Tactical Level War Games? Any recommendations?

[Major Ballache]

Much as I enjoy Hearts of Iron, I would also like a game that focuses on individaul battles.
Back in the msits of time my Commodore 64 had games where you could play 'Stalingrad' or 'D-Day' etc. They were clunky but fun - but where is the modern equivalent?

I've not seen anything in this vein on for PC - theres a real gap between shoot em ups and the vastness of HofI.

Sudden Strike was good, but ideally something between that and HofIron - any recommendations?

Gap in the marker for Paradox maybe?

 

[GAGA Extrem]

TOAW (The Operational Art Of War) comes to mind.
The game offers scenarios on strategic, tactical and operational level.

 

[Danielefc]

Achtung Panzer - Kharkov

 

[unmerged(143223)]

World in Conflict. Realtime Tactics, as they call it. Focus lies in multi player. The single player campaign is rather short, but very enjoyable.

You command a group of units, around 5-10. It's like the C&C-series, but balanced, more tactically demanding and without resource collecting and base building.

 

[Slan]

I like the Close Combat series, althought that is on the platoon level.

 

[Solo?]

I like the Close Combat series, althought that is on the platoon level.

This! Still a very active multiplayer community. CC5 is still the most popular release with dozens of mods for it.

 

[Kovax]

I'll second the Close Combat games. You assign orders to the individual squads or vehicles, and each "soldier" acts according to his own "interpretation", ability, and morale. You could put together a decent combined-arms force, with about a platoon of infantry supported by a handful of armored vehicles and supporting guns.

The first was a post D-Day campaign, and a bit simpler that the rest of the series, but still pretty decent. Self-balancing, because the better you did, the less reinforcement you would get for the next stage.

Second was the "Bridge too Far" campaign, which added a strategic element while still being mainly about the tactical battles. Very good.

Third was an Eastern Front campaign, which consisted of scattered battles spanning the entire war in the East. My favorite of the series, although it quickly got a bit too "tank heavy" for my preference. The "Real Red" mod turned it into a "mostly infantry" game.

Fourth was the Battle of the Bulge campaign. It was more heavily focused on the Strategic element, and the individual combats were all between highly "regularized" groups. The least "customizable" and my least favorite of the series.

I think there was a fifth one, but I can't remember for certain.

(Beat to the punch, now I've got to "third" the recommendation.)

 

[bbasgen]

Ah, the joys of Close Combat. Fantastic game.

 

[KipAllen]

The best I've ever played is TacOps.

 

[skelley]

Combat Mission Series are great tactical games. A new version with a new game engine and much better 3D Graphics will be coming out in April (Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy)

 

[TheGreatRadish]

You seem to be asking for operational level games. In that case look no further than the Airborne Assault series, the latest of which is Battles from The Bulge http://www.matrixgames.com/products/377/details/Command.Ops:.Battles.from.the.Bulge..

Tactical is almost certainly the Combat Mission series or Panzer Command: Kharkov (soon to be upgraded and re-released as Pamzer Command: Ostfront).

 

[SpaceCowboy]

I'll second the Airborne Assault series. Conquest of the Aegean (the previous game to Battles for the Bulge) is also quite good.

 

[unmerged(179162)]

Check out 1C publishing Men of War series. Also their Theatre of War 3: Korea seems like what you are looking for and it's as modern as can be just out a few days ago. You can read a complete users manual on steam to decide if that's what you want.

 

[Slan]

The strange thing about Men of War is that it is the same as Faces of War or Soldier: Heroes of World War II, with different campaigns and some tweaks in gameplay. Alright, it is not necessarely that different from any other game series, but it kinda seems strange to give them completely different names

 

[Alex_brunius]

I'm trying to get my RL friends into liking WW2 strategy gaming, and we have had alot off fun with Company of Heroes.

Much lower level then what your looking for though I guess.

 

[kezardinjnr]

There are two games derived from the 'classic' Steel Panthers - winSPWW2 and Steel Panthers : world at war

Both games have free and commercial versions, and each has a number of 'long' campaigns, as well as individual scenarios (more than 332 for winSPWW2)

Also I second Alex_brunius regarding Company of heroes.

 

[Praetori]

Combat Mission Series are great tactical games. A new version with a new game engine and much better 3D Graphics will be coming out in April (Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy)

This TBH.
I think Paradox is also publisher for some CM games.

If you like to get the most realistic simulation of tactical battles the is, there is NO other game that comes close (other than military training software).
It's like Close Combat on steroids.
If you don't like platoon/company level wargaming I'd recommend the old "V For Victory" series. I still think that it's one of the best operational level wargames ever made.

 

[Major Ballache]

Airbounre Assault looks like jsut the ticket! Cheers guys.

 

[demanvanwezel]

Blitzkrieg is also a very fun game, although it sucks that you have to stay historical

 

[Kayapo]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned them yet, but you can't beat the Panzer General series for WWII tactical combat simulation. You can get all of them at GoG.com nowadays pretty cheap and it is a blast. The cherry on top is that since they are older and very easy on your computer you can run them on old laptops like the one I use at work. Perfect for a quick brake when you don't smoke or drink coffee.