Complement that with the Board Game Rules and I was well armed. However, since it was stated that the game engine is based to 90 % on the Board Game rules, I am having some massive worries about the PC version.
What I'm getting at is that in my opinion there is a lack of information about the mechanics that happen behind the curtain basically. The player initially is left totally clueless about how combat for example is resolved. All he sees is that some units get damaged, some get shaken, some are out of combat, etc but he has no idea as to the why. This is also true for all the other behind the curtain tests that the game is making in order to present the player with an outcome. Again the player is left in the dark as to what triggered the tests (unless of course he has intensively read about the rules or through a lot of trial and error) and why he received the result that he is presented with on screen.
Often in the PC manual and obviously exlusively in the Board Game Rule books there are mentionings of specific tables that are used to come up with the outcome values that are then applied for the effects. However, since the PC game engine uses these tables without informing the player about what column the AI used and why, I would strongly suggest that the devs consider adding some easy to read information directly on screen as the event/combat unfolds.
Here is my suggestion for the combat window:
In the middle of the window you have a big pair of goggles that basically serve to show you in which region the battle is taking place. This is vital information, since the player must know from where the attack came (or where he attacked from) in order to determine the retreat and breakthrough tests. However, again in my opinion, this is represented way too big. A smaller version of this goggle where the attacker's origin region is represented with a red arrow and the attacked region is shown with a green arrow (similar to the ones used for breakthroughs and Grand Offensives) would quickly at a glance show who came from where. Knowing this will also inform the player as to where the attacker would have to retreat to in case of defeat and so allows the planning for flanking breakthroughs or in-depth breakthroughs. As it currently stands, the player has to guess as to where the AI is going to retreat to unless he paid immense attention during the movement phases.
Now as the players commit their corps for combat and validate, it would be useful after combat for that particular round to present the player with all the starting base, modifiers and table values that were used to determine the outcome. This can be shown in a box in the middle where the big goggles used to be. In the box should be shown the starting base values of each side, the dice roll(s) result(s), the modifiers that were used and a little summary as to what just happened i.e. shaken, disorganized, out of combat, etc.
In terms of event and out of combat tests, they could be presented to the player in a window after he has validated the finish of the turn. Again, the idea would be to show you why the test was necessary, what dice roll results were achieved, what modifiers were used (naturally with a little description via tool tips maybe for clarification as to why?) and then the end result.
Again, after some more opinions on the matter were gathered, I could see the player rest easier a bit as he would have a better understanding as to why this just or that just happened and can react accordingly.
As it stands now, unless you really studied the manuals and rule books to death, you are basically faced to a lot of abstraction and simple luck, since you had no idea what would happen (or not) in advance due to the lack of knowledge and information.
Thanks for reading!
