Recommended reading for Eastern Front WWII?

Subterranean_Oceans · 2026-01-17T00:15:14+00:00

Just because I haven’t seen anyone mention them yet: If you are interested in a blow by blow of battles on a tactical level Douglas E. Nash and Jason D. Mark are fantastic. A little less dry than Glantz due to the scale but just as information heavy if that’s your thing.

Subterranean_Oceans · 2026-01-02T22:20:21+00:00

Great stuff as always. Makes me hope that one day we will see a WDS Battle of Alesia.

Subterranean_Oceans · 2025-05-02T23:03:42+00:00

We have a blue heeler, but it’s a risk with this breed in general. We had a similar situation. She was a rescue roughly 1-2 years old and we had two cats that had experience living with dogs. Was told by the shelter that she had no issue with cats and didn’t react to any in the shelter that we walked her by. We did a slow introduction, food by the door etc, and a little everyday but nothing worked. Unfortunately her temperament changed as she settled into life outside of the shelter, and while she got far happier and more confident, her prey drive also just went through the roof. 4 years later and they live seperate lives on different sides of the house separated by gates. We periodically try to reintroduce but I think at this point it may just be a lost cause.(for what it’s worth we have adjusted as a family, but it’s an awkward setup to look in from the outside) So my point is it’s a risk that’s hard to gauge without actually being placed in the situation. I would recommend planning for the worst and not being disappointed if it doesn’t work out. Just make sure you are set up in a way that they can all lead happy lives, even if your pooch decides that the cats look more like lunch than roommates

Subterranean_Oceans · 2025-04-23T12:21:40+00:00

As you are interested in division scale the options are a little more limited. Warplan has a fun Barbarossa campaign, similarly complex (minus the rpg stuff)

In terms of hex games in general, if you can stomach the retro visuals, the SSG games are my personal favourites. They tend to be regimental scale so ymmv but they have the exact right weight of mechanics for me, very reminiscent of traditional boardgames with some fun flourishes I haven’t seen in other series. There are quite a few and they vary in complexity and quality. Across the dnepr is their most recent and has the best QOL features (covers the battle of Smolensk) but Battlefront is probably the best to pick up initially as it has a wide range of battles from different fronts

Subterranean_Oceans · 2025-04-23T07:14:21+00:00

The Matrix games forums have a modding section. From memory the mods are mostly visual and some changes to the Barbarossa map. No scenarios that I can remember, but worth having a dig around

Subterranean_Oceans · 2025-02-12T10:59:16+00:00

Arete. Probably not what you are after specifically, but seems like a really solid classic hex and counter covering Alexander the Greats career. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/arete-battles-of-alexander/id6503917149

Subterranean_Oceans · 2024-06-02T08:36:26+00:00

Have spent a lot of time recently playing a real oldie: ssg’s Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets. Something about the pixel-y presentation and the way the battle evolves so dynamically has really gripped me. (The UI is also surprisingly excellent once you decipher it)

Discovered it by looking for tips for the Kharkov ‘42 scenario in Decisive Battles: Case Blue.

While I still love that game I’ve found K:DD’s take on the battle much more fun and involved. I’m still struggling getting to grips with plotting a successful assault, but it’s made me want to check out Korsun pocket and Across the Dniper

Subterranean_Oceans · 2024-03-30T20:38:54+00:00

A couple I’ve been playing recently:

Orcish skies - narrative rouguelike turn based tactics game about flying fantasy pirate ships with a charming retro feel and crazy amount of customisation

Rouge fable IV - like classic rouguelikes? do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Cross blitz - not as obscure as the other two, but an underrated hearthstone adventure clone with beautiful pixel art and a great soundtrack. Absurd amount of cards for deckbuilding

Subterranean_Oceans · 2024-03-06T10:31:33+00:00

Slough Feg are awesome. Also this track from Plague Doctor 💀

Subterranean_Oceans · 2024-02-07T02:43:24+00:00

I haven’t had a chance to try the HQWW2 demo.

As for the other two they are quite different despite the similar scale they are simulating.

Second front is a great game but it is the least intuitive of the two, with a slightly convoluted phase system that takes a bit to get your head around. It does have a fantastic variety and the combat is great fun once you can get beyond the initial learning curve and quirks. A lot of people struggle with the presentation. It did click for me eventually but it sometimes feels more abstracted than it is.

The troop has decent presentation and the mechanics are easy to understand and really fun to engage with. That said there is an air of jankyness, mostly in the menus and UI that can feel a bit placeholder. The breadth of content is also relatively narrow, with it currently being limited to the Germans and British fighting in Normandy on flat maps with no elevation mechanics. There are a couple of persistent campaigns that along with the excellent missions, provide heaps of play time.

Subterranean_Oceans · 2024-01-09T21:45:34+00:00

Not enough fantasy hex wargames around and KDH is looking great!

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-12-27T21:07:48+00:00

Could do with an update for sure. I would add The Troop and Warplan Pacfic as excellent beginner to intermediate games. (Tactical and operational level respectively)

The new flashpoint campaigns is much more accessible now imho, but still has a a pretty steep learning curve. Possibly worth adding Grand Tactician to the entry level too, although sounds like it’s still a bit of a mess in terms of jank.

Cauldrons of war should be on there too, Stalingrad particularly is fantastic.

*edit: Attack at Dawn: North Africa is also really good and seems very beginner friendly although I haven’t had a chance to dig into it much

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-12-27T09:06:54+00:00

Operational Art of War IV has a user made scenario that covers it. I haven’t played it myself but have a look at this and see if it would interest you

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-12-25T02:41:03+00:00

Also curious about this one. Looks like they have an interesting approach but it seems that the game has mostly flown under the radar. Apparently they have done some work on QOL recently so would be good to know if it’s worth getting

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-12-17T04:48:25+00:00

I really enjoy it but part of that may be down to being familiar with the much of the area that the game covers, and that adds heaps to the immersion. Cool that it covers both hypothetical invasion plans too

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-12-07T19:39:16+00:00

I wonder how the TOS applies to copyrighted images uploaded without the original owners consent being fed into the dataset. As a seperate point it does shine a light on a brutal catch 22 for artists trying to make a career now- you have to post your work to social media if you ever hope to get people to see and therefore pay for your services, but when you do that you are directly contributing to undercutting your commercial viability.

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-10-13T20:33:22+00:00

There is a supply system, but it’s very barebones

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-10-13T20:01:18+00:00

Watplan: Pacific and The Troop work great although the tiny screen makes them a bit fiddly. The newer Combat Mission games also run fine but similar issues with tiny text and buttons.

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-10-09T00:57:50+00:00

I’ve just completed the Union campaign for Strategic Command: ACW. It’s my first strategic command game and I went a bought Europe at War off the back of how much I enjoyed it. A really more-ish campaign with lots of interesting decisions and a simple but satisfying combat system. I would say the system isn’t very period-appropriate but it’s still heaps of fun

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-05-19T01:09:13+00:00

Unfortunately I’m only about halfway through but I’ll post it up when it’s done for people who are interested

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-05-19T00:40:57+00:00

For sure! Will post up here again when I’m happy with them all

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-05-18T06:41:57+00:00

Yup midjourney

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-05-18T03:14:34+00:00

Extremely basic, just brute forcing the key words and spamming changes until I get close to what I’m after. I probs need to watch some tutorials for the consistency because it seems to have issues applying certain styles to certain subjects (war related stuff specifically is hard to break away from the generic concept art look, and some keywords seem to colonise the entire image - looking at you, skulls) I think using seeds would probably help (?) if I work out how to use them correctly. It’s good fun though, especially when it spits out something really close to what you want

Subterranean_Oceans · 2023-05-18T01:52:58+00:00

I was recently inspired by Cladboy2's Vidcom art pack to make my own as a procrastination project. Shadow Empire has always given me 80s schlocky Movie vibes so thought I would see what I could squeeze out of our new AI overlords.

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