Steel Division 1944 (by wargame red dragon devs) in game trailer and unit stream

[Barthheart]

It's pretty great and, IMO, well worth full asking price -- IF this type of game appeals to you (RTS with simple controls, deep roster of units, lots of units deployed to scale on a large map, WW2.)

Let me ask this, is it more accessible than the wargame series predecessors?

I think so. I've had a much easier time getting into this one. It maybe because I know the equipment better but it's also a slower paced game. The Phase system is a great throttle on getting overwhelmed.

[JasonPratt]

Yes, objectively so, for at least three reasons:

1.) A near-pause slow mode (one second every 30 real), in single player.

2.) Lacks lethality of modern weapons, so infantry are more useful. Which is good because useful armor is expensive.

3.) The standard new "phases" (which can be modded out or adjusted) means maps don't have to be absolutely flooded with troops from the beginning or near the start. You can set things up so that troops trickle in from the beginning if you want.

[jamus34]

Well I grabbed it. Downloading now

[jamus34]

OK, so I'm a little better at this than the Wargames...but not by much. I got through the training and played the boot camp skimish.

So, my MG's seem to die easily but my Inf get chewed up by the OPFOR.

My armor has the best of luck but they can get taken out pretty quick with antitank.

I was trying for a combined arms approach.

Is anyone here still on this and willing to show me the ropes?

[Yskonyn]

I could need some guidance as well. 🤔

[JasonPratt]

I know I've friended with Ysk (I'm Sabreman). Not sure about Jamus. You can go to the Grogheads Steam group and friend me from there.

Just drop me a line when we're both on Steam! Combined arms is definitely the way to go, if only because armor is so much more expensive that you'll never get enough out to do anything by themselves. ;)

Note: I found Jamus in the Grog group, sent a friend request (from/as Sabreman.)

[Toonces]

LOL.  I got friended by Sabreman like a year ago, but I never knew who it was!  Hey, alright me and JP are Steam buddies!    :hug:

[jamus34]

Yup just accepted the invite!

[jamus34]

Had a great learner match with JP last night on this. Sad to say he had to carry me through most of the match and we lost but great experience!

[Yskonyn]

Hope I can hook up soon as well.

[jamus34]

Hope I can hook up soon as well.

More the merrier. I find it is really easy to get tunnel vision on one sector and lose operational vision

[JasonPratt]

Since Jamus hadn't really started working on decks yet, we both played random Allied decks against two AI Axis on standard difficulty.

That might sound harsh for a new player, but (1) I picked two decks of my own, Panzer Scouts Rich and Panzer Fear Rich, which as their titles suggest need a rich budget to work right; and (2) started with only 250 points max on the field, and medium income.

So they were handicapped a lot. But they had lots of good kit for us to fight against.  O0 The AI never sent any air after us, but I don't think those decks had much air either.

We basically ran out of time: it was a short match, 30 minutes, and we turned the conquest tide with about 8 minutes remaining. It wasn't long enough for us to catch up on points.

[Destraex]

Do you guys use voice coms?

[jamus34]

Yeah I was using a 101st AB so I was a late game deck. We came back at the end but the early losses were too much to overcome. We were significantly hurt by my lack of early armor and low points.

[JasonPratt]

Yes, we were using Discord for our voice coms.

Jamus drew the 101st, which is among the best infantry in the game, and can fort up in trees and buildings very well -- which Jamus was trying to do on the right side of the map, in forested area a little advanced into the enemy's side.

I drew the Polish, which I thought was pretty great since (1) I had thought about building a Polish deck for my first Allied (but hadn't gotten around to it yet) and (2) they had a very respectable mix of everything, including some strong early armor support.

One thing neither of us did well in that fight, was use our artillery, I think. I was super-late bringing any out. The enemy didn't bring a lot either -- I don't recall how much I gave those two decks -- but the AI used what it did bring very well.

I spent probably too much time setting up a super-stack of armor to march up field, clearing out our center (and aiming eventually for the far-left enemy ingress point); and I didn't have quite the attention to advance it in a steady overwatch pattern. But I did do okay creating strong points in the enemy area, and small task forces for securing various wing areas. Also, I think we both did okay supporting each other in different areas on the map. Overall, I thought it was a fine match: the computer won by doing something the AI has been taught to do very well, which is sacrifice single units to establish extended control zones in the early and midgame. Hunting and clearing them out isn't hard, but it takes time, and attention, and if the computer can keep us busy meanwhile then those ceded areas just rack up the points.