I reconnoitred the imminent* Steel Wolverines: Modern Armored Combat demo yesterday and liked 95% of what I found. TboneWargames’ debut release might hexagonalise a fictional, near-future clash between NATO and Russia, but there’s nothing imaginary about the conflict that its trial scenario vividly calls to mind.
* Available before the end of Sept.
Although my road-test was relatively brief it was long enough for lesson learning. After losing a couple of infantry-packed Badgers to prowling enemy drones, the value of jammer-equipped AFVs quickly sunk in. After watching one of my Black Panthers toss its turret because I let it loiter too long in a conspicuous firing position, ‘Shoot and scoot’ became my watchwords.
Hopefully, with a bit more practice I can raise the life expectancy of my dismounts a little, and work out how to scout relatively safely. While infantry squads aren’t as vulnerable as AFVs to sudden demises, when I sneak them them into forward buildings and attempt to use them as passive intel gatherers, they seldom seem to last long.
The game started life as an Armoured Commander-style offering. Polish designer Adam Kusiak intended to give players direct control of a troop of K2PLs and nothing else, “but the realities of the modern battlefield and its lethality forced me to expand the role of allied units. That is how the game gradually started turning into a Steel Panthers clone.”
There are vestiges of that original blueprint in the selectable ammo types and detailed damage models of AFVs. Check the report window after a shell, missile, or drone hits home and you’ll notice subtleties such as “System destroyed: Radio”, “System destroyed: Turret traverse” and “Crew: Driver killed”. Just because a vehicle is still mobile when the full-time whistle blows, doesn’t mean it’s unscathed or useful.
Thanks mainly to straightforward IGOUGO turn structuring, a largely conventional UI, transparent combat maths and legible visuals, Steel Wolverines isn’t onerous to play or difficult to parse. Perhaps the LoS tool could be improved, and enemy turn phases hastened a tad, but all-in-all the demo reveals a remarkably polished plaything.
The calibre of the AI? I’ll need to get a few more games under my belt before hazarding an opinion on that. It’s certainly dangerous. Just ask my singed tank crews and routed PBI.