Slitherine

I think El Alamein is brilliant and the best of the series so far - I am super impressed by the gameplay depth and novelty ( no matter what some superficial reviews say, there's a lot of new stuff here ) and how there's so much here while avoiding getting bogged down and turning into a slog ( a problem in in the still-great DtM - as a non-grognard , I ended up going back to the beloved. BotB in the end; but that's more of a historical battle dynamics than gameplay design issue perhaps) .

The visual and audio presentation is outstanding as usual ( though I do think the radio music emphasis may need a little fixing - see my other post in the "General Question" radio thread) .

Initially I was worried that the AI had not improved - I won my first few games (2 ridge scenario games and a campaign game) against the quick AI with ease... I won my first campaign game playing as Axis with 100+ VPs and 6 units taking the Suez Canal.... But It must have been beginner's luck , because I've been struggling to win against the quick AI ever since! There does seem to,have been significant AI improvement, so congratulations on that too!

One criticism : it is easy to derail the tutorials. The game does not guide/force you back to the tutorial path if you do something you're not supposed to by mistake . The first couple of times, even though I've played BotB and DTM a lot, I was a bit baffled by what I was supposed to do in the first tutorial ( and one time the game got "stuck" when I did something AI want supposed to do) . This is more of a UX issue than a tutorial writing issue, I think

Thanks for the feedback and impressions. The comments on the tutorials were especially useful.

I quite like the way the strategic game is folded into the operational. The initiative rules are also great and add a lot of tension. And the supply rules are perfect, exactly the sort of thing that can be incorporated so easily for the players in the electronic format but which would have been so fiddly in the old paper and cardboard games.

My only qualm so far is that the Ruweisat scenario is one I may shy away from in competitive play; there are a lot of two step units that are actually worth 5 or 6 vps (full strength) if killed and the weakness of such units makes a bad combat die roll much more catastrophic than in Bulge or Moscow. This may be less of an issue in the campaign, we'll see.

I'm finding it really hard to adapt my thinking to the new rules. I had the same thing when I first played DoM so hopefully I will get better!

Observations so far:

-3 or 4 spaces of movement in a quite constrained map mean that the AI consistently pulls moves I didn't see coming.
-the new supply rules (I.e. Out of supply units can still move) drive me crazy: my whole strategy is bypass and cut off units to avoid combat
- I hate minefields! It's a brilliant mechanism to reflect the slogging nature of attacks on prepared positions, but boy is it hard to take when you move 3 infantry units into an unoccupied minefield and manage to disarm... zero.

I think the key difference to BotB and DoM is that they both have the dynamic of weak Allies at the start, weak Axis at the end. In DF, both sides start weak and gradually get stronger.

Yeah desert fox is much more different than previous two chapter!

The main concept is that in BoB and DoM one side at the start is much more strong than the other so your tacticts are quite linear and straightforward: one attack and the other try to hang on, then in both games the other side gets stronger and then there is a counterattack! In DF it's a completely different matter! Both side begins almost equal (speaking about the campaign scenario we have 36 pips for the Axis and 29 for CW) but the first have a quality advantage better units, attacking bonus, however you have to careful pick your targets because due to the similar forces a counterattack is an appealing choice instead sheltering yourself! Then after 1-2 cycles the balance still remain the same but sides become stronger and battles much more dangerous! Only after weeks 13-15 CW outnumber consistently Axis forces and a drastic change on the overall attitude take place!

congratulations again for the game!