TBS Campaign Game: Allied Corps vs Battle Word: Kronos vs ???

[FarAway Sooner]

So, I'm in the market for a TBS title that offers some kind of campaign play, where I level up my units over time (preferably getting heroes and other unique buffs so different units really are customized) and have to play different scenarios, etc.  Two such intriguing titles that I've run across in this genre are offered above.  I play a lot of RPG-ish titles (Heroes of Might and Magic, King's Bounty, etc.) and am more interested in a pure TBS simulation of some sort.

I fired up the Panzer Corps demo and very much enjoyed the game play, but I played the original Panzer General back in the day and, even 17 years later, the scenarios feel almost the same.  I played through much of the Fantasy Wars original game and enjoyed it 5 or 6 years ago.

Are there other such games out there folks could recommend?  I'm not wedded to a Panzer General clone, but I do want something with very deliberate game play and units that grow as I play longer.  Preferably something with a wargamey feel.

Any thoughts on the above two titles?  Any thoughts on other titles along those lines?

[MetalDog]

Warlock: Master of the Arcane?  It has hexes and heroes.  There are buffs for regular units as well as heroes.  You have four seperate victory conditions to choose from as well as map sizes and amount of opponents.  There are four different races you can play, with units unique to each race.  Resources on the board allow you different and better buffs/effects.  The casting of spells can alter the mix of buffs and effects.  And the addition of gods, with their own set of unique units and spells, adds another dimension to the game.

[Jarhead0331]

Check out Pandora.

[Bison]

Battle Academy.  The one aspect that you are looking for is units that grow, which I assume you mean gain traits/experience, as you play. BA has this but it is limited by battle, so in each battle your units gain experience and according stat changes.  However those units do not carry over to the next battle in the campaign.  That being said you do get a greater/lesser variety of units for each battle in a campaign so selecting units is very deliberate to support your plan.  I enjoy it a lot. 

[Apocalypse 31]

Battle world Kronos missed the mark, in my opinion.

I'd second the recommendation for Battle Academy. Simple and fun.

[FarAway Sooner]

Downloading Battle Academy even as I type guys, thanks!  Anybody played Allied Corps and have any recommendations on that?

Jarhead, Pandora does look intriguing.  I found a very flattering review of it on Wargamer (doesn't Slitherine, the publisher of Pandora have an ownership interest over there now?), which has kind of left an icky taste in my mouth.  I did enjoy SMAC back in the day, so Pandora might be worth taking for a spin.

It seems funny that all roads are leading me towards Slitherine.

[JasonPratt]

As someone who appreciated Panzer General and Fantasy General, you may find Fantasy Wars and Elven Legacy (with its three expansions) to scratch many of the same itches. It was literally designed to be a 3D turn-based strategy remake of FG, but the attempt at securing the IP rights fell through so they just wrote their own epic story. It looks phenomenal, plays just like PG/FG with several updates introduced throughout the original series (like units and heros gaining selected traits picked by the player from a semi-random selection as they level up), the total package features nine meaty campaigns of around 20 missions each, can be found fairly easily on Gamersgate or Steam or in hard copies from e.g. Amazon, and often has online sales pushing the price ridiculously low. But for fans of PG/FG they're well worth the normal asking price, in my opinion.

Warlock picks up a number of related interface issues and ports them over into its own milieu with added Master of Magic-ish functionality. I haven't played that yet, but have owned it for a while and am planning to wallow in it soon. :)


For a rather different TBS game (with some of the same colorful artwork flourishes as found in FW/EL and the King's Bounty remake series, all from 1C if I recall correctly), I also suggest Etherlords 2. It's a card-based game with a fairly good plot (and usually better English voice acting than in FW/EL, though it varies) and like FW/EL (and PG clones in general, although this isn't at all a PG clone) the AI understands the rules thoroughly and will brutally apply them to crush you in fair competition. The original Etherlords 1 has a map-based campaign instead of a narrative campaign, but isn't quite as detailed in the gameplay (though pretty close) and I don't find the campaign to work very well so I don't really recommend it unless you've already played Ether2 (which has no particular connection to the first game besides general milieu and game mechanics so you aren't missing anything). Note however that the troops don't upgrade like in FW/EL, only your character does: it's a card-collection deck-designing game after all. (All the cards are in the game and unlock as you play, so there's no fiddling around outside the game trying to build decks.)

[Apocalypse 31]

Anybody played Allied Corps and have any recommendations on that?

I played Panzer Corps with expansions then beta tested Allied Corps. Not a bad game, but I prefer Unity of Command because I feel it has some better gameplay mechanics.

I do enjoy the Army  management aspect in Allied Corps, and upgrading units. After a while the upgrades all seen the same and eventually it turns into heavy teams and tactical bombers. Unlike Unity of Command, infantry just get phased out, and really don't serve a purpose, especially later in the war.

Panzer Corps has a great map and scenario editor. Really easy to use

[FarAway Sooner]

More great suggestions, guys, thanks!  Fantasy Wars was a lot of fun.  I didn't play the follow-up series, but made it most of the way through the first campaign in FW and enjoyed it a lot.

Etherlords 2 sounds very intriguing.  I've never played many CCGs, but if Etherlords 2 gets high marks, I'm sure that I can find it dirt-cheap on GOG. 

Unity of Command sounds very interesting.  I've downloaded demos for Battlefield Academy and Unity of Command and played BA.  So far, I'm impressed--I'll be curious to see if the different BA scenarios play out differently, but so far, I'm encouraged.  If only I could figure out from the rules whether I get more opportunity fire when I pause with some AP left over...   :)

[JasonPratt]

Sooner,

Etherlords 2 (and 1) is indeed available on GoG for US$6 when not on sale. Despite already having a copy, I rebought there and it definitely works on Win8.

UoC has a very nice larger-scale Panzer Generalesque design, and I'm definitely a big fan of it, but be aware that you won't be upgrading your troops over time (or rather there's some but it's kind of incidental and hard to track from board to board, not like in most PGish games.)

For a more PanzerGeneralish take on the Eastern Front, I might suggest Matrix's recently released remake of Operation Barbarossa, Germany At War: Barbarossa 1941. (They still have the original, too, but it was kind of buggy and by all accounts the remake is much better, so I've linked there instead.)

For a rather different turn-based tactical game where you track and upgrade troops through an Eastern Front campaign, I would recommend Matrix's Panzer Command: Ostfront. Not only does it feature several dynamic campaigns in an engine similar to the 3D cinematic turn-based plotting of Battlefront's famous Combat Mission series, it even features random/build-your-own dynamic campaigns!

[panzerde]

For a rather different turn-based tactical game where you track and upgrade troops through an Eastern Front campaign, I would recommend Matrix's Panzer Command: Ostfront. Not only does it feature several dynamic campaigns in an engine similar to the 3D cinematic turn-based plotting of Battlefront's famous Combat Mission series, it even features random/build-your-own dynamic campaigns!

Enthusiastically seconded.  Panzer Command: Ostfront is a very underappreciated game IMHO.  While not quite as graphically slick as the latest CM2 games, the mechanics and scenarios are top notch.  You can play just about any period of the war on the East Front with period appropriate vehicles and unit organization.  Also, many of the scenarios and maps (maybe all of them?) were developed by Mad Russian of Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm fame. 

[FarAway Sooner]

I've spent the last few days kicking the tires on the Battlefield Academy demo and am favorably impressed.  I think I'm on to the Unity Command demo next, and all these damn demos are taking away from the time I intended to spend playing Din's Curse.  And so many other great suggestions out there to consider!

I guess these aren't bad problems to have...

;D

[W8taminute]

Jason you should really try out Warlock, especially if it has been on your backlog for a while.  When I first tried this game my immediate thoughts were, "Why can't Sid 'loser' Meier come up with a good civ game that has the innovations Warlock does?"

Btw did I mention I don't like Sid Meier?

[FarAway Sooner]

Warlock was a very nice beer & pretzels kind of game.  Sort of Civ, but with much more emphasis on combat.  The different types of units enhance replay value.  Ultimately, and maybe I just didn't play enough or at high enough levels, but a lot of the factions seem to play very similarly to each other, but not entirely.

I think Warlock came closer to matching the feel of Master of Magic than any other game I've ever played.

[Rayfer]

Warlock was a very nice beer & pretzels kind of game.  Sort of Civ, but with much more emphasis on combat.  The different types of units enhance replay value.  Ultimately, and maybe I just didn't play enough or at high enough levels, but a lot of the factions seem to play very similarly to each other, but not entirely.

I think Warlock came closer to matching the feel of Master of Magic than any other game I've ever played.

The updated, patched up Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes is a an excellent turn based game as well.