23:46 Halder was a major enemy of Rommel, he rightly thought that Rommel was recklessly bold and did not pay enough attention to logistics. He would stymie Rommel's requests for more armour and send it East instead. Luckily Rommel also had an ally at staff in "Smiling " Albert Kesselring.
I actually think the decisions in the game make it feel very unique, and it's something that I really like. It's just that the game does throw quite a few decisions your way from the very start, and it's a little overwhelming on the first turn.
Yeah, the decisions are probably a net positive. One thing that can be frustrating is that your first time (or few times) playing, you will run out of PP and not realize there are decisions you should prioritize and others not. Getting screwed because of PP does not feel good, feels too arbitrary.
I always take the Daugavpils route for the AGN railway supply/conversion decision. Aside from anything else, it is possible to seize Daugavpils quickly (you're almost there on your turn 1) before the Soviets blow the bridges over the Dvina. Waiting for bridges to be repaired delays the rail conversion process too.
This game is great. It's one of my favorites. Glad to see a series on it. EDIT: I would love to see Decisive Campaign: Ardennes too. I might be a minority here, but I've generally gotten "bored" of the Eastern Front (game-wise of course).
This game has been on my list, but I fell in love with Grigsby first. I don’t blame you for not enjoying War in the East 2. I’m 50+ videos and 6 IRL months into my play through, so it’s quite the experience. If you change your mind, I’ve been working on some videos to make the early game a little less micro intensive.
It's important to remember too, that although the relationships between particular people on the German side were impactful, it was equally important on the Soviet side. Stalin and his disposition was every bit as influential as people on the other side could be, not to mention how well generals and commanders got along or didn't.
I think Hitler set some kind of record over sacking his generals when they attempted to bring his plans into reality in the later half of ww2. As quite often the units he assigned only existed in his own mind,or when they did exist where severely depleted and urgently needed reinforcement.
"I hate war as only a soldier who lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ottowa, January 10th 1946. "Who won the war, Dad?" "Nobody wins a war son. Everybody loses something." Question from me aged about seven, reply from my father a Royal Navy veteran who served from 1939 to 1945.
@@TortugaPower In my opinion that's because you waste fuel. Just in the first few seconds of actual gameplay you drove a tank through a whole bunch of ZOCs, to make an attack that the units already present could easily have handled. If you were unsure you could have just added a motorized division from one of the adjacent hexes, they use far less fuel and receive far more reinforcements. Don't waste your tanks, you will need them later. In the first couple of turns, your motorized divisions can do 90% of the fighting for the Panzer Gruppen.
I was worried that might be an issue. There is an option I played with, but it has a very large lag impact (redraw, e.g. upon panning/zoom/etc.). Let me know if you have any ideas to skirt the problem without enlarging UI.
Thanks for the start of a campaign in DC, such a great game! And also for your respectful words at the start: war is hell indeed. As a kid I was fascinated by WW2, build the aircraft models, read a lot of books on cool tank tactics, played a lot of wargames and it was all great fun. Later in life, after really learning about the horrors of the Eastern Front and everywhere else around the world, I was really shaken and had a hard time to enjoy a wargame. The tragedy of war still gives me pause whenever I start up a game. Remembering makes it able for me to play these games.
are the soviets affected by the geneva treaty? because they didnt sign it historically. game looks interesting tho might buy it if rest of series is good too.
The option just means you as a player won't have to deal with decisions regarding war crimes. Of course this will save the German player Political Points, hence the difficulty reduction.
Anyone know if the setup is slightly randomized for the Soviet Setup. I am playing the same version and start as Tortuga but the disposition of Soviet Troops is slightly different.
When playing Historical, the setup is always exactly the same. Some differences on the German side are possible due to reinforcements deploying on June 22th (low chance rolls mostly). You can recognize these by their lower AP.
OK, never heard of this game, but I grew up playing the Avalon Hill board games The Russian Campaign and then Russian Front, and in those, yeah, the pocketing at the start is amazing and the Rumanians are strong enough because the Soviets are just too weak down there. So looking forward to how it goes on your next vid when you get to them. That said, watching that fuel just drain away--already down to ~1100 and haven't moved all the panzers in the area you attacked last...yikes! Then had to temper my expectations based on those two other games where the turns were two months or one month each, vs 4 days here? So SEVEN turns to capture these Soviet districts--want to see the supply rules and how to cut them off, AND how fast you get fuel back!!!
We will get some amount of fuel each turn, which I will have to look-up, but it's less than you have for the starting turn. A common approach is to have "rest" turns where you simply don't move your panzers :) It's fun having the logistical issues so in-your-face, something that WitE handles well, but not very much HoI.
Have you ever played Sagger? It's a game about the Yom Kippur War where you act as the commanding officer of the Israeli army. It's pretty short, but has several different routes (i should say that the game is more akin to a visual novel, you have little direct control over the army itself)
As interesting as this game is, one thing I find annoying about it is that it doesn't model how the German Army fought during this period of the war. Modelling it correctly wouldn't be difficult and it would only improve the game. In this game, the Germans have to achieve their breakthroughs in the Soviet lines by using their tank and motorised divisions. This isn't how it worked in reality though. In reality, the German doctrine was to achieve breakthroughs using infantry divisions. Then, once the infantry had created the desired breach in enemy lines, the tank and motorised divisions would rush through it and into the enemy's rear areas. Once in the enemy's rear, the tank and motorised infantry divisions would cut enemy supply and communication lines and try to encircle large numbers of enemy divisions. Fighting this way, using speed as their principle weapon, the tank and motorised infantry would play the critical role in destroying huge enemy formations over and over again without actually having to do a lot of hard fighting. To me, because this game doesn't model combat correctly, it feels much more like a game, or like a toy, than a war simulator.
@@Steven-cf1ty It's literally called "Barbarossa" because it attempts to simulate WWII combat during Operation Barbarossa. If it doesn't do that, then it's a cartoon game that just happens to be called "Barbarossa". Lol.
@@Marmocet it's a game, it never sold itself as being a simulation. Games can balance their combat mechanics different from real life, and making tanks be powerful but limited supply is a standard balancing form.
For the beautiful thumbnail, guess who we have to thank?
Finnish Jager (of course), aka Charcoal Cheetah, and map is from onwar.com/wwii/maps/efront.html
Thanks for the kind words!
I liked how this one turned out!
I never heard of this game before the video but this looks great. Really do like the interpersonal relationships as a mechanic.
I think it's an under-represented gem. But I have always been partial to Vic's games.
I just started hearing buzz about DC on Reddit. SO that's why I stopped to watch.
The part I’m interested the most is watching tortuga pronounce the Soviet towns and city’s
Honestly not super hard. Russian is easy to pronounce, just read what you see lol.
cities*
Google Translate can be your friend! Always works for me.
This game has been lurking, under played, on my Steam account. Thanks for the nudge to give it a spin.
23:46 Halder was a major enemy of Rommel, he rightly thought that Rommel was recklessly bold and did not pay enough attention to logistics. He would stymie Rommel's requests for more armour and send it East instead. Luckily Rommel also had an ally at staff in "Smiling " Albert Kesselring.
Just started watching this series.
Just wanted to say, man, your content is just awesome.
Thank you!
I actually think the decisions in the game make it feel very unique, and it's something that I really like. It's just that the game does throw quite a few decisions your way from the very start, and it's a little overwhelming on the first turn.
Yeah, the decisions are probably a net positive. One thing that can be frustrating is that your first time (or few times) playing, you will run out of PP and not realize there are decisions you should prioritize and others not. Getting screwed because of PP does not feel good, feels too arbitrary.
Have been eyeing this game for years. Very interesting stuff.
I always take the Daugavpils route for the AGN railway supply/conversion decision. Aside from anything else, it is possible to seize Daugavpils quickly (you're almost there on your turn 1) before the Soviets blow the bridges over the Dvina. Waiting for bridges to be repaired delays the rail conversion process too.
Really enjoying the playthrough and the first few episodes. Thought I'd leave a comment on the 1st one as tribute to the algorithm.
This game is great. It's one of my favorites. Glad to see a series on it.
EDIT: I would love to see Decisive Campaign: Ardennes too. I might be a minority here, but I've generally gotten "bored" of the Eastern Front (game-wise of course).
Funny, I somehow bounced off Ardennes when it came out. I should go back and retry it.
This game has been on my list, but I fell in love with Grigsby first.
I don’t blame you for not enjoying War in the East 2. I’m 50+ videos and 6 IRL months into my play through, so it’s quite the experience.
If you change your mind, I’ve been working on some videos to make the early game a little less micro intensive.
Understandable. I think that WitE2 is a worthy alternative, and one thing which makes it better is the longer end date. (This one stops early '42)
Nice. I always find games like these awesome, but don't have enough beeg army brain and patience for it so videos like these are always welcome.
I know exactly what you mean, because I'm basically the same way about WitE.
It's important to remember too, that although the relationships between particular people on the German side were impactful, it was equally important on the Soviet side. Stalin and his disposition was every bit as influential as people on the other side could be, not to mention how well generals and commanders got along or didn't.
I think Hitler set some kind of record over sacking his generals when they attempted to bring his plans into reality in the later half of ww2. As quite often the units he assigned only existed in his own mind,or when they did exist where severely depleted and urgently needed reinforcement.
I loved this game when I played it. The immersion is unreached.
I won the campaign in my second attempt.
"I hate war as only a soldier who lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ottowa, January 10th 1946.
"Who won the war, Dad?"
"Nobody wins a war son. Everybody loses something."
Question from me aged about seven, reply from my father a Royal Navy veteran who served from 1939 to 1945.
My offensive always gets horribly bogged down after the first months. Good luck.
As it should! I sometimes escape fuel problems as long as Turn 3. Amazing :)
@@TortugaPower In my opinion that's because you waste fuel. Just in the first few seconds of actual gameplay you drove a tank through a whole bunch of ZOCs, to make an attack that the units already present could easily have handled. If you were unsure you could have just added a motorized division from one of the adjacent hexes, they use far less fuel and receive far more reinforcements. Don't waste your tanks, you will need them later. In the first couple of turns, your motorized divisions can do 90% of the fighting for the Panzer Gruppen.
Can't wait for a new series :) is there any UI scalling option if you could increase it, it would be wonderfull.
I was worried that might be an issue. There is an option I played with, but it has a very large lag impact (redraw, e.g. upon panning/zoom/etc.). Let me know if you have any ideas to skirt the problem without enlarging UI.
@@TortugaPower are you recording in ultra wide?
Thanks for the start of a campaign in DC, such a great game! And also for your respectful words at the start: war is hell indeed. As a kid I was fascinated by WW2, build the aircraft models, read a lot of books on cool tank tactics, played a lot of wargames and it was all great fun. Later in life, after really learning about the horrors of the Eastern Front and everywhere else around the world, I was really shaken and had a hard time to enjoy a wargame. The tragedy of war still gives me pause whenever I start up a game. Remembering makes it able for me to play these games.
you'd think this was a dating sim with how much talk there is about relationships
The War Diaries is super interesting
I can't believe you're playing my favorite wargame of all time. Yipee! This should be fun.
Where's the next turn? Have you gotten distracted? I'm really interested in this playthrough.
Hi Bob. We're up to episode 5, check the playlist (in the video description).
are the soviets affected by the geneva treaty? because they didnt sign it historically.
game looks interesting tho might buy it if rest of series is good too.
The option just means you as a player won't have to deal with decisions regarding war crimes. Of course this will save the German player Political Points, hence the difficulty reduction.
Keitel is "kai-tel" not "kie-tel".
looking forward to the series. I think this game will carry me to the winter. :)
Nonsense, I'm sure we'll be done (home) by then :)
@@TortugaPower lol
Nice game looks interesting and nicely detailed
we want to see the decisions!
My suffering must be entertainment
we want to see the monkey dance!@@TortugaPower
Looks like someone modded Shadow Empire but gave it a WW2 skin
All Vic's games look very similar :)
Anyone know if the setup is slightly randomized for the Soviet Setup. I am playing the same version and start as Tortuga but the disposition of Soviet Troops is slightly different.
I have also seen slightly different troops in my different starts as GER, so I guess the answer is yes.
When playing Historical, the setup is always exactly the same. Some differences on the German side are possible due to reinforcements deploying on June 22th (low chance rolls mostly). You can recognize these by their lower AP.
This is a great game!
Keitels name is pronounced Kaitel
I love this game!!
Very interesting!
OK, never heard of this game, but I grew up playing the Avalon Hill board games The Russian Campaign and then Russian Front, and in those, yeah, the pocketing at the start is amazing and the Rumanians are strong enough because the Soviets are just too weak down there. So looking forward to how it goes on your next vid when you get to them.
That said, watching that fuel just drain away--already down to ~1100 and haven't moved all the panzers in the area you attacked last...yikes!
Then had to temper my expectations based on those two other games where the turns were two months or one month each, vs 4 days here? So SEVEN turns to capture these Soviet districts--want to see the supply rules and how to cut them off, AND how fast you get fuel back!!!
We will get some amount of fuel each turn, which I will have to look-up, but it's less than you have for the starting turn. A common approach is to have "rest" turns where you simply don't move your panzers :)
It's fun having the logistical issues so in-your-face, something that WitE handles well, but not very much HoI.
Have you ever played Sagger? It's a game about the Yom Kippur War where you act as the commanding officer of the Israeli army. It's pretty short, but has several different routes (i should say that the game is more akin to a visual novel, you have little direct control over the army itself)
Sounds similar to Cauldrons of War
Just FYI, the ch in Brauchitsch is pronounced like the Kh in Kharkiv.
Hearts of iron 3 black ice is close to the perfect game
You should do a hoi3 play through sometime
Looks interesting. I have never even heard of this game before.
yay
Yesssssssss
Was so excited to watch and then you turn Geneva Convention on? Ruined the entire playthrough.
>only one side has to worry about fuel
This is the worst wargame I've heard of.
Only one side has to defend VPs too. It's quite lopsided...
(Just like history)
As interesting as this game is, one thing I find annoying about it is that it doesn't model how the German Army fought during this period of the war. Modelling it correctly wouldn't be difficult and it would only improve the game.
In this game, the Germans have to achieve their breakthroughs in the Soviet lines by using their tank and motorised divisions. This isn't how it worked in reality though. In reality, the German doctrine was to achieve breakthroughs using infantry divisions. Then, once the infantry had created the desired breach in enemy lines, the tank and motorised divisions would rush through it and into the enemy's rear areas. Once in the enemy's rear, the tank and motorised infantry divisions would cut enemy supply and communication lines and try to encircle large numbers of enemy divisions. Fighting this way, using speed as their principle weapon, the tank and motorised infantry would play the critical role in destroying huge enemy formations over and over again without actually having to do a lot of hard fighting.
To me, because this game doesn't model combat correctly, it feels much more like a game, or like a toy, than a war simulator.
It's literally a game lol
@@Steven-cf1ty It's literally called "Barbarossa" because it attempts to simulate WWII combat during Operation Barbarossa. If it doesn't do that, then it's a cartoon game that just happens to be called "Barbarossa". Lol.
@@Marmocet it's a game set in operation Barbarossa, you nerd
@@Steven-cf1ty So if it's set in Barbarossa, it should simulate combat during Operation Barbarossa as accurately as possible, you dolt.
@@Marmocet it's a game, it never sold itself as being a simulation. Games can balance their combat mechanics different from real life, and making tanks be powerful but limited supply is a standard balancing form.