Wargame: Airland Battle - Satisfying RTS

[Taleric]

I have to show support for this game! It is the most enjoyable competitive RTS play I have had in years.

It brings back those feelings from SuddenStrike at LANs.

Pro:

Very anti-blob, units in mass will get artillery/bombed and block each other. A squad or two of well placed and supplied infantry can bottleneck and decimate a ton of tanks.

Recon is king, thoughtful focused moves to pick enemy lines apart easily outweigh mass spam.

Knowledge of enemy units capabilities greatly assist in engaging at an advantage.

"Deck" of units very customizable to play style.

Runs very smooth and the scale of battle with IRIS-ZOOM is epic.

Limited ammunition and fuel that you must support with supply vehicles/aircraft.


Con:

Large learning curve for those not familiar with non blob RTS.

Games take about 30 min on average to commit focused attention.

If you jump right into multiplayer without learning the unit capabilities and proper employment the community can be hostile. (Otherwise they are very pleasant even the opposition after game)

You will get rick-rolled if you can not think and predict 2-3 min down the road like chess.

[Gareleus]

I just wanted to say a few good words about this game and even the previous one, even if you may not like the whole anti blob and lethality of the tactics this game fits (I believe) a niche nicely with great rewards to the thinker who plans and monitors the enemy effectively. Also there are not a great many of games that present the Cold War going hot in RTS form. None if you only think in modern terms especially with the decline of RTS. But this game allows one to feel what may have happened in a "limited war" at different time periods of the Cold War, I wouldn't be surprised if in the next game it goes to the next decade or back to the fifties. An interesting proposition no matter and if you can get it cheap there really isn't much of a reason not to try it, and the above list outlines pretty well if gameplay wise this is for you. Just my two cents.