I was looking at this preview before writing my final review on Headquarters: World War 2 and came to the realization that I said everything I needed to, and have very little to add. To avoid repeating myself, I decided to update my preview with a couple more thoughts on the game, and how I think it’s going to rank against its more direct competition. 

• Genre: Turn-Based Wargame
• Developer: Starni Games
• Publisher: Slitherine Ltd.
• Release Date: 11 April, 2024
• Price: $35.99 | 35,09€ | £30.15 (-10%)
• Buy at: Steam
• Reviewed On: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.70 GHz, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 2080

Slitherine’s newest wargame Headquarters: World War 2 is a visual delight, and it’s shaping up nicely to be the new entryway for newcomers to the genre. Despite being competent, and easy to get into wargame, I have to be honest, as I don’t consider myself to be entirely convinced by Headquarters: World War 2 just yet, so take my words here with a grain of salt. I believe there’s a lot to be enjoyed here if you’re looking for a Battle Academy replacement. Is Headquarters: World War 2 going to replace other, more realistic wargames? Of course, and I don’t think it’s aiming for that. 

First things first: The game is really easy to just pick up and play. I played the tutorial a couple of months back during some Steam Fest and I didn’t remember a damn thing, but Headquarters: World War 2 is that simple and intuitive. Everything you need is on full display. So far I have only found a single submenu, and that’s if you really want to go and look at every stat and perk of a specific unit.

Visually speaking, it’s undeniable that Headquarters: World War 2 is one of the best-looking wargames ever made. Every vehicle model is meticulously crafted, and coated over with equality expertly designed texture work. The terrain and environment are filled to the brim with detail. Heck, just look at the image above. Some first-person shooters don’t put that much effort, and you have to look at things up close.

The beautiful presentation of Headquarters: World War 2 is ruined, in part, by the lacklustre animation work done on the infantry units. The tanks are fantastic, and the animations are top-notch on every vehicle. But if the unit has two legs, then things quickly go downhill. The movement is floaty but stiff. It just feels wrong, and it’s a damn shame because everything else is top-notch in terms of presentation. As someone who enjoys watching turns play out, working a bit on these animations would go a long way toward making watching turns going by way more enjoyable.

The Friendliest of Wargames

The game is played on a square grid, instead of the more traditional hex-based one. It plays similarly to Battle Academy in almost every regard. Units can move a certain amount of squares depending on terrain and take a couple of fire actions every turn. In fact, it plays precisely like Battle Academy. If you played one, it’s pretty much the same thing. And that’s far from a bad thing. In fact, Battle Academy was in dire need of getting an update, now nearly a decade after the release of its second (and last?) title. Call Headquarters: World War 2 Battle Academy 3 and no one would raise an eyebrow. 

On another nod to Battle Academy, Headquarters: World War II also has active abilities. Now, if you like these or not might vary depending on the kind of game you’re looking for. Some are fine, like morale boosts or airstrikes. Others fall absolutely outside the realm of reality and don’t click with me, with the worst offender being the ability to instantly reinforce a tank crew.

Each unit has its own stats and perks, and the game might actually have a lot more underlying mechanics than it originally leads you to believe. Infantry units have the capability of taking cover in destroyed buildings, some carry anti-tank grenades, and others are harder to spot. As for tanks, some can destroy wrecks, others will specifically target and destroy enemy tank tracks, some others might be able to damage buildings. There are a lot of perks to memorize. Now multiply that by what looks like it could be about 100 different units, and there’s a lot to learn and memorize here.

Final Score: 8/10

To round things up, I like the way Headquarters: World War 2 plays, and I don’t doubt that it’s going to be a fabulous entry in an already packed library of other great World War 2 titles. It’s a title with solid foundations, clearly loves its inspirations, and it carries with it a lot of content, both in units and in well-designed single-player missions.

The persistent campaign is interesting and might actually keep me engaged and caring for my men instead of constantly throwing them into a meat grinder without care.

The only thing left to figure out is where it’s going to stand when facing against its more direct competition, like The Troop and Battle Academy. Only time and your personal taste will answer that, but I can see Headquarters: World War easily taking over Battle Academy as the easy to get into and go-to beginner wargame. As for the Troop, while the two games might look similar at a glance, spend enough time with them and the experiences cannot be compared. The movement is different. Anyways, if you’re curious about The Troop, you can read my review.

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