Nice and quite complete review!
However, I'm not sure to agree with you on the cheer difficulty of WIA, especially seeing how often you get back to this particular point. I believe I classify as a very casual wargamer, BOA having been my first game ever in that genre and only playing WIA and AACW once in a while, when I feel like putting some time into a campaign.
A few months ago, I explained why I finally decided to jump in wargaming in
that post. Here is what I said:
First, allow me to praise the developers of AGEOD who, from BoA onward, have managed to bring me into computer wargaming. And even wargaming at all.
I like military history, I like grand strategy as well as battlefield tactics, and more than everything, the theatres covered by the 3 first games AGEOD so masterfully pulled out.
I had always been scared off by the overwhelming complexity of rules, the blandness of the maps, as well as that of the unit markers, when not simply displayed as NATO symbols. That graphic problem is still all too often the mark of wargames.
Now, to each his own. And I fully understand that when it comes to those types of games, game mechanics are far more important. Yet, AGOED just proved that when one want, one can.
I play games to relax, and when in front of my computer, I need to enjoy what I'm staring at. Well, with AGEOD's maps, there it is. Every time I boot up a game, I found myself completely forgetting what's surrounding me, plunging into another era, running through wilderness, canoing down rapids and lakes, and making unfriendly woods my home for the time being.
For that, I can not thank you enough, both the team for your artistic choices, and the artists that did the maps and the units. You got me hooked!
Now, pretty graphics obviously don't make a game easier to understand. And as far as ROE, supply, command points and so on go, I don't feel it took me that long and that much commitment to get a hand of it. Reading your review feels like the reader is about to face such a game as WIP or HOI, which it is clearly not.
Still, don't get me wrong. I think you're spot on when pointing out that the game lacks a real reliable database where new players (and experienced ones as well) can find quick and up to date information on the game mechanics, especially the basics that get you started. Which you did really well in your guide. If I remember well, that point has actually been raised a few times recently both for AACW and WIA. For that matter, a WIA wiki may be the way to go, although I'm afraid there isn't enough people willing to maintain it on the long run. Lordlefty has started a
FAQ that can be a good compromise for the time being. If well organized, it could include tips, basics on strategy, reminders like yours, etc. Most of it is already available on the forum, but would benefit greatly from being centralized.
Cheers!
Flo
