Unity of Command II Desert Rats

[Ian C]

It's out:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1884780/Unity_of_Command_II__Desert_Rats/

quoted:

In the summer of 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini joined Germany's war in a bid to rapidly expand his fledgling empire. The Italian Army would proceed to attack Greece, Egypt, and the British Colonies in East Africa.

You will take command of the vastly outnumbered Allied forces as they attempt to stop first the Italians, and then the Germans in the form of the vaunted Afrika Korps. From a token force of a few divisions, your army will expand into a vast force of more than a quarter-million men.

Experience the see-saw action in the sweltering heat of the Desert in operations such as Compass and Crusader. Re-live the often overlooked and untold story of the dogged fighting in the mountains of Eritrea and the Blitz through Somalia and into Ethiopia.

Key Features

20+ historical scenarios based on British Commonwealth campaigns in East Africa, North Africa, and the Mediterranean in 1940-41.

Large map coverage expanded to include the Western Desert and the Middle East, plus a brand new map for East Africa.

Many new units from the Commonwealth nations.

[al_infierno]

Awesome!  That strategic map shows all the way down to Ethiopia... I wonder...  :bd:

[Jarhead0331]

Is there a Crete scenario? Malta?

[Ian C]

Is there a Crete scenario? Malta?

Good question - I don't know. I doubt it, if it's exclusively an 8th Army DLC.

EDIT: hold on

and the Mediterranean in 1940-41.

[Ian C]

List of scenarios:

[MengJiao]

List of scenarios:

  Exporter is the Allied attack on the Vichy Regime in Lebanon.  And there's a lot of Ethiopian battles too.  And Greece.  Crete and Malta would be kinda confined for this system to cover them well.

[Gusington]

Is the Ethiopian blitz the 1935 attack/invasion  :D

Also all UoC2 content is on sale on Steam right now (except Desert Rats, of course) - main game is 9.89  :D :D

[MengJiao]

Is the Ethiopian blitz the 1935 attack/invasion  :D

Also all UoC2 content is on sale on Steam right now (except Desert Rats, of course) - main game is 9.89  :D :D

   No the "Ethiopian Blitz" is the final collapse of the Italian positions there in 1941.

[Gusington]

Oh  :-[

Still looks good.

Do most of you enjoy UoC2 more than the original?

[al_infierno]

Oh  :-[

Still looks good.

Do most of you enjoy UoC2 more than the original?

To me, UoC1 is effectively a puzzle game with a wargame veneer.  It's good at what it does, but if you're the kind of person who hates the victory points and objectives system in John Tiller games for how contrived they are, UoC1 would drive you insane.

UoC2 generally has wider maps with more maneuverable areas, more strategic options to add forces or artillery/air strikes/etc to a mission, and more options to deal with the rather arcane supply system. 

That said, I feel the supply system became WAY more arcane and hard to wrangle in this game compared to UoC1.  In the first game I recall it being a pretty simple black-and-white situation where you're either in supply or not.  I think UoC2 uses a somewhat more contrived system that involves RNG based on how far you are from the supply depot, which results in some pretty bullshit outcomes if you're RNG unlucky.

[FarAway Sooner]

Hmmm...  I didn't get that sense in the first 4 or 5 scenarios that I played.  Supply usually seemed pretty predictable to me.  They have added some additional, supply-related buffs that I haven't fully figured out yet.  Those might involve some random noise.

I agree with Al's assessment about the maps not being such perfect puzzles, which really enhanced replayability.  I've not played the game nearly as much as I did the original, but it's not for lack of appreciating the game.  It's just lack of time.  The only complaint I had when I was playing was that certain promotion abilities seemed a little OP.

[Gusington]

I definitely felt the original scenarios were like puzzles. So if there is much less of that here I am more than willing to wrangle with a contrived or ornery supply system. Thanks guys.

[MengJiao]

Oh  :-[

Still looks good.

Do most of you enjoy UoC2 more than the original?

   UoC2 is a huge improvement.  I like the level of abstraction and the slightly eccentric bells-and-whistles like extra artillery and bridge repair.  I think it would work well as a way of looking at the
war in Ukraine in terms of rare and specialized gear and massive supply problems.  I haven't played any of the east front or panzer-wonderstuff, just the basic UoC1 and 2 games and this most recent DLC, so I can't attest to how much fun those other DLC might be.  WWII in Ethiopia is not covered all that often so it got my attention.

[Gusington]

^Yes Ethiopia is what brought me here too 😎

Maybe I'll just get the base game and this new dlc and then fill in the other dlcs later.

[Jarhead0331]

Oh  :-[

Still looks good.

Do most of you enjoy UoC2 more than the original?

To me, UoC1 is effectively a puzzle game with a wargame veneer.  It's good at what it does, but if you're the kind of person who hates the victory points and objectives system in John Tiller games for how contrived they are, UoC1 would drive you insane.

UoC2 generally has wider maps with more maneuverable areas, more strategic options to add forces or artillery/air strikes/etc to a mission, and more options to deal with the rather arcane supply system. 

That said, I feel the supply system became WAY more arcane and hard to wrangle in this game compared to UoC1.  In the first game I recall it being a pretty simple black-and-white situation where you're either in supply or not.  I think UoC2 uses a somewhat more contrived system that involves RNG based on how far you are from the supply depot, which results in some pretty bullshit outcomes if you're RNG unlucky.

I'm with Al. I can't think of any other game that I really want to like, but end up hating more every time I try to play. The first game definitely felt like a puzzle and I just can't wrap my head around the supply system in the new title. It is so integral to the game, it's as if they built the supply side of things and then tacked everything else onto it. I just don't see the genius in the design that so many rave about, and  cause your troops are literally tied to a supply leash, unless you can truly master the supply aspect of the game, no matter how masterful your maneuver and how effective and brilliant your attacks, your units will all wither on the vine and die.

I suppose I was looking forward to the possibility of smaller airborne operations like Crete and Malta specifically because supply initially might not have been as much of a factor and you might have been able to enjoy some of the other aspects of the game for a bit. Deep down, I knew these scenarios wouldn't be there since, as stated above, they don't really lend themselves to the drawn out, large scale conflicts that created supply nightmares for the commanders and troops of the time.