Schwerpunkt games?

[Grim.Reaper]

I really never see this game series discussed much.  Saw they had a Middle East game.  Anybody have any experience and able to discuss the good and bad?  Are they still active and in business?  Is there an active forum that discusses the games?

http://schwerpunkt.wargamer.com/MDEdesc.html

[mirth]

I really never see this game series discussed much.  Saw they had a Middle East game.  Anybody have any experience and able to discuss the good and bad?  Are they still active and in business?  Is there an active forum that discusses the games?

http://schwerpunkt.wargamer.com/MDEdesc.html

Schwerpunkt is still active. I believe they are currently working on a WWII game that covers all of the ETO. Ron Dockal posts updates from time-to-time at Wargamer.

I don't have any experience with Schwerpunkt's games, but I know they are generally held in high regard.

[Grim.Reaper]

I really never see this game series discussed much.  Saw they had a Middle East game.  Anybody have any experience and able to discuss the good and bad?  Are they still active and in business?  Is there an active forum that discusses the games?

http://schwerpunkt.wargamer.com/MDEdesc.html

Schwerpunkt is still active. I believe they are currently working on a WWII game that covers all of the ETO. Ron Dockal posts updates from time-to-time at Wargamer.

I don't have any experience with Schwerpunkt's games, but I know they are generally held in high regard.

Thanks Mirth.  I have really never seen this line of games in action, so not sure how good they play out and how they compare to other games like HPS and such.  The middle eastern version has peaked my interest, but hesitant to jump in without any reviews or hands on knowledge of the game.....and it seems they only do mail orders which is already a strike against them:)

[Al]

From what I understand it's a one man operation.

[mirth]

I think Ron's wife helps with the graphics, but yeah it's a very small operation.

[mikeck]

I have middle east wars. It's a great game. the AI is very good and it is pretty deep. Once you get used to the user interface it's actually pretty easy to get around then. You have air supply, supply by sea, amphibious landings, various kinds of airstrikes and air to air action...everything you would really want. Graphics are good enough, much better than HPS games. The only requirement is that you actually have an interest in the Israeli Arab conflicts... There is also operation Desert Storm and operation cobra but you basically just steamroll the enemy if you play as the allies. There is also a hypothetical US versus Iran scenario which is very interesting. The bread-and-butter I think is the 1967 and 1973 wars...even includes nuclear weapons classic.

First time I played in 1973 as the Arabs I had pushed the Israelis back to Tel Aviv and was concentrating for a final strike when israel nuked me twice and took out my huge armored stacks ... And that's when I find out why you don't concentrate your forces like that on a modern tactical nuclear battlefield

[Grim.Reaper]

I have middle east wars. It's a great game. the AI is very good and it is pretty deep. Once you get used to the user interface it's actually pretty easy to get around then. You have air supply, supply by sea, amphibious landings, various kinds of airstrikes and air to air action...everything you would really want. Graphics are good enough, much better than HPS games. The only requirement is that you actually have an interest in the Israeli Arab conflicts... There is also operation Desert Storm and operation cobra but you basically just steamroll the enemy if you play as the allies. There is also a hypothetical US versus Iran scenario which is very interesting. The bread-and-butter I think is the 1967 and 1973 wars...even includes nuclear weapons classic.

First time I played in 1973 as the Arabs I had pushed the Israelis back to Tel Aviv and was concentrating for a final strike when israel nuked me twice and took out my huge armored stacks ... And that's when I find out why you don't concentrate your forces like that on a modern tactical nuclear battlefield

Thanks mikeck, that sounds very interesting for sure.  Does this game allow for custom made scenarios or just the ones that come with it?  If so, is there a site where people host them?  If there was a download option for this game, my impulse would have taken over by now and pulled the trigger:)  But since mail order it gives more time to consider.

[mikeck]

Not sure of there is an editor. Truthfully, I haven't played in awhile. It was nice to have that "ooh! It came in the mail today!! And look, a real life instruction book!" Go ahead, not sure another game has these wars covered

[Grim.Reaper]

Not sure of there is an editor. Truthfully, I haven't played in awhile. It was nice to have that "ooh! It came in the mail today!! And look, a real life instruction book!" Go ahead, not sure another game has these wars covered

Thanks mikeck.  Couple last few questions before I pull the trigger.

1) Do you know if the game is compatible with Windows 8-64 bit?
2) Are they continuing to support with updates or is it dead from that standpoint?
3)  Is there long AI turn processing or pretty quick?
4)  Anyway you could explain the game a little such as are there a ton of units to manage, does it represent real troop numbers, or does it just use strength points or something like that?  How do you win the game?  Objective points?  Are there a set number of turns or do you play until you meet some kind of criteria? etc.

[Staggerwing]

There is a tutorial doc at the bottom of the 'about' pages for AGW and MDE. The doc doesn't include any pix but has some gameplay info.

http://schwerpunkt.wargamer.com/MDEdesc.html

There is a nice AAR at Wargamer.com done by Pzgndr but somehow the screenies no longer show up.  :(

[Grim.Reaper]

There is a tutorial doc at the bottom of the 'about' pages for AGW and MDE. The doc doesn't include any pix but has some gameplay info.

http://schwerpunkt.wargamer.com/MDEdesc.html

There is a nice AAR at Wargamer.com done by Pzgndr but somehow the screenies no longer show up.  :(

Thanks staggerwing....read that document, but doesn't really contain too much details, nor screens to go along with it like you mention.  I am just really surprised I can't find any official reviews or detailed user based reviews (besides a few bullet points at their game forum at WG) on this game.  If this game is actually good and fun to play, seems like a real missed opportunity by the developer not to better promote the game.  Just curious, what kind of DRM/activation method does the game use, if any?

[Staggerwing]

I don't have the MiddleEast game, just RGW and AGW. I have not played them in a while because I wasn't able to get them to run under Win7. I fully intend to get the games back out and solve the issue but it's on the back burner ATM. IIRC there was no DRM though I could be wrong.

[Grim.Reaper]

I don't have the MiddleEast game, just RGW and AGW. I have not played them in a while because I wasn't able to get them to run under Win7. I fully intend to get the games back out and solve the issue but it's on the back burner ATM. IIRC there was no DRM though I could be wrong.

Thanks.....I wonder if your troubles with Windows 7 would be something I would likely see on Windows 8 since very similar OS under the hood....unless because the Middle East game is more modern, a better chance to work.

[LongBlade]

I have middle east wars. It's a great game. the AI is very good and it is pretty deep. Once you get used to the user interface it's actually pretty easy to get around then. You have air supply, supply by sea, amphibious landings, various kinds of airstrikes and air to air action...everything you would really want. Graphics are good enough, much better than HPS games. The only requirement is that you actually have an interest in the Israeli Arab conflicts... There is also operation Desert Storm and operation cobra but you basically just steamroll the enemy if you play as the allies. There is also a hypothetical US versus Iran scenario which is very interesting. The bread-and-butter I think is the 1967 and 1973 wars...even includes nuclear weapons classic.

First time I played in 1973 as the Arabs I had pushed the Israelis back to Tel Aviv and was concentrating for a final strike when israel nuked me twice and took out my huge armored stacks ... And that's when I find out why you don't concentrate your forces like that on a modern tactical nuclear battlefield

Great summary. Now that's a wargame!

[spelk]

I have an AAR of the first game Russo-German War (RGW), and while the graphics do look a bit dated, the game still plays well, and behind Decisive Campaigns series is one of my favourite Operational Wargames. I'm sure if you read through the AAR you'll get a feel for how it plays out, because I more or less document each step and decision out in full.

Turn 1 & Setup
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2598

Turn 2
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2652

Turn 3
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2795

Turn 4
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2862

Turn 5
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2932

Turn 6
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=2973

Turn 7
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=3062

Turn 8
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=3110

Turn 9
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=3133

Turn 10
http://sugarfreegamer.com/?p=3153

Ron is working on a larger more up to date version of his WWII games, pulling together RGW and his newer Anglo-German War (AGW), he's also updating the engine to include a lot of what was in the Middle East (MDE) game, and improving on that. I did some of the database work for him placing the cities and their hex locations (mainly from the AGW side). As far as I know, Ron updates progress on the game over at his sub-forum on Wargamer.com - I'm sure someone invited him over here at some point... unless that was just me thinking someone should invite him over! :)

I vaguely remember options to sue your own AI, and I thought you could design your own scenarios, but they're text files, with a lot of data attached - not sure there is a user-friendly editor as such.

IIRC, the MDE game is the one with the most evolved version of his engine, until he releases WWIIE (World War II Europe).

1) Do you know if the game is compatible with Windows 8-64 bit?

I've ran it on Windows 7 64-bit fine. Haven't dabbled in Windows 8.

2) Are they continuing to support with updates or is it dead from that standpoint?

I think a number of updates have been applied over the years, but it hasn't really been a constant flow as such. Since his engine is evolving over time, I think the newer game supercedes the older ones in terms of UI - and as such I think WWIIE will be top of the food chain when released.

3)  Is there long AI turn processing or pretty quick?

From what I remember it's fairly snappy. We're not looking at anything Paradox sized. ;)

4)  Anyway you could explain the game a little such as are there a ton of units to manage, does it represent real troop numbers, or does it just use strength points or something like that?  How do you win the game?  Objective points?  Are there a set number of turns or do you play until you meet some kind of criteria? etc.

The combat resolution is very boardgamey, roll of dice and look up tables - that sort of thing. But what initially hooked me in, was the amount of operational variety there was, naval combat, air interdiction/supply/bombing - lots of stuff to throw in to the mix of just moving counters and hoping for good dice rolls. The unit counts were manageable, some of the scenarios get quite large.

Another aspect to the "Schwerpunkt way" was that every turn, you get a status report and it shows you all the details, and gives you a grading against what happened in History! Comparing yourself to history is a very tasty morsal at the end of each turn. I think you were scored on Victory Points for holding key positions but also on your kills and losses and how they compare with History. I think the scenarios can be set numbers of turns to play through.

Anyway, give my Crimean push a read, it should explain a lot of how the game plays out and whats what. The MDE is just more up to date tech, and a better interface :)