Posts: 60
Joined: 11/9/2006 From: Australia Status: offline
I have $200 Australian to spend and four games in mind.
Steel Panthers World At War General Edition $97.99
Close Combat Wacht am Rhein $55.99
Close Combat: Cross of Iron $55.99
Forge of Freedom $69.99
Problem is the total of those games is $279.96 Australian and I can't decide which games/s to drop from the list.
The easy solution would be to drop one of the CC games and get a taste of all 3 worlds and that's exactly what I'd do but I would still be over the limit. Also if I dropped SPWAW, from the list, I could afford the other 3 but SPWAW's the game I want the most.
So I see my choices as being either:
-Drop SPWAW and get the other 3.
-Get SPWAW and take my pick of the other 3.
I know you all have better things to do than to give advice to some random idiot who can't make his own bloody mind up, so much thanks to anyone that takes the time to do so.
Edit:-Just realised I may have answered my own question in favour in the second option. Still I suppose I could be convinced by CC fans insistent that I absolutely have to get both of their games or some other argument. Plus I am up for persuasion as to what the second game I get with SPWAW is, if I take the second option
< Message edited by Rabbitman -- 10/25/2009 11:56:48 AM >
No idea how the mega campaigns add to overall experience, but the basic SPWAW one can pick up for free. However, low resolution and lack of window mode makes it look pixelated on large widescreen displays. Hence I prefer the enhanced version of WinSPWAW from Shrapnel, which allows up to 1600x1200.
quote:
Forge of Freedom
This one is a must buy. Deep detailed cw title with high replay value.
quote:
Close Combat
I'd rather recommend "The Longest Day" here - in my opinion the best one of all remastered CC games.
No idea how the mega campaigns add to overall experience, but the basic SPWAW one can pick up for free. However, low resolution and lack of window mode makes it look pixelated on large widescreen displays. Hence I prefer the enhanced version of WinSPWAW from Shrapnel, which allows up to 1600x1200.
I agree completely due to the exact same circumstance... no experience with the addon campaigns, but the pixelated resolution of SpWaW makes me go cross-eyed, whereas WinSPWW2 supports higher resolutions. But if I were you, I'd definitely download the free SpWaW here at matrix and try it out before buying anything else. It could be all _you_ need and/or want.
Posts: 60
Joined: 11/9/2006 From: Australia Status: offline
Thanks for the replies so far.
I'm aware of the vanilla SPWAW being free and have already downloaded and been playing it, it takes me back to the days of steel panthers 1,2 & 3. I'm putting it up as a potential buy because I kinda liked the sound of the mega campaigns actually branching off into different directions based on how you fair on the field of battle and not just ending because of a loss. Question what are the 4 mega campaigns anyway?? I know one is desert warfare but I can't for the life of me recall what the other 3 are. If one was the battle of the bulge that would be so sweet as I never got to finish the Bulge campaign in Steel Panthers 1(got to a point where I was stopped cold but the campaign wrap-up screen congratulated me for setting the Western Allies back 6 months).
Thanks for the wrap of FOF, I've always wanted a civil war game and I remember being entertained for hours by the various AAR's on the forum back in the day, when I was originally around here.
So CCTLD is that good is it?? I thought about it but thought I might get the other two(or one of the the two) as I've never played the original CC3 & CC4 but I've played the original CC5. If it's that good, I may have to reconsider.
Hopes nobody else has replied in the time I took to write that out.
< Message edited by Rabbitman -- 10/25/2009 12:50:48 PM >
Well, CC3 has no strategic layer and in direct comparison of CCWaR and CCTLD I like the latest spin-off more, due to night combat, larger maps and focus on infantry. But if you're more interested in Bulge and never played CC4, 'Wacht am Rhein' might be the right thing for you.
Posts: 591
Joined: 1/19/2009 From: Boston, MA Status: offline
SPWAW.. haven't bothered, because of the price.. loved SP 1... and liked the free spwaw a lot.. except when I did the 'general' campaign. I didn't like how many units there were to control (too many turns me off )... thought about the General Edition (thinking there may be smaller groups to control), but again, price turned me away.. Your right the graphics are old.. but the game itself is awesome!
Forge of Freedom is an excellent choice! Both strategic and tatical game play are a blast. And the game parameters are highly configurable, so you can adjust it to your tastes and your skills (as your learning)..
I'll concur about Forge of Freedom. I bought it a long time ago, but am just now playing it. It has quickly become one of the top five games I have ever played in about twenty years of gaming.
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Posts: 3564
Joined: 8/17/2002 From: Cornwall, UK Status: offline
If you really enjoy SP:WaW you will get more out of the 'Generals Edition' than a second CC title. I only have 'Lost Victories' which I bought in those far off days when the mega-campaigns were sold separately and that is excellent with loads of content, so all four should keep you going for years.
< Message edited by Hertston -- 10/25/2009 5:30:24 PM >
Posts: 1593
Joined: 4/8/2008 From: Corona, CA Status: offline
Mega Campaigns are a must-have especially if you already like SPWAW.Although I've moved on from SPWAW to WinSPWW2 CD version and John Tiller's Campaign Series, I would still recommend General's Edition to anyone looking for a great SPWAW experience.Not to mention just 1 mega campaign will offer more entertainment than any CC title will ever do, let alone all 4.
Posts: 591
Joined: 1/19/2009 From: Boston, MA Status: offline
Just looked up winspWW2 on google... it's certainly cheaper, and the graphics look great! So might grab that.... Own the old Talonsoft West Front/East Front II/Rising Sun.. but with all the rave reviews on JTCS.. thinking of definitely picking that up at some point..
Posts: 1593
Joined: 4/8/2008 From: Corona, CA Status: offline
WinSPWW2, it has higher resolutions, PBEM Campaigns, Full Cut and Paste Map editor and more.Although there is still some things SPWAW does better though, particularly Weather and Time of Day effects.JTCS is a must buy, with all the original games and expansions on one disc, including dozens of new countries and scenarios, new optional rules, and new utilities with the latest update like Unit viewer and Scenario selector, and one thing the originals definitely don't have - support.The horrible bugs that plagued the originals have pretty much been ironed out, with more patches on way.Overall it will feel like a whole new game(in a good way).
These are the various mods available for each version.
Although CoI lacks the "strat level"of tld and Wacht am Rhein it does have the most mods available at the moment.
The major difference you will see in tld over WaR is the night fighting although this should be available in War in the next patch. (plenty of other differences which don't hit you in the face though)
I am in the minority but for a civil war game I would take either AACW or Gary Grigby's game. FoF has two large of areas the gathering of uints for an army is Chancey at best in friendly territory with the movement system used. The AI Plays each of the four major cities kind of like a risk game. Attacking Richmond is like the Indians vs. the wagon train with Richmond the wagon train. The numbers for the armies are way out of line even with the patch. The North has to fight all the battles in tactical mode particularly in the first 2 years. I found it to be a bit tedious over all. just my thoughts. Gary's game is much better with only the leader movement being a bad point and I think they have fixed that with a patch.For a really deap version ov the civil war AGEOD's AACW is the choice.
Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000 From: Vermont, USA Status: offline
Regarding the mega-campaigns, there's nothing else quite like them out there and I'd highly recommend them. It's true that WINSPWW2 is newer than SPWAW and has higher resolutions, but for my money the mega-campaigns are definitely one of the best tactical wargaming experiences I've had. There are four included in the General's Edition, which basically combined the separate mega-campaigns into one package at a discounted price. The four cover Guadalcanal, North Africa, the Eastern Front and the battles of the 101st Airborne.
Regarding your original list of choices though, all are excellent, though as some here have said the latest Close Combat (The Longest Day) is probably my favorite too but the choice there is largely based on subject matter as well.
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