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 Strategy RPG Wargame 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
Read More: Best Strategy RPG Wargame Games.
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.
Read More: Best Strategy RPG Wargame Games.
Tactical Vanguard Saga
Nice game sofar,, but right now it seems only the first Mission is playable, it will not let me continue to the next Map after the 1st intermission.
For a Game that lasted less than 30 minutes 4€ is a bit much, hope it will bne updated in Future with more Missions.
For now sadly i cannot recommend it
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
A slightly-edited worked example of TShadowKnight’s SRW Engine MV, featuring some unique assets but just one stage that’s all of 15 minutes long. So, this is blatantly unfinished crapware trying to get money out of people by promising a game but then not actually creating the game.
Can’t recommend buying this for any reason.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
USC: Counterforce
USC: Counterforce is a turn- and squad-based, tactical sci-fi strategy game, the direct sequel both story- and gameplay-wise to Ultimate Space Commando (“USC” for short), taking up on the events where USC ended. As a high-ranking naval officer of United Space Command, you’re tasked to lead a 3-ship strike force back to planetary body M-8322–the scene of the original Wraith Incident–to investigate and neutralize the remainders of a still mostly unidentified alien threat. But what you find there may very well change the course of history forever…
The “original USC gameplay” returns with a brand new engine with realistic, top-down 3D graphics, an improved and modernized user interface, and partially redesigned, even more in-depth combat mechanics.
Main Features
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FIELD TACTICS REDEFINED: An in-depth, RPG-lite game system with complex character attributes and skills, detailed combat mechanics, and elaborate inventory management fuels the turn-based tactical core of the game, enabling you to truly customize your forces and face the threats as you want. Train and equip your marines according to your tactics with a class-free, yet versatile skill system allowing for many powerful builds and combinations.
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LIVING ENVIRONMENTS: Fight and explore through fully interactable and destructible, varied, multi-layered environments with useful, realistic mechanics: rearrange the battlefield, build barricades, avoid and exploit environmental hazards, lay traps, trigger chain reactions, seal airlocks, or break through walls–but be aware, your enemies can also do so! The combinations of hazardous elements and effects open up even more tactical possibilities and dangers.
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DETERMINE THE FATE OF HUMANKIND: Take command and lead your fleet in the story-driven, semi-randomized, multi-ended Campaign mode, where your tactical tasks are accompanied by detailed management of your planetbase installation, the making of life-changing, narrative strategic decisions, and defending the fleet and the relay station to Earth.
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INFINITE REPLAYABILITY: Discover the other games modes: lead your marines on various, extremely challenging multi-mission Operations with unique goals; build, maintain and defend a functional outpost in Defend the Base!; and play however you want in the fully customizable Single Mission mode featuring a hot-seat co-op multiplayer option. All missions throughout the game are made by our proprietary Random Map Generator, providing limitless possibilities!
- DISPLAY YOUR SKILLS: an optional online profile system takes your experience even further: compete in seasonal challenge missions, earn ranks, achievements and in-game goodies, dominate the leaderboards. Upgrade and improve your official, ranked squads mission by mission to create the Ultimate Space Commando.
Field of Glory II: Medieval
This is a fantastic game, but it’s not for everybody.
What it is:
The best generator of realistic tactical ‘battle narrative’ covering the period available on PC - wild swings of fortune, men uncontrollably pursuing and fleeing. The goal is to drive the enemy from the field, with morale and terrain being the key factors. It’s unforgiving, with an extremely high skill ceiling - though I at least found the series approachable playing against the AI at lower difficulties. The feel of tabletop wargaming, but with the computer adjudicating all the math, and obviously sans all the painting of expensive minis.
– Real player with 472.7 hrs in game
A terrific game. A wargamer’s dream. You have all the units, the great models (especially the knights), and the tactics. A very large multiplayer scene with zillions of official tournaments organised by Slitherine and competitions organised by players such as the infamous Digital League (see the Slitherine forum for news on all the competitions). This would be one of the best PC wargames of the decade in my view. And, there are plans for further DLCs covering the Crusades and Late Medieval period. The development and updates are constant.
– Real player with 263.4 hrs in game
Stickman Clans
Stickman Clans - a new fun and addictive real-time strategy game with famous stickman heroes! RTS game in a medieval setting with elements of survival, you can control your army and individual warriors.
Get gold to recruit more fighters to your army. At your disposal: miner, stickman warrior, archer, Spartan, giant, and even a catapult. Upgrade your army by improving the skills and weapons of the stickmen. Strengthen your fortress. Get ready for the legendary battle of the stickmen. The outcome of the battle depends only on you.
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
Clash of Irons
I love anything that has something to do with guns and this game is awesome. You can automatically let it do its thing or manually do it your self (I suggest you do it manually cuz it’s more fun and sometimes you need a strategic approach). I like the story, tanks, events, all in all It’s great. You can play it casually or If you are a hardcore player that too.
– Real player with 448.6 hrs in game
This game was good at the beginning, and perhaps still is, but developer policy is constantly killing any enjoyment that player can have.
Game is interesting, as a simple time killer, and can hook you for good especially when you love tanks and bit of alternative reality, but as i said developer policy is cancer, a great wall that you can’t hope to overcome if you don’t throws tons of money at it.
Pros;
Nice tanks models - real ones, and fictional ones.
Bit of tactical and strategical play-style - some tanks are good in specific set-ups.
– Real player with 253.6 hrs in game
Longphort
Frequently crashes, couldn’t make it past the first raid.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game