From: saunderg@cadvision.com Subject: EAST FRONT by Talonsoft - almost ready to hit the shelf! TalonSoft's EAST FRONT will soon be on Store shelves everywhere. For those that haven't heard, The first of Talonsoft's long awaited NEW Campaign Series is finally ready and should be reaching stores around the first part of November. East Front is a Tactical Turn based Wargame, covering the action on the Russian Front from 1941 to 1945. Unlike other tactical games, this one is focus at the Platoon level rather than individual tanks and squads. The Game Scale is 250 metres per hex, and six minutes per turn. Each Strength Point is equivalent to a single vehicle/gun or ½ a squad of Infantry. Action is fast paced and dynamic in this Windows95 game that uses an Easy-to-learn Interface. Unlike its predecessor, the Battleground Series, this game features only 2 phases per turn - "yours and his". The game utilizes "Action Points" that allows the phasing side to fire and/or move their units in whatever order they wish. The computer controls Opportunity fire in the phasing players turn, "so General - you can't be standing beside every soldier all the time to tell him exactly when to fire back". However, this Talonsoft AI is far superior than anything they've ever done before and will certainly offer any Wargamers a good fight. {no peeking at what the computer is up to now - that's not fair (-;} The Game will ship with over 50 Historical Scenarios designed by some great names in wargaming, such as Jim Dunnigan - the guy that had us all playing AH's Panzerblitz way back when I was a wee lad. Everything is here from street fight in Stalingrad to massive tank battles like the Battle of Prokhorovka at Kursk\ Citadel. For those that wish to go beyond the experience of taking on the computer opponent, there is of course PBEM, this time featuring file encryption so that honest gamers can't accidentally open the other sides file and see the enemies troop positions. With East Fronts system of "Action Points" and the distances units can travel in this scale of a modern wargame, the action will most certainly be very fluid. Much more so than the titles in the Battleground Series. There is also a Live Net Play option with Multiplayer capabilities, although I can't claim to have actually tried that myself yet. As the "Campaign Series" name suggests, there game features the ability to play computer generated hypothetical linked battles that simulate the action of a Campaign. These Campaigns are, playable from either the Germans or the Russian side. The Campaigns include all 3 Army Groups in Barbarossa that extent though the entire war. Operation Typhoon near Moscow Oct '41 to Dec '41. The Moscow Counteroffensive Dec '41 to Feb '42. Case Blue in the south Jun '42 to Nov '42. Citadel and Beyond covering the tide turning action centered around Kursk in the Summer of '43 Operation Bagration in the closing stages of '44. Anyone who has mastered playing the AI by this time can adjust the Level of Difficulty of play in the Campaign through four levels so that you most certainly will find some level to match human smarts against the AI, regardless how good you are. And if that is not enough, this game ships with an easy to use Scenario Editor so everyone can try their hand in building their own scenarios or maybe just tuning up something that shipped with the game to create your own unique "what-if" situations. But even though this new engine features maps that can be built on the fly, you'll be amazed at how Talonsoft has maintained the Map quality that made the Battleground Series so eye catching For more information, drop by EAST FRONT section of the Talonsoft home page. Check out the East Front info at: < http://www.talonsoft.com/EFront.html> …or come read all the discussion on the East Front Discussion page at : …..and catch up on the news. Ask the Playtester what they think and read about all the great action in our "blow-by-blow" game reports by experienced wargamers/tester such as Tim Powers, and Lee Jordan. I am one of the many volunteer Playtesters. I've been involved in this project since testing began this summer. I believe everyone that plays Talonsoft's EAST FRONT, regardless of your skill\knowledge level will get many many hours of enjoyment from this very fine game. So get your Helmets out, don't forget your Winter kit like the Germans did and we'll see you all on the EAST FRONT this winter folks - this Game is a must buy in my opinion. Glenn Saunders