Steel Division 2 Brings Single Player Strategic map campaign similar to totalwar

[glen55]

No tutorial other than diving right in it seems. I guess '44 was the tutorial.

Which leaves us with no way of dealing with the campaign map other than reading the damn manual.

Sigh. I thought we were in the post-manual phase of history.

LATER: OK, now I read the manual and it is awful and gives me no clue about how to handle the campaign map because it mostly describes orders of battle and units and does not spend much if any time on how to play the game with those units. I tried diddling around on the campaign map and I am not smart enough to figure it out easily, so I am in the "waiting for an explanatory Youtube" phase with this game.

Maybe I'll try a skirmish, which I should be able to handle having played a fair bit of SD 44.

[Skoop]

I just tinkered with the campaign by playing and restarting and messing around.  The I played one of the least complex scenarios which is the last one to the end.  The UI tooltips help as well.

[SirAndrewD]

I am in the "waiting for an explanatory Youtube" phase with this game.   

Your wait was over before it began.  ;)

[glen55]

I am in the "waiting for an explanatory Youtube" phase with this game.   

Your wait was over before it began.  ;)

Oh good, that one's a lot more enlightening than the first one I watched. Thanks.

It seems that moving your units around is really not that difficult, but a lot of the practical details of what kind of battles you get when you do this or that is going to take some experimentation to get the hang of. If the hang can be gotten by such as me, that is. . . .

[SirAndrewD]

Oh good, that one's a lot more enlightening than the first one I watched. Thanks.

It seems that moving your units around is really not that difficult, but a lot of the practical details of what kind of battles you get when you do this or that is going to take some experimentation to get the hang of. If the hang can be gotten by such as me, that is. . . .

Glad to help. 

Yeah, I found that one covered everything pretty well.  Tinkering for me has covered the other bases. 

I'm a long way from mastering it though.  It's going to take a lot of trial and error.   For me that's a good thing.  I prefer having to learn and get the hang of it to just jumping in and things being too easy..

[acctingman]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difficulty slider in the campaign mode? I read that in the Steam forums, but I'd like to check with you here that have the game to get a legit answer  O0

[SirAndrewD]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difficulty slider in the campaign mode? I read that in the Steam forums, but I'd like to check with you here that have the game to get a legit answer  O0

Go ask Google you reprobate.   

Sorry, now that the Steam experience is out of the way..

There's no slider, no.  You can set the AI difficulty when you start the campaign but I haven't seen any way to change it once it's going.

[SirAndrewD]

A quick few tips from playing this weekend...

Firstly, when on the attack, it's sometimes wise to set up before going in.  You might want to trade time for punch by pushing units up to the front line so you have multiple options in Phase A, rather than sending units in piecemeal having them come in multiple phases. 

Next, don't forget to use your artillery on the campaign map to bombard.  You can remove a unit's action points and use bombers to interdict movement to make a carefully planned attack easier.   

Don't press armor and artillery too far forward.   The AI can and will attack exposed Armor when you don't have Infantry that can come in and support it in Phase A.  You want to be careful to always have yourself in position to engage with combined arms. 

Finally, there is no APPARENT save feature for Campaign tactical battles.  However, the quick save of F5 works in a campaign battle.  You can then go to load and rename the save something else if you want multiple saves.   Battles in this game can last a very long while, especially with the pause feature.   If you're old and not a bachelor like myself, you might need to walk away for a minute or thirty here or there.   I found this to be a godsend.   So far I haven't seen anyone talking about this one, so I'm worried it's an oversight they might close.

I've confirmed the F5 save and reload will work fine and the campaign will continue without issue.

[Barthheart]

A quick few tips from playing this weekend...

Firstly, when on the attack, it's sometimes wise to set up before going in.  You might want to trade time for punch by pushing units up to the front line so you have multiple options in Phase A, rather than sending units in piecemeal having them come in multiple phases. 

Next, don't forget to use your artillery on the campaign map to bombard.  You can remove a unit's action points and use bombers to interdict movement to make a carefully planned attack easier.   

Don't press armor and artillery too far forward.   The AI can and will attack exposed Armor when you don't have Infantry that can come in and support it in Phase A.  You want to be careful to always have yourself in position to engage with combined arms. 

Finally, there is no APPARENT save feature for Campaign tactical battles.  However, the quick save of F5 works in a campaign battle.  You can then go to load and rename the save something else if you want multiple saves.   Battles in this game can last a very long while, especially with the pause feature.   If you're old and not a bachelor like myself, you might need to walk away for a minute or thirty here or there.   I found this to be a godsend.   So far I haven't seen anyone talking about this one, so I'm worried it's an oversight they might close.

I've confirmed the F5 save and reload will work fine and the campaign will continue without issue.

These are great tips, especially the F5 save! Thanks for posting. Now I gotta scrap up the pesos to buy it.... :-"

[JasonPratt]

Bought yesterday. Had to do chores (and finish an AAR video on another game, now up), so haven't played yet.

Bought the edition with the extra campaigns coming (not the extra aesthetic bling). Since I already own lots of SD1, Steam automatically grants me the DLC porting over 8 of the divisions from that game (4 German, 1 each from the western allies).

[Destraex]

wargamer.com review.
How is wargamer.com regarded these days by the by?

https://www.wargamer.com/reviews/steel-division-2/

[Jarhead0331]

^They are not regarded, because if you are a Grog, you hang out here.

That being said, I think Wargamer Joe has done a fantastic job with their main page and content and he is a nice guy too.

[acctingman]

Reading that review.....there is a "auto-resolve" mode? This mode fights the battles while you sit and watch? That's an odd feature, but kinda neat.

[Jarhead0331]

Reading that review.....there is a "auto-resolve" mode? This mode fights the battles while you sit and watch? That's an odd feature, but kinda neat.

I don't think you sit and watch. It just shows a shirt animation and calculates the results broken down by phase. Sort of like how auto-resolve works in Total War. There is another resolution mode

[HoodedHorseJoe]

Those Wargamer.com guys sound well rubbish, amirite?