Battle Fleet: Ground Assault rumbles onto Steam

PC/Mac •

It’s got tanks and it’s turn-based, so there’s no reason for us not to be excited to play the latest iteration of Battle Fleet from Mythical City Games. Whereas the old Battle Fleets centered on, well, fleets, this latest takes the combat inland and puts it on treads. Battle Fleet: Ground Assault has arrived for PC/Mac today and it’s on sale to boot.

Battle Fleet: Ground Assault lets you play as either an Axis or Allied commander during the last year of WW2, basically from Normandy on. The game has a strategic screen showing hot spots with troop numbers and whatnot, allowing for a long single-player campaign as either the US, Brits, or Germany. There’s also online play which, considering the battles are all turn-based, should be asynchronous. There are timers in the game creation phase with one of them being “infinite”, so let’s hope the devs didn’t expect us to sit around and wait for our enemies to take their turn.

The Normandy invasion has started and it’s time to move your battalions of tanks off the beaches and into the battlefields of Europe. You are in command of each tank, all the way down to the angle and power of each shot. Choose your shell type and take on the armored machines of the Axis powers, or switch sides and defend fortress Europe from the Allied invasion.

Battle Fleet: Ground Assault lands the Battle Fleet series onto the tank battlefields of World War 2. Continuing the strategy and unique “Worms” / “Scorched Earth” style angle+distance mechanic of Battle Fleet 2, Battle Fleet: Ground Assault adds destructible environments, armor, shell types and all new tactics. Hit their engines and cripple the enemy’s maneuverability, or aim for the crew compartment and disable their tank for an entire turn. With a full featured campaign and a variety of single play scenarios, Battle Fleet: Ground Assault will make you feel like Patton charging through the German lines.

I got to play a little bit this morning and it’s more daunting than I thought it would be. This isn’t an arcade game, where tanks run and shoot willy-nilly. Each turn you’re picking your unit’s shell type, angle of fire, and trajectory and hoping for the best. It’s kind of cool, and the skill involved will quickly separate the newbs from the pros.

I’m planning on getting a full review up later this week, but, for now, take a look at the trailer and the header image and realize, yes, you probably want to play this game. Luckily, it’s on sale for launch, and you can pick it up right now for under $20.

• Battle Fleet: Ground Assault for PC/Mac via Steam, $18

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