Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue Reviews

Well i have played this one for about 50 hours so far, and for the most part i do rather like it. Its cleverly thought out and it makes you think about your every move. nice one team. however there are a few things that niggle. not least of all is that i find it damn near impossibe to beat. Even on easy, i still havent managed to get passed the second scenario on time. Frustrating as that is though, it does leave me wanting to try again , and so i guess in that sense , its very good value for money. The larger campaign maps are very large indeed, dare i say a little too large for my liking, as i find them difficult to control. but they seem very detailed and its quite the job keeping tabs on whats going on. Sadly the time clock doesnt seem to work in days , rather 2 or 3 days increments , which i find a little odd, as it makes hard work of the plan making and also knowing how many moves you have left. But all in all, its really good fun. and despite not being very good at it yet, i promise i will try harder. cheers.

If you like historical military simulations, this line of games is fantastic!

I've been invading the USSR since the cardboard SSI games. I jumped into the full scenario of Case Blue. First try: mid-August, trench warfare not far from starting line, Panzers decimated and hopelessly bogged down. Second try: mid-August, deeper in, but hopelessly stalled. Third try: 1st week of September, still haven't taken Rostov, but smashed Soviet right (north) flank and moving freely while desperately shoving slow-moving infantry into the ever-growing gap. The UI is deceptively simple, but the operational use is amazingly deep. The AI will hurt you if you are not alert, and it stubbornly re-builds lines , making deep Panzer penetrations nerve-wracking. This game really conveys the feel of Eastern Front conditions the vast areas absorbing your troops, the essential nature of railways, the constant concerns about finite resources. Truly a great, soul-killing, endless time-suck of a wargame. 10/10

The right level of complexity for wargammers looking a deeper military experience of WW2 then Hearts of Iron. But, for someone not willing to deal with the complexities of managing Divison, Corps and Army management while also handling a gigantic front with 100s of units, then I would try Hearts of Iron or simpler wargames first. This game is clunky, awkward and takes a lot of time to finish a campaign, it plays more like a board game than video game. BUT, it is so fanastically rewarding when you do manage a successful, complicated offensive or when you manage an organized retreat when facing superiour forces. Given the initial learning curve, the gameplay is fun and the AI is intensely reactive. It successfully manages to escape encirclement time and time again, if given the chance. It pulls off impressive defensive stands and can often suprise you with a well done counter-offensive. Also thankfully, there are a number of smaller-scale campaigns and individual battles you can play when time is limited, or just to learn the mechanics in a lower stress engagement. Highly recommend for anyone looking for something a bit simpler than Gary Grisgby's Games but more engaging than a Hearts of Iron or Steel Divison.

A fantastic WWII strategic simulator in which you move your troops on a hex-based map, as is the norm in serious wargames. Troops/divisions/regiments are visualized as boxes with a simple (NATO preferably) unit counter on it. It's important to memorize the different designations as you'll spend the majority of your time looking at the map from above, obviously. And the map is huge. It's easy to spend an hour per turn, but it's not confusing. I knew exactly what I was doing as the Axis, and achieved a magnificent victory with minimal losses (about 10:1 ratio), on normal difficulty. The Soviets were unable to even attempt to retake Stalingrad, and taking the oil fields at Baku settled it once and for all in december of 1942 if I recall correctly. Of course, I had the advantage of knowing historical decisions and didn't make the same mistakes. The Trappenjagd campaign has the longest timespan, starting just before the 2nd Kharkov offensive. So to enjoy the game to the fullest I recommend playing that one. Replayability is high (I've yet to play as the Soviets) and there are also other, smaller scenarios available. But prepare to get hooked. One turn easily turns into an 8 hour binge. Pretty interesting, for a game in which each turn easily takes an hour... Maybe all those shooters I played as a teenager desensitized my brain and this is exactly the kind of mental stimulation it needs. It's interesting to learn and do historical research on the units in the game and their real life counterparts, documentaries on the offensives, etc. It almost feels like I can say I was part of the OKH/OKW. Highly recommended to read some Wikipedia pages on the units under your command for full immersion. And pay attention to your supply routes and logistics. Now it's time to dive into the other Decisive Campaigns, which I'm sure are just as good. From Warsaw to Paris. Or prevent the Wehrmacht from doing so.

This is an excellent, innovative wargame which compares to the best operational wargames out there. The combat is traditional wargame hex and counter style. You deal with the political problems of Axis minor allies, manage the chain of command, assign replacements, create and disband units and use the special abilities of your leaders to best effect, while ensuring that you don't run out of fuel. Logistics is well done, if not as developed as in the sequel to this wargame, Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa (also highly recommended). The full campaign has lots of variety, with Soviet offensive (2nd Kharkov) followed by German offensive (Case Blue) and then Soviet counteroffensive (Uranus). An especially interesting part of the game is the prestige system. Prestige is gained or lost based on achieving objectives set for you by high command within a limited time. The points granted by success can be spent on reinforcements, reorganization or appeals to high command to change priorities. I've had a lot of fun experimenting with different ways to use the system. This game deserves more love than it has received and in my opinion is better than GG War in the East (which I also like).

One of the best operational wargames out there. I have only played the Uranus scenario so far but the Soviet A.I is clearly much improved to DC1 which couldn´t handle the invasion of France and lowlands. The A.I take every opportunity to make a breakthrough in your lines and pour units through it and are good at closing gaps you open. It is however quite easy to lure into traps. So if it break through your lines you could allow it to pour through and it is not that good to secure its flanks so you could counterattack and trap a lof of its spearhead units if you plan your moves. Repeat these manouvers and you will eventually wear the Soviets down and allow you to go to the offensive on selected places. Its closes competitor are Gary Grigsbys War in the East but I haven´t played that excellent game for years so I cannot compare them right now. Unity of Command doesn´t stand a chance. I never liked it´s "puzzle" oriented approach. + Huge Map with which allows flexibility in manouvering + Clearly Better A.I than DC1 + Reinforcements (which is an improvement to DC1) + Clear and good graphics + Easy to play, hard to master + Good manual but I lack a "strategy guide" of HOW to actually care about the replacement rule system and its associated high command cards. - Unplayable with "slow A.I" setting. Could take over 3 hours per turn and no possibility to change after starting the game. - Personally I never use the cards of the game for the officers or high command. I don´t feel they affect things enough or is hard to measure - I would like better graphical representation of enemy units which are out of supply or units that have been attacked the previous turn. - More tooltips could have helped

It takes a little while to get the hang of it. I had to do the tutorial, a short scenario and watched a couple of youtube videos. The battle mechanics are similar to HOI3, it's even more detailed because you are actually fighting for ground and not just provinces. There is also a little more micro management of units because the divisions are split into various parts. For example Panzer 1 will have 4 separate Panzer brigades, so you will have to move each one separately or as a group. in HOI 3 you just move the entire division around from province to province. Just one mooooore tuuuuuurn. P.S. I opened the game for about 30 minutes so steam would let me do a review. But I've played for much longer.

[h1]Decisive Campaigns Series[/h1] [i]I recommend very warmly this turn based little gem strategy game at operational level with a very good intuitive interface&gameplay mechanics not overly convoluted , for those who want a greater challenge&have free time to spend - and also a more detailed historical background regarding the units in combat - the description on the game page is very accurate from my POV - 10/10 ! Out of the trilogy i enjoyed the most this title because it allows greater flexibilility/micromanagement on the battlefield ( separate artillery / air units - you can create from scratch battalions / divisions / army HQ and asign them where you see fit , but they require 2-3 months to achieve at least 60% active personel and be combat ready - for EX you can boost the italians with:1 SS motorized regiment / 1 stug battalion / 1 marder battalion / 1 mobile kampfgruppe etc etc ) ![/i]

This wargame has an interesting focus on Your army management, that I really like. Each turn You get some amount of equipment of different types (different models of guns, armor, trucks, infantry, speciality units, etc.). Unused equipment is automatically stockpiled in Your main HQ unit and then it is distributed to the frontlines, where it is needed. You can even force Your units to redistribute some equipment back to the HQ resource pool and then back to other units that needs that equipment more. You can designate a new type for Your division and it will automatically get a new equipment to fulfill that role. You will need to keep supply routes open for that and need a bit of patience because it will not happen automatically. This is really nice feature to play around and see how Your force evolves.