RC report and feedback version 2

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen15 Seeking Yarrick

6am i'm back, power naps are good and i will be fine now till diner, then, food and another one

well back onto the testing and quick play....

an all infantry one again, as map design is useless for tanks movement and action, not they are needed in this one any way, as it's search and rescue anyway....

with a twist, as your force is tiny, with horde's of roaming Orc's around, medium to small sized map, and plenty of time, makes contact with as few as possible at a time so you can wipe out one set before you move onto the next one etc, then repeat, find your leader then get out of dodge ....

not a great level to play if i was honest, as i like the open ones better. with more maybe quicker action of the tanks etc, but all in all not bad, but not the greatest level so far.

as pictures say it better than a 1000 words, i'll upload one for now, and yes none was going to be done or used in this report but this one does add to the message

map.jpg (241.58 KiB) Viewed 2444 times

as can be seen, FOW is off, on my easy play as well, which accounts for speed, lack of many units lost, ease of reporting, fun in bucket loads to play, i could go on, but if your useless like me at most games, you need all the help you can get

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen16 Operation Audacity

first titan on titan action of the game so far i think, if memory serves me right at this god forsaken time of the day, layout of map is great for tank action, open and terrain is good for long shots, so spot on..

map size is about medium but wider than some, so plenty of options as well, a god mix of Orc units are arrayed against you and it makes for a good challenge, medium to easy again with the right unit choices made...

you forces are split up into the attacks, from different places but you can turn this to help you as you can all go for one middle attack with all 3 and then enter there bunch up from the middle, either way losses will be more than a few so it's a choice you make either way a the river stops direct attacks any way so have to go around or slower and over...

on easy most Orc units are a lot weaker than you, but as they have more units it all most balances out in most battles,which this is another one of these...

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen17 Battle of Tartarus

ok failed this first play....

as orc's move and attacked, it put me off, as i like to sit back and upgrade or replace my force first, not sit and watch them get damaged, then play with what's left so did it badly and ended up restarting it....

did it second time and great lost just to get off the mission tbh, not a great one for me sorry, Orc's are far too close for me my units and scouts must be blind not to have seen them coming, as tbh there's enough of them at my door a knocking...

so on the would i believe it score, it's fails in my eyes, map god and large, unit count is very good, but design isn't, as it's not too believable, it's more of a ambush but on a more open map, so i would have seen them coming even in the night, night sights etc...

so worse one yet by far..... mind you all that don't give my options to buy tanks are rubbish anyway, so take away - 10 and add +10 for my % bias

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen18 Defending Tartarus Industry

this one isn't too great either, as it's a defend one, but Orc's are already in the middle of your defence so you have failed before you even start and have to destroy those within, before you can counter those that are coming....

map size and unit choice is good, design of how it's laid out and mission planned is not so good, well wasn't for me, not hard but medium with a good unit selection on easy any way, no idea on other settings as have only done it a few times and all on easy of default one on last beta...

option to make it better in my eyes would be take away the Orc's who start off in the middle of you base and move them to the outside, as most of your units are far enough away to the right anyway, so it's a quick dash as the one rule owner ship can be tough if you have only one eye open or are doing other things etc...

not one i'd really play again, as it didn't get scored high on my report while playing / testing it...

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen19 Hunting for Traitors

the difficulty with this one is not the map, or Orc's or units in it either as there are none, well no Orc's anyway, it's the fact the the other side has the same colour units as you, so you spend a lot of time just looking hard to see who's who, as they don't really stand out apart from the red, then as your troops get damage and morale loss, yes you have guessed it, they go red as well so it's a bit samey with 2 sides the same, i would have like flags or colour change with this one...

maps good, design of mission is good, but unit colours are poor tbh...

and with 2 titans to 1, not the hardest either and nowhere near as hard as some of act 1 mission i found, even still....

but after saying all that, it's a good hard and challenging battle, again i had to play it twice as my map made from the old beta didn't have all the units again in it, so another one with slight changers that have thrown me, as i don't play all of them on easy with FOW on, some maps i like and turn it back off, for the fun of it

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen20 Interdiction near Helsreach

this is a great battle map with plenty of space on it, plenty of Orc's as well on it, but you have almost the most units in any battle upto yet as well, good to very good troop and unit choices offered to you and to the Orc's, map lay and mission is great as i like assault maps, fun from start to finish and a good tank map and battle to boot, so again added to re play is a must list.....

also notices by now i have more money in this version that i had before so as well as better infantry, you get to buy more stuff if needed as the money is better, yes some units now cost more i see, but as i don't use most of them anyway it hasn't seem to have affected me, but have loads now left to upgrade, buy and also repair, which is needed a lot by now if they still work at all, so most of the time it's a straight replace...

not rock hard, not easy so middle of the road on easy, bridges make it more fun and so does the open layout of the map, design for me is one of the best...

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen21 Battle on the Stygies

one of the best designed defensive / attacking maps of the game so far, ground is well laid out for defending, and your the attacker, unit choices are great, money good and as some units / Orc's are on your side you already know who to attack first, wipes these out asap and then make your attack across the bridges, take out their artillery quickly before you use your infantry, or pay a heavy price for the land your on...

good unit choices and a plan helps, rush in blind and you lose most of what you start off with, tanks with artillery backed up with infantry with titans out in front taking and giving the shots work well, and any air units also come in handy if you use them, for me they are good at scouting, but too easy to knock out and kill, so with FOW off i have gone blind and bought, yes more tanks...

great map and level, added to replay as only 5 so far are worth a second shot from me, and this is one of them, it's open, big and has choke points to funnel you in, great if you like it, dam hard if you don't...

Orc choices of units is very good, but on easy most are very easy to kill, so are balanced again by having a lot, but so do you, so epic battle...

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen22 Deliverance of Infernus

this one has been ramped up somewhat from my other plays of it, failed it a few times now, but have done it once and in the past....

the map is large, with a good layout, good design and great unit choices, money is good, but time is short, as you rush, you die, too slow, you die, the horde is massive, the amount of Orc's even slower weak ones here are a lot, and can overpower my mighty tanks with some many hits i lose morale then take damage then need to repair so take even more while i sit and wait etc etc....

map size is large, which also leads to problems as there's so many on it, better to alter settings on this map to only show your moves / hits etc, or it slows you down and can't get very far very quick on my fast style of play, which won't be a problem with the next time i play it, as i will be more relaxed and take my time, this play / test was a quick look and see and try and get to the end no matter what....

i can remember posting in the last beta to let the horde of Orc's run free, now someone shoot me, as on easy this is hard, but doable, same as everything you need the right mix, and all tanks with this one isn't a balanced mix either...

can't believe i just said that either

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen23 Avenging the Fallen

again another large map, loads of infantry Orc's in this one but also a balanced number of other units, 3 sort of ways to attack them, so already you have split up and weaken your forces, so attack and conquer is also a bit weaker now for all tank attack, so again i have to alter to suit the battle...

design and layout is spot on, last defence is hard because of the shear numbers involved, where as before you could get groups as mentioned by me in numbers of 3 to 5, with 6 being large group, now 8 or more happen and overwhelm you if your not very careful with where you place and leave your units, so plan and watch where you go, only uncover what you can deal with and kill, bring in too many and they will do to you, what you have tried and failed to do to them, except they can stand the loses, you can't in this one....

again maybe a add to replay list as i did like it, but again also needed to play / test it a few times to get right, but winnable, as every choices of units make or break this one....

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen24 Liberation of Hive Tempestora

right from the start of this one, you are overwhelmed by the task ahead, no matter how weak the Orc's are on easy, seeing them with FOW off is amazing to think how will you not only get passed them and do what your asked to do, but kill the bast amount you need to do it...

map size is about the biggest it gets in the game....

unit choice is well everything apart from the kitchen sink bomb.

a good mix of forces is needed as i no longer go all tank like i did in the beta before it, Orc's are weaker than you on easy, but 5 to 1 doesn't get you to think so ,time is the killer again as much as the Orc's, take on too many you die, don't take on or kill enough you don't get the objectives so design is great and well done, for the next to last mission, this is a epic struggle, but again doable...

[zakblood]

SCENARIO CampScen25 The Final Death Mire

and it all comes down to this i wrote in my notes while playing / testing...

a epic final battle, by now your forces are either elite or brand new and a 70/30 split or less / more depending on how well or poorly you played...

this just down to a slogging match tbh, and i would have liked it to have had more resources to have added the death blow quicker rather than drag it out, but that wasn't going to be the case, with so many units on screen it all comes down to how you play it, as your going to lose a lot no matter what you take into this battle, so if that bothers you and you try and play it safe, the time which at 35 turns is good, will tick away and you will loose, same as your money soon goes as well as buying gets more used than replacing in this one, as there will be nothing left to replace as most units just get wiped out most of the time on both sides, not that i have ever seen a orc unit rest and recover either, just fight until dead...

so ends the final battle, its either well done, or grunt as the Orc chops your head off

all in all a great game with some very good missions, all played / tested so far on easy, how it will play on the hardest settings is any ones guess as i'll never test it on anything other than middle of the road with difficulty and then with cheats on....

such small improvements from the last beta has altered the game in a number of ways, and none of them small impacts either on either game play, infantry use or money in game, but all so far seen have been for the better, as it plays now really good and enjoyed the beta, but this has stepped it up a notch so well done..... now off for breakfast, a rest, then will resume a new play / test later on today...

[zakblood]

finishing off statements end of report....

battles all done, first round of testing finished on easy quick play.... will re test again now on a different level and take me time, so me screen shots etc and more feedback so all will get edited, just in case i missed something...

my maps made from the last beta are no longer fully accurate either as some stuff have been added or taken away, but most was played with FOW off so didn't really matter...

infantry use a lot better by both sides, some units seem now to have more men, will have to go back and read the updated thread again, when i have more time...

cost for some units have risen, but overall money in game played so far has been better, so never ran out either...

difficulty levels selection is the beat improvements so far for me, as it lets you develop your skills, as you rise you alter it, or not if you want a easier day...

battle damage explosions seem to have got better, bigger? and more of them.....

story board now talks, all be it a bit wooden, but not Shakespeare so doesn't matter either...

it's great that now you can play both sides, that was like many above on my wish list......


no real negative comments to make, apart from still think the graphics are low by to days standards, but game play wise it's nearly spot on, add skirmish or random maps and now your talking classic....

so yes Ian was right, there's nothing to worry about, but i meant the last beta, not this release

will edit and amend on next play / test run through......

start of RC test 20 Nov 2014 16:34 pm
end of test one 21 Nov 2014 9.40 am...

and yes 4 more report to fill in i know i know, not missed them either

adding my jumbled up hand written half sleep crazed notes into reports that make any sense is taking as long as play the first run through, and i wrote them, well scribbled them, some even in english, not that i can fully understand it all now it seems