Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943 vs Theatre of War 2: Kursk 1943

[TokyoDan]

Besides setting, are these games different in anyway?

[md1453]

Here is a discussion by a dev in Theatre of War which explains difference between games. There are some additions to Kursk.

Originally posted by Sneaksie(RUS):

1) Don't start with Polish campaign, it is very hard. I suggest playing Panzer Lehr and Liberation of Belorussia campaigns first. The fact they are set during late war also helps (late war artillery and tanks usually one-shot each other while early war guns can spend all the ammo and don't score a kill, German tanks against French B1-Bis is a good example).

2) Take your time and pause the game (Space key) when you need it. It may be a good idea to micromanage in a difficult scenario, for example, it's nearly pointless to fire at a Tiger II turret head on with your T-34 tanks, even the ones equipped with 85 mm guns. Flank it from both sides so one of the tanks will get a side shot while a Tiger will turn its turret to face another. The closer the impact angle is to 90 degrees, the better.

3) Some users reported that disabling EAX in the options helped to increase framerate. If the game still lags in big engagements when many things happen at once and bullets fly everywhere, you can set the game speed to 0.5 using buttons at the top of the screen.

4) If you like the game, try the later games in the series - they have better graphics, even more advanced armor penetration modeling but have less scenarios.

Starting from ToW 2: Africa 1943, a unique visibility modeling system was introduced where each crew member sees only what he could see through the slits and optic instruments at his station, switching between them (so a tank driver can't see what's happening to the right at all). A gunner uses historically correct sights, switching between high and medium amplification where applicable (meaning he can spot targets very far, but in very narrow field of view).

Starting from ToW 2: Kursk 1943, there is also review overlay that shows you all impact vectors such as penetrations, ricochets and so on on units, toggled by F4 key. Overall the best game about WWII since ToW3 is about Korean war.

The last game in the series, ToW 3: Korea, introduced a strategic mode similar to early Total War games where you move brigades on the map of Korea. It also introduced a special system that mathematically imitated small terrain features that could shield prone soldiers from shell fragments, resulting in better infantry survivability in prone position (and showing why mortars are more dangerous for infantry than artillery shells).

Enjoy!