Txema Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I would like to hear about the strategy guide (strategy of war) that has been recently released by Battlefront. Who has purchased it? What is your opinion about it? And one "technical" question: Is it possible to print at least its main part to be able to read it away from the computer? In principle I don't like reading long texts on the computer... Txema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargo Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Hi Txema, I'm Scott (from Leonis Software) and primary creator behind the SoW Guide for Battlefront. I just wanted to offer that I'm happy to answer yours (or anyone's) specific questions about the guide... Regarding your question about the texts, those purchasing the guide can indeed print them out for reading on the beach or for some light tactical reading while eating cereal, etc. It's not so much a "main" text but broken into several chapters -- all of which are listed by subject on the Battlefront site here. I'll exempt myself from a critical discussion for obvious reasons. (Completely up to our forum members and I will stand clear) ... But I will say I hope the SoW Guide has caught the eye of ToW2 players and, broadly speaking, anyone interested in the North African fighting. It's the object of a LOT of careful research into the battles of Kasserine Pass and how they unfolded, blow by blow; we've studied many of the best histories to capture the full storyline of each battle, down to the individual commanders calling the shots. And the guide offers deeper discussions of Panzer tactics, doctrine and the hardware at hand in 1943, exploring these items in more than a diagrammatic way with high-res 3D renders and many interactive elements. I hope all of this will help TOW2 players approach and more fully understand the mechanized tactics and the unusual aspects of this period of fighting. That's been our goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thadius Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I am going to get this as part of the Theatre of war 2 bundle later this week, and was wondering if you are going to be doing anymore of these guides for the expansions? Since we have the Centauro expansion and possbily the Kursk 43 expansion later on. Will these be added as part of the guide at a later date? Or will they be released as new smaller guides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargo Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Glad to hear it, Thadius. No plans have been made for the Centauro expansion yet; definitely would be fun. The Italian forces are lightly addressed in the current guide (more in terms of their tactics and combat before Feb. '43) but without specific attention to their tanks and vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Well, I took the plunge and bought Strategy of War. It looks promising, but the first problem is getting it to display fully on my screen. The specs say "Monitor Display of at least 1024 x 768 Resolution; higher screen resolution strongly recommended." I bumped mine up to 1280 x 768 and I still get the text and bottoms of the screens cut off. The windows within the program aren't moveable, so that isn't a remedy. And adjusting the vertical display on my monitor upwards doesn't help, because it's the window within the game that cuts off the images/text short of the bottom. What am I missing here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 OK, 1280 x 800 seems to have soved the problem -- sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Txema Posted August 11, 2009 Author Share Posted August 11, 2009 Broadsword, Wargo, I would appreciate it very much if you could comment on the strategy guide. Does it really take advantage of the possibilities offered by the computer? I mean, does it include features that would be impossible in a conventional written guide? I am asking it because in the demo the "tactical lessons" (village attack) are not really taking advantage of the computer capabilities... it consists just of two images, and it includes no animations... the same could be offered by a conventional book... it is a pitty... and the rest of the guide seems similar... On the other hand, is it easy to print the main texts to be able to read them away from the computer as a conventional book? How? Do you have to copy and paste them in a Word file, for example? Thank you very much for your help !! Txema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 You're right, Txema -- it's not animated, just more of an interactive book. The tactical lessons are good but very basic, too. I think the best customer for Strategy of War would be a young gamer, experienced in RTS play but with little knowledge of the World War II era --someone who gets the game, blasts around indiscriminately, then starts to grow curious about the actual men and machines and historical background. If you're a grognard, you've probably already read way more on your own than Strategy of War can ever tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargo Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Regarding printing out, there's a folder of text files that contain the full content of the articles. So if one is interested in having these articles in hand, all that's involved is opening the folder and printing off each article or those of interest. The folder is Battlefront/Strategy of War/_article For our part, the guide has never actually been aimed at casual gamers or young people (and I'm not certain there ARE many TOW2 players in those categories); from the beginning its content has been aimed at (believe it or not) grogs. The heart of the guide is its description of the battles and the ability to see the position of units on the battlefield. From that info, a player can begin to assess--with an understanding of German combined arms tactics--what was working for the Panzer divisions and what eventually undermined them, battle by battle. Broadsword, you represent a kind of gold standard to us in terms of serious players who approach this game, with an extensive library already under your belt (and likely your own experience). I can understand that the guide is a kind of recitation of known concepts for you; I appreciate the depth of insight in your posts, rooted in knowledge of this era of combat from literature covering its history. But the guide is not meant to fall too far outside the interest of even players like you and others. I wouldn't suggest that those who have read An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson would be bored by the guide--quite the opposite (I hope). The guide aims to synthesize quite a number of details: detailed maps, briefings of the battles, Panzer tactics (which despite their seeming simplicity are quite a bit more detailed than the illustrations that Panzer crews would have had in hand themselves) and interactive views of the hardware. The "clickable" battlefield views alone are not something that would be possible in a traditional book-based guide, so that's where we're coming from with this approach. Broadly speaking, this guide is aiming to offer quite a bit more than what is traditionally found in black and white strategy guides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Wargo, I don't mean to discourage anyone from trying/buying Strategy of War, and I know you must have worked very hard on it. It's always easy to criticize from the sidelines, but hard to create something original! I've only just started to scratch the surface of the content, so I'm sure there's more to it than I've seen so far. It's interesting what you say about how Panzer divisions' tactics undermined them, battle by battle. In researching for the El Guettar scenario(s) and map I'm creating, I read that the 10th PZ Div initial a.m. attack on 3/23/43 actually led with tanks in a huge rolling "hollow square," with Pz Grenadiers hanging back in trucks about 1,500 meters behind, ready to move up at the first sign the tanks were slowing down/meeting resistance. That sounds kind of unusual to me, and I wonder why they did it that way. Any idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargo Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I appreciate your point, Broadsword. I do hope the guide does end up serving the bright intellectual segment of the audience. Considering the widest possible spectrum of players interested in this game, a good number of them probably have enough curiosity to have read deeply about WWII; but one can imagine most of that reading centering on the ETO, or post-Normandy (as was the case for me) without nearly the same solid feel for the unusual combat and events of North Africa. Or some may be so casual in their gaming interests that they wouldn't have bothered with the library card, you're right... I can't imagine that that crew would appreciate this guide, though. In the end, it's sort of a nuanced discussion to have; but I think it's safe to say Battlefront gamers tend to be on the more serious end of things in their fixation and focus, and well-read. That's who we had in mind for the guide. Anyway, we truly hope SoW feels full enough add heft to the "bookshelf"; it's definitely not trying to replace the other histories altogether. Regarding El Guettar, have you read the account by John Patterson? http://sill-www.army.mil/famag/1990/OCT_1990/OCT_1990_PAGES_31_34.pdf I'll post over in your design-thread when I have a moment... It sounds like the German commander on March 23rd was trying to inspire awe in green American troops with a frontal attack and (as in the earlier battles driving toward Thala and Tebessa) walked into the teeth of Allied batteries that outranged his own mixed forces. I'm not sure the "hollow square" is relevant as much as the underestimation of the strength of Allied positions... Allied guns are indeed close to being overrun by German infantry but have just enough distance (and timed shells) to hold them at bay. And one has to keep in mind how grave the situation is becoming by this point for the Germans: Rommel has already exited the theatre for good; the loss of 30 more Panzers further dooms an already doomed cause. Maybe this general is trying to play a strong bluff to his advantage (inspiring a rout?) but it seems to have failed badly, and represents a rash, desperate order, where both his troops and tanks end up caught in the open under artillery fire. I think Rommel's mistakes (at least in February) are more subtle and fateful. He splits his forces too often; there isn't adequate reconnaissance for the left flank with Buelowius; he doesn't account for the length and duration of his armored thrusts with enough fuel and ammo. These are comparatively tiny mistakes that led to catastrophe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I hadn't found that article about El Guettar, Wargo -- thanks so much for posting the link! My scenario will focus on those critical moments when 10th Pz swept into the US rear area, closing in on the US artillery, supporting infantry, and TDs near the wadi. If I can get the balance right, I want it to be just possible for a skillful German player to get close enough to the guns to overrun them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thadius Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I got the guide today, and have only read a few bits and pieces but was surprised to see that it only listed British and German docrtines and not the US or Italian doctrines. Although the two that are in were very interesting, and helped me plan for the first few german missions. I also found the tactics section useful for assaults and defence, as on theatre of war 1 I simply charged and hoped for the best If you guys are planning on making anymore in the future I would be happy to buy them. For txema, it is like broadsword said, its like an interactive book that doesn't have any animations, but is well laid out and clear to use. I bought it because of how unique it is, but obviously its all down to personal taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokturnal Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Sorry for the possibly stupid question - But i saw no answer elsewhere. Can this be installed on more than one computer? If not, can the license be deactivated (and program uninstalled) so it can be re-installed on a new computer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wargo Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Nokturnal, the answer is yes, you can have two home computers running with the same license. It shouldn't, but if the above attempt gives trouble, you ought to be able to "unlicense" the SoW guide on one computer and install and license it on your other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokturnal Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Thanks for the reply Wargo. Good to know it can be unlicensed, i was fairly confident that i was allowed to install it more than once but just didn't want to risk it. Appreciate the quick response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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