4 – Battle of Empires 1914-1918
When it comes to the First World War, it isn’t easy to find a lot of great games. In fact, I can only recall two (that aren’t just more counter-pushing, hex-juggling, grand-strategy affairs, but have some kind of tactical combat), and those are The Great War: Western Front, but I feel like it never reached its full potential, and the lesser-known Battle of Empires 1914-1918. BoE is essentially the Men of War formula brought back in time to World War 1, and it works amazingly well. The missions are well-designed and scaled appropriately to the micro-intensive playstyle of Men of War. There are several campaigns, at least one for each of the war’s main participants, with several types of missions, from small-scale stealth operations where every move of your limited pool of soldiers matters, to massive, over-the-top operations, where micro-managing isn’t needed as much. Battle of Empires is a bit rough around the edges, as are all Men of War games, but the low price paired with the fantastic campaigns makes it an absolute must-play for players looking for a taste of the First World War.
3 – Nantucket
Not every historical strategy game has to be about war. If you agree with me, I would like to introduce you to Nantucket, quite possibly the most unique game in this list. Set in the 19th century, players will be leading their crew all over the world during the Golden Age of whaling. The premise of the game is rather simple: sail your ship around the world, hunt whales and fight them using a card/turn-based combat system, and ultimately chase after the legendary Moby Dick, as the sole survivor of the Pequod. It’s not an easy game, but its unique setting and amazing RPG mechanics make it an unmissable experience.
2 – Armoured Commander II
Armoured Commander II is a very special game to me, for several reasons. Because, on the surface, it doesn’t look like the kind of game I would enjoy, and ended up loving it (it too is a permanent fixture on my laptop), and it was one of the first games I have ever reviewed properly. But what is Armoured Commander II, I hear you ask? Well, it’s a sort of rogue-like game, where you control a tank and its crew in World War 2.
The gameplay loop goes like this: You pick up a time period and a location, select a vehicle available at the time, tweak your crew skills points (RPG-style), and then go into battle to achieve the objectives laid out to you by your commanding officer. You’ll be fighting alongside other units on a bigger map, and once you encounter an enemy, the game will zoom into the battle, and you’ll be playing a turn-based strategy game, making choices on what to do with your tank and each individual crew member. Do you order your drivers to move forward and be aggressive, or hunker down and wait for them? Stop and aim to fire? Or fire on the move? Should your commander be atop the tank spotting for enemies, or with his hatch down to protect himself? If you lose your tank, but your crew survives, you can move on to fight in another tank. If a crew member survives, you can replace them (but lose their experience), and the game only comes to an end if your commander is killed.
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