K'42, K'43 or F'40?

[HirooOnoda]

I don't see much discussion about these three games.  If I were to buy two of the three one would defiinately be F'40, but I can't decided which Kharkov game to get.

Opinions on fun and opponent availability are appreciated.

[Green]

Easy choice for me. Kharkov '42 is a good game but Kharkov '43 is vastly superior, in my opinion. Apart from anything else, the scenarios are far more balanced for PBEM. It tends to be slower moving than Kharkov '42 due to the weather conditions but otherwise, it at least as good if not better in every other way. A really high quality product and one of my personal top three PzC games.

They are both popular, as far as I know, so opponent availability should not be issue.

[HirooOnoda]

Easy choice for me. Kharkov '42 is a good game but Kharkov '43 is vastly superior, in my opinion. Apart from anything else, the scenarios are far more balanced for PBEM. It tends to be slower moving than Kharkov '42 due to the weather conditions but otherwise, it at least as good if not better in every other way. A really high quality product and one of my personal top three PzC games.

They are both popular, as far as I know, so opponent availability should not be issue.

Thank you for your input. What about R'42?

[Sgt_Rock]

R42 is a large scale situation too. The Germans are in great fortifications. You have to find the weak point in their armor and exploit it .... I played the campaign game twice and found it very good.

Kharkov '43 is a really nice product. The older Kharkov '42 game is good too. The Germans have their hands full in the beginning. My German forces trying to defend Kharkov in the north got thrashed but when the forces in the south release its the other way around.

All three games are very good.

France '40 was too large for my taste. I played it once but the French have so many infantry divisions to move. Add in the other allies and I was definitely overwhelmed with a lot of units to move each turn. I also do not have much interest in the early war situations so for me F40 is lower on the priority list. The Germans have it all over the Allies in that one ....

For that reason ... a Poland '39 game would be of little interest to me as a gamer .... as a Scenario Designer it would be a real challenge to balance the scenarios.

[HirooOnoda]

R42 is a large scale situation too. The Germans are in great fortifications. You have to find the weak point in their armor and exploit it .... I played the campaign game twice and found it very good.

Kharkov '43 is a really nice product. The older Kharkov '42 game is good too. The Germans have their hands full in the beginning. My German forces trying to defend Kharkov in the north got thrashed but when the forces in the south release its the other way around.

All three games are very good.

France '40 was too large for my taste. I played it once but the French have so many infantry divisions to move. Add in the other allies and I was definitely overwhelmed with a lot of units to move each turn. I also do not have much interest in the early war situations so for me F40 is lower on the priority list. The Germans have it all over the Allies in that one ....

For that reason ... a Poland '39 game would be of little interest to me as a gamer .... as a Scenario Designer it would be a real challenge to balance the scenarios.

Thanks for the information.

[Green]

I think France '40 was transformed by the inclusion of the 'Prucha' scenarios in the Gold update. Previously I would not have ranked this in my top 15 PzC games but now I would say it is one of the absolute best. There is good mix of various size scenarios and a number where the Germans are faced with quite difficult situations. The new campaigns are truly massive, even by PzC standards, and would present a real challenge to play. But it is an extraordinary achievement and is worth having just as a resource, if you have an interest in this battle.

[HirooOnoda]

I think France '40 was transformed by the inclusion of the 'Prucha' scenarios in the Gold update. Previously I would not have ranked this in my top 15 PzC games but now I would say it is one of the absolute best. There is good mix of various size scenarios and a number where the Germans are faced with quite difficult situations. The new campaigns are truly massive, even by PzC standards, and would present a real challenge to play. But it is an extraordinary achievement and is worth having just as a resource, if you have an interest in this battle.

Wow, good to know. Thank you.