Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue

Let's face it; If Vic makes it you can damn well bet it will be good.

One of the best operational wargames out there. I have only played the Uranus scenario so far but the Soviet A.I is clearly much improved to DC1 which couldn´t handle the invasion of France and lowlands. The A.I take every opportunity to make a breakthrough in your lines and pour units through it and are good at closing gaps you open. It is however quite easy to lure into traps. So if it break through your lines you could allow it to pour through and it is not that good to secure its flanks so you could counterattack and trap a lof of its spearhead units if you plan your moves. Repeat these manouvers and you will eventually wear the Soviets down and allow you to go to the offensive on selected places. Its closes competitor are Gary Grigsbys War in the East but I haven´t played that excellent game for years so I cannot compare them right now. Unity of Command doesn´t stand a chance. I never liked it´s "puzzle" oriented approach. + Huge Map with which allows flexibility in manouvering + Clearly Better A.I than DC1 + Reinforcements (which is an improvement to DC1) + Clear and good graphics + Easy to play, hard to master + Good manual but I lack a "strategy guide" of HOW to actually care about the replacement rule system and its associated high command cards. - Unplayable with "slow A.I" setting. Could take over 3 hours per turn and no possibility to change after starting the game. - Personally I never use the cards of the game for the officers or high command. I don´t feel they affect things enough or is hard to measure - I would like better graphical representation of enemy units which are out of supply or units that have been attacked the previous turn. - More tooltips could have helped

There is no undo button for when you inadvertently move a unit by mistake, because you forgot to exit to unit's move segment. Now if and when the unit discovers an enemy unit then all bets are off your stuck. But until there is an undo button added this game gets a thumbs down.

先说这个游戏的缺点，仔细一列还不少： 1，这个游戏底层的战斗模型是有问题的，dc系列的火炮一向是平方律而不是线性律武器，所以经常出现很反常识的情况，一个小单位被炮炸几下就没了，堆得巨高的一堆大单位被同样的炮炸损失还不如之前那一个小单位被炸的损失（当然这一点在这作里不那么明显，最明显感觉还是阿登，毕竟有自动的反应射击了）；此外，这个游戏中俯冲轰炸机和强击机的反坦克能力感觉远强于现实，我几队stg或者schg出击一下感觉一个苏军坦克旅就基本没了，这现实中是不大可能的； 2，这个游戏在剧本中单位编制的真实性上也没下太多功夫。例如直接蓝色计划剧本开局的话，大德意志师的突击炮营都被吞了，而即使在没吞这个营的第二次哈尔科夫战役开局，这个突击炮营也只是作为挂着gd名的独立单位存在的，吃不到师的加成（理应要给gd一个和斯洛伐克快速师一样的和一般摩步师不同的模板，但是就是简单套了一般摩步师……）；苏军坦克旅也一般是编有步兵的，游戏内反而变成了纯坦克，反而本来应该是纯装甲的德军装甲团变成了混有步兵的。虽然这可能是因为把摩托车营合并进去了，但考虑到德军摩步师的装甲营也是纯装甲，没有和摩托车营合并，所以我觉得以上解释是证据不足的，因为如果这么合了那摩步师的摩托车营更应该和装甲营合一起啊（gd除外，gd没有摩托车营而是有装甲侦察营）；维京师也少了一个摩步团；意大利半摩托化师和一般步兵师完全没区别，完全没有卡车；意大利第三“奥斯塔公爵”骑兵师甚至还有骑兵（这个师最初确实有两个骑兵团，但在42年3月这个师被重组，骑兵完全被调出去了，在游戏内的时间点上这个师理应是没有骑兵的）； 3，在地图绘制上，这个游戏也是有问题的，例如现实中库皮扬斯克沿奥斯科尔河有一条往南的干线铁路接到伊久姆和红利曼之间，游戏内这条铁路就不存在了，斯拉维扬斯克附近的铁路感觉也没画对； 4，在数值上，这游戏给得非常莫名其妙，比如意大利步兵软硬攻防甚至比苏联步兵，匈牙利步兵和罗马尼亚步兵都低，实在是难以置信（士气问题无关，这个有专门的崩溃点数据）；指挥官每回合指挥点数上科涅夫只是1，切尔尼亚霍夫斯基也是1，德军方面霍特的2和保卢斯的2我个人也感觉给低了（毕竟德军将领最低就是2），但这个见仁见智（保卢斯我个人是感觉他在天王星之前差不多可以说是德军42年表现最好的集团军指挥官，天王星主要也不是他的锅，给2低了），甚至有些人根本用不出自己的一些卡，例如Romanenko的每回合指挥点数也是1，指挥点数上限是12，但是他的tank drive要14指挥点才能打，一辈子也打不出来； 但既然还是推荐的，总归还是讲一下优点： 1，ap机制我觉得设计得相当出色，比toaw的时间片机制对人类友好10086倍，ap是每个单位local的而不是像时间片一样是所有人global的，方便玩家操作不少； 2，比wite容易上手，堆叠上限也合理一些（wite2的3单位感觉太容易超了，尤其是拆出一些小单位的情况下；dccb的20单位就基本不会超），没有生产等战略层面要素，只需要做好战术层面指挥官的事就好； 3，自带剧本编辑器，理论上上面那些问题除了1都能修掉； 4，ai水平与同类游戏相比比较高（典型就是不会炸还是不会修桥的toaw4的ai，当然这是我道听途说的，如果不真实我编辑掉） 5，如果想玩可以比较容易地玩起来的蓝色计划全景，也没啥别的更好的选择了 总之，这游戏当电动打还不错，但如果要相对严谨一点的模拟，那可能还是wite见，或者也可以看看桌面游戏case blue（x

This is an excellent, innovative wargame. The combat is traditional wargame hex and counter style. You deal with the political problems of Axis minor allies, manage the chain of command, assign replacements, create and disband units and use the special abilities of your leaders to best effect, while ensuring that you don't run out of fuel. Logistics is well done, if not as developed as in the sequel to this wargame, Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa (also highly recommended). The full campaign has lots of variety, with Soviet offensive (2nd Kharkov) followed by German offensive (Case Blue) and then Soviet counteroffensive (Uranus). An especially interesting part of the game is the prestige system. Prestige is gained or lost based on achieving objectives set for you by high command within a limited time. The points granted by success can be spent on reinforcements, reorganization or appeals to high command to change priorities. I've had a lot of fun experimenting with different ways to use the system. This game deserves more love than it has received.

Historic Order of Battle, complexity of playing makes it realistic.

If you like historical military simulations, this line of games is fantastic!

A fantastic WWII strategic simulator in which you move your troops on a hex-based map, as is the norm in serious wargames. Troops/divisions/regiments are visualized as boxes with a simple (NATO preferably) unit counter on it. It's important to memorize the different designations as you'll spend the majority of your time looking at the map from above, obviously. And the map is huge. It's easy to spend an hour per turn, but it's not confusing. I knew exactly what I was doing as the Axis, and achieved a magnificent victory with minimal losses (about 10:1 ratio), on normal difficulty. The Soviets were unable to even attempt to retake Stalingrad, and taking the oil fields at Baku settled it once and for all in december of 1942 if I recall correctly. Of course, I had the advantage of knowing historical decisions and didn't make the same mistakes. The Trappenjagd campaign has the longest timespan, starting just before the 2nd Kharkov offensive. So to enjoy the game to the fullest I recommend playing that one. Replayability is high (I've yet to play as the Soviets) and there are also other, smaller scenarios available. But prepare to get hooked. One turn easily turns into an 8 hour binge. Pretty interesting, for a game in which each turn easily takes an hour... Maybe all those shooters I played as a teenager desensitized my brain and this is exactly the kind of mental stimulation it needs. It's interesting to learn and do historical research on the units in the game and their real life counterparts, documentaries on the offensives, etc. It almost feels like I can say I was part of the OKH/OKW. Highly recommended to read some Wikipedia pages on the units under your command for full immersion. And pay attention to your supply routes and logistics. Now it's time to dive into the other Decisive Campaigns, which I'm sure are just as good. From Warsaw to Paris. Or prevent the Wehrmacht from doing so.

Another great effort from Decisive Campaigns. Excellent research and smart presentation of large quantity of historical information. Intuitive Interface makes it very accessible in the beginning, allowing you to successfully get things accomplished.

I've been invading the USSR since the cardboard SSI games. I jumped into the full scenario of Case Blue. First try: mid-August, trench warfare not far from starting line, Panzers decimated and hopelessly bogged down. Second try: mid-August, deeper in, but hopelessly stalled. Third try: 1st week of September, still haven't taken Rostov, but smashed Soviet right (north) flank and moving freely while desperately shoving slow-moving infantry into the ever-growing gap. The UI is deceptively simple, but the operational use is amazingly deep. The AI will hurt you if you are not alert, and it stubbornly re-builds lines , making deep Panzer penetrations nerve-wracking. This game really conveys the feel of Eastern Front conditions the vast areas absorbing your troops, the essential nature of railways, the constant concerns about finite resources. Truly a great, soul-killing, endless time-suck of a wargame. 10/10