The Wargamer has a chance to interview Matrix/Slitherine about Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue!

We're letting the community to ask the questions this time!

We are looking for no less than eight questions. Members can suggest one, or all eight! We will pick the best questions from the ones suggested and will send them on over to Matrix/Slitherine. We may add-in a few questions ourselves, if we think anything has been left out.

Then, we will post an article on the result!

Ask away!

More info on Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue can be found HERE

I know I'm a staff member, but I just can't resist.

1.  Why was Fall Blau chosen as the next edition of the Decisive Campaigns series?  With so many choices of what battle to choose next, what is it about the 1942 summer offensive in Russia that appealed to you?

2.  What improvements or changes, if any, will be made to the game system?

3.  Will the battle be broken down into a number of different scenarios? If so, how many, and what is the methodology behind the break down? Phase? Date? Location?

4.  Will the Battle of Stalingrad be featured as one of the scenarios?  If so, will any hypothetical possibilities be included, such as a German 6th Army breakout and retreat?

5.  Can players expect to have access to the complete Order of Battle for both Axis and Soviet forces?  Will the Axis OOB include Army Group A, Army Group B and Luftflotte 4?  Will hungarian, Romanian and Italian forces be represented?  Which Army Fronts will be fielded by Stavka?

This may be a bit of a naive question because I don't know the system very well but with such a tight focus, how is the replayability?  How different would the outcomes be that I should expect if I play the same scenario over and over?

1. In DC Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris, only Germany could be played in the campaign (although you could play Allies in the individual scenarios).  Will Case Blue make a Soviet campaign available in addition to the German campaign?

2. In DCBWtP, the Allies AI was fairly adept at organizing defenses around key cities, although its m.o. always seemed to be to fall back and absorb attacks rather than launch counter attacks and counter offensives (even counterattacks are quite rare actually).  In short, it was a very conservative AI, as is probably appropriate for Poland and France.  Can the German player expect the Soviet AI to be more dynamic and aggressive?

1. Scale. Fall Blau (Case Blue) was a gigantic campaign in terms of scale . How will Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue handle that in terms of micromanagement?

Really that's the only one I have, since I haven't played Decisive Campaigns Warsaw to Paris.

I know I'm Staff as well but I look at this as a learning experience.

Great questions I'm seeing here...

Definitely interesting are the new 'High Command Rules' - more details please! How restrictive are they? How relative are they to the situation at hand?

I found the armored trains in DC: Warsaw to Paris a novelty & wondered about how important they really were to the campaigns. Will they appear in the new game? Why were they included in the first?

There have been numerous complaints that the manual doesn't include a lot of specifics gamers might find important or even necessary to play & master the game. Have there been any changes to the manual & specifically has the manual been expanded to answer those critics?

Very nice. I will keep this open until Sunday.

The questions chosen for the interview:

(Some questions have been re-worded and/or consolidated to increase precision and clarification)

Jarhead0331 asks: Why was Fall Blau chosen as the next edition of the Decisive Campaigns series? With so many choices of what battle to choose next, what is it about the 1942 summer offensive in Russia that appealed to you?

Jarhead0331 asks: What improvements or changes, if any, have been made to the game system?

Jarhead0331 asks:  Will Fall Blau be broken down into a number of different scenarios? If so, what will the scenarios be?

Jarhead0331 asks: Can you explain to us what the Order of Battle for the German and Soviet forces consist of?  Will Hungarian, Romanian and Italian forces be represented?

Joram asks: What has Matrix/Slitherine done to increase the replayability of the game, expanding the variety of possibilities the AI may react?

Sandman2575 asks: In Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris only Germany could be played in the campaign (although you could play Allies in the individual scenarios). Will Case Blue make a Soviet campaign available as well?

Sandman2575 asks: Can the German player expect the Soviet AI to be more dynamic and aggressive, or just as conservative as the AI seen in its predecessor?

Reich36 asks: Fall Blau (Case Blue) was a gigantic campaign in terms of scale. How will Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue handle that in terms of micromanagement?

Zonso asks: Please expand on what the "High Command Rules" are. Are they restrictive and/or relative to certain circumstances?

Dale H asks: Will armored trains appear in Case Blue?

Dale H asks: Has the manual been expanded and improved upon, including more depth as compared to its predecessor?

Thank you for your input. These have been sent to Matrix/Slitherine for a reply.