Old Gamers Never Die: First Impressions of 'Strategic Command WWII: World at War'

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The Strategy Map in Strategic Command: WWII: World at War. © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.


Okay, so I've been trying out Strategic Command WWII: World at War, a relatively new (it was released by Britain's Slitherine Games last December) computer game based on the Second World War. I haven't devoted a lot of time to playing this strategic-level wargame because I do have to write every day, but so far I've played it enough to give you at least a few first impressions.


As you can see from the screenshot above, this is not a first-person shooter game a la Call of Duty or Medal of Honor; it's a global-warfare level game where land combat is fought by corps- or army-sized units, with maybe a few independent armored, mechanized, and supporting arms units tossed in for good measure. Only in naval warfare do we see one-on-one duels between individual warships and subs, albeit in a stylized "board game" kinda way.



The game has different unit display styles. Here we see stylized adaptations of traditional NATO-style unit symbols.  © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.


Per the game's description on Steam (which is where I bought it):

 Strategic Command WWII: World At War is your chance to re-fight the 20th century’s greatest conflict, from Poland to China, Normandy to the Pacific, on a map encompassing the globe.

The game is a retooled version of Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe, which, as the name suggests, focuses on the European campaigns from 1939 to 1945. I have not played that game, but I do know that Strategic Command WWII: World At War now includes Japan's campaigns in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.



September `41. Two years into the war, and we see that although Germany controls much of Europe, Britain is pummeling Italian forces in East Africa and in Libya. Soviet forces are defending the western USSR from Axis invaders, while Japan is bogged down in China and preparing to attack the Allies in the Pacific. © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.



 First Impressions

 I am a World War II buff. I have been a World War II buff since I was a boy living in Bogota, Colombia, much to the bemusement of my late mother. So it should not be surprising that as a gamer, I often look for PC-compatible games set in this period.

Now, while I would have preferred an updated version of MicroProse's Crusade in Europe, a 1986 simulation of the Northwest Europe campaigns of 1944 and early 1945, I figure that this global-scale game might be fun, especially if it wasn't as complicated as Slitherine's Gary Grigsby's War in the West. 

 I love historically-accurate games, of course, but I hate computer games that are so detailed and complex that you need a Ph.D. in computer science and a bachelor's degree in history just to play them. Fortunately, Strategic Command WWII: World at War is far easier to play; it's a hybrid of Axis & Allies and the more adult-oriented war games published by Avalon Hill or Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI).

Although it is advisable to read the digital manual that Slitherine and Matrix Games provide for players, especially if you want to master the game, Strategic Command WWII: World at War is easy to understand. The graphic user interface (GUI) is well-designed and players can see at a glance the different unit types and understand how to use them.


Although I've played the game using different graphics styles, including the variations with NATO-type map symbols, I prefer the board game like models that represent units. Here, Germany (played by me) is invading the Soviet Union in August of 1941, two months behind the historical schedule. Although things don't look too good for the Red Army (a Soviet army corps is surrounded south of Brest-Livstok), I foresee the Wehrmacht advance will bog down in the autumn rainy season. © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.

I love the attention to detail lavished by the artists and programmers to this game. The units are rendered to reflect the nationalities to which they belong. German tanks look like Panzers, Panthers, or Tigers, depending on Germany's current levels of military tech and industrial capabilities. I'm playing as the Axis and controlling the Third Reich myself while letting the game's artificial intelligence run Italy and Japan for me), and right now I'm only able to use Panzer III tanks and mostly 1939-1940 aircraft types, although (paradoxically) I now also have one V-1 rocket unit and two He-177 groups in my arsenal. (You can see one of the He-177 groups based in Western Poland in the screenshot above).  By the same token, Allied forces are also represented with visual accuracy; the Soviets, for instance, have not yet fielded T-34 tanks, and I see that the Red Air Force is using Polikarpov interceptors to clash with my Bf.-109s, He-111s, and Ju-87 Stukas.

 I am also finding that it will take a miracle for the Axis to prevail. Although Germany has won all of its campaigns so far, it took longer to defeat France in Strategic Command WWII: World at War than in the actual Case Yellow of spring 1940. Additionally, even though I still have a decent U-boat force and a modest surface fleet, the Allies are winning the Battle of the Atlantic and I've already failed to send the Afrika Korps to fight in Libya; British warships in the Mediterranean sank Rommel's headquarters element while it was at sea on transports. I assigned the fighting units to the invasion of Russia, but that left my Italian allies at the mercy of the British army in North Africa.

A close-up look at one of my veteran units. You can see the tally of Allied units this Panzer division defeated in the Honors window. © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.

I'm 80% certain that the Allies will defeat me, but I'm going to try to make them fight hard for their victories. And hopefully, I'll  be able to give you, Dear Reader, a review of Strategic Command WWII: World at War soon.  

The art of the main menu screen is outstanding. Here we see a depiction of the Kanalkampf early in the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940). © 2018 Fury Software/Slitherine Ltd.

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