Age of Fear 3: The Legend is a turn-based tactical combat game that fully embraces the idea of gameplay over graphics. The developers are up front in admitting that the visuals in their newest title are nothing to get excited about. Instead, they want you to dive into a detailed tactical combat engine in which your opponents are driven by an impressive AI that manages to effectively control hundreds of different unit types, spells, and abilities.

Watch the official trailer to get an idea of how the game looks in motion, and enjoy the..uh..innovative cinematography.

In this game, you can choose to play one of two fairly lengthy campaigns. I've only played partially through them so far, but they are equally interesting takes on the fantasy setting. The first campaign gives you control of a beautiful, but deadly, dryad and an ugly, but very deadly, drider. The drider fellow is like a centaur but with the body of a spider instead of a horse. Nightmare material for sure. These two are forced into a partnership by circumstance, and then go on a wild tear through the countryside building an army to fight whatever gets in their way. The other campaign focuses on a drunken dwarf lord on a rampage of his own. The game has some charmingly silly writing and I laughed more than once at the characters' frequent banter.

The campaign is made up of a series of scenarios that constantly challenge you with new enemies and hazards, with bits of story and dialogue sprinkled in between. After a few missions you will begin to see optional scenarios as well. These can add to the story and give you various bonuses if you complete them. One thing I found really fascinating was that there were occasional missions where losing would actually open up a hidden branch in the story line. I don't want to give any of these away, of course, but just wanted to let any prospective player know not to immediately reload the game when a scenario is going poorly, there might be a fun twist if you hang around.

The combat itself takes place on grid-less battlefields where you are free to move your troops about however you like. Units cannot pass through one another, and the fighting spaces are often crowded, so this means that it is very much an effective tactic to have a line of melee units backed by ranged units, for example. To avoid hindering the mobility of your own units, you'll always want to plan ahead a bit and arrange your own forces to allow for flexibility. A couple of giant ents can really put a hurting on the baddies, but can also clog up your lines, blocking other units from reaching the enemy. Faster units are best kept out on the flanks where they can rapidly close when an opening presents itself. All of this taken together actually gives the gameplay a sort of wargame feel. Frontage and the logistics of moving your troops around the battlefield is equally important to spells and swords.

AoF3 is a game that may look very simple at first glance, but actually gives you a ton of options in how to shape your fighting force to your own style. Between missions you get a chance to recruit new units, buy equipment, and add new abilities to your experienced forces. Two units of the same type can be specialized by buying different upgrades with their experience points. You can even "evolve" some units into a new type, or spend the XP on strengthening what you already have. Attributes like poison/fire/etc resistance, health regeneration, new abilities, or simple attack and defense buffs are among the many options. Your two hero units have tons of choices available, including lots of new abilities to select from. The heroes can also be decked out with various pieces of gear that specialize them even further. Between all of this, a hero unit might have more than a dozen different bonuses and changes that make them unique after just the first few scenarios.

You will need every bonus you can get, since this a game that requires some real tactical effort from the player. Simply sending all of your units forward to engage with the enemy will more often than not lead to disaster. In just about every scenario there is often some sort of tactical adjustment that will need to be made on the player's part in order to win. For example, in an early mission the enemy has several kamikaze plant creatures which will explode into a cloud of poisonous gas if they can hit more than one of your units. However, if you only send one unit forward, the enemy unit will only engage in melee attacks. In another mission an undead alter will continuously summon new units until it is destroyed, making its destruction a much higher priority than defeating the units it sends at you.  Figuring out an approach that will work, and then executing it successfully, is the central part of what makes this game fun. A successful scenario leads to your forces getting bigger and better, and the cycle continues.

One of the things touted by the developers about Age of Fear 3 is the above average enemy AI. I watched out for this in particular as I played the game, and found that it really did do some interesting things. Enemy units exhibit a multitude of behaviors beyond simply charging at you and attacking. Ranged units will try to keep your melee units at a distance, enemies in a hopeless situation will retreat, leaders will hang out behind their lines providing support and then attack furiously once engaged. The AI certainly pulls no punches, as it will at times focus fire on a single unit, and isn't afraid to use area-of-effect attacks when possible.

While playing the game, I did not run into any serious bugs or glitches. The only annoying thing was occasionally having to click twice on something since the first click did not register. Another issue was that the way stat adjustments worked was not always 100% clear or logical. Particularly, I had to learn the hard way that equipping a weapon with a poison bonus would actually lower my chance to hit the enemy at all to practically nothing if said enemy had poison resistance or immunity.

Overall, Age of Fear 3 offers up exactly what it promises. A detailed tactical combat game with simple graphics and sound, but a lot of substance under the hood. It also has fun story lines to follow along with and all sorts of exotic units to choose from.  The game of course won't be everyone's cup of tea, but at least it is very up front about what you are getting. If you are still on the fence, the first two games in the series are quite cheap and offer a fairly similar experience to let you try out the system.

Official Website: http://www.age-of-fear.net/

Age of Fear 3: The Legend can purchased on Steam or directly from the developers on their website.

- Joe Beard

Battle Brothers, from Overhype Studios, is a game which, upon playing for the first time, my immediate reaction was to wonder how in the world no one had made a game quite like this before.  It can somewhat be described as a mash-up of concepts from games like Mount and Blade, Darkest Dungeon, X-COM,  and Final Fantasy Tactics. If that gets your attention, by all means go buy the game right now, because you will love it. Come back and read this while it downloads.

The game puts you in command of what's left of a company of mercenaries, immediately following the death of your captain and most of your fellow mercenaries in an ambush. You start off with three decently equipped soldiers and a limited supply of funds. You then set out to make your way in a randomly generated world full of opportunities. Movement on the campaign map is very much like that of Mount and Blade, with your company represented by an icon traveling the world and encountering other groups of people, be they trade caravans, peasants, or bandits. Combat takes place in turn-based battles on a hex-based grid. I'll save a more detailed description of the gameplay for my review when the game is closer to release (there is one last big patch coming before then). Today I simply wish the regale you with the tale of my first campaign. 

Battle Brothers uses the "Busts of soldiers bumping into each other" art style. Which works nicely here.

Following the previously mentioned ambush and near annihilation of the Battle Brothers mercenary company, the survivors resolved to rebuild and hunt down the murderous bandits. Unfortunately, the only volunteers willing to join our force were a couple of bored villagers, the town drunk, and a vagrant or two. Fortunately, these men came cheap, leaving me with enough money to buy them some gear. Even a stone-cold mercenary captain can't send men into battle wearing tattered rags and wielding wooden sticks. He can't have his investments *ahem* loyal soldiers cut down in a single blow.

We had to travel to a larger village down the road to find better weapons for the men. This gave me time to get to know them better. Each man had a story to tell. Some were simply bored with the life of a peasant, feeling they were destined to travel the world and do something greater. Others were down on their luck after repeated misfortunes, and saw joining a company of mercenaries as a chance to climb out of the gutter. I sympathized with their tales, but, honestly, I needed warm bodies to fill the ranks and they were the best I could afford.

What happens when you bump into an orc raiding party before you are ready.

After assembling all the men and equipment I could afford with my starting funds, I returned to our previous employer who sent the company after those bandits in the first place. He would pay good money to have the bandit leader killed once and for all, and knew where the scumbag was hiding.

My rag-tag band tracked the bandits to their camp and moved in for battle. The ensuing chaos was almost too much for my untrained soldiers, but with superior numbers we were able to overwhelm the bandits and take out the leader. Sadly, he was able to cut down one of the original members of the company in the melee. Another man, the beggar from the village, was wounded so badly that he would never be the same with a sword or spear, but I still needed him in my fighting line until I could hire a replacement. Regardless, victory was ours, as well as the loot and payment that came with it. With these new funds I was able to hire and equip a couple of new men. I also treated the company to a round of drinks at the tavern to lift their spirits.

We were still a pitiful looking rabble, but we were able to find work escorting a convoy on a journey that would take a few days. I negotiated with the caravan master for some funds up front, and used that restock our food and medicine supplies. Along the way we were attacked by some roaming highway men, but came out victorious once again, though battered and bloodied by the fighting. After reaching our destination and getting paid, I decided to let the men rest for a couple of days. I also picked up a few more pieces of gear, including some real armor. Well, leather armor. Chainmail and plate was far beyond our current budget. 

The world map of Battle Brothers will be familiar to anyone who has played Mount and Blade.

Once everyone was healed up, we took another contract escorting a caravan back towards where we started out. This time there were no bandits. We were still paid in full, despite only marching for a few days. Now that's my kind of work. This pattern continued for a couple of weeks. Escorting caravans and tracking down thieves. Despite humble beginnings, my company was starting to come together. Most of the soldiers now had real weapons and armor, and some were becoming much more proficient at combat. I had also lost a couple of soldiers here and there, but each town along the road had its share of desperate men looking to join for one reason or another. Overall, things were looking good. My over-confidence would be my downfall.

Having gained a small reputation, we were offered a lucrative contract by a local lord. He wished us to go on a lengthy patrol of the roads to several nearby towns. We would be paid a moderate amount for this, but, more importantly, would also be paid a bonus for each bandit head taken along the way. The men buzzed at the thought of slaying every bandit we could find along the roads. 

The first leg of the patrol was uneventful. Not a bandit in sight. Myself and the men were disappointed. Our payday would hardly cover our travel expenses if the rest of the patrol went like this. Little did we know we were about to walk into the hornet's nest.

Our maps showed most of the surrounding area, but one uncharted region lay between us and our next destination. No matter, we were a company of killers at this point, and no bandit mob would be able to take us. Venturing into the unknown, we finally stumbled across some bandits. It was a small group, no match for the dozen men now under my command. We struck them down and moved on, looking for more victims. Another group appeared, slightly larger than the last. We fought a good fight and wiped them out, suffering only a few injuries. The men were giddy at the thought of the ever growing payment we would receive in a few days.

Yet another group of bandits appeared, just a handful, and we swooped in. To our shock, these bandits were not the usual mangy lot, they were real fighters and carried real weapons. This proved a tough fight, despite our 2:1 advantage in numbers. A couple of my men fell in the fighting, and more were wounded. We survived though, and could carry on. A little further and we would be out of this wild area. Then we saw it. An abandoned fortress turned into a bandit stronghold. That must have been where all the bandits were coming from. The lord who hired us would want to know about this.

Just before we cleared the uncharted area and made it to safety, another bandit party found us. This one was almost as large as our force, and was as well equipped as the last group we fought. We had to run, contract or not. Unfortunately, we could not run fast enough. The group caught us and surrounded my company in a forest. Attacked from all sides and hemmed in by trees, the men were unable to support one another. They fought valiantly, but were cut down one by one. In the end, every man on each side was dead or dying, save two. The last surviving member of my original company was still standing, a crossbowman who had saved the day more than once. With his last crossbow bolt he had cut down an axe-wielding bandit, but his luck ran out as another bandit rushed forward through the mangled corpses. My soldier pulled out his knife, all he had left to fight with, and stabbed uselessly at his well armored foe. Seconds later he was slain. My mercenary company was completely wiped out, just like that.



Battle Brothers promises to be one of the best strategy games coming out this year. It's got a bit of RPG, a bit of team management, and lot of tactical combat. The full game promises to have world shaping events and quests for your mercenary company to participate in, but the game is already a massive success in my eyes simply based on the core mechanics. It very much captures that feeling of freedom and choice that you get in Mount and Blade. Traveling around from village to village, recruiting men, buying equipment and supplies, ultimately creating a deadly fighting force. Except here it's done even better. Every soldier has a back story and individual stats, as well as special traits. Almost everything in the game uses procedural generation, but it doesn't feel like it.

I did not know very much about this game going in, having simply not seen it mentioned anywhere. However, I was completely blown away by my initial experiences. The game is still in early access, but is completely playable and feels very polished. Once it comes out the price will go up, so if you think you would like it at all I seriously recommend picking it up now.

Look for my full review in the next few weeks!

- Joe Beard

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                                                        Last Days of Old Earth Review

  Hang on, wait a second. Why am I reviewing this game? I am a grognard whose pedigree goes back to the early days of board wargaming. I don't even read Sci-Fi; well, very little. The map isn't of Europe or anything I have seen before, and what about all of the strange units? What's up with them? Just as companies have to branch out like Slitherine has done into IOS, Android, and non-historical games to keep pace with, and sometimes create new markets. We wargamers should do the same. I know I used to look down my nose at a map that had "shudder" areas instead of hexes. I now play Ageod games all the time and love them. So please, people, step out of your comfort zone with games every once in a while and check out those beer and pretzel games, fantasy, and Sci-Fi games. So does Slitherine and Auroch Digital hit one out of the park to the ultaran nebula, or is this game the last spark of a super nova turned cold?

  Last Days of Old Earth was reviewed earlier here when it was still in early access. The game has changed since then, and also just received a very large update.

 In this turn based strategy game, you can play as the Skywatchers Clan or the Automata.

 The Skywatchers Clan are the last remnant of humans who live on Earth; not ours, but one that has been turned into a freeze pop. Playing as them, you are marching toward the equator, which is still warm enough to sustain some life.

 The Automata are a robotic race of sentinels that are in the way of the Skywatchers Clan on their trek to the equator.

 The only thing that confused me is that the Skywatchers clan is set on doing its Northwalk. Living in the northern hemisphere, it had me turning my head several times. This again is proof that people should think, look, and walk at times out of their comfort zone.

 In some ways, the game resembles a turn based RTS game. You build facilities and upgrade them. You explore the map looking for both resources and enemies. The map is a blank slate except for the few tiles that you can see at first. As far as similarities to RTS games, that is about it. At its heart it is a strategy game as much as any wargame is.

 The main difference is that it is turn based. So you have no need for frenetic map searching or finger clicking. It reminds me of the newer board games with its die rolls and cards to pull.

 The terrain is varied, and gives bonuses to the defender like a typical wargame. The units have all strengths and weaknesses that have to be used to used to attack or to defend against your enemy.

  You can build outposts which are military installations, and also build collectors on resource tiles.

 One place the game really shines is in terrain height. In this game it actually matters. You not only get the expected defense bonus, but your units can actually SEE farther on the map. This helps immensely with recon, attack, and defense planning.

 The other very well done part of the games is in its hero units. They have special abilities, and also have a set amount of units that they can command in armies.

You can garrison your HQ or your outpost or deploy your armies out of them. If you lose your HQ to the enemy, the game is lost. All of your installations have limits on the amount of units allowed to be present in the garrison. Units in installations can also be healed and repaired. There are a few units that can do this for your armies in the field.

 The game turn starts with a die roll to determine who wins the initiative. You can use your resources to buy more chances to win the die roll. Gaining the initiative not only lets you move first, you also gain more action points to use during that turn.

 Battles occur when units of both sides are in the same hex. You can choose to autoresolve it or move it to the field of battle. The field of battle is pretty typical in its look and usage. The front line is for units defending and attacking directly with the second line used for support units.

 The AI is very competent on both the field of battle, and the maps.

 The graphics at first seemed to me a bit cartoon-like (see above), but the maps and units grew on me. They are actually well done for the game's story line.

 Resources are the key to the game.You have to get moving on the first turn. For both recon and to search, find, and capture the different resource hexes on each map. Not only finding, but also defending your resources is really the crux of game play. If the enemy can take away your resources you will lose. Possibly a slow loss, but a loss nonetheless.

 The game comes with the ability to choose your units before you start with the ability to build your own 'decks' of them before battle.

 The game also has an adjustable 'sudden death' meter in the skirmish games. This is a good addition so the player doesn't have to destroy all of his enemies or capture the entire map to win that scenario. 

  

  To add to the player's choices, the game has some interesting features. A unit can go into stealth mode in a forest tile and become hidden. You can try to assassinate your enemy's heroes. Sabotage is also something you can do against your enemy and cut down on his supply. The game also has 'encounters' where the player's forces will move next to a tile that has a force that is not one of the two antagonists. The player has to choose on how his forces will react to this. It is possible to gain allies during one of these encounters.

 To sum it up, this game is an interesting title that really does have some depth if you take the time to play it. A lot of wargamers or grogs would look askance at it due to the story and graphics. This one will remain on my harddrive and I will definitely play it. In the beginning I was skeptical, but it has proved its worth.

  Robert

 Game: Last Days of Old Earth
 Developer: Auroch Digital
 Publisher: Slitherine
 Date of Review: 8/6/2016

Blocks in the East AAR

 



Follow Chris Buhl as he battles across Russia in Vento Nuovos well received BLOCKS IN THE EAST

BLOCKS IN THE EAST is a game of World War II conflict simulation at the strategic level.

 

It recalls the most decisive battles fought on the Eastern Front from the beginning of the invasion in summer '41 until the dramatic end in Berlin in spring 1945.

 

Although based on historical events, players can modify the evolution of World War II on the Eastern Front.

The AAR consists of 17 parts. I shall publish them in three goes. Enjoy the read!

 

 

 BITE part 1

BITE part 2

BITE part 3

BITE part 4

BITE part 5

BITE part 6

BITE part 7

BITE part 8

BITE part 9

BITE part 10

BITE part 11

BITE part 12

BITE part 13

BITE part 14

BITE part 15

BITE part 16

BITE Final Part






 

Warbirds: Canvas Falcons is superb print and play, WWI tactical air warfare, game really deserves a full boxed version. The designer spent over ten years creating it, and it shows.  Please take a look at the AAR's to see what we mean.

He is currently working on the WWII module and is also looking for someone to develop a digital version, preferably on the PC, with AI and using the PC to enhance the game all around. There still is a definite gap in the market for a developer/publisher to focus on conversions and use the power of the PC to enhance them (not change them though). For instance, add squadron management and some RPG elements to this particular game.

Scenario 1 - First Attempt : France - 29th September 1914

Scenario 12 - End of the Fokker Scourge - France - 19th July 1914

1. Turns 1 and 2
2. Turns 3 and 4
3. Turns 5 and 6
4. Turns 7 and 8
5. Turns 9 and 10
6. Turns 11 and 12

Jasta 37 - Flight Op - Mission 1 - 28th December 1917

Scenario 41 - Hohn's Rampage - France - 20th April 1918

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3
4. part 4

Combat Mission and me, a love story?

What is Combat Mission ? A WEGO/Real-time tactical masterpiece.

Combat Mission (in one form or another) and I go back a long way,  back to when Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord was the new kid on the block. A time when us wargamers looked on in awe at this tactical masterpiece, a true game-changer had just announced itself, and we rejoiced. I remember like it was yesterday, picking up the box at Game in Liverpool...aaahh good times.

Then suddenly, (well it felt like a little time between CMBO and CMBB) Battlefront released a magnum opus. Combat Mission Barbarossa to Berlin or CMBB is it came to be known. No tactical wargame before or since has contained anywhere near the amount of content the new CM game had. The whole of the East Front from start to finish, including minor nations. Pure bliss. Plus, it kept all of the features that made CMBO  good like WEGO and Combat Mission's innovative new way of doing turns. Out went the old IGOUGO way of doing turns that had carried over from board wargames. Now, we still had turns that took one minute of game time, but your moves played out simultaneously with the enemy’s, as you had previously plotted your moves and then, when finished, you watched the action unfold. This also added loads of tension and excitement to the game. 

Additionally, being able to rewind the turn as often as you liked, meant you never missed any of the action. So CMBB gathered a huge following and multitudes of Mod support. Later, a game set in Africa\Italy was released. This would be the CMx1 swan song.  Battlefront had bigger more ambitious plans, esp. as technology had moved far along enough for their dreams to be realised (I still remember reading in the CMBB manual on how they'd love to have done visual 1v1 representation). So, what was it that Battlefront had planned for CMx2, what changes would we see, and how will it be received by the now dedicated and hardcore CMBB fans?

There was a before and an after Combat Mission Shock Force

Well, as well documented, things didn't turn out to well when Battlefront released Combat Mission Shock Force. A game set, at the time, in a fictional war-torn Syria (a rather sad prediction of future events). Finally, we had 1v1 soldier representation, but in an unforeseen move, they'd gone with a focus on real-time, relegating WEGO, which, for me, was a seriously wrong move. All interest in the game evaporated and those who enjoy real-time found the game had some serious issues. The outcry was loud and long-and Battlefront listened. WEGO came back gaining its rightful place as a major feature, bugs were hunted down, gameplay was improved, new features added and eventually three superb modules were released: Marines, British Forces, and finally NATO.

I watched a gameplay video that was made for a competition, liked what I saw, so I then bought CMSF several months after release, when WEGO was back and it was playing well. I also bought the Marines module, as that had just been released. However, it wasn't really until the British Forces module came out that I really fell for the game. For me, that module made CMSF and, from then on, I'd be buying as many CMx2 releases as I could afford and, like many others, started the long wait for the WW2 version to be released. One thing that really benefited the WW2 version was CMSF being released first, with all its teething troubles, so by the time the WW2 version was being developed, it had benefited greatly from all the work done during the course of CMSF and its modules. Even today there is a hardcore group that still haven't gotten over the move from CMx1 to CMx2.

Since the release of CMSF and its modules, we have had the CMx2 engine cover the Western front from the invasion of Normandy until Arnhem, two releases covering  Italy, an East Front release covering '44, another modern era game covering a fictional conflict in the Ukraine (what is it with Battlefront predicting conflicts?), and finally, a third party release covering the Russian conflict in Afghanistan.

Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg has a multiplayer mode,  4 campaigns, plenty of scenarios and a skirmish mode.
The latest release is Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg, carrying on from where Combat Mission Beyond Normandy and its Market Garden module finished off. CMFB takes us up to the end of what would be the German’s final large-scale attack in the West, which the Germans called Wacht am Rhein, which later became known as The Battle of the Bulge. It also includes scenarios set in the terrible meat grinder that was the Huertgen Forest, a battle that  wouldn't have looked out of place to a soldier from a generation before. There are also scenarios set during Operation Nordwind, a battle featuring the German 6th SS Mountain Division. Altogether, there are four campaigns which include one training campaign and 25 scenarios. There is also the Quick Battle feature, which I profess to never use, as I only play against the included AI (plus, the Quick Battles really aren't suited to this and are more for multiplayer use). The reason why quick battles aren't suited to single player is that the TAC AI is scripted, which means it doesn't really work that well in Quick Battles. This is one of the downsides of the engine, and a real bug bear for some. That's not to say the Tac AI is useless, when it comes to the scenarios and campaigns, those clever secanario designers end up weaving their magic ,with the result that many of my pixel truppen have come to a terrible demise and the AI march of victorious. I've never found this to be an issue, as there has always been more than enough content for me in the games without ever needing the Quick Battle feature.

The game, as mentioned previously,  is set in the Western Front and covers the border areas of France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. Each geographical area has its own specific terrain and building types, matching those you'd find in that particular part of the country. Also new to the West Front CMx2 games is snow, which obviously means many vehicles have  an application of whitewash camouflage, for when ground conditions dictate. CMFB consist of over 130 different vehicles, 24 heavy weapons, and 32 infantry weapons.  Forces consist of US Army, German Heer, Waffen SS, and the Luftwaffe (German Para units). Later modules will introduce the British and Canadians as well as take the game right up to the surrender of Germany in the West.

"You'll be punished, and punished quickly..."

As for gameplay, I'd really need another ten pages or so to really do justice to the game and cover as much as possible. I'd say the forums are the best place to go to get a good idea on how the CMx2 games play.  The game can be played both real-time and in WEGO mode. I’d suggest trying WEGO first whilst learning the system. Personally, I always play WEGO but others do prefer real time, but at least we have a choice. Command and Control are very important in a game with units having several ways of communicating with each other.  This then affects, at higher difficulty levels, what each  unit can spot. There is no borg spotting here. CMFB plays like all the other CMx2 engine games, so those who have played the previous ones and enjoyed them will have no regrets buying this. 

For those new to the game,  I suggest downloading the CMFB demo. This is a great way to find out if you like the game enough to then go on and purchase. I do suggest to those who are from a  Men at War or Company of Heroes background, please leave everything you learned playing those at the doorstep. CMx2 engine games are a big step up in realism, and if you play the same way you play those other two games. you'll be punished, and punished quickly. I have a few important tips that will help you keep your pixel rappen alive and that is not to rush, take your time moving your troops, split squads at the start, and don't be afraid to use recon by fire. I'd say go take a look at the excellent AAR's over at the forums that involve Bil Hardenberger. Bil also has a website full of tips on how to perfect your tactical know-how.  There are also some superb Let’s Play videos over at youtube.

Quality, quality, and quality…

As usual, the scenarios and campaigns are of an exceptional standard.  The research that the scenario designers have put in is faultless right across the board. The briefings for each scenario really set the tone and atmosphere of what's to come, as well as set the immediate backdrop to the battle. Try not to skim over them, they add so much to the immersion, as well as contain little snip bits of intel which could really help you over the course of the battle.  The maps are being praised by all who own the game, many saying they are the best yet, and that really is saying something, as there are lots of outstanding maps which you'll find in all games in the series. The game definitely succeeds in portraying the harsh winter conditions that swept across Northern Europe during this period. I also like the variety of scenario sizes and how well spread out they are. In a previous game, I found very few  tiny and small scenarios which I really missed as they can be great fun. CMFB doesn't have this problem, all sizes get a decent amount of scenarios.

I'm a CMx2 fan. CMFB hasn't disappointed me at all. I hear some are saying that progress isn't fast enough and improvements between the engines (now at version 3) aren't big enough. Personally, I'm happy with the progress. I'm not sure where these tactical games are that come close to what Battlefront is doing, let alone doing it better which would make CMx2 redundant. So, I'm very grateful we have Battlefront and CMx2, as, without them, my hobby would have a pretty big hole in it with nothing out there to fill it. I'm a tactical wargame scale nut and CMFB is another CMx2 game to have permanent residence on my hard drive. If you enjoyed the previous games, then this is a must buy as well.

Try it ! there is a demo !

Those who are wargamers, and prefer the tactical scale, again I heartily recommend CMFB and all the other games in the series. Wargamers where tactical scale isn't their preference, I still recommend but do suggest trying the demo.

Those who never got over the move from CMx1 to CMx2 aren't going to be swayed by CMFB. Maybe when Battlefront moves on to a new engine, you'll come back into the fold. Here is hoping.Those who have played the previous games and found they weren't for them, then again, CMFB isn't going to change your mind.

Those who haven't played a CMx2 game before, then I say go download the demo. Then you'll know if this series is for you or not. You never know, you could find that game you've been looking for all this time! Or, be turned into a whole new hobby, wargaming!

So, just like a good old love story, my relationship with Combat Mission has had its ups and downs, with even a split along the way. Yes, there are things I'd like to see improved, like soldier animations, for instance, and be able to set SOP's for units. If I had to really think about it, I'm sure I could list several other wants/improvements, but tell me, which game out there couldn't be improved? I have no doubt that different players would suggest different ways in how the game could be improved, yet the games taking pride of  place on my hard drive today are the CMx2 games. That's because they fill a need for tactical wargaming that no other games I've tried, and I've tried many, have managed to fill. Only one has come close, but CMx2 has those killer features for me, WEGO and replay value, which will always relegate other tactical wargames to second place or lower. The CM series is my first true love when it comes to tactical wargaming on the computer and it will take something very special indeed to knock it off my No.1 spot.

We love modders !

One last thing. I have to give a mention to the CMx2 modding scene, which is superb. So many talented players create some amazing mods, that not only transform the visual aspect of the game but also greatly improve the sound effects. The stock game already looks great, however, go download and install those amazing mods and it takes the game to another level altogether. Coupled with modded sound effects, immersion levels increase tenfold. Not only that, there is  a steady flow of user made scenarios and campaigns (many mini masterpieces) that will keep you playing for many years to come.

Buy the game on Battlefront

Official game's forum

A blog about the game with lot of good information, AAR and Mod Repository

AAR video byIthikial

I started playing Legion from Slitherine.

Legion is a turn-based strategy game set in ancient Rome.

A little bit like Civilization there is a campaign map, a strategic level, where the player controls armies and must conquer other tribes and city to build a powerful in ancient France and Italy.
What makes the game really interesting is the tactical level. In battles the player must position their armies to take advantage of terrain and make use of the best formations, to ensure victory.
I love that part. You place your units, decide their formation when in the battle they will start marching toward the enemy lines and then watch. Since you do not see most of the enemy troops before starting the battle, some late action may save you the battle at the last moment.
Of course, it may be a little bit frustrating since when you start the battle there is nothing much you can do anymore. But the amazing thing with this game is that you do not feel cheated by the AI. The result of the battles always seems to be accurate and balanced.

Let's be honest... watching your armies fighting on your iPad screen is just very pleasant.
Many times I was feeling like a general giving initial orders before the battle and, on top of the hill, looking as where the fate of his soldiers were decided.
You will learn very quickly all the option at hand before a battle and you will not repeat twice the same mistake after your army hit a wall of defenders because you just gave the wrong formation and direction.

At a strategic level, you will manage your cities, raise production building and allocate enough workers to them in order to produce resources. Wood, food and ore. The city also is used to recruit men for your armies. And workers are soldiers. so you have to make some difficult choice between increasing forces or increasing production.

Legion also have a diplomatic interface who is simple but efficient and do the job well even though it may displease the people who love such part to be deep. Here nothing too fancy but it is efficient enough to create simple treaties. You will not win a game as a diplomat. You will win by forced conquest.

The interface is simply very efficient on the Ipad. This game was created so long ago  I think those guys may have foreseen the tablets age.

Be aware the game comes with a PDF manual who must read since the in-game tutorial is very short and do not cover a lot of information you will find in the manual. Some screenshot I took will show part of this manual.
It is not really nice since reading such document on a tablet is tedious. A better tutorial or in-game hint will have been a better approach. But again this game was developed long time ago before the golden age of tablets. The manual though is very complete and can always be printed.

So if you have patience and want to know everything about each units and their strength and weaknesses, if you need every bit of information about every single buildings in the game to make sure you are making every single decision the right one, then you will have to spend some reading time on this manual.

All in all this game is a very good strategic game with an original tactical approach. I will definitely recommend it for those who likes to raise armies and build an Empire . A must have if you own an Ipad.

Decisions, decisions, decisions! 

That is what is in the store while playing Slitherine’s (and Auroch Digital’s) Early Access, turn-based “Last Days of Old Earth”. 

Action Points (AP) are the soul of the procedurally generated main map.

AP are used to recruit units, move units, create armies, and to draw new hero and fighter cards for your expanding deck. Need additional resources (Materials, Population, Energy)?

Leftover AP. Resources are also needed for unit purchase and for trying to improve your chances, at the turn beginnings, for Initiative dice rolls. If you win the Initiative next turn,  you not only move first, but you also earn more AP to spend.

It is tempting to jump in and spend all of your AP every turn. However, any unspent AP will collect each turn and eventually be spendable on more resources. More resources equal higher value cards and, again, a chance for winning Initiative.

Brain melting yet? So, do you spend more AP building up and moving armies or hold on to them to accumulate for following turns? It’s quite the (tremendously fun) conundrum.

As you move through the map, there are various “Encounters” that you come across, with more decisions to be made (I won’t spoil any of them). There are also additional resources on the map itself to build collectors upon (then yet another quandary of, “Leave the collector unguarded or leave precious troops there to protect it?” Yes, you want to protect them, but at the cost of weakening an army?) and reap their benefits every turn.

Supply is also a large factor. Your armies are penalized for moving out of supply range. The solution is to spend the much-needed resources to build outposts, to extend your supply radius.

Everything above is before ever engaging an enemy in turn-based battles! There are easy as many strategies as game hexes within each battle itself. Setup before the battle allows you to decide which units should be frontline, and which ones are to be used as a support, artillery, auxiliary, etc. Turns alternate with you choosing the order of attack you prefer. Tactics rule as you try to outwit your opponent on the battlefield, enabling you to take down an enemy with superior numbers.

It may verbally seem like a lot, but the game is extremely easy to get into. The AI is good as it kicked me around quite a bit while also punishing me for any less-than-optimal decisions I may have made along the way. The gameplay was really smooth and I did not have any crashes or technical difficulties at all.

Finally, all of this is available right now, in an EA game! They are going to add deck building, although the current decks are quite satisfying, which will give you and even more tailored-to-your-strategy experience. Stealth will also be added which will include sabotage and assassination They are also going to implement Air mechanics including air strikes, AA, and air recon. Single player is currently skirmishes only (with variable amounts of opponents), but they are adding a Campaign. (Multiplayer is in, but I did not test that at all).

My only decisions left to be made now are:

1) which side do I choose and 

2) how many enemies do I want to teach me lessons about my decision-making process?

I am definitely going back in to beat upon some more.

-Clayton