Regiments - Cold War real-time tactics wargame from the new MicroProse

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://www.microprose.com/games/regiments





Microprose announced another game.

 

[Infinitron]

Looks like this game has been development since at least 2017: https://www.indiedb.com/games/regiments

 

[CaffeineConquistador]

How much did they have to gloss over to make the late-80s, post-Afghan Soviet military actually worth a piss?

 

[agris]

Infinitron autism demands a microprose tag for this one

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Hace El Oso]

Ahh, too bad I missed that playtest, I would have signed up for it. I don't suppose anyone here tried it?

EDIT: Nevermind, it’s still available. I’m looking forward to giving it a try, after reading Parsimonious Cook’s impressions.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Played the current demo/playtest – I would characterise the game as a very competent Wargame clone with distinct storyfag flavour.

If you played any of the Wargame titles (Wargame, Air-Land Battle, Red Dragon, there is also upcoming game called Warno from the same devs who were apparently jewed out of their franchise name by the publisher) you will have a pretty good idea about the basics of what Regiments offers. You command platoon sized units on a fairly large map in the 1989 central Europe. There is a wide variety of unit types:

Recon (stealthy and long detection range)
Mech/motor inf. (can embark/disembark from transports to maximise movement speed/firepower, but always operates together with transports as a single entity, highly effective against tanks and other vehicles at close range)
Tanks (generally rule at 2-3 km distance, highly vulnerable to air and inf at close range)
Tank destroyers (good against vehicles if they get the first shot, fragile)
Arty (on and off map, on map arty is highly powerful and obviously fragile)
AA (arty like Shilka and Vulcan is OK against air and light ground targets, SAMs are great against air, but helpless against anything else)
Air (helis function like normal units, airplanes are on call support, can be devastating if there is no AA)
Logistics (resupply and repair other units, generally indispensable as they should be)

Each unit type of every faction has multiple variants (in the playtest USSR, FRG and US have 3-4 types of tanks for example) with different stats. The units work in somewhat rock-paper-scissors fashion, ie. Infantry at close range will dominate any unit, while tanks do the same at longer ranges etc, though this mostly serves to motivate the player to use combined arms, instead of just spamming tanks. Game is real time with pause and adjustable time compression.

Each map contains multiple “points of interest” that serve as resource points in CoH/DoW style RTS, ie once captured they provide you with some quantity of supplies and some get you victory points depending on the mission type. There are three types of missions in the demo:
Breakthrough (you must take points of interest on the other edge of the map)
Conquer (you must take and hold key points of interest for the duration of the mission)
Defend (hold key points of interest by the end of the mission)

What sets Regiments apart is more emphasis on RPG and even storyfag elements. Various regiments you can select (starting factions confirmed for release are East/West Germany, US, USSR and Belgium) have various characteristics that translate into possibilities in unit selection and tactical support options. The Soviet regiment available in the playtest for example has access to tactical ballistic missile strikes and attached East German tank platoons (they have T72M1s and T55s which are inferior to the regiment´s own T64Bs and T80s, but can come in handy in situations when you don’t want to risk your own tanks, with upgrades they get access to mobile SAM launchers, which are actually great) from the start and can unlock various upgrades (additional off map arty, on map Grad MLRS units, replacement of T64Bs by T80s etc). Other regiments will obviously come with different perks and playstyles.

Missions are handled in a somewhat specific way, in the demo there is an operation (basically a short campaign) which has seven phases (missions) that last 20 minutes each. There are three objectives to be fulfilled (break through Bundeswehr lines, take an airport and hold it against US counterattack), each with a separate map. It is up to you how fast you can make it through them, but the operation will last the seven phases in any case (ie if you manage to break through and take the airfield in four missions, you will spend remaining three having to defend the airfield against Americans), the outcome of the operation is decided by the number of victory points you have by the end. On full release the campaign will consist of a string of operations, though operations are also to be playable on their own.

During missions you can deploy units up to your points limit (see below), units gain experience, can be repaired and resupplied by logistics units or in your deployment zone (the initial point of interest that you own at the start of the mission), however they can only get replacements (tanks deploy in units of three or four) after retreating from the battlefield (there is a CoH style retreat button). Retreating is generally superior option to getting your units completely wiped out (your can preserve XP level and there is a limit on how many times you can redeploy destroyed units before they are depleted, ie you can run out of specific unit types). Retreated units are on a timed cooldown in which they repair and resuply and after that they can once more be deployed.

Suppression is a thing in the game and unlike in most games it applies to all unit types (ie. even tanks and aircraft can be suppressed, not just infantry). Suppressed units receive stat penalties, though suppression is especially useful against fixed-wing aircraft, who become largely ineffective or even abandon their attack run altogether – AA therefore doesn’t need to shoot them down (which usually requires higher XP levels), just firing at them is usually enough to prevent significant damage. Key is to have your AA units within range of your important stuff (easier said than done, since you will mostly have 1 or 2 deployed in most situations), since airstrikes can be really devastating and NATO is spamming them pretty hard in the demo. Funnily enough, aircraft can be suppressed even by massive explosions on the ground – at one point two west German Alpha jets accidentally flew by the area that I just hit with a tactical ballistic missile and the explosion was enough to persuade them to leave without dropping anything. The higher stage of suppression is panic (while suppression is caused by enemy fire, panic is caused by loses), which applies even higher penalties and when your units start panicking its usually better to withdraw them.

In between missions you go to the regiment management screen, where you can spend “operational authority” (ie the game´s currency) earned by fulfilling objectives on a whole lot of various things that include:

- Replacements for lost units
- Upgrades for units (better vehicles, additional units attached to platoons, off map support)
- Regimental abilities

o Deployment points (ie how many units you can keep in the field at any one time)
o Tactical support points (spent on calling in off map support fires)
o Supply points (how much supplies are available in your deployment zones)
o Engineering points (used to build fortifications during deployment phase)​

Replacements tend to be a no-brainer, but all options (well, Engineering points are primarily relevant for defence missions) are very attractive and useful, which makes spending OA both challenging and fun.

This screen also gives you short updates on the current situation on the frontlines and more importantly lets you select event cards before every mission:

- You start with four randomly selected cards, you have to pick one for each mission, once all cards are used up, you get a new quartet
- Two cards are positive (extra arty support, unexpected allied units etc) and two are negative (decreased effectivity of SAMs due to radar jamming, increased repair times due to bombed supply convoys etc), that opens up opportunities for strategizing with them (ie if mission looks easy you may want to take a negative card to make sure you will have advantage when going gets rough, if you don’t rely on air support you don’t mind a card that gives the enemy complete air superiority etc)
- The full release will also include an option for “chaos mode” which will assign the cards randomly without you being able to decide yourself

All in all, as a storyfag and fan of RPG elements in wargames I very much like what I have seen in the playtest, the game is more appealing to me than the Wargame series (let alone Warno, which appears to be a rehash of Air-Land Battle without much added value). I hope the devs eventually get to add more NATO a WP nations, would be also cool if there were tactical nukes, but I guess that would be difficult to balance. In any case, this is something to keep an eye on.

There are three Wargame-likes coming out in 2022 - Warno, Regiments and Broken Arrow (this one is set in modern day, USA vs Russia), funily enough Warno from the founders of the genre seems the least interesting one by far. Broken Arrow didnt have a playtest/demo yet, so the jurry is still out on that one, Regiments seem to be very solid contender, especially given that it is apparently being done mostly by a single guy in Ukraine.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

Played the current demo/playtest – I would characterise the game as a very competent Wargame clone with distinct storyfag flavour.

If you played any of the Wargame titles (Wargame, Air-Land Battle, Red Dragon, there is also upcoming game called Warno from the same devs who were apparently jewed out of their franchise name by the publisher) you will have a pretty good idea about the basics of what Regiments offers. You command platoon sized units on a fairly large map in the 1989 central Europe. There is a wide variety of unit types:

Recon (stealthy and long detection range)
Mech/motor inf. (can embark/disembark from transports to maximise movement speed/firepower, but always operates together with transports as a single entity, highly effective against tanks and other vehicles at close range)
Tanks (generally rule at 2-3 km distance, highly vulnerable to air and inf at close range)
Tank destroyers (good against vehicles if they get the first shot, fragile)
Arty (on and off map, on map arty is highly powerful and obviously fragile)
AA (arty like Shilka and Vulcan is OK against air and light ground targets, SAMs are great against air, but helpless against anything else)
Air (helis function like normal units, airplanes are on call support, can be devastating if there is no AA)
Logistics (resupply and repair other units, generally indispensable as they should be)

Each unit type of every faction has multiple variants (in the playtest USSR, FRG and US have 3-4 types of tanks for example) with different stats. The units work in somewhat rock-paper-scissors fashion, ie. Infantry at close range will dominate any unit, while tanks do the same at longer ranges etc, though this mostly serves to motivate the player to use combined arms, instead of just spamming tanks. Game is real time with pause and adjustable time compression.

Each map contains multiple “points of interest” that serve as resource points in CoH/DoW style RTS, ie once captured they provide you with some quantity of supplies and some get you victory points depending on the mission type. There are three types of missions in the demo:
Breakthrough (you must take points of interest on the other edge of the map)
Conquer (you must take and hold key points of interest for the duration of the mission)
Defend (hold key points of interest by the end of the mission)

What sets Regiments apart is more emphasis on RPG and even storyfag elements. Various regiments you can select (starting factions confirmed for release are East/West Germany, US, USSR and Belgium) have various characteristics that translate into possibilities in unit selection and tactical support options. The Soviet regiment available in the playtest for example has access to tactical ballistic missile strikes and attached East German tank platoons (they have T72M1s and T55s which are inferior to the regiment´s own T64Bs and T80s, but can come in handy in situations when you don’t want to risk your own tanks, with upgrades they get access to mobile SAM launchers, which are actually great) from the start and can unlock various upgrades (additional off map arty, on map Grad MLRS units, replacement of T64Bs by T80s etc). Other regiments will obviously come with different perks and playstyles.

Missions are handled in a somewhat specific way, in the demo there is an operation (basically a short campaign) which has seven phases (missions) that last 20 minutes each. There are three objectives to be fulfilled (break through Bundeswehr lines, take an airport and hold it against US counterattack), each with a separate map. It is up to you how fast you can make it through them, but the operation will last the seven phases in any case (ie if you manage to break through and take the airfield in four missions, you will spend remaining three having to defend the airfield against Americans), the outcome of the operation is decided by the number of victory points you have by the end. On full release the campaign will consist of a string of operations, though operations are also to be playable on their own.

During missions you can deploy units up to your points limit (see below), units gain experience, can be repaired and resupplied by logistics units or in your deployment zone (the initial point of interest that you own at the start of the mission), however they can only get replacements (tanks deploy in units of three or four) after retreating from the battlefield (there is a CoH style retreat button). Retreating is generally superior option to getting your units completely wiped out (your can preserve XP level and there is a limit on how many times you can redeploy destroyed units before they are depleted, ie you can run out of specific unit types). Retreated units are on a timed cooldown in which they repair and resuply and after that they can once more be deployed.

Suppression is a thing in the game and unlike in most games it applies to all unit types (ie. even tanks and aircraft can be suppressed, not just infantry). Suppressed units receive stat penalties, though suppression is especially useful against fixed-wing aircraft, who become largely ineffective or even abandon their attack run altogether – AA therefore doesn’t need to shoot them down (which usually requires higher XP levels), just firing at them is usually enough to prevent significant damage. Key is to have your AA units within range of your important stuff (easier said than done, since you will mostly have 1 or 2 deployed in most situations), since airstrikes can be really devastating and NATO is spamming them pretty hard in the demo. Funnily enough, aircraft can be suppressed even by massive explosions on the ground – at one point two west German Alpha jets accidentally flew by the area that I just hit with a tactical ballistic missile and the explosion was enough to persuade them to leave without dropping anything. The higher stage of suppression is panic (while suppression is caused by enemy fire, panic is caused by loses), which applies even higher penalties and when your units start panicking its usually better to withdraw them.

In between missions you go to the regiment management screen, where you can spend “operational authority” (ie the game´s currency) earned by fulfilling objectives on a whole lot of various things that include:

- Replacements for lost units
- Upgrades for units (better vehicles, additional units attached to platoons, off map support)
- Regimental abilities

o Deployment points (ie how many units you can keep in the field at any one time)
o Tactical support points (spent on calling in off map support fires)
o Supply points (how much supplies are available in your deployment zones)
o Engineering points (used to build fortifications during deployment phase)​

Replacements tend to be a no-brainer, but all options (well, Engineering points are primarily relevant for defence missions) are very attractive and useful, which makes spending OA both challenging and fun.

This screen also gives you short updates on the current situation on the frontlines and more importantly lets you select event cards before every mission:

- You start with four randomly selected cards, you have to pick one for each mission, once all cards are used up, you get a new quartet
- Two cards are positive (extra arty support, unexpected allied units etc) and two are negative (decreased effectivity of SAMs due to radar jamming, increased repair times due to bombed supply convoys etc), that opens up opportunities for strategizing with them (ie if mission looks easy you may want to take a negative card to make sure you will have advantage when going gets rough, if you don’t rely on air support you don’t mind a card that gives the enemy complete air superiority etc)
- The full release will also include an option for “chaos mode” which will assign the cards randomly without you being able to decide yourself

All in all, as a storyfag and fan of RPG elements in wargames I very much like what I have seen in the playtest, the game is more appealing to me than the Wargame series (let alone Warno, which appears to be a rehash of Air-Land Battle without much added value). I hope the devs eventually get to add more NATO a WP nations, would be also cool if there were tactical nukes, but I guess that would be difficult to balance. In any case, this is something to keep an eye on.

There are three Wargame-likes coming out in 2022 - Warno, Regiments and Broken Arrow (this one is set in modern day, USA vs Russia), funily enough Warno from the founders of the genre seems the least interesting one by far. Broken Arrow didnt have a playtest/demo yet, so the jurry is still out on that one, Regiments seem to be very solid contender, especially given that it is apparently being done mostly by a single guy in Ukraine.

one thing I did not like about the wargame series (although I have not played it very much) was that the units moved way to quickly IMO and it felt like playing an arcade game. Eventually it was not that satisfying to use the units against each other because there was not enough time to analyze the units, create groups and react to to things, you just end up wildly drawing bozes around random things and pointing the arrow in the general direction. I wish games like this would have more the pace of Close Combat which feels more realistic to me...obviously I have no diea about this game. I would be happy if they simply had a speed scaling. Maybe Wargame had a speed scaling, and perhaps I even used it, but I can't recall if it simply did not slow the units down very much or if it did not exist or what, I just remember feeling like the game was very 'action gamey' ...

 

[Nutria]

suppression is especially useful against fixed-wing aircraft, who become largely ineffective or even abandon their attack run altogether – AA therefore doesn’t need to shoot them down

Sounds like a good idea both for gameplay and simulation. I don't expect too much "realism" from a game like this, but it's definitely a good sign when they're coming up with gameplay ideas by looking at how it would work in real life.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

one thing I did not like about the wargame series (although I have not played it very much) was that the units moved way to quickly IMO and it felt like playing an arcade game. Eventually it was not that satisfying to use the units against each other because there was not enough time to analyze the units, create groups and react to to things, you just end up wildly drawing bozes around random things and pointing the arrow in the general direction. I wish games like this would have more the pace of Close Combat which feels more realistic to me...obviously I have no diea about this game. I would be happy if they simply had a speed scaling. Maybe Wargame had a speed scaling, and perhaps I even used it, but I can't recall if it simply did not slow the units down very much or if it did not exist or what, I just remember feeling like the game was very 'action gamey' ...

You might find Armored Brigade more appealing then.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

one thing I did not like about the wargame series (although I have not played it very much) was that the units moved way to quickly IMO and it felt like playing an arcade game. Eventually it was not that satisfying to use the units against each other because there was not enough time to analyze the units, create groups and react to to things, you just end up wildly drawing bozes around random things and pointing the arrow in the general direction. I wish games like this would have more the pace of Close Combat which feels more realistic to me...obviously I have no diea about this game. I would be happy if they simply had a speed scaling. Maybe Wargame had a speed scaling, and perhaps I even used it, but I can't recall if it simply did not slow the units down very much or if it did not exist or what, I just remember feeling like the game was very 'action gamey' ...

You might find Armored Brigade more appealing then.

whoa cool, was just checking it out and saw that it also has some big WW2 mods for it that look pretty well done. Will have to look into this more.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Yep, AC has a WWII mod, the game will not get any new large updates as the devs are already working on AC2. This game is certainly not "gamey" in any way, it even has activation delay for units (ie. when you issue an order the given unit will only start responding after a period between 20 seconds or so and up to several minutes depending on the units contact with HQ). Cetainly worth a try, though keep in mind that it is fairly hardcore. Funily enough Regiments inspired me to do some more Cold War gaming, so I currently also play the Czechoslovakia campaign from one of the AC DLCs.

I personaly dont find the speed in the Regiments to be much of an issue. The time compresion helps with that, plus this is SP only unlike Wargame series, so the need for twitch reactions is not that much of a factor. You can pause any time or even slow the time down at will, units also have "normal" and "all out" movement speed (plus infantry moves much slower when disembarked).

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1109680/view/3217269675826980313

Regiments - DevUpdate & Release Window
Important announcements and new features

Spoiler

Approaching the Release Window - Q3 2022

While the recent events have been very disruptive to the workflow, the development goes on. The current progress allows us to specify the release date to the
third quarter of 2022
(1 July – 30 September). The precise day would be announced during that period.

We're still planning to accompany the release with the demo. It will integrate all the up-to-date features and will be somewhat similar to the playtest in scope - a small taste of Operations and skirmish modes.
Speaking of the playtest...




Playtest Shutdown - May 16th

It's time. We've deliberated on this for a while and eventually felt that disabling the playtest would be the correct way to handle things on the pre-release trajectory. Hopefully, the past several months should've been enough to try it out Let me reiterate a huge thanks to everyone who've participated in the playtest - your feedback has been invaluable!

For those who have been postponing it - or those who want to refresh their memories - one more full week and two weekends should provide ample time to do so.




Features and gameplay tweaks

Operations receive the lion's share of attention right now. Four main Operations and several smaller Interludes will tell a story of the escalating conflict from multiple sides and points of view. Tremendous tank clashes, cautious recce maneuvers, bold attacks, and desperate defenses - we strive to add unique challenges and unforgettable events to each Operation.

But besides the Ops, there's a variety of additions, new units, and new features that have been implemented in the 'main' branch of the game since the last playtest update.
Let's review the key ones.

The number of optional rules has been expanded - and, where applicable, they can now be used for Operations and Skirmish both.

• High Lethality rule introduces a lot of small tweaks and changes the way damage calculations are done. It is designed to address the common request for a less-forgiving combat
  
• Bad Luck makes Operations more difficult and unpredictable by adding a random negative event every two phases. For those of you who already became adept at beating 'Firebird' on Master difficulty
  
• Fog of War complicates spotting and identification. Getting an accurate read on the enemy's precise position and type will be much harder
  
• Several Global Modifiers are exposed. Want to increase the ranges globally or slow down the unit movement speed? Fine-tune the gameplay to your liking. Accuracy, range, speed, direct and indirect damage, suppression - each is adjustable individually within reasonable limits.

R-145BM Chaika command vehicle


Fast Move command will now correctly path around the engineering obstacles - cutting down the micro required.

To better model the challenges of engineering operations, units conducting the breach are now more vulnerable to incoming fire. Using smoke for cover or thoroughly suppressing the defenders is even more of a good idea now.

Phases in operations are not always limited to 20 minutes. Where applicable, you can gain additional time by capturing nodes or wiping out enemy platoons.

Buying TacAid points in Operations was, most of the time, a very suboptimal way to spend the precious Operational Authority. Instead of direct purchases, you can now upgrade the TacAid Support level. A higher support level increases the passive TA point gain and reduces the cooldown period.

Enemy garrisons in Operations are no longer fully restored and re-rolled each phase. They are now persistent and will receive a limited amount of reinforcements per phase.



Warsaw Pact heavy weapons


Infantry weapons can be previewed in the Regipedia. From small arms to heavy support weapons, their stats are no longer a mystery. Speaking of new weapons, M136 anti-tank launchers have been distributed among some US infantry squads.

Cluster bomb airstrikes expand the arsenal of available Tactical Aid options.

Skirmish modes were updated with the new Operations features. Mobile Defense mode has a fully-functional pre-battle deployment mode. In Attack, you will now encounter enemy engineering obstacles, in addition to the usual entrenched defenders.

Stealth values received an overhaul. Units in cover are harder to spot and won't be revealed almost immediately when firing. Ambushes and recon are more viable now.

Allied and fully-identified enemy units can be selected to get a more detailed read on their current state in the bottom info panel.



M728 Combat Engineering Vehicle


The list of possible Events in Operations continues to grow:

• Weather Warning
  slows down the movement and plays tricks with visibility by adding several areas of thick fog.
  
• Blitz
  provides a temporary boost of deployment points but shortens the phase length by 5 minutes.
  
• Extended Operations
  lengthen the phase by 5 minutes instead
  
• Interdiction
  will prevent the deployment of random platoons from your army list
  
• A neutral wildcard event may randomly add or remove a certain amount of deployment points from your pool for a single phase

A few more narrative events were added too, some of which have truly strategic consequences...



Mi-24K reconnaissance variant - the unit was already present and now got the correct model


That's all for now. Consider (re)visiting the playtest before the 16th of May and thanks for your attention!

 

[Luka-boy]

16th of August it is.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

D1P

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Released.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Downloading.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Wew lads. I will probably need a few days to be able to do a meaningful write up on the game. Right now I would say that the game is both less and more than I expected it to be.

The skirmish mode looks really good, with plenty of maps, gametypes and playable units for both NATO and Pact. I am a bit bummed out that there is no Czechoslovak People´s Army regiment for the Pact – there are many Soviet and a few East German regiments to choose – but that is a minor thing (plus one can hope for future content).

There is no campaign per se though – only a series of operations (see my previous review of the demo ITT to see what operations are like in general). Since there is heavy storyfaggotry happening in the game I find this somewhat disappointing. I would have loved to have both NATO and Pact campaigns. Instead you get consecutive operations which tell the story from multiple viewpoints (ie each operation has a set protagonist – you cannot choose who to play as, so you have to switch sides from operation to operation).

I am honestly not a fan of this approach, but storyfaggotry is on an excellent level given that this is a Wargame-like. The initial operation has you playing as a commander of an East German armored regiment – the situation is basically that the 1989-style peaceful anti-commie revolutions turned violent and you as a loyal commie set out to put down the armed rebellion. Of course it doesn’t look like NATO is going to just watch….

The gameplay didn’t change much since the demo and it remains really good both on tactical and strategic levels (to remind you, tactical missions allow you to earn “Operational Authority” – the currency that you can use to replenish loses and acquire additional task forces and supplies for your regiment. There are plenty of various QoL improvements, but in general if you played the demo, you know what to expect. Very positive on Steam right now.

I will play through a few ops and write up more detailed review in a few days. Now excuse me, there are some capitalist warmongers and saboteurs that require my full attention around Mühlhausen.

 

[agris]

keep us posted Parsimonious cook! as someone who never was quite twitchy enough for proper RTSs, I love that it supports RTWP.

 

[jebsmoker]

i am very impressed with this; it doesn't drag itself down with needless clicking like eugen's games do. the core gameplay loop doesn't burden you with dumb bullshit, and the fact that it's purely singleplayer focused helps it a lot. i've been burned out by eugen focusing on multiplayer. wargame: european escalation was great... then their later games went down the shitter

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Played a couple of skirmishes. Seems a bit gamey so far. Really didnt like the retreat bullshit in CoH and definitely not in this.

 

[Alpharius]

No cope cages on soviet tanks, totally inauthentic.

Regiments seem to be very solid contender, especially given that it is apparently being done mostly by a single guy in Ukraine.

Searched his steam post history and it seems he is russian actually. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1109680/discussions/0/2576571096292020677/#c2576571096292120405
So

Other than that the game looks interesting, a pity there is no MP.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I watched some gameplay of this, actually looks pretty good to me, better than the wargame series, at least for how I like to play..I mean its not as 'realistic' as close combat maybe (units still move too fast, damage model seems sort of arcade like and repair and retreat and re-arming is also way too fast), but it still looks fun to me....

 

[jebsmoker]

I watched some gameplay of this, actually looks pretty good to me, better than the wargame series, at least for how I like to play..I mean its not as 'realistic' as close combat maybe (units still move too fast, damage model seems sort of arcade like and repair and retreat and re-arming is also way too fast), but it still looks fun to me....

this is the game to play if you're burnt out by how bad eugen's newer games are

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Wew lads. I will probably need a few days to be able to do a meaningful write up on the game. Right now I would say that the game is both less and more than I expected it to be.

The skirmish mode looks really good, with plenty of maps, gametypes and playable units for both NATO and Pact. I am a bit bummed out that there is no Czechoslovak People´s Army regiment for the Pact – there are many Soviet and a few East German regiments to choose – but that is a minor thing (plus one can hope for future content).

There is no campaign per se though – only a series of operations (see my previous review of the demo ITT to see what operations are like in general). Since there is heavy storyfaggotry happening in the game I find this somewhat disappointing. I would have loved to have both NATO and Pact campaigns. Instead you get consecutive operations which tell the story from multiple viewpoints (ie each operation has a set protagonist – you cannot choose who to play as, so you have to switch sides from operation to operation).

I am honestly not a fan of this approach, but storyfaggotry is on an excellent level given that this is a Wargame-like. The initial operation has you playing as a commander of an East German armored regiment – the situation is basically that the 1989-style peaceful anti-commie revolutions turned violent and you as a loyal commie set out to put down the armed rebellion. Of course it doesn’t look like NATO is going to just watch….

The gameplay didn’t change much since the demo and it remains really good both on tactical and strategic levels (to remind you, tactical missions allow you to earn “Operational Authority” – the currency that you can use to replenish loses and acquire additional task forces and supplies for your regiment. There are plenty of various QoL improvements, but in general if you played the demo, you know what to expect. Very positive on Steam right now.

I will play through a few ops and write up more detailed review in a few days. Now excuse me, there are some capitalist warmongers and saboteurs that require my full attention around Mühlhausen.

How's the micromanagement?
Can the units perform autonomously like in armored brigade/flashpoint campaigns, choose optimal routes etc, or do you need to babysit them like in wargame?

Micromanagement is not much of an issue in the game, to some extend because you can slow down time or pause. Units that require a lot of attention are artillery, which (with exception of self propelled mortars) wont fire unless ordered to (which is a good decision imo, since you really dont want them to waste ammo) and helicopters, because they are very fragile and have low ammo capacity. Otherwise the units dont have any special abilities that the player would have to manually activate to get an optimal performance (you want to switch your recon units to "hold fire" though).

That said the game does require you to pay attention. Units will not retreat unless you give them order (usually better than having them wiped out) and AI likes to launch sneak attacks, so you will often find that your supply train and arty units are being overrun if you dont check on them from time to time.

Pathfinding is not that great, units proceed in straight line towards the waypoint (though you can plot course for them). They dont get stuck on terrain or anything like that, the biggest issue is anti-tank obstacles (both sides can place them). Units need some time to dismantle them before proceeding and AI will by default start dismantling them if they are in the way instead of bypassing them, which would be usually better solution.