So I recently tried out Supremacy 1: The Great War. I got the random mail thing on 1914, and figured, "Eh, why not."
I gotta say, the game has potential. It is far from finished, and I wouldn't even go so far as to say it's stable... yet. While it's a solid base, I do think that some things need to change. So, let's get into it!
1. Conscripts are NOT more powerful than infantry, offensively or defensively. Not even from level 1. This isn't even remotely accurate to history, and frankly, it's a pretty shoddy mechanic. Why would I build infantry at all if a Conscript is stronger against ground targets? Just feels like a waste of resources to produce level 1 infantry at all... so I don't.
2. Interceptors, during the actual war, were so poorly equipped to fight ground targets that most just didn't. Assuming that an interceptor can do any more than 1 (2 if you want to be generous) damage to any kind of surface target is kind of ridiculous. Now, in later levels, something closer to 10 or 12 can be negotiated, but I'd still be on the fence about it. Speaking of...
3. Level scaling is absolutely atrocious. Seriously, doubling every combat stat? Y'all got any idea how quickly that gets out of hand?
This can be resolved 1 of 2 ways:
A. Stop doing that, and making strength progression more manageable in levels.
Or if you simply must have the current level system, then...
B. Automatically level up all lower-tier units when research is complete.
4. Torpedo Boats are just weaker submarines. Sure, they're fast, and good on rivers, but have such pitiful health and defensive capabilities that I honestly question their combat usefulness. Yes, they do a lot of damage to boats as a whole... so does most every other boat. (*cough* battleships *cOuGh CoUgH*)
5. Zeppelins are just substantially more worthless bombers. Thankfully, this is a very easy fix: just beef up the attack power against literally every other unit, and make them defenseless against interceptors. Why? Because they were.
6. Flametroopers belong in the infantry tech tree.
7. Machine gun troopers belong in the early infantry tech tree. Machine gun teams were so common in WWI that they really shouldn't need heavy industry to be produced.
8. Assault troopers belong in the infantry tech tree.
9. Seriously, if the graphic is a person, it belongs in the infantry tech tree. This should be obvious. All of these were infantry tactics, therefore, they belong in their appropriate tech trees.
10. Graphics are on point, and also barely functioning. Every time I see an infantry division comprised of anything that isn't just conscripts, it comes up as a flametrooper division. In combat, that's a different story. (No, not all of my divisions have flame troopers. I'm not a maniac.)
11. Production time is ridiculously fast. 5 minutes to get an anti-infantry god? Why?? That can upset the balance of a game so unbelievably quickly that it isn't even funny.
12. Attack and defense values are way too different, and they shouldn't be.
13. Machine guns shouldn't have range.*
*Or at least, the scale at which the game is ranged should be made clear. 30m, 300m and 30Km are 3 completely different measurements, and a machine gun can reach maybe 2 of those.
14. Cruisers are next to useless, combat wise. Defensive against air, sure, but cruisers had some big guns... why are they so bad against everything else?
15. Where are the destroyers?????
16. Insugents! Great idea, but definitely not a great idea to make it so you have to fight them on the first day. That is such a setback economically, it isn't even funny.
17. Trains are actually pretty fast. Like, I get that having a railroad in order for it to be viable is the point, but... c'mon, man. Armored trains were killer.
18. Assault troopers should just be called Commandos or Storm Troopers (Sturmtruppen). Both work, and both sound cooler.
19. The 84 player map is kind of weird for a map choice... you're not really able to play as any countries, with some exceptions. You just play as regions. That's kinda bizarre.
20. Combat seems very defensive oriented... which is valid, but nonetheless infuriating.
21. No field guns? Monsters. Anti-tank artillery was Germany's prime defense against the Mark V tank!
22. Howitzers are artillery. I feel like this is obvious, yet here we are.
23. OK... gas artillery needs a countermeasure. Right now, any poor soul can get gassed into a new tomorrow and that's that. In the actual war, gas masks were particularly effective.
24. Oh, and gas was never effective against tanks. Again, should be fairly obvious.
25. Scouts should be stealth, and spies should return to their old position as an espionage tab.
Salty? Sure. Honest? Definitely. These are all of my first impressions for the brand new version of Supremacy. Now, I understand that it's new, and I'm gonna give it time. All in all, this aside, this game has a LOT of potential to become great, and I want to see where it goes. Cheers!
