by Hank34
I like TOI a lot and I do consider it in the same vein as C&C, but with a lot more complexity. In tide of Iron, each side switches off activating units three at a time. So you will be activating all your units. The other games, you might not.TOI and any games where they give you a bunch of hexes to set up is going to take time. But being as epic as they are makes it worth it to me.
Rules-wise, comparing it to M44 is not even fair to M44. M44 is almost abstract at depicting WWII battles, whereas TOI is very specific and involved. TOI has suppression, pinned units, firing out of range, etc. In M44, it is, "are they in range, ok attack."
If I had to choose a WWII battle game, and I'm no war game expert, but it would be TOI over M44. The system used in M44 and other like games fits ancient, or in BOW's case Medieval, warfare much better than it does a modern WWII game. If I'm going WWII board game, I want to be able to play a paratroop card and have to roll for the wind to see if the troop lands on target, which you do in TOI. It can get fiddly, but after a few games, it goes a lot faster.