HistWar: Les Grognards, a true Napoleonic Wargame

[frogbeastegg]

Anything which relies on contacting a company works fine until the company ceases to exist, or loses interest in the game, or decides to deny your request for whatever reason. But we all know those arguments.

It's a bad situation. If we buy the game then we set ourselves up for more of this type of DRM in the future. If we don't buy then a niche game doesn't get support and we're less likely to see detailed strategy games in the future.

[Martok]

Gah! I refuse absolutely to buy any PC game with an activation limit.

Please tell me that there's going to be a version without the activation limits. Maybe on a download portal like gamersgate or impulse? I'd rather hoped to try this game.

Unfortunately, from what I've read so far, it looks like every version is going to be shipped with this eLicense. Hopefully I'm mistaken about that, but so far that's what it looks like.

[CBR]

As I plan on doing LAN tests I certainly prefer eLicense over Steam. Although I never sell my games I could do it with an eLicence game which is something I cannot do with Steam either.

So although not optimal, as I don't like DRM, I don't see it as a major problem for me. And as it is for a game that just has no competition (assuming it will be great) I just don't have much of a choice anyway.


CBR

[Krusader]

Two Napoleonic strategy games being released and it seems I won't buy neither.

If they release it on Impulse or another similar service (not counting Steam) and without eLicense I'll give it a shot.

[Decker]

Yikes! Battlefront and Histwar split! The game is not really canceled thankfully just some bad PR by Battlefront so don't go freaking out:

HistWar Regrettably, after repeated delays, this project has been canceled.
Battlefront's Message

It was kind of bad taste in my opinion to see them wipe the forum out like that without explaining at least that Histwar was still going to be released, just not by them.

On the Histwar forums on it's website, JMM had this to say:

The agreement between JMM and Battelfront is canceled.

HW:LH Manual will be consultable on November the 11th...
HW:LH Demo will be released before the end of this month...
HW:LG will be in pre-order on the first week of December...
HW:LG will be released before Christmas...

JMM
Brief Post by JMM

Someone translated (using google) another message by JMM:

It is time to make a point in the future after this little twist which has slowed a little development during this last week

So to recap:

HistWar: The Grognards is now distributed by the company Play and Com, probably under the name HistWarGames to better identify ourselves.

It goes without saying, and it is better said that it will not affect the quality of the game This is not the publisher who produces, it is only for streaming.

Since we are talking about broadcast .. Initially, we will make available the game for downloading.
We will not be able to ensure early delivery of a box with CD and Manual ... Indeed, by the end we have to adjust the site (and here again I think this will be a surprise) and modify the program to establish a serial number associated with each Grognard (and not DRM) ...

However, very soon we will have the means to spread the box game in Europe or outside Europe (but there is a problem of cost of transport that will take over the buyer ...). The manual is available in 2 reference languages (English and French)

Furthermore, we will take steps to contact local distributors to reduce prices of transport .. but this may take a little longer.

To sum up the schedule by the end of the year:
Quote
a / manuals in PDF format for November 11 ... At a minimum, Book I and II ... Books III and IV deal with the general organization of armies and relations of the 10 battles proposed in the game could not be presented, these two books add nothing to the understanding of the game itself ...
b / The demo The Grognards by the end of November: we will find the basic tutorial and an additional battle.
c / pre-orders early in December.
d / play before Christmas.

We also aim to establish the official forum of The Grognards.
This forum will receive the 4 specific fora (English-French-Spanish-Italian) and a technical forum.
We will also, as soon as possible, establish a forum to facilitate exchanges for the MP game or PBEM.

About Buzz ... HistWar: The Grognards is relatively known ... for its long development, but it is known
If the trial reaches its goal, it will attract those who have few attractions for this new gameplay.
And I have no doubt that then, together, we can raise awareness of the Grognards ...

That's all for now ... we will try to make as much as possible so that you take pleasure in playing with the Machin ... It is a major objective.

Finally, I would like to thank you all deeply for it is at times a bit awkward that we can identify supporters ... and they are numerous. Thank you.

The team HistWar
Post Found Here

More clarification by Battlefront:

We are in the business of promoting and publishing wargames. Not all wargames out there, only the ones we publish. We will not publish HistWar, therefore we no are no longer promoting it. HistWar received enough promotion from us over the last 5 years so it should be understandable that we aren't interested in extending that promotion.

As for our notification that the project is "cancelled"... it is as far as we are concerned. Will it be published eventually? We have no idea. After 4 years of waiting we've decided not to wait any more.

Since we have a confidentiality agreement with HistWar's creator, and he has one with us, that's about all we can say without being in violation. The gossipers amongst you may wish to fill in the gaps with factless speculation, but we would prefer it not be done here. As the owners and operators of this Forum we have the right to make that decision.

In conclusion... HistWar is cancelled from Battlefront's perspective. We are contractually unable to provide any details, other than to say that we regret that it came to this. Since there is nothing more to be said about it, I'm locking this thread up. For those of you who wish to continue discussing HistWar, please find an alternative venue for it.

Steve
Post by "Steve" on Battlefront

[CountArach]

That is quite a shock... I wonder what it means for the DRM?

[rajpoot]

So does this mean that the game will be available in Europe only?

[CountArach]

So does this mean that the game will be available in Europe only?

I believe they are looking at downloadable content.

[CBR]

Looks like it will be download first yes. It was same plan under Battlefront.

And seems like its serial number now instead of the eLicense thing.

So hopefully we will have a demo in 3 weeks time and then we can see if it was worth the wait


CBR

[R'as al Ghul]

Hi all, I'm also eagerly anticipating the game. I'm glad to hear it's reasonably priced at 39€.
Looking really forward to the manuals, as descriptions in the forum haven't been that clear to me.
Here's some news from the official site:

In November 11th, 2009 : the books

The game is released with 4 books

* Book I: General presentation, GUI and concepts
* Book II: Three editors: order of battle, map, doctrine ·
* Book III: Summarized on the organizations of the armies ·
* Book IV: The stories about the 10 battles of the game

Book I and Book II will be available in download.


End of November : the demo of HistWar

Démo of HW:LG with its complete tutorial and a battle.

* Tutorial 1: First view on HW:LG and order to the regiments
* Tutorial 2: Learning to command a Corps
* Tutorial 3: You take the command of an Army

At the end of this tutorial, you will know the control of the system.
You will become the Commander-in-Chief for your first Battle (7 Corps vs 7 Corps)

The version of HistWar will be released in «Solo» mode and almost totality of the options will be on :

* Different Fog of war
* Both choices of the season and weather.

Certainly a few hours for playing.


Beginning of December : pre-orders.

The game will be released in version Digital Download (39.89€).

We are thinking about a Physical Edition with CD and Printed Manuals. More information when we’ll have a precise idea about the timing.


Before Christmas

HW:LG will be downloadable on the HistWar website ...

Incertitude about the Physical Edition. Anyway, we shall inform you about the date of availability during the pre-orders.



It’s the near future.

Don’t forget the Manuals on Wednesday, November 11th 2009 !

[CountArach]

Thanks for that information mate... a 7 vs 7 corps battle for the Demo? I'm excited already.

[CountArach]

The manual has been released here...

It looks like it is everything that the community had hoped for.

[gollum]

And some of the latest screenshots i could find on their site:

http://www.histwar.fr/screenshots-je...du-150809.html

And a link to their English subforum:

http://www.histwar.com/forum/index.php/board,24.0.html

...and the forums:

http://www.histwar.com/forum/index.php

[R'as al Ghul]

According to forum posts by the developer the demo is to be released this weekend.
It's going to be 250 Mb that extract to 500 Mb on your harddisk.
It will be offered as direct download from the histwar site and as a torrent.
The release is planned for Saturday.
Additionally, after release (of the main game), the site is going to be overhauled.

R'as

[HopAlongBunny]

Leafed through the manuals...

If they deliver on what I think they are promising, this could be "it". Everything you could want from a double-blind refereed game of miniatures, to a "gods-eye" lets just fight the battle mode.

I'm in awe before I even see the demo.

[CountArach]

Leafed through the manuals...

If they deliver on what I think they are promising, this could be "it". Everything you could want from a double-blind refereed game of miniatures, to a "gods-eye" lets just fight the battle mode.

I'm in awe before I even see the demo.

These are pretty much my thoughts on the game. We can find out of this is what we were promised within 48 hours...

[R'as al Ghul]

The game was finally released today. On first sight it looks much better. It's complete with OoB Editor, Map Editor and Doctrine Editor. It has several historical scenarios installed. AI vs AI is not yet functional. There is supposed to be a new demo soon, too. I'll keep you posted.

[CountArach]

The game was finally released today. On first sight it looks much better. It's complete with OoB Editor, Map Editor and Doctrine Editor. It has several historical scenarios installed. AI vs AI is not yet functional. There is supposed to be a new demo soon, too. I'll keep you posted.

Demo 2 (the one soon to be made public) is much better than Demo 1.

The full version of the game baffles me with its depth. Played my first game of Austerlitz on the highest difficulty, where your viewpoint is locked solely to the commander and you really have to control the battle from a map that only has vague information at best on it. The AI trounced me and I had to quit after just 3 hours of fighting (game time, about half an hour playing)... Currently playing Montebello, which is much more balanced. I think I'm winning the main part of the battlefield but one of my flanks is on the verge of falling (didn't deploy my reinforcement Corps correctly and found myself surrounded). I've also lost almost as many men as my enemy... this is going to be a Pyrrhic victory at best I feel. The regimental AI still has a few small problems, but far exceeds anything that has been produced thus far in the world. I am going to have to consistently think hard to overcome this game, and that is just on medium difficulty.

[CBR]

Montebello is easy

Just focus on your artillery and let that blast your way forward. Either handle it manually or let the forward corps' have 5-6 batteries each with defensive order. The AI can generally figure out to use all its foot artillery.

Of course that was with Demo 2 so the enemy grand tactical AI might cause more trouble for the player now.


CBR

[CountArach]

Montebello is easy

Just focus on your artillery and let that blast your way forward. Either handle it manually or let the forward corps' have 5-6 batteries each with defensive order. The AI can generally figure out to use all its foot artillery.

I think I lost the artillery duel in the north with Ney and Murat's corps (Pontinanowski is holding the centre with the artillery support), but they have made a lot of ground up regardless and beaten off most of the forward Russian units. I'm currently (at about 1pm) sending Grouchy with most of the reserve cavalry up to break through, which appears to be working quite nicely. The problem is that Lefebvre's corps in the south was outflanked (up against 2 large Russian corps, blegh), and I had unfortunately placed Jerome's corps behind Lefebvre, rather than off to one wing. Also his German soldiers just aren't up to the task.

Of course that was with Demo 2 so the enemy grand tactical AI might cause more trouble for the player now.


CBR

The AI in both the Demos was quite passive, especially compared to this AI. It seems to be trying a stick and flank maneouvre, which I'm also doing, but we are doing this on opposite flanks. Will be interesting to see who gives in first.

EDIT: Oh, and I am more than happy to answer anyone's questions about the full game, and will provide screenshots if you ask for them.

[quadalpha]

Anything new with this? I'm downloading the demo, but it seems the website hasn't been updated in a while.

[CBR]

Sweet ghastly thread necromancy!

And what a rotten corpse it is IMO.

The biggest thing I can think of is that they made it possible to play with a 1:1 ratio of soldiers/figures. Maybe some AI stuff too. As a SP game it is AFAIK still bad and generic, but MP stability has improved.

Of course I only check the forums occasionally, so maybe there is more stuff.

[quadalpha]

Haha, that's disappointing. It looks so promising with its lines and arrows. So the deal is that the AI is bad and it's no longer being developed? Probably not worth the 40 euros, then?

[CBR]

It is still be worked on, so there are improvements I think. There is an active forum there and I have seen new versions being released, so maybe you should check the details there: http://www.histwar.org/forum/

Maybe I'm just too harsh and expect a level of realism and detail that a lot of people seem perfectly fine without. It is a game that has it good sides, I admit that.