Advice on strategy games

[Barra1]

I have considered many times purchasing Hearts of Iron and always end up chickening out. Can anyone tell me if it is worth getting and in terms of detail can you research naval mines or lay minefields? What sort of research can be performed on say for example submarines, or is this beyond the scope of the game?

Is there a better grand strategy game for WW2?:hmmm:

[Skybird]

Often delayed, since long awaited, is World in Flames, which is legend as boardgame, and is said to become the WWII strategy game on PC. Will be released by Matrix Games.

Heart of Iron has good ideas and concept, but the inteface was what killed it for me. I hate it. Play first before buying, I wpould recommend. Those who like it, like it very much. Those not liking it, often dislike it very much.

An alternative on strategic level may be War in the Pacific (beware, it is super-big and super-detailed, it is for experts only, I would say), and in the small space between strategic and tactic level, The Operational Art of War III, again with an interface I do not like, the fonts are too small. The game allows operations to be scaled by the designer from tactical to strategic/operational. The map is hex-field, each field can be just some hundred meters - or several dozen kilometers. The game is very much scalable, and plenty of missions come with it, and are available (so is a mission desiogner). Time can be WWII, ancient, and modern. Available from Matrix Games.

On tactical level I recommend Conquest of the Aegean, with superb AI (Matrix Games).

There is also the (free, legal) Steel Panthers series, by Shrapnel Games. One version is about WWII, the other about post-WWII until the near future.