10 – Close Combat 5: The Longest Day
Enough of Eastern Front games for now, okay? You already know that Close Combat 3: The Russian Front is one of the best strategy games ever made, but let’s shift our focus to the lesser well-known Close Combat 5: Invasion Normandy, a real-time tactical strategy game that vividly recreates the battles of the Normandy campaign following the D-Day landings. Focusing on small-unit tactics and the psychological impact of combat, the game emphasizes the soldier’s morale to fight, being the first series to properly model the psychological aspect of warfare, as well as the physical. So, if you fancy yourself a leader, the Close Combat series is known for its intimate portrayal of combat and the detailed modelling of individual soldier behaviour.
9 – Wargame Design Studio Eagles Strike Back
In every World War 2 list I do I must put a Wargame Design Studio game in there for two reasons: the first one is that their games pack an incredible amount of detail, from the map design to the Orders of Battles, there are very few games that even come close to the amount of stuff in there. The other is the ballooning number of scenarios available, with your average game having more than 100 scenarios, with some going as high as three times that. I think in this list I’ll highlight a personal favourite of mine: Wargame Design Studio Eagles Strike Back. Utilizing a hex-based map and detailed unit statistics, at the tactical level, it’s probably going to be the most bang for your buck you’ll ever get. Despite its tactical level, some of the battles are quite large too.
8 – Gates of Hell: Ostfront
If you’re not yet convinced about trying out Men of War 2, then you cannot go wrong with Gates of Hell: Ostfront, a better and cheaper version of the Men of War experience, with a lot more content, both single-player and multiplayer. What surprised me the most is how historically grounded and gritty the game is, despite being a pretty accessible and mainstream real-time strategy experience. It focuses, however, on realistic tactics, semi-realistic ballistics and armour and penetration simulation for ground vehicles. It’s also one of the few strategy games where you can actually control your units as if you were playing a third-person shooter!
7 – The Troop
The Troop is a turn-based strategy game focusing on the British and German forces in the battles during and following the D-Day landings in Normandy. It emphasises realistic battle scenarios at a smaller scale and its scenarios are usually extremely focused on a particular engagement. What surprised me the most about The Troop is its sheer amount of content, with nearly one hundred scenarios available, and its excellent and very competent AI that will give even the most experienced commanders a run for their money. The Troop went from being a relatively unknown title to a strategy cult hit for many of us, so if you haven’t heard about it, it might be time to try it out. A recent US expansion came out, adding United States units to the game.
6 – Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front
If you’re looking for the most realistic World War 2 game ever made, look no further than Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front, and I mean that. There’s no other game that even comes to delivering a deep and realistic simulation of the battles on the Eastern Front quite like Mius Front, to the point where every little thing is simulated. Sure, ballistics and unit behaviour are modelled, but do you know what else is? Radio telephone lines. Yes, really. Want your units to communicate? Better find a way to get them to talk with one another. Want your artillery to fire? Someone needs to let them know that. Tanks aren’t firing? What about the fields of view of their slits, are they obstructed in any way? There’s no equal.
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