Matrixgames is looking for beta testers
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4823288
I wish I were retired....
WitE 2 is entering Beta? <:-)
Seems like a late 2020 release is within the realm of possibility, then?
Quote from: ArizonaTank on June 04, 2020, 05:20:56 PM
I wish I were retired....
That's still not enough time.
And i still have to play the first one (i have it but i barely touched it yet)!
I confess I was about to ask why they were already making a sequel, until I looked at the original WITE's release date. Can't believe it's already been almost a decade. :o
Quote from: Anguille on June 04, 2020, 05:58:36 PM
And i still have to play the first one (i have it but i barely touched it yet)!
Sometimes I think you're even more of a glutton for punishment than I am. Then I look at my list of un-played/underplayed games, and think "never mind"... ::)
I'll maybe put them on to some accountants I know... :buck2:
Quote from: Martok on June 05, 2020, 09:16:32 AM
Sometimes I think you're even more of a glutton for punishment than I am. Then I look at my list of un-played/underplayed games, and think "never mind"... ::)
Maybe i am. But i think i slowed down my purchases a lot the last few years....still, i have so many games i don't need to buy any new one until the day i die....
Maybe i am. But i think i slowed down my purchases a lot the last few years....still, i have so many games i don't need to buy any new one until the day i die....
[/quote]
I need this type of motivation in Life :)
I'm just hoping this game will have some meat on it's bones. You know, any game you can do a whole turn in under 3 days is just too light for me. ::)
Quote from: Sir Slash on June 05, 2020, 12:12:31 PM
I'm just hoping this game will have some meat on it's bones. You know, any game you can do a whole turn in under 3 days is just too light for me. ::)
Break it down to "how many horses are killed to eat this day," level.
My problem with all the Grigsby games I've poured hours into -- WitP:AE, WitE, WitW -- is that I'm always impatient to try the Grand Campaign. I never really give the smaller scenarios a try. I feel like if I'm not playing the GC, I'm somehow missing out on what the game is 'really' supposed to be. So I start up a GC, spend a few weeks getting a dozen turns in... then realize that I made a terrible blunder around turn 4 and now am screwed, or that the game suddenly just feels way, way too big to manage.
The furthest I've gotten with a GC is WitW. I got from Husky up to the Normandy landings. Sicily was a push-over but Italy a nigh impossible fortress to crack. Tried historical landings in Normandy and AI completely bottled my divisions in the bocage against an iron curtain of Waffen SS divisions and anti-aircraft.
Anyway, I'm sure nothing like this will happen again with WitE2........
Quote from: sandman2575 on June 05, 2020, 01:47:18 PM
The furthest I've gotten with a GC is WitW. I got from Husky up to the Normandy landings. Sicily was a push-over but Italy a nigh impossible fortress to crack. Tried historical landings in Normandy and AI completely bottled my divisions in the bocage against an iron curtain of Waffen SS divisions and anti-aircraft.
I've read the manual from cover to cover and started a game of the introductory scenario but I've not ventured in the GC before. it sounds a very promising challenge.
Quote from: Ian C on June 05, 2020, 03:34:37 PM
Quote from: sandman2575 on June 05, 2020, 01:47:18 PM
The furthest I've gotten with a GC is WitW. I got from Husky up to the Normandy landings. Sicily was a push-over but Italy a nigh impossible fortress to crack. Tried historical landings in Normandy and AI completely bottled my divisions in the bocage against an iron curtain of Waffen SS divisions and anti-aircraft.
I've read the manual from cover to cover and started a game of the introductory scenario but I've not ventured in the GC before. it sounds a very promising challenge.
If I could impart some hard-won advice -- Sicily will be considerably easier than it was historically for the Allies, whereas the Italian peninsula will be considerably harder than it was historically. The Axis AI seems to assume that Sicily is a lost cause from the very start (...which it is), and so will try to evacuate the Herman Goering Div. across the strait to the mainland without using it to really engage your forces in Sicily. It will then try to strongly hold Reggio Calabria to prevent your own crossing the strait (this did not happen historically and it has the potential to set back your timetable in Italy significantly). If the Germans manage to establish a line across the peninsula along the parallel of Monte Cassino, get ready for World War One. Stalemate, futile assaults against strongly held positions. Kiss Rome goodbye.
The other piece of advice: do NOT try to recreate the Normandy landing. It's a trap! Bocage hexes are death, and the Germans will reinforce it with their best Waffen SS divs. If I were to do it again, I would definitely try what the Germans thought the Allies were actually trying to do: take Calais! Or possibly Le Harve.
It's not a game i buy on release, I'll the let the game simmer thru a few patch cycles these games need....o and a sale. I have around 500 hours into WITE, never played the grand campaign, maybe one day. On the other hand i only have about 10 hours into WITW. Basically i'm in no hurry as i have a lot of play left in both games.
I have 1000 hours into WitE. I get ocd playing the smaller scenarios over and over. Road to Smolensk is my personal cross to bear. Never got the moxie to start a grand campaign. I started learning WITW and then gave up since it was too different with the sir phase etc from WitE.
WitE is a first day buy for me. With hopefully the added benefit of making me learn how to play WITW
Con
Road to Leningrad for me. So many times one hex short of victory, then i see others do it with ease.....maybe i just suck.
Never managed to beat Road to Leningrad. Road to Minsk, yes, but if you can't win that, then you may as well give up.
So WitE2 will be incorporating WitW's Air Directive mechanic -- hopefully with some refinements as it's a bit clunky. But presumably the turns will be split the same way, with air phase first, then ground phase -- or maybe they've dreamed up something new in WitE2...?
Quote from: sandman2575 on June 05, 2020, 03:55:43 PM
If I could impart some hard-won advice -- Sicily will be considerably easier than it was historically for the Allies, whereas the Italian peninsula will be considerably harder than it was historically. The Axis AI seems to assume that Sicily is a lost cause from the very start (...which it is), and so will try to evacuate the Herman Goering Div. across the strait to the mainland without using it to really engage your forces in Sicily. It will then try to strongly hold Reggio Calabria to prevent your own crossing the strait (this did not happen historically and it has the potential to set back your timetable in Italy significantly). If the Germans manage to establish a line across the peninsula along the parallel of Monte Cassino, get ready for World War One. Stalemate, futile assaults against strongly held positions. Kiss Rome goodbye.
The other piece of advice: do NOT try to recreate the Normandy landing. It's a trap! Bocage hexes are death, and the Germans will reinforce it with their best Waffen SS divs. If I were to do it again, I would definitely try what the Germans thought the Allies were actually trying to do: take Calais! Or possibly Le Harve.
Thank you for arming me with this foreknowledge. Did you play the air campaign using the AI or did you micromanage a strategy? I'm wondering if air power could have played a more decisive role.
It also sets me to ponder whether a combined airborne and amphibious operation on the Italian peninsula to outflank any Axis defensive line might be helpful.
I manually controlled the Air Directives. The auto AD feature is OK, but if you're like me, you'll see what the AI creates and then think, No, that's not quite right, and start tweaking everything, at which point you realize you should just control it all yourself... :)
It's a good idea to fly/ship some fighter-bombers / tactical bombers -- maybe some longer range fighters like the P-38s -- that are sitting idly in Britain down to the Mediterranean. The Luftwaffe forces in Italy / Sicily in '43 are still capable, though you unquestionably have a major advantage over them with your own air forces. But they're not negligible, as unescorted bombers will soon discover.
Given that Husky is a relative push-over, I've tried resetting strategy on Turn 1 of the GC -- taking some of the forces devoted to Husky to land instead on the 'tip of the boot' to cut off the German forces retreat - the US and British airborne supported by some British armor. It's harder to pull off than it sounds. You don't really have the capacity to get solid air and naval interdiction far north-east of Sicily. The German armored units that are in Sicily and Southern Italy are very tough nuts to crack, the HG Div. and 16th(??)Panzergrenadier Div., also the Fallschirmjaeger div. They can't stop your landings, but they can make progress very, very difficult. And the more time you waste in Sicily, the more time the Germans have to reinforce and dig in in Italy.
I'd definitely recommend some creative thinking on Turn 1. I do think if you try to follow the historical Allied timeline and landings, you may find yourself completely thwarted in Italy. Of course, Italy is supposed to be a slog, but it's very easy to find yourself well short of Rome come June 6 '44. And keep in mind that you'll have to ship some good divisons out of the Mediterranean back to Britian to prepare for Overlord.
It ain't easy! But it's a lot of fun. I've found WitW much more engaging than WitE, myself.
Really looking forward to WitE II...
Quote from: sandman2575 on June 06, 2020, 09:45:29 AM
It ain't easy! But it's a lot of fun. I've found WitW much more engaging than WitE, myself.
Thanks for the info. It's given me some ideas for an altered strategy. I'm looking forward to embarking on the GC.
Will it be WEGO? I think the turns were a week long in wite, that's a long time for your enemy to never have carried out any plans. Basically whoever goes first is inside the OODA loop.
I was an alpha tester for a while before real life caught up with me and I had to drop out. It was not WEGO while I was testing and I saw no reason to think that would have changed since then.
Thanks Geezer. I do wonder what exactly will justify the upgrade to two then.
I'm sure Matrix will have a lot more to say on that as testing progresses and the game gets closer to launch.