Men at War Armed Assault 2

[HagarTheHorrible]

I have a vague memory of Sir Oleg of Maddox doing something with ground combat, several million years ago, during the original IL2 era, is MaWAA the result ?

[Trooper117]

Do you mean 'Men of War Assault Squad 2' ?

Edited June 5, 2019 by Trooper117

[HagarTheHorrible]

Yeh, that’s the one.

[Feathered_IV]

No that's by a different crowd.  I really enjoy that series though.  Particularly the dgen campaign mod.  

[Wolf8312]

It’s among one of the best games I have ever played is men of war assault squad.

Best RTS hands down, far better than COH which got way more acclaim. 

 

I will post my steam review on it later if I remember. I think it’s best as a 1v1 game though most play 3-3 or 2-2 which is a whole new dynamic that I never enjoyed as much.

 

1v1 is intense especially against a close friend you know and cannot bear to lose against! 

[Uufflakke]

Perhaps Theatre of War, a game built on the Il2 Sturmovik engine?

 

https://www.mobygames.com/game/theatre-of-war_

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Uufflakke

[HagarTheHorrible]

That might well be it, if indeed it ever went any further.  I couldn’t quite recall wether it was me simply conflating several games over the years and attaching them to nothing more than what might have been nothing more than a mere suggestion that had been doing the rounds all those years ago.  Apart from the 1C publisher link  I wonder if Il2/Maddox, Theatre of War and MoWAS2 are built on a common heritage ?

[Trooper117]

Steam did all the theatre of war stuff on a sale awhile back... I picked up the whole lot!

[Feathered_IV]

I thought the chopper game Whirlwind over Vietnam might have owed something to the Il-2 engine too, but its been so long that I haven't got it installed anymore to check.

[InProgress]

Tbh i really hate Men of War now, i played Soldiers when i was a kid, then i played Men of War and it was awesome, then Red Tide, Vietnam, Assault Squad, Assault Squad 2 and Call to Arms. There is more of them, world war 1, Condemned heroes and incoming remake of Soldiers and Gates of Hell. The worst part is they never really bothered to change anything. It's Call of Duty of RTS games. After X years you can't even look at it anymore. Really sad that whoever makes these games won't put some effort to change them. New engine, new graphic style, changes in gameplay, like adding squads instead of single unit. Going back to actual single player campaigns and not these stupid capture flags.. this series really need some big changes.

 

I still have hope for Gates of Hell since it looks like they are trying to do something diffrent (but we will see). Unfortunatelly animations are still horrible mow style and explosions are not better. Always hated this hollywood fire explosion everytime you kill vehicle and then they fly 20m into the sky

 

Theatre of war was a really nice series but kind of bugged and unfinished. Korea was meh, Africa was really cool since missions were scripted but still had this weird feeling sometimes. Here is 5 tanks now win against 20. Never finished last american mission. And some were insane like defending Kasserine Pass. I think germans had unlimited spawn of infantry and tanks until you finished some tasks. Shame 1C does not really do much in RTS genere anymore. These games have potential.

[Wolf8312]

2 hours ago, InProgress said:

Tbh i really hate Men of War now, i played Soldiers when i was a kid, then i played Men of War and it was awesome, then Red Tide, Vietnam, Assault Squad, Assault Squad 2 and Call to Arms. There is more of them, world war 1, Condemned heroes and incoming remake of Soldiers and Gates of Hell. The worst part is they never really bothered to change anything. It's Call of Duty of RTS games. After X years you can't even look at it anymore. Really sad that whoever makes these games won't put some effort to change them. New engine, new graphic style, changes in gameplay, like adding squads instead of single unit. Going back to actual single player campaigns and not these stupid capture flags.. this series really need some big changes.

 

I still have hope for Gates of Hell since it looks like they are trying to do something diffrent (but we will see). Unfortunatelly animations are still horrible mow style and explosions are not better. Always hated this hollywood fire explosion everytime you kill vehicle and then they fly 20m into the sky

 

Theatre of war was a really nice series but kind of bugged and unfinished. Korea was meh, Africa was really cool since missions were scripted but still had this weird feeling sometimes. Here is 5 tanks now win against 20. Never finished last american mission. And some were insane like defending Kasserine Pass. I think germans had unlimited spawn of infantry and tanks until you finished some tasks. Shame 1C does not really do much in RTS genere anymore. These games have potential.

 

 

To be fair though MOWAS is not really supposed to be focused upon SP, and although I also agree it does get boring after a while, I still really enjoyed the challenge of the capture the flag SP experience in MOWAS. I certainly got my moneys worth and spent more time on that than I did most games I buy these days.

 

As oppose to the first game which had a primary focus upon SP, and was the better game (SP) on the whole,  I still thought the later versions of MOW SP were a much more realistic representation of what real WW2 combat was supposed to be like. Pushing quickly, while giving the enemy as little time as possible to dig in and reinforce his position, taking key areas, outflanking his positions, and then breaking through, and eventually surrounding. It certainly felt alot more blizkreig, than the game blizkreig ever did!

As lacking in story and variation as it was, I still feel that compared to most RTS games, it felt very convincing.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Wolf8312

[Wolf8312]

Sorry for the bold black font thing. I think it's because it was copied and pasted from steam!

If you drag the mouse over the writing and highlight it, it goes away! This is my MOWAS2 review!

 

Men of War Assault squad 2 (or just MOW) is in mine and many other Men Of War fans opinion the best RTS ever made, and especially in comparison to games that got much greater acclaim (company of heroes) -criminally underrated. It is very much a realistic RTS in that tactics are very similar to how they were on a real WW2 battlefield. I have 520 hours on the game and bear in mind I have been playing this game since the first Men of War was released. 

MOW is at least compared to games such as company of heroes very realistic. On tanks for example there are no silly health bars to pound away at, and if you want to destroy a tank that is too powerful there are a number of options. Get behind him, flank him, or send in a commando with a rocket or grenade. That one man slowly crawling towards your hated online enemy (and in MOW while playing and especially losing you will despise your enemy!) can decide the whole outcome of the battle. Winning a battle especially against, a smug but accomplished friend, can leave you on a high all day, and losing make you feel terribly bitter! Infantry is realistic too each soldier will have his strengths, and weaknesses but all soldiers caught out in the open will be obliterated if they come up against an enemy who is well dug in. 

In MOW it pays to be patient, and keep calm but as the anger rises when things go wrong, people tend to lose their heads and just charge their enemies neck, throwing every unit they possibly can at their opponent without waiting patiently for an effective counter (suitible unit/s) to what ever tactics (units) the enemy is using.

 

This is a sure-fire way to lose and although fortune does indeed very often favour the brave, and daring initiative you still really do have to carefully think about what you are doing and surprise your enemy. Fortune favours the brave, but not the stupid, and MOWAS2 is most definately a game of tactics and even strategy.

 

Very much as in real war, a good commander will have a good temperament, and not be irritated or angered by his opponent when things dont go according to plan, and will keep calm, and react well to his enemie's choices. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep calm, and actually think, and take it from me, this requires discipline, and is easier said than done.

The times I have won in MOWAS2 (against a freind with a similar number of games to me) I have done so because I resisted the urge to be lazy. I thought ahead, had a plan, and took extra time to micromange my troops down to an almost individual level, rather than simply pushing blobs of units towards the general direction of gunfire!

 

One of the most important things in MOWAS2 is to control the map, and have eyes everywhere therefore knowing in advance everything your enemy is up to. Recon is the key to success, knowing what your enemy is doing, without him knowing that you know. That is when mistakes happen, and he will lose a Tiger tank or some other big unit which may well end up costing him the game.

A good opponent though will also know the importance of recon, and controling territory too, and so although the main battle is focused upon the flags, against a good player, you will probably end up in a bitter, bloody struggle for every inch of earth!

 

When you start up an MP game you will know very quickly the sort of opponent you are up against. Noobs will stay in their one precious flag attempting to turn it into their own personal Maginot line (intending to move only after it is secure) but good players will attack seemingly everywhere all at once. Playing a truly good player can be soul destroying, and you will think back lovingly to the last noob you crushed belatedly realizing how hollow your own sense of omnipotence had been. In MOW there are some seriously good players and a thousand different strategies. 

MOW is a game in which you must make choices and react appropriately to your enemies’ choices. There are countless variations of playstyles -aggressive and defensive- and online you will encounter many different people and nationalities who will employ many different styles of play and battle tactics. For example Chinese players play very well, and very defensively. Defensive tactics work terribly for many of us MOW veterans but the Chinese can make it work. They have a system of which each step seems to have been meticulously worked out before hand, and they don’t tend to deviate from the plan seeming to have a fastidious understanding of the tank positioning they are using as well as the armour and penetration statistics etc. 

MOWAS2 is the best RTS ever made in my opinion, but online it’s also one of the most white knuckle, and tensest gaming experiences I have ever had. A real heart in the mouth experience especially when playing a close friend it can often actually be a little bit too tense, but when you want to relax and have fun you can play 2v2 or 3v3 with other people.

 

The AI can be a bit frustrating at times, and the graphics are perhaps a little dated for 2019. The game itself (WW2 version) as a whole is seriously in need of a proper revamp, hopefully with some better SP content, which is lacking from the main campaign. But it isn't better graphics that is badly needed, but improved upon gameplay elements. As good as this game is, I can never quite understand why other, richer and more powerful developers, haven' t taken the concept and bettered it. Probably because all the money these days is in PUBG knock offs.

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Wolf8312