The Bluecoats: North & South
The game is full of bugs, errors, AI should be improved a lot, keyboard commands are not always comfortable, the map is quite uncomfortable.
But it was my favorite game on the Amiga and that’s okay then
UPDATE
After 24 hours of gameplay the thing I find most annoying during the assault on the forts is the lack of footsteps in the enemies and the spawn behind them
– Real player with 37.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game RTS Games.
Not bad, actually. I read the controls were not good originally but that an update fixed it, for me they were working with an American keyboard. The new 3D shooter fights are not bad but I miss the original jump’n’run environments.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Strategic Mind: The Pacific
I really wanted to like this game. I really liked the graphics initially and my initial impression on game play wasn’t that it wasn’t bad. But then I realized you get the same graphic if you bomb or torpedo a ship. I mean shouldn’t you use the time you spent making useless swimming sharks to make different graphics for each?
As far as game play goes, your planes die quickly and inflict the same or less damage as a destroyer. And Japanese planes seem to have nearly unlimited fuel. I destroyed all of the Japanese carriers in Midway and five turns later his planes are still attacking my ships and troops. But if I go more than three turns without landing I seem to run out of gas. Worst of all the AI turns take forever.
– Real player with 332.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Singleplayer Games.
I have a rule of saying that if a game is fun, the other things are just the icing. Bad visuals? Corny sounds? Bad controls (note: non-real-time games only)? They can be overlooked.
I have found the game that is the exception to my own rule.
So, to get this out of the way first: This game is a turn-based-strategy game, with a point-buy system for your units, persistent-army mechanic, Hex-grid battlefield, and a basic system of “supply” for ammo, fuel, and repair to damaged units on a turn-by-turn basis.
– Real player with 104.9 hrs in game
Labyrinth: The War on Terror
Regarding the game itself, I can recommend this. I already had a lot of fun although there are plenty of bugs left. But the bugs are not game-breaking but just a bit annoying from time to time.
I like LWOT more that Twilight Struggle as it is a bit less luck dependent as there are many more rolls (This is not a contradiction as luck will equal out more over the course of a game compared to TS).
However, the game could use a lot more polishing and user-friendlyness. Which brings me to the problem of not having seen any updates and communication from the devs for multiple months, which is not satisfactory even taking account the attractive price of the game.
– Real player with 763.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Strategy Games.
While still in early development and missing things like achievements, challenges and some polish on the zooming in/out of the board - this is a very true implementation of one of my very favorite board games.
Taking the design of the battle-deck standard, Twilight Struggle and making it even more asymmetrical to fit the theme, Labyrinth uses real, historical headlines and events to recreate this, one of the most complicated and dynamic wars in history. Playing games like these truly does help me to understand what was/is happening within these conflicts.
– Real player with 166.1 hrs in game
Memoir ‘44 Online
This is a Pay-4-Play game with 50 free tokens, which amounts to a demo period. After the free tokens are gone, you are paying them or you are done. Oh, and if they say you lose connection before you even make your first move, those tokens you spent to play that map are gone. There is no such thing as owning this game. This is an arcade game where you need to keep pumping in the quarters to pay from now to eternity. At least Candy Crush lets you come back after a cooloff period if you don’t want to pay for immediate continue.
– Real player with 27.2 hrs in game
This is an excellent digital version of an excellent board game. It’s an enjoyable reproduction of a tabletop game that’s well executed with one glaring exception- the payment model. You can freely play two maps, but the vast majority of the game requires an in game currency that, apart from some granted when you start playing, can only be acquired by spending real money. There is no option to unlock certain maps or simply buy a full version. If you want to play again and again, which you will, you have to keep paying money.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom
I am very happy with the new “Fight for Freedom”. I am a big fan of “The Pacific”. The game plays well like the other Starni titles. The developers have always been attentive to the players concerns.
This title IMO seems to be a little more inline with historical information, more or less. That is my only negative for “The Pacific”
If I have any negative feedback so far is with the music. Tracks like the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” are USA civil war music. If developers are going to use music it should be era tracks. There are numerous WWII era music tracks that are much more fitting for the Allies and the Axis. For me the wrong music departs from immersion. So I do not let it play.
– Real player with 117.2 hrs in game
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the graphics and especially the hexes are extremely shiny and weird looking, like everything is constantly soaking wet and neon lit
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the videos are interminable and filled with atrocious voice acting. it’s a blessing that you can skip them
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history is at best a very rough guide to the theme only and mission design takes no account of it ex: Germans and UK with hordes of tanks in Norway (along with ZERO French presence), giant Norwegian navy fighting the Germans off of Norway, absolutely massive British airforce showing up once the airfield is captured… it’s a clown show that makes Panzer Corps look like a serious historical take by contrast
– Real player with 53.0 hrs in game
Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism
This is an outstanding game, and the first of the Strategic Mind games I have played
I’ve played almost all the panzer corps and the other many WWII wargames that use similar, and often improved, mechanics. This game is very similar in its basic concept but much improved. It is much more immersive in the well voice-acted cut-scenes before and after scenarios, and some dialogue during a scenario. Your units are also quite chatty (reminiscent of Stronghold) and I’m particularly fond of the female bomber pilots.
– Real player with 357.5 hrs in game
IN A WORD: WORTHWHILE
IN A NUTSHELL:
WHAT TO EXPECT: WWII strategy wargame. Tactical turn-based battles. Narrative linked campaign of 20x historical battles. Cutscene briefings with voice-overs. Command a core force. RPG style army and unit customisation. A number of genuine stand-out combat mechanics. Detailed prestige reward model. HQ unit and command points Requires much more strategic planning than other games in the genre. Scenarios can feel heavily scripted and overbalanced. Some GUI ailments. Single-player only.
– Real player with 70.3 hrs in game
Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty
A story from the legends, but in real history
Winter War: over 500,000 Soviet soldiers attack Finland, a country with a population of 3,700,000, and the Finns drive them back, inflicting 5 times their own casualties. Continuation War: the Reds return with a total strength of 1,500,000 - almost half of the entire Finnish population - and the Finns stop them again. Finland’s survival in these two brutal wars against an enemy so vast was a true historical miracle. A miracle of heroism and valor. A miracle of the Finnish spirit of liberty.
Experience heroic struggle and make tough choices
You are the commander of the scarce Finnish troops. Your only goal - to save your homeland and your people from total annihilation. Would you risk losing your experienced troops to try and capture the enemy tanks? Would you try to save the stragglers during the retreat and risk losing everyone, or cut your losses and establish a new line of defense? Would you agree to negotiate with the Soviets that had treacherously attacked you twice before?
Play two campaigns: historical and “what if”
Historical campaign
Play through a number of missions throughout the 1939-1945 timeline, spanning three wars: Winter War, Continuation War, and Lapland War. The historical campaign will have smaller-scale but action-packed operations, covering all of the iconic historical battles.
Alternate history campaign
Play a shorter campaign with larger operations, centered around the “what if” events. Help the Germans take Leningrad, cut off the allied aid shipments to USSR by taking the port of Murmansk - that is only the beginning.
Immerse yourself into the (hi)story-driven gameplay
Primary and secondary objectives
Complete numerous objectives grounded in history and narrated by a number of historical characters.
Cinematics before and after each operation
Watch history unfold through the eyes of the key historical figures of the time - over 60 minutes of in-game cinematics with characters such as Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Risto Heikki Ryti, and others.
Create and grow the army of your own design
Variety is the spice of war
The Finns had only 12 Vickers British tanks in 1939 against up to 6000 Soviet tanks. Even the odds by getting units from various other countries, and shape your rag-tag forces into a well-oiled war machine.
Trophies for everyone!
Where Finnish production is struggling to catch up, make up for it by taking advanced equipment from the enemy. Turn the Soviet guns against their creators.
Faithfully recreated historical units
Command the Finnish ski troops and captured Soviet vehicles, including BT-7, T-34, and KV tanks. Purchase German Pz-IV tanks, StuG assault guns, and Ju-88 bombers. Make use of pre-war British Bristol Blenheim bombers, covered by Dutch Fokker and US Buffalo fighter planes.
Upgrade your units to newer models
Make sure your forces are always up to date and up to the task. New models become available at historically accurate points in time.
Train your troops and choose equipment
Gain combat experience
Choose various skills for your men as they gain combat experience.
Combine units from different classes
Compose your own force from ten classes available: Infantry, Artillery, Tanks, Reconnaissance units, Assault guns, Armored trains, Anti-tank guns, Anti-aircraft guns, Fighters, and Tactical bombers. Utilize their unique skills and equipment to maximum effect.
Acquire diverse equipment
Equip units with various special equipment, such as Machine guns, Mortars, Smoke grenades, Anti-tank rifles and Molotov cocktails, Winter equipment, and many more.
Use transport vehicles
In the harsh Finnish winter, speed may be the difference between life and death. Provide your units with vehicles to improve their mobility, or have your Infantry use skis to outmaneuver the enemy in winter operations.
Assign historical heroes to your units
Unique heroes system
Every unit in your army could meet certain high requirements to generate a historical personality - a hero with a unique set of powerful skills.
The deadliest sniper in WW2 history - Simo Häyhä - will join your troops
With 542 confirmed kills, and an unconfirmed total number of 705, not only was Simo Häyhä the deadliest sniper of World War II, but perhaps the deadliest sniper of all time. His nickname “the White Death” was well-earned.
Manage your Headquarters between the operations
Learn Headquarters skills
Choose in which direction your HQ staff will improve as the campaign progresses. Your decisions will result in new passive and active abilities for various units: your artillery could fire twice per turn, or you could call in the air reconnaissance to get better intel on the enemy positions.
Get promotions and awards
Every operation is an opportunity to get new ranks and awards, increasing your Command points, which are used to activate your Headquarters skills and deploy more units.
Confer with your staff
Consult other high-ranking officers for their opinion on the upcoming battle, and get useful advice.
Use elaborate combat mechanics to overcome any foe
Manage Lethal vs Nonlethal damage
There are two types of damage: lethal and nonlethal. Dealing nonlethal damage to your enemies will make them surrender. Different units are prone to deal either lethal or nonlethal.
Use terrain differences to your advantage
Tanks are vulnerable in difficult terrain and cities, while Infantry can occupy buildings or hide in the forests to gain large defensive bonuses. All units suffer large penalties in swamps or while crossing a river, etc. Be aware of your surroundings, and use them to your advantage.
Take the “line of sight” and the “zone of control” into consideration
Some terrain and building obstruct firing unless you are using artillery or mortars. Approaching an enemy unit up close will finish your movement, unless you are using a Recon unit.
Activate various skills and equipment
Use incendiary or subcaliber shells to maximize your damage to the enemy. Order forced march in the most desperate situations. Employ aerobatics to increase your air force efficiency. Use your HQ skills to affect the entire battlefield.
Use a complex spotting system that represents the importance of reconnaissance
Call upon the air and ground reconnaissance to gather intel about the enemy before ordering your troops forward. No one likes to be ambushed.
Adapt to various battlefield conditions
There is a day-night cycle in the game as well as weather types such as frost or rain. All of these conditions impose penalties that must be countered with special equipment and skills. The finest of your troops may even use such conditions to their advantage. Use the cover of the night to sneak up on the enemy, or strike when the foe is freezing and immobilized.
Utilize the most advanced supply and infrastructure system in the genre
Ammunition and fuel
All units have limited ammo and fuel. Without ammo, your units cannot fight, and without fuel, your vehicles cannot move - and any aircraft will simply crash.
Supply hubs
Generate supplies and transfer them to your troops throughout an entire system, like a heart pumping blood through veins.
Supply points
Connect different infrastructure facilities and redistribute supplies. Supply points also allow your troops to change special equipment and renew its charges.
Airfield
Allows aircraft units to land for refuelling, repairs, and refit of equipment. Damage to the airfield would also damage all landed aircraft.
Seaport
Allows resupply and change of equipment for naval units. It also generates supplies, if there is a maritime hub nearby and the Seaport is not under enemy blockade.
Damage the infrastructure
All infrastructure facilities can be disabled if their HP drops to 50% or lower. It will then gradually regain its HP and its functionality. Strike at the enemy facilities to prevent them from resupplying.
Cut off the enemy supply lines
All infrastructure facilities are considered connected if a simple truck vehicle could move between them in one go. If you put your unit between the enemy facilities, it would create a zone of control, and prevent the enemy from transferring supplies. Leave the enemy units without much needed ammunition and fuel, then hunt them down.
Make sure your own units are supplied
There is a limit to how far your supply vehicles can deliver supplies - make sure you take that into account when planning your next offensive.
Welcome the successor
Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty is the fifth installment in the Strategic Mind line of games, featuring Finland in its 3 wars during WW2. It has two campaigns: historical and alternate history one.
Previous titles in the series:
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Strategic Mind: The Pacific - the first game, featuring both the United States and the Empire of Japan waging war in the Pacific.
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Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg - the second game, featuring Germany in WW2.
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Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism - the third game, featuring the USSR in WW2.
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Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom is the fourth game, featuring both the United Kingdom and the United States in WW2 European and Africa theaters.
Panzer Strategy
There is a very good reason why Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue released a song called locomotion in the 70’s and 80’s (respectively). It was because it made a hell of a lot of money for Gerry Goffin and Carole King and the singer Little Eva in the 60’s. It became an instant hit. It became an instant classic. It became the benchmark. So every man and his dog did a cover in the hope it would do the same for them. I mention the first two artists because at least all the others had some musical claim to fame befor trying to cash in.
– Real player with 403.0 hrs in game
In short, if you are new to this genre of turn-based WW2 strategy games, I recommend trying the game Order of Battle first! Panzer Strategy is in my opinion too opaque in its rules and too unfinished for inexperienced players to get past the learning curve. On the other hand if you are already familiar with this genre then I wholeheartedly recommend trying this game. It’s got a demanding learning curve, but once you are past the rough bits, the game introduces much great new gameplay mechanics. I hope you get to enjoy them too and that you join the community to help the developers mature this game into a beauty.
– Real player with 336.8 hrs in game
American Patriots: Boston Tea Party
I started wargaming in the 80’s, when a flood of small, inexpensive games hit the market. Metagaming and SPI were among the first to offer a whole game for just three or four dollars. Pretty soon TSR was churning them out as well. This is very much that sort of game- hexboard, attack/defensive-move. Nothing revolutionary here (irony). But it is the sort of thing you’ll like if you like that sort of thing.
A note on the simple graphics- simple does not always mean bad. The bare-bones graphics add a lot of class and atmosphere to the game. The map is a hex grid laid over a vintage sepia map- very pretty.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
Highly Recommend! For what this game is it is an absolute gem.
I bought this game and its Civil War themed sequel for only $1. I already love these games, and I haven’t even tried any of the multi player modes yet. This game’s not without a couple of forgivable flaws. If your mouse has a high DPI rate, you might want to use keyboard controls to navigate.
These games eliminate the biggest downside to table top war games. Most games take a long time to set up, and even longer to get past the “Opening Game” phase where you move toward engaging the enemy. For true fans of tactical board games this game would be a bargain even at a cost of several dollars. If the devs wanted to, they could easily add a few simple features like more maps that would make this game a great value even at a cost of $5 or more.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Kármán line: the edge of war
Verry verry fun game, i hope it will stay and grow cause it can turn in something
– Real player with 9.2 hrs in game