Rob and Troy talk about 2×2’s new entry-level wargame, Unity of Command, and why it is such a huge success. How does it stack up against Panzer Corps, and why is it more a wargame than a puzzle game? Why is its treatment of supply so important? Can you make a really challenging wargame without implying puzzle-like solutions?
I would like to submit my entry in competition for a Unity of Command CD-key.
Great show, great year! Can’t wait for you guys in 2012.
I also would like to submit my entry for the unity of command key!!
Sounds like a great game. Count me in.
Best wishes to all of you and I look forward to the next year of 3MA.
Now its time to work on my mission. ;)
I’d like to toss my hat into the ring for Unity of Command, too. It seems to be one of the most interesting strategy games lately.
I’d like to be in the Unity of Command sweepstakes!
I’d like to be in the Unity of Command drawing as well.
Great show guys, and have a wonderful holiday.
Soooooo glad you covered this. Throw me in the contest.
Happy holidays and thanks for the show (and the blog).
And me, oh me! Hearing lots of good things about UoC.
Happy holidays, and thank you!
It sounds as if the difference between Panzer Corps and Unity of Command ultimately rests on the differences between Turn-Based-Tactics and Turn-Based-Strategy, respectively.
I purchased Panzer Corps at the beginning of the month because I wanted to try a ‘proper’ hex-based wargame.
I would say that Panzer Corps is a great refresh of the formula and I am enjoying the aesthetics, with the added benefit of it not being a huge PC resource-hog for the gameplay that it is attempting to model (slight frowny-eyes at Civ 5, by comparison).
I think that Panzer Corp’s ethically-controversial (from a popular-culture perspective) choice of a German-focused campaign is based around the game’s theme of success-over-time and decisive vs marginal victories, really lending itself to the demonstration of blitzkrieg tactics.
It is an entertaining insight into WWII to play key-moments of the conflict and to watch the evolution of your tactics over time while also having both the campaign-tree and decisive-victory mechanic as a model for the strategic insight into the German attempts to neutralise opposing nations quickly to take advantage of slow enemy mobilisation and to avoid prolonged militaristic resistance.
The campaign scenarios and general story of WWII lend well to the difficulty curve of increasing player-skill and success being met with increasing resistance, culminating in the actual defeat of Germany and paralleled by the success or defeat of the player.
I actually went and wrote an AAR of Barbarossa (Panzer Corps) in order to highlight, reflect and remember my decisions that would net my first decisive victory of the campaign, from the perspective of a relative newcomer to the sub-genre. I would like to upload the article somewhere for people to read but, unfortunately, I am not completely sure how to best approach this.
As a result of the analysis I did, rather than simply playing Panzer Corps and finding it ‘shallow’, I now find that its relative structural simplicity belies nuances in the mechanics that make for interesting strategic choices rather than the prospect of feature-creep that can be to the detriment of a more complicated game (I still like complicated games).
Just at the point where I might have become disinterested by the simplicity or repetitive nature of the combat, I have found deeper reasons to appreciate Panzer Corps and its tribute to what is essentially a time-tested design.
Unity of Command’s supply structure sounds interesting. The presentation of UC looks slick – I get a Team Fortress 2 vibe from it.
I hope there will be a demo for Unity of Command. The release of the Panzer Corps demo was one of the main factors in my purchasing decision.
P.S – I would like to be entered into the competition for the Unity of Command CD-KEY.
I’ve been on a bit of a WWII kick lately (spurred by Matrix’s holiday sale where I nabbed some of the Close Combat remakes, mmmm delicious nostalgia) so Unity of Command piqued my interest. All things I’ve heard make it sound quite interesting.
I would love to get in on the Unity of Command CD contest.
P.S. Troy you did well in going into PR because you have helped me spend more of my gaming dollars in the last year than anyone else. Which is basically my way of saying you guys do great work on 3MA and Merry Christmas.
I would love to be entered in the Unity of Command CD-key sweepstakes. Great listen as usual. Happy holidays!
You guys mentioned not being able to easily distinguish elite units from regular units. I think UoC presents this information fairly well using the veteran/elite icons on each unit. You don’t need to look at the info panel unless you want to know how many more kills you need for the next level. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent a lot of time with this game, but the elite/veteran icons are one of the first things that jump out at me every time I look at the map.
I’d also like to be in the running for a CD key.
What is the replayability of the game like? I tend to prefer games that generate random terrain such as Advanced Tactics but this game sounds interesting.
Thanks guys for your podcast. :)
Troy, you seem to not have noticed that Recon troops also take territory adjacent to them when they move. Normal troops only take territory they directly move through. Recon also the territory next to them.
I’d appreciate being involved in the running for the key, sounds like a game perfectly fitting my needs/wants for a strategy game at the moment.
Thanks for a great show, from a new listener from Finland.
(…and Merry Christmas!)
I would also like to compete for the CD-Key!
I would like to throw my hat into the ring for the CD-Key
Have been playing Panzer Corps for a while now and like the game, but can see where your criticism comes from. I´m new to tactical games and feel that it is a rather hard game for a beginner. It is mostly because of “the right path” structure that makes out the how the scenarios are built.
After listening to this episode I am really interested in Unity of Command, so I would like to be in the Unity of Command sweepstakes.
Thanks for a fantastic podcast! I´m looking forward for your comming shows in 2012!
Glad you guys decided to pre-record an episode so the streak of weekly 3MAs keeps going. Despite your exhaustion, I still enjoyed the conversation, and maybe I’ll need to go watch “Paschendale”.
Also, if you wanted to send a UoC key my way, I wouldn’t turn it down. Just sayin’.
Been intrigued by this game since reading Spelk’s AAR about it.
I am greedy.
Therefore, I post.
I’ve got my fingers crossed – hoping for the UoC key. Great episode guys.
Hi I would like to win the UoC key!
Great Podcast and interesting game. I’d like to win the cd-key and also happy holidays to all.
Great show guys.
UoC does sound like the ideal middle of the spectrum war game I have been looking so long for. I don’t want to spend 1hr just looking at all the units I have and another 30min every turn just shuffling counters.
Sign my up for the UoC key drawing.
Cheers!
I take a key if i am lucky enough! Greate show and best wishes for 2012
Sign me up for the contest! (And great podcast)
Sounds like a great game. Please enter me in the contest for the UoC key.
Would be happy to try Unity of Command; please put my name in the hat.
Excellent show! It’s great to hear that UoC holds up as a medium-wargame. I would like to be entered into the contest.
If it’s not too late, I’d like a UoC entry :) Thanks. Also, great podcast!! (not flattery)
Chance at a free game? Sign me up!
Having stumbled upon 3MA by chance (and having enjoyed it quite a bit) I decided to start to put forth an effort to start playing wargames. The first real wargame I had played was Hearts of Iron 2, and since I had enjoyed that very much, I decided to get other WWII games (such as Panzer General/Corps and War in the East), so it is to this end that I’d love to enter in the chance to win UoC, as to expand my WWII game/wargame collection.
Keep up the great work guys!
Long time listener and wargamer, occasional commenter. UoC sounds really interesting, though I wish it were available on Mac as well as PC. Fortunately I have an oldish PC I can use for gaming, so please enter me for a code.
PS Please give Sword of the Stars 2 a similar whole podcast treatment. My PC doesn’t have the power to play it but I have already bought a copy (overenthusiastically) and I would like to know if it is worth buying a whole new rig just for SoTS2!)
Oh yes – I would like to be entered to the draw for the UoC key.
Many thanks for keeping the weekly podcast delivery going during the crazy time that leads up to Christamas and all … and looking forward to episode 150!
Rob –
Thanks for mentioning me on the podcast! Yes I was very early on to this game and played in the beta. I’d give it my wargame of the year award! Its just very accessible and easy to play but with strategic depth. Great podcast guys!
This game sounds really interesting. I want CD-Key please.
ZOMG CD Key for UoC give away? Awesome. Count me entered. If perchance I do not win the CD Key, is the only place to buy the game at the developer’s web site unityofcommand.net?
Would appreciate an entry in the Unity of Command contest. I’d also like to note that I’d be interested in listening to an occasional digression podcast, perhaps under another title. Movies, F1, the dreaded other genres, as long as it hits the core 3MA qualities of intelligence and brevity. I certainly respect that you might not want to take that on; I’d just like to let you know I think you’d have an audience.
@Mike: No, you can get it at Matrix Games also (their publisher). http://matrixgames.com/products/417/details/Unity.of.Command
By the way, I’d be glad to enter the contest, too!
I’d love to get in on the contest as well.
Troy’s comments about supply brought to mind another supply-focused games, Revolution under Siege (an AGEOD game produced by Sep Reds), which I hope to sit down with in 2012 (after I’ve read a few good books on the Russian civil war!).
I look forward to trying Unity of Command.
Great show, as usual. I would love to give this a try, please enter my name into the drawing.
Looking forward to your 2012 podcasts, happy New Year!
If it isn’t too late I would like to be entered for the Unity of Command key too please.
Another great show.
I would like to put my name into the UoC key contest.
Unity of Command — Review « The View from the Turret // Dec 27, 2011 at 12:44 pm
[…] Three Moves Ahead podcast Episode 148 has a great 48 minute discussion/review of all facets of Unity of Command. If you have any […]
Great show again.
You have convinced me to get this game one way or another. Please include me in the drawing for the game.
Unity of Command looks pretty interesting.
Definitely going to try this out.
Pop me in the contest. I’ll never win though.
Just what I needed – another game I want to play. ;-)
So… please include me in the drawing, as I’d really like to try Unity of Command. Thanks!
Great show guys. Still one of my favorite gaming podcasts. Keep up the good work!
Also, please include me in the drawing for the Unity of Command key.