Ogre
*** Updated for v1.2.2.0 ***
Short TL:DR - A faithful translation of the original boardgame with lots of potential, but still rough around some edges. Overall, good enough to get your “fix” for classic Ogre, but G.E.V. is still a ways off and some minor bugs still need to be addressed. I currently rate it a 4 out of 5 (previously rated at 3.5).
I’m going to try to itemize the good and bad as much as possible so you get an accurate view of what the game (v1.2.2.0) looks like. I was part of the beta test and there are a lot of things that have been improved since the beta, but there’s still more work to do.
– Real player with 471.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Hex Grid Games.
I have experience with the Ogre 6th Edition board game, and this game feels very similar.
One thing I very much appreciate is that there are a few mechanics in place to speed games up. In the board game, if you target an Ogre’s treads, you have to fire individually with each unit doing so. In this PC game, you select your target first (like, the treads) then select every unit in range, and the game rolls for them all in sequence, faster than selecting each one individually. You can also stack multiple units on the same hex and move them as a group, which speeds up the process of closing with the opponent.
– Real player with 32.8 hrs in game
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
Read More: Best Board Game Turn-Based Tactics Games.
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
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
Read More: Best Board Game Turn-Based Tactics Games.
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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.
Valor & Victory
I was a beta tester, and from the start it gave me that original Squad Leader board game feel, more than any other computer game I’ve played, and I’ve played a lot, really since the beginning, since Pong. It is not overly complex, but the basics of fire and maneuver apply to the game, just like SL. The scenarios are small compared to many games, and they are short. You can play from either side and the AI does a good job. Depending on how fast you play, 30-60 minutes for a scenario would be my guess. There was great improvement in the AI during the beta period. Yobowargames was very responsive during beta testing and worked extremely hard on honing the AI. As with all such games, the AI plays better on defense, but it now can give you a challenge on offense. The AI can now, for example take Pegagus Bridge as the British in that scenario, something it could not do when I became a tester. If you want the elegant Squad Leader feeling without layers of complexity, you will like this game.
– Real player with 84.5 hrs in game
If you have any interest in Squad Leader type board games you will not be dissapointed. This is a labor of love by a small team and I think they have delivered on a simple game style that flows quickly yet leaves the player many decisions during game play. I will play any and all squad level games and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses but I keep coming back to V&V for one more play.
The scenarios are quickly played and the AI actually uses some fairly good judgement most of the time. The dev’s have been pretty open to ideas and responsive and I believe there will be a bright future for the game.
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
World War 2 Operation Husky
I started playing without reading the tutorial and after a couple of restart I figured it out.
Good game, thanks :)
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
I have a lot of fun playing this game. For those who enjoy playing Battle of the Bulge and Drive on Moscow, you will love this one. Operation Husky has additional units like bombers, artillery and paratroopers that make it greater. Similar to these two games, the battle ground is on one single map and the game has everything for a fast pace experience. The game is easy to play, highly tactical and is a very strategic wargame. Hills, forests and cities provide complexity and advantages in the Italian island of Sicily. Small imperfections found in the previous versions have been corrected and the AI was improved. Combats are fast, powerful and efficient and bombing or shelling supports are fun to watch. Graphics and sounds are professional. A game can be resolved in between 30 minutes to 2 hours.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg
Before I start I should say I really like this series of games. I played Strategic Mind: Pacific for over 500 hours and finished both the US and Japanese campaigns on “Reasonable” level and I have over 600 hours playing Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg (haven’t finished it yet, stuck at Moscow) and I am pretty certain I will be buying Specter of Communism.
I definitely recommend this game for hard core tactical / strategy players.
That said there are several things I find frustrating and or illogical, some things I would like to see and some hints for players. Which is where I start.
– Real player with 1290.6 hrs in game
In short - This game is for you, if:
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You’re open minded to or simply enjoy alternate history scenarios.
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You’re looking for a micro management strategy game within the WW2 era.
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You’re into hexagon strategy. Everything in here is about it.
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You’re not expecting a Company of Heroes 2 like experience graphical/gameplay-wise. ;)
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You’re not a slave to german/western schools' history-propaganda lesson*
(- You’re having the non-german version or are not disturbed by censored cutscenes (ongoing Status-quo Q4 2021, still WIP)
– Real player with 489.5 hrs in game
War War
A old-school style game that is fun and doesn’t take a gigabyte of storage in 2020? Crazy! Seems to be extremely optimized as it is small but brings with it a bunch of fun online matchups. 3 units, ground forces, a tank and 2 drones. I think I am best at the tank as it is easiest, but splitting up the ground forces and controlling individual groups of them with two joysticks on the same controller at once is awesome! Units can’t turn around (they can’t and it seems intended) so the game is a simple match up once you go to War War!
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
AXYOS: Battlecards
Nice little card game. You can spend another hour with pleasure.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Can’t give this one a good review, sadly. The bits and pieces seem nice, but it doesn’t make for a fun gaming experience.
The art and music is perhaps the best aspect of the game, the controls work fine as well.
That said the game feels very under-documented, and the games do not seem very fun or balanced, I win every time without even knowing what I am doing.
Perhaps the biggest weakness is that you cannot gain experience points except in multiplayer, and I have never been able to find anyone else to play it with.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game