Pros:
+ Unique mechanics where you create your own faction (I think that it is a good choice by developers that you can only modify faction outside of real game, so you need to think about everything in advance when creating a faction)
+ Solid RTS gameplay and feeling which of course resembles CnC very much (well it's Petroglyph)
+ Music by Frank Klepacki!!!!! Yay!
+ Runs very smoothly and is quite polished already
+ Very reasonable price for content that is offered
+ 8 player support from a get go

Some remarks:
- Progression mechanics in multiplayer mode are questionable
- AI feels very similar to 8-bit armies one (and also borrowed same issues) - maybe you should look back into "Grey Goo" AI, because that one felt better
- In my opinion they should drop mechanics that only 1 barracks or only 1 ligh factory can make units (second and third just increases production speed)
- Base expansion should be handled differently - you should be able to build mobile outpost or something similar and decide where to expand yourself (pre-build outposts could be replaced by some other valuable structures - unique turrets or some constant money generators - banks or something other)
- I hope to see observer mode and to be able to choose AI factions as enemies (from those that I created)
- I think that faction skins (just looks) would benefit this game very much - I would be willing to pay for them to make my faction look distinctive

I really hope that this game will succeed!

To the devs, should you ever read this

I feel like you have a rock solid idea for a game and it is definitely executed with polish but I also feel like the central idea to your game is a little bit too tame. The combinatorics to customization in this game give rise to a substantial amout of customization but that is because I have played a lot of RTS and know the importance of tweaky stats like movement speed, range, and health vs high dmg weapons. The amount of variation visible to the gamer that don't breath numbers for a living is limited.

Only the weapons give a fundemental change to unit behavior and there aren't very many of them. This game is begging for a mod slot for weapons. Like a multi-barrel mod which increases fire rate but forces a minigun spool up mechanic or a magazine mod which allows rapid fire for a short duration followed by a reload time like rocket buggies from C&C:Generals.

Don't be afraid to get crazy with the variation. Like giving infantry jetpacks. Or by letting infantry combine with eachother to form voltron. Why not. But don't just make each piece of variation independent or else we will effectively just end up with 1 new unit every patch.

Make the player wonder, what if I made minigun voltron AND gave him a jetpack.

Forged Battalion is a new RTS created by Petroglyph. In terms of gameplay there's many things very similar to their "8-bit" games and classic C&C.

The graphics are pleasant and optimization is good. Soundtrack is great.
The gathering of resources is more or less in the style of classic Command & Conquers. Units behave nicely, they do not get stuck in each pass.
There are 4 types of troops - infantry, light cars, tanks and aviation. In each category, you can add 4 types of units, total 16 types of troops per battle.
Despite the small number of types of units (infantry, light cars, tanks, aviation), the system of perks and upgrades makes a variety in the game, allowing you to create your own army for any style of play: give units weapons, armor and perks. You can take only the necessary units.

AI is okay. It's doing pretty well most of the time, but could make stupid decisions from time to time or not react on some of your actions properly.

I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but there were some players online, so it shouldn't be an issue to find an online game. Multiplayer is available for up to 8 players.

There's much more content to be added during Early Access, but game is already stable, playable and fun to play.

Forged Battalion is a typical classic and simple RTS. If you miss old strategies like C&C - you should try Forged Battalion.

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The game works, but has been abandoned. Petroglyph has a habit of dropping games entirely like with the 3 previous games they developed. All of them are just reskins (including this one,) of 8 bit armies. This game got one update but isn't supported anymore. I LOVE rts games and the concept of building my own faction sounded really, really cool. I want to give this game a recommendation so badly, but Petroglyph isn't a company you should support, At this point, Forged Battalion is abandonware. Don't buy it.

Likes:
--Classic RTS feel, very Red Alert.

--Customizable faction concept is very interesting

--Charming Graphics

Dislikes:
--Unfinished and possibly abandoned (this is why we must love the modding community)

--Damage counts are too low, at least in the context of what's available in the campaign (to start, anyhow), it can take forever for two squads to actually finish fighting on the first several missions.

-- The tech tree is unlocked through gameplay, so you have to grind up before you can win at multiplayer.

Forged Battalion is a game that I really, really wanted to like. It's another RTS from Petroglyph, the company behind Star Wars: Empire at War and the somewhat obscure, but still fantastic, Universe at War: Earth Assault. I had high hopes for an RTS that involved extensive unit customization, something that I've always found enjoyable in strategy games. Forged Battalion delivers this, but it comes saddled with a great number of questionable design decisions that I think make the game more of a chore to play, rather than an enjoyable experience.

For starters, the unit design system of Forged Battalion, while fairly unique, still comes with a large number of limitations. You are restricted to creating units on exosuit, light vehicle, heavy vehicle and air drone templates, and you can only have a limited selection of each for your custom-made faction. Turrets can be customized with different weapons and special buffs, too, but beyond this, there isn't much else in the way of customization. All factions use the same buildings, and all units work in basically the same way, regardless of equipment. While these limitations certainly make things more streamlined, it often stands in the way of creativity, as the ideas you might have for a cool custom faction must fit within the limited boundaries of the unit designer. Outside of weapon, propulsion and armor selections, you can't customize the look of your units further, nor can you tweak the look of your buildings, outside of choosing a color. Adding in the ability to unlock decals, unique chassis designs, new building skins or even the ability to design a custom insignia for the faction you create would have offered players a lot more creativity in how they design their factions.

Of course, even these features would still fail to alleviate Forged Battalions most glaring problem: the unlock system. In Forged Battalion, you unlock new technologies to use in your units by spending tech points earned in battles in a large technology tree. This sounds fine in theory, but in practice, it's a very annoying roadblock that can further deter players from customizing their faction. Unlock costs are high, and the amount of tech points you attain from single matches is, in comparison, very low. This means you have to play a large number of skirmishes in order to get the tech points necessary to unlock most of the tech tree, but this is easier said than done. Because your selection of technologies is extremely limited in the start of the game, you'll often be at a disadvantage against players that have more options available. This includes AI opponents, who have randomized unit compositions that include all possible technologies, making them brutal to fight on higher difficulties. The campaign missions offer slightly higher rewards, but they are extremely challenging and only really feasible once you have a fair amount of the tech tree unlocked and can design a large variety of units. I'm not entirely objected to the idea of unlock systems in strategy games, but the way such a system is implemented in Forged Battalion is a big detriment to the prospect of custom unit designing, the game's main selling point. The fact that the highest-rated map on the workshop is just a giant empty field filled with sheds that can be destroyed for tech points should serve as a pretty clear indication of just how annoying the unlock system is for most people.

Beyond all of that, Forged Battalion is a pretty mediocre RTS. It plays by the same simple rules as many installments of the C&C franchise, and, outside of unique unit designs, there isn't much in the way of advanced tactics. Given the issues I've already presented, it's really not worth the trouble. You're better off looking for something else.

I made the mistake of getting a little excited seeing this game back when it first showed up. A RTS game with custimizable units is a rare type but lots of fun in the past. But that's the thing.... in the past.

This game some how figured out how to take such a consept and.... make it all feel the same largely. Maybe at teir 1 you either went rockets, or wanted to nerf your self. Otherwise teir 2 and on everything was either the same.... or bad.

For example, you 'can' use armor to protect you from thermal based weapons (flame gernades and flame throwers) which later got buffed to do a tiny area of AOE around the unit its placed on doing tiny amounts of damage to enemy's in that zone... or you could just slap on heavy armor, boost the units HP straight up, cheaper price and tech rating and not even notice the flame armor ever again.

You want to show the power of the plasma cannon? Ehhh.... its got cool partical effects? But the rockets are more useful in more situations. You want to be a army showing the power of the lazor? Well.... guess you can't miss but.... neither do most other weapons.

Oh you see the enemy blob so you want to take a big AOE weapon and- let me just stop you there... because artillery it has a little more range then most weapons but.... lacks the defining punch, and AOE your hoping for.

The game largely petered out after that 'supply drop' and I checked the steam forums every now and then but beyond more advertisement for the compedative scene, the game died. Now its launched and we get.... maybe a few more maps?

It had promise, but is just yet another compedative failer. Spend your money elsewhere.

Unfinished and abandoned game with some cool features!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1660747784
The game has usual C&C concept. Build the main, make buildings around, make harvesters, produce some energy and focus on army. Completely usual. The main feature of the game is ability to make your own units. You can take the base (light/heavy tank or infantry, etc.), set a gun (there is about 15 different weapon types), choose armor and other minor things. So you can make you own preset of units. yeah, really cool idea. Why noone plays it?
Because the game is abandoned. Devs suddenly moved it to Full release and stopped the development. It is sad. So, noone plays multiplayer now, but you need to unlock new techs in the tech tree.

Ok. What about campaign? There are 15 missions. They are all the same. Story is nothing. Campaign is boring. I got no new experience. I played same missions before. Make army and destroy the base. I reached level 2 and got absolutely bored.

So, there are no reasons to play this game. Very sad. I liked art style of the game much.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1660747861
Pros
- Nice art style
- Visuals effects and animations are very good
- The game offers you a tech tree with ability to make your unique units

Cons
- Unfinished game. Feels as Early Access
- Boring single campaign. It looks like a bunch of different maps
- Too much weapon types make the game complicated
- Harvesters and buildings are too tough
- Dead multiplayer

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1660747822
I can't recommend this game because it feels and plays as Early Access game which never becomes finished!

Not sure why this game is getting so much hate. I just had a LAN where we ended up playing this game for 6 hours straight for multiplayer and the only reason we stopped was because it was late. The game plays like a Command and Conquer Red Alert game so if you miss playing this style of game then this is a nice replacement. The graphics are great, it plays smooth, and the tech tree brings something new to the table. It is fun playing against each other and then using the experience gained to unlock additional skills or troops. Give this a go, well worth the $20 even if they never update it again. The only cons are I haven't discovered a Tonya like character yet, no sea units, and If someone is new they won't have as many options unlocked.

Reviewed this game 3 years ago and we're still playing it at LAN parties. This is a must own for C&C fans.

What C&C 4 shouldve been.