Commander:The Great War AAR!

[airboy]

There are several detailed AARs for Strategic Command WW1 and for Strategic Command: Breakthroughs.

The Strategic Command series seems to give the players more options.  It seems to have more depth in research, diplomacy and on the battlefield.  The battlefield options seem greater because there are many more hexes per front than in the other game.  Strategic Command also seems both more complicated and more easily modded.

The new game also looks interesting.  I'll probably buy it after I finish my current Breakthroughs game.

How well does Commander model naval combat?  This is a weakness in the Strategic Command series IMHO.

[jomni]

Game play aside. 
Commander's art style is way above Strategic Command.
It matters a lot if you want to stare at the screen for a long time.

[son_of_montfort]

Game play aside. 
Commander's art style is way above Strategic Command.
It matters a lot if you want to stare at the screen for a long time.

I sort of disagree. Commander's art style is brown and muddy, SC:WWI is bright, cartoony, and spite-based (edit: er... sprite-based). I like them both, both have their draw. Now the map art is better in Commander.

[Gusington]

Spite-based...I like that.

[LongBlade]

Game play aside. 
Commander's art style is way above Strategic Command.
It matters a lot if you want to stare at the screen for a long time.

I won't compare the two, but I will say that Commander's artwork is really attractive. I love the sepia toned news that pop up.

Also, FWIW, I think the concept artwork of some of their other titles is fantastic. Lord Zimoa's footer is a awesome. I just love it.

[steve58]

Just saw on the Slitherine site that there is/may be a bug that makes the Handicapped AI harder than Balanced. Patch is being worked on, but they recommend playing on Balanced in the meantime...

[Steelgrave]

I've bought most of the SC line, but truthfully the squares and the terrible artwork on the maps have always been a major turn off for me. I've already logged in more time playing Commander:The Great War than I managed to get in on SCWWI. I think it's great that we have more than one offering, since we all have different tastes, but CTGW is destined to be a personal favorite while I've already taken SCWWI off my hard drive.

[Gusington]

^What are your thoughts of Commander?

Thanks for the above note Steve. All I need is a bugged AI to destroy 10 years of anticipation.

[Slick Wilhelm]

All I need is a bugged AI to destroy 10 years of anticipation.

The privileged AI does not appear to be bugged. It'll eat you for lunch, as I fear it's about to do to me in my AAR!  :o

[tgb]

Hell, the balanced AI is kicking my ass.

[JasonPratt]

Game play aside. 
Commander's art style is way above Strategic Command.
It matters a lot if you want to stare at the screen for a long time.

I sort of disagree. Commander's art style is brown and muddy, SC:WWI is bright, cartoony, and spite-based (edit: er... sprite-based). I like them both, both have their draw. Now the map art is better in Commander.

No, no, you're thinking of WW1Gold. Its art is spite-based.  ;D

It occurs to me that a progression of ideal difficulty (not counting difficulty due to bugs) would be CTGW, SCWW1B, and then WW1Gold. (With Guns of August coming in somewhere before or after SCWW1B.)

[Steelgrave]

^What are your thoughts of Commander?

Thanks for the above note Steve. All I need is a bugged AI to destroy 10 years of anticipation.

I'm loving Commander. Its very playable, all while allowing a number of strategies and options and a decent AI that will react to mistakes on your part, without being lured into obvious traps. It's a big jump over CEAW Gold, which is probably my favorite strategic level WWII game.

[Jarhead0331]

I've installed, but have not had the chance to play yet.  Can't wait to dive in this weekend.  Western Front, here I come!

[Nefaro]

I keep getting big, "DOAH!" moments when getting the mouse button controls mixed up and accidentally clicking & moving a unit into some random hex.  :o

I just recently switched the option on for the 2-Button thing, that's a bit more traditional (L-click to select, R-click to move/attack/whatevah).  So now I just gotta unlearn the default 1-button thing so I stop thinking it's still that way. 

I can see that the AI will definitely take advantage of your bad decisions.  Woe is my British mideast force right now.  :-[

[Gusington]

For my first playthrough I am going to put it on the easiest AI, just to ease into this.