What's the verdict?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> The War Room >> What's the verdict?

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What's the verdict? - 1/11/2011 12:03:45 AM

philturco

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Joined: 11/14/2005
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I'm a eastern front affiiciando. I've been playing TOAW's FITE non stop since I first became aware of it's existence.Although FITE still has me under its spell after umpteen hrs. of play I'm starting to look for something new and fresh. I'm hoping this game is it. So what's the general opinion? Is this game really great. I'm looking for a fair and honest evaluation from the experts out there who frequent these boards. What are the weak points? Is the game a significaqnt improvement over FITE?

Post #: 1

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/11/2011 3:32:08 AM

jomni

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bibbo
Is the game a significaqnt improvement over FITE?

It's more playable. Less clicks to get the job done.

(in reply to philturco)

Post #: 2

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/11/2011 9:05:12 PM

Peltonx

Posts: 7250
Joined: 4/9/2006
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I have FitE and this is very close to it. WitE can be played allot faster then FitE. I was playing 5 games at once and doing more then 1 turn a day in each. I am about to start 2 41-45 games. I lost my first game as a german, but got the game mechanics worked out and now am doing much better. The game plays about the same so you should do very good.

I don't think you will have any problem defeating most poeple and will be a challage for the best around here once you figure out the game mechanics. I still have a few to iron out myself.

I would start out with the Road to Leningrad as The German. Once you can play the German side the Russian is a cake walk.

If you like when you get the game I will be willing to play the Russian on the server vs you. Anyways the game is complex, yet very playable. Read the rules, read the forums, play the shorter games 3 or 4 at time and withen a month you be good to go.

< Message edited by Pelton -- 1/11/2011 9:06:21 PM >

(in reply to jomni)

Post #: 3

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/11/2011 11:25:27 PM

jjdenver

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Joined: 11/2/2007
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I don't have time for a long analytical post but.... I have played boardgames (including east front monsters) and most PC strategy games released in the last 30 years (literally). This is a great game. If you like east front it's a must play imo.

Hopefully someone else will chime in w/ more analysis of weak points, strong points, etc.

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(in reply to Peltonx)

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RE: What's the verdict? - 1/12/2011 6:04:46 PM

leehunt27@bloomberg.net

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Wite, at least to me, is a combination of the best of TOAW and the old War in Russia with a much better interface (way more user friendly) but still huge depth and strategy. Definitely going to be playing this PBEM for years.

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Post #: 5

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/12/2011 7:07:24 PM

henri51

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Joined: 1/16/2009
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Most players agree that the game is an instant classic, and in a class by itself for East Front monster games.There are a few quirks, but none game-breaking.

The game is very stable (I have not had a single crash in weeks of play). You can delegate much of the complex stuff to the AI, such as air support, air recon, air bombings, dynamic distribution of support units and the AI will do a creditable job.

Some including me don't like the "invisible" AI moves, that is you cannot watch the AI movements during the AI turn like in most games, so you need a good memory to remember what the situation was before the AI move. Also there is some controversy about the AI ability to get out of pockets that the player thought were closed. The AI is not good at creating encirclements, and if you let it play AI vs AI, the Germans will never get anywhere close to the historical high water mark. But these issues do not arise in pbem play.For a game of this size, programming a good AI for the Germans (assuming it were possible) would make the moves last much too long, considering the number of units in the game.

Some consider the game a highly improved version of WiR.

You can get a pretty good idea of the game by reading some of the AARs.And if you are a FiTE player, you know that you are going to get it, so stop twaddling and buy it!

Henri

(in reply to leehunt27@bloomberg.net)

Post #: 6

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/12/2011 11:36:50 PM

heliodorus04

Posts: 1647
Joined: 11/1/2008
From: Nashville TN
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Yeah, pretty much if you find yourself here hovering trying to determine IF you will like it, you will like it and should buy it.

I do want to say this out of fairness: don't buy the disc edition with manual if your primary reason for doing so is to have a hard-copy manual. The hard-copy manual was printed (I suspect) before the final PDF version was done, and as a result, the hard copy manual I have is less informative than the PDF version (and thus for me, useless).

For me this game so far has done the interface damn masterfully. It's so easy to tell which units belong to which armies and corps, how far you can move, who owns what, etc.

(in reply to henri51)

Post #: 7

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/13/2011 1:20:58 AM

parusski

Posts: 4804
Joined: 5/8/2000
From: Jackson Tn
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GUILTY in the EXTREME.

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(in reply to philturco)

Post #: 8

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/13/2011 2:02:04 AM

henri51

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quote:

ORIGINAL: heliodorus04

I do want to say this out of fairness: don't buy the disc edition with manual if your primary reason for doing so is to have a hard-copy manual.� The hard-copy manual was printed (I suspect) before the final PDF version was done, and as a result, the hard copy manual I have is less informative than the PDF version (and thus for me, useless).

The printed manual contains only the first 5 chapters of the manual.

Henri

(in reply to heliodorus04)

Post #: 9

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/13/2011 4:35:37 PM

Navodchik

Posts: 15
Joined: 1/11/2011
From: Turku, Finland
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I ordered the boxed version of game, but of course I have already the downloaded version. I like the game itself very much, however it has been a while (some years actually) since I have played this kind of complex and grand scale strategy game, and personally I would have been more than delighted to have full and complete PRINTED manual, because the learning curve seems quite steep indeed. I still have a lot of work to do even with the basics. But on the other hand I've had this game only about week or so and I already know that I will keep playing this for years to come...so maybe I do not need the printed manual & tutorials. When learning even some of the mysteries of awesome WITE it is all about with personal patience and interest to subject, I guess...

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Post #: 10

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/13/2011 5:00:43 PM

heliodorus04

Posts: 1647
Joined: 11/1/2008
From: Nashville TN
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Navodchik

I ordered the boxed version of game, but of course I have already the downloaded version. I like the game itself very much, however it has been a while (some years actually) since I have played this kind of complex and grand scale strategy game, and personally I would have been more than delighted to have full and complete PRINTED manual, because the learning curve seems quite steep indeed. I still have a lot of work to do even with the basics. But on the other hand I've had this game only about week or so and I already know that I will keep playing this for years to come...so maybe I do not need the printed manual & tutorials. When learning even some of the mysteries of awesome WITE it is all about with personal patience and interest to subject, I guess...

Do NOT miss DLazov66's awesome operational guide. It will help you get the basics down and give you gentle guidance on the advanced stuff. It's better than the manual tutorial by far.

Also, I've had really good luck with finding people to play PBEM/online that are kind and open to discussing how our games are going and what game mechanics we're learning as we play.

Road to Leningrad as Axis is a great starting point (and the focus of DLazov's operational guide).

(in reply to Navodchik)

Post #: 11

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/13/2011 6:28:33 PM

Zebedee

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Joined: 8/30/2005
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Sufficiently similar to WiR for most of the game play to be exceptionally intuitive.

Few kinks seem to still be present, but definitely a game which will age very well in 'vanilla' if Matrix support is maintained in the long-term as we've seen with other games of this scope. Hope the design intent stays married to the gameplay alterations though - some aspects of the game may need tweaking, but some of the suggestions and arguments made are based on seriously flawed historiography and would do the game a huge disservice if implemented.

From a couple of GCs run in the past couple of days (what else am I meant to do in retirement? XD), AI is robust on 'normal' but probably needs to be aided by the buffs challenging mode gives it to provide an interesting game which extends the war meaningfully beyond late 41.

Only real niggles for me on the design of the game is that one can't see the AI's moves and the limited number of weather zones and how they've been implemented. Minor-ish niggles, but a tad frustrating. Not yet really checked moddability, though I'm hoping there aren't too many 'hard coded' things lying under the surface.

On first impressions it compares very favourably to other 'Eastern Front' titles and mods for me. Enjoying it a lot whilst I get to grips with the obscurer parts of the rulebook.

< Message edited by Zebedee -- 1/13/2011 6:29:20 PM >

(in reply to heliodorus04)

Post #: 12

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/15/2011 7:18:14 AM

buchand

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Joined: 11/22/2010
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Like FITE and WIR its a game that will stay on your hard disk for years. The interface is, if not intuitive, excellent and allows you to learn as you play after a few hours. Most importantly it then allows you to continue to learn and enjoy doing so!
Worth it just for the map and easy to take screen clips of this and the OOB and have planning tools.

Only downside is the AI where you stare at an unmoving screen until the screen saver cuts in but if you want an 'intelligent' AI without parallel processing then...

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Post #: 13

RE: What's the verdict? - 1/15/2011 11:06:31 AM

B455

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Joined: 2/25/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Navodchik

I like the game itself very much, however it has been a while (some years actually) since I have played this kind of complex and grand scale strategy game, and personally I would have been more than delighted to have full and complete PRINTED manual, because the learning curve seems quite steep indeed.

+1. I would be ready to pay even more of the game, if there was FULL printed manual included. I prefer books. Old school. Don't like to read hundreds of pages on screen.

(in reply to Navodchik)

Post #: 14