Rating: A+

This is a serious wargame. None of that fake crap that people like to call wargames but are really wussy arcade RTS chump simulators. Flashpoint Campaigns has hexes and counters and orders and turns. All of the classic components of something designed by and for true grognards.

It is my first PC "hardcore" wargame, and after nearly a dozen hours, it's a pretty neat game. Most wargames and PC strategy games still focus around manouvre and ordering each of your units with razor-like accuracy, with each tank and squad and platoon responded to and executing your will without delay and without question. Flashpoint Campaigns isn't like that. It focuses on the hair-pulling, hypertension-inducing hell that is being helpless while you watch your men, each devoted to his nation and its cause (even if its cause is stupid) really trying their best to carry out your moronic plans only to be cut down at once by enemy fire. Confusion and lack of cohesian are the killers on this battlefield. Each turn you give orders and then click the button to play the turn out, where your guys, in accelerated time, spend the next 15 minutes to an hour on their own, trying their best to get things done. Only when the turn is up and the alotted time has passed are you allowed to give new orders and react to the situation. And the more chaotic things get and the more torn up and splintered your force gets, the longer the turn takes to playout before you can react with orders, meaning that you can end up giving orders every 40 minutes whil your opponent is able to give orders ever 15, which leads to very interesting, very asymmetrical and very unique gameplay. And if you play with the optional rule limiting the number of orders you can give per turn--something I recommend for increased realism and increased stress--things can only get more jacked up if you don't have a solid plan and the flexibility to ammend that plan when needed.

There is a lot of Cold War tech to play with, and battles move extremely fast and are extremely bloody once contact is made. The graphics are clear and attractive and have a pretty striped-down, utilitarian feel to them, which works but if someone needs to actually _see_ a tank model to have a good time playing war, you might want to look elsewhere.

The AI seems smart as hell, and you can go toe-to-toe with it across numerous individual scenarios and four separate campaigns where you keep your forces between battles. I haven't actually tried the campaigns yet, but I am excited at the prospect. I just want to hold off until I can go through a battle without getting my ass handed to me first.

Rating: A+ This is a serious wargame. None of that fake crap that people like to call wargames but are really wussy arcade RTS chump simulators. Flashpoint Campaigns has hexes and counters and orders and turns. All of the classic components of something designed by and for true grognards. It is my first PC "hardcore" wargame, and after nearly a dozen hours, it's a pretty neat game. Most wargames and PC strategy games still focus around manouvre and ordering each of your units with razor-like accuracy, with each tank and squad and platoon responded to and executing your will without delay and without question. Flashpoint Campaigns isn't like that. It focuses on the hair-pulling, hypertension-inducing hell that is being helpless while you watch your men, each devoted to his nation and its cause (even if its cause is stupid) really trying their best to carry out your moronic plans only to be cut down at once by enemy fire. Confusion and lack of cohesian are the killers on this battlefield. Each turn you give orders and then click the button to play the turn out, where your guys, in accelerated time, spend the next 15 minutes to an hour on their own, trying their best to get things done. Only when the turn is up and the alotted time has passed are you allowed to give new orders and react to the situation. And the more chaotic things get and the more torn up and splintered your force gets, the longer the turn takes to playout before you can react with orders, meaning that you can end up giving orders every 40 minutes whil your opponent is able to give orders ever 15, which leads to very interesting, very asymmetrical and very unique gameplay. And if you play with the optional rule limiting the number of orders you can give per turn--something I recommend for increased realism and increased stress--things can only get more jacked up if you don't have a solid plan and the flexibility to ammend that plan when needed. There is a lot of Cold War tech to play with, and battles move extremely fast and are extremely bloody once contact is made. The graphics are clear and attractive and have a pretty striped-down, utilitarian feel to them, which works but if someone needs to actually _see_ a tank model to have a good time playing war, you might want to look elsewhere. The AI seems smart as hell, and you can go toe-to-toe with it across numerous individual scenarios and four separate campaigns where you keep your forces between battles. I haven't actually tried the campaigns yet, but I am excited at the prospect. I just want to hold off until I can go through a battle without getting my ass handed to me first.