I don't play a lot of modern warfare games. I tend to prefer the Medieval and Napoleonic eras. Medieval warfare is largely a variation on "rock paper scissors". Cavalry beats archers (usually), archers beat spears, spears beat cavalry.
On a whim I picked up "Wargame: AirLand Battle" because Steam had it on sale. This is real-time strategy game where you can play a NATO or Soviet commander during a fictional war in Europe circa 1980s.
I found this game highly realistic and maddeningly difficult. The learning curve is steep, to put it mildly. Read on past the orange artillery explosion. It's time to rock and roll.
I'm only going to discuss the solo features of the game. There is a huge online community but I gave up online gaming years ago because there are too many rude idiots out there (see "Gamer Gate"). Plus I can't stand getting slaughtered by some 14-year-old kid who has nothing better to do than play the game all day long. That being said, I found the AI to be more than challenging as an opponent.
In solo mode you can play one of several campaigns or fight individual battles. Battles are scored on a points system based on objectives taken and enemy units killed.
You can command a battlegroup from one of several NATO or Warsaw Pact countries. To play a battle you select your country, which enemy force you want to face and which map you want to play on. You're directing units at the platoon level. Each icon represents roughly 20 infantry or up to 4 tanks. You can actually zoom in far enough to see each individual soldier or vehicle but you'll lose the big picture if do.
To start the battle you're allocated a certain amount of points. With these you can "buy" units to bring on to the map. As the battle goes on you earn more points and can bring in reinforcements. So does the enemy.
Remember that this is real time strategy, not turn-based. You don't have time to carefully set up your units for a fixed-piece battle. You have to bring your units onto the map and deploy while the enemy is doing the same. I think the term for this is a "meeting engagement".
I think the game simulates the "fog of war" incredibly well. You can only see what your units can see. Is there a bunch of T-72 tanks hiding behind that hill? You don't know unless you can get some eyeballs over there.
Lesson #1 - Recce is all important. You can't shoot what you can't see.
Lesson #2 - Recce units tend to die quickly which makes #1 difficult.
Lesson #3 - Everything has something that kills it.
This is rock-paper-scissors many times over. There are something like 750 different units in this game and they all have different capabilities. If you start bringing in lots of helicopters, the AI will respond with something that kills helicopters and so forth.
Lesson #4 - What can be seen can be hit. What can be hit can be killed.
Units in the open tend to die. Tanks and infantry seem to spend most of their time hiding or looking for places to hide.
Lesson #5 - Combined arms is everything.
Tanks need to be supported by infantry. Infantry needs to be supported by tanks. Everyone needs to be covered by air defenses. Everybody needs to work together.
Lesson # 6 - Infantry in a town/city are very hard to dig out.
NATO infantry in towns are especially stubborn. Tanks tend to die in urban warfare.
Lesson # 7 - Logistics, logistics, logistics!
Tanks run out of gas (especially M-1s). SAM sites run out of missiles. Everybody runs out of ammunition. You need to keep sending supply trucks up to the front to keep everybody fighting.
Lesson #8 - Supply trucks die easily. This makes #7 difficult.
Lesson #9 - Air power brings a lot of firepower but it doesn't stick around very long.
I found this interesting of course. It seems best to only call the fast movers in when you really need them. They'll come in, lay down some serious hurt on the enemy, and then either get shot down or have to go home and refuel. My A-10s and attack helicopters didn't fare much better.
Lesson #10 - Don't bunch up too much. They can take you out with one artillery strike.
Lesson #11 - Don't spread out too much. He who defends everything defends nothing.
Note that #10 and #11 are mutually exclusive.
Lesson #12 - Quantity has its own quality. The Russians have this in spades.
Time for a quick battle lesson in humility. I pick an American battlegroup facing a random Warsaw Pact battlegroup. Could be a Polish airborne regiment, very mobile with lots of helicopters. Could be a Soviet armored regiment with lots of tanks. Either way you're screwed, it's just a matter of how.
Here come the red hordes!
The battle will end in 40 minutes or when one side racks up enough points, whichever comes first.
As soon as the clock starts I'm trying to bring units onto the map and set up a decent defensive line.
Lesson #13 - The enemy never goes along with your plan. That's why he's called the enemy.
The AI is playing the Warsaw Pact side pretty aggressively. I start seeing map sectors turn red. I know they're here but I can't see them yet. Ah, here they come. Yep, that's your basic commie horde all right.
I'll spare you the gory details but 20 minutes later I'm in a world of hurt. My helos have been shot down. Most of my recce units are dead. My air support is back at base refueling and getting repaired. My tanks and infantry are dishing it out but they're getting hit hard. Units are calling for resupply and I'm trying to get trucks up to them.
The Soviet units are dying in large numbers but they always seem to have more (because they do). I'm way behind on points. I'm expecting to have my ass handed to me any moment now.
"Sir, a package from the Soviet commander."
"For me? How thoughtful."
"Why it's my ass, on a platter!"
I need to do something soon or we'll all be eating McBorscht.
Lesson #14 - Artillery rocks.
I notice the unit of self-propelled 155 howitzers sitting idly next to my command post. Oh yeah, those might be useful. I click on the icon and get my artillery commander - a cheery fellow who sounds like he really enjoys his job.
Note that each unit has two or three canned phrases that they say every time you give them an instruction. I find this annoying after a while but I never get tired of hearing the artillery guy exclaim:
"Let's give 'em some iron!" or "The bigger the better!"
His French counterpart gives you a snappy "Oui mon Colonel!" Gotta love a man who likes his work.
I start clicking anywhere I see a clump of enemy units. The guns cycle, rounds streak across the map (reload time and time of flight are accurately modeled) and commie bastards start dying!
At this point I'm pretty much letting my other units hold their own while I direct the artillery. It's really tough to micromanage everybody at once. I can't see where most of the enemy units are but I can see where they're coming from.
Hmmmmm, that's a pretty strategic looking crossroads back there. I wonder....
The guns cycle again, rounds start hitting. Sure enough, something is dying back there because I'm racking up points fast. I sneak one of my few surviving recce units up there and it looks like I've got them backed up on the road into town.
Again and again I keep calling in the artillery. The bad guys are taking huge losses. I am become Shiva destroyer of worlds!
My artillery has turned this little crossroads into a kill zone.
It's OK folks. We're only killing pixels here.
The Soviet attack stalls in its tracks. The AI is smart enough to find a different route but what comes at me is weak and uncoordinated. I've bought enough time (and points) to bring in reinforcements and resupply my units. I can't gain any ground but at least I'm not losing any more.
Finally the timer ends and I barely squeak out a "minor win". Oh well, an ugly win is still a win. That was playing the strongest NATO country against the "easy" AI setting. This is a hard game.
Fortunately I wasn't in command of NATO during the Cold War or we'd probably be living under Communism today.
Millions would be in poverty. Militarism would be rampant. There would be torture and secret prisons. News channels would broadcast only propaganda. Police brutality would be everywhere. A few powerful individuals would have total control of the government. So not much change really.
Overall how would I rate the game? Very good with a few gripes. Realism is very high and the learning curve is very steep. I doubt I would ever play it enough to get really good at it. There are a huge number of unit types, which is a plus and a minus. Lots of realism but difficult to be familiar with what every unit is capable of.
The AI is quite good. Almost too good. I haven't tried to face it on anything above "easy".
Your units exhibit the effects of morale. If they get hit they will be "stunned" and unable to react for a time. If they get hit enough they may rout. Veteran units hold up better than rookie units. Pretty much what you'd expect.
It's very fast paced and in a 40 minute battle you will be busy flailing for 40 minutes. There is no breathing space, no time to plot your next move because it's all happening in real time. I didn't think the air power was modeled as accurately as it could have been but overall they did a good job with what is primarily a land combat simulation.
So very high points for realism but some dings for complexity and the degree of micromanagement required.
There's a sequel out called Wargame: Red Dragon that takes place in Asia and also includes naval combat. Apparently the designers felt the game wasn't complicated enough already so they threw ships into the mix.
I'd say this is a good game for someone who likes real-time strategy and doesn't mind doing a lot of micromanaging. It's not one for the easily frustrated because trying to learn it can be, well, frustrating.
So who wins? Why this guy, of course.
Reigning champion for all of human history.
He
always wins.