Men of War: Assault Squad

[Jarhead0331]

I've raved about this game in the past, but since I've been playing around recently, I once again wanted to endorse it whole-heartedly.  It really is a great mix between realism, fun and action.  Its like Company of Heroes and Combat Mission Beyond Normandy got drunk one night, banged and 40 weeks later had a baby.  If this happened, MoW:AS would be that baby.  It has all the major components of an authentic WWII strategy title.  An impressive OOB, LOS rules, factors in elevation, cover, concealment, facing, armor thickness, ballistics, and ammo supply.  Men react realistically, they will take cover, run away and make impressive attempts at self-preservation.  It really throws a lot of the more complex strategy elements into the game and manages to keep it very fun.

The thing that sets AS apart from the other games in the MOW series is that the missions are all skirmish maps...there is no impossible campaign mode.  Your mission is to take and hold ground...capture strategic objects and move across the map.  As the player takes more ground, he gets access to better units and equipment.  The battle field flows...you may be doing well in the center, when all of a sudden the enemy breaks through on your left flank destabilizing your entire position.

On top of all this, you can actually take direct control of your units and move them around, aim, and select munition types (ie. HE, AP, etc.)  I find the RTS element so fun though and the AI so balanced and competent that I rarely feel the need to do this though.

The game ships with American, German, Japanese, British and Russian missions, and each nationality has authentic units and gear....from small arms, to grenades, to towed guns, armor and artillery.

If you've been on the fence over this one, I strongly recommend you take a look.

[Tuna]

Agreed, this is a fun game.. great for MP too... I love your description

"Its like Company of Heroes and Combat Mission Beyond Normandy got drunk one night, banged and 40 weeks later had a baby."

[Grim.Reaper]

You have intrigued me enough to download the demo:)

[Arctic Blast]

What the...apparently I own this. And I have never installed it.

Apparently I need to rectify that.  ;D

[undercovergeek]

whats the pace like - click frenzy or quite relaxed?

[Jarhead0331]

whats the pace like - click frenzy or quite relaxed?

I wouldn't say its relaxed.  It can get quite hectic, but that is the nature of combat, right?  I'm usually able to manage my units by setting up a relatively strong defensive position on one or two spots on the map and then launching offensives on one side to take ground.  This way, my attention is really only focused on one portion of the map at a time.  Then, once I regroup and establish a defense over the new ground, I launch a push on the other sides.  So, I typically leap frog across the map.  You still need to keep your eye on the other positions, and you may sometimes miss something and lose ground, but its usually pretty easy to recover and take it back.   

[Grim.Reaper]

I am 0 for 2 in trying to download and install the demo....tried from two different sites and both ended up being corrupted.....now trying a third:(

[MikeGER]

i got the demo from steam this morn  ... but didn't had time to fire it up yet

[Grim.Reaper]

i got the demo from steam this morn  ... but didn't had time to fire it up yet

If the site I am trying right now fails, I'll give steam a whirl....did not notice they had one there so appreciate the heads up.

[Gusington]

It's got Japanese missions eh? Have you played those?

[Grim.Reaper]

It's got Japanese missions eh? Have you played those?

I just played one in the demo as the US against Japan at Tarawa.  Had to storm the beach and then attack a roadblock.  Don't have enough time in to judge the game yet, but typically with RTS games like this I have a difficult time controlling all my troops.  It does look very nice though and I can see how people would like the game.  Will continue to try it throughout the day.

[Gusington]

^Finding a game like this that models the Japanese well is not as common as I would like it to be, I am intrigued. Are there any naval units here or is it strictly land combat?

[Grim.Reaper]

^Finding a game like this that models the Japanese well is not as common as I would like it to be, I am intrigued. Are there any naval units here or is it strictly land combat?

Pretty certain mainly a land based game (besides the landing craft that take you ashore), with emphasis on infantry, but maybe someone who has full game can comment.  As for how well each country fights per their doctrine, really not sure since I am not an expert in that area.  I suspect that you might not see a replica of their true strategy, but others who have played the full game probably can answer better.

[Tuna]

Looks like Assault Squad with Vietnam is on sale on Amazon for 23 something

http://www.amazon.com/Men-War-Assault-Vietnam-Bundle-Pc/dp/B0067G555G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360514165&sr=8-3&keywords=men+of+war

lol.. I didn't realize that I didn't have assault squad yet, but I have others, including Vietnam, and I do enjoy the series.  I do love that you have such control over your inventory, so that you can solve tasks in missions many different ways..

[Longdan]

I have been dabbling in this series for quite some time but just dabbling.  It seems to be who you play rather than who you fight.
When you think of it that's not bad.  It seems to model the Japanese well enough in that Betio scenario.  We do not have a lot
of anectdotal material on the Japanese from their side since they had a habit of dying for the Emperor.  Unlike the Germans who
fought the Soviets yet managed to surrender to the Western Allies and told many tales of how they held the Eastern front
with nothing but a peanut butter sandwich (no peanut butter or bread).