Pre-order pre-play window

[dannie013]

iam not that good on computers a little on the old side

[RolandHorn]

Game is working great for me. And I have to say that I am impressed!

[tucsonbandit]

seems to be charging 105 prestige for opel blitz and not 70

[nLjace]

So far so good. Game is fun and has a lot of potential for being in Beta and not yet having any expansions or grand campaign (I'm spoiled; I picked up original PzC after most of the content was already out).

Has anyone played with the editor? I am particularly interested in how to edit text in briefings and descriptions.

[Kerensky]

Has anyone played with the editor? I am particularly interested in how to edit text in briefings and descriptions.

Briefing system is built right into the editor. No need to mess with third party programs or anything of that sort at all.

The script system is configured outside of the editor though.

[Hemi]

seems to be charging 105 prestige for opel blitz and not 70

What strength is the unit? The cost for the transport is predicated on a 10 strength unit. If you have a 15 strength infantry it will cost 50% more, which sounds like it is the case.

[MickMannock]

Okay, some first impressions.

Good stuff:
1. No problem installing or starting/playing the game. Some seem to have problems starting the game, but none for me. No crashes either (playing two scenarios into the 39 campaign).

2. I really like the changes to the mechanics of the units. For example, recon and AA are a lot more useful in this game and I see myself creating a much more diverse corps than I had in Panzer Corps (and also Panzer General for that matter). I think such changes are great. Big kudos!

3. Standard infantry units now having 15 strength make them really tough buggers to defeat, especially when entrenched. So far I think I like it, but I also think this will change how I tactically play the game in quite a big way. I also think this will make the game a lot harder than the previous editions (regardless of difficulty level).

4. I really enjoy the traits that I pick for my commander at the start of the campaign, both the positive and the negative traits. Really neat system.

5. I like the changes you've made to the air units, how they always return to base and that you have to find new bases for them as you move further along the map. Feels a bit more realistic without taking the "beer and pretzel" feel away from the game.

6. Love the cammo options. Really nice. I might have missed it, but maybe some specific markings for the airplanes? I didn't see the option but perhaps it's there somewhere (for example: yellow and red markings of Luftwaffe units, or the D-day invasion black and white stripes for Allied planes).

7. I like how you've reworked the core slots, different units taking up different amounts of core slots. This makes planning what units to include for my corps much more interesting. My only worry is that when I get deeper into the game, this might hamper me cause I am currently not aware of the cost later in the game. For example, I noticed the Panzer Ib only took up one core slot and the other tanks took up two core slots (if I remember correctly). But since I don't know how many core slots a Tiger, Panther or a Panzer IVh will use, it might make proper planning a bit difficult. On the other hand, I don't know how many total core slots I'll have either, so I guess it's something you just have to learn after a few playthroughs.

8. I like how in the first scenario there was a mini objective of reaching a certain town swiftly, which would stop Poland from sending some reinforcements against me. I failed the objective, but that kind of mini objectives makes the scenarios much more interesting.


Things that I personally think needs improving:
1. When I have a unit selected and I hover over different hexes where the unit can move (or can't move for that matter) I want info of the terrain type of that specific hex. This function was in the old game but when I played yesterday I could only see the terrain type of the hex the unit was currently occupying.

2. I forgot to check the options yesterday, so maybe it's already in the game, but if it isn't, I'd like the option to turn on a border grid for all the hexes.

3. Biggest gripe of them all, and I've mentioned this before, and it's regarding the heroes. I love the concept but hate the "random names" of the heroes. I'd really like to see historical people as heroes and that they are fixed to a certain unit type. So if you get hero Hub Zemke, he can only be used for fighter planes for example. I think it's fine that you can move the hero around between different units, but it should only be possible to move the hero between units of the same type. So in my previous example; you could move Zemke between different fighter units, but not place him in a bomber unit nor an infantry unit.

4. Also regarding heroes. I got one hero after my first campaign scenario, and he had the title (or whatever you would call it) of "uber unit". That's just a big no no. Remove immediately. Maybe it's a tag for the certain trait of that hero type and that it needs to be called something, but that something can't be "uber unit". It sounds ridiculous and must be changed or removed before launch in my opinion or it will annoy the heck out of me.

5. It's nice that you have names of towns on the map, but the font and color looks a bit simplistic. I mean the map and units look really great, but the town names looks like they were copy/pasted from some whacky game in the 90's. I think they could use a softer font and softer colors.


All in all, playing through two scenarios, the game felt really great and polished. Can't wait to play the final release candidate!

[Infierno]

2. I forgot to check the options yesterday, so maybe it's already in the game, but if it isn't, I'd like the option to turn on a border grid for all the hexes.

In the options there's actually a slider for hex border thickness

[MickMannock]

2. I forgot to check the options yesterday, so maybe it's already in the game, but if it isn't, I'd like the option to turn on a border grid for all the hexes.

In the options there's actually a slider for hex border thickness

Perfect!

I really should have checked it last night, but got so into the actual game.

[GUNDOBALDO08]

My first impression and suggestion after about 10 hours of play:
1. Everythings very nice, playability, graphics, units variety very good, PC2 could be next my preferred game if well implemented with bugs and details correction and nice dlcs, maybe I finally can delete my Panzer General 2 copy from PC... ;
2. some correction of infantry uniforms and helmets: noticed that norway and netherelands have same skin of british one and belgian same skin of France, must be corrected... Loved Romanian skin!!!
3. France HW Infantry has same skin and weapons that regular one...
4. I'd like if entranchement of units could be visible on the map with same graphical details, as for OOB for example...
5. I think artillery need more range, generally 1 hex more for all unit than now: first of all stuG IIIA has only 1 hex, so it is formally artillery but has no range at all!
6. Sound animation for Stukas as to be the typical terrifying whistle, please!
7. I like new planes function but I prefer if when at base we can see hangar and not planes melee around airport...
8. When I loose one of my unit It's a tragedy because I cant restore it, neither at the end of scenario... please make it possible
9. I playied Barbarossa south and I had Romanian allied under my orders... but I had to use my resources to restore and reinforce it, i prefer if Allied units can have their own budget of resources... maybe also with specifical rooster for enlist new units... as in OOB
10. It's very much sorry we cant have Yugoslavian and Greece scenario after France...

[impar]

Greetings!

7. ... But since I don't know how many core slots a Tiger, Panther or a Panzer IVh will use, it might make proper planning a bit difficult.

Play the Tutorial, you get a sense of what later game units weigh.

1. When I have a unit selected and I hover over different hexes where the unit can move (or can't move for that matter) I want info of the terrain type of that specific hex.

Yes, agree. Once we get used to the new hexes... "painting" it might not be a big problem but now it is.

4. Also regarding heroes. I got one hero after my first campaign scenario, and he had the title (or whatever you would call it) of "uber unit".

Doesnt bother me, but it can be one of these guys:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cber_(comics)

___________
Also tried the Preview yesterday.
No problem installing it once I restarted Steam.
The game runs perfectly in my system, updated it ~6 months ago so it can be considered an high-end system (Ryzen 3, 16GB RAM, RX5700, SSD, ...).
Not so sure I like having a wargame push the graphic card so much, at the end of gaming session the GPU fans were audible. Maybe I am just used to PzC1 low resources use.
Played the Tutorial to get a sense of the game and new mechanics. Started the 1939 campaign, played both polish scenarios and left at the begining of the Norway scenario.
On UI options, had to speed up the animations, make hex borders and fog of war more visible, disabled passing clouds and increased the unit sizes. Worth checking the Options to customize the UI for your taste.
The weight system, better units weigh more and use more of your core slots is welcomed. Not sure yet if it is balanced but for now I like the added complexity to fill the core slots.
Really liked the new "air units assigned to airfileds" mechanic. Worth mentioning that strategic bombers cant be assigned to dirt airfields.
Finally Tanks Overrun! Crazy how I got used to it in PG2 and still missed it in PzC1 after hundreds of hours of gameplay.
INF at 15 strenght is a game changer. Really adds staying power. Feel that the different classes of INF all look the same, thats a problem. In PzC1 having a 2-men or 3-men icon holding different weapons helped a lot.
Artillery units have a lot of abilities to make them more distinguishable between them (hope they dont have a hidden rate-of-fire stat as in PzC1). Misread the 21 Morser 18 ability, its for hard targets, not soft ones.
AA units dont have to be adjacent to a friendly unit to protect them.
Havent really explored the Recon and AT abilities yet.

Overall I am liking it. However am concerned that once we get used to the new mechanics PzC1 replayability will suffer. Progress, I guess...

[nLjace]

Made it to Battleaxe in North Africa. But I guess my 48 hour window is about to expire...

[MickMannock]

Played a little more last night and I have one more thing I'd like to add to the wish list.

In Panzer General and Panzer Corps, there was always a pop up window when new equipment was available. This pop up doesn't seem to be there anymore and I miss it. Particularly between scenarios in the campaign, when I usually do my upgrades.

[Kerensky]

Played a little more last night and I have one more thing I'd like to add to the wish list.

In Panzer General and Panzer Corps, there was always a pop up window when new equipment was available. This pop up doesn't seem to be there anymore and I miss it. Particularly between scenarios in the campaign, when I usually do my upgrades.

Newly available purchases come with the 'new' banner. But yes, you do have to browse the unit catalog to see these markings.

[MickMannock]

Played a little more last night and I have one more thing I'd like to add to the wish list.

In Panzer General and Panzer Corps, there was always a pop up window when new equipment was available. This pop up doesn't seem to be there anymore and I miss it. Particularly between scenarios in the campaign, when I usually do my upgrades.

Newly available purchases come with the 'new' banner. But yes, you do have to browse the unit catalog to see these markings.

Yeah, I noticed the "new" banner, but then I have to browse all the different unit categories to see them. It's more practical to get a pop up window where I can see all the new available equipment.

[cicciopastic]

Played 6 Hours up to the dunkirk battle (ended it).

I really liked it:

- very useful the overrun possibility!
- now entreched infantry seems Harder to be killed
- very nice the new core units slot management


Something i would consider in the final realise:

- give the choice to hide killed units (somewhat confusing)
- i got one hero after each battle (hope that was temporary.... i liked more the old system)
- please please add stuka sound!
- stuka and bf109 silouette are too similar... i confused them more than once!
- i did not see the killing statistics in units summary information.... this is a must!
- i would like ti be able to assign war ribbons to my units.... no special effect just commemorative ones (eg 10 kills ribbon, one year service ribbon .....)
- when planning movement give avidence of any encirclement u would achive
- sometimes encirclement seemed a bit too large
- i was not able to use captured units .... i bought them, but they were not available for battle (no prestige was charged for those purchases).

Anyway I had really a great time playing.... I am sorry the game will be unavailable from tonight on ....

Great job guys .... keep working on it!

[MickMannock]

- give the choice to hide killed units (somewhat confusing)

I think I saw a toggle for that in the options menu. So I think it's implemented already.

[cicciopastic]

- give the choice to hide killed units (somewhat confusing)

I think I saw a toggle for that in the options menu. So I think it's implemented already.

Tks i will check it!

[DeathMutant]

- i got one hero after each battle (hope that was temporary.... i liked more the old system)

Units can earn Medals during combat. Medals are a permanent part of that unit and are automatically assigned. Your general can also earn Heroes at the completion of a scenario at which point (during Deployment) you can manually assign heroes to specific units, remove them or re-assign them. As far as I can tell, any hero can be assigned to any unit class up to the 3 hero limit on a specific unit.

- please please add stuka sound!

It's coming and, hopefully, with the official release.

- stuka and bf109 silouette are too similar... i confused them more than once!

I hear ya, I still do the same if I move too quickly so I have learned to look at the unit statistics when I select the active unit.

- i did not see the killing statistics in units summary information.... this is a must!!

It's coming and, hopefully, with the official release.

- i would like ti be able to assign war ribbons to my units.... no special effect just commemorative ones (eg 10 kills ribbon, one year service ribbon .....)

A common request, actually, so hopefully it will be considered in a future release. I also want a memorial shrine listing all of my destroyed units and their combat experiences.

- when planning movement give avidence of any encirclement u would achive
- sometimes encirclement seemed a bit too large

- i was not able to use captured units .... i bought them, but they were not available for battle (no prestige was charged for those purchases).

I believe that you need the minimum number of captured unit "parts" to assemble a complete unit; 10, since Infantry cannot be captured. Please note that these "parts" are also used for replacements so if you need to repair your Matilda in the middle of the Sahara and have no remaining parts you will not be able to repair your tank; I assume that this is true on during Deployment too.

[RolandHorn]

Just finished the trial for those who have prepurchased.

Overall I'm very positive about what I've seen after 22 hours of play.

Likes:
1. Better replayability than PC 1 I think. You have a choice in how to approach the campaign from the very beginning (e.g. Poland and Norway north or south; the traits you select when creating a new campaign offer differing strengths and weaknesses tradeoffs. For example, I never used overstrength much in PC 1 preferring to save my prestige so I made that a weakness which gave me extra positive traits. I didn't get a chance to try randomly created scenarios, but that all adds to replayability.
2. Ability to overrun when you've destroyed an opposing unit with armor.
3. I played through the entire tutorial first and despite slitherine's warning that its a work in progress, I found it very helpful - better than most games I've played.
4. Briefings are much more detailed than in PC 1 in the campaign game. Ignore at your peril!
5. Ability to create a more specialized army. As an Order of Battle veteran, I found the use of "slot" numbers and reserve forces to create a specialized force intuitive. For example, Norway South briefing warns you to put your tanks in reserve which gave me the chance to purchase an early large infantry core instead.

Dislikes:

1. While I appreciate the chance to customize the look of the game through the options menu, the units still look alike slowing down game play. For example in PC 1 it was easy to differentiate infantry and pionieres since the latter had two icons instead of three. I'd restore that concept.
2. Similar to OOB, there is no notification of new equipment availability. You have to check for upgrades during the deployment phase.
3. The "change difficulty" button at the end of each campaign scenario was not working in the beta - minor quibble.

Thanks slitherine for ignoring those that wanted this game rushed to market!