Review : Stonehearth [Early Access]

Initially I wasn’t going to step foot into reviewing Early Access games. It’s a realm of great ideas, marketing, fluff, and little substance. An idea for a great game is significantly different than a great game. Now we get to watch the process from shitty early access game all the way to shitty released game.

It’s kind of like sausage. You probably don’t want to watch. Getting the finished product is much better.

But, unfortunately, in our era of gaming we have a shitload of games in Early Access. As such, it’s worth taking a look and wading through the idea and getting to the substance.

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Flashpoint Campaigns : Red Storm [Review]

Flashpoint Campaigns : Red Storm Review

was developed by On Target Simulations and released by Slitherine Ltd in 2013.

You take on the role of an all seeing Commander for either the NATO forces, or the incoming Warsaw Pact forces. As the game lays it out, the Warsaw Pact has struck while NATO was woefully unprepared. In fact it looked like the Cold War was coming to an end. Game wise it sets the tone for NATO to be the defender, and also scrambling to hold the border.

Flashpoint Campaigns has one very unique mechanic that elevates this game beyond just another hex and NATO counter game. Orders.

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Rust : Herp, Derp, and the Russian Hunter

I regain consciousness on the sandy shores of some distant beach. Waves lap gently against the shore like some long lost summer vacation. It takes me a moment but finally I get up. The sea stretches out beyond me. Turning about I get my first shock.

Naked men. Lots of them. This beach has more sausage than Oktoberfest. Behind them is a hill, rocks, forests, some strange looking fortresses rise up, and what could be a distant satellite dish.

Where the hell am I?

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Lifeline Review [iOS]

It’s not often that I get sucked into a game on an emotional level. A level where I’m actually genuinely curious about where the path of the protagonist leads. In most games you are a bystander, you’re separated from the choices. As visceral the graphics, as intense the story, you’re still just a person clicking a mouse.

Lifeline by 3 Minute Games turns what I expected out of an iOS game onto its head.

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War in the East : Support Units

Support units are essential in the War in the East. They are your artillery, engineers, rocket battalions, and anti-aircraft. By abstracting these units it saves you a ton of time shuttling them about. But there’s still some things to know in order to maximize your effectiveness.

“Nebelwerfer and Land Mattress”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nebelwerfer_and_Land_Mattress.jpg#/media/File:Nebelwerfer_and_Land_Mattress.jpg

Support Units come in two flavors. One is Combat Support Units like Artillery or Pioneers (Engineers). The other is straight up support, or Construction Units. We won’t cover much on the Construction side for right now. But on the Combat side there’s a lot going on.

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War in the East : Supply Basics

Supply in the War in the East at first seems incredibly complicated but is actually much simpler than it seems. Though like almost everything in WitE, it’s as complicated as you choose to make it.
In Road to Minsk, a 3 turn scenario, you don’t have to worry about supply at all. You can get a decisive Axis victory without ever thinking about it. But in the other Road to scenarios, and the full campaign, it becomes much more critical. But the good news, it’s not that bad.

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War in the East – Encirclement

War in the East – Encirclement

Encirclement is the most basic, and essential, tactic that the Axis armies have at the start of the game. Essentially you are using your fast mechanized and armor divisions to cut off the supply from less maneuverable pockets of Soviet troops. Without supplies they will surrender, saving tens of thousands of your own troops. As the Axis it is essential. As the Soviets, it’s essential to know how it works.

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