Developers Croteam and 2x2 Games have released a beta patch for Unity of Command 2 that adds a standalone scenario for playing the Battle of the Bulge as the Axis powers. The Update 10 Test adds the scenario “Wacht am Rhein!” to the game, allowing players to take on the command of German forces in a scenario specifically designed to be played that way for the first time. While fans on Steam Workshop have already hacked together scenarios as the German army, this is the first signal of the inevitable full-fledged Western Front German campaign for UoC2. You can download the beta patch and try out the new scenario on Steam by going to Game Properties, clicking the Betas tab, and using the drop-down box to select the beta branch.

The prospect of more Unity of Command 2 is quite exciting, as I personally gave it a 91% in my review. The dynamic nature of the campaign, while it did have some problems in overall strategic management, was an exciting experience that reinvigorated my desire to play wargames. I called it “An excellent wargame for both new and hardcore strategy fans,” saying that “the strategy is very simple to manage but just complex enough that it feels like a challenge.”

The beta update otherwise includes some important bug fixes, a few new features, UI improvements, and some campaign balance changes. You can find all the update notes on the game’s Steam page. 

One of my high bars for a strategy game's sequel is that I can unreservedly recommend the game over its predecessor. Unity of Command 2 is one of those games; somewhat to my surprise, as I was initially wary of all the new mechanics being added to an otherwise delightfully simple wargame. Unity of Command 2 is a new wargaming standard in every aspect. It has good mechanics, a fun campaign structure, and it even looks quite good to boot. This is a pure wargame: it's about moving troops and tanks and fighting with no consideration for politicking or ceasefires.

Unity of Command 2 has the same baselines that made the first UoC a success. Every division on the battlefield is made up of sections called steps, each represented by a little dot below the unit's model. Sometimes divisions have 'specialist steps' of attached assets—like a detached tank company temporarily assigned to support an infantry division. Steps are either active, a full circle, or suppressed, an empty one. When a unit attacks or defends its active steps are multiplied by their combat value, totaled, and compared to the other unit's total for the odds of various results. If that sounds complicated, it's not, because the game just shows you the likely results. Sure, there's a detailed combat resolution table buried in the manual, but you can happily play this (quite complex) wargame without ever looking at it. That feels very good.

On the other hand, it doesn't do a great job of teaching itself. The basics like combat are easy, but expect some trial-and-error frustration while you figure out how to reassign steps, balance logistics, juggle command range and upgrade your divisions. More detailed, frequent tooltips would have been nice. The interface is good enough though and doesn't fight the game design—it's certainly one of the best for a wargame of this kind.

The combat lets you really focus on what an operations-scale game does best. This is a game about orchestrating breakthroughs, exploiting gaps with armor, and strategically blocking chokepoints. The terrain of the western front isn't about vast encirclements, it's about pushing over the mountains of central Italy or struggling through the bocage in Normandy. I found especial pleasure in capturing railway depots and balancing supply dumps to keep up with my advancing forces. A well-planned tank breakthrough once allowed me to take a third of italy with little effort by racing up the coast and cutting off the enemy's supply—though the paratroops that held the vital bridges along the way didn't make it. The strategy is very simple to manage but just complex enough that it feels like a challenge. 

That's not to say the game as a whole lacks complexity. Every section of your army has an HQ unit, a non-combat location that your logistics, intelligence, and command efforts come from. HQs can use their very limited command points to have divisions execute special maneuvers—suppressing artillery fire to pin down enemies, feint attacks, and set-piece assaults to reduce enemy fortifications. For example, I specialized my US 5th Army as a fast force that hit hard and excelled at breaking single points. I consistently used it to exploit gaps, pushing armored divisions into attacks on favorable terrain, but ordering them to make fighting withdrawals in the event of counterattacks. Meanwhile my British 8th Army was an iron wall of artillery that could grind down even the most determined, entrenched enemy. HQs can also deploy portable bridges, organize emergency supplies, and organize motor transport for slow infantry. As you play through the game's campaign these HQs level up, gaining new abilities and more command points.

The first Unity of Command's very basic combat felt like a puzzle sometimes, but the mechanics are refined in UoC2 so that even the initial strategic situations in a scenario can have wildly different solutions, something the first game lacked. It's much harder—maybe impossible—to find the most efficient way to win any one of this game's battles.

Take the early missions in Tunisia, for example. It might seem obvious that you simply need to break the enemy's apparently weakest point, and that's just what I did. It worked, but I lost lots of troops to later fighting because that weak point is quite far from your actual objectives. Next time around I reassigned engineers from all over my forces to divisions sitting opposite a bunch of dangerous Panzer divisions with a river in between. The engineers allowed them to ignore the river attack penalty and break a hole. Driving tanks through the hole, I captured the enemy's supply base at Tunis and cut off over half their forces from supply—from there they just starved and stopped fighting.

The centerpiece of play is the War in the West campaign, spanning North Africa in 1943 to the close of the western front in 1945. It's divided into phases of two or three historical operations, like invading Sicily then charging "up the boot" to Rome. During missions you complete objectives—always with a time limit—to earn prestige. Prestige is spent on reinforcements and upgrades for your troops, like artillery pieces and tank companies as specialty steps. Prestige is always in demand, though. Between each set of operations is a conference phase, during which you purchase HQ upgrades and one-shot card powers using prestige. 

Customizable factors like cards and specialists and upgrades lend a lot of flexibility to scenarios and campaigns. There are even a few points of historical divergence, where doing better than the historical figures allows you to take alt-history paths like pushing the Italian front to the alps by mid-1944. I rarely feel the need to replay a wargame of this scope, but I already know I'll be sinking a lot of time into Unity of Command 2 because it's clear that strategy isn't subordinate to simplicity—and that's rare these days.

Unity of Command 2 was announced earlier this year as a dramatically updated sequel to the outstanding 2012 strategy wargame Unity of Command. It pits the Axis and Allies against one another in Europe through the years 1942-45, with a new 3D engine that promises to give the battlefield a far more detailed and dynamic look. New systems, including HQ locations and bonus objectives, promise to add further depth to the experience.

Developer 2x2 Games said today Unity of Command 2 is now in the final stages of development, which means two things: One, that it will be out in November, and two, that a closed beta test will kick off later this month. The beta will include the scenario editor and support for hotseat multiplayer (but not online multi), and will be available through the Steam version of the game—Mac and non-Steam releases are planned, but aren't currently set for testing.

Everybody is welcome to apply, and participants will be chosen at random: 2x2 said the application questionnaire is in place mainly to weed out trolls. But it was also very clear that the test isn't just a free-to-play weekend.

"Before applying, please consider whether you have enough free time during the first week of the test. You will be needing several hours to familiarize yourself with the game, playtest, and then provide feedback and comment," the studio said. "We need all of this (including feedback) to happen during the first week of the test, otherwise it's of limited usefulness to the project."

A solid release date for Unity of Command 2 will be announced soon. For now, you can apply for the closed beta test here, and tack it onto your wishlist on Steam.

Unity of Command is one of those rare hexy strategy affairs that manages to feel like a treat for seasoned fans as well as a welcoming entry point for newcomers to the intimidating world of operational-level wargaming. It's one of the best wargames around, and now we're getting a sequel. Take a look at the trailer above.

In Unity of Command 2, the Western Allies and Axis are duking it out over Europe, with players taking control between 1942 and 1945. Expect branching missions and dynamic objectives to shake things up a bit, hopefully offering up surprises even after repeated playthroughs. 

It sports a new 3D engine and looks extremely different from its predecessor. Units have proper models that fight on a map that's full of details, both cosmetic and practical. It's quite a step up from the first game.

Along with the new engine, Unity of Command 2 introduces some additional wrinkles and systems. There's the HQ, for instance, which is a real location on the map that's essential for organising and supplying your army, or the expanded ability to go behind enemy lines and mess up their infrastructure. Bonus objectives, meanwhile, give you new ways to change history, like the Allies reaching Berlin before the Soviets. 

It will launch with a full Allied campaign, but you'll be able to play as the Axis in battle scenarios, while a scenario editor will allow you to create your own and upload them to the Steam Workshop. 

Unity of Command 2 is due out later this year.