Thinking of buying ... but need a push over the edge...

[barniewhittle]

Been lurking for ages & very seriously interested in buying.... but it's a huge amount for a 'game' and need some persuading.

My big worry is that you can't enjoy this game without giving up half (or more) of your life to it, which I can't afford.

So a question - can you start small and truly enjoy WITPAE without having to give 3 hours to one turn? I haven't got the space in my life for hours of micromanagement and worry my £70 would be wasted. I enjoy serious war games & chess & learning new things & history, so there's hope. But I bought UV and never really clicked with it.....

Must say that part of my problem is that this forum makes me think I must be missing something great. Am I?

Thanks....

BW

[Smeulders]

Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. That you didn't like UV might mean you're not the kind of person for AE though. If you are afraid of the time commitment, then there are a bunch of smaller scenarios out there that you can try, some come with the game, some were made later and you'll find them if you look around in the modding forum for a bit.

[berto]

I held back for the longest time but finally succumbed last week and purchased the game. I have no regrets whatsoever. In fact, quite the opposite. This game is truly amazing, deeply satisfying to a hard-core realism grognard, and I foresee spending many, many hours playing it far into the future (when I'm not otherwise playing the ACW and similar games from HPS).

Time commitment? I might tackle the full campaign when I retire (and have the time to split between WITP:AE and the HPS games--my other gaming passion). But for now, there are enough smaller scenarios (default, also posted in the scenarios forum) to keep me happy for quite some time. After a slow start, scenarios are mounting in number. I expect that trend to continue.

WITP:AE may or may not be your cup of tea. It's definitely my cup of coffee. Drink it all in!

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: b whittle

Been lurking for ages & very seriously interested in buying.... but it's a huge amount for a 'game' and need some persuading.

My big worry is that you can't enjoy this game without giving up half (or more) of your life to it, which I can't afford.

So a question - can you start small and truly enjoy WITPAE without having to give 3 hours to one turn? I haven't got the space in my life for hours of micromanagement and worry my £70 would be wasted. I enjoy serious war games & chess & learning new things & history, so there's hope. But I bought UV and never really clicked with it.....

Must say that part of my problem is that this forum makes me think I must be missing something great. Am I?

Thanks....

BW

Well, you are missing something great, IMO.

But your full reservations are well-received too. This game is a mistress that will require time to get better. If you're unwilling or unable to commit to this relationship, no hard feelings. But you may not be ready for the plunge yet.

Echo Smeulders' observation re: your UV past. If you didn't get along with it, you may not be right for this game just yet.

[Rainer]

without having to give 3 hours to one turn?

I handle 1 turn in about 60 minutes, playing Allied against Japanese AI, Scen 1 (the big one 1941-1946).
The very first turn is different, of course, but the following turns are much less time consuming.
Usually I do one turn per day, and sometimes none in three days, as time permits, and according to the mood I'm in.

The time needed also depends on your attitude towards the game.
If you want to do everything perfect, well ..
But remember, the commanders at that time had much pressure, and they also had to make decisions, sometimes very important ones, without "all the time in the world". They made mistakes, and corrected them afterwards as the events developed.

Do the same. Jump in. Make your mistakes (we ALL did). Experience. Learn.
Do it all over (we ALL did) - something the commanders then could not do.

You'll have a lot of fun.
I guarantee it.

[LoBaron]

ORIGINAL: b whittle

Been lurking for ages & very seriously interested in buying.... but it's a huge amount for a 'game' and need some persuading.

My big worry is that you can't enjoy this game without giving up half (or more) of your life to it, which I can't afford.

So a question - can you start small and truly enjoy WITPAE without having to give 3 hours to one turn? I haven't got the space in my life for hours of micromanagement and worry my £70 would be wasted. I enjoy serious war games & chess & learning new things & history, so there's hope. But I bought UV and never really clicked with it.....

Must say that part of my problem is that this forum makes me think I must be missing something great. Am I?

Thanks....

BW

Yes you would be missing one, if not the greatest, strategy game ever.

I understand your worries though. I have a limited ammount of time to play myself.

But the advantage of the game is exactly that the time you spend is exactly as long as you want it to be. Except maybe for watching the combat replay,
but even then, you can take a break whenever you want, save, go to bed, continue the next day.
The learning curve is steep and it takes dedication to get to know the basics, you will never stop learning something new but its easily doable.

Even on PBEM, you just have to find an opponent with the same rythm and you are ready to roll. Or you can play against opponents with more time available
and who like to play several games at once.

The only pressure you have is the one you make yourself. This is no realtime fast decision making can´t leave the damned computer battle.
Chess is probably a good comparision.

[CapAndGown]

I am going to echo Smeulders' comments. If you didn't like UV, I am not sure this is the game for you, especially if you want to play the smaller scenarios. The game engine is vastly improved over UV, but the basic style/feeling is the same. I though UV was a great operational game. What WitP:AE adds to UV is the strategic level. But if you didn't like UV, then the operational dynamics here are not going to do much for you, and by your own admission, you don't really have time to move on to the grand strategic scenarios.

AE can and does eat up lots of time, especially if you are prone to addictions. (Do you smoke?) So maybe you would be better off putting this game off until you reach a point in your life where you could give it more time.

As to the money, though, this game offers great value.

[NormS3]

yes.

It's an ever evolving masterpiece. Trust Matrix's AE designers and you realize, that real life has no meaning, at least until the girlfriend reminds you that losing the lex and sara in the opening week to subs is not as bad as losing her.

Seriously the level of detail, the ability to mod to beyond your hearts content, the huge amount of replayability makes AE a bargain and well worth the price of any multiple of game games.

Good luck and don't ask Terminus any yes or no questions![:D]

[wdolson]

You can play the smaller scenarios and people are coming up with new scenarios all the time.  The shorter scenarios play with a smaller map and smaller unit count, so the turns go much quicker.  If you want to let some things slide, you can cut back on the turn by turn micromanagement, especially against the AI on an easier setting.  The PBEM players tend to get obsessive about micromanaging everything to get the competitive edge.

Bill

[davbaker]

Best Wargame I've ever played in many years of gaming.
It takes a little while to get into it but well worth the effort.

You can spend hours on a turn of just do the basics , very flexible.

The smaller scenarios are very playable without comitting massive amounts of time.

Strongly recommend you to join in the madness that is WITP:AE.

Dave

[topeverest]

Dont DO IT! Your life will change forever!

[Sredni]

It was worth it to me. You can blow well over 70 bucks at the bar in a single night, a normal game costs 50-60 bucks and most of em to me don't last more then a week or two, a movie is 15 bucks for a couple hours. This game costs 70 and it's lasted me for 3 or 4 months already, with some days of 3 hours spent on it, others with as little as half an hour, and still others where I skipped it for a day or two.

Dollars to hours WitP ae is hard to beat if you get into it.

[Razz1]

I would say.. go to Storm Over the Pacific.

Just your cup of tea.

Play the Rising Sun Campaign on the next update.

If you feel you need more guts and have more time after SOP then you can buy this.

[jomni]

Each turn is only about 30 minutes for me (except Day 1).
Since you didn't get into UV then I don't recommend this to you because this is definitely UVx10.

[Sardaukar]

Check also After Action Reports sub-forum to see how the game actually plays. I have just started Tutorial/Introductory AAR for Grand Campaign against Japanese AI. (shameless bump [:D])

After playing WitP from 2004 and AE since release, it takes me nowadays (as Allies, Japanese are more complicated) to 1.5-2hrs to do first turn, 15-20 mins to do subsequent turns (apart from turns when I am doing something complicated, like multiple amphibious invasions).

[castor troy]

easy put: BUY IT, you won´t regret it

[topeverest]

In all seriousness, I cannot get a turn done in 30 minutes. 60 minutes if I hustle, except when things are very calm

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: topeverest

In all seriousness, I cannot get a turn done in 30 minutes. 60 minutes if I hustle, except when things are very calm

My solution: go 2x2 in a PBEM. I cannot tell you the joy I feel everytime I work on a turn when I get to western half of the map and hit "save". Off to Nomad for the rest. If I had known how much workload a 2x2 saves a player I would have done it years ago in WiTP.

BTW, that is another reason you should buy. SO many play modes that are equally satisfying: muliple AI settings, Play as Allies, Play as Japanese, Play PBEM as either side, play PBEM mirror games (only a few of those going on now), Play PBEM as 2x2 or even 3x3

[ny59giants]

If you like micro-management, then this game is for you. You say you will try a short scenario, which we all do, but that will quickly give way to a Grand Campaign vs AI (usually as the Allies as that is the easier side and more forgiving as a newbie). You will play vs the AI to learn, but you may become frustrated when the AI does some dumb things. The AI is vastly improved from WITP. I tried going back from playing PBEM to the AI and less than two months of game time and I was dying to get back into PBEM. The game has its faults, but the support for it is great and some minor annoy issues are slowly being fixed. If you have any issues with addiction, then stay away from this game as it will have you laying awake at night plotting your next move. As side benefit is your knowledge of places around the Pacific Rim will grow. [:D] 

[pmelheck1]

If micro-management is not you cup of tea this isn't your game.  Their is massive amounts in this game.  If you didn't get into UV I don't think you will like this one because it's basically the same UI with improvements.  This is a game that requires a large investment of time for the long haul to finish.  There is not a lot of automation to speed things up as I don't think it possible with the massive scale of this game.   It is THE BEST game on the subject of the pacific war bar none.  It is an utterly incredable game, the only one that has never left my computer going all the way back to WITP.  It isn't for everyone not even considering the price.  But if you have an interest in the subject and want a depth of detail unparalleled in any other game AE is fantastic and well worth it.