TOAW vs HPS

[KG_Cloghaun]

I've been looking very seriously at both game series & it appears the 2 are very similar. HPS looks really cool & I know KG_Norad plays the Panzer Campaign series & highly recommends it. Plus HPS covers other periods of history, both old & modern warfare.

TOAW seems to be very, very popular. At the GameSquad forums they have a huge fan base that's as big or bigger than CM, but popular doesn't always mean better.

What has been people's experience playing both & which do you prefer/recommend?

Thank you

[KG_RangerBooBoo]

I would say comparing HPS titles to TOAW is like comparing apples to oranges. The HPS games cover individual battles or campaigns at what I would call a semi-tactical level, such as companies in the Early American War, battalions in the Napoleonic, regiments in the Civil War, and battalion/company level in the Panzer Campaigns/Modern Campaign. These games probably get the majority of my time. TOAW covers just about whatever a scenario designer chooses to cover from pre-WWI to the modern era. You can find a wealth of scenarios, stock with the game, or done by outside designers, to cover just about every battle you can think of in this period. It is more an operational feel in my opinion. You can get a scope from a small battle such as Arracourt all the way up to all of WWII in the Europe Aflame scenario. Each will have it's own scale suited to the situation. If you want to get a game that covers a big period and covers a lot of different battles then I'd recommend TOAW. If you want to pick a battle/campaign and really get into it then I'd recommend any of the HPS titles. Or you could be like me and get both! I believe there is a demo of the TOAW game at Matrix site that you can download and try. HPS doesn't do demo's but you can visit the Unofficial Panzer Campaign site run by Glenn Saunders to get a good overview of the games in that period. I believe there are some AAR's with screenshots. I've posted a series of AAR articles in the ACW Gamesquad forum covering all the battles of a Gettysburg campaign that I'm fighting. This will give you an idea of how the ACW games go.

[KG_Cloghaun]

Thanks for the info, Ranger.

I seem to leaning toward the HPS line (for starters anyway). Besides, Norad would be upset if I didn't so there you go.

Here is an informative piece I found on the diff between the 2 games:
http://members.shaw.ca/gcsaunders/what_vs_toaw.html

[KG_Jag]

The Ranger makes many good points about both the Tiller games and Koger's TOAW. One big difference is that all you have to do is buy TOAW 3 and you're set to go. In the case of Tiller's games there are currently 17 games to buy in the Panzer Campaigns series alone.