Straha

Thanks again, Hubert. This sounds very promising. I really miss the paratroopers, though, and am wondering whether they could be implemented in a very elementary way at least (again COS comes to mind here). Straha

Thanks for the info, Hubert. I think that the Rhine not going far enough into the South could be an issue in later scenarios of the kind "Across the Rhine", namely when there´s a penalty for attacking across rivers. This would prompt attacks by the Allies through Baden ... Straha [ April 21, 2002, 01:35 AM: Message edited by: Straha ]

After having read about the way partisans are implemented (very nice!) I became interested in hearing a bit more about what history-related special rules there are, things like "Russian Winter" or whether the Axis player is allowed to install a Vichy puppet state when France surrenders etc. (Edit: I just read elsewhere that Vichy is "in", but it´s just an example for this kind of rules anyway.) Well? Straha [ April 21, 2002, 01:49 AM: Message edited by: Straha ]

This is probably already changed, but better save than sorry: in the "purchase unit" screenshot, the guy above kesselring should be Kleist (instead of "Kliest"). Straha

Wow, thanks! I can´t wait to play that game now. Straha

Truth, airborne should be in. Straha

This is definitely the most informative thread around yet! Hubert, could you elaborate a bit more on diplomacy? E.g. will the option "historical" thwart any chances of Spain being "impressed" enough by the conquest of France to join the Axis etc.? I remember that in CoS one gained "prestige points" with which one could "press" a neutral country to shift its level of alignement into one´s favor. Is this - or something similar - implemented in Strategic Command, too? Straha

The counters look generic like in High Command. But one can assign a real life commander to HQ units, so obviously one can determine the name and commander of a unit from some info screen (right?). Good! But how about other units e.g. Panzer forces? Will Guderian be somewhere or do we just have generic counters? And then the navy: will we have the "Hood", the "Bismarck" etc.? It´s not so much because of gameplay but because of atmosphere. One reason why I liked CoS much better than 3R is that CoS had those "individual" units ... Straha

Is the map final? - E.g. the Rhine should actually start at the Swiss border. - I wonder why all ETO strategic games cut off the map in the North so that there is no connection between Finland and Sweden/Norway ... - Are some borders variable? I.e. will they be redrawm once Benelux and France falls and Vichy is installed? From the Barbarossa screenshot I guess, that borders are at least redrawn when Poland surrenders. Although the map itself is maybe a bit sparse, I like it. And I especially like that how the ZoC-view (colours) are superimposed over the map. Normally, one *would* think that this should look odd, but it doesn´t. Straha

I think they will be both great in a different way. Strategic command seems to me to bring the traditional concept of grand strategy WW2 games to perfection. It takes the best from COS, High Command etc. and (hopefully) will have a challenging AI. From my guessing, HoI on the other fork of the tongue will be more something like "Axis and Allies meets Europa Universalis". What is very intruiging in this game (for me) is a) to be able to begin in 1936 to have all theaters of war coveredc) to be able to play every country seperately (e.g. Italy, Poland, even China ...) Well, the bottom line is that I´m looking forward to both of them. Straha

Ah, that´s good to hear. I, too was somewhat worried about the end-date ... Btw. in CoS one could just ignore the end message and move on. After several turns it didn´t even show up anymore. Wouldn´t such A "loophole" be nice? Straha