[Android] First World War: Western Front

Started by spelk, January 25, 2013, 04:11:34 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

spelk

Joni Nuutinen's prolific output, has now move onto the The Great War, with First World War: Western Front.

http://bit.ly/VmDrGy

I haven't bought and played it yet, but I plan to. If you become familiar with Joni's interface, there are a whole lot of other titles/eras using his wargame engine.



QuoteConflicts: WW1 Western Front is a huge turn based strategy game which takes place on the Western Front of the First World War.
You are in command of the German armed forces - generals, infantry, cavalry, artillery and the first tank units - and the object of the game is to conquer the strategic parts of France as quickly as possible.
This is a huge game, and if you haven't played games fom the Conflict-series, you may want to start with Operation Barbarossa or D-Day before taking on the Great War of 1914-1918.
If you want to test the game mechanics of Conflict-Series, a LITE version of Operation Barbarossa is available for free.
Highlights:
+ Tactical Areas/Move Points: Some hexagons are connected together forming slowly evolving Tactical Areas, and you can move between such hexagons using Tactical MPs instead of regular MPs. This opens up a completely new tactical dimension.
+ Economy & Production: You decide how to use the industrial resources that you capture: Build railway networks, produce Rail MPs, manufacture minefields, etc.
+ Railway Network: To navigate the huge game area efficiently you need to plan where to build railway network.
+ Mud: Areas which see lot of troop movement and battles will turn into mud, which might consume extra move points, so you cannot get bogged down on the war of attrition if you want to keep the front lines advancing.
+ Generals: Generals support the closest units in battle at the cost of 1 MP, while the front line units located too far away from Generals might lose 1 MP.
FEATURES:
+ Long-lasting: Thanks to in-built variation and the game's smart AI technology, each game provides a unique war gaming experience.
+ Competitive: Measure your strategy game skills against others fighting for the Hall of Fame top spots.
+ Experienced units learn new skills, like improved attack or defense performance, extra move points, damage resistance, ability to cross rivers without losing move points, etc.
+ Settings: Various settings to alter the look of the gaming experience: different icon sets for units (real - NATO), custom font and map size, etc.
+ Tablet friendly strategy game: Automatically scales the map for any physical screen size, while settings allow you to fine tune hexagon and font sizes.
+ Inexpensive: The entire WWI western front for the price of a coffee!
In order to be a victorious general, you must learn to coordinate your attacks in two ways. First, as adjacent units give support to an attacking unit, keep your units in groups in order to gain local superiority. Secondly, it is rarely the best idea to use brute force when it is possible to encircle the enemy and cut off its supply lines instead.
Answer the call of duty and join Conflict series on Facebook or Google Plus!
+ http://on.fb.me/wsC2QV (FB)
+ http://bit.ly/GHHGU1 (G+)
Join your fellow strategy gamers in changing the course of World War 1!
The list below includes the permissions requested and the reasons for their use.
+ Internet: To fetch Hall of Fame data from a server.
+ Network State: To determine whether or not you are connected to the Internet so the game doesn't crash while trying to connect.
+ Control Vibrator: To vibrate the phone during the battles (visit settings to turn the feature OFF or alter its behavior).

GJK

QuoteIf you become familiar with Joni's interface, there are a whole lot of other titles/eras using his wargame engine.
I think that's the issue though - they are so Tiller-cookie-cutter-ish that if you could pretend to be on any front in any war with just one of his games and not know the difference besides what it says on the unit display.  I did enjoy his East Front game for a few weeks (it got old eventually) though.  Never could get into his Civil War one as there was just no flavor for the period there for me.  I do applaud the efforts though and despite my grumblings, they're the best pure wargames out there for the Android that I've found.
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

spelk

Quote from: GJK on February 26, 2013, 06:48:17 AM
I think that's the issue though - they are so Tiller-cookie-cutter-ish that if you could pretend to be on any front in any war with just one of his games and not know the difference besides what it says on the unit display.

Currently, I've played the Normandy game, the American Civil War game and the Operation Barbarossa one. Comparing them all, the UI is very similar, but there are features that have been customised to confer each conflict/theatre.

Admittedly the WW2 games are more similar, except flavoured features such as the Partisan activity behind the Axis lines in the Barbarossa campaign. The huge numbers of Russians that pour forth and the limited re-enforcements later on. The differences are probably not extensive, but they are there, and as I've found they make the chit shuffling feel like what happened around that era.

I must declare openly that I seem to be very bad at playing his games, because I'm often sucked into some very lengthy drawn out sessions, and I was most disappointed to see my entry land last on both the Normandy and the ACW high score tables.

But still, I don't play these sort of games to watch scores, I truly enjoyed the experience, and given the fact that there just isn't anything like this sort of game on any handheld/portable device, I am more inclined to treasure the games.

The ACW game, had a supply mode that was an optional setting that forced the player to manage the gold reserves and ammo supplies, using rail and water based transports. The railway lines on the map then become very important to defend. Enemy activity on those hexes causes all sorts of bother for your advancing Confederate Army. I played with this off to begin with, and just managing re-inforcements across the map with limited rail/water transport was a nightmare. I'd imagine the full monty supply game would be quite a handful.

But still, this is totally different to the WW2 stuff. And it's that sort of thing that adds unique flavour to the game. The infantry units were very slow moving, and the disrupted awful easy if you weren't careful. Your precious faster moving cavalry units had to be protected so they could fully blossom into the enveloping supply severing machine that you needed.

These games can be lengthy, and it's amazing how effective his AI seems to be, it reminds me of the Unity of Command AI in terms of knowing where to cut supply lines, and to take and re-take VP objectives. Even cycling units and resting them. I don't know how some players have done the Normandy game in 16 turns. It took me 57! And at times I thought the Americans had broken out and I had sod all to stop them.

Quote from: GJK on February 26, 2013, 06:48:17 AM
I did enjoy his East Front game for a few weeks (it got old eventually) though.  Never could get into his Civil War one as there was just no flavor for the period there for me.  I do applaud the efforts though and despite my grumblings, they're the best pure wargames out there for the Android that I've found.

I understand your gripes, some of the imagery he uses could be better. The ACW game has the same unit image for both sides, and uses the background colour to define which army they belong to. I don't know whether this is making a very subtle (and clever) nod to the fact that the combatants were often "brother vs brother" or not. I think the fact that his system is transferable is a good thing, and hopefully each different conflict has enough tailoring to make it feel right. They are very affordable, and as I said it's about the best there is on the mobile gaming platforms.

I'm looking forward to trying his WWI offering - I've snapped up all his titles and have them waiting eagerly in line for my attention. I find its very easy to lose a few hours on these, and they seem to have a 'just one more turn' moorish quality about them. I've even poked him on Google+ to see if he plans on doing a North Africa game. I didn't dare mention the Anglo-Zulu Wars... saving that one for later :)

Rogo727

They would make a fortune on this game if it ever came available for the iPad