a real war game

You do understand that factories and infrastructure are part of the logistics chain?

factories are part of a LONG term investment. Infrastructure (on CoW 1.5) has a minor improvement fpr units moving thru a province. neither is applicable to a war game that lasts a few weeks.

Just weird that you're asking for the game to focus on combat and logistics, and then you ask for the logistics components to be removed.

MILITARY logistics starts with the distribution of troops, equipment and supplies to the engagement zones.

Managing factories is NOT a topic at the Command and General Staff College.

Sounds like what you want is a tactical combat game, which this decidedly is not.

Exactly, you don’t want the ability to produce units? Weird. Production and economy is more important than tactics in most wars. It is what wins wars, not just fighting better. Doctrine only goes so far, and is still dependent on what you’re making to develop a strategy. Who won ww2, the well-lead and advanced doctrine of the Germans, or the USSR with 3x the military output? Surprise attack Japan, or America with 10x the ships and 5.5x the GDP?

the advocates of farmville take first place.

the proposal was for an ALTERNATE game with emphasis on tactics and military logistics.

there was NO intent to replace the current version of CoW, which is primarily building, popularity, morale (don't stray too far away from Washington, DC), spies, R&D. The actual combat is an afterthought. Consider this:

How long was CoW in existence before an "Armies" menu was added?

That Armies menu still does not include the most important information: they types and levels of units in each army, and the precise grid coordinates they are located at.

cycle9 wrote:

I always prefer the maneuver and combat activity. Others may like the building and development, most of the complaints about CoW 1.5 are that combat has been emphasized over building. My response: Well, duh!CoW is a war game, isn't it?"

So my suggestion for a Beta game, entirely separate from CoW and the rest of the series:

Why not try making a real wargame, where the espionage, research, morale, market, popularity, buildings and sundry accessories are replaced with the real crux of warfare:

Logistics, including maintenance battalions to repair the tanks and howitzers, combat engineers to build hasty defenses, destroy enemy defenses, and speed up troop movement, transport battalions to move the troops faster, ordnance battalions to move the ammo to the troops and repair equipment, and quartermaster battalions to supply the troops with food and fuel, MASH to heal the troops.

Modify the battle timer to have a small (5 minute) random component.

Victory points awarded on defeating enemy forces.

Start conditions are a 50/50 mix of combat and support units.

New units available at a fixed and known rate,

Players get to decide what type of unit the new issues are.

NPC have some defensive troops, but produce no more, and do NOT give RoW.

I primarily play for the diplomatic aspect, and removing espionage (and, to a lesser degree, popularity) would be detrimental to that; if Bytro changed the game to what you've described, I would quite possibly stop playing. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

And there are probably people out there who primarily play for the logistical and financial challenges of effectively fighting a large-scale war, who would be outraged if Bytro got rid of the buildings and stock market.

My point in all this? Different people play games for different reasons. If you appreciate the combat side of it most, that's fine, but I take objection to your assumption that all the other stuff should take a back seat to that. War is about much more than the actual battles. Relations and finance are both important too, and as Carking said logistics, economics, etc. are often the most important part of a war.

EDIT: Re-reading your post I see you're not advocating changing the existing game, but creating a new one, so that's alright then. My point still stands though.

Problem is that you’re coming to the wrong place, then. all of Bytro’s games have been these grand strategy, economic and political games where production and diplomacy trump actual fighting rather often. I don’t see this company really being able to easily switch and start making tactical warfare games solely based on battles and such. You’d have to look elsewhere for things like that.

Farmville? lol, this isn't serious enough to even be discussed.

Designing an entirely new game takes just a tiny little bit more than a list of what should be in it.

Ever tried Hoi4? Lmao