Commander: The Great War vs. Strategic Command WWI + Breakthrough: Immersion

[JasonPratt]

But if you guys are pretty much meh maybe I should look to WWI Gold...except there aren't any additional scenarios there IIRC...

There are a few, but nothing like SCWW1:B. For example there is an epic scenario of the east African war in Breakthrough, while in WW1G that whole conflict is handled as an off-map event. It's nice that it's there at all, but SC definitely wins the scenario war (so to speak).

The only three scenarios I recall from WW1G so far are Tannenburg (which may actually be impossible for the Russians to win), the initial Serb/Hungary conflict, and a Palestinian operation.

But WW1G isn't there to cater to your pathetic whims, it exists TO LAUNCH WORLD WAR ONE UPON YOU!!  :D  8) Go big or go home, etc.

(Or go bigger and even more insane with Pride of Nations, which for all practical purposes is a buildup to and playout of the first world war, with the various Imperial and Civil Wars of the 19th century being preludes.)


Come be our fourth player, Gus, and learn the true meaning of despair and horror.  ;D

Or, you know, if anyone else wants to, that's okay, too.  :)

[Grim.Reaper]

I tried the demo for some of the SC games and often found the turn processing painfully slow.....has that been improved with newer versions?  On average, how long does it now take to process a turn?

[Gusington]

How do I turn down even more pain and horror than the usual?

What kind of DRM is involved here? I didn't know SC had any draconian DRM scheme.

[Martok]

Sadly the Strategic Command games are bundled with Battlefront's terrible DRM/license system, that seems to only get worst with every new release.

This, combined with it having (by most accounts) a significantly steeper learning curve, is why I lean toward picking up CTGW instead. 

[Gusington]

I already own and enjoy Commander but I yearn for more scenarios.

[Nefaro]

The only three scenarios I recall from WW1G so far are Tannenburg (which may actually be impossible for the Russians to win), the initial Serb/Hungary conflict, and a Palestinian operation.

I actually won the Tannenburg scenario as the Russians... once.  Minor Victory by some tooth skin IIRC. 

Part of the reason was that the turn-based mode's AI wasn't as aggressive, and that's what I was using.  I believe it's been tweaked in later versions since then, however.

[JasonPratt]

It's certainly randomly aggressive now. While I was playing out details for some of the tutorials, the Germans got tired of waiting around for me to do something and launched attacks on forts and towns in Russian territory.

It comes down to this: if the AI decides to intercept the northern Russian stack (1st Army) with a serious stack of its own nearby, Germany wins. Aside from completely wacky dice rolls there is no way Russia's stack can beat them, much less beat them with enough strength remaining to besiege Koenigsberg, and the 2nd Army maybe gets one turn to help the siege before the scenario is over -- and that's assuming the player knows how to project detachments northward beyond where the 2nd Army HQ has to be planted in Tannenburg. (Oddly the scenario isn't named after the actual objective...)

[JasonPratt]

How do I turn down even more pain and horror than the usual?

What kind of DRM is involved here? I didn't know SC had any draconian DRM scheme.

WW1G has no DRM at all, only the usual Matrix registration code printed on the disc (and/or emailed). Once it's installed, you don't even need the disc to play it.

To be fair, I expect that's true for C:GW, too.

[xwormwood]

SC WW1 Breakthrough is a great game.

It simulates WW1, it is not a WW2 game engine one steroids. You feel WW1 when you play it.
The AI turn takes a little time, but for my personal tast it is not too long (even though i would agree that faster is always better).
I for myself play SC WW1 only against a human opponent, it is the time of my life when we finally find enough time to play another game.
It really is that much fun in multiplayer games.
The AI is quite good, but look for a buddy or sibbling to play this game, you won't regret it.

Another big advantage of SC WW1 is the unbelievable amount of large campaigns and smaller scenarios.

Big campaigns:
WW1
WW2 (!)
Russian Civil War

Great scenarios:
Ludendorff Offensive
German East-Africa
Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)
First Balkan War (1912-1913)
The Siege of Kut
... ... ...

I never played any of the commander games.
I own Guns of August, and i consider it a bad release, because it plays as if it was ment to scare players away. I once learned Gary Grigsby's Pacific War. I needed three tries and several month to get into it. That was the hardest work i ever had to do play a game. And even Pacific War had a "better" user interface than Guns of August. At least in my eyes.

[Bill Runacre]

Sadly the Strategic Command games are bundled with Battlefront's terrible DRM/license system, that seems to only get worst with every new release.

This, combined with it having (by most accounts) a significantly steeper learning curve, is why I lean toward picking up CTGW instead.

To help with learning the game we have a dedicated thread on the forum to guide players through much of the essentials of the game, and I recommend everyone playing the game (even just the demo) to take a look at it while playing:

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=107356

[Bill Runacre]

I tried the demo for some of the SC games and often found the turn processing painfully slow.....has that been improved with newer versions?  On average, how long does it now take to process a turn?

Hi

We have made a lot of improvements to the engine in this respect, so it depends really on when you last tried one of our demos. The size of the map is always a factor in the equation too.

Our demo for WWI Breakthrough! can be found here so you can always try it out and let us know:
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=267&Itemid=473

Bill

[Boggit]

Frankly, the SC graphics make the game a non-starter for me. I don't need much, but a halfway decent looking map adds to a strategy game and SC doesn't have it.

Initially, I wasn't expecting much from SCWW1 Breakthrough - naively drawing the conclusion from the graphic style that it was pretty much an Axis and Allies, Beer and Pretzels type game. In fact it is deceptively deep with some very subtle gameplay. Check out my review of it: http://grogheads.com/rev-scwwi.html

I found the graphics on Dominions3 disappointing, but there is one of the deepest fantasy wargames you can find on the market, and I still have it on my hard drive.

Both are Quality games. If you'll excuse the analogy - Don't judge a book by it's cover.

[airboy]

I tried the demo for some of the SC games and often found the turn processing painfully slow.....has that been improved with newer versions?  On average, how long does it now take to process a turn?

I have not had that problem with a 2 year old Falcon Northwest Talon.  But I am running a powerful gaming rig.

[Boggit]

I tried the demo for some of the SC games and often found the turn processing painfully slow.....has that been improved with newer versions?  On average, how long does it now take to process a turn?

Hi

We have made a lot of improvements to the engine in this respect, so it depends really on when you last tried one of our demos. The size of the map is always a factor in the equation too.

Our demo for WWI Breakthrough! can be found here so you can always try it out and let us know:
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=267&Itemid=473

Bill

Excellent game, which does you credit! Thank you very much for the free - "value adding" - WW2 Scenario, and the Franco-Prussian War scenario. Not that many developers look after the gaming community, without charging for DLC etc unlike you and Hubert. Much appreciated. :)

[Nefaro]

Frankly, the SC graphics make the game a non-starter for me. I don't need much, but a halfway decent looking map adds to a strategy game and SC doesn't have it.

Initially, I wasn't expecting much from SCWW1 Breakthrough - naively drawing the conclusion from the graphic style that it was pretty much an Axis and Allies, Beer and Pretzels type game. In fact it is deceptively deep with some very subtle gameplay. Check out my review of it: http://grogheads.com/rev-scwwi.html

I found the graphics on Dominions3 disappointing, but there is one of the deepest fantasy wargames you can find on the market, and I still have it on my hard drive.

Both are Quality games. If you'll excuse the analogy - Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Funny you should mention both SC and Dom3, as I also think they both have bad map art but good content.   ;D