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Rating: 
Summary: A Great Leap Forward for Serious Wargamers
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Leap Forward for Serious Wargamers
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: I just ordered it
Review: I havent even played the game yet, but the reviews have been great from every source I've checked. I agree with the two other reviewers that said this game is not for you if you are looking for fast paced shoot em up action. In fact, I would add that if you have any doubts, then this game probably isnt for you. I remember a time before ISPs and the world wide web, when a series of similar games from a publisher called Atomic Games, kept me up all night saying "Just one more turn, and I'll go to sleep." One of the best games in that series was Operation Market Garden. I loved those games so much that a few years ago, I dusted off the CDs and built an old school DOS machine out of spare parts, just to play it again, since it wouldnt run on windows box. Another thing I remember is having to upgrade my video card RAM chips from 512KB to 1MB in order to play it. Now my video card has 256MB, wow have times changed. Ever since then I have kept searching for an updated version of the same type of game that would run on a windows machine, and now its here. Woohoo! cant wait for it to arrive. One last thing, if you like these types of games, I recommend that you also check out "War in the Pacific" by Matrix games.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Wargame - NOT A RTS!
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: No Good - Do NOT buy
Review: This is the second game I have purchased from Matrix Games, and it is the second game to disappoint. I have now spent nearly [$$$] for war games that simply can't be played. The game takes the airborne assault in World War II named Operation Market Garden and makes game out of it. The screen shots and the web site for the game make it seem easy to play and full of flexibility. Instead the game is very hard to play and short on flexibility. And the game is expensive. [$$$] is a lot of money to spend on something that doesn't work. In the game, which I have now spent several hours trying to learn, the Allies are air dropped into certain locations, just as in Market Garden, and given objectives that must be reached in a certain amount of time. As the commander of the either the air dropped troops or the German defenders you make your decisions based on the objectives which have been assigned by higher headquarters. You then assemble your troops (and this is a real problem), click on a path they will follow to the objectives, and then tell them (by clicking on a button) how fast they will travel, what formation they will use, what they will do at the objective etc. Seems easy enough, but it isn't easy at all. Choosing troops and giving orders should be the easiest part of the battle. The hard part should be assessing the results and changing plans as the battle develops. And changing the orders should be simple as well. But none of this is simple. Selecting the forces to send is almost impossible. The forces are stacked so it is very hard to choose one unit from another. And if you click on an HQ unit all the units for that HQ are chosen. Then you have to start all over again. Changing orders is nearly impossible, especially while the battle is underway. So once you have decided on a course of action that is about it. The tutorials are just worthless. The instructions tell you to choose a certain unit, but finding that unit is next to impossible. The manual, supplied in the game box, is written in type so small that I have to read it with a magnifying glass. The manual seems to assume you have memorized the game rules as the step by step instructions to accomplish something often leave out important facts - and steps you have to take before you make the move or whatever. Whoever writes these tutorials is far to familiar with the game. The real problem goes far beyond some of these points on difficulty to learn and play. What occurs in the game is the objectives are assigned by higher headquarters. The places that are to be attacked and seized, and in what order, are given to you when the game play starts. This limits what you can do as a player. In essence, the flexibility of the game is gone. In order to win you must commit your troops in a pre-set manner or else the timing of taking the objectives will be off. It is a points battle, and if you don't achieve the preset objectives you just lose. So, like Palus at Stalingrad, you can't do anything except what Hitler (higher command) tells you. So you have a purely tactical situation in which your objectives and timing have been pre-determined. Thus, your options are highly limited and you must lock step to the tactics dictated by the game. No flexibility. Some reviewers on other sites have said this is the most powerful game engine in existence but if that is true no game is worth buying. I have recently bought Korsun Pocket and I dislike that game as well. Both games are nearly impossible to play. One site reviewer estimate this game would take one hour to learn. Who are these people kidding. I can't even read the manual in one hour. The tutorials are poor and very difficult to follow. A total failure as a game in my opinion. As I have said in my review of other Matrix war games, the game itself needs levels where most of the operational complexity has been removed so the new player can concentrate on learning one aspect of the game before others are thrown in. Trying to learn all of them at once is just impossible. And no fun. A game should be fun. This one isn't.
Rating:
Summary: No Good - Do NOT buy
Review: This is the second game I have purchased from Matrix Games, and it is the second game to disappoint. I have now spent nearly [$$$] for war games that simply can't be played. The game takes the airborne assault in World War II named Operation Market Garden and makes game out of it. The screen shots and the web site for the game make it seem easy to play and full of flexibility. Instead the game is very hard to play and short on flexibility. And the game is expensive. [$$$] is a lot of money to spend on something that doesn't work. In the game, which I have now spent several hours trying to learn, the Allies are air dropped into certain locations, just as in Market Garden, and given objectives that must be reached in a certain amount of time. As the commander of the either the air dropped troops or the German defenders you make your decisions based on the objectives which have been assigned by higher headquarters. You then assemble your troops (and this is a real problem), click on a path they will follow to the objectives, and then tell them (by clicking on a button) how fast they will travel, what formation they will use, what they will do at the objective etc. Seems easy enough, but it isn't easy at all. Choosing troops and giving orders should be the easiest part of the battle. The hard part should be assessing the results and changing plans as the battle develops. And changing the orders should be simple as well. But none of this is simple. Selecting the forces to send is almost impossible. The forces are stacked so it is very hard to choose one unit from another. And if you click on an HQ unit all the units for that HQ are chosen. Then you have to start all over again. Changing orders is nearly impossible, especially while the battle is underway. So once you have decided on a course of action that is about it. The tutorials are just worthless. The instructions tell you to choose a certain unit, but finding that unit is next to impossible. The manual, supplied in the game box, is written in type so small that I have to read it with a magnifying glass. The manual seems to assume you have memorized the game rules as the step by step instructions to accomplish something often leave out important facts - and steps you have to take before you make the move or whatever. Whoever writes these tutorials is far to familiar with the game. The real problem goes far beyond some of these points on difficulty to learn and play. What occurs in the game is the objectives are assigned by higher headquarters. The places that are to be attacked and seized, and in what order, are given to you when the game play starts. This limits what you can do as a player. In essence, the flexibility of the game is gone. In order to win you must commit your troops in a pre-set manner or else the timing of taking the objectives will be off. It is a points battle, and if you don't achieve the preset objectives you just lose. So, like Palus at Stalingrad, you can't do anything except what Hitler (higher command) tells you. So you have a purely tactical situation in which your objectives and timing have been pre-determined. Thus, your options are highly limited and you must lock step to the tactics dictated by the game. No flexibility. Some reviewers on other sites have said this is the most powerful game engine in existence but if that is true no game is worth buying. I have recently bought Korsun Pocket and I dislike that game as well. Both games are nearly impossible to play. One site reviewer estimate this game would take one hour to learn. Who are these people kidding. I can't even read the manual in one hour. The tutorials are poor and very difficult to follow. A total failure as a game in my opinion. As I have said in my review of other Matrix war games, the game itself needs levels where most of the operational complexity has been removed so the new player can concentrate on learning one aspect of the game before others are thrown in. Trying to learn all of them at once is just impossible. And no fun. A game should be fun. This one isn't.
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