OCS & Third Winter Opinions

[Attack Cat]

A favor to ask of the community here. I'm considering pre-ordering "The Third Winter," whose time is up in less than a week. As this would be my first foray into OCS games and the price is steep, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me their opinion of OCS as far as its ease of learning, historical accuracy, and if it is enjoyable to play. I enjoy ASL, GCACW, and Front Toward Enemy. If you're short on time, even a "1-5" rating would be good, with a "5" being fantastic. I and my checkbook thank you!

 

[hongkongwargamer]

These guys are talking about OCS here .. http://www.gamesquad.com/forums/index.php?forums/combat-series-the-gamers.198/

 

[Honza]

Third Winter will remain on pre-order but it will be a bit dearer.

 

[PabloGS]

A favor to ask of the community here. I'm considering pre-ordering "The Third Winter," whose time is up in less than a week. As this would be my first foray into OCS games and the price is steep, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me their opinion of OCS as far as its ease of learning, historical accuracy, and if it is enjoyable to play. I enjoy ASL, GCACW, and Front Toward Enemy. If you're short on time, even a "1-5" rating would be good, with a "5" being fantastic. I and my checkbook thank you!

As they say, ask two lawyers and you will get three opinions!

It is a well established brand with a loyal following, stable rules. But there are many who opine that it is not that realistic in a few areas, such as not using artillery as much (too expensive in supply), having a random double turn, air power too detalied/strong, too big with too much micromanagement, maps and units are too bland...

It is not easy to play well from simply reading the rules, a bit like ASL maybe.

But if you like the sprawling nature of GCACW maybe OCS is also your cup of tea.

I would recommend you read this to get an idea how the system works:

http://www.ocsdepot.com/images/contentfile/Vitebsk_Introductory_Scenario_Ops_Mag_layout_2.pdf

TBH, I am tempted to preorder as well because it has a “mini-game” on the Korsun pocket. Speaking of which, an operational but a bit lower scale game that IMHO does a better job than OCS is Jaws of Victory.

 

[Attack Cat]

I really appreciate the input of all three. Unless something earth-shattering gets added, you've really helped me discern the way to go. Thanks so much.