Motomouse Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I really like the game. There are still some rough edges, but after playing a few campaign missions i really appreciate for starters the following: * atmospheric graphics * the lay of the land can be put to your advantage * interesting tank tactics possible and necessary * data presented in detail, for example: * detailed ammo and personel considerations necessary * rate of fire and reloading time modelled * pauseable realtime gameplay * friendly unit ai capable to get into shooting position again after ememy moves out of line of fire * interesting missions with some twists After a few battles I realised that its really important to preserve your forces (mentioned in the manual). I restarted on the easy setting and take care selecting my forces in advance, while trying to use them in an coherent and effective way. Great fun, keep up the good work! [ April 22, 2007, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: Motomouse ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHBigHart Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 My first impressions were pretty lukewarm. In fact, I almost put the game down. Something kept calling me back. Now I'm replaying missions until I get it right - and each time I find something I could have done better (i.e. could have looked harder for hull down positions, could have used my snipers more effectively, etc.). This game is really growing on me. There's much more here than meets the eye at first glance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wokelly Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Agreed, a few frustrating missions but you have the tools to do the task. The biggest thing I dislike is all the assaulting the trench missions, but since you cant put guys in buildings not much choice otherwise, cant assault towns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motomouse Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 I just watched a zoomed in heavy tank withstanding intense fire for quite a while, until it finally cracked up. Thats a damage model! One literally saw, how the incoming shells tore up the tank piecemeal, tracks and parts of armour skirts splattering around, gun braking down, hull taking ultimate damage. No doubt, I want a replay feature now! Your own fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=Goodshot= Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I did the Chern Station battle a few days ago, as axis here is some of the events that occured. I did my usual scouting to locate the heavy russian guns and get a feel for the land,once the guns where out of action due to arty and concentrated tank fire.I decidet to use all 6 of my tanks to advance on the first set off the russian trenches to mop up remaining enemy,that accomplished I withdrew slithly into hull down to provide cover for my infantry that started to move into the trenches and settle in,all with no casualties.Again I ordered scouting partys to probe the enemy,this trigger's 2 T60,s to roll out in the open at the farside forest,alarmed at losing my scout's I ordert all my tanks slightly ahead to knock out the T60's the first burst in flames crew did not bail!! the second came to a halt in some bushes crew bailt and rushed out of sight,I pushed my scouts a little further no enemy to be seen,by now the battle looks like a stroll in the park,the main objective looks like easy picking,spirits are high.So I order my 6 tanks to advance towards Chern station,infantry will follow up when enemy resitance was dealt with by my tanks! As I am halfway across the opening this T34 appears amongst the trees in front of my tanks at about a 45deg's angle to my line of advance, I am completely cought in the open,retreat is no more an option,so i order my tanks to open fire. This is the beginning of a 15 minute standoff that almost cost me victory! One of my early rounds knock's the left side track of the T34 tank,by now my tanks are showering this thing with shells the russians decide to duke it out,one by one the T34 dissables my tanks,and starts knocking them out,not only that,it also suppreses my infantry!! This dont'look good anymore,fortunately I still got my 2 german reserve 50mm pak guns hiding behind the hill near the setup area I order them forward into positions that will enable them to engage the T34 at long range,the move up takes what seems like ages.By now 10 minutes have passed I got 1 immobile tank left half my crew is dead and we are low on ammo,trying to knock out the russian tank. However the T34 looks badly beat by now,the auxiliary fueltanks have blown off toolkits are hanging by their last bolt,bits and pieces are scattert on the forest ground its had better days!Finaly my pak guns are starting to fire and zero in on the T34,one shell penetrates the hull the driver decides to live and fight another day,he bails and runs off into the forest,to my dissbelive the T34 scores a direct hit on one of my pakguns and destroys it,now we are left with 1 50mm packgun 6 rounds of ammo hopping to score a good hit at long range,two shots later my pak scores a good hull hit and sets the T34 ablaze,guess what the crew finaly decides to abandon the tank and run off into the forest. I was almost in tears by the drama i had seen unfold on my monitor.Its this deep modeling of equipment damage and crew behavior that realy set this game apart from anything i have ever seen in a wargame, I am a happy camper here. I sure hope the dev,s manage to built a recorder into this game so one can archive some of these events. Oh did I win!! you bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werner_U292 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Chern Station is the first Axis vs. Russian battle right? Cake walk. Nice story though, but how did you loose six tanks to a t34? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=Goodshot= Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 If you use hard level the game ups the Waepons ballistic,s also I could have retreated and probably safed 3-4 tanks,I just wanted to see how this would play out,so i just sat back and watched the action,its the 3rd german mission in the campaign,also the early war german tanks where no match for the 76mm russian T34s I just wanted to see if the gun vs armour rating bear any ressemblance to historic accounts I think game devs are not to far of the mark! "It seems since the arcade gamers could not achive instant succes and gratification they became extremley dissatisfied and verbaly abusiv" :mad: :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handihoc Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Yeah, Chern Station is a great mission, and a really tough one at first. I lost three or four times initially, playing at highest difficulty level. Then I began to realise the true depth and sophistication of this game, replayed the battle making proper use of the tools and resources we are given, and after another tough and exciting battle, eventually won. Before this I'd been slightly disappointed with TOW. Graphically superb, but I was regularly getting bashed to hell by what seemed like an omnipotent AI versus my own troops often behaving irrationally. But, Like you BigHart, something kept calling me back. Once I realised how immersive, challenging and actually quite brilliantly devised this game is (albeit with a few niggling issues that upcoming patches should fix), I was hooked. Can't wait for future add-ons etc. TOW is finally turning out to be just about all that it promised to be and more. Some people in this forum are complaining constantly. I can only assume that they simply haven't bothered to properly explore what the game is offering. When it comes to wargaming I'm pretty damn difficult to please, but right now I'm grinning from ear to ear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstar44 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Originally posted by handihoc: Yeah, Chern Station is a great mission, and a really tough one at first. I lost three or four times initially, playing at highest difficulty level. Then I began to realise the true depth and sophistication of this game, replayed the battle making proper use of the tools and resources we are given, and after another tough and exciting battle, eventually won. Before this I'd been slightly disappointed with TOW. Graphically superb, but I was regularly getting bashed to hell by what seemed like an omnipotent AI versus my own troops often behaving irrationally. But, Like you BigHart, something kept calling me back. Once I realised how immersive, challenging and actually quite brilliantly devised this game is (albeit with a few niggling issues that upcoming patches should fix), I was hooked. Can't wait for future add-ons etc. TOW is finally turning out to be just about all that it promised to be and more. Some people in this forum are complaining constantly. I can only assume that they simply haven't bothered to properly explore what the game is offering. When it comes to wargaming I'm pretty damn difficult to please, but right now I'm grinning from ear to ear! Good post! I always laugh when I kill enemy tank and see it's crew jumping out The game is real beauty and lot's of fun. But you cannot please everyone and many gamers are spoiled . With time more people will recognize this game. I had yesterday good fun with one game - almost only tanks. Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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