Wargame? Appears like a puzzle game

[Nailfoot]

Hey guys. I am really interested in this and have watched a lot of videos about it. In the videos I have watched, this seems more like a puzzle game.

It looked as if there was only one way to win each scenario and if you played your units any other way, you would always run out of turns before you could win. I see the general rating is "Very Positive", so I am confused.

Are there game modes where you have 100% freedom and can play with no turn limits? If so, then great. If not, it seems like this is just a puzzle to be solved with graphics making it LOOK like a war game.

[hands]

There are enough variations in the campaign mode with cards, random chance, and how you choose to deploy that there is certainly not just one way to win a scenario. I have yet to run into a scenario in the campaign that has no turn limits and the difficulty usually comes not from being able to accomplish your objectives but doing it efficiently. Maybe that's what you mean by puzzle?

Really to answer your question you'd have to define what you mean by "puzzle game" and "wargame". I mean it is a game about war, it has a certain level of abstraction (It's not War in the East), but no more so than other games that are clearly wargames. The series of short scenarios gives it a different feel than grand campaign wargames for sure.

Disclaimer: I've only had time to play 4-5 scenarios.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Hail Satan 666:

...

Really to answer your question you'd have to define what you mean by "puzzle game" and "wargame". ...

When I think "wargame", I think of a game where I have units (and the ability to produce more) and try to win an engagement. If there is a turn limit to that, it is no longer a wargame. It becomes a puzzle that you must solve within that turn limit.

If there is a turn limit on all of the scenarios you have played so far, then that alone really answers my question. Why would a real wargame put a limit on your number of turns? In the videos I have watched, the player would have won every single time but for the turn limit. That feels artificial to me.

There was no turn limit to the actual war, after all.

[Hans Gruber]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

There was no turn limit to the actual war, after all.

No but commanders certainly did get sacked for not delivering victories within the timeframes given by political leaders.

[Edraii]

By his definition PG and all it's derivatives are not wargames, yikes.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Edraii:

By his definition PG and all it's derivatives are not wargames, yikes.

Well, is it *really* a wargame if you are limited in fighting the war? It just becomes a puzzle, right?

"Well, that didn't work. Let me try moving my army over HERE this playthrough."

[charles_d_berger]

Many scenarios have multiple ways to approach them, and you will be forced to be flexible in larger scenarios especially, because things just tend to play out in different ways.

There are some scenarios, particularly smaller/shorter ones, where there is a sort of "ideal path" to maximise your chance of success, especially in getting some or all of the bonus objectives.

But even in those scenarios, your particular force combination and upgrade path can open up unusual strategies. Recon and force, and bonus airborne/amphibious units in particular can "shake up" scenarios and allow you to complete them in interesting new ways.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by charles_d_berger:

Many scenarios have multiple ways to approach them, and you will be forced to be flexible in larger scenarios especially, because things just tend to play out in different ways.

There are some scenarios, particularly smaller/shorter ones, where there is a sort of "ideal path" to maximise your chance of success, especially in getting some or all of the bonus objectives.

But even in those scenarios, your particular force combination and upgrade path can open up unusual strategies. Recon and force, and bonus airborne/amphibious units in particular can "shake up" scenarios and allow you to complete them in interesting new ways.

That helps. So, you are not stuck with the same 10 units (or whatever) and just have to try-and-try-again until something works?

[charles_d_berger]

Well, I don't want to overstate it. You are stuck with the same 10 units, but you can configure them differently (in terms of spec upgrades), and your HQ can have different upgrade paths, and you can have different bonus cards - a couple of which grant you extra units.

Some of this you can change if you fail a scenario and restart that scenario (like spec combos), but others are not changeable mid-campaign, so there will be situations where you may have to restart several times if you just can't work out a given scenario. This is especially so when you're learning the game, and/or playing at a difficulty level that is at the outside limit of your comfort zone!

I'm a fan, obviously, and don't mind the "keep trying until I figure out a strategy that works" dynamic. But if that really bugs you, there are aspects you may find frustrating.

[EvilShimbo]

Originally posted by Zohan Dwir:

This is ridiculous. Road to Rimini is impossible without having the river crossing ability, which you have to select before starting the scenario. Since the game won't let you go back to choosing the abilities you can't play the scenario. Which hare-brained moron did this?

I literally just beat that scenario and my HQ doesn't have the river crossing ability.

[nigo_BR ᵀᴹ]

Haters :D

[ammianus]

I beat it too...it seems that some people need to learn how to play the game

Zohan, a bit of culture would not hurt

[holy-death]

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

It looked as if there was only one way to win each scenario and if you played your units any other way, you would always run out of turns before you could win.

In UoC1 you had to take objectives in time in order to gain prestige and get the maximum score. In UoC2 you can gain (and lose) prestige by other means (taking losses, taking prisoners), so you aren't exactly required to take objectives on time each time.

Originally posted by Nailfoot:

I see the general rating is "Very Positive", so I am confused.

What is there to be confused about? It's a good game.

[Zarco]

Love the game but it sure can get frustrating when thanks to RNG you cant capture the last city and lose :P

[EvilShimbo]

Originally posted by Zohan Dwir:

Originally posted by EvilShimbo:

I literally just beat that scenario and my HQ doesn't have the river crossing ability.

How?

Are you actually interested? Because you're acting like a troll, spamming the forum with "I hate this ♥♥♥♥ game" when in fact you just need to LTP.

[Jebf]

I can't think of many wargames that don't have turn limits