Edit made on 11/13/15 due to Patch

Update 2: Link to my review of the original Battle Battalions, called Victory Command (which I loved!):
http://steamcommunity.com/id/WildCardBAMF/recommended/360480/

Edit 3: The fanboys are RAGING! Look at their downvotes!

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly:

The Good:
-Fun, tactical gameplay
-Short, yet exciting games (no 45+ minute LoL or Dota matches here!)
-Interesting units
-Easy to pick up and play, but lots of depth for mastery
-Free maps! Petroglph updates the game regularly.

Bad:
-Units are horribly unbalanced.
-Unit AI is retarded. Tell a unit to move when being fired upon, and often it will sit in place, turning in place, causing it to die. VERY frustrating. Units don't know how to turn around and take another route with one is blocked.

Ugly:
-EXTREMELY Pay 2 Win
-Buy your way to more perks, better units, and more supplies

Want to buy your way to victory? I wrote a guide to show you how!
http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496881136906919716/


Examples of others confirming Pay 2 Win:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503056797754/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503060516882/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503064162304/


Some people asked for clarification on the Pay 2 Win aspect:

While you CAN earn everything in game through gameplay, the amount of time it takes to grind out a SINGLE unit tree (there are over a dozen) would take about 80+ hours of gameplay, assuming you're an above average player and you don't pay for any "Premium" time. Whereas a brand new player can unlock everything buy stacking boosts resulting in EIGHT TIMES FASTER PROGRESS AND 8x MORE IN GAME CURRENCY.

If you have all 5 perks maxed out and all the unit skills unlocked, you will DOMINATE a player who hasn't unlocked said battalion perks and skills. There is NOTHING wrong with allowing players to pay to unlock things faster, ala Battlefield 4 Battlepacks, but requiring players to grind this much for HUGE gameplay advantages is unethical, IMHO.

"Perks" are similar to CoD's perks. There are perks to take less damage, units move faster, do more damage, etc etc. There are dozens avalible. These aren't tiny amounts, we're talking 20%+ increases to default values. This is a SIGNIFIGANT gameplay advantage, but takes dozens of hours for a free player to unlock, ASSUMING you're above average and win 3/5 games (against people who are paying for the above mentioned advantages against you)

I have played ALL previous iterations of this game, including the original "Victory Command" before they pulled it from Steam, and once they finally released it, I played the Beta of this game from Day 1. I gave a lot of feedback directly to the devs via their forum, and they failed to respond to my and other players concerns about game balance, placing profits ahead of players.

Overall, this IS a good game, at it's core, but I cannot recommend any game that is "F2P" but requires a substantial financial investment to win unless you're willing to put as many hours into it as you would a WoW character.

Before someone says, "What do you expect"? Ever heard of Smite? AMAZING MOBA that is completely free with only COMSMETIC upgrades you can pay for. BB could have gone this route, but they decided to make a P2W game instead. If this changes in the future, I will update my review to reflect it.

Edit made on 11/13/15 due to Patch Update 2: Link to my review of the original Battle Battalions, called Victory Command (which I loved!): http://steamcommunity.com/id/WildCardBAMF/recommended/360480/ Edit 3: The fanboys are RAGING! Look at their downvotes! The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: The Good: -Fun, tactical gameplay -Short, yet exciting games (no 45+ minute LoL or Dota matches here!) -Interesting units -Easy to pick up and play, but lots of depth for mastery -Free maps! Petroglph updates the game regularly. Bad: -Units are horribly unbalanced. -Unit AI is retarded. Tell a unit to move when being fired upon, and often it will sit in place, turning in place, causing it to die. VERY frustrating. Units don't know how to turn around and take another route with one is blocked. Ugly: -EXTREMELY Pay 2 Win -Buy your way to more perks, better units, and more supplies Want to buy your way to victory? I wrote a guide to show you how! http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496881136906919716/ Examples of others confirming Pay 2 Win: http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503056797754/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503060516882/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/399660/discussions/0/496880503064162304/ Some people asked for clarification on the Pay 2 Win aspect: While you CAN earn everything in game through gameplay, the amount of time it takes to grind out a SINGLE unit tree (there are over a dozen) would take about 80+ hours of gameplay, assuming you're an above average player and you don't pay for any "Premium" time. Whereas a brand new player can unlock everything buy stacking boosts resulting in EIGHT TIMES FASTER PROGRESS AND 8x MORE IN GAME CURRENCY. If you have all 5 perks maxed out and all the unit skills unlocked, you will DOMINATE a player who hasn't unlocked said battalion perks and skills. There is NOTHING wrong with allowing players to pay to unlock things faster, ala Battlefield 4 Battlepacks, but requiring players to grind this much for HUGE gameplay advantages is unethical, IMHO. "Perks" are similar to CoD's perks. There are perks to take less damage, units move faster, do more damage, etc etc. There are dozens avalible. These aren't tiny amounts, we're talking 20%+ increases to default values. This is a SIGNIFIGANT gameplay advantage, but takes dozens of hours for a free player to unlock, ASSUMING you're above average and win 3/5 games (against people who are paying for the above mentioned advantages against you) I have played ALL previous iterations of this game, including the original "Victory Command" before they pulled it from Steam, and once they finally released it, I played the Beta of this game from Day 1. I gave a lot of feedback directly to the devs via their forum, and they failed to respond to my and other players concerns about game balance, placing profits ahead of players. Overall, this IS a good game, at it's core, but I cannot recommend any game that is "F2P" but requires a substantial financial investment to win unless you're willing to put as many hours into it as you would a WoW character. Before someone says, "What do you expect"? Ever heard of Smite? AMAZING MOBA that is completely free with only COMSMETIC upgrades you can pay for. BB could have gone this route, but they decided to make a P2W game instead. If this changes in the future, I will update my review to reflect it.