Worth getting?

[Daren]

I have both men of war games and have had fun with them when I've played. I think these games are supposed to have larger scale battles? At any rate how are they? Do they have any major issues? If I can run both men of war games fine should my pc be good for these games?

[i_2_i]

i like/play men of war its a good game. can't complain about 75%. i'm looking to buy, thanks steam/whoever for the savings... the only bad thing is Theatre of War: Battle for Caen DLC for it is not part of the collection, is only 10% off, so if you want the whole thing you will need to spend another $8.99 USD...

[Sneaksie]

It's much less arcadey than MoW (great games btw). Ranges here are real, armor thickness is real, AT grenades are real, etc. However, there is no direct control mode which is MoW's unique feature and the game focuses more on AFV's than on infantry.
I would say whether you would enjoy these series or not depends on how seriously you want the WWII combat modeled in your PC.

[alex0809]

Hm, I tried the Demo of TOW (1) before buying the package. I liked it (I love these attention-to-detail games where you can succeed with every unit) but one thing annoyed me: how some things were just not correct. MOW is EXTREMELY good with this, because such incorrect values have made me rage since Blitzkrieg.
For example Jagdpanther - 150mm frontal armor (it had 250mm, never got penetrated at all)

But main thing what im currently wondering about: is slope and angle modelled in the game? I dont really have the feeling it is..

[gijas04]

When did this TOW 2 Caen come up? I own all of them up until this dlc.

[Daren]

Yeah so looking more into it I'm leaning towards getting them. I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me if since I can run the MOW games if I would be fine as far as specs go for these?

[mandellorian]

Hm, I tried the Demo of TOW (1) before buying the package. I liked it (I love these attention-to-detail games where you can succeed with every unit) but one thing annoyed me: how some things were just not correct. MOW is EXTREMELY good with this, because such incorrect values have made me rage since Blitzkrieg.
For example Jagdpanther - 150mm frontal armor (it had 250mm, never got penetrated at all)

But main thing what im currently wondering about: is slope and angle modelled in the game? I dont really have the feeling it is..

the jagdpanther had 80mm of frontal armour sloped at 55 degrees giving an effective armour thickness of 150mm ,as for slope and angle in the game they seem to have modelled effective armour thickness but don`t seem to have put glancing blows in

[chriskrum]

Hm, I tried the Demo of TOW (1) before buying the package. I liked it (I love these attention-to-detail games where you can succeed with every unit) but one thing annoyed me: how some things were just not correct. MOW is EXTREMELY good with this, because such incorrect values have made me rage since Blitzkrieg.
For example Jagdpanther - 150mm frontal armor (it had 250mm, never got penetrated at all)

But main thing what im currently wondering about: is slope and angle modelled in the game? I dont really have the feeling it is..

Jagdpanther had 80mm frontal armor and was penetrated from the front during the war. There's one in the Munster tank museum that was penetrated by a British 6lb AT-Gun. Right through the front mantel. It's hard to believe but I've seen it.

[Sneaksie]

Guys, all concerning armor thickness, ballistics, penetration effects, etc., etc., etc., is top-notch in this series. I don't recall any other strategy game where armor scaling, for example, is absolutely true to life. A projectile can hit an armor plate at any angle and resulting thickness will be calculated in 3D space with advanced effects like projectile collapse or normalization, inner armor fragmentation and so on thrown in. Theoretically, a powerful projectile can go through entire tank, emerge on other side, ricochet from nearby tank and finally kill some really unlucky soldier nearby (of course, in most cases its way will end in the first armor plate it encounters). If tank explodes or catches fire, it happens not because some silly game dice was thrown, but because a projectile hit ammo rack or engine inside a tank.

If you look at screenshots on Battle for Caen page, you can see some of them show red, green and other vectors (red are penetrations) and effective armor thicknesses and angles. This mode can be switched on and off in the game.
It's kinda fun to read claims that armor thickness values here are incorrect, to be honest:)

BTW, Jagdpanther gun mask is 100mm thick (3.93in), so it was penetrated by an APCR shot, here's the photo (http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h38/sumlenny/?action=view&current=jagdpanther_2.jpg), but it could be 17pdr as well.

[Dr.Jones]

I just wanted to add that the ammo penetrations in this games are very realistic (the most from any game), if you mod this game, which you can, you specify for each part of mesh the penetration values, also each ammo has own penetration descriptions, you can change those too.

br.
Dr.Jones

[alex0809]

Sorry guys, that was just a typo, I meant the Jagdtiger. I never used the Jagdpanther in ToW. I still have to take it back, big sorry, as I read the Jagdtiger has only 150mm (but with bige slope) same as king tiger, only the turret is 250mm. Heh, alright this game IS historically correct, sorry! Apart from that, I have to take back that there is no slope and angle in game ;) there is and also: this game is awesome! 10 € for all games is a steal!

[dementedlullaby]

When did this TOW 2 Caen come up? I own all of them up until this dlc.

It just came out yesterday (Nov. 2nd). Hence why it's not on 75% sale. It is 10% off though which is nice :), but of course they need to make some money of the development of it first. From the sounds of things it's a pretty good piece of DLC, looks to add a large chunk to the game for a good price.

Sales like these happen often enough when a piece of DLC drops, gets people interested in the title and promote the new piece of DLC.

[Dr.Jones]

I have both men of war games and have had fun with them when I've played. I think these games are supposed to have larger scale battles? At any rate how are they? Do they have any major issues? If I can run both men of war games fine should my pc be good for these games?

Yes, even without the discount.

br.
Dr.Jones

[Daren]

Sadly I won't be getting this. :( I tried the demo and my computer chugged it at best. Guess I'll just stick with MOW games. Sad too cause these games seem fairly awesome with a great price right now.

[jazyje]

Sadly I won't be getting this. :( I tried the demo and my computer chugged it at best. Guess I'll just stick with MOW games. Sad too cause these games seem fairly awesome with a great price right now.

Where did you get the demo from? I don't see it on steam ... Can you post the link please?

[Daren]

http://games.softpedia.com/get/Games-Demo/Theatre-of-War-2-Kursk-1943.shtml

thats the one for the kursk game. If you do a search for Theatre of war in the search bar you can find a demo of the first theatre of war and the africa one. I couldn't get the demo for the first one to work myself as it wanted me to make a profile in the game but wouldn't let me. The kursk one worked but it chugged heavily on my comp, but at least it worked.

[zippythezip]

The site has links,
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1371&Itemid=318
Never tried the demo but links seem to work.

[djprotojeex]

Sadly I won't be getting this. :( I tried the demo and my computer chugged it at best. Guess I'll just stick with MOW games. Sad too cause these games seem fairly awesome with a great price right now.

As i always tell my friends buy it now for the steal and upgrade your pc in the future.

[Fargi]

As i always tell my friends buy it now for the steal and upgrade your pc in the future.

Precisely! That's what I always do with games like this.

[Heathy]

i bought kursk it seems good, i like the simulation feel to it, ive not tried attacking yet, but defending is quite simple picking targets for AT mostly.

the units are extremely good shots its a bit laser-ish but the battles are interesting.. feels a bit like sudden strike but less arcadey.

[Sneaksie]

I couldn't get the demo for the first one to work myself as it wanted me to make a profile in the game but wouldn't let me.

Most likely this was caused by Vista or 7 not giving it write access rights. To cure this, run it using 'Run as Administrator' context menu option. BTW, Steam versions don't have such problem and work normally as-is (i think Steam does this automatically).

[Sly_Squash]

tbh I've been holding off on all the ToW and MoW deals because I'm just waiting for the entire 1C catalog offer to go on sale. Then I can nab everything at once (often $99 -> $49 over thanksgiving/xmas)

1C complete catalog is quite a value.

[jdwohlever]

I played the Kursk demo from Battlefront and I STILL am on the fence with the ToW series.
Half the time in the demo I didn't feel very much in control or that my actions weren't followed.
I told a tank to shoot another tank that was only 20 to 30 meters away but my tank just sat there. It was not damaged, it had a shell loaded.
It was the first training mission in Kursk.
So if someone could explain why half the time the tanks don't seem to follow orders, maybe I could see if I have a good enough grasp on the game.

[hardtack]

If you're a stickler for detail, then yes the TOW series is worth getting.

TOW (1) was good, not as refined/detailed as TOW 2 but encompasing most of the war. It has some really unique, early battles which are quite challenging and fun (Blitzkreig: Dunkerque, France for example)

TOW 2: Afrika 1943 is the first TOW 2 of the series dealing with Desert combat. With less shrubbery, trees, hills, it may be smoother for mid range comps.

TOW 2: Kursk 1943 deals with a major Armour Campaign over varied terrain with many vehicles so it may need a PC with a little more 'umph'. If ur PC can handle it, and like seeing a slugfest of Heavies, where the Infantry still makes a difference, then Kursk is the one.

The outstanding thing about the TOW 2 series (IMHO) is the immersive battlefield/combat sounds and to a slightly less degree, graphics. The textures on the vehicles are beautifully made.

Slightly OT: for those with old PC's, you may wanna look into the Combat Mission 2 series (by one of the Co.'s that made TOW/TOW2). It is turn based, Squad level, much toned down graphics and sound, but still a great game (details!) which I will keep and play, with some good mods, great Historical Battles, intuitive Battle generator and nice custom skins.

[hardtack]

@jdwohlever - It may be a morale variable. Realistic in that you don't feel as if your commanding 'robots' (you'll notice that if idle, they'll start wandering a little!)They may be in shock - having 75mm shells 'sp-tang' on your turret will do that! :) OR maybe a command 'influence' (radio for vehicles?) variable. Try Veteran or Elite level units.

[Dominatus]

Yeah it's currently the most realistic consumer war game on the market.You must plan carefully in order to win, you can't except to get a bunch of tanks and spam the enemy like other games.

[gijas04]

TOW 2: Kursk 1943, If ur PC can handle it.

This is weird: The following are PC specs for TOW - Kursk 1943 from the main Battlefront game site.

System requirements
Your PC should meet the following minimum requirements for the game to run properly:

Minimum System Requirements

•Operating system: Windows XP or Vista
•CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon64 X2 (2,4GHzor better)
•RAM: 2GB
•Graphics: nVidia GeForce 6600 or AMD Radeon X1900 with 256 MB RAM or better
•Sound card: DirectX 9-compatible
•DVD-ROM drive (for the disc version)
•Free harddisk space: 3.5GB
•DirectX 9.0c


Recommended system requirements:

•Desktop PC with Operating system: 64-bit Windows Vista or Windows 7
•CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 or AMD Phenom II X550
•RAM: 4GB
•Graphics: nVidia GF 8800 or AMD Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB RAM or better
•Sound card: DirectX 9-compatible
•DVD-ROM drive (for the disc version)
•Free harddisk space: 3.5GB
•DirectX 9.0c


Now below are the PC specs for the TOW - Kursk 1943 Battle for Caen expansion pack:

Minimum System Requirements

•Operating System: Windows XP or Vista
•Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Phenom II (2.4GHz or better)
•Memory: 2GB
•Video card: nVidia GF 7600 or AMD Radeon HD 2000 series with at least 256MB RAM and Shaders 3.0 support
•Sound card: DirectX 9-compatible
•HDD: 3.5GB free hard disk space
•Optical drive: PC DVD-ROM (for disc version of the game)

Recommended System Requirements

•Operating System: 64-bit Windows Vista or Windows 7
•Processor:Intel Core i7, i5 or AMD Phenom II (3GHz or better)
•Memory: 4GB
•Video card: nVidia GF 8800 or AMD Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB RAM or better
•Sound card: DirectX 9-compatible
•HDD: 3.5GB free hard disk space
•Optical drive: PC DVD-ROM (for disc version of the game)


Why is the CPU requirements much higher for the Battle for Caen expansion when it's using the same game engine that's in TOW - Kursk 1943?

[Dominatus]

This normally happens because they were wrong in the first place, this happened with Arma 2 and Arma 2 operation Arrowhead.

[jdwohlever]

I always looks at recommended specs as
"this will run the game the way the devs expected you to experience it"

Minimium specs to me have never been much of an indicator than "Yeah the game will start, but you wont enjoy it much"

[jdwohlever]

For those wondering about the specs.
I have a Dell XPS 435MT Studio PC. Almost 2 years old.
Has an Intel i7 920 processor, ATI HD Radeon 4800 series card,
and only 4 gigs of RAM and it runs the Kursk ToW II demo just fine with
everything maxed at 1920x1080 and AA at 2x.
I never run anything higher than 2x AA at 1920x1080 because I really cant see any point.

[Sneaksie]

Some Caen scenarios feature signinficantly more units and objects on a battlefield then original Kursk ones, that's why requirements were upped (ToW CPU load raises considerably as number of units increases). As i understand the puprose of 'recommended' ones, they are meant to give your an idea of a system where you won't get any lag on max details.

[mandellorian]

I played the Kursk demo from Battlefront and I STILL am on the fence with the ToW series.
Half the time in the demo I didn't feel very much in control or that my actions weren't followed.
I told a tank to shoot another tank that was only 20 to 30 meters away but my tank just sat there. It was not damaged, it had a shell loaded.
It was the first training mission in Kursk.
So if someone could explain why half the time the tanks don't seem to follow orders, maybe I could see if I have a good enough grasp on the game.

As you get further into the game you will find its not just tanks that are totally incompetent ,i`ve lost an entire squad on attack orders to a german with a mp40 that they were basically standing on,you will also find that hold position orders seem to mean to tank crews lets charge halfway across the battlefield,you will also find that the biggest scourge of armoured vehicles in WW2 ie airsupport won`t even bother attacking anything other than infantry and light vehicles and saving best for last wait till you are playing the american campaign and find yourself facing 2 tigers and 4 panthers with 4 standard shermans and a firefly though that mission does give you a good example of why the sherman was nicknamed the ronson.
The dissapointing thing is this game had promise it is just full of screw ups bugs and errors that its sadly almost unplayable.