Real War: Rogue States

[Keith Heitmann]

Just got my copy of it Tuesday night and finished playing through the US campaign this evening.

The game has a single player mode and a online mode. After running through the tutorials to get the feel of things you can select either the USA or a terrorist army the ILA to play. You also have a choice of a skirmish mode or the campaign. Skirmish mode is just a single play mission.

In the campaign you are worked up through the an escalating set of missions to a finaly where you have to keep the enemy from escaping and setting off a set of nukes, which if occurs means you lose.

As the game plays you start out with just a headquarters building on the map. You have to first build a combat engineers bulding and a generator or two for power. Then with what resources you have or what is delivered periodically you have to build a supply depot, a barracks, land combat center, etc. etc. as they supplies allow. You get to upgrade some of the buildings to higher types, which increase their productivity and what they can do. An upgraded supply depot gets larger deliveries of supplies per helicopter trip or trucks. A upgraded vehicle yard allows you to build tanks, MLRS, amphibious attack vehicles, guided AA missile launchers etc.

Once you have a airfield you can increase its capabilitiy by adding parking spaces, supply depot, air combat strategy center, and aircraft from fighters, fighter-bombers, carpet bombers etc.

A air command center allows you to order up attack helicopters.

A sea command center allows you to order up destroyers, attack boats, light assault boats for SEAL teams, cruises and aircraft carriers with thei own aircraftt. In missions where the navy is included having a AEW aircraft from a carrier allows you to attack enemy units by air with minmal interference from enemy AA batteries.

The real killers are the enemy Rail Guns. These can disable then destroy a tank at great distances with perfect accuracy in one shot, and make mincemeat of your infantry in short order. These are usually protected by batteries of AA launchers, MLRS, and tanks.

You send your troops and equipment against the enemy positions and defend against their attacks on your bases and ships.

Each item you order costs a set amount of your resources. Resources on hand do rise on their own a little at a time without further deliveries, but you need your supply trucks and supply helicopter deliveries to be successful.

The game is a little frustrating at some points as the computer AI gets an advange on you and seems to be able to produce tanks quicker than you so you may have to restart a mission now an then.

I haven't tried on line play yet, and don't think I'm going to. This might prove more challenging that single play but I don't have the time for it.

There is a demo and a official website at:

www.real-war.com

[Keith Heitmann]

I forgot to mention that you can clear the dark areas of the map by reaching the stage for the development and deployment of spy satellites.

There's also tactical nukes. ;D

They are expensive to buy first the launching silo and then each missile. They are worth it though as they can cause huge amounts of damage to a poorly AA defended enemy base that is jammed close together. The missiles are susseptable to AA fire so you have to clear enemy AA defenses before launching or keep them occupied while the missile is on its way.

You also have to be careful because while playing this morning I somehow managed to nuke my own base (I think it was me.) The enemy has them too but I usually have plenty of air defenses on hand that pretty much keep the enemy nukes from getting close. I selected the nuke and must have double clicked somehow while clicking on the map with the target icon selected. While the missile was readied for launch I jumped over to a map edge that needed attention and while I was there dealing with a problem the screen flashed with the nuclear explosion. When I got back half my base was gone including my head quarters, engineers, barracks, land combat center, and special ops center and my airstrip. All I had left were my two supply depots, my air defenses, and my air combat center from which I could only summon attack and transport helicopters. So I fought on generating as many attack copters as I could but eventually the enemy mobil AA batteries began taking them down faster than I could bring them in and the enemy finally bridged the river and sent a mass of armor against the remains of my base.

Too bad, I had the enemy beaten until the nuke destroyed my base. Once I get the nukes it's usually the hand writing on the wall for the opposition forces.

I discovered a neat little thing while playing. Most maps have neutral supply dumps sprinkled on the map. Capturing these and keeping a man near them ups your own supply line deliveries. By accident I found out that using a unmanned UAV landed next to one of these dumps will work the same as if I had a manned unit there. So I'll quickly build a mass of UAVs and search the map for any neutral dumps and land a UAV there to give myself a supply advantage.

Many times the computer AI will ignore my UAVs that are near these dumps and I'll have a secure supply for the duration, but every once in a while it will tak except to them and try to destroy them with jet attacks or AA batteries stationed in the flight path.

In my last two skirmish battles I managed to capture most of these depots an keep them for myself with a few that were constantly in dispute. On one map a group of about seven depots are on the enemy side of the river in the central area of the map below the main enemy plateau. I was able to wrest control of these away from the enemy several times in see-saw battles using choppered in infantry and attack helos for air cover and support. The AI usually sent a large group of tanks in to try to recapture it. I lost it once to a massed armored counter attack, but got even when I hit the area with a nuke that took them all out leaving the area momentarilly clear, costing the enemy lost of expense in the lost tanks, and robbing them of the supply depot benefits.

If you can strangle the enemy chopper/sea/land supply lines with your own forces set to attack suppy lines you can keep the enemy from getting too strong while you build up your own forces. Losing convoys of cargo trucks, ships. or CH-47s loaded with supplies hurts quite a bit.