Broken and unrealistic
Sorry, but I have been playing tactic board games since the 70’s, and this series is the worst since the misconceived days of SPI.
I played and suffered through all scenarios just to give the engine a chance. Frustrating, long turns with unnecessary sound effects and vague animations. Circa 1995 graphics. Silly outcomes.
For example, one 135 man motorcycle company with small arms was able to hold out, even when fully assaulted and overrun, by SIX companies of Panzer IVs?? Surrounded, isolated, and supposedly disrupted? It was ridiculous. Just poor design. I got bored.
Vague instructions. Tutorial was completely insufficient. Not recommended.
I played and suffered through all scenarios just to give the engine a chance. Frustrating, long turns with unnecessary sound effects and vague animations. Circa 1995 graphics. Silly outcomes.
For example, one 135 man motorcycle company with small arms was able to hold out, even when fully assaulted and overrun, by SIX companies of Panzer IVs?? Surrounded, isolated, and supposedly disrupted? It was ridiculous. Just poor design. I got bored.
Vague instructions. Tutorial was completely insufficient. Not recommended.
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Worth the learning curve for serious grognards
This game strikes a great balance between satisfying the operational level tactical hunger and keeping it simple enough to win an epic battle over the course of an hour. The trouble starts with the UI that is perhaps too simple, lacking overlays explaining what each button does, somewhat clunky, it left me in the dark until I forced myself to read the manual. This is not a game you can just dive into, you really need to do the tutorials and read the manual, but leading your divisions to victory is a fun reward. After playing this game I am interested in more titles from this game designer.
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Fantastic!
If you have played and enjoyed an old Avalon Hill board and counter game, you'll feel right at home. Except now no constant reference to a perilously frayed rules book to resolve turns and engagements. With PzC you can focus on the scenarios, tactics, terrain, OOB, all the things you were trying to focus on in good ol' PanzerBlitz. It's hard to put down, since it makes it so quick and easy to try different deployments and avenues of approach. But it's great because you CAN actually pause a game and pick it up later without wondering about whether the board got bumped. I assume, based on the write-up, and the fact this was a freebie, that it's meant as a tutorial/training tool for introduction to other scenarios. GREAT idea, particularly for folks maybe not familiar with turn-based simulations. Depending on experience level, this one could easily keep you busy for quite a while, as there are several scenarios and each can be played in more than one way. I confess, I loved this iPad version so much that I purchased the desktop (Kursk Southern Front) version, even though I'm still playing through some of the scenarios on the iPad version. I've experienced no problems, hangups or glitches on my iPad Air2 running iOS 11 beta. I do use a stylus to move the counters.
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Potential, but only that.
There is some hope for this game, but not until it's really in a finished state. The controls are largely unexplained, lacking even tool tips, and the tutorials lack even the barest modicum of instructions, and are so poorly play-balanced that they cannot be completed. It's a shame, because on the surface the game has a lot going for it, but after a couple hours, one is confronted with a 'Wargames' moment - the only smart move is not to play the game.'
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Real War Game
One additional Ask: ability to store Local device save games. War Gamers value the option to progress to a certain point and then test multiple alternative strategies. To have to replay an entire scenario in order to get back to the same decision point again is a time sink and can be quite frustrating.
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Finally, a game beyond beer and pretzels on the iPad. Panzer Corps and Battle Academy 2 are great but how many pretzels can you consume before wanting some real meat?
To echo some of the previous posts, interface is what will keep most folks away from this series. The solution is simple though -check out the space strategy game "Ascendancy" on the iPad. There is 1key press that toggles all the help text in context of the screen that is active. This way the confusing command bar is demystified with a single tap.
Also - do a let's play video on YouTube and show the game in action played by one of the Dev Team.
I will be buying Kharkov I believe and would look forward to Stalingrad as well. An iPad version of Squad Battles on the Eastern Front would also get my iPad gaming dollar.
Good work so far - you guys really need some type of forum though to increase your interaction with the community. Most folks dropping in there would be old SPI playing board game Grogs - so should be a good crowd to converse with ...
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Finally, a game beyond beer and pretzels on the iPad. Panzer Corps and Battle Academy 2 are great but how many pretzels can you consume before wanting some real meat?
To echo some of the previous posts, interface is what will keep most folks away from this series. The solution is simple though -check out the space strategy game "Ascendancy" on the iPad. There is 1key press that toggles all the help text in context of the screen that is active. This way the confusing command bar is demystified with a single tap.
Also - do a let's play video on YouTube and show the game in action played by one of the Dev Team.
I will be buying Kharkov I believe and would look forward to Stalingrad as well. An iPad version of Squad Battles on the Eastern Front would also get my iPad gaming dollar.
Good work so far - you guys really need some type of forum though to increase your interaction with the community. Most folks dropping in there would be old SPI playing board game Grogs - so should be a good crowd to converse with ...
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