Hodgepodge

I find the cost of strategically moving anything to be too high.

Britian should be able to build infrantry in Egypt, and when it appears it should be named Australian, New Zealand and Indian armies/corps. Since you can't build for your minor allies, or even replace their losses, what is the point of Canada? Why not just have off board resources?

Also will the final game be at least three player? There should be minimum of Axis, western Allies and Soviets. Only one out of the Western allies and the Soviets should be able to get a major victory with the other getting a minor victory. This will stop too much cooperation between the two sides of the allied coin.

I know I'm late with all this, but some of these questions need to be asked. As things stand at the moment some of the problems make the game very unrealistic. 1. I played as the allies, gathered all my ships together, moved into the Baltic and destroyed the German fleet while it was still in port. The allies should not be able to send their fleet into the Baltic unless they control Kiel. 2. I can't reinforce the middle East as the allied player, by going round South Africa, I have to sail all reinforcements through the Mediterranean. I should have the option of moving a transport fleet from a hex at the bottom of South Atlantic, round to the red sea. 3. I have not even got round to checking yet, if my allied fleets can even use the Suez canal? Is this really important canal part of the game? Also can the Italian fleet get out of the Med if the Suez canal is captured by the Axis?

Sorry, i'm not being overly critical here, i'm just saying what I see. The games company in question was kind enough to release an open beta, so i'm reporting back what I find beta testing. Beta tests are normally something which you have to get selected for, and the chance to influence the development of what at first sight appears a promising game, is very welcome.

So I played with fog of war on, to give my Subs a slim chance of making it to the north Atlantic. I discover that the economic damage they do is not really worth their cost and the risk of them being found and killed. Surface raiders? I managed to get my German cruisers into the North Atlantic and they appeared to do no economic damage? Are surface raiders a part of the game? Shore bombardment is too powerful, it needs turning down a bit, the allies roam up and down my coast causing 4 and 5 damage to armies guarding ports. I presume I need to guard the ports? I presume that an amphibious assault not supplied through a port will suffer? Zones of control? Do these things exist? I seem to be able to move armies past enemy armies reasonably easily. What is worse, I can operationally move into and out of a ZOC, this should not be allowed. Also I can fully reinforce a unit in a ZOC, there should be a reduction in the amount you can reinforce units actually in contact with the enemy. Fog of war brings up another problem, surprise attacks. These happen even if I move next to an enemy unit, and they normally favour the defender. I can understand this if I attempt to move into the hex the enemy occupies, but not the adjacent one? Tanks? What good are they? I believe that tanks should be able to attack, then move and then attack again. Or at the very least attack and then move. It's a real pain not being able to attack and then move, personally I think you should be able to move and attack in any order, based off your action points. [ June 25, 2002, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: Hodgepodge ]

The second world war is my thing, and war games come a close second, so imagine my joy at finding this little page and this game. I have downloaded the demo and played around a little bit, but not enough to make lots of comments yet, but don't worry they're coming First impressions, yes it's Clash of steel with a few minor differences and generally a few more tweaks to it. $25 works out to about £17, and if as I hear I can buy inside the EU and get it shipped from Ireland then that is worth it. (Games shipped from US can get caught for import tax). It's easy to play and looks like it could have some fun strategies to it, it looks nice, which always helps. I am also glad that this is only a beta, and hope that views expressed on this forum count, because there is still room for some improvement. I will play this beta more and get a real feel for the game, but from initial impressions navies don't feel right. Navies should be more abstract as combat units, and harder to find, they feel very much like land units the way the game works now. I would suggest the following as a starting point... 1. Navies actually on a friendly port hex, should not be able to be attacked by enemy navies, only air attack. 2. There should be a naval interception chance, at the moment every naval attack is automatically successful. 3. Except subs who evade, but don't evade often enough, making them a bit pointless. Subs should evade more often and also you should make it that battle ships cant attack subs. (it was destroyers and smaller ships that performed sub hunting duties). 4. Where are the convoy routes? I find it hard know where I can place my subs to do economic damage. Anyway, that's initial thoughts, I am also a bit concerned that I read Germany can't purchase new minor ally units, or at least replace any losses from the initial starting allocation. I'm sure I will have more later