Wargame: Airland Battle

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Fallschirmjager
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Wargame: Airland Battle

Post by Fallschirmjager »

Currently on sale at Steam for $20. Some will automatically dismiss it because it is RTS. I would not automatically recommend it as a war game either. What I will say about it is that it is extremely enjoyable. It has more hardcore elements than the average RTS but disposes of some of the more grognard elements.

It has over 750 units and very large battlefields (for an RTS) of up to 150 km2. Every unit has a lot of stats behind it driving the combat engine. You have to take into account supply, logistics and you really have to focus on coordinated combined arms attacks. With so much unit variety it is not just the typical rock paper scissors. Defenses are layered and have to be taken apart in stages. Recon units to spot the enemy and establish safe routes. SEAD strikes to begin picking apart the enemy air defense and open up gaps in which you can send strike units to the enemies rear area. If you want to sacrifice in another area you can use air mobile forces for all kinds of purposes. Then you can soften up the enemy with artillery and rocket fire. Finally you can send forth your main units, tanks, AFVs and support units to grapple with the enemy.
Combat swirls back and forth with maps big enough for maneuverer and flanking. Counter attacks and calling up reserves are also important.

The game has no base building or resource gathering. Units are purchased by card decks at the beginning of each battle. There are skirmish battles, multiplayer and campaigns that are dynamic in that they use a board game type campaign map screen. Success or failure has strategic consequences. Spending your cards in certain areas and saving them in other areas is part of the campaign.

Overall I really like the game. It is not a hardcore simulation of the Cold War but has enough depth and behind the scenes combat engine resolution to keep things interesting.

The graphics are far beyond anything a wargame can offer but are not top tier stuff. Units have good models and textures and the terrain has enough detail to display Germany, Scandinavia and the Jutland peninsula to what you would expect.


If there is a downside to the game. It would be that turning up the graphics and then playing a larger battle requires some hefty horsepower. I have what would now be considered a middle tier PC. i7 920 3.2 Ghz, 6 GB ram and 2x Nvidia 295 GPU's
It does pretty well except when lots of units are on the screen and I am zooming back and forth, then things drop into the single digits.

Anyone else given the game a try? Or is the taint of RTS too great? [:D]
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Rising-Sun
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RE: Wargame: Airland Battle

Post by Rising-Sun »

The game is great, i played it for 30+ hours and if you guys cant handle too much stress on RTS, then dont get it. There are videos on youtube to get the ideas what the game is like.

MP is the fun parts of the game, rather than playing alone. Note there only Norway Map or Campaign, wish there was Vietnam. Only thing i dont get it that it doesnt have weather effects as well day/night. They need to add more MP maps, there only one for 10vs10.
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Kineas
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RE: Wargame: Airland Battle

Post by Kineas »

It's not a wargame but managed to ruin that search phrase forever. You can find many gameplay videos on twitch.tv
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