Need some serious help from the experts....WW2 pc gaming

[acctingman]

Hello

So, I've been trying to find the "perfect" wargame for WW2 and I'm now realizing there is no such thing. I was trying to use Men of War Assault Squad 2 because of the editor (want the ability to make my own battles) and all the mods (every nation involved in WW2 and almost every tank and gun used by each country)...but, I don't like the "arcade" feel to is and quite frankly, the GEM editor is touchy and seldom works properly.

So, here I am with a quandry. I want to come up with a game list for the following time frames of WW2.

Germany vs Poland/Low Countries
North Africa 1940-1943
German invasion of Russia 41-43
Russian counter offensives to Berlin 43-45
Pacific Theater 1942-1945
Allied Invasion of Sicily/Italy
D-Day to Berlin

If I could find games that cover these area that would awesome, but I don't have the knowledge of this gaming genre like most of you have. I'm an old school RPG'er/MMO'er who has a love offair with WW2 and I'm moving on from RPG to WW2.

For a point of reference to what I'm looking for in a game I really like the looks of Achtung Panzer Operation Star

I'd also like the Close Combat series of games. They seem historical accurate.

Anyways, if anyone would care to chime in and present some example games that might fit into the above theaters, you have my deepest thanks!

I will say I do want games that have editors where I can create my own battles. If a game is just pre-built scenarios/campaigns, I would pass on those.

Again, thank you so much for reading this and helping me out.

[Jarhead0331]

Have you looked into the Combat Mission series? First one that pops into mind.

You have titles spanning from Normandy, Italy, Market Garden and Eastern Front.

[GJK]

For tactical, get Combat Mission Beyond Overlord, Combat Mission Beyond Berlin and Combat Mission Afrika Korps.  Those are the original generation of the Combat Mission series and they can be had for cheap, don't have the drm crap, has 1000's of scenarios that you can download from my websites at www.the-proving-grounds.com or www.the-scenario-depot.com.  If you're an eye candy type, then get the newer Combat Mission but you'll pay quite a bit for it, having to deal with their drm crap and will only get a very limited amount of scenarios.  EITHER though would be my choice.

For strategic or operational, get The Operational Art of War III from Matrix games.  A gazillion scenarios covering most all battles of WWII.  Best bang for your buck deal there.

[GJK]

Of course if you *really* want to be a WWII wargamer, scroll down to the board wargaming section.   

[acctingman]

I've tried the Combat Mission games. WAAAAAY too technical for me, but thank you for the suggestion.

[GJK]

I guess Advanced Squad Leader and Advanced Third Reich would be out of the question then.   

Battlefield Academy might be more your speed then.  It looks too cartoonish for me but they say that there's a good tactical game underneath that fluff.

[jomni]

Which scale?  Turn Based or Real Time?

[Hot lead and dirty talk!]

Steel Panthers World at War (SPWAW) or Steel Panthers World War 2 (SPWW2) cover all these scenarios. Plus the game is free and still has active communities at spwaw depot and spww2 at shrapnel

[acctingman]

Which scale?  Turn Based or Real Time?

I'd prefer turn based. More company sized battles

Steel Panthers might be the best all-in-one game and as much as eye candy isn't my #1 requirement, that game looks soooo old.

I think I'd rather play the older Close Combat 3 game. It looks like it has tons of mods cover North Africa/Pacific theater.

[SirAndrewD]

Which scale?  Turn Based or Real Time?

I'd prefer turn based. More company sized battles

Steel Panthers might be the best all-in-one game and as much as eye candy isn't my #1 requirement, that game looks soooo old.

I think I'd rather play the older Close Combat 3 game. It looks like it has tons of mods cover North Africa/Pacific theater.

Close Combat is a favorite of mine, but yeah, nothing really beats Steel Panthers for me.  I never could get much into the Combat Mission games, including the new ones. 

[Bison]

You could also look at Panzer Command Ostfront.

[Staggerwing]

You could also look at Panzer Command Ostfront.

Good stuff, that PC:O.

[GJK]

You could also look at Panzer Command Ostfront.

Good stuff, that PC:O.

Now see, that game confused me.  Maybe it's because I've played Combat Mission for so many years.

And for acctingman, I remember the very first few times that I played CM (when it was very first released).  I hated it.  It just did not appeal to me at all and I sat it aside for a year at least before being convinced to try it again.  I'm so glad that I did.  It sounds like you've tinkered around with it, maybe with the demo.  Try finding the demo from Combat Mission Beyond Berlin and see if works any better for you.  I'm very much in the minority but I prefer the original titles to the newer ones personally (much more intuitive to me).

[FarAway Sooner]

Unity of Command is a serious winner, if you're just interested in playing the Eastern Front.  It's got the "turn limit time pressure" factor, but innovates in many ways over other titles that look very similar.  It's received some of the most critical acclaim of any TBS WW II title in a long time, and it's pretty accessible (although the AI is quite good if you get at all sloppy).

[Nefaro]

GJK's suggestion of Battle Academy is a good one in this case.

It's graphics may look comic-ish but uses has a very enjoyable, yet accessible, turn-based system at the vehicle/squad level.  The graphic style didn't bother me at all once I got into it.

Too bad this topic didn't come up a couple days earlier.  Battle Academy 2 (the improved sequel on the East Front) was on a Matrix weekend sale at 30% off.  :(  I only have the original BA, and planned to get BA2 sometime, but my spending has been way over budget recently so I'll wait for the Xmas sale. 

I do think BA2 has some very nice feature additions compared to the original, and I generally enjoy the east front stuff more these days (the rare times I get a WW2 game) but there is a big different in price between the two...


http://www.matrixgames.com/products/387/details/Battle.Academy

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/541/details/Battle.Academy.2:.Eastern.Front



Note that you can create a Matrix "Members" account, and register your Matrix serial number in order to also get a Steam key for these.  That would give you both a downloaded practically DRM-free installer and a Steam version, as opposed to just the latter, so it's worth going that route if you don't mind the extra effort.