West or Mediterranean Front

[dukemat]

late comer to these games.

I currently have 3 games.

Stalingrad 42 Gold
El Alamein
Bulge 44

I am looking to buy a game that has interesting and balanced scenarios.

I would prefer a West Front or Med. campaign.

Has there ever been a post evaluating the merits of the various campaigns?

I would welcome any and all opinions.

[Compass Rose]

I would suggest you select a title that covers something you have an interest in; France '40, Normandy '44, Market Garden, etc.

I would also suggest that you take a look at all of the scenario listing found under each title, in our database.  By looking at the statistics, player feedback, and scenario descriptions, you should get a good idea as to what is included in that title, especially if you are planning on playing via PBEM.

JTS is planning on releasing the GOLD versions to the two theaters you originally mentioned.  I would hold off and wait for those to get released before purchasing a new title.  That way you will also know if anything new is being released with a certain title which may help make your decision a little easier.

[Mr Grumpy]

There is no sure way of evaluating the merits of each title, all contain scenarios of various sizes and lengths as you will know from the three titles you do own, so as Chad says pick one that you have an interest in and go from there, as each player has his own personal likes and dislikes it is quite difficult to recommend any particular game. 

[Xaver]

Tunis43 is a very good option for me the best desert title (even when volcanoman mod made El-Alamein attractive and Tobruk is not a bad title) with good scens if you dont search monster scens, the full campaign is attractive but not like other full campaigns in serie.

France40 is a good option to specially with the add of new scens but Sicily43 allways receive attention from players and offer to good balance of scens.

Maybe the only West title i cant recomend now is Sealion40, is not a bad title but for a what if for me lacks some exotic adds like Italian troops, USA volunter units... and a mix of defeated armies in France campaign... maybe this title could receive more than a facelifting ala France40 hehehe.

Ummm is better wait the Gold version??? is not the same buy now pre-gold version, you have "old art" and after this download the Gold patch???

PD: talking about Sealion i need see if i find the serial... i think i dont receive the serial to use JT version from a HPS version.

EDIT: reseting my JT pass i find in e-mail info about a discount in buys... if you do one over 200$ you have a 20% discount... is a little to much, i think is better do this based in buy 2 titles or more... something like 10% for 2 titles, 15% for 3, 20% for 4... or similar.

[dukemat]

Tunis43 is a very good option for me the best desert title (even when volcanoman mod made El-Alamein attractive and Tobruk is not a bad title) with good scens if you dont search monster scens, the full campaign is attractive but not like other full campaigns in serie.

France40 is a good option to specially with the add of new scens but Sicily43 allways receive attention from players and offer to good balance of scens.

Maybe the only West title i cant recomend now is Sealion40, is not a bad title but for a what if for me lacks some exotic adds like Italian troops, USA volunter units... and a mix of defeated armies in France campaign... maybe this title could receive more than a facelifting ala France40 hehehe.

Ummm is better wait the Gold version??? is not the same buy now pre-gold version, you have "old art" and after this download the Gold patch???

PD: talking about Sealion i need see if i find the serial... i think i dont receive the serial to use JT version from a HPS version.

EDIT: reseting my JT pass i find in e-mail info about a discount in buys... if you do one over 200$ you have a 20% discount... is a little to much, i think is better do this based in buy 2 titles or more... something like 10% for 2 titles, 15% for 3, 20% for 4... or similar.

[dukemat]

excellent responses.

thank you

[dukemat]

How come they never made a campaign game on the breakout from Normandy or the invasion of southern France?

nobody mentions Market Garden or Salerno 43.

any opinions about those games.

as far as waiting for the "Gold" games. I don't feel that is an issue. It will be very easy to update as soon as they release new titles.

[Xaver]

Right, i dont remember Salerno43... until appear Budapest45 and Tunis43 i recomended Salerno to enter in PzC because offer diferent battles... it offers Crete!!! but in PzB3 you can are going to have Crete at better scale to play small actions (outside big battle scens for Crete in Salerno small actions are not what i expected) and more desert content in diferent periods (i expect we can see 40-41 battles, Battleaxe or Brevity in PzB scale could be great)

Market Garden is for me a little like Crete... i really find more adecuate a PzB title covering the battle, is not bad the PzC title and is fun to.

Here a pair of AARs in spanish covering the Arhem scen you can see pics of combat area and units:
Allies
http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/...41&t=10741
Axis
http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/...3&start=45

Here a more modern AAR for Bulge:
Axis
http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/...41&t=17111
Allied
http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/...3&start=75

Saddly an excellent Budapest AAR and other covering Sicily (and others) lacks images... the hosting die and they are not AARs without images.

[Kool Kat]

Gents: 

Here's my decision making process when I purchased my first PzC title - Sicily 43

(1.) Decide on favorite theater (Eastern, Western, or Mediterranean)

(2.) Decide on preferred early, mid, or late war time frame.

(3.) Search available titles that meet your criteria.

(4.) Purchase and download PzC title.

(5.) Load favorite mods (if necessary). Gold versions are making most mods obsolete. 

(6.) Back-up game on a CD.

(7.) Join the TOC Ladder and advertise for PBeM opponents on the Tiller Operational Campaigns (TOC) Forum - that's this one!  Many players own several different titles, so finding an opponent for a game is usually easy.

(8.) Enjoy! Note - be prepared to lose your first PBeM matches to more experienced PzC vets... but once you grasp both the fundamentals and nuances of play, your wins will happen too!

So, for me. I had little knowledge of the Mediterranean theater, was interested in learning more about the campaign in Sicily and decided to purchase Sicily 43. I played around with various mods, settled on the ones I liked and then backed up my Sicily 43 game copy with installed modes on a CD. I advertised on the TOC Forum and within 24 hours found PBeM opponents. I promptly lost my first 2 matches out of the gate, but then quickly started to grasp the game fundamentals and play nuances. My wins came in and I discovered an interest in playing the larger (100+ turn campaigns).

NET - Pick a favorite theater and time frame. Search available titles. Pull the trigger on the purchase and start enjoying hours of fun and exciting operational game play! 


Final thoughts:

For me, my historical interests are the primary driver in my PzC game buying decisions followed by a review of the game scenario database (Balance, number of times a match has been recorded, number of small, medium, and large scenarios, etc.) What other players think of a game helps round out the data points.

However, if a number of players agree that a specific game has a lot of "balanced H2H scenarios," but I don't have an interest in that war period, it's doubtful I would purchase it. Why? Simply because I see myself not as a collector of PzC and MC game titles, but as a player of them! I've got to enjoy what I am playing especially given the time investment needed for a PBeM match.    

Hopefully, you will be able to make a purchase decision and move forward with it shortly.

There's too much gaming to get done... and it's tough to do it while you are sitting on the fence!

[dukemat]

Gents: 

Here's my decision making process when I purchased my first PzC title - Sicily 43

(1.) Decide on favorite theater (Eastern, Western, or Mediterranean)

(2.) Decide on preferred early, mid, or late war time frame.

(3.) Search available titles that meet your criteria.

(4.) Purchase and download PzC title.

(5.) Load favorite mods (if necessary). Gold versions are making most mods obsolete. 

(6.) Back-up game on a CD.

(7.) Join the TOC Ladder and advertise for PBeM opponents on the Tiller Operational Campaigns (TOC) Forum - that's this one!  Many players own several different titles, so finding an opponent for a game is usually easy.

(8.) Enjoy! Note - be prepared to lose your first PBeM matches to more experienced PzC vets... but once you grasp both the fundamentals and nuances of play, your wins will happen too!

So, for me. I had little knowledge of the Mediterranean theater, was interested in learning more about the campaign in Sicily and decided to purchase Sicily 43. I played around with various mods, settled on the ones I liked and then backed up my Sicily 43 game copy with installed modes on a CD. I advertised on the TOC Forum and within 24 hours found PBeM opponents. I promptly lost my first 2 matches out of the gate, but then quickly started to grasp the game fundamentals and play nuances. My wins came in and I discovered an interest in playing the larger (100+ turn campaigns).

NET - Pick a favorite theater and time frame. Search available titles. Pull the trigger on the purchase and start enjoying hours of fun and exciting operational game play! 


Final thoughts:

For me, my historical interests are the primary driver in my PzC game buying decisions followed by a review of the game scenario database (Balance, number of times a match has been recorded, number of small, medium, and large scenarios, etc.) What other players think of a game helps round out the data points.

However, if a number of players agree that a specific game has a lot of "balanced H2H scenarios," but I don't have an interest in that war period, it's doubtful I would purchase it. Why? Simply because I see myself not as a collector of PzC and MC game titles, but as a player of them! I've got to enjoy what I am playing especially given the time investment needed for a PBeM match.    

Hopefully, you will be able to make a purchase decision and move forward with it shortly.

There's too much gaming to get done... and it's tough to do it while you are sitting on the fence!

been wargaming over 50 years........not much of a fence sitter
thank you for your advice