Marshal_Zukov
Posts: 5
Joined: 8/20/2010
Status: offline
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I have been an avid wargamer since high school. I started playing the old Avalon Hill games like Stalingrad, Africa Korps, and Russian Campaign. As time went on I became
interested in bigger games such as Third Reich, The Longest Day, and Fire in the East/Scorched Earth. Then SSI started making computer games like War in Russia and Clash of
Steel and off course I played those as well. Now I was lucky to find Time of Wrath and have enjoyed playing against the computer and PBEM.
Having played ToW for over a year now I would like to share some observations:
1. The game simulates the war in Europe better than any computer game I have seen thus far. The integration of land, air, and naval combat coupled with the political (events)
system is awesome. Add to that the weather system, supply, and leaders and you have got a well thought out historical simulation. Also, the simple yet elegant diplomacy system
and the technology research puts the icing on the cake.
2. The overall game system is easy to learn and each game is unique do to the multiple options players have in how they want to handle the war. Some may choose to focus on
research early, while others may want to build up your forces quickly and strike fast early and worry about research a bit later. You may also want to try a more balanced approach
and build your forces and perform research at a moderate pace as the game progresses. The game fits any play style and the player has many options at his disposal.
3. The AI is an adequate opponent considering the complexity and scope of the game. However, the ultimate experience is to play the game against other human opponents. A
human opponent is much more challenging then the AI and makes for a more enjoyable simulation as you now must expect the unexpected.
Here are some ideas for ToW that I feel could make the game an even better simulation of the war in Europe:
A. Land, Air, Naval Combat
- expand the Combat Results to show the modifiers for the attacker and defender similar to siege combat
- reduce the chance of tactical bombers taking damage when attacking ground units (infantry had less AA defense then mechanized units)
- reduce the chance of tactical bombers being able to spot naval units at sea (seems like air units with a 6+ strength can spot and damage naval units >90% of the time)
- add an ability for tactical bombers to interdict enemy ground units and reduce their AP for one turn (instead of causing damage to their strength)
- the abilty of land based fighters to provide air cover for naval units in the adjacent sea zone
- raiders at sea seem to be spotted too frequently by naval units in regular mode
B. Political and Diplomatic Systems
- triggers for some event activation need to be re-examined (i.e. Italy's joining the Axis after Paris falls seems to be more logical then the capture of Lille or Mets)
- Spain entry level seems to drop without reason after being influenced by Axis nations (seems to drop 20 points per turn without Allied influence)
C. The AI and PBEM
- the AI needs to be improved to better handle forming a cohesive front line against opponents (Russia leaving large gaps in parts of the front line)
- the ability to see siege, convoy, and naval results needs to be given to each player in PBEM games (not just the first player of the turn)
- specific events pertaining to a given nation should be visible to that nation only in PBEM games (new troops added to force pool, etc.)
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A Gamers Obsevations ---- From Russia with Love ... - 
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