CEaW vs Strategic War in Europe

[KC Dennis]

I'm looking for a good PBEM strategic WWII game, and I'm looking at Europe at War and Strategic War in Europe. I'm leaning to CEaW, because of the ongoing support and updates. Just curious if anyone had experience with both and would share a comparision? Any other contenders I should consider? Thanks.

[BattlevonWar]

Didn't play Strategic War in Europe, it's a mini version of Time of Fury. ToF was really lovely but I would check that you have plenty of opponents if you get into it. I am sure this much larger scale than that. ToF was Divisional Scale and Strategic War in Europe reminds of the Scale of Strategic Command 1 about, which is mini and probably faster...this is a great in between scaled game..not too small, not too big and people here are pretty friendly and helpful. (plus a ton of opponents)

[laramieela]

They are both decent games with a different focus. I prefer CEaW for a number of reasons:
1. It plays very easily. Rules are open and simple.
2. The community supporting CEaW is huge, so lots of pbem options.
3. If you primarily play versus AI, the AI is pretty decent.
4. I have been playing this game for three years and still have much to learn.

Strategic War in Europe is a very decent game. It has a nice advantage of three player pbem. The downside, still some bugs which need to be addressed like supply for Germans in Norway. It is a fun, simple game to play, but not the challenge of CEaW.

[richardsd]

yep, easy to learn and play - very hard to master

not sure I support the AI comment tho - its doable if it plays the Allies, but really its average at best

[laramieela]

I agree with your AI assessment, but learning, AI does fine. Then I play pbem, but it works to play hotseat against yourself.

[captkiwi]

After v3.10 is released I think you'll be happy to purchase CEaW. I own Time of Fury and it is very detailed, to say the least. As mentioned earlier, there is a good following on CEaW in the forum.

[KC Dennis]

Made the purchase and think I'm really going to enjoy it. Been wading through the manual. I'm trying to start my first pbm game and hit a snag. No matter whether I click on the Axis or Allies, it asks for the Axis password and starts the game as the Axis player. Does the Axis player have to host or am I doing something wrong?

[captkiwi]

The Axis player starts first. You'll have to pbem against yourself if you want to be Allies, or find an opponent. Plenty in the forum.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hotseat is the best way to play against yourself.

[Man0lo]

Didn't play Strategic War in Europe, it's a mini version of Time of Fury. ToF was really lovely but I would check that you have plenty of opponents if you get into it. I am sure this much larger scale than that. ToF was Divisional Scale and Strategic War in Europe reminds of the Scale of Strategic Command 1 about, which is mini and probably faster...this is a great in between scaled game..not too small, not too big and people here are pretty friendly and helpful. (plus a ton of opponents)

Hallo mate! You are a miracle! I couldnt believe that I would finally find someone who plays Time of Fury! I ve recently bought this game...but I cant play it since I have plenty of questions that couldnt be answered by its poor tutorial and manual ! Plus the forum of this game hasnt been updated for 2 years now... so to ask my questions there proved pointless ! I would much appreciate ...and I would be very thankful if you may help me! My first question is about how does economy work in this game?! Are oilfields so importand in this game as they are in CEAW? Another question I have is about the icons that are beside the cities ..! I couldnt find anywhere an explanation about them! I m talkin about the icons that I m attaching below! Thanks a lot for your time!

[Rasputitsa]

'Time of Fury' has been more active on the Matrix Forum, see link, the present discussion is on the future of the game, but there is also a lot of information and contacts that might help cover the acknowledged short comings in the manual.

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tt.asp?forumid=927

'Time of Fury' has the potential to be a great game, held back by stability problems and a patch is due soon in an attempt to resolve these issues. The 'Time of Fury' editor is difficult to use and has hindered the community development of the game which CEAW has benefited from. There are some community mods which help with the game and improve its features, I use many of them and you can completely alter the look of the game, the alternatives are huge. It plays in one week turns at Corps and Divisional level, with the ability to split/combine units into smaller/larger units of the same type (e.g. 2 weak Corps combined into 1 stronger Corps unit)

PS : I play both games and enjoy them both for different reasons, have sent PM, as really shouldn't discuss another game on this forum

[BattlevonWar]

Commander is my favourite game now, ToF is on the shelf, my last 2 opponents more or less resigned.
I helped Betatest this but it evolved a lot since that etchie sketch...I would not turn my back on a good 6-12 months of pleasure, CEAW has kept me busy the whole time I have been sick and I hope all the way through that or CEAW2 COME ON BABY, SC3 is coming we know you guys hear us!

[KC Dennis]

Just started my first pbm game, and have a quick question. I sent my opponent the turn file. While I'm waiting for him to respond, I wanted to review the map and do some planning. When I tried to load the game, it asked for his password. Is there a way to view the game in this situation?

[OxfordGuy3]

Just started my first pbm game, and have a quick question. I sent my opponent the turn file. While I'm waiting for him to respond, I wanted to review the map and do some planning. When I tried to load the game, it asked for his password. Is there a way to view the game in this situation?

No, your best bet is probably to do some screenshots before you end your turn e.g. using Greenshot:http://getgreenshot.org

Of course, all your planning might need to change when you see what devious moves your opponent has come back with