Trust.

Subscribe Today

• Subscribe to Armchair General Magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!
 

This game is all about trust. As the local commander in the trenches, you are sending your men and machines into a typhoon of steel – armed with high tech hardware and (they pray!) some good orders in hand from you– as they set off across the next hill. How well you trust yourself, and them, to get the job done is the crux of Flashpoint Germany (FG). Be warned though – the modern battlefield is lethal and if you don’t have the right tools you will find your job very difficult. Most –but not all– of the tools are included in this title.

In many wargames you wear both the operational and the tactical hats (you order troops to objectives, but also assign targets to individual units). In FG, you have one distinct objective (take this town, hold this line, etc.). However, you don’t have tactical control over your units anymore than a brigade commander would be able to pick targets for each tank under his command. Yes, this is where trust comes in – as you must assign broad objectives for your subordinate units – and trust them to get the job done for you. Much like the Combat Mission series of games, you assign your orders for the next X period of time, and then watch the simultaneous turn resolution as your units attempt to carry out your orders. Unlike that game, FG doesn’t allow you to tell each unit which enemy targets to engage. They always pick their own targets (except for artillery, mortars, aircraft, etc., which you do control). This could be a real game-breaker for many players who enjoy micromanaging multiple levels of the command chain (you know who you are!).

But don’t run off just yet!

Gameplay (47/60):

OK, I realize that Flashpoint Germany is no spring chicken when it comes to titles for review. However, with the recent release of a major patch to the game I figured it was worth a look. Additionally, as website editor my desk is often filled with games destined for far frontiers – while few are ever left for my own enjoyment. So, when I noticed this game still had a big blinking red light screaming "Review Me!" I jumped on it. It turns out this was a good thing –because the wargamer in me likes this game!

Plenty of details and statistics beneath the clean front end.	You can change the counter size and zoom level, so we don’t have to strain our old tired eyes. Very nice.

FG does some things so well that I would classify them as Home Runs.

The map alone is almost worth the price of admission. As a professional geographer, this is something I usually lament in wargame design –but not so in this one. The map is crisp and clear and is very much what an aerial photograph would look like. This enhances the believability and invests you as a gamer into the situation on the ground. It does have one problematic issue below it, but I’ll address that in a bit.

The counter art is another point which I feel deserves a lot of praise. I appreciate the large counter sizes (you can also make them even larger with some of the advanced options), the clear text, and as a big proponent of the more "proper" NATO symbology I was happy to see this as the default. The silhouette option makes the units look prettier (especially with some of the community-made graphic mods), but removes some vital information from your view (such as how many vehicles are running). When I play a game it is important I be able to glance at the map itself for most of my vital information, instead of having to click the details of each and every unit, just like I could if I was looking at any boardgame.

Old schoolers and micromanagers will appreciate the level of detail present in the interface, and I might add most of the critical information is on the main screen itself rather than buried deep in some sub-menu. You can play through most of the game using only what is available on the main screen or with a few hotkeys. Very elegant overall, although the one nitpick I had is the lack of hotkeys for common unit commands such as "M" for move or "S" for screen. This would make it less mouse intensive and would move the turns along a bit faster.

There are enough realism options to satisfy all but the most hardcore modern warfare gamers. You can sit down and play through the demo and be on the battlefield and fighting in less than an hour and be able to hold your own against the AI. As you get more versed in the FG universe, you can tweak things such as spotting, logistics, electronic warfare, fog of war, and even determine how capable your support staff might be (how many orders they can handle at once). At max realism you will be screaming as you discover you can no longer control your entire force each turn because you simply lack the number of staff (not to mention time) to call each and every unit on the field and change their orders. This forces you to adapt, and as you once again revisit the trust issue you will learn to set broader goals for your units. Instead of "go here, follow the road for 1000 meters, then turn right" you will simply order the unit to the destination and hope the unit will make wise choices along the way (it usually does).

We can see the Germans moving in towards the target…	…and chaos ensues upon contact! Note the red line denoting Russian attack.

This leads us to the AI. This is where some problems start to creep into this game. I know the developers worked hard on the AI, and I understand there were some tweaks made here and there to improve the combat engine in the latest patch. During my games I still noticed what I would consider less than optimal AI behavior although most of those problems seem to be related to tactical movement and planning rather than combat itself (which appeared to work well). When the AI is on defense it may come out and fight (giving up prime defensive terrain) rather than sit tight and wait for the attacker to arrive. Conversely, on the attack, I would often notice HQ’s or AA units up near the front lines, as well as the odd charge of the solo enemy unit against my entire force – often resulting in a quick kill. The real strength of the game would be seen in the multiplayer capabilities, taking the AI out for the most part, leaving only combat between two presumably able bodied human commanders. The differences in tactical doctrine and equipment between the Soviet Bloc and NATO forces would be the central focus of the game. Having said all that, the game is quite playable against the AI, especially when you give it a few less realism options than yourself.

[continued on next page]

Help Armchair General by bookmarking to