14 DAY TRIAL // It’s going to take a lot more forces to successfully siege Port Arthur. Including some specialized artillery to rain down fire on the defensive lines and a few extra infantry units. A light cavalry screen is coming together to the North, protecting the flank in case a lot more Russians show up there. My naval assets have managed to deal with almost all enemy ships in Port Arthur and are now redeploying.
The Baltic Fleet is coming and I will need all the big battleship guns to deal with it. I’m hoping that by then I’d have shipped all the infantry forces I need to build a solid front line, backed by some of the new artillery support units. I might even threaten Vladivostok, although the Japanese Empire historically did not take it.
I’ve already played a little as the Russian Empire and I know they can mobilize many more resources than their opponent. The only way to secure and maybe exceed historical performance is to strike hard and only use elite forces at crucial moments. A competent commander also needs to make sure his supply is secure.
Strategic Command – American Civil War is developed by Fury Software and published by Slitherine Ltd. The new scenario depicts the Russo-Japanese War, one of the early turning points of the XX in Asia. It will be available alongside a new major patch on June 29, 2023.
Playing as Japan, players need to reach the same success as the Imperial Army and Navy, while as the Russians the idea is to better the performance of the historical commanders. The scenario does not feature any diplomacy or research. Gamers need to focus on the strategic deployment of forces and carefully planned attacks.
Strategic Command – American Civil War now features battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boat squadrons. Don’t forget to lay mines and hope that enemy vessels run into them. Artillery is more powerful in 1904 and infantry has evolved its ability to battle cavalry squadrons.
The game is turn and hex-based. Players move a range of forces on both land and sea and need to secure supply lines and make sure brigades stay in command range of their leaders. Before combat, the interface clearly shows potential results and the kind of losses players can expect.
A country generates Political Points each turn. Use them to order replacements for units that have been in the line of fire for too long or get entirely new divisions and ships. The Russians will have trouble getting troops to the front because they depend on one big railway. For Japan, the difficulty lies in paying PP for naval transport.
Despite the lack of diplomacy and research, the Russo-Japanese war scenario is pretty complex. It’s the kind of conflict where troop movement and well-planned deployment is more important than winning individual fights. The complexity of the naval engagements is also higher than Strategic Command has offered so far.
Imperial Sunrise introduces a new map and more unit types but no improvements to the game’s graphics. The general look and the interface are functional and don’t aim for realism. The sound design is very martial but I suggest finding some good history podcasts that tackle the conflict to replace the soundtrack.
Conclusion
It will be interesting to see whether the game tackles other conflicts in Asia or will explore possibilities on other continents. The core mechanics of Strategic Command – American Civil War are solid and can depict plenty of campaigns that other turn-based strategy titles have ignored.
A review key was provided by the publisher
