JTS Releases East Prussia '14

[ArizonaTank]

And it makes me wonder what happened to the meta-game notion that was supposedly built into "First Blitzkrieg" and "Southern Front".

What did happen to that? It was supposed to eventually cover the whole of WW2 at the divisional level, with each iteration being part of the master map that would finally unfold with the last game in the series.

It would not surprise me to hear they are still working on it.

[jomni]

Serial number online activation

Can You install the game on two different machines?

Yes.  I think the limit is 2 though.  Then you need to call customer service to give you more or when you have activation problems.  They do respond quickly.

[PAK]

I don't know if this wasn't posted already
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1kWsQcfTPFjfz9sdxfTGFhC/our-world-war-interactive-episode

It is an interactive movie made by BBC, You are taking decisions in realities of Battle of the Somme. Pretty intense.
No installation required.

[Jarhead0331]

Anyone care to comment on the actual gameplay yet? The game seems to have generated a lot of interest in the eastern theater of the war, but so far doesn't seem to have generated a lot of interest in playing the game itself.

[Nefaro]

Anyone care to comment on the actual gameplay yet? The game seems to have generated a lot of interest in the eastern theater of the war, but so far doesn't seem to have generated a lot of interest in playing the game itself.

It's one of the Tiller engined games.  There probably won't be many surprises.   :D

[Cyrano]

I've played three games so far (small, small, medium) and am currently playing a medium against Doug.

Animadversions on gameplay:

1.  You're not wrong to think it's a Tiller game so it is more or less what it says on the tin.  It's hexes, it's counters (the 3D graphics should be pitched over the rail as a failed nod to the crowd that cares about such things), and it's a long toolbar with all kinds of options at the top.  That said, the 2D graphics are dramatically better out of the box; counters notwithstanding (they're just functional), we're finally seeing the JTS crew head to boardgame standards.  This is very exciting.

2.  There's a measure of serendipity in the release of this game as I was just starting to suss out the PzC system, particularly Normandy, and have been taken with the scale of the games and the conflicts they let you simulate.  I don't know how much you know about those, but the pacing, initially frustrating, begins to strike you as realistic.  And this is not just PzC with new graphics.  Two cool changes bear mention:  First, there's cavalry.  In PzC, units in "travel mode" are said to be organized for movement and therefore not prepared for attack.  Getting fired on while in travel mode is a very bad thing.  In the WWI series, cavalry in travel mode are said to be moving to be sure, but, if assaulting, they're said to be charging, as opposed to dismounted and prepared to fire.  A very cool distinction.  The second is machine gun detachments.  Having a non-artillery unit in a PzC-like game that has a two-hex ranges was initially off-putting, but I think it brilliantly helps one understand why massed machine guns were so nasty.

3.  Highest possible praise, so far, for scenario design.  The designer notes on the scenarios are incredibly thoughtful and well-researched.  They even take account of some of the muddled historiography of these battles.  Big, big, big, big bonus points are awarded for suggestions re: how best to play certain larger scenarios in MP...going so far, in one case, to suggest that, for LAN games, certain players not be allowed to communicate or even sit next to each other to better simulate command confusion.

4.  There is no doubt that this game will NOT be everyone's cup of tea.  It is big -- the grand campaign scenarios I mentioned elsewhere threaten to mock the word "big" -- it has lots of grog-y/chrome-y rule, and you WILL be moving a lot of pieces around.

ATM, digging it rotten and wondering where my turn from Doug is...filthy hun...

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[panzerde]

Sodding cossack, not all of us get to enjoy a life sucking off the Czar's teat! Like all good Germans I had to work today!  :D

I've played a goodly amount of Tiller's PzC games, and have just started really getting into the Napoleonics. This game feels a bit like a Napoleonics game in terms of unit organization and movement. It's a really good idea to keep brigades close together, for example. If you need to move quickly you need to be in travel mode like you need to be in column in a JTS/HPS Napoleonic or ACW game. Road and rail movement is critical.

On the flip side, the combat feels more like PzC. The mechanic of concentrating for fire superiority, trying to isolate the target unit by surrounding it with ZOCs, and then firing at it until it's been disordered applies, without the need to try and maintain the linear tactics in a Napoleonic game. And the casualties!  Makes games from earlier eras feel like a spirited rugby match!

One thing I'm surprised about is that most of the field artillery isn't as lethal as I'd expect, at least for the direct fire guns. The howitzers are definitely a different story.

As Jim said, scenario design really shines. In addition to the monster scenarios there are a number of smaller and shorter scenarios. I played a really engaging one yesterday that was only four turns.

Alright, off to get Jim his turn...

[Al]

I think Cyrano covered a lot of the main points.  I would just add that Russian leadership stinks and what is there doesn't extend very far so HQ units must be kept close to their subordinate battalions.  Russian units that stray too far from their HQ's quickly lose effectiveness.

[panzerde]

The HPS version of the update to France '14 just hit the HPS website. So if you, like me, have the HPS version of France '14 and want the smooth, buttery goodness of the engine and art updates of East Prussia '14 in your game, you're in luck!

[Al]

Here's the list of changes in case anyone is interested...

- Added new Fragile Morale feature which applies to Austro-Hungarians
      and Russians.  Under this rule, Detached units have 2 subtracted from
      their morale when rallying instead of 1, and units which much retreat after
      an assault are automatically eliminated.  However, this does not apply to
      A and B quality units.
    - When units are combined, the combined unit takes on the average of the fatigue
      of the individual units by strength.
    - Disrupted units have full movement allowance during day turns, 2/3 at night.
    - Disrupted units take 3x normal movement to move closer to spotted enemy unit.
    - New graphics compatible with East Prussia '14.

[Skoop]

Could somebody explain this feature ?  Sounds intriguing.

Three Grand Campaign scenarios designed to be played with newly released Grand Campaigns scenarios for France '14, which are intended to establish context and allow the player influence the outcome of the war across many different scenarios (118 to 206 turns)

[Al]

Skoop - I recommend downloading the designer notes for East Prussia '14.  It explains the links between the campaign games in EP '14 and France '14 plus it has a lot of good reading about the different armies.

http://www.johntillersoftware.com/WWICampaigns/EastPrussia14.html

[jomni]

Could somebody explain this feature ?  Sounds intriguing.

Three Grand Campaign scenarios designed to be played with newly released Grand Campaigns scenarios for France '14, which are intended to establish context and allow the player influence the outcome of the war across many different scenarios (118 to 206 turns)

From what I see, it is just a suggested sequence of scenarios to play depending on the outcome of a previous scenario.  Currently, the logic only covers 1914 Eastern and Western fronts for obvious reasons.  If the results are inconclusive, then you need to wait for the 1915 - 1918 titles to materialize. :D  It is not a programmed feature in the game but manually enforced by players.

[Cyrano]

I'll poke a little at the "just" adjective offered by Jomni.  Most of the work is, indeed, offline with a campaign tree linking one battle to another with occasional branches depending on outcomes.  That said, there's also a reinforcement schedule option in the larger scenarios that is coded into the game and, when EP and F14 scenarios are to be played side-by-side, there are occasions where a decision to withdraw troops from one theatre directly affects the other theatre and the game will require both sides to match.

The vision, as declared in the designer notes, is two teams of gamers all linked up and playing the two fronts separately but at the same time with supreme commanders deciding which fronts gets certain reinforcements.  If we assume, as I think we now may, that we'll get 15-18, the prospect is, well, daunting...and exciting.

Pretty cool extra.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[panzerde]

The vision, as declared in the designer notes, is two teams of gamers all linked up and playing the two fronts separately but at the same time with supreme commanders deciding which fronts gets certain reinforcements.  If we assume, as I think we now may, that we'll get 15-18, the prospect is, well, daunting...and exciting.

Pretty cool extra.

The more I'm reading the Designer's Notes for both games and playing them, the more interested I'm getting in trying a PBEM or online team game. The full EP '14 campaign with a pair of Russian commanders versus a single German commander, or the initial F '14 campaign with multiple commanders sounds like it could be a LOT of fun.