RTS: Company of Heroes

FIrst off, I would like to apologize for my apparent inability to Blog daily. I have decided it is impossible given my divided interests. So instead I have decided to Blog as much as possible instead. Anyway now that that has been clarified I have a nice rant to give.

Let me start by explaining that I am an avid RTS gamer. I love the feeling one gets after having executed a flawless strategy and destroyed the opposing force to claim victory. But having said that I am frustrated often enough by the fact that so many people are that much quicker on the mouse than I and seem to be able to execute there orders far better than I. How do I with my busy life schedule compete with the gamers that devote so much of there life to the gaming world? Is there a way that I can execute my strategies that I am thinking in my head without being so utterly destroyed by the end despite any intial victories I gain.

For example, tonight just prior to this post in fact I was playing the American faction in Company of heroes against a Panzer Elite opponent. Now despite my amazing begining game (I excell in the begining due to the lack of units i need to manage) and my ability to conquer most of the map as the game progressed I was not able to press my advantage due to my inability to manage my larger army in a coordinated manner to eliminate my opponent. Argh, its so frustrating. I understand the game well and given the battle, which was a very good one and very fun, I should not be so annoyed. But I checked my stats the today and realized that I have almost double the amount of wins as I do losses. Not so good. And so I am frustrated. Is there a way to improve ones speed and multitasking ability without hours and hours practicing maneuvers?

The RTS genre in general is about the ability to control a large number of units quickly and efficiently in a coordinated manner. This means that despite my amazing overall strategies and tactics I can still fail to defeat someone who is terrible at both but faster at exploiting my weaknesses in speed. If he can attack two places at once I cannot keep up with the speed with which he attacks and inevitably loose troops despite having adequete contermeasures. Argh, I need to speed train somehow. Even though CoH is my favourite game (although hardpressed by Age of Empires 2) I find myself frustrated time and time again. I need to get faster. One day world, one day.

-Nathan-