Thoughts, opinions. Was seriously thinking about getting this since its only $20. But after watching the trailer video, I am not so sure now.

How is the combat, and is that actually the main draw in this game? Or does it still have all the other plotting and what have you. Or just straight up I am going to shove this army up your rear and take your land.

I haven't played this but I too would like someone who has to drop knowledge on us.

Not much plotting or anything, this is definitely war focused.

here's some guy from the SA paradox thread who's played it; Paradox forums are down after all :P (and the people there are usually a lot more cynical about paradox games that aren't EU/CK/Vic/HOI):

"HoI: Napoleon seems a fair enough comparison. It's definitely war-focused, with the goal being to capture certain cities that add to your coalition's land and sea dominance. France starts with 100% land dominance and Britain with 100% sea (it's possible to go over 100%, so this doesn't mean all the cities giving dominance are in their hands) and they have 0% in the other dominance type, so fighting will tend to be focused around these provinces. All the diplomacy is based around warfare--tempting someone towards your coalition or away from your enemy's, giving them expeditionary forces or war subsidies, and so on. Definitely very war-focused, but from what I can tell so far it's very good at it.

Also, I don't remember if it was this thread or the CK2 one (I think CK2) but someone mentioned that they'd like a little blurb after each battle, something like "DEFEAT - Our cavalry were skewered on the enemy pikes" or "VICTORY - Our command of the high ground allowed our archers to slaughter the enemy wholesale" or whatever, to give you an idea of why you won or lost based on terrain, troop composition, and so forth, and everyone loved that idea. Well, it's in MotE . Not after every battle, but if a particular move by one of your generals was instrumental in the victory, then you'll get something like that in a "Notable events" pane in the battle report. For example, sieging Lübeck as France, after I assaulted the walls and captured the city, the battle report informed me that the uneven terrain forced holes in the enemy lines that General Francois Kellermann was able to exploit with a lightning-fast cavalry raid."

(also someone should tweet dave and get him to QL it :P)

@animasta: Paradoxplaza forums are now back up, fyi.

And from what I am reading on them, this game is not for me. Too bad. Here is to hoping Dave does a QL though. Or that there is a demo.

Got the game today, but would still love to watch a Quick Look of it with Dave!

Anyway, as someone who has had a hard time getting into these types of games before, I can say I'm starting to get into this one a lot quicker. The tutorial in this one is a lot more concise and the fact that you have a clear goal is allowing me to progress with more ease. I'm definitely having fun so far.

If you're like me and have always wanted to get into these games but found them to be too daunting, I say give this a try.

Also I wouldn't say that the combat is the draw necessarily. The actual combat resolves automatically from what I can tell and there's not much to it (I could be wrong). It's not like a Total War game where you can play out the battles or anything like that There's just more emphasis on war in this game compared to the other Paradox games. You're primary focus is on building up your forces, forming coalitions, and taking over provinces to increase your land and sea dominance.

I might check this out sometime soon, but goddamn I'd love to see Dave and Vinny do a Quick Look of this.

Demo is now up on steam.