Post Your Gameplay Impressions of FWW

[Embis]

...snip...snip.. However if someone twists my arm I suppose I could put an image of it in there in the first update. ;)

Consider your arm to have been twisted, what is a Scottish regiment without the skirl of the pipes?

And...whilst we are on the subject of new images, please can we have a new horse image? this particular horse has lasted from Waterloo to the Normandy landings and it is high time it was put out to stud!

..But the game.... wow.... I have been begging for this for so long, and I seem to remember so many people telling me it would never happen, this is brilliant, I havent explored it in depth yet but so far I haven't found anything I didnt like..... apart from the hoss!

There is so much scope here for some very nice small scale scenario design, love it.... thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have all the SB series and in my opinion this is the best since ToD. So nice to have a game that is about ww1 but not on the grand strategic level, Trench warfare is ripe for small scale actions and this is a niche in the market which nobody, until now has begun to exploit. Ideally I would like to see the scale taken down even lower to hexes of a metre, and units representing single men but I understand this is beyond the scope of this series, I have ranted about this before and here is not the place for that discussion.

However, this is superb, again; thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

(Please remember to shoot that horse)

[gabeeg]

I am really loving it so far, it is a refreshing change of the standard WWII SB that I play and love. The one thing I see that I am up in the air about is the trench dynamic. The fact that fire between trench lines can pin units that are entrenched, where in my mind the troops would just keep their heads down and move fairly freely within the trenches. This is only a movement (and Demoralization) issue as the fire power reduction for pinned makes sense as they are keeping their heads down. This is a system engine issue though so not sure what could be done without adding a separate status such as "heads down" where trench movement is not reduced (or demoralization induced)but fire power is. For me I am using the "hold fire" toggle to minimize my guys getting pinned in the trench by op fire (until they are exposed of course) when preparing them to go over the top.

Make no mistake...this is a minor issue in the scope of things as I have been borderline obsessed playing this game this weekend (and I normally do not like playing the AI) to check out all the neat stuff and tactical puzzles...I am really, really enjoying it. Thanks and Great job!

[kolc]

I have been only poking about in the game...but so far very favorably impressed. I always thought Pacific War was one of the best SB games and a best overall game in general. There is so much scope and variety. My first impression of FWW is that it is not only on the same scale as PW, but it will surpass it. Multi-national troops...a variety of weapon types (though antiquated mostly)...tactics in transition...to my mind it doesn't get much better. Can't wait to go over the top!

[Compass Rose]

I really like the idea that if a unit is gassed, and they are equipped with gas masks, they automatically put them on, and their unit pic automatically changes to show this. A very neat feature!

[TheBigRedOne]

The next big question is, will FWW knock Red Victory off the top spot on the ladder for games played each month!

[Shoopzee]

I will tell you at the end of the week when I pick the title up. Bravo Ed,
This was unexpected, but welcome in my books. I already have F14; this will complimented the gameplay greatly. Great job!

[miller41]

Don't post much, but I bought and am playing this game and so far it is a blast. Accepting that you will lose a ton of men takes some getting used to I also wonder why no other fronts were represented, is it that you know people will make them or was it just a time thing.
Great game, well worth the purchase.

[Wodin]

When I get around to buying this I WILL BE DOING A 2D GRAPHIC MOD. Similar to the RV and AOTR mods.

Also I was wondering about trenches...obviously going to ground is alittle odd in a trench as they just have to step of the fire step. So I wonder how thats worked out in game. Also alot of battles had covering MG fire set about a kilometer back from the front lines, I imagine this is hard to do in the game..I may have thought they'd have implemented something like calling support\arty but it's MG fire instead..Heavy MG fire firing over the troops was a major aspect of the big battles. Are mines in game?Also do the British use bats with nails in and the Germans spades in close combat? Are grenades in game from the jam tin onwards as alot of fights where fought with grenades as the war progressed..

Trench question again..when troops took a trench they then had to quickly reverse it so they could fire from it the other side (hence alot of troops where burdened with tools for this job)..is this replicated in game?

Does Gas kill and do we have say Chlorine and Mustard gas? Is gas released through shells and through the pipe system or just through shells? Does wind effect Gas..thinking of Loos here where the gas blew back into the British trenches. Is there a good range of weapons including some of the improvised ones..i.e in Gallipolli Aussie troops used a catapult to fire jam tin grenades into the Turkish trenches?

Does the Arty fire shrapnel aswell as HE? Also Are trench mortars in game and do the British fire the "pineapple" and the Germans the "Black Johnsons" (these could be seen tumbling through the air and the troops had to guess where about it would land and run the other way..it caused a huge explosion and made a massive noise..some things found after an explosion where false teeth and clockwork cogs etc etc..nasty). Are HE shells less potent in mud during the beginning and middle of the War (later more advanced fuses where used).

Anyway when i do buy I will be giving it a 2D makeover..though someone may want todo weapons and vehicles..I will be doing terrain and of course new faces and "boxes".

I was going to say after reading in the designer notes maybe the game would have benefited from going to 100meter hexes..however alot of trench systems where within 20 meters or so..so that wouldn't have worked. Maybe what would have been cool is units that cover more than one hex..i.e an early war German Inf platoon would cover two hexes as it got reduced to half strength it would become a one hex unit...would require alot of major engine changes so I know that was never likely to happen.

Thanks

@miller what fronts are missing? I do believe after speaking with Volcano Man he could have gone on for years trying to cover all battles and is hoping the players make new ones..when i buy it I may do some scenarios..I have a substantial WW1 library though they will be set on the Western front..

@gabeeg Many times troops got pinned and even wiped out in their jumping off trenches through arty. I do agree though I think it's odd that they would get pinned as such by rifle fire, also I think the go to ground is abit odd in trenches..only in an Arty attack would they cower at the bottom of the trench as rifle and MG fire would go over their heads once they get down from the fire step. I think in game when troops are in a trench it should be alot harder to pin them and they should rarely go to ground (though i suppose you have to imagine go to ground also means get off the fire step). I think maybe in this game troops should be less prone to going to ground and to getting pinned than in other games in the series. Not loads but abit. I also agree that troops in a trench should be allowed to move freely within the trench no matter the status. Maybe in a patch?

[Volcano Man]

You guys are thinking about trenches wrong. The trenches are simply a line of the already existing trench fortification, but the differences in FWW is that they are extremely capable, that is, they provide a huge defensive bonus. Moving along the trench is as if moving through clear terrain regardless of the terrain in the hex, so it does have a mobility bonus. Also, combat along the trench at adjacent hexes ignore much of the trench's protection. That is the extent of what was changed. Going On Ground is no different than before: it is an *abstraction* where you simply give up speed for security. You can imagine them moving around in the lower step hunched over if you like, but the fact is that 1916 - 1918 have trenches with the highest protection level to represent those elaborate two step trenches that everyone is talking about. At that point, in the game, you can only really hope to cause an effect on enemy in trenches by being adjacent so the protection along with the movement bonus certainly does represent the bottom tier of the trench.

Anything beyond that, to me at least, seems like an necessary complexity.

And yes, SB:FWW contains all the content that I could spare to devote to it after three to five years. At some point you have to release the game, and this was done so at a good point where it covers most of the major aspects of the war. But sure, another two years in the oven would have yielded even more content, but I don't think anyone could complain that it is light on content. For the niche market, it is probably justifiable that I should actually have spent much less time on it. ;)

edited: clarification

[Wodin]

Thanks for the replies. I think what it is is lets say your pinned in a trench and your at the corner of a trench which carries on behind you and you decide to move back up the trench you'd go demoralised, where really I'm not sure when in a trench you should go demoralised if your moving back along it (say a communication trench). Not sure if I'm explaining it properly. As mentioned further up what would have been good if there was a on fire step movement..so if you get down from the fire step your safe from all MG and rifle fire and Arty unless it's a direct hit. Also if you had the off fire step and got down from it you can stay within the trench without becoming demoralised. Then again maybe this is to detailed and something thats more inline with a man to man scale.

Still I think if you where pinned and you moved backwards but where in the trench you wouldn't go demoralised would be cool. I did say further up I'd imagine on ground to be more off firestep rather than in other games which meant prone. So that works well. Trenches where cramped and it was very difficult to move quickly esp during an attack so I suppose on ground is a good way of representing that the more I think about it.

Also destruction of the trenches though bombardment especially the heavies if a direct hit would have been cool aswell. Again though I understand the limitations to the engine.

I do get what the trenches represent in the game. As you know as soon as they where occupied the men had to reverse the trench so they could see over the top and fire in the right direction. This could take time, so i wondered if this was in game. Again though I do know SB has restrictions to the engine and from the sound of it you've done a damn fine job.

Anyway I have to get the game yet so I'm just basing this of the observations further up.

Volcano Man, you've really pulled out the stops by the sound sof things. Can't wait to get my hands on it. Once my 2D graphic mod is done I hope you take alook. I did one for RV and AOTR and it will be something similar.

You guys are thinking about trenches wrong. The trenches are simply a line of the already existing trench fortification, but the differences in FWW is that they are extremely capable, that is, they provide a huge defensive bonus. Moving along the trench is as if moving through clear terrain regardless of the terrain in the hex, so it does have a mobility bonus. Also, combat along the trench at adjacent hexes ignore much or the trench effects. That is the extent of what was changed. Going On Ground is no different than before: it is an *abstraction* where you simply give up speed for security. You can imagine them moving around in the lower step hunched over if you like, but the fact is that 1916 - 1918 have trenches with the highest protection level to represent the elaborate two step trenches. At that point, you can only really hope to cause an effect on enemy in trenches by being adjacent.

Anything beyond that, to me at least, seems like an unecessary complexity.

And yes, SB:FWW contains all the content that I could spare to devote to it after three to five years. At some point you have to release the game, and this was done so at a good point where it covers most of the major aspects of the war. But sure, another two years in the oven would have yielded even more content, but I don't think anyone could complain that it is light on content. For the niche market, it is probably justifiable that I should actually have spent much less time on it. ;)