Kind of OT: War in the East

[RogerJNeilson]

Just been put on half price sale.

Not been that convinced in the past that its anything like as good as AE - am I likely to enjoy it or is it very different and would quickly become another 'games I bought but never played'

Roger

[Lecivius]

I bought it, played it once, and set it aside.  AE just flat spoiled me [;)]

[Numdydar]

I have it and played it quite a bit, all the "Road to's scenerios and part of a GC. Think of WitE as AE on land [:)]. Russia has production in the game, while the Germans do not. But with the patches it has turned into a pretty good game. I have liked it and glad I bought it. Definately got my monies worth even when I bought it at full price.
 
If you want the same level of detail on land that AE provides on sea, then I think you will be fine.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

I bought it almost a year ago. I haven't even installed it.. way too busy with real life + WITPAE

[RogerJNeilson]

Hmmm, yes. If its like AE then I'd be tempted even as an investment for future play, but if it isn't like AE then its doomed to the bin..... so not worth getting.

See what other responses come out....

Roger

[IdahoNYer]

Not as indepth as AE, but still think its the best Eastern Front game out there. To me, had a great feel till mid '42 (from both sides). After the Soviets start getting Rifle Corps in numbers, game bogged down a bit.

Don't regret the purchase at all and will stay on the hard drive for a long while. But if its one or the other, AE - no comparison for the depth of the game.

[GreyJoy]

Have it. Played once and put it aside immediately. Good game but unbalanced from 42 on.
Waiting for WITW...that one should really rock!

However AE remains the best, hands down

[Feltan]

I have played it quite a bit, and it is still on the hard drive.  Good game, but not nearly as good as AE in my opinion.
 
If you want an in-depth study of the East Front, then you will not be disappointed.  However .....
 
Both against the AI and human-vs.-human play, the Germans will get crushed early -- mid '43 to early '44 at the latest.  Unless the Soviet player is a total boob, victory for the Reds is assured even if the Germans have a stunning '41/'42.
 
The winter rules ruin the playability of the game in my opinion.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing, the Germans can do to prevent pure and unadulterated catastrophe during the first winter.  You can't prepare, can't supply, can't pullback and get into better defensive positions -- nothing prevents the Soviets from chewing the Germans apart during the winter.  If the Soviet player is the slightest bit keen, he will attrit all Axis formations and destroy quite a few as well.  Hence, most of '42 is stagnant during the summer since the Germans are so beat up.  From Winter '42 onward it is the march to Berlin as anemic Axis forces have to face up to the ever expanding Soviet horde.
 
Best I've done:  As the Soviets, I took Berlin in very early '43.  As the Axis, I held it until summer '44.
 
When you play WITP-AE you know up front that Japan is going to "lose."  VP's aside, Japan just isn't going to invade North America.  In WITE, you would hope that the Germans had a chance of winning the game like they had a chance historically.  However, in the game there is no hope for the Axis player once the first snow flakes settle.
 
Regards,
Feltan

[Jorge_Stanbury]

I did a quick search and :

"Together with this Deal of the Week, we also launch the long-awaited 1.07.15 update. This major update includes a number of important bug fixes and rule changes."

Who knows, maybe ther snow issue is fixed?

Question: there are 2 expansion packs... do you know if they are just addtional scenarios/ campaigns or do they include game improvements?

[Feltan]

Jorge,
 
I do not know.  I haven't fiddled with it in about a year.
 
Regards,
Feltan

[Jorge_Stanbury]

For the little I read on that forum:
- Looks like an option for "milder winters" is now available
- the 2 expansion packs are new scenarios

regards

[Sabre21]

To add my 2 cents, I think it is a pretty good game considering I spent a lot of time testing it. If you like to play the Japanese in AE, then play the Soviets in WitE in the 41 Campaign. It requires a lot of detail in planning but not as much as AE. Turns are week long and I recommend you play it on hard. Once you get a few games under your belt then go to challenging.

[Numdydar]

I have the Lost Battles expansion as I wanted to try the Stalingrad to Berlin campaign and use the new sudden death VP options. Playing a GC now with the sudden death option. Pretty good so far.

[Blind Sniper]

Very disappointed, oustanding OOB, detailed combat system and...stop. [:-]
Worst factor is the game scale, 10 miles per hex with weekly turns is wrong (IMHO), it is a IGO-UGO therefore you can move a unit and attack, then move another unit, go back to the previous unit and so on, all without an enemy reaction (yes there is the reserve feature but doesn't change the matter).
To stop the '41 German attack you have to deploy the Russian units in the worst and ahistorical defence ever seen in a game (carpet, checkboard) given that you cannot react.
The air warfare was bad (but now I don't know), I played it a bit and I tryed again after a long break, but now I can say that I will never play it again.
After the gold the devs made a lot of patches and that means great support by Matrix but the game surely wasn't ready either.

My suggestion: check closely the AARs and see if the system fit for you. [:)]

Edit: my rant is mainly for the CG game, small scenarios are better, but of course is like to buy WitP and play only Guadalcanal...

[GaryChildress]

I bought it, broke the seal, installed it and ran it up to the main menu screen, but never played it. I don't know why. When the game first came out it was on my "must get" list for a while until I finally got it and then realized I really wasn't all that interested.

[RogerJNeilson]

I find it significant that there's not been a lot of positive responses. Thanks guys. Will not bother.

Roger

[Dili]

From reading the comments in its respective forum, the question about this game that keeps popping up is how someone that build WITP makes a game with several mistakes that appear to come from a beginner developer.

[wdolson]

The original WitP had more inaccuracies than AE has. AE had a very long development schedule and a very large team working on the OOB. Much longer and much larger than typical for wargames. Something done faster with a smaller team, even if they are experts on the subject is likely going to have inaccuracies creep in. Knowing what it took to get AE to the level it is, I'm willing to forgive 2X3 for some mistakes in the OOB for WitE.

I don't know what sort of modification tools are available for WitE, but it doesn't look like it has anything like the fan modding community that has sprung up around WitP. It was that community effort that created AE in the first place.

Bill

[Dili]

I am not talking about OOB inaccuracies but design decisions. For example one of the more absurd: let's take from campaign scenario all German division destroyed at Stalingrad when Stalingrad might or not occur and what the result of it, it does depends on the game. To make a comparison is like taking ships from witp at time of their real sinking.

[pompack]

ORIGINAL: Feltan
The winter rules ruin the playability of the game in my opinion. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, the Germans can do to prevent pure and unadulterated catastrophe during the first winter. You can't prepare, can't supply, can't pullback and get into better defensive positions -- nothing prevents the Soviets from chewing the Germans apart during the winter. If the Soviet player is the slightest bit keen, he will attrit all Axis formations and destroy quite a few as well. Hence, most of '42 is stagnant during the summer since the Germans are so beat up. From Winter '42 onward it is the march to Berlin as anemic Axis forces have to face up to the ever expanding Soviet horde

The mild-winter rule made it a much more interesting game. In PBEM The Germans can mount some nasty little local counterattacks and the overall attrition is cut down significantly.

Now with that said, I have only played one PBEM since the new winter option became available because of lack of time due to intense AE schedule [:)]