would also be quite keen on operational or strategical games in these themes), or eastern front / desert war WWII operational games - but am willing to give most themes and scales a try. Turn-based is a must - I have no interest in real-time (with or without pause). A good single-player experience is important as well - while I might dabble in multi-player if I get sufficiently hooked, I normally spend most of my time playing against the AI.

Games I’m pondering include:
Panzer Corps - seems a bit too much beer & pretzel. I do however much like the RPG aspect of gradually building up and improving your core force, carrying it over between scenarios, instead of each scenario standing on its own.

Battle Academy - seemed quite playable, but at least the demo mission(s) felt very heavily scripted. Wish scenarios were somehow linked. (Plus, tactical WWII is not my favourite scale / theme combination.)

Field of Glory - Poor documentation and doubts about how good the AI is leaves me not sure if this is for me. Otherwise, the scale and subject matter appeals a lot.

I’ve also seen positive comments about Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris, Advanced Tactics Gold and Commander: Europe at War Gold. But it’s hard to find much information / reviews for these titles, and I have little grasp of how playable (size-wise) the scenarios in them are. The lack of demos is discouraging as well.

1583

I don’t think it’s too much beer & pretzel. Now, I haven’t played Unity of Command, but I have the impression that that game is more in the beer & pretzel vein than PC, although I might of course be wrong. PC is basically an updated version of Panzer General, so if you liked that game, you’ll definitely like this one, too.

Personally, I do think that PC is a bit on the light side, but my go-to WWII is (and has been for a year or so) War in the East, so that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I still think that PC is a great game, though.

Field of Glory - Poor documentation and doubts about how good the AI is leaves me not sure if this is for me. Otherwise, the scale and subject matter appeals a lot.

If you’re interested in the scale and subject matter, you need to play this! Even though you say that you’re mainly interested in the SP part, you really should try out the MP part as well, since that’s were it gets interesting. MP games are very easy to find and/or setup, using an integrated system, and if you set up a game, chances are that you’ll find an opponent within 15 minutes. I still play the SP part, though, but mostly in between turns in MP games.

Regarding the documentation, yes, it sucks, but there is a helpful wiki, and the rules are relatively simple, so it shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle.

Be aware that there is a bunch of relatively expensive expansion packs, each of which gives you access to more units and historical battles, that you won’t otherwise be able to use/play. It does seem like they’re milking their customers a bit (I personally bought 3 or 4, and I’m still not sure if I think it’s worth it). Even so, they’re apparantly quite expensive to produce, and it’s not certain that they’ll be making more.

Anyway, this game is great! You should get it.

I’ve also seen positive comments about Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris, Advanced Tactics Gold and Commander: Europe at War Gold. But it’s hard to find much information / reviews for these titles, and I have little grasp of how playable (size-wise) the scenarios in them are. The lack of demos is discouraging as well.

I only have the first one, and I’ve only played it briefly. I have to say that I found the initial impression a bit off-putting, but since I haven’t given it a fair try, I’ll withhold judgement. But Spelk, who’s a member of these forums, liked it a lot, and did a couple of AAR’s that may help you decide if it’s something you might like.

1584

The single player battles are quite a bit like puzzles, and the campaign’s don’t have any persistent aspect that I’m aware of. On the other hand, the MP is not puzzle-like at all, is extremely slick and easy to get into, and in addition to the good stock of scenarios from the base game + 3 expansions to date, a ‘point buy’ battle system is now available in open beta if you own the game.

It is one of my most rewarding purchases in recent years. I’ve played close to 100 MP games, and have appetite for another 100 more.

1585

@unic: I did find Panzer Corps to be more beer & pretzels than Unity of Command, but fun in its own right. Kind of puzzle like, like Battle Academy, but both are enjoyable.

If you can get by the somewhat dated visuals, Tin Soldiers: Julius Caesar is a good game with an interesting turn-based initiative system.

Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris had too many units for my liking but was well-done. I only played it a little.

1586

Well… I did it. 50% off Unity of Command on gamers gate this weekend, and the game diaries here and TMAs constant talking it up made me finally cave and pick it up. I probably won’t play it much until next week though.

I’m still reading the WWI book recommended here, and that’s had me thinking in a tactical mindset too, so that helped too. He makes a big point of talking about how the supply chains impacted the battles both on planning and combat level, so I think I’m especially primed for an operational level game.

1587

Okay, smart people-- does anyone have a good suggestion for a book on the fall of Singapore in '42? Of the disasters I’ve read about so far in On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, it’s the one that’s probably most interesting to me.

1588

For the Air War I suggest Christopher Shores “Bloody Shambles”. I know its tenagental but Shores is just soo good that if there is a chance of luring anyone into reading his books I will take it 8)

http://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Shambles-Vol-Drift-Singapore/dp/094881750X

For the ground war its not specific to it but does cover painfully awful retreats I would recommend to anyone “Defeat into Victory” by Slim.

http://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Into-Victory-Battling-1942-1945/dp/0815410220/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338775755&sr=1-1

edit: I am also trying to figure out which of the Logistics and Eastern front books I am wading through that had some aside that ran “If Britain had sent a single shipment of its massive aid to the USSR to Singapore instead it could have been saved.” I will see if it I can dig it up, it was referring specifically to Hurricanes if memory serves.

1589

Oh wow, thanks for the links.

1590

Just a heads-up that Slitherine and Matrix are running a D-Day sale (through 12th of June) on several of their titles.

Personally, I am hoping to pick up Battle Academy and Advanced Tactics Gold at least. Depending on how I can balance money, Operational Art of War 3, Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge, Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris, Commander: Europe at War, and Battle Academy expansions look tempting as well. Can’t afford all of them, so will have to make some hard choices.

Really need to get around to playing that Battles from the Bulge demo to see how good it is!

1591

Battles from the Bulge is roughly as good as the last Airborne Assault game, with two killer features:

  1. The ability to coordinate when attacks hit-- you can set H-hour manually (provided it’s far enough in the future).
  2. An estab editor. This is a feature the series has been missing for way too long.
1592

Thanks for the heads up. I still haven’t gotten around to picking up the Highway to the Reich expansion for BftB, so this is a perfect opportunity.

You really should try that demo before the sale expires, btw.

1593

The Command Ops engine used for Battles From the Bulge is the best for simulating warfare on the PC today, IMHO. Also has very impressive AI. They are also working on Legends of the Blitzkrieg, which is the invasion of France using the Ops engine modified for the platoon scale. Can’t wait for that!

1594

I think Legends of the Blitzkrieg is more like a mod, made by someone else. I’m not really sure, though, that’s just the impression I got.

Anyway, they’re also working on some other stuff:

[ul]
[li] Knock On All Doors (KOAD) Ex Pack - just four scenarios to go on this set which covers the alternate German staff proposal for the Bulge.[/li][li] East Front - we have started designing scenarios for this now.[/li][li] West Wall Ex Pack - this will cover battles along the west front between Market Garden and Bulge. We’re still in the research phase for this one.[/li][/ul]
Dave is also working on some sort of batch converter of earlier scenarios, which would then allow them to release a Conquest of the Aegean expansion pack. Yay, Crete!

Edit: I guess Command Ops must be selling rather well. At least, I hope that’s the case, and all this activity isn’t just because Dave’s last military project got cancelled.

1595

Dave is also working on some sort of batch converter of earlier scenarios, which would then allow them to release a Conquest of the Aegean expansion pack. Yay, Crete!

I’m loving HTTR in the CO engine, but COTA will be the greatest thing ever. ANZACS roll out!

1596

Yeah, I’m really hoping they get that converter working, so that this will happen. I haven’t played the original, and have been considering getting it, although I was loath to have to miss some features of Command Ops.

Anyway, I just bought the HTTR expansion, and lo and behold, the original game is available as a bonus download for registered owners (along with the original strategy guide). Very nice!

1597

They’ve been talking about the converter for a long time, though. I hope it materializes.

1598

It looks like they’ve made quite a bit of progress. Take a look at this topic.

1599

Command Ops is probably the only Matrix product I’m content to pay Matrix pricing for.

1600

Now on sale!

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3118387

Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge - Originally $59.99, now $39.99!
Command Ops: Highway to the Reich - Originally $24.99, now $14.99!