Theatre of War - Seizing the hills (pic heavy!)

[stabiz]

So, I am playing this epicly good rts, and ordered to root the American defenders from some hilltops and a small town (in Germany). This is late war, and probably one of the last missions in the German campaign. I have taken the first hilltop with the loss of a Panzer IV and a infantry-squad. (After shelling it to bits with mortars and artillery)

A small peek over the crest in a Pz IV and all hell breaks loose:




The Pz IV is instantly hit by several AT guns, and two rounds penetrate the hull. Look at the bazooka rockets near miss!

Overview:



My infantery have taken over the Allied trenches and to the right are a couple of Brummbars, and in the middle a Panther. The visible enemy are infantery in a trench just over the hill, and a AT gun down in the valley. There are several AT guns along the treelines and the roads, and some heavy guns in the hills further back. (Just ask my late Pz IV crew)

Reinforcements from the rear:



Flanking with two Panthers, safely behind a crest:



Avenging the Pz IV:



Unfortunately this AT gun knocked off the tracks on one of the Panthers before I got it, and another one. Missed the first shot.

Even worse, there was one more AT gun, hidden behind some bushes, and it fired a shell straight through the hull of the operational Panther (debris from the side armour is tumbling along the snow):



The damaged Panther fires a HE shell:



The cost of three enemy AT guns was high: One destroyed Panther, and one immobile (albeit in a good position). The gunner (Ludwig Kohl, all soldiers have names and individual stats and skills) from the knocked out Panther runs in the wrong direction, and finds himself in a field, directly in front of the trenches:


A view from the American trench. Ludwig kohl can be seen as the green speck a little to the left of the middle. The two other surviving crewmen from the destroyed Panther between the trees have rallied around the immobile panther to the right. The Americans fire at unlucky Kohl with Thompsons, Brownings, M1`s and pretty much all they have.


But the flanking and destruction of the AT guns lets me charge the trench from the opposite direction with the heavy stuff:

[Bort]

Looks cool! Nice screenshots, the damage modelling looks good.

[stabiz]

Raus!






Uh-uh!






The trenches were secured with the loss of 4 soldiers and the driver in the Tiger (damned bazooka!) The Brummbars helped alot in blasting the Americans out, they are further back:


The Tiger II guarding the infantery. Now I have to plan the further advance, since there are more infantery down in the village, and more guns in the hills in the background. Armour too, for all I know:


Alas, Kohl didnt survive out in the field:rotfl::


This game is awesome, buy it today!

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by stabiz

This game is awesome, buy it today!

Okay!


...well, maybe not today, but soon

I liked the demo, it ran kinda poorly on my old system though. But on the new one, it should be smooth sailing I hope!

[stabiz]

Yeah, I had trouble with the demo too, and my comp was pretty decent at the time. There were issues with dual core, and performance in general, so I forgot about it. Then I found some screens and reviews, and had to get it.

[stabiz]

Hey, brand new demo released!

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=2683

[Dowly]

Would you say this is like the Close Combats? If you have played one that is. Is it real time? Or in turns? I've been looking for a CC like game with 3D graphics for years now. There was one, Squad Assault or something like that, but it was poorly done so had to skip that. But this looks quite a good candidate. :hmm:

EDIT:

How are the unit animations?
AI pathfinding?
Can you go into buildings?
Is the moral modelled?
How are the orders given? Like in CC & Combat Missions or..?
How big are the maps?
What kind of campaign it is? String of missions or..?

[stabiz]

Never played Close Combat, but this is real time. It has so much replayability. Right now I am playing at normal difficulty, and its pretty hard at times. one wrong move, and you lose valuable units. There are no health bars and such, a good hit from a AT gun CAN kill a Tiger, and mortars easily kill off half your infantery in the open. In addidtion, airstrikes may come too.:rotfl:

And it fits the player that likes to spend a little time on a battle, its no clickfest like CoH or Faces of War.

I`m thinking you will like this Dowly, we usually like the same games.

The psychology bit is awesome, i had a Tiger under attack from bazookas, and they only did cosmetic damage on the Tiger after several hits (some of the protection in front of the tracks fell off), but the crew bailed and ran to the rear! Hehe, I had to replace them with the crew from a knocked out Pz IV.

[stabiz]

The campaign is fairly stringed, it starts with the Invasion of Poland when you play German. You also have the surviving forces with you throughout, and they get more skilled and hardened.

Moral i modeled yes, the flee and get pinned down,

AI is good, they go where you want, and infantery under fire will lay down and go into trenches if they are nearby. The tanks advance when aother units are fired upon though, but this can be prevented by "holding position".

Dont know about buildings, I read that it is possible with the uberpatch, but that patch is only released for the Battlefront.com version yet.

Orders can be given while game is paused, and you can take over damaged enemy eqipment and tanks.

Maps are 2km x 2km.

[stabiz]

This video show the animations:

[Dowly]

Everything you just described are in CC series, so I think I'm sold. Tho, need to try the demo first and see for myself.

One more question, is there snipers in the game? That's what I love in CC, sniper in good spot can cover alot of area + he always aims for the squadleader. So, at the time the enemy squads are attacking, they've lost their leader and 1-2 other men.

Ok ok, I have just ooone more to ask. Is it possible on ToW, for a single squad in well fortified position, to repel 5 or so times bigger infantry force? Yep, you guessed, another one from CC. :p I have tons of memories where the last 2 survivors of a grenadier squad armed only with Kar98's & grenades repel off wave after wave of allied infantry from a good position (2nd floor of a brick building in this case). The doorway was covered in bodies when the battle ended... unfortunately, the 2 heroes were among them... stupid mortars...

[stabiz]

Yes, he is not in the pics, but I have a sniper on a hilltop to the left on the battlefield. He is covered by a tree and some bushes, and he took out a gun crew when I charged the first hill.

Yes, 5-10 men in a trench can fend of way larger forces of infantery with minimum losses. If you charge a trench with infantery only you are toast. (I have tried, hehe) Wounded men also aim poorly, so they are left doing supressing fire, not much else.:rotfl:

[Dowly]

Okie dokie. Thanks for all the info. I'll test the demo tonight at some point and if it's good, I'm going to go for it.

[Rotary Crewman]

Tried the demo, like Dowly I am an avid CC player and thought this was a perfect 3D CC solution.

Unfortunately, demo doesn't run on this little laptop so I'll have to give this one a miss

[Dowly]

Also tried the demo and liked it quite a bit. It sure is abit more confusing than CC, but I think I learn it.