Is this version a good Gateway drug?

[Spledge]

Hi All,

About 6 years ago, I stumbled upon the SP:WaW version of the game. Some 12 years ago, I was enthralled with Steel Panthers (I could go back to other similar games farther in my gaming past but won't.) only to become ultimately bored with playing against the game's AI. With SP:WaW, I was initially stoked to learn that I could play against other folks via email. Sadly though, I felt a good number of games entailed some form of cheating by others. So, after a spell, I stopped playing.

I've learned that the version offered through this site has some features to inhibit folks from re-loading shared games files with out a notice being thrown. Great!

Being that money is tight for me currently but wanting to get some games going with other SP gamers, is the free version offered here a good start in order to play against others in the community? Or, does one realistically need to buy the more inclusive version in order to play against a bigger pool of folks? (On the side, I'm willing to buy the games when my income improves.)

Thanks,
Spledge