Someone Stop Me

[jhay]

Help!!!!  Although I have not purchased it yet (but that could happen at any moment), I have become obsessed with the hex-based wargame "Gary Grigsby's War in the West".  I have read a multitude of reviews, watched hours of YouTube tutorials, and somehow STILL quiver and shake thinking about it.  Getting and playing it seems like a commitment  very similar and perhaps in competition with the marriage vows I took some 35+ years ago.  And  I'm afraid the two may be mutually exclusive.  After starting it I would need a production, supply and logistics system in place to sustain me in front of the computer, and I can easily see my wife just leaving me there to starve (really couldn't blame her).  Does anyone here have any experience with this game or its cousin "War in the East"?  Has anyone been able to fully grasp them? Or even completed a scenario? Is your marriage still intact?  I would very much appreciate y'all sharing your experiences with quandaries like this.     

P.S>  Just to give you an idea of the scale and scope, one reviewer suggests playing the game in real time,..i.e. composing one game turn per week, covering 1943 to 1945!

[budd]

I own both games. I just purchased WITW a couple of months ago and have only played ( and finished) the tutorial scenario a few times. I've had WITE for a few years and am currently in a pbem game of road to Moscow. Unless you favor the west front I would start with WITE as WITW takes the system a step farther with the air war, which isn't as daunting as it first appears and can be on auto while you learn. With both games it's easy to get up and running and start moving units around in a semi competent fashion. As you go you can take in bite size chunks of information, which there is a ton of but its not required to know everything from the start. If you like to dig into details these games are a wet dream. I'm partial to the east front as both sides get chances to attack and defend. I'd recommend WITE and the add-ons which add quite a few smaller scenarios. I've had WITE for years and I've never played the main campaign(maybe one day). Right now i'm in my second pbem scenario as Russia which I'm finding is way more complicated to play then the Germans I usually play, but I'm finding I'm loving digging into the details and I'm learning a bunch. One thing for me with these size games is I make sure I have the time for the turn rather then squeezing the turn in. There are plenty of settings for all play levels to make the game harder or easier as you prefer. Bottom line is the games are fun for me which what games are for.

[Asid]

Hi Jhay

WITW has smaller scenarios available so you do not have to start with a huge one. WITE is an excellent game also, like Budd said. It does depend on your theatre of choice. WITW has a new air-war element which can be turned over to your ai to control. WITW is the newer of the 2 games with a lot of new mechanics/rules. A WITE II is being worked on and maybe out next year. The new WITE II can be joined to the WITW to make a huge theatre 

WITW does take some learning but as you have seen there are excellent videos, AAR's and tutorials out there. The community is also very active. Again, like budd said, the details are magnificent. You can spend hours, if you want to, just going over the stats, oob's, etc. This is a choice and not required. You can start with a small scenario and take it in small steps. You can save it and come back to it.

There is a huge amount of play value in WITW. You could play it for years     because it has so much detail and a great selection of scenarios. You could also play it P.B.E.M. against a human opponent 

I would consider purchasing the game from Matrix. It gives you a stand-alone version as well as a Steam Key. More money also goes to the developer. The physical copy might be of interest to you as it comes with an excellent hardback manual. The only flaw is that the game is constantly being updated so the manual changes. It is easier to change a PDF.

Matrix has been having a few sales recently so you might want to keep an eye out.

Ultimately, this is an excellent wargame which does require an investment of time to get the best out of it. If you do have the time, you will be rewarded with a rich, immersive experience for years to come.

[Raied]

I have both but I prefer more WITE the theater is more interest me and I dont want to bother much with details air warfare. However, as the other said you dont need to play the full theater, just select a scenario and to be honest they are better and more interesting than the full campaign.

[Asid]

I have both but I prefer more WITE the theater is more interest me

+1 

[budd]

I agree, i prefer WITE because both side get to attack and defend.