Old Gamers Never Die: 'Order of Battle: World War II' PC Game Review

Hello and welcome to another edition of Old Gamers Never Die, the section of A Certain Point of View in which I talk about one of my long-time hobbies - computer games. In this installment, I'll review Order of Battle: World War II, a turn-based strategy game developed four years ago by Britain's The Artistocrats and Slitherine Ltd.,  and published by Matrix Games.

Order of Battle: World War II is touted by its developer as the spiritual heir to Panzer General, a 1994 operational-level PC game published by the now-closed Strategic Simulations Inc. of Mountain View, California. Like Panzer General and its sequels, Order of Battle allows players to command either Allied or Axis units in either single battles or campaigns that take place in all the major theaters of the Second World War.

Order of Battle consists of a basic free-to-play game called Boot Camp, which is a single campaign in which the player takes command of American land, sea, and air units during a series of training exercises in late November of 1941. Here, you learn how to play the game and the strengths and weaknesses of your units, the importance of knowing the effects of terrain and weather during a battle, and how to choose the tactics you will use in the downloadable content (DLC) scenarios that comprise the rest of the game.

The DLC scenarios (there are currently 12) are not free; Matrix Games offers them either as individual campaigns for $14.99 each. I bought what was then the complete 11-scenario collection last year in Steam, but this year Matrix rolled out a 12th scenario called Red Star, which the first of three scheduled releases that delve into the Soviet Union's armed clashes in the years between 1938 and 1945. Red Star covers the period between 1938 and 1941 and highlights the brief Russo-Japanese Conflict that resulted in the non-aggression pact between Stalin's USSR and the Japanese Empire, as well as the Winter War with Finland and the German invasion of June 1941.  (I don't have Red Star, but I mention it for the sake of thoroughness and accuracy.)

Per Matrix Games' product description:

Order of Battle: World War II is a breath of fresh air for all strategy fans. It is a game that takes wargaming to a new level by upgrading every single game element and rebooting the genre for a new generation of players. Detailed terrain, rich animations, and a slick interface, all within a traditional setting and with the elements that are familiar to experienced players - Order of Battle: World War II follows in the footsteps of all-time classics, such as Panzer General.

With a selection of over 1000 unique looking and behaving units, players can build and manage their army, fleet and air force throughout the campaigns set in the various theatres of operations during WW2. A unique system of specializations allows players to customize their forces with special units, bonuses, and abilities that reflect the difference in strategies and mentality of the various factions.

Boot Camp

The free-to-play game is, as its title implies, a campaign designed to teach new players how to play the game. It consists of four separate scenarios that progress in complexity and difficulty. They are:

• Boot Camp Island, in which you learn how to maneuver and fight with infantry units, armor, logistics ships, and amphibious reinforcements
• Island Hopping, in which you apply what you learned in the previous mission and learn the basics of naval warfare as you take your forces from a small island outpost and capture two enemy-held islands
• Naval Exercises, in which you learn the basics of aerial and naval combat, especially carrier warfare, in a fleet exercise
• War Games, a full-fledged amphibious landing against a strongly defended landmass in which you apply all the knowledge you gained in the previous three scenarios

If you are a casual gamer and don't plan to buy any of the DLC scenarios, you can probably get by with just the Boot Camp campaign. You can, as with most games of this genre, increase the level of difficulty to challenge yourself and face ever tougher resistance from the game's artificial intelligence.

However, chances are that after a while you will get restless and want to buy either the whole game as a bundle or get each DLC scenario from either Matrix or Steam.  So, let's look at what is available now, shall we?

1. U.S. Pacific: A campaign that recreates several important battles between Japan and the U.S., including the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, as seen from the U.S. perspective
2. Blitzkrieg: Germany invades Poland and, later, makes war against France and Great Britain
3. Morning Sun: Japan goes to war against China in the late 1930s
4. Rising Sun: Japan strikes against the U.S. in the Pacific
5. Sandstorm: Hitler sends Erwin Rommel and the famous Afrika Korps to help Mussolini and the Italian army in the North African campaign
6. Kriegsmarine: The early years of World War II from the perspective of the German Navy
7. Panzerkrieg: The war in the Eastern Front
8. Burma Road: Japan versus the Anglo-American and Chinese armies in a fierce battle for control of Burma and its vital supply route to war-torn China
9. Winter War: Finland's war experience between 1939 and 1944
10. Endsieg: touted as the largest Order of Battle DLC package, this 16-scenario campaign covers the last years of World War II and features battles on both the Eastern and Western Fronts
11. U.S. Marines: America strikes back by sending the U.S. Marine Corps to liberate Guadalcanal and other islands in the South Pacific
12. Red Star: The Soviet Union clashes with Japan in the Far East, invades Finland, then is attacked by the Third Reich in June of 1941

In addition, there are other mods and fan-made campaigns, including a huge Battle of Britain mod.

My Take

Order of Battle: World War II is an enjoyable game that allows you to refight some of the most famous battles of the war in a user-friendly turn-based format. Unlike real-time strategy (RTS) games such as Blitzkrieg, players can take their time as they purchase or upgrade units, plan their strategy, and go to battle against the enemy on a hex-based map board. 

As is the case with most of the games that I own in the turn-based genre, this game is primarily controlled by a mouse with some keyboard functions providing additional control. Units are rendered as 3D representations of specific unit types, i.e. infantry units are represented by sprites that look like soldiers in the armies in which they serve; armored units are depicted by different models of tanks depending on the year the scenario takes place in; land- and sea-based air units are represented by various types of bombers, fighters, and even transports (Order of Battle features some airborne ops, too); and naval battles feature all kinds of warships, ranging from small torpedo boats to large battleships and aircraft carriers.

If you play war games in any genre, you know that each battle scenario has victory conditions you have to meet in order to gain a victory. Usually, you have to take a certain location on the map (a primary objective) by the end of the scenario, as well as a variable number of secondary objectives, such as capturing other places on the map or destroying specific units by a certain number of turns. You win, of course, if you achieve the primary objectives. However, if the enemy destroys your forces or prevents you from reaching your main goal, it doesn't matter how many enemies you kill; you lose. In campaign mode, you can't advance to the next battle until you successfully finish the one you lost. 

The game also simulates the importance of specialist commanders and logistics, albeit in a simpler to understand and more intuitive format than Gary Grigsby's War in the West.

Per Matrix Games' website: 

COMMANDERS

A set of unique Commanders – split between Generals, Pilots and Captains – is gradually unlocked in the campaigns. These can be attached to specific units to provide unique bonuses to anything in their command range. While good use of unit types and tactics remains the player's priority, clever use of Commanders can tip the balance in an offensive operation or buy just enough time in defense to turn the tide to your favor.

SUPPLY SYSTEM

In Order of Battle: World War II, a unique supply system also plays a key factor that directly affects the combat efficiency of the units. Landing on an enemy island without any support ships will prevent the invasion forces from building a solid beachhead, and breaking the supply lines of your opponent, isolating his units and making encirclement maneuvers are the strategies required to achieve an ultimate victory.  

Order of Battle: World War II is not going to replace MicroProse Software's old and primitive-looking Crusade in Europe game from 1986 as my favorite World War II strategy game; I prefer Crusade in Europe despite its clunky graphics and limited scope (it only covers the war in Northwest Europe from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge and is an RTS game rather than turn-based) because it is a keyboard-controlled game and does not require a Purchase New Units step.

Nevertheless, if you are going to get a modern computer World War II-themed game in the turn-based category, I can recommend Order of Battle: World War II to gamers who are at ease with 21st Century games and mouse controls. The designers strove to strike a balance between playability and historical accuracy, and they succeeded for the most part. Moving units around is easy (easier than on Unity of Command II) and planning your moves and fighting battles do not require a Ph.D. in computer science or a commission in the U.S. armed forces in order to understand where to send your forces or which objectives to capture. 

So if you want to challenge yourself or other players (there are Hotseat and Play-by-Email options) in a graphically impressive game set during the biggest and bloodiest war in history, Order of Battle: World War II might interest you. And who knows? Maybe you'll out-general Rommel, or outwit Bernard Montgomery or Masaharu Homma in some of the most famous battles of the Second World War.

Your forces await your command, General. Are you ready to take charge?

Source:

Matrix Games: Order of Battle: World War II  product page