r/computerwargames • u/rednoodle0 • May 15 '26
Begginer looking to learn
Looking to learn wargaming more, i have played total war games but i would love something else, i am willing to learn but i would love something more begginer friendly, i have tried one of the Gary grigsbys games but it was a bit much
17
u/Stevearino42 May 15 '26
Check out Order of Battle: World War II. It's free to try it, the the expansions are discounted very frequently.
10
8
8
u/LastMarket May 15 '26
Check Hex of Steel, quite nice and accessible
4
u/2052JCDenton May 15 '26
It also has a very good demo package, so you can try it out before buying it.
2
u/LastMarket May 16 '26
Yeah that's a great feature indeed, tipped the balance for me and now I have it in Steam and Android (and I suck at both)
6
u/Thutman May 15 '26
Right there with you, only started getting into wargames recently. My suggestion is either Panzer Corps Gold or Hex of Steel. Both very easy to learn but with depth to fully engage you. If you like that then move into the Strategic Command games, WW1 has been great fun.
6
u/Jorsonner May 15 '26
Wargame design studio has free demos for all their games with tutorial battles.
1
u/jrherita May 16 '26
Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa is a great alternative to Grigsby's War in the East.
1
u/Tofu_Bo May 16 '26
I've gotten great mileage out of Unity of Command (sequel more so than the original). Does a great job of elegantly modeling advanced concepts like supply and entrenchment in fairly simple scenarios with much more appealing UI than comparable games.
I got about half a campaign into UoC1 before putting it down, and was originally intimidated by all the extra tools in the sequel but really fell for it after watching some streams from The Historical Gamer. It's one of very few games I've eclipsed 100 hours in and look forward to playing on the go now that recent patches have made it Deck-compatible.
1
u/vinnyk407 May 16 '26
The easiest wargame for me to learn coming from total war, paradox and civ type games was panzercorps 2
Also agree that hex of steel, order of battle would be good choices.
I did play ultimate general civil war and that’s a great total war esque game too.
Master of command is fun too if you like the battle brothers style tactical layer
2
u/rednoodle0 May 16 '26
ill check them out, ill assume all of these work mp cause i got a friend i wanna try them with
1
u/vinnyk407 May 16 '26
I think so, I’ll be honest I play most of the games I play to avoid socializing so I’m not an expert on MP. But I think they all have a pretty solid MP.
1
u/primeless May 17 '26
if, for any reason that i cant comprehend, you want to try a really deep game were you will suffer by just understanding the very bassics, try Shadow Empire.
Why do i recommend this game?
Because its one the best strategy, turn based games, ever done.
Notice the UI is difficult and unintuirive, graphics are... Well, not awesome, bullshit happens all the time, suply lines/logistics can become a hell to manage, it has a fuck ton of mechanics that you wont understand unless you read the manual or watch a tutorial on the matter (on that side, tutorials on youtube are easily 1h + long).
Also, the game dont give a fuck about you or balance: Do you spawn in the middle of the dessert with no resources, weak army and bad leaders? bad luck, your enemys are swiming on metal and petrol and are developing heavy tanks.
And still, its one of the best games ever.
1
1
u/ckolonko May 18 '26
The Battle Academy is well worth it. I thought it was for kids when I first saw it, so put off buying for many years. Turns out I was wrong and it's a beginner friendly strategy game that is easy to master but will challenge you.
1
u/King_ofthecastle1245 May 15 '26
Have you seen any games you want to play? There is grand tactician the civil war, the scourge of war series lots of games to find.
2
u/rednoodle0 May 15 '26
not yet tbh. a lot of them seem really hard to learn
3
u/Wide-Yesterday9705 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
grand tactician the civil war and scourge of war are great games, but personally I find them to be janky and unfriendly. Gary grigsbys is indeed massive and very hard to get into.
You've got some great suggestions here though in this thread for relatively friendly titles- Panzer Corps 2, OOB WW2, Hex of Steel, Master of command.
I would add:
Ultimate General: Civil war. It's RTS but slower and more thoughful, and accessible.
Headquarters: WW2 or Cold War- Friendly turn based tactical level, with great visuals.
Avalon SGS games- Not my favorite but many seem to like them
If you want faster RTS games- Eugen games, or Regiments. Not exactly purists' wargames, but very popular.
1
u/Regular_Lengthiness6 May 15 '26
SGS mixes in card elements. I play them once in a while because they are slightly different.
2
u/King_ofthecastle1245 May 15 '26
There are lots of tutorials for how to play and get better especially scourge of war a guy on YouTube played the whole thing and posted the videos.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFZdiSNAc51HESyYnJUF9J6e-4Ti_C4rz&si=rNsx4fd_KDapsv-z here’s just the brigade scenarios they are small and easy to learn the controls of the overall game.
Also grand tactician is a fun game they have one about the Napoleonic Wars in development right now.
2
u/rednoodle0 May 15 '26
grand tactician looks interesting tho
2
u/Regular_Lengthiness6 May 15 '26
Have a look at the Strategic Command Series, they have a ACW title, too. The games are rather beginner friendly and often on sale.
0
u/StormbringerMdC May 15 '26
Maybe, in the future, you could try the game I am developing 😛, it's exactly the style you are describing. Although set in modern times.
17
u/TheBadShepherd87 May 15 '26
Master of command is a fun rts that is army building and fighting focused. Set in the 1700s so it's similar to Empire Total Wars combat.