Two Fronts Are Better than One

HPS Simulations has been churning out combat sims for the last 15 years, and there’s little to distinguish them from one another besides the setting. Panzer Campaigns: Stalingrad ’42 (3 stars) is your typical John Tiller wargame, with a simple interface, predictable AI, and a combat engine that doesn’t seem that different from the one you’ll find in his other games. This means that you already know how to play it, but now you have different maps and units to mess around with.
Stalingrad is best known as the beginning of the end for the Nazis, but HPS smartly chooses to cover most of the 1942 campaign. This isn’t the siege of the city, but the encirclement of the Wehrmacht. Both armies face supply issues and an uncooperative climate, so you may find yourself pausing to organize your bedraggled troops more often than you’d like.
The Stalingrad scenarios range from small opening encounters to full frontal warfare, with variations for multiplayer and “what ifs.” There isn’t anything truly original here, but the solid design that exemplifies HPS games is everywhere. The battles are more you versus the turn count than you versus the opponent.
Every now and then, HPS surprises, as they do with Defending the Reich (4 stars), from Jim Lunsford and Gregory Smith. All you see on-screen is a map of northwestern Europe and a few nondescript buttons. From this unappealing start, you fight the air war over Germany. As the Allies, your job is easy. It’s 1943, so the Luftwaffe isn’t much of a threat. You just have to avoid losing too many bombers.
It is “defending” the Reich, though, so the real challenge comes from directing the German side. Your radar is iffy, your airfields are scattered, and replacement planes don’t come fast enough. It’s a race against the clock as you try to find and then kill the Allied bombers. There are some serious choices to be made on both sides about mission types, decoys, early detection, and research. The interface takes some getting used to, and it sometimes feels as if bombing fleets materialize over Saxony without being detected. You should blame your radar, but better feedback about what is going on would be appreciated. Some technical problems also prevent thorough enjoyment.
Most serious wargames on the market today are closer to the Stalingrad model: turn-based, hex-based, and best played against a human. This pattern has produced industry stability and a wide range of scenarios for play. Defending the Reich feels familiar, like you should have played this before—and you may have, 15 years ago. But its quasi-real-time format could open a new window for HPS. Here’s hoping they jump through it.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #193