"Morning."
"Morning."
The Good
I love my job!
I've been playing Warhammer since 2nd edition. I remember the first Armageddon game, and after the RTS games from THQ came out and Space Marine, I thought the chances of a strategic, turn-based game sent in 40k was slim. And along comes Slitherine! The game takes from some past ideas, but it has a huge amount of details when it comes to unit selection.
Others have complained about a lack of 'special' units, but this game doesn't need to be turned into hero-hammer. It's fine as it is, and if anything, many selections go unused as the game advances. The amount of detail in the units is amazing. Variations upon variations!
Music is limited, but fine for what it is.
Cut-scenes are basic, but not bad. They hired voice-actors and not the mail-room guy.
The campaign has some very challenging missions and some are built beautifully. In particular, the arrival of the Space Marines into the game is epic and thrilling- something a turn-based game might not be thought of as capable of. Some scenarios allow for clever movement, and the use of terrain does affect the game as there are a great deal of many orks to deal with, and taking use of cover is a must!
The AI isn't terrible, though at times it seemed rather passive. Eager to move units forward, but not always eager to have them shoot at anything.
Better yet- if Slitherine gets to expand on their license, then the game can easily be opened up for more fun. I try not to get my hopes up too high, but perhaps one day the pitter-patter of a bagillion claws will be heard on the Ultramarine Homeworld, or a Black Cruasde will come spilling out of the Eye of Terror, or maybe the Tau will set up a resort town somewhere.
And, for those not aware of the Slitherine, they do a good job making patches, updating, tinkering and communicating with their players.
Overall, it's quite fun and laden with potential for more. I eagerly give them my money.
The Bad
With unit-slots limited, and an ever-increasing better supply of units, the Steel Legion infantry I started with quickly become a Space Marine/Titan/Steel Legion mega-tank force as the game progressed. Due to many missions with strict and tight time-limits, I found myself having to forego many interesting units and selecting the most efficient tank and infantry killers. This is a shame because the game has so many units to choose from, but I had to shy away from them. Perhaps on future playthroughs I'll discover differently.
Some scenarios were well designed, others became slog-fests. With small maps, limited deployment zones, and small time-limits. In such situations strategy was more akin to WWI. Mobile units were 'so-so', because they had nowhere really to go. Aerial units in particular were difficult to use, lacking durability and range.
I found in many scenarios my force was designed to be a slow, steady, moving wave of elite units that would pulverize everything in front of it. Rinse-repeat, until by the last turn of the scenario I had taken the last objective. Sometimes with a turn or two to spare- often not.
The most tactical I got was choosing which Ork heavy-armor was going to get hit by 3 deathstrike missiles, who needed to fall back to refit and repair, and what units were the most efficient. And... that's about it. Forward, slog. Forward, slog. Good for some missions, but so many of them turned out this way with a few notable exceptions. An easy fix for this would be scenarios with larger maps and more time so maneuvering had value.
The plot seemed to be missing some cut scenes. The actual Ork invasion itself was something I felt I may have missed. The rest follows the 40k lore, and I was quite alright with that.
Overall
Here I come to wreck your day!
Good! This game can be great with some work, and expanded upon, which is even better. There is love worked into it and with luck we'll see more updates and future titles!
I purchased mine through steam!
