Game Swap is a new series in which one person recommends another a game they might like. This week, Graham suggests Pip play turn-based wargame Unity of Command [official site].>

Graham: Pretty much everyone who has ever written about Unity of Command, myself included, has described it as a gateway into the normally inaccessible historical strategy genre. That’s because it has simple, clean artwork and simple, clean rules governing its combat, while retaining historical accuracy in setting, unit design, and even the tactics it encourages as you (the Axis or Soviets) squabble over territory and supply lines on the Eastern Front of World War II. I recommended it to Pip because I want to test the theory that it’s a gateway, and because I know Pip enjoyed turn-based strategy in Banner Saga and has no problem with much more complex games such as Dota and League of Legends. … [visit site to read more]

An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant.

… [visit site to read more]

Unity of Command is the wargame that non-wargamers should play. At least in my eyes – Tim Stone has his doubts, and he knows more than I. It’s a difficult game, but not because of an overabundance of numbers or an obtuse interface like many of its kin. It’s unforgiving AI and the need for clever battlefield tactics that will see your men falter and die in its campaign, and which will keep you coming back for more. Like wot Kieron thought.

Gadzooks! Now it seems there’s to be a sequel.

… [visit site to read more]

In a world where it’s increasingly likely that game bundles will soon be given away with Happy Meals, people are often flabbered right down to the gasts when they see the prices over on planet Matrix. The wargaming/strategy publisher doesn’t discount its back catalogue as often as some companies discount their front catalogue, so when the annual holiday sale rolls around, it’s worth paying attention to. Lots of titles are discounted by 50%, including the excellent Unity of Command and its expansions. The Gary Grigsby titles are also on sale, as are many others, listed here.

… [visit site to read more]

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

Proving that sometimes the simplest games are the most effect, Unity of Command distilled the wargamer’s love of hexes and history to create and Eastern front game that is all about the cold number of war. Strange, then, that it should be one of the most emotive and compelling strategy games out there. … [visit site to read more]

Knickers. I’ve just drawn Reader #3232 in the RPS Secret Santa draw. This year I’m buying for a chap who scribbles scores on his two-year-old son’s art, described Papers, Please as “adequate”, and last smiled in 1998*. Perhaps something in his reader file will trigger a gift idea.

Hmm. It appears he “tolerates wasps” and has a “grudging respect for the work of 19th Century sewer engineer Joseph Bazalgette”. That’s something, I suppose. Hang on – what’s this? “During a visit to the Somerset Shoe Museum in 2010, #3232 was overheard discussing Boyle’s Law and representations of Romanians in contemporary videogames”. Now that is> interesting. (more…)

Unity of Command is a historical, turn-based strategy game set on the Eastern Front of World War 2. Wait! Come back. It’s also accessible, setting your tank-commanding tactics and supply line-supporting strategies upon a clean, communicative map and making the hows and whys of your decisions as obvious as possible. Kieron liked it. Jim liked it. Adam liked it. John probably still hated it.

So that’s about a thousand reasons to be excited that it’s getting a second piece of DLC, called Black Turn, which lets you command your armies through Operation Barbarossa. (more…)

General Gillen dropped the turn-based strategy goodness of Unity Of Command behind RPS lines and hoped that it would conquer hearts, minds and hard drives: “PC-gaming everyman Alec would like it. I suspect Adam has already played it, and I equally suspect he likes it. But I suspect its poise isn’t enough to get the Jims of the world on board.” Well, hear this – upon the flip-side of this hastily composed billet-doux to my lost love, I have composed a charge of two unfounded suspicions, General! Jim hopped on board later in the year and I was entirely ignorant of Unity of Command, although I did later learn to love it. The Red Turn DLC came out in December, but I noticed that it had cropped up on Matrix Games today, priced £6.99, so I took a look.

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We spent the morning prodding it with anti-tank rifle rounds and DP bursts, and the afternoon nudging it with mortar bombs and rifle grenades. Nothing worked. The sun was disappearing into a hole in the museum roof when Persikov turned up with the captured flamethrower. “The trouble with you city boys is you don’t know no zoology! Give me covering fire and I’ll show you how it’s done”. So he scampers out to Tram Crater and starts hosing the statue with liquid flame. Almost instantly there’s a sound like ice cracking, and that stout stone tail starts lashing. Cheers echo round the square as The Beast, still dripping fire, waddles out of the ring and heads towards Krautland. Fifteen minutes later the screaming begins. (more…)>

I hadn’t played Unity Of Command until last night, and wow, was I missing out. “Hexed-based World War II wargame” doesn’t usually add up to a crowd-pleaser, but this one has me (and even Mrs Me) completely engrossed. It’s one of the strategy games that is relatively simple in its construction, and yet complex enough to demand lateral thinking about how your moves will impact on supply lines, and the ability of your enemy to punch through your armies and surge into undefended territory. I also think part of the joy of it is just how difficult it is – its rock hard at times – and every victory feels like you’ve personally wrestled a bear into submission. Have it, bear>. What I am trying to say is: it’s a brilliant operational-level strategy game that completely colonised my brain from the first click.

More news and video below. (more…)