I love this game. I got this less than a week ago and I already have 90 hours into it, however, I think there are a few misconseptions about it though that I would like to correct. The biggest one that I noticed being that this game is for the *hardcore* military enthusiasts; those who know a lot about aircraft specs, military tactics, and most importantly, the lingo. A few of the positive reviews say that it's not for people who enjoy dabbling in Arma 3, which I disagree with completely. You do NOT need to know military equipment, nor do you need to know anything about history and warfare. What you do need is a passion for interpreting information, carefully laying out plans, and then watching them unfold, which I think is the best part.

It took me 5 hours to do the first tutorial and fail it, another 5 hours to do it and succeed, and before I could even do any of that, came the 7 hours it took me to understand just what the ♥♥♥♥ I was actually looking at, 3 hours to learn how to do anything, and 4 hours to figure out what the different aircraft do and what things were. Before I started playing I had no clue what Attack aircraft are, "If they're called attack, why aren't they attack other planes?" or why my bombers seemed to suck at their job because the target was still standing after a bombing run, fooled by games like War Thunder that make it seem increadibly easy.

This game is not flashy. It's not Men of War, or World of Warships, or anything like that, and you won't be in the trenches with your men watching them exchange fire; it's a database of information that you can use to play imaginary army men, and it's the most fun I've ever had, with such a passionate, and patient community who don't mind the fact that I'm asking another question about what things do in the steam discussions page.

The joys of this game are simple. You conduct military operations with aircraft and naval vessels, setting up missions and parameters, before you watch the blips on your screen do just that. For those who want realism, you can watch in real time, for those who want to play around for a few minutes, it goes up to 300x time compression. I find myself holding my breath, waiting for missiles or battleship salvos to land, and biting my lip when I take return fire. My heart stops when the tail member of my Wing catches a missile and crashes into the side of a mountain, his sacrifice carving the way for the strike team to drop their payloads on target.

For people who want to set up a battle of World of Warships, just for the hell of it, you can do that too with the scenario editor, and anything that you want to share can easily be published for other people to play on the workshop.

The biggest problem people have with this game is the price of entry, and I do agree that it is steep, so looking around for better deals or waiting for a sale is the best option, but do not let the price disuade you from getting it entirely, there are ways of finding better prices. If you would like to try the game, starting with the standalone DLC, Command: Chains of War may be a better option, for $20 you get the engine and access to its campaign, but everything else being unaccessable without the base game. If you're on the fence because of the price, start with Chains of War.

This game is not for those seeking tense, first person combat, but for those who enjoy thinking about a problem and figuring out a way to overcome it to complete your orders. If you also want to learn about aircraft and history, and enjoy studying, this is for you as well. I can't recommend this game enough, and never put so much time into something in such a high frequency.

I love this game. I got this less than a week ago and I already have 90 hours into it, however, I think there are a few misconseptions about it though that I would like to correct. The biggest one that I noticed being that this game is for the *hardcore* military enthusiasts; those who know a lot about aircraft specs, military tactics, and most importantly, the lingo. A few of the positive reviews say that it's not for people who enjoy dabbling in Arma 3, which I disagree with completely. You do NOT need to know military equipment, nor do you need to know anything about history and warfare. What you do need is a passion for interpreting information, carefully laying out plans, and then watching them unfold, which I think is the best part. It took me 5 hours to do the first tutorial and fail it, another 5 hours to do it and succeed, and before I could even do any of that, came the 7 hours it took me to understand just what the fuck I was actually looking at, 3 hours to learn how to do anything, and 4 hours to figure out what the different aircraft do and what things were. Before I started playing I had no clue what Attack aircraft are, "If they're called attack, why aren't they attack other planes?" or why my bombers seemed to suck at their job because the target was still standing after a bombing run, fooled by games like War Thunder that make it seem increadibly easy. This game is not flashy. It's not Men of War, or World of Warships, or anything like that, and you won't be in the trenches with your men watching them exchange fire; it's a database of information that you can use to play imaginary army men, and it's the most fun I've ever had, with such a passionate, and patient community who don't mind the fact that I'm asking another question about what things do in the steam discussions page. The joys of this game are simple. You conduct military operations with aircraft and naval vessels, setting up missions and parameters, before you watch the blips on your screen do just that. For those who want realism, you can watch in real time, for those who want to play around for a few minutes, it goes up to 300x time compression. I find myself holding my breath, waiting for missiles or battleship salvos to land, and biting my lip when I take return fire. My heart stops when the tail member of my Wing catches a missile and crashes into the side of a mountain, his sacrifice carving the way for the strike team to drop their payloads on target. For people who want to set up a battle of World of Warships, just for the hell of it, you can do that too with the scenario editor, and anything that you want to share can easily be published for other people to play on the workshop. The biggest problem people have with this game is the price of entry, and I do agree that it is steep, so looking around for better deals or waiting for a sale is the best option, but do not let the price disuade you from getting it entirely, there are ways of finding better prices. If you would like to try the game, starting with the standalone DLC, Command: Chains of War may be a better option, for $20 you get the engine and access to its campaign, but everything else being unaccessable without the base game. If you're on the fence because of the price, start with Chains of War. This game is not for those seeking tense, first person combat, but for those who enjoy thinking about a problem and figuring out a way to overcome it to complete your orders. If you also want to learn about aircraft and history, and enjoy studying, this is for you as well. I can't recommend this game enough, and never put so much time into something in such a high frequency.