Game News Slitherine releases first Warhammer 40k: Armageddon patch

[Whisky]

Tags: Slitherine; Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon



Slitherine has released its first patch for Warhammer 40k: Armageddon. This patch is mostly fixes and re-balancing modifications, but it also adds a local hotseat mode.

 

[GreyViper]

Huh, I missed this one coming out. I guess It didn't get that much highlight in mainstream magazines.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Its now patched to version 1.03 which added some cool options like Unit Card visible after r-clicking clicking and ability to re-name your units.

http://www.slitherine.com/news/item1011

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Looks interesting. Is it any good?

 

[Commissar Draco]

Looks interesting. Is it any good?

It depends if you are fum of tactical turn based games played on hexes like SP, PG or HMM or not... Also being fan of Warhammer and not being graphic whore helps Comrade Gensec. It does looks better than W2 thanks for 2D graphics anyway and it has all Steel Legion, Orc, Salamanders, Smurfs and Blood Angels pieces of equipment even the Foundry pieces. [Bolter Tank Porn], the price is indeed step but if people pay 60 zionbux for Dragon Turds Cisquesition Comrade... I personally can't wait for campaign based on first war of Armageddon or Black Crusades cause authors alluded they can do more with this engine if the game will sell well of course. So its more than weboo shyte like Valkiria Chronicles in Commissar Opinion.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Looks interesting. Is it any good?

Dunno whether the patches help it, but all in all it's a rather poor Panzer General clone with some really bad mechanics. Its first handful of missions can get pretty tough and is good, but the further the game gets, the more beefy units you get, and eventually you just steamroll everything with your toitinz and baneblades without worrying about anything. You might derive net enjoyment from it (I know I did) if you are starved for playable WH40k games and want to pew pew some heavy bolters, but I would advise against getting it for more than 15 dorra if you don't give a shit about the setting.

I've been wondering recently whether I shouldn't play through it again with all the patches and write a review for tcancer.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Dunno whether the patches help it, but all in all it's a rather poor Panzer General clone with some really bad mechanics. Its first handful of missions can get pretty tough and is good, but the further the game gets, the more beefy units you get, and eventually you just steamroll everything with your toitinz and baneblades without worrying about anything. You might derive net enjoyment from it (I know I did) if you are starved for playable WH40k games and want to pew pew some heavy bolters, but I would advise against getting it for more than 15 dorra if you don't give a shit about the setting.

I've been wondering recently whether I shouldn't play through it again with all the patches and write a review for tcancer.

The entire two campaigns played with Steel Legion are very tough as they should You have shity BLAM! Heresy! I meant venerable Leman Russes versus all kind of super heavy Orc wagons and missions where enemy often outnumbers you and tow later missions as according to Lore Adeptus Astartes and Imperial off world reinforcement wiped Orc asses as it should be; I personally would not want to see Space Marines or Super Heavies nerfed Sawyerist style only to achieve some ''balance'' its like complaining that Allied battles in 1944-45 were too easy; Game is is not even PG/PC clone as game play goes as the missions have all kind of objectives often dynamic ones not usual take all strategic cities in least amount of turns fare; but lack of elite replacment is indeed jarring and forcing you to kite with your tanks and heavy artilery around Orks like you would play as Space Elves not Imperial Guard which is built around Great Battle and War of Attrition concepts.

 

[Darth Roxor]

the missions have all kind of objectives often dynamic ones not usual take all strategic cities in least amount of turns fare

But the objectives are actually just that for the most part. 'Break through the fuckhueg ork mob and cap victory hexes' or 'hold these victory hexes plz'. There are only a handful of missions that are a bit more varied, and for the most part they are the coolest - one definite highlight is the mission where you have to protect like 10 or so victory hexes and keep at least a half of them intact to win, with them disappearing for good if they are capped by the enemy for 2 turns.

What bugged me the most about the missions and maps in combination with the boring objectives was the lack of side goals or something. All the maps are huge for no good reason whatsoever, you usually won't even uncover half of them, and for some bizarre reason the areas that you will never check are populated to the brim with orks. There are no artefact sites, recruitment centres or xp/money drops to be had here like in Rites of War or Fantasy General, and that is seriously bad. You also don't get any flexibility or rewards when it comes to masterful tactics and turning retreats into siege breakers which bothered me a lot in that one mission in the first campaign where you have to hold a line of hexes from orks crossing through from a jungle through a river. Then you have to retreat from said hexes to another line of hexes, and finally evacuate to the other side of the map - I had to do all that even though I kept the ork hordes in check at the first river and was even about to cross into the jungle and cap their bases.

I personally would not want to see Space Marines or Super Heavies nerfed Sawyerist style only to achieve some ''balance''

Space Marines don't need nerfing because they are terrible already. There is barely any reason to use SM units over IG - particularly vehicles. Death Companies/Sanguinary Guard are useful as fast infantry for getting rid of stragglers or capping and Furioso Dreads are very good all around, but that's basically it. Land raiders are terrible and so are preds, there is no reason at all to use them instead of shadowswords. Aircraft are inferior to IG gunships, scout vehicles are about comparable with chimeras, iirc land speeders are ok for scouting and fire support, and that's it. SM artillery is terrible. Scout snipers are so-so but you're likely to have high level ratlings at the point you get them anyway.

As for super heavies, they don't need 'nerfing' per se, the game just needs AI that isn't idiotic. You know something is wrong when you can just drive a shadowsword into one chokepoint hex and stop the entire ork army from advancing because the retarded AI won't even bother attacking the tank.

 

[GreyViper]

But the objectives are actually just that for the most part. 'Break through the fuckhueg ork mob and cap victory hexes' or 'hold these victory hexes plz'. There are only a handful of missions that are a bit more varied, and for the most part they are the coolest - one definite highlight is the mission where you have to protect like 10 or so victory hexes and keep at least a half of them intact to win, with them disappearing for good if they are capped by the enemy for 2 turns.

What bugged me the most about the missions and maps in combination with the boring objectives was the lack of side goals or something. All the maps are huge for no good reason whatsoever, you usually won't even uncover half of them, and for some bizarre reason the areas that you will never check are populated to the brim with orks. There are no artefact sites, recruitment centres or xp/money drops to be had here like in Rites of War or Fantasy General, and that is seriously bad. You also don't get any flexibility or rewards when it comes to masterful tactics and turning retreats into siege breakers which bothered me a lot in that one mission in the first campaign where you have to hold a line of hexes from orks crossing through from a jungle through a river. Then you have to retreat from said hexes to another line of hexes, and finally evacuate to the other side of the map - I had to do all that even though I kept the ork hordes in check at the first river and was even about to cross into the jungle and cap their bases.



Space Marines don't need nerfing because they are terrible already. There is barely any reason to use SM units over IG - particularly vehicles. Death Companies/Sanguinary Guard are useful as fast infantry for getting rid of stragglers or capping and Furioso Dreads are very good all around, but that's basically it. Land raiders are terrible and so are preds, there is no reason at all to use them instead of shadowswords. Aircraft are inferior to IG gunships, scout vehicles are about comparable with chimeras, iirc land speeders are ok for scouting and fire support, and that's it. SM artillery is terrible. Scout snipers are so-so but you're likely to have high level ratlings at the point you get them anyway.

As for super heavies, they don't need 'nerfing' per se, the game just needs AI that isn't idiotic. You know something is wrong when you can just drive a shadowsword into one chokepoint hex and stop the entire ork army from advancing because the retarded AI won't even bother attacking the tank.

All your points are valid, still had more fun then I thought I would. But yeah they need to work more on it, reimplementing stuff from Panzer General like fear/moral system. Yet I see great future in its expansions and mods.