Airborne Assault: Highway to the Reich

 

 

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Take the time to learn the game system before trashing it. The printed manual (which is getting increasingly rare these days) clearly states that new players should spend about 2-3 hours going through the tutorials.
Do not buy this game if you're expecting flashy graphics. Do buy it if you want a game to truly challenge you.
My only complaint(s) with the manual are the very dark illustrations & tiny printing. Otherwise it's well laid out & pretty well written.

Alan Dale Daniel writes that this game is unplayable. He's dead wrong. Sure, this game is hard to learn and difficult to master. The best wargames are difficult to master because they are so realistic in terms of the detail that goes into them. I have played this game as well as Korsun Pocket, and while Alan says that Korsun pocket is similarly impossible to play, I found Korsun Pocket quite easy to learn and play. Perhaps Alan is not used to playing serious wargames.

AA:HttR is possibly the best, most accurate wargame ever designed. It requires more from the player because it gives more in return. Players of serious wargames will find that this game will stay on their hard drives long after the 'beer and pretzels' games have gone into the trash.

Let me forewarn any potential buyer of this game....IT IS A WARGAME....What does that mean? Well, this is not a point - click and watch the little tanks run around the screen and blow up things. If you are looking for that then there are a plethora of games that fall under the RTS (Real Time Strategy) that would fit your bill.
For those of you not familiar with wargames, they are computerized versions of board games with counters (those little square pieces of cardboard with information on them), pretty intense rules, and all kinds of units. These games were very popular in the 70s (aka Bookshelf Games) and many were made by Avalon Hill.
Wargames fall into an analytical strategy based categories, relying more on accurate history, troops, and very detailed. Most try to mimic real battles in history, from Civil War to Vietnam.
With the advent of the computer Wargames have become again very popular since the computer AI now acts as an opponent, keep tracks of detailed databases, and make setting up very quick. You can also play via email with opponents.
Wargames have there place in history, the military plays several wargames to analyze strategies and practice tactics. Harpoon, probably one of the first wargames computerized to great success, took the US Navy by storm. While I served, many people had played the board based or computer based version. There was no other game to recreate actual modern naval battles as well.
Hopefully, this will clarify that this is not a splashy, click fest type of game. It is the chess of wargames, while RTS is the checkers of wargames.
That being said, HTTR (Highway to the Reich) is one of the best wargames I have played, yes it will take you a few hours to learn the rules and go through the tutorials, but it will take a long time to master.
If you miss those wargame / boardgames that you use to play (aka Squad Leader), then this is a great step into the next generation of wargames.
I believe the previous reviewer is not a wargame player or had never played war base boardgames and was unfamiliar with this style of gaming. That is really too bad. HTTR has won many outstanding awards from the wargaming community as well as many PC game magazines. Even though it is a great game, it might not be your cup of tea. It is slow paced compared to many of today's action shooters.
If you loved playing Axis and Allies (the boardgame) and want to kick it up a notch, then give this a try.
For more information on wargames visit www.wargamer.com

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1.0 out of 5 stars No Good - Do NOT buy
This is the second game I have purchased from Matrix Games, and it is the second game to disappoint. Read more

Published on Mar 15 2004 by Alan Dale Daniel

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