PUBLISHER: Decision Games (DG), computer format of SPI's
War in Europe with various errata sets incorporated.
SCOPE: World War II in Europe including Western Front,
East Front, North Africa, the Middle East, and the far north; 1939-1945.
RULEBOOK VERBAGE:
GAME BOX VERBAGE:
YEAR PUBLISHED (EDITIONS): 1998. Last version published
2.01. Only one published edition Decision Games. Designers
Notes and history of CWIE is taken from Web Grognards.
CREDITS
Program Design & Programming: Gregory J. Ploussios
Production & Marketing: Christopher Cummins &
Callie Cummins
Quality Assurance: John S. Hess
Photos & Churchill speech: Archive Graphics
Mars Theme: Jack Hines
Original Board Game: James F. Dunnigan, Irad B. Hardy,
Redmond A. Simonsen, Tom Walczyk, Edward Curran, & Steve Bettum.
TYPICAL PLAYING TIME (HOURS): All War in the East, War
in the West, and War in Europe scenarios are present. In a WIE 2 player game,
one player is axis, the other is both Allied and Russian. By default Neutral
Russia play is computer managed unless control from turn 1 is given to the
russians. As multiplayer games are typically played PBEM, the agreed upon
turnaround determines the game length. Some send multiple turns a day, some
a week, some weekly. As the full campaign is 297 player turns, a game is a
long term commitment where real life priorities may intervene. Another concern
is when the game is 'terminated' (when the Germans cant win, Russians offer
no significant resistance, or to the final conquest).
MAP SCALE: 40-60 nautical miles (changing scale with longitude).
UNIT SCALE: Task forces of individual ships from aircraft
carrier to destroyer escorts. Air points represent 10 planes. Ground battalions
to divisions.,
TIME SCALE PER TURN: 1 week with cycle every 4 turns; 4
air/sea turn per lunar cycle , 1 land turn per lunar cycle (13 lunar cycles
in a year).
GAME INVENTORY: Two diskettes; the rulebook exists as a
text file which is also accessed within the program.
WBC & AVALONCON HISTORY: Not Applicable
PBEM TOOLS:
CWIE is a PBEM tool. It is recommended files be zipped prior to sending
as certain mail programs/email servers put text messages into the message
body making it unusable. My naming convention incorporates the game turn.
i.e. if it is send to the German player for his 11/3/41 turn, the file is
named 41113.zip
The War in Europe mailing list is an independent e-mail group that discusses
both the computer and board game versions of War In Europe. There is an
online, www accessible archive
of this list. To participate you must subscribe to the list from the e-mail
address that you will use to contact the list. To subscribe send e-mail
to either: warineur-request@halisp.net or warineur-digest-request@halisp.net
(digest version) and put the single word 'subscribe' in the message body.
Leave the subject line blank and disable any signature bloc. You will receive
an info packet as confirmation of your subscription.
WARGAME ACADEMY COMMENTS: Do to the including of the KC
errata/House rules into the coding, this should be considered version 2.5
of the WIE rulebook evolution. I have completed eight campaigns to date and
typically have three 2player and one 3 player game in progress although real
life frequently intervenes. The program is strongly recommended for purchase
for anyone with BWIE experience. When I 'discovered its existence' I bough
copies for my out of state BWIE opponents. The program moves phase by phase
as per the boardgame, will pull up the corresponding rules section via the
'help' button, and possesses several options to be considered. Be forewarned,
combinations of certain options have decisive impact on the game.
One the negative side there are several 'issues' with the program from my
BWIE point of view. Many of the rules in BWIE are not enforced in CWIE (i.e.
German RR units can be transported by Italian navy to North Africa). Additional
critical rules as discussed at length in the BWITE/BWIE designers notes, such
as the Russian severe weather and supply rules, are merely options in CWIE.
Of great irritation, the KC errata/house rules have been coded in with great
impact to the play. Additional 'misses' involve the repair of strategic bombing
which makes this Allied effort almost pointless. As these are hard coded into
the program, they cant be 'fixed'.
An entire different discussion is directed to knowing your opponent for a
game with 297 player turns and the corresponding player commitment A player
agreement is recommended to find an opponent with similar mind set. Are BWIE
rule restrictions to be used or is anything CWIE allows ok? Will the game
be played to conclusion or simply until the German cant win and loses interest.
Will the Allies play to the end or merely until the Russian becomes ineffective?
Although uncommond in BWIE circles, when playing Computer players, it is recommend
to discuss if CHEATING is an understood concept. Die rolls can be manipulated
by redoing the order and number of events (port suppression, attacks, fortification
attempts, etc); risky high yield attacks can be attempted and the file reloaded
from an earlier point if unsuccessful. One the wielist posting was by a player
convinced breaking/altering the code to his advantage was ok as a reward for
knowing how. Keep in mind some computer gamers experience is limited to computer
AI opponents where anything is ok, recovering from disaster from a save is
standard practice and real person opponent considerations (ethics, social
skills) are lacking. Before making a 1+ year commitment to a game vs an opponent
with no face, a bit of interviewing may save a lot of grief and wasted effort.
Many SPI BWIE will only play others of the SPI BWIE generation usign CWIE
as a PBEM interface for this reason.
A related topic is a list of fatal errors a player can make which may negate
the value of the game. Many serous error are also possible the may greatly
limit the competitive nature the the game/match as well. A list of such items,
in addition to BWIE/CWIE issues, CWIE flaws will be added to this page with
the help of contributions from the wielist group.
WARGAME ACADEMY GAME TOOLS: Computer War in Europe, working
on a Java version true to BWIE with additional options based on aspects from
other game titles.
WIE email list: There is an online,
www accessible archive of the list at www.halispnet/listserv/warineur. To
participate you must subscribe to the list from the e-mail address that you
will use to contact the list. To subscribe send e-mail to either:
and put the single word 'subscribe' in the message body.
Leave the subject line blank and disable any signature bloc. You will receive
an info packet as confirmation of your subscription.As with any email
group, it is as valuable as its membership.
(CWIE2):
The development web site for the
new version of Computer War In Europe has been launched.
The game will be released in December 2005 by Decision Games. The site will
serve as a distribution point for information on the game's development, and
as a CWIE2
collection pointfor feedback from the gamer community on possible
changes and inclusions in this latest version from the War In Europe
family of board and computer games. If you would like any more information,
or to offer any suggestions or comments, please contact Karl
Lean, Lead Developer Computer War In Europe II.
