Warside - The Future of Advance Wars?

[@Mangs1337]

🎮 Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2368300/Warside/ 💸 Kickstarter: kck.st/3JGr4S1

[@SirBroadsword]

Hey Mangs. As long as we're back on the topic of AW, a while back I convinced a Commander Wars modder to make a bunch of the COs that didn't make the cut in the Mangsvance Wars CO contest. I was wondering if you still had a list of who submitted what, since I was never able to get into contact with the creators of Julia, Rashelle, Tara, Hughes, or Polish to let them know.

[@DarkSTKx]

Have you checked out Athena Crisis? If so what do you think about that "Advance wars" like.

[@thencrranger5628]

I think you should check out Tiny Metal too, it's pretty underrated.

[@hydrobolix3365]

🤘

[@randomredshirt5274]

let's hope this one gets multiplayer right

[@jechtz9263]

It will.

[@KHChaosrules]

I mean, it's hard to get multiplayer wronger than Nintendo

[@geopold2a4]

If I remember right, they said it's gonna have multiplayer on the Steam page

[@randomredshirt5274]

@@geopold2a4 i was referring to ranked matchmaking and asynchronous matches. Wargroove also has multiplayer but thats completely random or with friends. But yes, some form of multiplayer is guaranteed, so we could always get the deej/mangs combo warside stream

[@foxtrotbibi]

Real

[@haunterofthedark0615]

The Steam page has been updated and says 28th January 2025 for the release date.

[@SynergyGamingTV]

Looks like Mangs video delayed the launch, lol

[@three-quartersbadger2929]

@@SynergyGamingTV He gave away too many spoilers, so now they have to redo everything. 😁

[@TheManofthecross]

more you know

[@owentucker6215]

Considering there is a medic unit that heals infantry it would make sense for there to be an equivalent mechanic unit to fix vehicles, perhaps not implemented yet.

[@rrenkrieg7988]

actually having only infantry be able to be restored on the field, whereas any vehicle has to go back to base to fix it is a good idea, gives flexibility to otherwise squishy infantry

[@fakesmile172]

How about a mechanic infantry?

[@Adjudicator1]

@@rrenkrieg7988 Another compromise would be the vehicle mechanic unit / Repair vehicle can only repair vehicles to a certain HP level, and facilities are needed to fully repair.

[@splattbinat1542]

I hope there is at least some way for all factions. Not having a repair option for my units would frustrate me a lot

[@spacewargamer4181]

I think its better this way, could make the infantry usefull late game, having units that repair vehicles would just make them too tanky

[@davidlyckman1441]

Hopefully Nintendo won’t sue them because they have a patent on cartoony tanks

[@KnownAsKenji]

It's a patent on the Rhino pushing things, because Mario pushes things sometimes.

[@fattony75]

I wouldnt put it past nintendo - they're being cunts lately.

[@BlackTempleGaurdian]

Nah, that's way to specific. It'll infringe their patent of units in a video game.

[@ER-je3fd]

The knowing the pile of dung Suetendo is, would not surprise me

[@markhorsburgh76]

Nintendo have patented "graphics"... .... This game is screwed!

[@randomredshirt5274]

my problem with these wargroove-type cities is that a big chunk of the area you're fighting in, specifically the part you're fighting about, is inaccessible. This always felt annoying and restricting in wargroove, as it limits your formations. But at least they're not defending themselves.

[@TheManofthecross]

for now.

[@DustD.Reaper]

They also feel like massive immovable walls which you can use to just protect a unit from one side, and if its diagonal to a mountain thats already 2 of the possible 4 spaces direct combat vehicles could attack from being blocked off, which makes me think there will be a lot of indirect spam to shoot over citites and bases

[@infectedumbrellagrunt3682]

@@DustD.Reaper By the demo, it that they are. Outright walls that you can use to form a defensive line, I love that the AI counts capture as higher priority than attacking units. I wasted enemy troops by making tug of wars on the property, they ignore my other troops and just focus on recapturing the properties to get blasted by ranged troops.

[@thecatwithatophat4069]

This is me being picky but I'm a little disappointed by the Rhino. I saw a combat engineering vehicle and I was really hoping we'd get something akin to the DoR Rig, letting us put up temporary facilities and making minor changes to the map.

[@Mangs1337]

That may yet make it into the game. Don't be disappointed by lack of units in this video. It's literally a demo.

[@zacharymacleod1146]

"like if advance wars and wargroove had a baby" well wargroove is already like if advance wars had a baby so that's kinda alabama

[@Arma070]

Yeehaw

[@LimakPan]

I'm skeptical of the capture system. The win condition of AW is to disable the enemy infantry line, which is both crucial and vulnerable as it doubles as the meat shield. Here, even if you don't have infantry, you can disable the opponent's economy and take it from there. It might lead to very long games all about HQ capture. However, this could be addressed by introducing objective-based maps to multiplayer.

[@shadamethyst1258]

Or giving map-makers the choice of how many hit points a captured city has, that way they can balance the maps themselves depending on their size and layout

[@yoloman3607]

Imagine if there was a Grit, Adder, or Eagle CO, with either indirect supremacy or double attack mobility. You could city/factory wipe someone from a stalemate posture.

[@anonyme4881]

But you can also create way more unit than advance wars. With just two base you can create 6 units per turn which is insane. With four which will probably the case you can create 12 units per turn ! I think the game is designed to pump up tons of infantry, and ferry them with truck and IFV to create a frontline Since property are so vulnerable, unit count to defend them become much more important and cheap okayish quality unit that get the job done become much more stronger. I think thats also why there isnt a mech unit and IFV is a thing. The game will probably look like two wall of basic infantry that cover the whole map and each player try to make a breakthrough, much like ukraine warfare ironically Thats also why each faction will get a unique unit that have criwd control, I think unit placement will be even more key than advance war The big risk is the game becoming an infinite slugfest tho, but with that many unit if a player disrupt the economy he will have an insane lead tho

[@yoloman3607]

@@anonyme4881 But infantry can cap/attack out of the transport, so a +move transport heli unloading three +move infantry could insta wipe a base from miles away. Any normal CO could potentially do it too if there is fog. Being able to produce 3 units a turn your could make that whole base play force in a single turn too with a single ground and 1 air base. All they have to do is wait for power or a turn where you can't afford to triple build and it's over. Triple build also sounds like a nightmare in unit count, single base maps play like triple base and a classic AWBW strong side weak side map with 3 bases suddenly has 9 build. Sounds like a potential slog of trying to wallbreak infantry.

[@Santisima_Trinidad]

I can see the concern, and i guarantee warside maps will look a lot different from AWBW maps. But, the mechanic does seem to have a lot of potential for very dynamic games, because you essentially always want to be sending out attack group's to try and kill undefended properties, meaning a big deathball, whilst hard to stop in it's tracks, is way more vulnerable to having it's economy ravaged. But, of course, if you do have a big deathball pushing into opponent's territory you have a decision to make in if you want to kill the enemy units, or spend shots killing the eco in order to prevent them rebuilding. All of that, with having to pay super close attention to positioning because 2 rhinos could drive an infantry walled mega tank into a mountain, killing it instantly for zero cost, so any sort of deep walled formation is far from invulnerable. Additonally, i think the whole "3 unit from 1 base" isn't as high eco as you might think, because you can punp infantry, but anything expensive like tanks and artillery you'll probably struggle to even get 2 of them out. In AWBW, if you have 17 K income, you can build a tank, a battle copter, and an infantry, nothing more, no matter how many bases you have. Same here. And with bases being infantry of vehicle units, not both, pure infantry spam won't be as easy to pull off as it could be Now, The idea of base backstabs with T copters is very scary, but adds to the dynamic aspect of the game, be about placing units to defend your bases, or just leaving scouting infantry on possible attack paths and splitting your army off to respond to threats when they appear, and of course splitting off a drop but losing those units from the frontline with 2 or 3 turns until a possible payoff is a significant decision to make. Even moreso given 2 anti air in a bad position could end up killing your entire drop with 4 units in a single turn. We will see how it plays out, but the system definitely has a lot of potential, assuming it's balanced right, and the fact both players can do everything does mean anything which is strong is more likely to be annoying than specifically overpowered.

[@dugtrioramen]

I'll be honest, my main gripe with war groove was the property mechanics. So seeing it here too kinda kills it for me

[@feasibilyheretical]

I've been keeping an eye out on this one for awhile, wonder if you've got any intresting new details bout it.

[@j-rey-]

1:37 - "Not perfect, but easy on the eyes." That's exactly what I put on my dating profiles.

[@Mangs1337]

LMAO

[@Rex133TV]

From what I saw of the screenshots and videos like a month ago, my main concern was that the game would be *too* faithful to AW1/2, which admittedly to some people will be a bonus, but to me at least, it's a negative. It's been over 20 years since AW2 released, *SURELY* there must have been some new ideas, some ways to innovate the genre in the meantime, and forcible movement is definitely a step in the right direction, I just fear it might not be enough to get me interested. I do hope I'm wrong, and that this game will blow people away though!

[@sweetdangerzack]

I agree. It looks like it's in a bit of a no man's land in that way, which is to say, it looks different enough from AW that it's going to make the average AW player feel out of sorts, but not SO different that it feels distinctly better/worth playing for its own sake.

[@Dexterritory212]

the way they could have water based buildings given their era would be stuff like oil rigs/offshore wind farms or island forts and lets not forget sea terrains like reefs rough terrains mist we got from dark conflict i am also hoping this game works wonders looking forward to the crazyness of it to

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

Hell, we have seen fighting in oil and gas rigs in both the Irak-Iran War and more recently in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

[@robertharris6092]

The capture mechanic of wargrove was one of the single worst aspects of the game. Sad to see basicly the same thing here.

[@migueeeelet]

So we have Advance Wars' slow-to-capture, hard-to-retake system vs Warside's fast-to-capture, hard-to-hold style. If I had to choose, I'd go with AW's as it generates more momentum, which I think is important in order to avoid the game from stalling too much. If both sides are constantly trading the same property (or properties), then it becomes much harder to get an advantage, and they both end up with the same conditions constantly. Also the fact that they're captured with only 2 hp in Warside makes it less attractive to go capture them, when you could instead just keep 'razing' your opponent's cities, rather than engage in the capture ping pong. Imagine a map that has all properties on the back side of the players' bases and the middle is just forests and silos, that's how it feels to me.

[@fireblast8972]

Am I the only one that found some of the early demo maps being very stingy for funds? Especially for what they are asking you to take down. On more than one occasion, I found myself looking at 3 enemy tanks, and the only way to make anti-armor to stop them was to make tanks of my own. However, I would need 10,000 funds for a single tank, where, despite holding half the properties on the map, i was only making 5,000 per turn. It also hurt to see the 10k i just invested in that tank be make useless the second it hit 5hp and could barely hurt anything bigger than infantry with no way to heal it. I also worry about the idea of faction-specific units, as it risks an entire category of CO's getting bumped up in tier by solely the fact that they have access to the "stronger" exclusive.

[@Mangs1337]

Same. The game needs more economy.

[@paulrasmussen8953]

​@Mangs1337 the games needs alot more work before i would buy it.

[@thereynaldosan7695]

That's another reason to have the mec, they should implement it, with the new transport system they would be very useful

[@epicgamerzfail4575]

Well, I don't think CO tiers being affected by faction exclusive units is necessarily a bad thing. Also if units such as the rhino are going to be banned anyways, then it'll be even less of a factor

[@blahmaster6k]

I gotta say on the point about mechs, to me they're a unit that is very important to the overall balance of the game. If there aren't mechs, then it becomes impossible to challenge tanks unless you have tanks of your own. Sometimes you just don't have that money, and this could make even a tiny income difference completely snowball a match. Sometimes there's an area of a map where only one player can send vehicles, if mechs don't exist then a second player just has to completely concede the area and can't even make a play to deny it. I just can't imagine Advance Wars without mechs. They're a very balanced unit due to only having 2 movement.

[@CPU9incarnate]

Art is fantastic, but the hits look kinda weak. Explosion effects should be bigger, and the camera shake should be much stronger.

[@ericquiabazza2608]

It has the art, just lack personality. Which was the base of AW1, and was polish for 2 and dual. Days of ruin had its whole mood both in portrait and escenario.

[@SpartanG062]

Hope there is an anti-vehicle infantry unit. Seems weird to not have the infantry space have minimal interaction with enemy vehicles.

[@Acidicstudios]

I definitely feel like there should be way more infantry, air and naval unit types at this point.

[@Khazar321]

Yeah it feels like a very early release with probably some big roadmap ahead...

[@jacobblanton5179]

Game has a killdozer lmfao

[@haveyoutakenyourjoymygoods943]

Alright, so, as a full casual player, here is my view of it: It looks promising but MY GOD does it look like you can gamebreak this game to hell and back, I already see the cheese and strats fulminating in the pro's head haha. And while it's more a personal point of view, don't really like the portraits, too realistics for my taste and the game itself, would Say it should be more "anime" / cartoony tbh.

[@jawwer00]

I think the big issue with the CO designs specifically, is that at least half of them look like you picked "character creator" pieces, and put them on the exact same template. There is a huge lack of variety in posture, body type, and head/face shape.

[@BenjaminBoslet-rm6jr]

I personally really like the portraits.

[@KhanhTheLearner]

I agree. Part of the reason why I like advance wars so much, even more so than fire emblem, is that it's not too 'dark'. Every character has their own little quirks. If they are just portrayed standing still, even with different color schemes, clothing, and designs, they just feel the same. Give me some funny looking COs like Drake, Hachi, and Adder, some holding comical yet practical tools like Andy and Jess, and then give me some serious looking ones like Eagle, Nell, and Hawke.

[@AkumaWolf13]

@@jawwer00 I... think you're right! If you look at RPGmaker MV, the program has a built in character portrait maker and I swear the kind of pixelated semi-anime thousand-yard-stare style they used looks almost identical to the characters in Warside :P

[@XJ9LoL]

"make it more anime" wow cringe

[@SpookSkellington]

The capture game is going to be pretty annoying i think.

[@paulrasmussen8953]

Yesnthe isna major red flag for me

[@cartoonclips_if]

Let me know how the AI is if they let you do Versus matches. Wargrooves was sadly lacking and didnt use any counters.

[@gl1tch3r55]

COs design looks lame.

[@Raviollius]

Came to say this, there's no charisma whatsoever in them. If it's released on steam, I hope there's going to be a workshop page to at least mod better pngs in there.

[@GreatRaijin]

Been supporting this game on kickstarter for about a year now, definitely has potential to become the next advance wars since nintendo is neglecting it

[@raulbaez8526]

hey the free demo is free for anyone to download and is available now if anyone wants to try it. I just got the demo myself.

[@projectpitchfork860]

Another game you should check out (that's already out) is Tiny Metal: Full Metal Rumble.

[@KENyakky]

As an strategy game fan who massively prefers the modern war setting over medieval or fantasy settings, this is something I'm definitely going to add to my wishlist.

[@s.m.2523]

Uh while it's obviously inspired by advance wars first and foremost, am I the only one vaguely reminded of a couple of old advance wars ripp offs free flash games called "Battalions" ? (the seciond and third called Ghosts and Vengeance as the very first one had a very differnt much cartoonier art style..) Somethign about the slight square way the units look, I guess.

[@noivern666]

Exactly what I thought when I first saw this game

[@blahmaster6k]

Battalion Arena was the PvP one, I played a ton of it as a kid. Good times...

[@momom6197]

Battalion nemesis!

[@sanderhankel9098]

I recall that game, beat most of these batallion games but one of em was too hard for me to fully beat

[@NavnikBHSilver]

I hope that they make a good game for multiplayer that's properly balanced, and then sprinkle in some gems like the Rhino to spice things up for non-competitive play, like campaigns and scenarios.

[@maxspecs]

As an Into the Breach enjoyer, I’m always down for CC units. Make players think about positions more, and make it harder to blockade.

[@ChillstoneBlakeBlast]

I think I know what will be the first game I'll purchase in 2025.

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

*Ring ring* Hey Warside, its for you, Tankman from Newgroudns wants his tank back Jokes aside though, I'm not putting a lot of faith on this game, Warside is not trying to be its own thing for the most part, it genuinely looks lifeless, whatever inspiration they have will be clearly ofuscated by the graphics and, lets all be real here, most likely the gameplay Also for a bonus topic, but I'm a person that unsubscribed from the ideia of "sea needs money for ships to be gud", I don't know, but the more I thought about it, the more that stoped making sense for me, like, what about air units? There are no "air-propeties", so how come the sky be worth to fight for? Simple, because if you have air dominance, your air units can harass the ground ones, I think my point is "we don't need naval propeties, just make naval combat good already"

[@gregm4813]

I think the naval properties are intended as an abstraction of cargo ships. A lot of commerce, trade, etc., is done by sea. Heck, I recall one analysis stating that China's modern economy is very dependent on some specific sea trade routes being open. There's not really an equivalent with air. Yes, air planes can transfer goods, but simply not to the level that sea can. Hence, why naval properties but no air properties.

[@BusterBeachside]

Come back to TinyWars, you scum! 😊 I don't trust this game given how similar it is to Wargroove. Especially with the capture mechanics. Impassable cities suck. Just throw extremely important mountains all over the center of the map, it will not lead to any walls or stalls whatsoever!

[@Chyrosran22]

Demo seems really promising! The game appears less finished than I had originally thought, but what's there looks and feels good!

[@RadioTails]

It looks like the same Demo you were given can be downloaded on Stream. Can't wait to try. While the sprite work looks nice, I feel it could do with some work in the animation department. Not sure I like the changed capture system, but I won't knock it until I have tried.

[@chayimweinstock443]

Huh, this reminds me of an old Advance Wars-ish flash game I played on Kongregate. Good times.

[@WabaStreams]

Athena Crisis looks interesting as well but probably way overcomplicated with 40+ units. but might be worth a check out

[@Omperor]

The explosions look wimpy. Like they disappear in a puff of smoke instead of being immolated. The COs have no animation reaction to winning/losing. Lifeless. I really love the Rhino though.

[@Motleydoll123]

Oh yeah… I imagine meta strategy will be making sure that in the case of Crowd control you not in a position where your enemy can shunt or drag the line. My guess is that 1 faction will have the rhino… another will have some kind of indirect dragging unit that uses a hook to pull targets closer to it. Positioned well, you can beach warships by fishing them onto the land.

[@UltimaDoombotMK1]

​@@Motleydoll123 You get an achievement for dragging a Battleship from the sea to a lake using the hook unit (unlike a car getting thrown into water, ships wouldn't immediately explode if they got beached, ergo, you should be able to keep dragging them along the ground after fishing them out of the water)

[@MrGreenTabasco]

Hm, this is cool, but I am wondering how you want to take a more defensive stand without being able to sit on cities

[@Polaris5664]

I hope its any good, Ive been looking for a project like this for awhile!

[@pierrelindgren5727]

First two COs are way too bland and generic looking. Compare Soldier McSoldierFace to Andy. A simple design, but the suspenders, star, and the massive wrench adds plenty of character and unique style. The busts also losses out somewhat on some of the more dynamic poses we see from Advance Wars COs. Like Flak's art often depicting him like a hunched over brute or Hawke posing heroically with his scarf fluttering in the wind.

[@Mangs1337]

I agree. The two first CO's need a total re-design.

[@randomredshirt5274]

As someone who loves uniforms i personally think beckett looks the best out of all of them, but i definetly agree that no poses is a big downside. Reaver just looks like some random cosplayer the way he's standing around. But while i agree that having 2 generic officers might seem weird, i personally really like the idea of at least one faction having proper uniforms. But they really need posing to differentiate them better

[@ElodieHiras]

From what I can understand, the two Generic COs are basically American-ish military. Shock and Awe, overwhelming force, y'know the type right? The orange faction looks like they're modern-day desert nomads. Y'know, back in the day they probably traveled the dunes, gathered food and materials, traded for stuff, and moved to the next area, on camel backs. Now they do the same but with trucks. Of course, when the Not!USA comes into their desert in full force to investigate what the greens have been up to, they start to think they're being invaded by Not!USA. The green, I... There's no nice way to say it, they look and talk like Raiders from Fallout who got lost into another game. I've got nothing else to say. So you've got the Not!USA, the nomads from Not!Africa and the Not!Middle-East, and the raiders from Not!Fallout. I think the designs work well enough at characterizing them. Actually, Reaver mentions there not being much life in the "Wastelands", so that area might have been nuked, as in actually really hit by actual nuclear strikes.

[@VainerCactus0]

Maybe just change their pose and expressions?

[@HyronXVI]

For me is the opposite, I like them better because they feel less exaggerated. I like a lot the main character, but I can see it can feel bland

[@MarceloKuchiki]

Have you tried "Athena Crisis"?

[@1_random_commenter]

I would also be interested to hear Mangs' opinion on Athena Crisis

[@magicalcapi9148]

There's also Tiny Metal

[@stefenboney7145]

bro Athena Crisis has DINOSARUS 😂

[@MrBoooooring]

My biggest concern is Nintendo issuing a cease and desist honestly. What you've shown is barely more than AW with a few bells and whistles.

[@Eternalwarpuppy]

Let's hope Nintendo doesn't care about Advance Wars enough to do that.

[@AlRoderick]

I think they're on really firm footing in terms of not actually doing anything that infringes Nintendo, game mechanics aren't subject to copyright and the art is all clearly made from scratch.

[@fakesmile172]

​@@AlRoderick Game mechanics aren't subject to patent YET. Give it a few years...

[@Khazar321]

​@@AlRoderick Palworld got sued because of a gameplay patent.. so yeah

[@andregomes6845]

@@fakesmile172 Nintendo is getting creative and finding ways now to sue based on gameplay patents.

[@Flawskiii]

I saw this and had this wishlisted since early 2023. I thought it'd gonna be up late 2023 or early 2024, and I was praying they didn't just stop working on it. Very happy to hear they're gonna release it soon!

[@fadingfast]

I hate the CO portraits, the semi-realistic style really clashes with the rest of the game, I feel that they should be more stylised. But hey, maybe the devs thought it looked enough like advanced wars.

[@ericquiabazza2608]

Concurre THO, Some of the orange factions are good. The blue faction is lacking in personality.

[@BenjaminBoslet-rm6jr]

Honestly, I think it will grow on people. I have never played advanced wars (this game actually made me discover advanced wars and not the other way around) and I like those portraits much more than what I have seen from AW. So there might be a bias of nostalgia for many people.

[@Khazar321]

​@@BenjaminBoslet-rm6jr I have zero nostalgia for AW, yet I also think that the art style difference between the gameplay and the COs is very distracting. It's not about the design being bad, it's about the styles clashing for absolutely no reason. So they can "grow on me" all they want, the difference will always be apparent.

[@edwardrichtofen611]

Ok a huge issue for me (maybe I'm a bit stingy?), is that the factions got the same units. I loved the different styles in AW and Wargroove. Americans (red) Russian (blue) German (green) Japanese (yellow) That was great. Meanwhile here looks everything the same and I find that pretty unappealing.

[@splattbinat1542]

I desperately hope this is subject to change. Days of ruin was already disappointing in this regard with only having 2 distinct army styles.

[@Mestari1Gaming]

Same. Hopefully Reaver's (green) would have hazmat infantry and boxy/industrial look for his vehicles.

[@ShadowWolfTJC]

Here's an idea for implementing mechs: What if the mech's abilities were rolled into standard infantry instead? Modern real-life infantry forces up to the end of the Cold War (at least in NATO) carried around some anti-vehicle ordnance by default, which should be sufficient to defeat any armored fighting vehicles short of a main battle tank (though even they could suffer if sufficiently outdated). Even so, some more specialized anti-armor forces might be utilized with firepower that's sufficient to bring down even a main battle tank, though this would often come at the expense of anti-infantry capabilities. So yeah! Mechs or no mechs would be justifiable. I simply prefer to see lightly-armored vehicles get sufficiently threatened by ordinary infantry units instead of being more cost-effective tanks than, well, actual tanks.

[@dumb214]

grenades?

[@ShadowWolfTJC]

@@dumb214 Of the rocket-propelled variety, as used in recoilless weapons such as the RPG-7 or the Mk 153 SMAW for example. Weapons like those I'd imagine would be standard-issue for ordinary infantry squadrons, while the heavier, more expensive tank killers, like the Javelin and NLAW, would be reserved for anti-armor specialist units.

[@epicgamerzfail4575]

I think making just regular infantry a considerable threat to tanks can really mess with the balance of the game.

[@ShadowWolfTJC]

@@epicgamerzfail4575 Even if IFVs, with their autocannons that could punch through armor short of the front of a main battle tank (kind of like Anti-Air), were to be considered the equivalent of light tanks, while main battle tanks would've been considered the equivalent of medium tanks, or even neo tanks?

[@EyeTry203]

Already beats Wargroove by having a white dude CO.

[@TheAleatoriorandom]

Honestly, the moment I saw the unit and map visuals I inmediatly thought "Why wasn´t Re-Boot Camp like this?". I like the portraits well enough, I see why some people may prefer other style but it´s fine to me. I agree that the gameplay changes are very promising if done rigth. I will definetly keep an eye on this one!

[@R_Aqua1]

I can definitely see myself trolling my opponents with the rhino too much, even at my own detriment. Hilarious unit. On another note that factory productions count with the vehicle/infantry separation seems too much, I can easily see everyone becoming Sensei and spamming giant infantry walls towards the enemy, the moment someone attacks, you clean up with the vehicles.

[@HisCoconutGun]

Looks very interesting. Ill definitely buy it if the price is right.

[@Omperor]

Let's leave aside the portraits and death animations blandness. What about the CO soundtrack themes? How catchy are these? Would you play a 20-minute game with any of them blaring in the background? Did Wargroove have themes you could listen to forever?

[@jonathanj.3695]

By the way, Mangs, there's another Advance Wars-like coming out that might interest you titled "Athena Crisis".

[@CaMypau]

I don't like this boring Western-style CO design. Advance Wars anime style is so much better. Units look great though.

[@cropathfinder]

a lot of the unit designs remind me of the art style of the old "Z" rts also known as "Z steel soldiers" and i dig that but then you see some foot soldier designs and it loses points. Buut really the characters and writing are a massive turn off , more so the designs being ugly AF and clashing with the other art. In particular blaze and flint are generic AF slop that we have seen a hundred times, reaver actually would look good with some color swapping, Beckett and Jackson are kinda fine with Jackson especially looking like he came straight out of the 1992 dune game (well either of them) Characters for the most part tho got no charm or uniqueness to them, just generic slop that machine generation (what the ignorant call "A.I.") could do better and probably would, this VERY MUCH FEELS LIKE DEI CHARACTER CREATION AND ART! It make the 3D wars games characters seem like masterclass in design. Even bad "advanced wars-like" can be carried by good entertaining characters and good writing with "Gadget trial" being my favorite example, gameplay is utter mid to bad in that one but its the hilarious writing and entertaining characters that carry it from mission to mission with my favorite being a post mission dialogue where you discover that you were not in an live fire exercise but your comms was jammed and you didn't get the retreat order.. this is after one of the soldier characters comments on how the R&D did such a good job and that "the simulated screams of the wounded and dying along with gore detail was very realistic" The capture system is eh, it fit wargrove but does not fit this kind of game, advanced wars nailed that system and festunging single or multi cities was a legit strategy , this just doesn't work and i hope they add an option for AW style city and cap.

[@TrueSTARbornFall]

Is it moddable? Also do cities give less income when they are damaged? Because they should. Really sell the idea of a war torn contested zone not being able to provide as much because these cities ARE LITERALLY BEING SHOT AT BY TANKS! Also also this is an idea but production bases should not give income but if you don't use some of the production slots then you get cash per unused slot.

[@noname93343]

no medium tanks?

[@Brown95P]

Tbf, med tanks have always kinda stepped on the heavy tanks' niche.

[@SteamWolf320]

The tanks look pretty medium to me.

[@ancientofdays8644]

I must say I love how the units and characters look. Because while yeah, gameplay wise Wargroove had some neat ideas I must say that I could never stand the design of most Co's and units. I also adore faction specific units. I hope the game will have a good single player campaign (since I have no interest in the multiplayer at all).

[@animeking4953]

The rhino is like Lythra from wargroove 2 her groove lets her move enemy units in a 180 degree and send them into the ocean.

[@BenjaminBoslet-rm6jr]

This game actually introduced me to advanced wars when I was watching the trailer and everyone kept comparing them. This is also how I found you.

[@eziostone1109]

This game needs mechs. Even better mechs with portable anti-aircraft. Hehe♥

[@dimasdwiki6146]

I've wishlisted this game for years now, can't wait to try it!

[@the1MTFs]

Hey mangs wanted say first i love yor content im just a lurking fan and just wanted to say i love your gladiator series, but to get to the point did units have a fuel system like in advance wars or is that not in this game cause if its not that would be nice sorry for the paragraph of words lol.

[@Mangs1337]

Yes units have fuel and ammo just like in AW.

[@the1MTFs]

@@Mangs1337 so I'm guessing the apcs refuel and re ammo

[@the1MTFs]

ERm I meant resupply

[@rowdyretromoose]

SO glad you gave this game some cover. I'm excited for it as well. I enjoyed the fantasy equivalent take on it, Wargroove, but I still love the more modern style aesthetics closer to Advance Wars proper more.

[@CommanderFlake]

Thank you mags. In sea of endless video game releases I don't keep track of any of them. Always have been and always will be a fan of turn-based pixel games like this. Instantly putting it on the buy list.

[@starficz7831]

What do you think of athena crisis? The recently released advanced wars like tactics game?

[@raderelcaroman1403]

A possible fix to over production is just to add a global build limit per turn that can be adjusted either in map creation or through other in game rules, this would also allow you to add more production facilities to the map witout adding to unit count increase

[@TheFlameSlayer]

i would not be surprised if the rhino is basically a unique version of a pusher unit which serves the same role but the faction exclusive is stronger or has a better push.

[@Mexico013]

Hopefully its artstyle is normal and not as cartoony as advanced wars is now

[@hideshisface1886]

This looks promising. I will be observing the development of this one.

[@JustCrazyDK]

I really need to get I to Advance Wars

[@goomba5566]

Really cool looking game and added to my wishlist! This was a good review and I find a lot interesting. I really like the rhino unit. Will say the CO portraits look off to me, but the art style otherwise is lovely. I'm curious if you'll look at another Advance Wars like game that just released a few days ago called Athena Crisis. I haven't played it yet, only the tiny demo on the site, but I'm curious to know more and see what you think about it.

[@kiranearitachi]

Backed this havent been keeping up with it was waiting for release

[@pierre-andrelecomte9384]

so you do check other games 2 other advanced wars like that i know of are empires shall fall tiny metal

[@TerenceCole]

Does anyone know if there is cross platform multiplayer for this game?

[@kryskiller666]

I don't mean this as any sort of offense to the devs, but I gotta say it, man... The art style to me at least looks kinda generic. Same with the protagonist. Dude's even named Jackson, might as well just call him Leader McDude. Advance Wars has the excuse of the GBA limited graphics and Wargroove went out of its way to get a fantasy setting running that translates nearly all units perfectly, but this just looks like Advance Wars with extra detail put into it. Again, don't wanna sound offensive or anything, but the first thing people notice is the graphic design - and the first thing I thought when seeing the graphics is 'this is just advance wars with a coat of paint'. If I already have Wargroove 1 and 2, why would I buy this? Or if I had the Reboot Camp or the originals laying around, why would I buy this? Always start with that in mind, you gotta set yourself apart from the competition.

[@Mangs1337]

I agree that the CO's could use some more life breathed into them. It's valid criticism.

[@blackleon1708]

Looks better than advance wars, finally

[@Supahvegetah]

The sprite work is pretty good and if there is a campaign, you have to voice act the Bane guy

[@asimplethievingbat5978]

Bro this looks so fucking good, now I'm hyped

[@oof5992]

Wasnt unicorn overlord the future of Fe

[@Mangs1337]

I don't think I ever said that, haha.

[@louishenrigobin1224]

Legaly distinct war. Looks neat AF

[@realah3001]

You should see commander wars it’s also pretty cool

[@kiranearitachi]

I always hated wargroves cities attacking back the rest i can live with

[@luigiye6243]

if it has naval unit, i hope they inspiration from days of ruin

[@vincentthelego7967]

10:45 OH MY GOD... WE GET KILLDOZER UNITS!?!?!?

[@Artemis_WR]

had this game in my wishlist since 2023, really looking forward to it.

[@JoshuaH225]

Steam lists it as coming out Jan 28 2025

[@Mangs1337]

That sounds about right. When I asked them they didn't give me a release date, but it could be that they hadn't set it yet.

[@skootmeister3994]

I'm definitley hoping the units get their own aesthetics in the future as far as the "fighting sequences" go. Matching those of their commanders. Also I disagree with the thoughts on the initial COs. They'd fit perfectly for a "conventional" faction. Heck, Beckett has that "old-school" feel to him. Mostly from that jacket of his.

[@chiefmonrovia6691]

Yeah this is probably gonna be an instant buy for me

[@magicalcapi9148]

I find so clashing the CO art in comparison to the unit art But way more important, note what I say, _the main feature of AWBW and Tiny Wars is the non-real time multiplayer_ . All AW clones multiplayer fail because of this, and thus, have a much harder time developing a community around it. It's not mechanics nor artwork, it's non-real time multiplayer. Problem is, knowledge on how to do it is rare in the indie scene. Monthly payment is something that scares the crap out of indies. Still, more alternatives the merrier. Where there's Will (DoR joke...) there's a way. Eventually someone will make it, and it'll be glorious Thank you Mangs for covering this. We need to support alternative IPs as much as we can. Community will never evolve being unofficial, we NEED to support an IP that gets us

[@Eternalwarpuppy]

I don't know the first thing about managing servers, but as far as I know AWBW and Tiny Wars devs are just a small group of passionate people. Is there some reason they can make asynchronous matches but most indie companies can not?

[@magicalcapi9148]

@@Eternalwarpuppy To my understanding, complexity. I assume both of them happened to someone with the skills/will to do it and be an AW fan. Indies (but in reality any gamedev) already struggle to have anything released, so online on top makes the task much more daunting. So in short, technically nothing, but in reality, sorta many. One more thing to worry about that potentially can go very wrong. _What's the point of expending significant amount of resources to a game that can potentially not be received well?_ Borrowing an IP, and making it open sourced, decreases the risk of everything going in vain

[@Eternalwarpuppy]

@@magicalcapi9148 Interesting perspective. I hope Warside will be willing to take the chance to invest in good PVP.

[@Insomniac_jamez]

U better hope Nintendo doesn't patten this first and then sue

[@UrbanCommando]

I was wondering if Mangs was gonna cover this.

[@NonamePlays]

They should have an option to make units' values (cost, damage, movement, etc.) customizable for multiplayer. This way, players can adjust settings based on what they feel is "balanced" and devs don't have to overburden themselves with balancing the game competitively.

[@Jarulf4477]

Nice, i liked Advance Wars a lot back in the day. Thanks for the heads-up! I have one question though, do units still have ammo and fuel?

[@AxidoDE]

The units look gorgeous, but for my personal taste, the CO's look too serious... I'm all for the quirkiness that makes characters unique in Advance Wars as well as many other games.

[@misteral9045]

They should make it so you have to pay funds to upgrade your unit production buildings. Then they can be damaged to reduce it. It's just gonna be way too many units, like high funds on huge maps but from the start of the game. Also gives space for operational focused commanders. Mechs: There needs to be light (transports, recons, artillery) and heavy (tanks, missiles, etc) vehicle classes and mechs are only good against light vehicles. They shouldn't be slower than regular infantry, could limit them to two bazooka/rpg shots. Sniper: good addition, it always felt like there should be a stepping stone between tanks and infantry, where you need to answer someone's Infantry quickly and completely but you really didn't wanna make a tank. Medic: Thematically I don't like the idea of a combat medic because healing always takes place on the sidelines, perhaps it could deploy a field hospital that heals all nearby friendly infantry for 3 and friendly light vehicles for 1 at the start of the turn if the medic is standing on the hospital. Can generate a lot of value but needs to be set up and protected. Transports: good change, also the units inside should die if the transport dies, and that's why we need mechs to keep them in check. IFV: and to complete the cycle we have an armored troop carrier, which is more expensive and a little slower, but the units inside survive if it dies and the vehicle can take some punishment from mechs and tanks, with the additional utility of being occasionally able to finish off a low HP unit. Good addition. Rhino: it shouldn't be able to push stacks of units. If vehicles get pushed into each other they both take damage, if a heavy vehicle gets pushed onto Infantry the infantry get squished. If the rhino attacks infantry directly, the infantry units will automatically run to a nearby open tile and if they can't they get squished. T-Copter: for some reason, not even in real time strategy does air units transporting vehicles work out. It's either too clunky to be worth the effort or it's overpowered because the copter can snatch vulnerable vehicles and the vehicles were designed around the fact that they're squishy or have low mobility.

[@vevans0009]

I like it. Issue is WHICH console to play it on..... I have a PS4, PS5 and a Switch. Would be neat to have it on Switch with my Reboot Camp copy. x>

[@Amalvipls]

The cute units look fantastic, but the characters? oof, they look awful, I have NO IDEA why they went for a "realistic human" design instead of cartoonish proportions that mesh with the chibi soldiers. More importantly they have no facial expressions, nor poses or nothing that denotes personality. They are all just standing still with neutral faces, clothing and accesories are not good enough to show character. Luckily, its likely that they are placeholders, since they don't have a dossier or powers yet. They devs would make the mistake of their lives if they though characters don't matter and its only about the gameplay and the soldier units on the map