Hex-Based PC Wargames ...

[Donger94107]

All:

Considering purchase of a hex-based PC wargame.
Came across Matrix Games' "Flashpoint Germany" and "World at War" and "War in the Pacific."

Any thoughts out there about these?

Bill
San Francisco

[bradclark1]

Best thing to do would be to check ot Matrix forums.

Flashpoint - Has released a couple of patches which made the game more playable. It's got a lot of "potential". They are working on version 2 now.

WAW - Haven't got but haven't heard any real complaints except about the AI ie: Sending the Afrika Korps to Russia.

WitP - I was going to get it but for me there are to many bugs that have to be worked around that limits the play. Its a game you have to put a lot of time into to get anywhere. A lot of people love the game irregardless.
Depends on what you want to put up with.

The problem with Gary Grigsby games are that they are never complete.
He will put a few patches out and then moves onto something else. Like I said it depends on what you are willing to put up with.
Matrix is one of the few that does not selectively edit the posts so just check the forums out and you will get a good feel about each title.

Brad

[Hellcat]

I can give you a few suggestions if you narrow down what you want a bit more.......

time period?
tactical or strategic?

Since you stated hex based I'm assuming you looked at the site for matrix's world at war and that it uses provinces rather than hexes. Also there is a demo availbile for it on their site. And finally I tried it out and much perfer paradox's Hearts of Iron II which though iffy in a few areas still holds my attention....

[Donger94107]

Hellcat:

Thanks!
I'm a fan of either WWII or modern, and I prefer strategic.

[Hellcat]

Alright I give ya a quick and dirty list of my fav's, I do encourage you to check the demo's and reviews first before making any purchases. http://www.gamerankings.com is an excellent site for tracking down reviews.

-Hearts of Iron II- excellent world war II strategic game, allowing you to make many decisions reguarding political and military matters. Many countries to chose from and many different ways to approach the game play. (ie you could play as Italy and decide to work against Germany, or play the UK and fight with Germany against the French)

-Strategic Command- "European Theater is WWII Grand Strategy at its best. As the supreme commander of the Axis or Allied forces, the player shapes the fates of the nations at war during the Second World War in Europe." I dont know much about this game, only that it is highly rated and a sequel is coming soon.

-Falcon 4.0: Allied Force- Sure it's a flight sim, but at its core is a dynamic campiagn that as the allied commander can order units around and create flight packages to take out targets. (this is still a flight simulator primarily)

-Steel Panthers: WAW- Is a FREE turn based hex game from Matrix games which though tactical allows a huge range of battles to be refought at the squad level with a division size force. (I really enjoy this game, the order of battle for each country repersented is huge!)

-Medievil: Total War- Not really in your time frame but is a blast to play. Again is focused on the tactical side of things, it contains a strategic layer of depth. (The tactical side is played in real time and the strategic turn based with the options to skip tactical alltogether) There is also many enhancement mods out there, my favourite being the napoleonic wars mod. Is cheap too! picked it up for $12.99 cdn. While Rome Total War still costs like $49 cdn.

Now above is a mix really of some of my games and is by no means a defiinate list. Some like Medievil: TW are more gamey than the others, however its what your after that really counts. Oh wait I forgot 2!

-Jane's Fleet Command- "Harpoon Lite" Somewhat realistic naval combat with pretty graphics. (be sure to check the mods out at http://www.navalwarfare.net)

-Harpoon 3 or 2002 Classic- Much more depth than Jane's offering but pretty much throws graphics out the window. I perfer classlic yet 3 contains things that I miss from Classic. (Try the demo for both) This IS strategic naval warfare at its best.

[em2nought]

Strategic Command http://www.battlefront.com for a demo and to order.

[turbidite]

One link :

Strategic Studies Group
http://www.ssg.com.au/

After you can choose amongst three campaigns (matrix games is selling all three if I'm not mistaken) :

Korsun pocket (german retreat)
Battles in Normandy (cover D-days and following operations up to the fall of Falaise I think)
Batlles in Italy (allied attacks in Sicily and Italy)

Check http://www.ssg.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=827 for an after action report to see if this is the sort of game you're looking for.

[FAdmiral]

I have HOT2 and it is a great game if you want to try what
would happen if I did this type of play. WW2 can go with a great
number of outcomes depending on many factors. My only
drawback is that the fighting units (platforms) are very generic
in nature. They are the same from country to country depending
on the research level they are on. This makes a totally even fight
going to whoever fires the first shot. The commanders do play
a role & can tip the outcome somewhat. "World at War" is
somewhat simular but I have not played it yet to learn the differences. WITP is a full Pacific version of "Uncommon Valor"
with slightly more detail & larger scope in its play. The strategic value of these is very good but the combat leaves much to be desired....


JIM