...men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'
So, how about it? Is anyone going to get the new HOI III expansion, Their Finest Hour? I think I'm going to splurge. I love the battle Plan editor that lets you draw out your movements onto the map. This is genius and I'm shocked it was never done before. It also has a custom game editor, which people are raving about, and adds a few other things like, elite infantry, more expansive naval invasion rules and a new lend-lease system.
Very, very tempting.
I don't know. What does it have to do with the Battle of Britain? Why would they call it that if it isn't focused on the brave aviators who fought the Hun to a standstill in the sunny summer skies over England? I'm kind of offended that they would pick that name...
I'm just yanking your chain, JH. I will probably buy it eventually, but I'm not in a hurry.
^That was just gratuitously mean. I'm hurt. :'(
The battle plan editor does look very interesting but I am not sure that is enough to convince me to buy the game.
I really like HOI III, but this "expansion" is leaving me pretty flat. The operational planning feature is not tied to the AI. So it's just eye candy. The only value would be for those who want to draw their plan before they execute, or I understand you can show it to your allies in multi-player to coordinate.
But I don't play multi-player so not much value for me.
Other than that, the new things that the patch....errrr...I mean "expansion" brings to gameplay, are just tweaks IMHO.
OK, so you can give ICs as lend lease to your friends...nice. You get to build "elite" units like SS etc....interesting. There are some new options to make amphibious landings more realistic....OK. A few more options on the intel screen...yawn. You can now set the aggression levels of your commanders...interesting. There are now bonuses for combined arms units...hmm. Better leaders can now get a combat advantage by selecting better tactics...nice. You now have a custom game mode where you can tweak almost all of your nations starting parameters...very nice. But that is about it folks.
They don't seem to have done much with the lame grand strategic AI. And the one thing I really want...being able to directly control you allies' troops (like in HOI II) is still not there...sigh.
I really can't recommend it at the current price. Maybe when it goes into the bargain bin...
So far all I've ever done in HoI games is try to invent Nukes and ICBMs playing Canada, Brazil or South Africa. Then I get tired of waiting after a year or two of game time (which feels like a year or two of real time) and hit the save and exit to get on with my life. Somehow I feel like I'm gardening and just waiting out the seasons to see how my tomato and pepper crop will turn out. :-\
I thought I read the battle plans you draw up had no effect in game - as in they aren't implemented - so can I ask what the point of them is (if indeed that is the case)?
I'm not sure I have the stamina for another iteration of HoI III. I bought the game on release and then I think I bought an addon...but I hardly touched it. It's one of those games that always teased but I just never got into. I think I was partly put off with things I read - daft things like the AI Japanese landing in North Africa or Britain (not that specifically - but that kind of thing).
HoI II I did play for a little while and enjoyed - but I just never got into HoI III as much as I really wanted to.
I am sure I will pick up, but likely not until a holiday sale when only a few bucks.....I keep trying to like this series, but never works out for me.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 28, 2012, 04:57:23 AM
I am sure I will pick up, but likely not until a holiday sale when only a few bucks.....I keep trying to like this series, but never works out for me.
+1 - exactly how I end up...just not feeling it.
I think I need structured gameplay and designated goals in my games...given too much openess just makes me go "blaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"
Quote from: JudgeDredd on September 28, 2012, 05:09:49 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 28, 2012, 04:57:23 AM
I am sure I will pick up, but likely not until a holiday sale when only a few bucks.....I keep trying to like this series, but never works out for me.
+1 - exactly how I end up...just not feeling it.
I think I need structured gameplay and designated goals in my games...given too much openess just makes me go "blaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"
Yep, I hear you...the scale of this game makes my brain explode......but on paper this is a game I should enjoy, just hasn't clicked:(
I dunno guys...I'm finding the praise for this expansion to be near universal, which as you all know is somewhat unusual for a Paradox release. The community is typically pretty divided. There has to be something good about it.
I'm being lazy - is it stand alone?
Quote from: JudgeDredd on September 28, 2012, 06:48:09 AM
I'm being lazy - is it stand alone?
Requires other modules....
System Requirements
REQUIRES HEARTS OF IRON III, SEMPER FI AND FOR THE MOTHERLAND INSTALLED TO PLAY
Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Intel Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+ (quad core)
2Gb RAM
2GB hard disk space
GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon X1900 videocard
NVIDIA,
DirectX-Compatible soundcard,
DirectX®: 9.0c or more
3-button mouse,
keyboard and speakers
Internet Connection
Quote from: JudgeDredd on September 28, 2012, 05:09:49 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 28, 2012, 04:57:23 AM
I am sure I will pick up, but likely not until a holiday sale when only a few bucks.....I keep trying to like this series, but never works out for me.
+1 - exactly how I end up...just not feeling it.
I think I need structured gameplay and designated goals in my games...given too much openess just makes me go "blaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"
you do get guided by real life events that trigger around the real life event time - youre hard pressed as Germany not to take Austria and Czechoslovakia and Poland as youre steered there, this then triggers WW2 - all youre really left with is what forces you build up to that point and how you attack Poland and France, my biggest bug bear has always been Russia.
If i was the little fella with the moustache i wouldnt have invaded russia and i should be able to play that out, take western europe, trigger sealion, take the Baltic, southern med and even spain but DO NOT touch Russia. If they want to invade let them but dont do it yourself but the game pushes you and pushes you into doing it so that in the end it cant help but trigger a Soviet war.
In my last game i influenced US politics so much they were 75% pro nazi and i stayed a million miles away from talking to the Japanese, i never got that far and i wasnt playing as Japan so i dont know if Pearl Harbour is auto triggered, but if it was i hope theres an option to wash your hands of the whole thing as Germany - big shrug - its nothing to do with me and Japan isnt part of the Axis, so theres no need for the US to come over the Atlantic!
Writing this i realise its a great game, but ive been there, done that and got many tshirts - i dont think this is enough to make me come back
Definitely not stand-alone -- add on.
The battle plans editor is kind of killing me -- it looks fantastic, but like ArizonaTank says, it's essentially just for looks. If it dictated how your AI controlled armies would try to carry out the operation, I would buy this is a second. But just eye candy, unfortunately.
The AI control feature for me is what sets HoI3 apart from its predecessors (that and the more detailed OOBs). It has enormous potential, but definitely remains a work in progress. If they could get the AI to function more or less rationally, rather than do constantly unrealistic things like railroading your divisions all over the front to cover perceived gaps, it would be revolutionary -- but maybe that's too much to ask, in the near term anyway. Which is why the battle plans is both so enticing and disappointing -- if it directed AI, it would just be fantastic, but no.
My two cents, but Their Finest Hour does seem to add considerably more than the previous expansion, For the Motherland, which really seemed very trivial and I never wound up buying. Semper Fi was a must have improvement on vanilla though.
Anyway, I'll leave up to the modders - ICE particularly -- to sell me on TFH. When they get the mod up to date with the expansion, I'll probably take the plunge. Can't really play vanilla anymore --