Recommend me some Wargame until HoI4 arrives

So, after people have repeatedly warned me not to purchase HoI4, since its probably too difficult, I am of course going to do just that.

I do have an entire weekend to have fun in though, and was interested in trying out a nice fun wargame there.

Can anyone recommend me a great wargame? AS I mentioned in the HoI4 thread, my only real exposure to real wargames (If you discount Total war and its ilk) is Invasion Normandy on the C64, which was a turnbased hex based wargame, that I enjoyed immensely.

Anyways - I appreciate any input!

Twilight Struggle

Unity of Command is probably the standard turn-based hex wargame recommendation. It has cute graphics, a good UI, and the best wargame tactical AI around.

Order of Battle: Pacific is the best Panzer General type wargame out there.

I’ll second Order of Battle. I really should get back to it but I’ve been on a bit of a game buying binge recently. It is fantastic though. Now that you can get refunds through Steam, I won’t warn (ok, technically maybe I did) against buying any game. You’ll have two hours to figure out whether or not this is a game that you can get into or not. I find with games like HOI, it takes me significantly less than that. My eyes glaze over very quickly.

Another vote for Order of Battle:Pacific. It’s easy to learn and comes with a real manual that explains almost everything.

They are changing it to Order of Battle: WWII soon though. The base game will be free with a couple of scenarios and you buy the addons. So you would end up buying the Pacific game, but there will be more choices eventually.

If you’re not averse to old-school games, try Pacific War, Grigsby’s 1992 predecessor to the much more opaque War in the Pacific. It hits just about the right level of detail and complexity for a theater-level wargame, in my opinion.

I don’t have any suggestions in regards to wargames, but I think you’ll do fine with HOI4. Besides, you get to explore and figure out the game with the rest of us in the HOI4 thread! :)

This, this, 1000X this. Unity of Command is one of my 5 favorite games made in the last decade. It, and EU IV, are probably my favorite strategy games in that time (high praise in my book!).

Though I am also going to point out (and will cross post in Bargain thread) that Matrix has a 30% discount on select WWII games, among them the Close Combat series which I really like. Check it out. My personal favorite Close Combat is not in the sale, but several other good ones are.

There are also other games I don’t know much about for sale. so if you really want some wargame, you have options.

Empires of Steel ($1 minimum)

Awesome - thanks guys. The Unity of Command are actually on massive sale right now, so I bought the. The Battle of Pacific though is rather costly, and with HoI4 more or less the same price, Im a bit wary of purchasing that one just yet.

Unity of Command is rock hard and I spent a few years bouncing off it, particularly as the Axis main campaign (being historically based) throws you straight into one of the most difficult scenarios (Second Kharkov). Thankfully, there’s no locking of individual scenarios, and each can be played in 30-45 mins or so, but the Army Group North mission in Black Turn is a good mission to cut teeth on.

What I really like about it is that by some simple mechanics, it really captures the essence of the operational dilemma for both sides - speed and vigorous deployment of your armour is the only way to win, but you’re always at the mercy of thin supply lines all too easily cut.

Apparently there’s a new Order of Battle coming out where the base game is free and you pay for the DLC instead. If you’ve already bought the game the you’ll receive the 2 DLC that already exist for free. So don’t buy the DLC if you haven’t already. Unfortunately, I have already bought the Rising Sun DLC.

Yeah, I said that above. Although, I thought you keep what you have already, you don’t get any of the DLC for free.

Edit: Read the official statement. You don’t get anything free. They are just turning the Japanese campaign into one DLC, and the US into another. If you own Pacific, you just keep both. I assume Morning Sun and US Marines are still separate DLCs you have to buy.

Oops I didn’t read that. I’m pretty sure that anyone who has already bought the original game will get the US forces and the Rising Sun DLC for free. At least, that’s what I read on Pocket Tactics.

I’m pretty sure the reasoning is that it’s coming out on iOS so they’ll want the base game to he free to attract customers. I’m pretty sure that “base game” doesn’t mean the whole original game but maybe the training scenarios and the first scenario perhaps.

Does is have to be WWII? Victory and Glory is excellent, and not at all complicated.

Just an idea, if you’ve got the spare time: you could give the very generous demo of Command Ops 2 a try. The couple of free scenarios take place in the eternal bulge, and the interface might be a bit convoluted, but it is very absorbing and offers a lot of quality-of-life improvements you’d expect from wargames, coming from the middle 80s (like, no micromanagement, or beautiful vector drawn maps, or detailed info on the type of washers used on a particular field radio equipment less than… 10 mouse clicks away - wargames didn’t improve that much).
Otherwise I second Victory and Glory as a very nice light Napoleonic flavored game.

Looks like you’ve already decided to go with a good one, but for next time you’re thinking about something new to pick up, the Combat Mission series has recently released their latest installment in WW2 simulation called Final Blitzkreig, this one focused on Battle of the Bulge, so latter part of 44/45 western front, bring your coat. ;)

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=346&Itemid=603

Atlantic Fleet, great WW2 naval warfare turn based combat strategy game, good ships models, fun to play!