wargames – Let's Talk About Wargames

War in the East 2 DLC Incoming!

I’ve just gotten word from Slitherine/Matrix that the first DLC for War in the East 2 has been announced! I’m very excited for this. War in the East 2 was my game of the year last year and has consistently struck me with its elegance. I often grow tired of really heavy wargames, but War in the East can keep me going for hours and hours. More content is only going to be awesome, in my opinion. Here’s the full reveal right from the source:

“Matrix Games and 2by3 announce the first DLC for War in the East 2

Steel Inferno will release on November

Set in the East front of World War 2, Gary Grigsby’s War in the East 2 was last year’s best-selling and most praised wargame. The simulation improved every aspect of its predecessor, effectively rebooting the series and giving it new life. Since its release, Gary Grigsby and his team have been working hard to improve gameplay with various upgrades. Simultaneously, 2by3 Games started work on the game’s first DLC, Steel Inferno. This expansion puts the spotlight on several major offensives that influenced the course of the war in the East. It is also expanding the gigantic map further by opening new areas throughout eight new Scenarios and two new Campaigns.

Steel Inferno covers Operations in Yugoslavia in 1944 for the first time and adds several German scenarios, such as the attack into the Caucasus. The addition of hypothetical scenarios and two new full map campaigns offer countless extra gameplay hours in historically detailed settings and what-if alternatives.

Steel Inferno DLC in details

Steel Inferno opens up new areas of the War in the East 2 map: wth 8 new Scenarios and 2 new Campaigns, it will significantly expand your War in the East 2 experience.

For the first time in the War in the East 2 series, operations in all of Yugoslavia in 1944 are covered. Finnish forces also make an appearance in the area just north of Leningrad. Several scenarios cover the German attack into the Caucasus, including a hypothetical scenario that provides the Germans with an additional army for the campaign. “Drama on the Danube” scenario places the German player in the difficult position of trying to deal with the surrender of Romania and Bulgaria, and the difficulties of the German forces in Greece trying to escape north through partisan-controlled territory.

Also included are two new full map campaigns which begin with the German Operation Citadel in July 1943 and about a month before the Soviet Operation Bagration in May 1944.

Campaign and scenario list

1943 Campaign – 3 Jul 43 – 6 Jul 45 — A full Campaign starting out with the German Operation
Citadel, the largest tank battle in history. It allows players to explore the best way for the Germans to recover from the earlier Stalingrad debacle, and the best way for the Soviets to beat the Allies to Berlin.

1944 Campaign – 11 May 44 – 4 Jul 45 — A full Campaign that begins with the Soviets readying for the start of their massive Summer 1944 offensives. Within four months, these offensives led to the destruction of Army Group Center, and the capitulation of Romania and Finland. Within a year, Berlin had fallen. Can you do better?

Operation Kutuzov – 12 Jul 43 – 3 Oct 44 — Following the repulse of the German attack on Kursk, Operation Kutuzov was launched to retake Orel and push on towards Smolensk.

Road to Karelia – 22 Jun 41 – 11 Oct 41 — The first WitE2 scenario to include a section of the Finnish front. It covers the first 4 month German push to capture Leningrad, and the Finnish effort to push the Soviets out of Finnish Karelian territory, recently ceded during the Winter War.

Army Group A – Part I – Race for the Caucasus – 25 Jul 42 – 20 Nov 42 — Covers the German attempt to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus in Summer 1942. This oil could change the course of the war.

Case Blue Phase II 42-43 – 25 Jul 42 – 5 Mar 43 — Covers the critical phase of the German attack to seize Stalingrad, along with the rush south into the Caucasus. Assuming the Soviet player can hold on, it also covers the Soviet build up and counteroffensive that through the Germans back.

Case Blue Phase II 43-43 – Alternate – 25 Jul 42 – 5 Mar 43 — What if German High Command hadn’t dismantled their 11^th Army after the capture of Sevastopol, but instead had kept it together to help take Stalingrad and the Caucasus. In this scenario you can find out the answer.

Army Group A – Part II – Kuban Bridgehead – 1 Feb 43 – 10 October 43 – After the loss at Stalingrad, the German 17^th Army was ordered to hold on to the Kuban Bridgehead. They did for over 8 months. Can you?

AG C – Kutuzov to Bagration 43-44 – 12 Jul 43 – 2 Apr 44 — This Soviet offensive began as Operation Citadel ended, and recaptured Orel and Smolensk in less than 3 months. Can the Soviets drive further into Belorussia and destroy Army Group Center a year early?

Western Ukraine 43-44 – 3 Nov 43 – 25 Apr 44 — The Soviet push into Western Ukraine which led to their recapture of Odessa, and the Battle of the Kemenets-Podolsky pocket. A punishing offensive, but could the Soviets have done even better?

Drama on the Danube 44 – 20 Aug 44 – 5 May 45 — A complete look at the unusual and varied fighting across the Balkans in 1944-45. Starting with the conversion of Romania and Bulgaria into Soviet allies, the scenario also covers the desperate attempt of the German forces in Greece to escape north. Covers the transition of the Yugoslavian partisan war into being part of the front line, the Soviet advance through Hungary, the last major German offensive of the war near Budapest, and the fall of Vienna.”

Colour me very, very excited for this. I enjoyed working through the grand campaign, but smaller more manageable historical campaigns are a great way to get some gameplay in without having to commit to something so large. Suffice to say I’ll be breaking out my rulebook and refreshing my notes!

-Joe

Regiments: Review

I so desperately want to like WARNO. I like Cold War Gone Hot scenarios. I like army building/deck building in competitive wargames. I like pretty graphics and funky 80’s music. But, try as I might, I just can’t get the hang of it. Every time I try and play multiplayer, even when playing with friends, I find the inability to stop and assess the situation frustrating. If I were quicker, sharper, and a better commander, I could probably handle the micromanagement to a point where WARNO could be incredibly rewarding.

In fact, when playing Eugen’s latest entry in their wargames series, that feeling is so tantalizingly close that I find myself more annoyed than I think I have the right to be. I was wondering if I just had to decide that WARNO, and games like it, weren’t for me. Then Regiments appeared on the horizon, sun shining at its back, and it bellowed, “less micro!” and my heart sang.

*Pausable real time with a fascinating scale and little micromanagement. Sign me up!*

Regiments is as (you guessed it) regimental scale 3D real-time wargame about a fictitious Cold War Gone Hot scenario in 1989. Players take control of platoon-sized units and support assets to take control of linked capture points on a large map over several ‘phases’ of an operation.

The comparisons with the Red Dragon in the room are unavoidable, but I’m going to try and stick to talking about what Regiments does and how it feels. Which is ‘better’ will be up to your personal preference and desire for multiplayer.

This is a single player only experience, and it is kind of refreshing to see that angle taken with a game of this type. Real-time strategy style wargames often prioritize the competitive multiplayer aspect. That can be great fun, but it is nice to see the focus placed on making the game work for single player with the ability to give orders while paused and a scale that reduces the number of units you need to individually order.

*Removing the HUD can make for some great images. Our dug in West Germans repel an assault across a farmer’s field.*

Operations are the main method of playing Regiments. Operations see players equipping their regiment with additional resources by spending points to increase deployment size, defenses, or add divisional assets. They are then tossed into a large map with a series of objectives that need to be completed over a few ‘phases’ or individual battles. The situation can change from phase to phase, but generally you’ll be engaging enemy forces to capture and hold key strategic positions, though there is some objective variety and even a bit of a narrative throughout the operations to keep things fresh.

Gameplay is very similar to the Wargame series from Eugen with a few key differences. Generally, you control a platoon of tanks, mechanized infantry, or support vehicles as the smallest game unit. You have the usual suite of commands like an attack-move, a quick move, a reverse to preserve facing, and the basic real time strategy game commands. Using these, you maneuver your forces to find, engage, and destroy the enemy.

In practice, it feels great, and the limited number of commands means you’re quickly learning the key binds and commanding the battlefield like a pro. And you’ll need to. The AI can be quite good at providing a worthy opponent. Often they have numerically superior forces, but you will also see them supporting attacks with artillery, bombarding your own artillery, flanking, using concealment, and concentrating force for a counter attack. Regiments tends to keep you on your toes.

*Mechanized Infantry and their vehicles are a single in game unit, a decision I can readily appreciate.*

The phased battles also make for an interesting change to the general RTS formula. After a phase is complete, there is time to spend newly acquired resources on fixing up units or acquiring new assets, then the battle is rejoined with the changes from the last phase in play. It reminded me of a similar mechanic in the excellent Ultimate General Gettysburg, which saw the battlefield change over time as the battle progressed. Here units will get resupplied, reserve units can occupy captured control points, and the time of day and battlefield conditions will change. It presents a real sense of progress.

The Skirmish mode is also fun, but I don’t believe I will be playing it as often as I redo operations. The basics of gameplay are the same, with the exception that you can add assets at predefined segments of time, and that objectives shift as the battle goes on. These are great ways of keeping the appeal of the operations alive, and playing two against two with an AI companion is still very entertaining. It does lead to the one request I believe everyone is thinking about.

*Guess who’s going up that hill? You are, Mechanized Rifles! Don’t worry, we have a single Mortar Platoon to support you.* Resources will be stretched, but its how you use them.

There is no multiplayer. Honestly, there doesn’t need to be, and there probably shouldn’t be given what that would do to gameplay balance. But we can dream. I find Regiments to be much more approachable and playable than WARNO, and while I would like to play with friends… well, WARNO is right there, waiting for me to finally figure it out.

In the meantime, I will be playing and replaying Regiments. It spoke to me. I’m willing to bet it will to you too.

-Joe

Combat Mission: Cold War Review

I know the Combat Mission series can be a little divisive these days. The engine is older and there are some known issues that seem to accompany every release. For my own experience though, I don’t think I can look anywhere else for the sort of detailed, engrossing, and (dare I say) realistic gameplay that Combat Mission offers.

The series stands out as dominating a unique corner of our hobby, and for that alone I have to give it props. That does, however, make it harder to admit that there were some significant issues with Combat Mission: Cold War.

Soviet Paratroopers advancing on a US Listening Post

How Does Combat Mission: Cold War Play

Combat Mission is a tactical wargame focusing on the (usually) Brigade level and down combat in either real time or WEGO turns. Players issue orders to squads, teams, and vehicles and attempt to carry out certain mission objectives.

Gameplay focuses a great deal of detail on fog of war and command and control issues. What units can see and hear is far more important than how well they can shoot or how much armour their tank has. To succeed at Combat Mission requires a good deal of patience, strong tactical thinking, and a decent understanding of Second World War/Cold War/Modern combat systems.

What is different with Combat Mission Cold War?

This is both a positive and negative part of Combat Mission: Cold War. As with every new game in the series, Cold War uses the same engine under the hood to power the battles that play out on screen. The system is starting to show its age for sure, but it is no less pretty than most other wargames. In fact, I quite like how good Combat Mission games can look with large numbers of vehicles and units moving about and shooting. It’s definitely a simulation, so units may move a little strangely here and there, but you’ll see recognizable uniforms, weapon systems and armoured fighting vehicles.

The big difference with Cold War, is, well the Cold War. Taking placing mostly in 1979, but with scenarios through 1982, this edition of Combat Mission plays out a what-if scenario of a Soviet invasion of West Germany. There are three campaigns, one each from the US and Soviet perspective as well as a third campaign focusing on the National Training Center.

Scenarios are diverse and interesting, from platoon level attacks on Listening Posts, to full brigade assaults featuring butt-loads (official term) of T-72s, to little one offs like attempting to pull an engineer platoon and their escort out of a small town quickly being swarmed by Soviet troops. I personally had less fun with the NTC campaign stuff, because I’m simply less interested in simulating simulated training scenarios, but to each their own.

The best part of Cold War is getting to experience late 70’ss and early 80’s hardware. The game is set at a time when both sides had the material and opportunity to do real damage. Seeing my M60s struggle to dent the front armour of onrushing Soviet tanks, but also how quickly an ATGM or Shillelagh can stop the dead is sweaty fun.

It’s Not All Sunshine

I’ve been singing Cold War’s praises so far, because I genuinely had a good time playing the game. But it is not perfect. There are still some persistent bugs floating around that can get annoying. I’ve had some crashes to desktop during my gameplay time, which were the worst offenders.

I was also totally unable to get a game of PBEM++ to work. I tried several times with my co-host here Jack, and even tried with a nice gentleman from the Computer Wargames Facebook Group. Every time the game failed to load correctly, crashed, or failed to load and then crashed. It was a shame, because I was very much looking forward to the PBEM++ system that I use regularly with other Slitherine/Matrix Games like Field of Glory II. I did try to reach out on the Combat Mission Discord for help, but nothing really came of it. We’re going to keep trying, because I really want to experience multiplayer through PBEM++, but it definitely impacted my impression.

Finally, as mentioned above, this is the same engine as all the rest of the modern Combat Missions, so if you’ve got a problem with how those games run or how they model things, this version won’t change your mind. I still kick myself whenever I manage to get a squad to exit a building via the wrong door and it gets them lit up in a MOUT situation.

The smoke didn’t linger for the rearguard’s street crossing. RIP the poor engineer in the back there.

Final Thoughts

I guess I was super hyped up for this release. I did enjoy what I played, but I was a little deflated by the issues I encountered trying to get it to work with PBEM++. I still think this is a strong entry in the series, and the Cold War is a fascinating setting to explore. But if you’re not someone who is already on the Combat Mission bandwagon, this won’t do it for you, I can almost guarantee it. For those who do enjoy Combat Mission, as someone who has put good time into Shock Force 2 and Black Sea, there is a lot to like here, just be prepared for worse optics all around!

-Joe Fonseca

A solid entry to the Combat Mission series. Nothing revolutionary, some annoying bugs, but a good selection of scenarios and wonderfully modeled gear. If you’re a fan, you’re a fan. If not, best not start with Cold War.

You can find the game here. LTAW was given a review copy of this game. We get nothing if you click on this link.

Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive Review

It’s rare that a hex and counter wargame truly surprises me. I, like many of you, have been playing these types of games for years, and know what to expect from our niche genre. There will be familiar mechanics around movement, unit composition, statistics, combat odds, and supply lines. There will be detailed rules, long campaigns, short scenarios, archaic multiplayer systems and decent game editors.

And then there’s Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive.

Ardennes Offensive not only shakes up the formula by adding some fascinating depth to movement, fog of war, and combat, but it also manages to introduce these fresh gameplay features in a package that is both chock full of information, but also beautifully presented and manageably learnable.

How Does Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive Play?

Set during the so-famous-it-needs-no-description Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes Offensive offers two grand campaigns covering the full battle, and several smaller scenarios focusing in on major engagements like St. Vith and Bastogne. Turns are broken up into Morning, Mid-Day, Evening, and Night. Each hex represents a kilometer, and, in this iteration, units are calculated at the squad level, with individual weapons and stats tracked.

Ardennes Offensive uses the same base mechanics as found in previous Decisive Campaigns games (though this is my first one) as well as the stellar Shadow Empire and interesting sandbox Advances Tactics. The game is presented through a central map with unit, hex, and special information appearing on the sides and bottom of the screen. Turns are IGO-UGO, but with a new and well implemented system of interrupting fire that can halt units in their tracks. attacks are coordinated based on the defending hex, with two types of attack available: Ranged, which brings in mortars and artillery, and direct, which involves choosing the attacking units and the determination of the attack. Supply and traffic play significant roles, just as they did in the actual battle, and moving too many units over the same road in a turn will add additional movement costs to following units.

Overall, it may sound like fairly standard stuff, but Ardennes Offensive adds so many little things to the formula that make it pop.

Example of the Night Turn’s Visibility Restrictions. Legitimately Spooky.

The Little Things that Make it Pop

I need to start with my favourite part of Ardennes Offensive: Fog of War. This is the first wargame that actually gave me spooky vibes while playing. You cannot trust your eyes in Ardennes Offensive, as you cannot be 100% certain of a hex’s ownership unless you’ve got me sitting squarely in the hex.

This may sound annoying, but it doesn’t feel that way in practice. You’ll see indicators near the frontline representing sounds of unknown origin reported by your supply units as they deliver goods to the front. You’ll see a supposed frontline cobbled together from your limited understanding of enemy movements. You’ll be able to set up, and fall into, ambushes along key roads. At night, visibility is reduced to almost nothing. It is an excellent and atmospheric system that sells the initial chaos and subsequent unease of the Battle of the Bulge.

Command and Control Range clearly illustrated

Visually and auditorily, Ardennes Offensive is simply amazing. I have low expectations for most wargames, but the artwork on unit and hexes are wonderfully detailed with a painterly quality. Hexes are readable and easy to navigate. Units are identifiable right from the get go with their most prominent component showing on the counter face. But the best part are the little details. As the time of day shifts, the background for each unit card will change to reflect the overhead light. These wonderful little bits of finesse add so much to the experience. The soundtrack is also worth mentioning. There is a somber and haunting collection of tracks to accompany gameplay in Ardennes Offensive. The music is great and perfectly fits the mood of the battle. Night turns especially, with the reduced visibility, the changed map graphics, and the haunting music add up to become one of the most immersive hex and counter games I’ve ever played.

Cards allow for strategic choices like calling in air strikes or setting up road-blocks

Final Thoughts

I have only one bad to say about this game. It crashed on me more than once. I’m seeing that patches are already on the way, and I can probably blame this on my advance copy, but I do feel the need to report that it happened. Honestly though, don’t let that stop you from trying this one out.

I was so pleasantly surprised by how tight a package Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Assault was, I had trouble articulating it for this review. This is an excellent addition to the world of digital hex and counter wargaming and the new standard for what can be done visually and auditorily to make modern wargames feel modern without losing the mechanical charm we all love. There is plenty of content, the AI does a solid job, the game is learnable, and everything is wrapped up in a nice package. A must play.

-Joe Fonseca

Let’s Talk About Wargames were provided with a review copy of this game. You can check out the game here. We get nothing if you click on this link.

Warhammer 40k: Battlesector Review

This review took me a lot longer to write than I anticipated. I managed to write about each of the preview builds that Warhammer 40k: Battlesector experienced but when it came time to write the review of the full game, I didn’t really know how to go about it. I had already talked about how the game plays, what I thought was good and bad, and what I had hoped would change for the full release. I guess seeing that nothing had really changed between the preview and the final build threw me off. It made me want to finish literally everything to do with the game before I wrote out the review. But that didn’t happen for a long, long time.

So, apologies, but here it is:

Once More into the Battlesector

For those who missed out on our previews, Warhammer 40k: Battlesector is a tactical turn based wargame focusing on positioning and managing unit abilities to stem a ferocious tide of Tyranid invaders on a desert moon. On the surface it looks like a fairly simple game, and while it isn’t as complex as some of the other things we cover on this blog, there is still enough tactical decision-making to make it interesting. This becomes more true the deeper into the game you get. When you’re looking at the relative firepower and accuracy drop off of the bolters carried by your Primaris Marines and your Sisters of Battle to try and properly equip for a mission, it feels like a good amount of thinking.

Each mission is accompanied by a story, told through the perspectives of different heroes you get to bring along, before opening up to force composition. Equipping a force for each scenario is fairly open and, coupled with investing points into upgrades that benefit different troop types, has a lot of potential for variety.

The missions themselves tend to play our similarly each time you go through them, so Battlesector falls into one of wargaming’s (potential) traps by becoming more of a puzzle: Here is the challenge this mission presents, here are the forces you’ve built up for the mission, how will you apply those forces to this puzzle? I don’t think this is a bad thing. It gives some replayability to the game, and if you’re like me, you’ll feel drawn to completing missions a few times to try and minimize casualties.

The Really Good Bits

Since I’ve written so much about this game already, I thought I would just try to hammer down the bits that I really like, and the bits that I’m not so keen on. As always, let’s start with the good.

The narrative and presentation is suitably 40k, and that’s a lot of fun. Yes the story is hokey, but it actually pokes at some of the interesting aspects of the universe’s new changes. How would first generation Space Marines deal with this upstart second generation? What does this new crusade mean for the cherished old ways? It never really dives too deep, but it is fun. It helps that each character delivers their cutscene lines with the kind of over the top gravitas everyone expects from a 40k property.

The tactical considerations related to range elevate what could have been a turkey shoot. The enemy, being Tyranids, are aliens that tend to rush towards your soldiers in an attempt to overwhelm them. Therefore dealing with the monsters while maintaining low casualties comes down to the correct application of your force’s firepower. Each weapon has an optimal range, and it is incredibly important to make sure you’re taking advantage of that with almost every shot. Failing to do so will mean gruesome death for your marines and sisters.

Finally, the game looks and sounds great. It is nice to see such effort placed into these departments. The included photo mode is also a fun addition that allows you to highlight some of the more interesting clashes you’ll find yourself in.

The Not Really Good Bits

This is my biggest issue, and one that I complained about during the betas. Each mission ends with you mopping up every Tyranid unit on the map. Sometimes, this isn’t really an issue. Other times, there are two units left and because you sent the majority of your force one way, you need to spend turns shifting them the other way in order to finally mop up. So few missions benefit from this that I really struggle to understand why it was included.

There are only two playable factions. This game has the potential to be a fun multiplayer game and a good proxy for Warhammer 40k on the computer, but it is going to have a rocky start if there are only two factions and the rest are gated behind DLC and time. I understand why this is how it happened, but I’m thinking about the long term survivability of the game.

Conclusions

It’s fun! That’s really the take away here. Warhammer 40k Battlesector is a fun tactical wargame. It’s not overly deep, but it’s not too shallow to prevent any tactical decision-making from occurring. It’s a good romp through a well presented bit of the 40k universe with some interesting mechanics surrounding range and optimal ability use. It won’t be for everyone, but it can be for many.

-Joe Fonseca

Slitherine/Matrix provided us with a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. Check out the game here. We get nothing if you click on that link.

I Played a Mobile “Wargame” for a Full Month.

So a while ago I purchased a White Dwarf magazine from my local hobby shop. I used to read White Dwarf quite a bit, but fell off the wagon years ago as the magazine degraded into a flashy catalogue and I got busy with other things. This issue caught my eye because it included a dozen Warhammer PC game codes. I’ve got a few of the more prominent ones, but I thought it would be interesting to see what the good and bad of digital Warhammer games are these days and maybe squeeze a few reviews out of the deal.

One that immediately tripped me up as I went to redeem it was Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest. This was a mobile wargame in the tradition of Clash of Clans. Something I vowed, as someone who respects video games, to never willingly engage in. But here it was, a code for some free stuff to get you off the ground. A morbid curiosity grew in me, followed by a crafty rationalization to convince myself this would be a good idea. Why don’t I play using what this code gives me and see how long I can last?

The experiment opened my eyes to a sad reality. But I’ll get to that.

How Does Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest Play?

So there isn’t really much game here. The general gameplay loop revolves around timers. You want a high power score. In order to get a high power score, you’re going to need soldiers and defences for your fortress. This is accomplished by acquiring resources, constructing buildings, researching new skills, and training soldiers. It sounds pretty typical for a strategy game, but in Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest, as in most other mobile wargames, there is no real strategy involved. Each building linearly increases in value and power as it levels up. Some allow you to gain more resources, some to recruit more troops, some to let you scout farther or faster. None of these things require choice as there is room for it all in your base.

The true enemy is time. Every build requires resources and time. Some of the early timers are easy. 10 minutes here, 30 minutes there. But by the time I finally hit my limit, I was waiting a full week to finish researching tier three units. Of course, you can always pay real money to reduce timers.

Combat is another simple numbers game. There are plenty of AI ‘armies’ dotted around the world map that you can attack, but combat consists of selecting an army, a general to lead it that hopefully makes good use of your troops, and sending them on their way. Units do damage to each other, you earn some items for your trouble, and the army marches back.

PVP is where these games flourish, but the tragic part is that it will always come down to the player with higher power winning. There is no tactical choice to be made. I never lost a fight against a human player, mostly because I never engaged unless I had far superior power, but really, my safety came down to the true meat of these mobile wargames, clans.

The Social Trap of Mobile Wargames

Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest, like most similar games, heavily encourages players to join a clan. This helps reduce timers, allows players to share some resources, and creates a sense of community. The community aspect is frightening in its ability to quickly ground down players on the fence about spending. Each server wide event shows exactly how much help each member is contributing to a victory, and is quick to show relative power levels. Those who spend some money to help out and top off a win for their clan are greeted with praise by their fellows. Those who do not are, in my experience, just kind of ignored.

PVP being a clan versus clan thing also helps to inflame players and goad them towards spending money. Several times in my month I saw enemies from different clans swear across the open chat to out buy each other in an effort to win personal or clan glory. I also saw players spending in order to act as protectors for their weaker clan mates. It was almost baffling until I realized just how important these games could be to certain people.

The Vicious Necessity of Mobile Games

I tried to chat a lot with my clanmates while I played. Mostly about the limited strategies we could employ to improve our lot, but also about their lives. More of them than I expected were playing this because they couldn’t really do anything else. Several spoke openly about disabilities preventing them from playing other games or engaging in other hobbies. Others spoke of this game as their escape from a difficult world, using the easy mechanics and linear progression for a sense of satisfaction and fun, and even other seemed to have little else besides the game to spend their time and money on.

It made me more than a little sad, but also, I think, helped me understand why these games are they way they are. Yes they exist to bilk money out of their players at an absurd rate, but I also see that this connection of real money to in game prowess helps those who cannot find that power elsewhere to feel good about themselves. Is it an actual solution to real life problems? I don’t really think so. But I understand it now. For some, spending money on these kinds of games and participating in a community is an important part of their lives that fulfills them in a way they can’t or aren’t getting elsewhere. I’m willing to bet that if the real money component wasn’t part of the equation, there wouldn’t be the same sense of real impact.

For the record, almost everyone I spoke to while playing the game said they had a budget they were keeping to, though I suspect some were pushing it. I know these games do everything they can to get players to fork over cash, and I really do wish there were some better ways for people to get at that same sense of community. But for some, this seems like all they can do, and I can’t fault them for that.

I took all images from Steam. Don’t spend money on this game if you can avoid it.

Let’s Talk About Wargames Weekly Roundup 2021/08/06

Hey folks! This will be a special, weekly column where we review what we reviewed, talk about what games we’re playing (for review or otherwise), drop some facts about new podcast content, and other news of that nature!

Jack: This week, my AC continued to be broken (and has been since the beginning of July. I crave death.), so I snuck downstairs late at night to my PC when it’s cooler, as the PC room is obviously the hottest area in the house. I got a bit of time in on the latest Panzer Corps 2 DLC, which is an interesting pivot for the DLC series that I appreciate, more on this to come as I get more playtime in, of course. Similarly, I played a little bit of Highfleet, which reminds me of some of those old flash games you’d find online years ago, but in a good way. Certainly very unique! Full thoughts on the way there as well.

In my time stuck in my room with my work laptop, I haven’t been able to do much wargaming besides, but I did watch an 80’s classic and prepare to play the associated board game, which is baffling that it exists. Expect a review soon of a game that makes light of a certain “danger zone.”

We’re also recording a new episode over the weekend with a guest, in which we’ll be talking about the gaming community and how it treats certain members, both as players and as developers. Expect that episode out towards the end of the month!

Joe: I’m struggling! Work is still eating up 90% of my time and trying to get some gaming in for reviews in that final 10% is a bit of a challenge. But I am happy to say that I’m enjoying what I am getting my hands on.

I’m getting closer to completing Warhammer 40k Battlesector, and I’m happy to report in the meantime that my initial opinions have not changed very much. We’ll have to see what the end game content does for me.

I’m also chipping away at another more traditional wargame that should delight those of you who are interested in some classic JTS action. Hopefully that will come out as soon as I finish another couple scenarios.

Finally, and happily, the latest drops from Microprose are looking to be something special. With Jack’s take on Highfleet forthcoming, and my own look at Carrier Command 2, fans of outlandish and stylish wargaming have a lot to look forward to.

Some Official Updates from Publishers:

Slitherine is happy to report on the progress of Masters of Magic with this neat update about in-game events:

“There are several different types of events in Master of Magic, and they will all make a comeback in the remake: The map of Master of Magic is filled with various locations that can be explored by the player. These include things like fallen temples, ruins or mysterious caves where both treasure and challenge may await. There are also three power nodes, Sorcery, Nature and Chaos, and the magic towers that serve as portals between Arcanus and Myrror. All of those locations have an event attached to them, so that the appropriate path will trigger – combat if there are defenders, or loot if it is abandoned. Those events are fairly straight forward and apart from some extra fluff here or there, they will remain unchanged.“

“The land is scattered with the ruins of some past civilizations. Who were they, where are they now? No one knows. Beware, this place may be guarded.”

“All of the random events from the original MoM are returning, but they are slightly modified. In the remake, we want to give the wizard a chance to react to some of those events, instead of them being a simple notification of what occurred. You will always have the option to simply accept the default result, but in some cases, you will be able to either alter or even avoid the consequences. This will typically be achieved by offering a payment via mana/gold or other means that an event may respond to.”

Slitherine also released a new dev blog about Distant Worlds 2: You can read it here.

Age of Empires IV’s closed BETA is underway having started on August 5, and while personally we haven’t managed to get in on that, I’m cautiously optimistic about how AOE4 is shaping up. Let us know (if it won’t break a NDA) how much fun you’re having if you’re one of the lucky thousands who got in on it.

We hope everyone has a happy and safe weekend.

Home of Wargames Live NEW GAMES!

Slitherine just finished with their Home of Wargames Live Event and there was quite a bit of new stuff to take in. From interviews to game previews, the talk was very professional and very interesting. The future of digital wargames looks bright. Here are our favourite announcements!

Warhammer 40k Battlesector

I’ve personally had a lot of fun with both previews of 40k Battlesector, but the trailer showed some stuff off that I haven’t had a chance to interact with yet. The army building and upgrading gives it a bit of a tabletop vibe, but the gameplay is still very computer wargame feeling, which isn’t a bad thing. Dealing with proper Line of Sight, optimal weapon ranges, and the relentlessly attacking AI is definitely fun, but feels more like a PC wargame than the tabletop. There is a cool photo mode to get some great screenshots to show off. It’s been a lot of fun to play the previews, and our full preview will be coming soon!

Combat Mission Cold War

Bil Hardenberger from Battlefront emphasized the sandbox nature of Cold War, with several years and therefore different styles of warfare to implement in scenarios. They’ve also included a wide variety of equipment for the different factions and terrain types. Also, cluster munitions for the first time (oh my!) I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Distant Worlds 2

The supposed Stellaris Killer! No release date yet, but apparently it’s coming along. It was great to see the game in action for the first time. The graphics are looking great and it’s nice to see the full zoom from galaxy to home world and back. The ship design screen looks expansive. Like I could get lost building ships for hours. Same for the research and technology tree. There is just so much there. Clone troopers? Yes please. The preview dealt with some pirate problems, and it sounds like the diplomacy and military systems are pretty involved. When the devs talked through an invasion of an independent world, I thought it might really do what I want a game like this to do. I really hope Distant Worlds 2 lives up, because I’m hankering for a new deep space game. Also, giant space spiders!

Starship Troopers Live Gameplay

We finally get to know more! Mostly Single Player focused RTS game controlling the Terran Army and attempting to not get your guys ruined by tons of bugs. This is a game based on the movie license, but looks like its trying to keep the film’s tongue in cheek anti-militarism and over the top violence. Check out my first preview/rant about the different versions of Starship Troopers. There is some emphasis on pushing outwards to capture radio towers, which give you resources .It’s looking like a fun defensive focused RTS, but it’s also clear that the game is far from finished at this point.

Valor & Victory

This is my favourite tabletop squad level game, and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on a proper digital version. It’s a great system and it looks like there is a lot of scenarios and the possibility to make new scenarios after launch. From the talk given by Lance Craner, V&V is almost ready with just some AI tweaks and writing to handle.

WEGO World War II: Stalingrad

A Wego hex based wargame covering the battles around Stalingrad. This looks really interesting to me. Orders are given by both sides and then executed at the same time. I can’t wait to see how this works out with multiplayer. If it does what I think it should, I can see this really taking off as a new way of playing hex wargames.

Campaign Series Vietnam

Oh I’ve been waiting for this for so long. It looks like the wait has been worth it. The Campaign Series has a lot of depth to it, and it looks like they aren’t skipping on the amount of content that is going to be present in this one. The inclusion of the French-Indochina war period is especially welcome.

-Rapid Fire New Games!-

Master of Magic

Master of Magic is a reboot of a classic 4x fantasy game helmed by the developers of Thea the Awakening, Muha Games. Master of Magic has its own well developed fantasy world to draw from. Players take on the roll of a wizard battling to become the best wizard of them all. The development team has some experience doing this kind of game, so I’m glad it’s in their hands. There is city management, army composition, and most importantly, massive world altering spells. There are five schools of magic, and depending on how many books a wizard has in a school, more or less spells are available. There should be some fun spell manipulation. It’s currently in early alpha, but looks like a promising reboot of an old classic!

Scramble: Battle of Britain

Scramble is a WEGO dogfighting wargame that pits squadrons of WWII aircraft against each other in an innovative system. Players issue orders, then play out in real time, and at the very end they get to see the entire dogfight play back in its entirety. That sounds like a great feature to me, and the 3D art and design is beautiful. Players get a set amount of time per aircraft to individually deal with its flight path, its pitch, roll, and all that while planning for future combat. With a multiplayer feature allowing for split control of different squadrons, I’m looking forward to this as a great multiplayer game. There are also campaigns, and squadron management, aircraft customization, and a lot of other upcoming features like gamepad support. But the focus is on match play with other humans. Really one to keep an eye on.

Broken Arrow

Wow this looks good. From a new team headed by a veteran of Eugen of Wargame/Steel Division fame, this looks like an interesting new bit of competition in the real time modern war wargame space. They say they’re trying to find the sweet spot between action and realism, and I really hope they get there. The visuals are amazing at this point. This is a combined arms game with a lot of detail, including unit customization. There are shore landings, air insertion of men and vehicles, and even tactical nukes.

Stargate Time Keepers!

-Joe Fonseca

Warplan: Pacific Review

Often when I talk about digital wargames I think about how can I classify them to help give readers a quick sense of what to expect. Sometimes trying to pinpoint the right word or phrase is difficult, sometimes I have no trouble at all. Warplan: Pacific falls into the latter camp. This is a digital board wargame. Think of everything you like and don’t like about pulling out your favourite larger than average board wargame and Warplan: Pacific has it. All of it.

Ok, It’s A Boardgame, But Really What Is It?

Warplan: Pacific is an operational level wargame covering the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War. This includes every major nation involved from December 1941 to September 1945. There is also a good Second Sino-Japanese War scenario that ends where the Pacific War begins. The map is large, with 80km per hex, and units generally at the division level. The object of the game is as grand as its scale. The Allies must force Japan to surrender, and Japan must hold on until the clock runs out.

With a game of this scale players are covering pretty much everything, from island hopping, to trade interdiction, to jungle fighting in Burma, and the massive slog across China. There are a number of generic units for each land, sea, and air, with the ability to customize some as the game goes on, giving units engineering or dedicated anti-tank attachments, for example.

On each turn, players will be spending their unit’s operation points to move and fight, track trade routes and logistics, and manage resources to build new units for later in the war. Battles can happen on land, in the air, or at sea and the factors that influence combat are fairly straight forward, and an odds calculator helps keep things in perspective.

Warplan: Pacific has pretty much everything I expect a game like this to have, but for some reason, it just didn’t really click with me. When playing for this review, I found myself doing a few turns and then saving and quitting. There was nothing overtly wrong or uncomfortable with the game. In fact I like most of its systems. But for some reason the spark was just never really there. I’ll try to get into it below. But be assured that I spent a long time thinking about why that might be for me personally, and it may not apply to you.

Warplan: Pacific Is Good, But Maybe Not Great?

First and probably most importantly for something reading this and considering picking Warplan: Pacific up. It is a good game, and an understandable one, but it requires work.

There is no proper tutorial in Warplan: Pacific, instead the Second Sino-Japanese War scenario doubles as an intro scenario. But the truth is, this is a game for which the manual is required reading. No reasonable amount of play will allow you to divine that attacks under 4:1 odds are risky, that DD units placed on convoy routes have a 12 hex radius for protection, or the tricky system for committing and supporting naval landings. I know I’m not a genius tactician by any stretch, but it took me three restarts at the Second Sino-Japanese War scenario, reading the manual to figure things out as I went, before I was comfortable with jumping into the main scenario. I don’t really think that is a good intro to any game.

Now that isn’t to say that Warplan: Pacific is needlessly obtuse. Once you learn what everything means and how it interacts (again, a lot of front-loaded reading) almost everything is there in game for your consideration. The information on each token is digestible. There are a variety of settings for what information is displayed on counters. The Build, Convoy, Report, and Combat Log tabs have pretty much everything you’ll need to understand what’s happening on a given turn. The map is readable, and moving units and attacking is a piece of cake. I even think that Warplan: Pacific has one of the nicer systems for visually displaying enemy movement and combats in the previous turn, supplemented by the very handy Combat Log.

The AI is competent, at least on the defensive. The game recommends playing the full campaign as the allies because the AI struggles to manage all the Allies’ units late in the war. While I have encountered the AI make some overly aggressive plays, like throwing tons of units into my entrenched and supported units along the Irrawaddy or getting their subs sunk in well protected convoys, for the most part they are a worthy adversary. They try to make encirclements and cut supply lines on land at least, and know when to push against tiring or weakening units along the line. I’m perfectly content playing against it, at any rate.

The boardgame qualities shine through with the simplicity of the overall system and what players can do on a turn. There is no counter stacking, HQ units automatically give a bonus to friendly units. Naval counters are just organized by their lead ship type (so a CV counter instead of counters for each ship that would normally accompany a carrier) and aircraft can be on either Mission mode or Support mode. Supply and Logisitics are just as important, but they function like boardgame supply, with units tracing a line that is reduced over rough terrain back to a supply zone. This means a turn is completeable in a decent amount of time. No three hour turn one here. Things are abstracted yes, but not in a way that I feel hurts the game.

So…What’s my problem? Why doesn’t it click for me? I love the setting, I have several actual boardgames that cover this period. It just… doesn’t do it for me. It’s good. It does everything I want a game like it to do. I was nonplussed that I had to read the entire manual cover to cover to feel like I could make the most of the game, but that generally ends up happening for most wargames these days still. (Still don’t think it should!)

I think Warplan: Pacific is exactly the right game for some. Perhaps I need to give it another shot after some time away, but for now I’ll be taking a break from Warplan: Pacific. I think it’s good. I really do. Maybe you’ll think it’s great?

Warplan: Pacific is a solid operational wargame with a good boardgame-like feel. There is a lot of required reading, but afterwards the game flows well and players have a lot to work with. It’s definitely a good game.

-Joe Fonseca

Slitherine provided a review copy of Warplan: Pacific. You can find the game here: Warplan: Pacific. LTAW earns nothing if you buy Warplan: Pacific from this link.

Combat Mission Then and Now: Checking Out 2000’s Beyond Overlord

Recently, Jack and I both have been playing the latest Combat Mission games in order to review them for the blog. Check out Jack’s review of Shock Force 2, if you haven’t, and keep an eye out for my take on Black Sea Friday! But all this playing of excellent tactical simulation games got me thinking. It may have been 20 odd years, but I have memories of playing a Combat Mission game way back in the day. Digging around I stumbled across Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord, the first of Battlefront’s Combat Mission games and a fond memory of bygone times. It turns out that GOG.com has the first three Combat Mission games for very reasonable prices, so I jumped back in to see how far the series has come.

They look like painted miniature soldiers, but they die like men.

It’s a bit clunky going back, I’ll admit. The UI has certainly seen some growth between classic Combat Mission and the more modern titles. Rather than a nice compact list of possible actions along the bottom UI, things are done with a right-click menu. Still functional, but there’s definitely an upgrade going forward. The basic mechanics of maneuvering and positioning teams is still familiar and after a few minutes of getting used to it I was back to splitting teams, order scouts forward, covering with bases of fire, and all the fun stuff you get up to in a CM game.

I decided to try my hand at the Canadian Armageddon campaign out of a sense of patriotic duty. Getting stuck in with a brigade of the South Saskatchewan Regiment it was time to clear houses and secure a small French town without armour support, of course. Why would I need that?

Just like the modern games, creating a base of fire and scouting are essential tactics.

I’m happy to report that it was just as much fun as the later CM games are. It’s decidedly messier, with map positioning and overall management less intuitive, but it’s still just as entertaining to see orders carried out, see units trying to adapt to changing situations, and cringing when a poor order leads to more casualties than you were willing to accept.

Graphically, it’s obviously much simpler, but the oversized infantry models, the fact that each figure represents a few men, and the distinctly differentiated terrain makes classic CM feel more like a tabletop wargame than the modern games. There is a bit more rigidity to every action and order, but it just reinforces the boardgame feeling.

Another Urban Environment, another delicate maneuver. From France to Ukraine

I was honestly expecting to be underwhelmed. Rose tinted glasses can only go so far and 21 years is a long time in terms of videogame development. The recent Combat Missions have really hit me with just how good they are, so I figured there must be a lot separating them from the classic models. An there is, truth be told, but the classics are still absolutely playable and do a great job of conveying the overall feel of CM, albeit with a simpler tabletop aesthetic, than I was expecting.

It helps that Beyond Overlord, Afrika Korps, and Barbarossa to Berlin are all on GOG for under $10 CAD each. They get cheaper during sales too. As an exercise in feeling old, or if the modern Combat Missions are out of your price range and you’ve already played the free demos, I’d recommend picking up one of the classics to dip your toes. There’s a lot of content and I’m absolutely floored by how well they stand the test of time.

-Joe