WAR - my review, thoughts, etc

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Overman
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2001 8:00 am
Location: stagnant midwest

WAR - my review, thoughts, etc

Post by Overman »

My review of WAR, v 4.50.15b. Thoughts, feelings, suggestions, questions, etc...as well as my own nit-picks. ;)

Overall, I want to say how awesome of a job the developers did, as CC4 was always the 'weakest link' in the classic CC series (IMO). WAR has changed all that and brought the game up to par not only with classic CC5, but with several enhancements to the game engine. The Ardennes offensive is a challenging campaign to historically depict in CC, as it is very armor and vehicle intensive, contrary to CC's original design as an infantry simulation.

Played the GC vs German AI. Hardest settings, 15 min battles, FM on. I specifically beefed up the German BGs to make them as strong as possible. Unfortunately, CC's AI still has issues with being aggressive and using sensible tactics (hence the popularity of 'Vetmods' and the modding community!). My American defenders forced at least two German BGs to disband on the very first turn of fighting.

I played the first 7 days of the GC, then quit, as I was simply defending the same starting maps over and over against declining German strength. After you defend the same map 5+ times, it gets a little boring. It was clear the AI Germans had no chance. I forced German BGs to disband on 15+ occasions. KG Peiper was the only German BG to force me off a map, and did so twice. I haven't played VetBob or the Stock Mod yet, but there could clearly be some tweaks to the AI and the GC to make it more challenging as the Americans...such as weaker US BGs, more aggressive German commanders (Knittel, Bayer and Von Fallois literally would not attack me or advance in several battles on the same map), delayed reinforcements for US, etc. Overall, the GC started out strong and interesting, but became mediocre and boring after the first 3-4 days.


Pros:
-The strat map! Much more playable than classic CC4
-Some of the weapon pics were updated
-Enhanced AI/SAI
-BIGGER maps! One of my chief complaints of classic CC4 was the dull white, cramped/claustrophobic feeling the maps had...way too small.
-Medals are larger and crisper looking
-The 'flaming' graphics on destroyed tanks / vehicles that persist for a while (was this an elements data modification?)
-Ability to create own BG formations from FPool (not in classic CC4, where they were 'locked')
-Points depict value of units for strength comparisons

Cons:
-Large, ugly fonts for 'first platoon', 'speed', 'supply', etc
-Large, ugly fonts for map sector, units, BG occupying a sector, etc
-Remove/Rename buttons look old and generic
-Main, Next, Soldier, View Map, Reinforce, etc...buttons and tabs are ugly and hard to see
-FPool listing on left side of BG screen often looks disordered
-Battle clock letters are yellow instead of white (?)
-German text is reddish instead of grayish
-Some vehicles were ugly; mostly US versions, like the M4s and the Stuart. Modding community has many better options.
-Some weapon sounds were duplicated. In some cases they were old (CC2/CC3) sounds that don't lend to realism.
-Some Germans spoke accented English ("I cant take any more!"), even with 'native language' option checked
-Mortars are way over-powered in this game. I took out guns and halftracks with three or less shots. Infantry could be bulls-eyed at 500m. Mortar teams routinely amassed 40-50 infantry kills, and 2-3 guns/HTs EACH after only three or four battles.
-Tank / vehicle reaction times are ridiculously fast...almost instantaneous. As soon as a unit reveals its position it is often reduced or destroyed within 5 seconds.

Questions:
-When is the earliest the American units may reinforce? I noticed some could not until Day 4. Is this accurate or a bug?
-M7 Garand Grenade launcher...not in TLD but in WAR and LSA....is this historical? Weren't they used at Normandy?
-What does the (gp) stand for in some Pzgrenadiere teams?
-Can non-HQ units with large green 'command influence' circles have a morale boosting effect on others similar to HQ units?
-Both sides can have the option to reinforce now?
-I noticed far more officers (Lts, Captains) among HQ units than in TLD or LSA. Is there a way to mod this in the data??
-I'm assuming that the off-board 'heavy artillery' support is of the 15cm/155mm variety?
-What is the difference between 'disbanding' and 'retreating in disarray'?
-Do disbanded (whether voluntary or not) BGs always reappear at a supply depot the following morning/day, or is there a percentage chance that they will each day?
-The 251/21 (rare HT) uses the 'MG15'...should be the MG151, as it was a 2cm AA cannon attached to a halftrack.

Suggestions:
-In one mod, the author placed all the available medals on the top of the soldier screen, so there was a reference to see how prestigious the award was. It would be nice to see this in the stock (re-released) versions.
-M8A1 'Scott' (never heard that nickname before)....had short-barreled 75mm...weapon pic shows long barreled version.
-Jagdpz.38(t) had "coax MG34" that could fire in a 360 degree arc....coaxial MG would be limited to frontal only.
-I really like the ROF on the 2cm gun (234/1 AC)...seems perfect rate for gameplay and sound (especially since the 2cm flak seems to be a difficult weapon to accurately mod).
-3-man 30 cal teams armed with M3 Grease Guns? My research suggests that they were only issues to tank and gun crews, not MG crews. They should have carbines or Garands instead. Same with US recon teams...strange combo of weapons (1 Garand, 1 GG, 1 Carbine).
-Smoke rounds fired by the 3" AT gun were abnormally small. Most (if not all) smoke rounds should have a large size to accurately depict their effectiveness.
-The 251/21 (rare HT) uses the 'MG15'...should be the MG151, as it was a 2cm AA cannon attached to a halftrack (?)
"Patriotism can be pathological"
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SteveMcClaire
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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:31 pm

RE: WAR - my review, thoughts, etc

Post by SteveMcClaire »

Overman,

Thanks for your feedback. To address your questions:
When is the earliest the American units may reinforce? I noticed some could not until Day 4. Is this accurate or a bug?

Reinforcements can't occur on the first turn of a campaign/operation. Otherwise it depends on the force pool and the amount of losses the unit has taken -- the reinforce button will become active if the unit has a 'reinforce' left and its forcepool strength (from fpools.txt) for the current date is stronger than its current strength. So if you're doing well compared to historical losses, your battlegroup may be stronger than the reinforce strength would make it, and so 'reinforce' won't be available.

M7 Garand Grenade launcher...not in TLD but in WAR and LSA....is this historical? Weren't they used at Normandy?

It is available in TLD in the US infantry rifle teams.

What does the (gp) stand for in some Pzgrenadiere teams?

It stands for 'gepanzert' (sorry if my German spelling is incorrect) which means they are from a unit mounted in armored halftracks. In game terms it typically means a smaller number of men per team.

Can non-HQ units with large green 'command influence' circles have a morale boosting effect on others similar to HQ units?

Non-HQ units do not exert command on other nearby units. Only their own soldiers.

Both sides can have the option to reinforce now?

Some German units can reinforce. The general rule of thumb is that if the battlegroup was three or more historical battalions strong, it gets reinforce.
I noticed far more officers (Lts, Captains) among HQ units than in TLD or LSA. Is there a way to mod this in the data??

Officers in command units is a function of the soldier class in he teams data files -- there is typically one in every Platoon or Company HQ team. This virtually is identical to TLD as far as I know. I have not compared it to LSA but it should be similar. The only way to change it would be to change the teams data and this would remove all officers.

I'm assuming that the off-board 'heavy artillery' support is of the 15cm/155mm variety?

105mm, as I recall.

What is the difference between 'disbanding' and 'retreating in disarray'?

Disband is when the battlegroup is removed from the map and has to re-enter. Retreat is when a battlegroup is forced off the current map and back to an adjacent map, and unable to move next turn.

Do disbanded (whether voluntary or not) BGs always reappear at a supply depot the following morning/day, or is there a percentage chance that they will each day?

They always return unless there is no room for them on the map.

The 251/21 (rare HT) uses the 'MG15'...should be the MG151, as it was a 2cm AA cannon attached to a halftrack.

Yes, this appears to be a data error. You're correct that the 251/21 should have the MG151 not, MG15. You could modify the vehicles.txt data file to fix this -- swapping them out for the 2cm flak is probably the easiest option.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions,

Steve
Overman
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2001 8:00 am
Location: stagnant midwest

RE: WAR - my review, thoughts, etc

Post by Overman »

Thx for the reply, good to know questions can be answered.
"Patriotism can be pathological"
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