Shells from Commandos, Blitzkrieg, Soldiers and Codename: Panzers have been landing all around - and there's still no let-up. Between them and the various war-themed shooters they've covered every theatre of war imaginable, from all sides and every perspective. Well, the clue is in the name. With recent versions of the game set specifically around D-Day and the Pacific War, not to mention a revised edition earlier this year, it's clear the board game still has plenty of fans.
Enough, Atari is no doubt hoping, to ensure similar successes will engulf the interactive edition. Common to both tabletop and desktop is the fact that the game allows you to fight the Second World War across the entire globe, from the well-worn fields of Europe to the less travelled regions of central Africa and beyond. Moreover, not being linked to any linear campaign although the game features those as well you aren't limited to sticking to what happened in the history books.
As Germany for instance, you could quickly subjugate Russia before hopping over the Bering Straits and fighting battles across the American mainland, or maybe swing down into South East Asia instead. They're roughly consistent with how they were in when Germany was marching towards Moscow, Britain was camped in the motherland and America was waking up after Pearl Harbour.
The subsequent aim, as either Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan or Russia, is to conquer the capital cities of your sworn enemies, by building up resources from each of the territories under your control and buying infantry, mechanised or armoured armies and moving them around the map.
Where in the board game you'd move a tank into North Africa and hope to roll a one or a two on a die to dislodge the enemy infantry and claim the territory your own, now you must - assuming you don't want to select 'Quick Resolve' - fight each battle in 3D.
As soon as battle becomes inevitable the engine then runs through its map generation routines, and depending on the latitude and whether the territory under dispute is predominantly coastal in nature, will quickly knock up a fitting environment. Despite the fact that the version of the game we were privy to only seemed to know how to construct temperate land-locked levels, we're assured that no map will ever be quite the same in any one game.
Once the computer has decided on the topography of the landscape, it's then up to you to decide how you're going to capture it. This design decision actually makes for a lot of sense since whilst the side fielding the most armies will have an obvious numerical advantage, the process of base building gives the defending nation a chance to repel an attack.
This is because while one army may be able to quickly get three divisions ready for battle compared to the other side's one, supplies will be stretched so thin that unless victory is quick and decisive, the outnumbered enemy might well deliver a fatal counter-attack.
The problem is that most buildings and units also have running costs in ammo and fuel, so weapons dumps and fuel supplies have to be built as well.
As complicated as the resource management might appear, it is actually very simple to understand - the problem is in trying to keep resources at a healthy level while the enemy are constantly making demands of them.
Since all units are pre-assigned into divisions, the battles are no less manageable than any other RTS. Various buildings can be upgraded to instil certain units with various abilities, and depending on the General you choose to play as each nation has a choice of four , various special abilities will become available as the experience of your troops builds up. With paratroopers, Blitzkrieg tactics, V2 rockets and nukes, there'll be plenty of toys to look forward to when the final release rolls around.
Mind you, with two full-length campaigns in the works one each for Allied and Axis forces; the former a traditional romp through history, the latter a series of 'what if' scenarios that the developers have yet to fully reveal , you have to admit the game certainly won't be short of content.
Sadly, while there will be a skirmishstyle game available online and off, the game will only be single-player. The good news is we've got complete access to their war room and will have a full review next issue. With TimeGate and Atari undecided as to whether they'll be including the traditional board game rules, it looks likely that if you prefer the board game rules to all the 3D frivolity of this new version, you'll have to trawl a few online auction houses or car boot sales to get the original.
A board game that has gone through a couple of revisions over the years and is still popular to this day. In , TimeGate Studios was the studio who brought the game from the living room floor or table to PC screens. The unit that your team will result in you having special military units that are exclusive to them. For example, the Russians have awesome snipers and the UK can make use of these tremendous tanks that can shoot fire.
This may not sound like a great deal, but for a game that is over a decade old, it is not bad at all. You have a campaign, WWII mode, and a custom mode. Marines are just like regular infantry unless they happen to be making an amphibious assault. Then they perform as well as tanks. Fighters and bombers are the two air units.
Bombers can be used to attack enemy units or the industrial production certificates of a country directly. The ship models in the game are equally versatile.
The transport is used for ferrying troops and AA guns across water. Submarines are excellent weapons for attacking superior forces. They can launch an initial strike and be gone before the defender has a chance to counterattack. Carriers act as mobile bases for your fighters and battleships provide the muscle. They also have the ability to bombard enemy coastlines prior to an amphibious landing. The destroyer has been added especially for Iron Blitz in order to balance out the submarine. It completely negates the submarine's first attack power.
Combat in the game is resolved with electronic dice and the small unit board from the board game. That's such a nice touch. Where other companies would try to 'improve' upon the experience of playing a PC port, Hasbro has opted to cling to the board game concept even in the PC format.
That's what's so fun about this game. It preserves the feel of the board game while giving you access to the speed and organizational power of the PC. Where was I? Oh, right, the dice. The attacker rolls to see whom he kills, the defender counterattacks, and the whole process is repeated until one side is dead or the attacker withdraws.
It's a lot more exciting than it sounds, trust me. You can set victory conditions in the game. The default victory condition involves the capture of two of your opponents' capitals while simultaneously retaining control of your own. You can set an economic level as a victory point. Then when the Axis or whoever get a certain number of IPCs, they win. You can, alternatively, opt for a total destruction scenario where nothing will do but the complete and total annihilation of your enemies.
I like this idea. This new set fixes several of the inconsistencies and quirks found in the Second Edition. For those of you who feel that any changes would screw up the game that you love, you can opt to play with the Second Edition rules.
The new rules allow for several new movements -- submarines can submerge instead of withdrawing, planes may retreat from amphibious assaults, new naval units may be placed in enemy occupied zones and multiple AA guns may occupy the same territory.
Additionally, when an aircraft carrier is sunk, its planes may land one space away from the battle. Oh yeah, Western Canada no longer borders on the Atlantic Ocean. This keeps the Germans from launching their attack into North America via the Yukon.
Some other variants are accessible through the game set-up screen. The air transport ability is a function of bombers. Each bomber can move one infantry unit to any square within the bomber's range. Scorched earth tactics permit the destruction of industrial complexes and anti-aircraft guns. The best of the optional rules gives each battleship two hits before it's destroyed. This makes a lot more sense to me than the way battleships are currently handled.
Iron Blitz includes seven pre-set scenarios. Three scenarios take the war all the way back to The Axis is poised to attack an unsuspecting world. The first plays out under the normal alliance structure. Captures and Snapshots Windows. See older comments 4. Write a comment Share your gamer memories, help others to run the game or comment anything you'd like.
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