Review: Battle of the Bulge

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Review: Battle of the Bulge

This brave new wargame is one of the most important releases of the year.

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OBollocks

Jesus CHRIST, why don't you just marry Shelby Foote if you love him so much!

Also, I am happy and now can feel justified in bringing this game to your attention many moons ago. A full-blown strategy title designed for iOS is great news.

Pitta

Saying that I'm hyped to the max would be a huge understatement.
I'm counting the minutes till tomorrow.

How big is the download?
Any word on pricing?

FarmerHarv

So sad that all of the other great games I've purchased over the last week will probably be neglected after this hits the App Store. :-)

Neumannium

Awesome review, Owen.

doublebullout

Squealing already!

bigtmac68

Happy dance for the game but I fear for the developer. With so many big titles coming for Christmas I can see this title getting buried and ignored by all but dedicated grognard a like us.

I know I'll buy it the second it's available and I hope the devs are rewarded for making such an apparently amazing game.

TheDukester

doublebullout said:

Squealing already!

I TOLD you guys there would be squealing!

Emos

Wow, just wow! Can't wait until tomorrow evening after work so I can download and start playing! I really hope BotB will get recognition in the App Store and other ios gaming sites, these guys deserve it!

TheDukester

bigtmac68 said:

... I can see this title getting buried and ignored by all but dedicated grognard a like us.

In one of the latest Kickstarter updates, Eric Smith mentioned that they've already got a bunch of gaming press lined up. These guys are smart.

That said, it is a busy time of year, no question about it.

Uberskooper

When I first read about this game I thought it looked kind of 'eh.' Another World War II game featuring one battle no less (I'm much more interested in pre-modern warfare). After reading more about it and watching the recently posted videos, I have to say I'm pretty excited. The mechanics seem very deep (e.g., supply lines, terrain effects, historically inspired events and abilities) and the simple style looks smooth and beautiful. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

ericleesmith

Greetings,
Eric Lee Smith here, CEO of Shenandoah Studio, and we are thrilled with this review and not concerned with being lost in th shuffle this Christmas. We have a unique game and we will find our audience. Best of all, the game is fun to play, especially over Game Center with other players and in multiple games.
Cheers,
Eric

FarmerHarv

Hmmm. Christmas. Now that you mention it, this would make an excellent gift for a few wargamers I know. Of course, not until I'm familiar enough with the game to stack the deck a bit in my favour for the first MP game or two. :-)

munkie

I am going to insta-buy this so hard it is probably already downloading. Please, please, for the love of all saintly please tell me this is not just a hype machine!

Uberskooper

ericleesmith said:

Greetings,
Eric Lee Smith here, CEO of Shenandoah Studio, and we are thrilled with this review and not concerned with being lost in th shuffle this Christmas. We have a unique game and we will find our audience. Best of all, the game is fun to play, especially over Game Center with other players and in multiple games.
Cheers,
Eric

Hi Eric. I have a question about the game: how hard is it to learn for a person that isn't used things like it? I read the manual and there is a ton of information and conditional effects (e.g., the Axis gain certain benefits/have movement restrictions over thus and such period of time, etc.). There seems to be a core of established rules, but the two forces break those rules depending on certain conditions. I got lost trying to keep it all straight. I imagine it will become more clear once I played through a few games, but it seems very confusing at the outset. It would be helpful to post a few strategy videos, possibly from the perspectives of both armies.

Scameron

munkie said:

I am going to insta-buy this so hard it is probably already downloading. Please, please, for the love of all saintly please tell me this is not just a hype machine!

If there's one thing this site doesn't do, it's hype games that don't deserve it. PT tells it like it is, or as much as you can do with subjective stuff like this.

thedudeabidez

Uberskooper: the golden rule for games of this sort, when daunted by the rules, is to just dive into it. Sure, you'll forget some stuff and make a few stupid moves the first couple of times, but there's nothing like getting beat by the A.I. to make you remember a conditional rule you forgot.

TheDukester

Uberskooper said:

I read the manual and there is a ton of information and conditional effects (e.g., the Axis gain certain benefits/have movement restrictions over thus and such period of time, etc.). There seems to be a core of established rules, but the two forces break those rules depending on certain conditions. I got lost trying to keep it all straight.

Forget about the manual; it's great, but it's not necessary.

I've been playtesting for weeks, and tonight I checked out the manual for the first time. Mostly just out of curiosity. Turns out I never needed it to play.

The game includes a mini-tutorial, a full tutorial, and context-sensitive help pop-ups. You'll be moving units within minutes. After a few games, you can check the manual and it will all seem second-nature.

Miporin

The mighty Waffen-SS needs no stinking tutorials. I'm just going to pick Sepp Dietrich from the start and learn from being obliterated by the AI ("Okay, looks like I shouldn't have done that."). Panzer Vor!

Stonebeast

im curious, why are so many games coming out for just the ipad and not the iphone? is it because the iphone 5 just doesnt have to power to play the same games as like the ipad 1,2,3, and mini? or the controlls/graphics dont look well on a small screen? im just wondering because there are a few games that look awesome like this one i would like to try but i only have the iphone and not the ipad. thanks for the info

Uberskooper

I'm guessing it's because an interface for a smaller screen is more difficult to design and make it work well. Developers might not want to get blasted in reviews because a game is hard to play due to an imperfect interface.

bigtmac68

ericleesmith said:

Greetings,
Eric Lee Smith here, CEO of Shenandoah Studio, and we are thrilled with this review and not concerned with being lost in th shuffle this Christmas. We have a unique game and we will find our audience. Best of all, the game is fun to play, especially over Game Center with other players and in multiple games.
Cheers,
Eric

Great news! If you haven't already you guys should reach out to Russ at the D6 Generation Podcast. They have a strong listener base and do very in depth board game reviews. Russ is also an iPad gamer. I'm sure they would be thrilled to do a feature or interview with one of your devs or yourself.

I was disappointed to see that touch arcade did not feature you in thier releases for tomorrow especially since your game is worth all the rest of those IAP laden clones put together! ( flux being the notable exception - playdek strikes again )

So glad this site at least is giving you the recognition you deserve. You have my money already and can count on me and those like me to spread the good word as best we can.

MazerRackham

bigtmac68 said:

I was disappointed to see that touch arcade did not feature you in thier releases for tomorrow especially since your game is worth all the rest of those IAP laden clones put together!

There's a good reason Touch Arcade hasn't covered Battle of the Bulge: it's a site for kid's games. Go look at their front page and tell me I'm wrong.

munkie

MazerRackham said:

bigtmac68 said:

I was disappointed to see that touch arcade did not feature you in thier releases for tomorrow especially since your game is worth all the rest of those IAP laden clones put together!

There's a good reason Touch Arcade hasn't covered Battle of the Bulge: it's a site for kid's games. Go look at their front page and tell me I'm wrong.

Books and covers and such. I will call you "wrong" on this. TA does a fine job talking to the masses across all genres. This site specializes if you will on Tactical/strategic games. I have received many a recommend on TA across a wide spectrum of games.

DaveyJJ

Outstanding early review that has whetted our collective appetites even more. As a grognard of 40+ years (and incidentally a huge fan of Butterfield's work), I can not begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to this game. Bravo to Shenandoah for the excellent work and brilliant UI (the 23 year designer in me loves what I've seen so far) and please bring us more WW2 gaming goodness beyond the next title in North Africa. Is it 3PM yet!?

thedudeabidez

Stonebeast: bottom line: iPhone is just the gateway drug to get you hooked to the iPad.

radiofreelunch

When you get it, please don’t try learning the game from the rules. Just play the tutorial (and play your first game as the Axis, because the game is asymmetric).

FarmerHarv

munkie said:

MazerRackham said:

bigtmac68 said:

I was disappointed to see that touch arcade did not feature you in thier releases for tomorrow especially since your game is worth all the rest of those IAP laden clones put together!

There's a good reason Touch Arcade hasn't covered Battle of the Bulge: it's a site for kid's games. Go look at their front page and tell me I'm wrong.

Books and covers and such. I will call you "wrong" on this. TA does a fine job talking to the masses across all genres. This site specializes if you will on Tactical/strategic games. I have received many a recommend on TA across a wide spectrum of games.

I wouldn't say TA only covers kids games, but they generally have not, do not and most likely will not cover extra-small niche titles such as this. And I'm ok with that. Their focus is on the mass market, and no matter how it's marketed to the masses BotB is never going to beat Angry Birds in the charts. They know where their revenue comes from, and featuring titles like this would be a loss leader at best.

I'm just incredibly thankful we have sites such as this and BGG that cater to these types of games and gamers, and of course developers willing to take a chance in such a small market.

Pitta

Semi newbie here.
What do you mean for asymmetric?
Am I right supposing that the first part is easier for Axis because of the bonuses?
Did you meant that?

Thanks!

bigtmac68

I hope the player base is big enough for the multiplayer matchmaking to be effective. I loved GBWG but it was almost impossible to find multiplayer matches even just after launch, much less any hope of finishing them.

A game like this with a huge queue of turns like I have in Hero Academy and Outwitters would probably suck my soul into a blissful oblivion.

Counting the seconds until I can finally buy it.

Emos

Pitta said:

Semi newbie here.
What do you mean for asymmetric?
Am I right supposing that the first part is easier for Axis because of the bonuses?
Did you meant that?

Thanks!

Yes, pretty much. The Axis will have advantage in the early game, but if you get bogged down the initiative will shift to the Allies. Asymmetric means that each side is not "game balanced" to make it exactly the same for the opponents, each army will have its own goals to achieve.