Battleplan Gameplay Preview: A new player joins the theatre of war

Do you like the concept behind Hearts of Iron but find it a little too difficult? Then Battleplan might be the game for you. This week, I had the opportunity to test an extended version of this title, and just like many other titles in the genre, it is set during World War II. Gone is all the micro-management, diplomacy and industrial capacity building. You create and structure your forces as one of several warring factions. In the version I tested, I got to choose the Allies. Unfortunately, the other factions were not available this time. It was after I chose sides that I realised this was a different experience. What is unique about this title is that it further develops the concept of drawing battle lines and commanding your troops from Hearts of Iron IV. In Battleplan, you receive your mission from your superiors and, as a general, you must ensure that your troops are able to carry it out.

Your game world is a board with a map of an area you are to fight over. It could be in England, Europe or North Africa. You build your troops using troop types, headquarters and other elements. These are then placed in larger groups and linked together by drawing lines between their cards in a menu. It can be beneficial to link a headquarters with your troops so that they can more easily obtain supplies, bonuses, and other items. It is somewhat reminiscent of the hierarchy system in Hearts of Iron, but is considerably simpler here. The demo provided me with ready-made templates, and the training mode explains how to proceed if you are uncertain. Once this is done and you have not exceeded the weight limits for your force, these troop types are placed in the game world. You can then take control and start doing what the title is mainly about: winning wars.

Since you are not an incompetent officer or sergeant, you do not need to bother meeting with your troops. You use a brush tool to intuitively draw where the front line should be. Choose which types of troops to send there, and then decide what the troops should do. Whether they should attack a city, fortify an important point or quickly occupy a city, it is easy to decide exactly that. Each individual mission you create places a marker on the clock. The marker tells you how much time this will take. It is perfectly possible to add several at a time, but you need to be aware that several of the troop types do not attack at night. For this reason, you must plan your operations based on the clock. For example, how long an artillery attack followed by a swift tank attack will take. This ensures that your attacks are synchronised and you get the best possible results.

I found Battleplans to be intuitively easy to learn and well suited for new players of the genre. This is because it is more of an arcade game than an in-depth simulator. There are also elements of simulation, statistics and other features that you can use to your advantage. I found Battplan to be a bit like Theme Hospital is to Project Hospital, or Simstad is to Simcity 4. It is not the deepest, most complex or most difficult, but it is well made, fun and entertaining. It stands on its own two feet and offers an interesting setup. You only need to focus on one thing, and that is your soldiers and troop types. In that respect, it is more reminiscent of Warno without offering the same tactical and strategic depth.

I am quite hopeful that this could be a really good game. Foolish Mortals Games has a winning concept with this title. If they can just polish up the AI opponents a little, I think this could be one of Slitherine's better beginner-friendly titles. It quickly becomes apparent that they are not targeting veterans of the genre. The importance of generals and bonuses is easy to understand, and how to apply them is fairly straightforward. Regardless of which generals you buy or use to lead your forces (they are the ones who give bonuses via headquarters), there is a use for them. The game is good at explaining what the things you do mean. I'm eager to try out the larger battles so that I can really dive in. I've always liked the more macro-intensive and operational side of war strategy games, so if you're like me, this might be worth trying out.

If you're interested, there's a demo you can try via Steam. It's not quite as packed with content as my preview version, but you'll get a good idea of what this has to offer. It's not just the gameplay that's top notch. The voice acting is good, and both the music and graphics do their job without getting in the way. The user interface is clean, making it easy to build your troops. You are never overwhelmed with information and can wage war and give orders to your troops at your own pace. Although the tempo is relatively high as the game takes place in real time, you can pause, slow down and speed up the action. This leads me to conclude that I have very little criticisms for this title thus far.

My main criticism right now is that the computer opposition is a bit flat. I think small adjustments to how it behaves could help make the game more of a challenge. At the same time, I have to point out that what I tested was early in the campaign. This means that the battles weren't particularly big and that the computer held back. In training mode, the computer opponent does not attack you at all. That said, it will be really exciting to test the full version of the game. I have not yet seen how the Axis powers play, and I have not tested all types of troops. It will also be exciting to see if the computer opponents can challenge me as a player on larger battlefields.

If you are interested in an easy-to-play war strategy game that borrows ideas from Hearts of Iron IV and stands on its own two feet, this is something you should check out. My time with this game has been positive throughout, and although I appreciate difficult titles in the genre, this is a fine example of something lighter that still manages to interest me. If the full version is equally impressive overall, it could be one of the better titles of the year in its genre. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this, and I think you should too. Especially if you don't mind a slightly simpler setup and difficulty level.