First thoughts
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:29 am
First off, thank you for including me in the beta test for Panzer Corps.
My first impression was a little worried...the game hung for about 20 seconds before finally starting. Was a blip though as the next time I opened Panzer Corps, there was no problem.
I jumped right into the 1939 scenario. I found the graphics to be great, explanation of the unit types to be informative though not being able to deploy purchased units off the hop sorta threw me for a loop. Looking in the library under tanks brought up the image of a Mark IVH (guessing-looked to be a late model) when the write-up was describing a Tiger I. I understand the library is incomplete but thought I would include it just in case. My initial take on the game dynamics/play was also positive. I appreciated that artillery could move one hex and still be able to fire after the move. However, without being able to locate a manual, I was unsure if there was a penalty for this or not.
After playing for awhile, I found how enemy aircraft conducted attacks or, at least, how visible these units were to be a little perplexing. I understand the rationale behind toggling between the air and ground unit (and resultant changes in size) but would much rather see a large size enemy aircraft attacking. In my opinion, it would make it easier to plan a response if the enemy aircraft was easier to find after attacking one's unit. I also found myself thinking the movement of units was similar to that in Commander: Europe at War. What was missing was (at least compared to PG) were overrun attacks by armour units. Whether this a function of the scale of the game or a throw back to Commander, it made planning explotation of attacks somewhat more difficult.
Before long, I found I had conquored France and was preparing for the invasion of Britain. By this time, some things have become clear about the game dynamics. Aircraft units are vital. Air defense highly useful especially around artillery units. Infantry is indeed 'Queen of the Battlefield' while artillery is an important part of a combined arms attack. Recon units are useful though easy to ignore when one is trying to develop an airforce. Finally, though needed, can be compensated for if one has a strong infantry force. The aforementioned lack of overrun attacks and subsequent exploitation seem to be the main reason to me.
The game ran well on system (Centrino2 Q9000, Nvidia 260M video card) with no problems.
The left click to select, right click to move/attack routine took a little bit to get used to but it is coming along. Having read some of the other comments, I have to agree that the speed of actions when clicking seems quick at times. A few times I found I had moved a unit and ended its turn even though I wanted to do something else with it.
I wouldn't mind a sub-screen in the right hand cluster indicating if the enemy/your own unit was surrounded and will suffer disadvantages in combat. Initially, I saw one of the tutorial pop ups refer to this but did not really clue into where it was displayed. The control/shift function to see the calculated combat odds is a great feature and provides insights at to the importance of disruption, etc.. An explanation of the different colours units change would also be helpful. I gathered red indicated there were disrupted strength points while yellow also was not good. I found where the number out of the total strength of the unit were red/yellow was displayed on the sidebar but the lack of an explanation of impact was a little perplexing.
That is what I have for now. More to follow as I go through more of the scenarios.
My first impression was a little worried...the game hung for about 20 seconds before finally starting. Was a blip though as the next time I opened Panzer Corps, there was no problem.
I jumped right into the 1939 scenario. I found the graphics to be great, explanation of the unit types to be informative though not being able to deploy purchased units off the hop sorta threw me for a loop. Looking in the library under tanks brought up the image of a Mark IVH (guessing-looked to be a late model) when the write-up was describing a Tiger I. I understand the library is incomplete but thought I would include it just in case. My initial take on the game dynamics/play was also positive. I appreciated that artillery could move one hex and still be able to fire after the move. However, without being able to locate a manual, I was unsure if there was a penalty for this or not.
After playing for awhile, I found how enemy aircraft conducted attacks or, at least, how visible these units were to be a little perplexing. I understand the rationale behind toggling between the air and ground unit (and resultant changes in size) but would much rather see a large size enemy aircraft attacking. In my opinion, it would make it easier to plan a response if the enemy aircraft was easier to find after attacking one's unit. I also found myself thinking the movement of units was similar to that in Commander: Europe at War. What was missing was (at least compared to PG) were overrun attacks by armour units. Whether this a function of the scale of the game or a throw back to Commander, it made planning explotation of attacks somewhat more difficult.
Before long, I found I had conquored France and was preparing for the invasion of Britain. By this time, some things have become clear about the game dynamics. Aircraft units are vital. Air defense highly useful especially around artillery units. Infantry is indeed 'Queen of the Battlefield' while artillery is an important part of a combined arms attack. Recon units are useful though easy to ignore when one is trying to develop an airforce. Finally, though needed, can be compensated for if one has a strong infantry force. The aforementioned lack of overrun attacks and subsequent exploitation seem to be the main reason to me.
The game ran well on system (Centrino2 Q9000, Nvidia 260M video card) with no problems.
The left click to select, right click to move/attack routine took a little bit to get used to but it is coming along. Having read some of the other comments, I have to agree that the speed of actions when clicking seems quick at times. A few times I found I had moved a unit and ended its turn even though I wanted to do something else with it.
I wouldn't mind a sub-screen in the right hand cluster indicating if the enemy/your own unit was surrounded and will suffer disadvantages in combat. Initially, I saw one of the tutorial pop ups refer to this but did not really clue into where it was displayed. The control/shift function to see the calculated combat odds is a great feature and provides insights at to the importance of disruption, etc.. An explanation of the different colours units change would also be helpful. I gathered red indicated there were disrupted strength points while yellow also was not good. I found where the number out of the total strength of the unit were red/yellow was displayed on the sidebar but the lack of an explanation of impact was a little perplexing.
That is what I have for now. More to follow as I go through more of the scenarios.
