The 2pdr was primarily an anti tank gun and fired solid shot. At this time they were not issued with an HE round. So the results you are getting, with the target types you are engaging with them, seems about right.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Yes, this is a good point, and it's reflected in the low soft target ratings for the battery. We needed some Italian armor to show up. :)

Great to see you covering this series of games, Zilla! I’ve played Tiller’s Panzer Campaigns series in previous and enjoy them a lot. A brief tip for you. Tiller employs an extensive fatigue system to govern the effectiveness of his units, combined with unit quality level. Each unit is assigned a fatigue level ranging from 0 points up to 300. The lower the better. As the game progresses all units automatically acquire more and more fatigue points for doing pretty much anything (movement, combat, rally, etc,). As a unit’s fatigue rises their effectiveness drops so that an A class unit (elite level) can quickly drop to a C class (ordinary line unit) or lower. The class rating of the unit gives it bonuses and demerits. For instance, A class units fight at 150% their printed strength, while D class will fight ar 75% their printed value. You’ll find that it’s very easy to quickly fatigue your best units by simply overusing them, thus wrecking their righting effectiveness. Meanwhile, it’s not so easy to recover fatigue as the process is slow and tedious. You have to take some units out of line and give them a chance to rest to get some of their fatigue back. Obviously this doesn’t matter that much in short scenarios that last only a handful of turns but in long campaigns it becomes a significant factor in how you utilize your forces. I think that this system is really the key to any of Tiller’s Panzer Campaign series games, and ignoring it guarantees a loss for the attacking side. Enjoy this one, Zilla, and I hope you do more.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

This is so helpful, Stephen. Thanks so much. I don't think fatigue is playing a role in these shorter 3-hour scenarios, but I'd imagine it's a huge factor in the longer ones. Thanks for all the details, too, I've taken notes! I know I have a lot to learn. Much appreciated. :)

This game has to be an upgrade from John Tillers Campaign series. Every icon and option looks just like west front. The hold APs to fire and gold as to load/unload are the same. Unit icon pictures are different, but the rest of that is the same. Great series. I am still pmaying it after 20 years with a helpful engine update by Matrix games.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

A lot of Wargame Design Studio's stuff is connected to Tiller's work, yes.

Thank you. The Tiller/WDS games are my favorites. The operational titles ("Normandy 44" in particular) have occupied many hours of my time. The regular updates are a big plus.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I'm very interested in Normany '44 too, yes. This has been a lot of fun so far. :)

@Loganar001

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitzI'm Playing Normandy '44 at the moment campaign game 750 turns I'm up to turn 257

Thank you Mr. Blitz! I started war gaming Christmas Day 1958 with AH Gettysburg and WDS has been the pinnacle of my incredible journey! Presently I am doing 4 WDS games PBEM doing one turn each every day. You have done a great job showing this one!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Thanks! And it definitely seems like WDS has a passionate fan base. The PBEM works pretty well, I take it?

@Aquadoc1962

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, the PBEM works fine. The normal AI is good enough to familiarize yourself with the game and situation, but that's about it. Sometimes it will surprise you. I am wondering how and when all this recent AI development will manifest itself in the WDS games.

I own many of WDS game series. I must say the games are very detailed and engrossing. Also, their naval and air campaigns are very interesting.

@KrolPotato

4 ай бұрын

I have the "Kriegsmarine" one and I've tried 3 times to get into it and it's ah... I hate to say it but it's not grabbing me.. I will keep trying because I agree with you (deep inside). I recently bought "Eagles Strike" and that's a lot of fun (it's their "Squad Battles" series). In fact, @ZillaBlitz - if you're reading it - get "Eagles Strike" and make a video on that game, please.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Nice! I have Eagles Strike, Battles of North Africa 1941, and Scheldt '44, so yep, Eagles Strike is on the list to check out. I'm not sure yet which one I'll do after Battles of North Africa yet. :)

@JoseMartinez-wy8jb

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz Pretty good selection, one of each series. Played advance of the Reich and Red Victory. With the new upgrade it has better mechanics and is more visually attractive. Eagles Strike is next on my wish list.

@KrolPotato

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz "Eagles Strike" is interesting because it's such a small scale: you have individual soldiers and leaders. There are other games in the series (I think there's one on Russian Eastern Front) and in the manual you have civilians (counted against you if as casualties), partisans and you can take POW's and all that - it's similar mechanics but an entirely different gameplay due to scale and scope. Much fun!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I think I'm going to like these a lot. :)

Looks interesting. I am quite sure the 2-pdr weren't that good because in reality only AP rounds were available. So not very effective against soft targets.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Yes, that's a good point, and the soft target ratings for the 2-pounders are very low. To kill those men with it, we must have had pretty much a direct hit. :)

Ah, thankyou for taking a look at wds(john tiller) game my favorite . I really enjoy the way you present your battles , sooo interesting and good

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Thanks much! I'm looking forward to digging into a medium-sized scenario soon. I want to learn how to use armor as well. That's up next.

The unit stats are hard to read (especially on a larger screen with high res) so what I normally do before I start up the game is change the scaling in the Display Settings - I increase it to 150% and it helps a lot - it's way easier to read things. Another thing: the Jump Map is your friend in this game - especially on larger map (I forget to hot key it is). Great video as always!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Yes, I've been playing around with the scaling and monitor resolution. I settled on changing the resolution instead of scaling it, but I was trying 125% for scaling. I'll give 150% a try. I can read things fine at 100% but it's more that it's hard to see things on the video. (I was manually zooming in on the video to show the action better in this video.) I'll check out the jump map feature, that sounds fairly important for larger scenarios. Thanks!

@KrolPotato

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz I did the same: playing with in-game resolution but the scaling is best (right click on your desktop, select Display Settings and then change Scaling from 100% to whatever) - the game adjusts full screen and everything is bigger but evenly and it scales correctly (no distortions). Much more comfortable for my aging eyes (apparently, I am not getting any younger!).

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Sounds good, I'll give 150% a shot, as it was kind of a pain in video editing to manually enlarge the video to show the action up close.

Thanks for covering this game system. really like the explanation and graphics to show the counters and their values. Any chance of doing lets of the panzer battles games?

@ZillaBlitz

2 ай бұрын

Yes, let's plays for three of these games are on the list of things to do, but I just have to get through this busy stretch of work first. :)

@snoo333

2 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz of course my friend. Finish up work . If this was your real job then I games first and then work. Lol. Some many cool games that needs to be introduced to wargamers. Toaw 4 , steal panthers, tiller /aws games, my favorite see the squad battles , panzer battles and campaign series. Let's not forget command ops series of games. Wego Stalingrad looks promising. Decisive campaign series. War in the East. Most of these game I watch others play because I let them do the heavy lifting. I just enjoy the game play. Thanks in advance

@ZillaBlitz

2 ай бұрын

This is a great list of games! :)

Man I played the crap out of "Advance on the Reich".

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Can relate. Once you get the rules and UI down, they become real "one more turn" experiences. :)

@markheithorn3905

4 ай бұрын

That was my favorite Squad Battles game

You mentioned this game was interesting in that you knew down to the man who was lost. Which makes you think that ALL armies had dog tags or similar, and roll-call or similar, to be able to tell who was there and who was MIA, etc. NOT just so the Generals would know how many men they had on the front, but much more importantly, so the quartermasters would know how many cans of beans and sacks of potatoes were needed where!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I mean, I understand that it's not realistic in the sense that we'd know in real time how many casualties were incurred, but from a gameplay perspective it's interesting to have all that data. :)

@man_vs_life

Ай бұрын

As a newbie to WDS games, that's what bugs me the most. I've just started playing Valor & Victory on PC, basically the same as Squad Battles and in that it just says "Casualties", not specific numbers, which seems much more appropriate. Anyway, enjoying Panzer Battles.

My dude, I'm pretty sure a unit of 70-80+ troops is a company instead of a platoon, but that is a very nice video!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I wondered about that, but it seemed like each of those units were ~100 men and I thought, listed as platoons. I'll double check, perhaps I'm misunderstanding their designations. Thanks!

Wonder if the mechanized recon troops would get through the obstacles easier if still mounted.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

That's a good question. I think the obstacles impact everything because I know they stopped some Matildas in the other scenario I did, and I think I accidentally drove the recon units into the obstacles in a different attempt at this scenario. :)

Agreed the graphics could be better. The sounds and gameplay, are great mind.

@ZillaBlitz

2 ай бұрын

And if I had to pick one, I'd definitely pick gameplay. I actually find the graphics very functional, and the quality of the action is really the important part for me.

thanks for this! Big Fan here of WDS --- a really well-run company. well done!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Thanks, Marc! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

Might not have counted the objective to the end

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I think it might have calculated it in the final score, actually, and that explained the larger shift in VP at the end. But I'm not sure the value showed up in the top right VP box. It's also possible it's something I haven't quite figured out yet. :)

@Justin_Kipper

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz On the last turn, you got 5 points for the objective and the rest of the points came from Italian casualties. It's kinda hard to figure points during the game with FOW on, since it doesn't show how many points the Italians were getting for holding the objective. Good to see a WDG game here, and well-played for the victory!

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Aha, that makes sense, and explains the question mark on the objective as well. Good to know, much appreciated! To be fair, I think this was the 5th time I played the scenario (twice to learn, two recorded but I messed up my microphone and then the green screen, and then this time). Two draws, one minor victory, and two major victories. Playing the same scenario several times made it much easier this time.

Looks an amazing game, just a pity it's on a PC. I would probably never move if I started playing as I would want to complete every scenario as well as the Campaign. Many thanks for an enjoyable 40 minutes.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Definitely a defining characteristic of these games is that there is a LOT of gameplay in the package. :)

Wow! I never thought you'd review a WDS game. Kudos, man! That's a tall order. Looking forward to hear what you think of it.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I'm thinking of it more as an exploration of the game rather than a full review, but I'd definitely like to offer impressions as I play. So far so good, but I have a lot to learn, both tactically and UI-wise. :)

@joeyj6808

4 ай бұрын

I've been a fan since I first encountered a John Tiller game. But it's a bit detail-dense for me. I like a bit lighter game. But for hardcore wargamers, WDS is just Nirvana (I would think, anyway)@@ZillaBlitz

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I've actually found it not nearly as dense as I imagined. I thought it would take much more effort and energy to learn than I thought. There are definitely a lot of details, though, and I'm curious how a larger scenario plays.

@joeyj6808

4 ай бұрын

My downfall with these games is getting caught up with trying to set up perfect fields of fire, supported assaults, etc. and meanwhile I run out of time or turns LOL. Fun to play and for me a huge bonus if I can actually get my act together enough to win!@@ZillaBlitz

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

I can totally see how that would be easy to do. :)

Very nice, it seems like it would be good if they showed remaining movement points on the counter.

@KrolPotato

4 ай бұрын

They do - it's the number that is depleted as you move. You have to consider the remaining points (budget) against the cost of the next hex (the terrain is modelled so there's different cost to depending on what's next ahead of you). The movement points are shown on the unit details (the top left corner), not on the counter itself (too small!).

I may purchase "Panzer Battles: North Africa 1941" during the current WDS Summer Sale. How did you find the AI? Was the AI a challenge to play against or was it underwhelming? Is it easy to find human opponents? I normally play WDS games against human opponents. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thank you for this play through! Reply

@ZillaBlitz

Ай бұрын

I got really busy with real work in April and May, so exploring this game is coming up in the next couple of months. On defense the AI seemed quite functional, not sure about the AI on the offensive yet. :)

I used to play these quite bit several years ago. But since I mostly solo, I found the AI in the larger scenarios to be questionable. It’ll be interesting to hear your take on whether they’ve updated some things under the hood. Great vid. Thanks.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Yes, I can't speak to the AI much yet, as the two difference scenarios I've played were against static defenses. :)

@KrolPotato

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz I have been thinking about the AI vs human player and I think that human opponent is always better because there's always the element of human "error". The AI (as awkward/weird it is) will always be efficient (at least as far as the math logic allows - and eventually there are limits to this and the bigger the map/scenario, the larger the problem is), while a human will let emotions and personality "get in the way", making it way more interesting and fun to play against. Problem is - finding human people opponents.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Is there a Discord for WDS, for match making?

@TonyLS9A

4 ай бұрын

@@KrolPotato The issue I’ve had with some players is gaming the system. For example making killer stacks and disregarding “realistic” tactics and operational limitations. So both solo and PBEM are problematical.

@TonyLS9A

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz No Discord that I’ve seen, but matchmaking happens all the time on their forums.

The 2 pdr is a ant-tank gun no HE

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Yes, a few people have mentioned that now, and I appreciate the heads up. That explains why it wasn't doing anything, for sure. :)

Hi Mike, do you also take submissios?

@markusr8970

4 ай бұрын

*submissions

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Hi Markus - Just to clarify, do you mean requests to create video for a certain game, or submissions of games sent to me to review/create content for? In both cases, it depends on a lot of things, like how full the schedule is, how well the game fits with my tastes and viewer tastes, etc. That help some?

@markusr8970

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz Hi Mike, if I can contact you by mail, that would be great. If it fits your taste, a review would be great, thanks.

@ZillaBlitz

4 ай бұрын

Hi Markus - Sounds good. :) My email address is at the bottom the channel information. I can't post it in the comment, but let me know if you can't find it and I can guide you there.@@markusr8970

@markusr8970

4 ай бұрын

@@ZillaBlitz Found it, mail is going out in a few...