Should I look into these games?

76mm · 10-24-2019, 09:12 AM,

Hi, the lack of a map editor meant that I never looked at these games, much less played them, but now I see that a map editor will be released. After all this time, is it worth looking into these games?

I see that there are two titles covering the Russian Front, which is really all that I play. But the details on the products pages are pretty skimpy in terms of types/numbers of units included, etc. For the second Russian Front game, the products page doesn't even describe what period it covers, etc.

I've played many other tactical WWII games, including ASL, Steel Panthers, all of the Combat Mission games, and a few others. How do these games differ from these other games?

Geier · 10-24-2019, 12:01 PM,

Game is most similar to ASL. Units include infantry squads, individual leaders and individual guns and vehicles. The 2 Russian front games are Advance of the Reich which covers the German advance up to and including Stalingrad. Red Victory covers the Soviet advance from Stalingrad to Berlin. In general, Red Victory seems to have more balanced scenarios, but both games are worth the price if you enjoy squad level combat.

Geier

Embis · 10-24-2019, 04:35 PM,

There is a demo available, Grenada. It might not be a period you have much interest in but it will give you a good enough feel of the mechanics.

76mm · 10-25-2019, 02:43 AM,

Thanks, I will try to check that out, although downloading the manual would probably be more useful.

Can anybody compare/contrast this to Steel Panthers? Scale and general look seem pretty similar...

gabeeg · (This post was last modified: 10-26-2019, 07:09 PM by gabeeg.)

I highly suggest if you try one title, select Red Victory as the first one. It has some amazingly good scenarios written by Ozgur Budak. Advance of the Reich is very good as well, RV is just special IMO. SB also offers some unique seldom offered theaters and conflicts such as The Winter War and the Spanish Civil War as well as WWI.

I came into SB as a Steel Panthers player (mainly WinSPWWII). SB is much more board war game like and lacks details included in Steel Panthers and has more abstraction and some different mechanics that take getting your head around. It is well worth it. To me SP and SB are the two best squad level tactical war games available on the computer...not like there are a ton.

You can download the SB demo "Grenada" if you want to get a look at the rules and game mechanics. Do not judge the WWII experience by it though, IMO the engine is better at WWI/WWII.

76mm · 10-26-2019, 11:19 PM,

Thanks. I downloaded the Grenada demo, and while I haven't played it yet, I read through the manual. It looks like leaders get benefits from "morale weapons"...I have no idea what these might be, but the manual seems to show a picture of a sword. At least for WWII, this kind of thing seems rather gimmicky...could anyone elaborate on what a "motivational weapon" is, and how they are used in the WWII games?

grognardgames · 10-30-2019, 07:49 PM,

(10-26-2019, 11:19 PM)76mm Wrote: Thanks. I downloaded the Grenada demo, and while I haven't played it yet, I read through the manual. It looks like leaders get benefits from "morale weapons"...I have no idea what these might be, but the manual seems to show a picture of a sword. At least for WWII, this kind of thing seems rather gimmicky...could anyone elaborate on what a "motivational weapon" is, and how they are used in the WWII games?

I do believe the motivational weapons are used when a leader wants to Banzai (Japanese) and Human Wave (Russian) attack. The weapons 'motivate' reluctant soldiers that might feel a suicide charge is not in their best interest. :) There might be another application as well but I am fairly new to the series.

Mowgli · (This post was last modified: 12-18-2019, 08:32 PM by Mowgli.)

May I ask which one of the three Vietnam titles has the most small/tiny scenarios? I'm interested in getting one, but I'm not really into anything larger than platoon+ size. My head tends to explode from terrain/LOS and weapon analysis overload...

rahamy · 12-19-2019, 10:20 PM,

I'd need to dig a bit further, but I think the original - Vietnam - would be the best entry point for you.

Mowgli · (This post was last modified: 12-22-2019, 05:58 AM by Mowgli.)

(12-19-2019, 10:20 PM)rahamy Wrote: I'd need to dig a bit further, but I think the original - Vietnam - would be the best entry point for you.

Thanks, I went for the first one anyway. I like the small scenarios. I just wished there were more. ;)
https://youtu.be/s0BYEmVNM40

I just think it's a pity that playing on the defense is less interesting for a human opponents in H2H games? Wouldn't it be cool if there was an option for a kind of "sandbox multiplayer battle", in which both sides were allowed to deploy their troops (within certain boundaries/deployment zones)? Defense depends so much on positioning, so it's a pity not to have that part in the game. It would be great if the defender knew the objectives he needed to defend but could otherwise place his troops and defensive works as he saw fit.