Planning Is Half The Battle
I was incredibly hyped for Battleplan, and the concept immediately grabbed me. It’s a World War 2 strategy game set during the Normandy Campaign, using a planning system similar to Hearts of Iron 4. It sounded fantastic! I’ll share my thoughts on this early preview, covering what I liked, what needs work, and why I believe this game has real potential.
Just to be clear, I’m not going to mention any existing problems with the game. It wouldn’t be right to point out issues in a game that’s still being actively developed, especially since this demonstration was meant to show the current, unfinished version.
This early version of Battleplan includes four missions. The first two serve as tutorials: one covers the game’s basic controls and combat, while the other dives deeper into advanced tactics like unit experience, coordinated attacks, flanking maneuvers, and cutting off enemy supplies. These tutorials effectively teach the fundamentals, and I even played them twice to make sure I didn’t miss anything – I now feel confident in understanding how Battleplan works. The remaining two missions are full-fledged scenarios. The first has you attacking Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, and the second is a more complex mission where you must first defend Bayeux against a German armored division, then push forward to capture the city of Caen.
Battleplan Has a Lot Going For It
Let’s start with what’s great about this game. I always appreciate games that try something new instead of just sticking to the same old ideas, and Battleplan definitely attempts that. It’s played at a large scale, where you command companies of soldiers. While commanding larger units isn’t unique, the way the game plays is. If you’ve played Hearts of Iron IV, you might be familiar with its planning mode. In that mode, you draw a line where you want to attack, give your generals broad orders, and they figure out the details. Battleplan works in a similar way, letting you plan operations at a high level, with a few extra features added.
The game day begins at 5 a.m., and each turn requires you to direct your divisions. You’ll choose orders for them to carry out, either continuing previous plans or issuing new ones. These orders – ranging from basic commands like “Assemble” and “Hold Line” to more complex strategies like “Complex Attack” and “Defense in Depth” – all have unique advantages and disadvantages on the battlefield. You can issue orders one after another or all at once to create detailed, multi-step operations. For example, a common tactic might involve assembling troops, softening the enemy with artillery, keeping some units in reserve, and then launching a breakthrough attack to try and surround them.
The game offers two ways to play, selectable in the Options menu. “Simple” mode lets you give orders in real-time, like a traditional strategy game, but doesn’t allow for complex, multi-stage plans. “Planning Phase” mode is how the game is meant to be played: you issue orders at the beginning of each day and can only call one emergency planning session per 24 hours. This limits you to observing how your plans unfold. I’ve tried both modes and don’t think one is better than the other. I like the direct control of “Simple” mode, but it’s also really engaging to watch your strategies play out, even if it’s a little stressful. Poor planning can leave your units without supplies, or the enemy can exploit weaknesses in your defenses, and you’re forced to watch the consequences.
The game features a huge number of details to manage for each unit, including troop numbers, equipment, experience, supplies, morale, and defenses. You’ll need to consider everything – the terrain, your troops’ condition, and their equipment – to succeed. It’s incredibly deep; I’ve already replayed the Cherbourg mission multiple times with different approaches, and they’ve all been effective. This isn’t a rigid, puzzle-focused wargame like some others; there’s real freedom to experiment. If the full game includes plenty of missions, it has the potential to keep players engaged for a long time, particularly those who like trying out new strategies.
Some Things Still Need Work
Let’s talk about areas where the game could be better. While I’m enjoying it and eager to play more, Battleplan needs improvements, particularly in how it communicates what’s happening. There’s a lot on screen, and it’s often difficult to quickly understand who is fighting whom, and how the battle is progressing. Currently, you have to click on units and check modifiers to figure it out. It would be much better if the game visually showed units clearly targeting each other, making it easier to follow the action. This becomes a real problem in large battles with many units, as things quickly become chaotic. Checking every single fight isn’t practical, though the game at least allows you to do so if you want to.
The way the units move feels unnatural – they seem to glide around constantly, especially when grouped together. While I understand there are limits to what the game environment can handle, the constant pushing and shoving feels like an awkward physics simulation, and I don’t enjoy it. I prefer strategy games with quick, precise movements. It makes the game easier to follow, feels more polished, and gives the impression of higher quality. Personally, I can’t think of any successful strategy game where units didn’t move with a sense of speed and responsiveness.
Regarding how easy the game is to understand, it’s currently unclear why some areas on the map are controlled by you and others aren’t. I initially assumed this was by design, but I’m now unsure. I noticed that even when the game is paused, the battle lines continue to shift, seemingly at random. It’s possible this is just a glitch.
The user interface could be more user-friendly. It currently feels crowded, and simply increasing the size of the unit scorecards in the bottom right corner wouldn’t detract from anything. The current layout, where the Battle Report is on the left and details of individual fights are on the right, is confusing. These elements should be placed closer together. Ideally, the Battle Report would also be on the right side, and the division tab would be larger with clearer explanations of the military symbols used, to help new users understand them.
The game would be much easier to play if you could select multiple units at once using Control+Click on the map and then give them orders. Right now, it takes too many steps – you have to choose an order, then find and select the specific units from a list. This is slow, especially when you’re trying to coordinate complex maneuvers. It’s also hard to see which units you’re selecting, which can lead to accidentally moving troops from important positions and weakening your defenses. While it might be possible to do this already, or to give orders to each unit individually, it requires a lot of unnecessary clicking. Please consider adding Control+Click or Click+Drag for easier unit selection.
Finally, let’s talk about the graphics and sound. The graphics are adequate for the game – not spectacular, but perfectly acceptable. The map is clear and easy to understand, with forests, swamps, roads, and towns all clearly marked. While judging elevation can be tricky, there’s a dedicated map mode to help with that. The sound design is surprisingly good, particularly the battle sound effects, which create a really immersive experience – a definite highlight.
Overall, Battleplan Is A Wargame I’m Looking Forward To
Overall, Battleplan feels like a game with huge promise. It introduces some really interesting new ideas to the strategy and wargaming genres, and if the developers can refine it, it could be truly exceptional. The potential for future downloadable content is exciting – scenarios like the Battle of the Bulge, the Italian Campaign, or battles on the Eastern Front would be a great fit. I’m hoping the team focuses on polishing the game and improving the user interface before release, because the core gameplay is already very strong. I’ve been playing the same mission repeatedly for the past five nights, and that tells me there’s something special about this game.
Currently, there’s no public release date for when Battleplan is coming out, and no pricing.
Read More
- USD RUB PREDICTION
- Gold Rate Forecast
- How to Get Sentinel Firing Core in Arc Raiders
- Upload Labs: Beginner Tips & Tricks
- Silver Rate Forecast
- BNB PREDICTION. BNB cryptocurrency
- EUR INR PREDICTION
- INJ PREDICTION. INJ cryptocurrency
- USD1 PREDICTION. USD1 cryptocurrency
- ICP PREDICTION. ICP cryptocurrency
2025-11-14 16:44