The first few missions are fair. The rest aren't really. It seems to me that the ai doesnt cheat by having an aimbot but it cheats by knowing where youve placed all your forces.(they know where you are and position in that way but aren't allowed to shoot if your guys still have the hidden trait). It should be hard but, it's at that unfair point but just slightly. I also dont get not being able to move after you shoot for a game with such emphasis on tactical game play involving line of sight mechanics. Also in regards to tank tactics which is funny because the game's "board" is set up for that. The moving of tanks is anal as it doesnt give u a line showing where your turret is aimed if you move so you have to guess.(the concept is good though. I just think there's some needed ui thats missing). Even if youre just a little off you can end up not being able to fire

This game also sorta relies on the surprise factor for its game time. Ie youre presented a situation you play that situation, youre winning so u send ur vehicle to finish the last bit of infantry off then....oop the enemy spawned in a tank and youre f'd up the a and mid as well just restart the mission

This game is alright. though I've only got 5.2 hours under my belt it does have its pros and cons
Its got most of what I was looking for in a game like this, but I've still got a few issues with it personally

Edit: at 6.8 hours I have started to see why some folks dislike the AI. I thought it didn't cheat, but it does seem to sometimes know about unrevealed units and will target them down at random.

Pros:
-Obscure WW2 vehicles finally get a good showing

-Maps are varied in layout

-There is a good amount of unit variety, however SPAA are, as expected, really really good against both Infantry, Light tanks and AT guns. you'll need a medium tank or a hidden AT gun to take them out from range.

Cons:
-The armour post-hit damage can be extremely annoying at times. You can lose an entire vehicle to a critical knockout, regardless of whether the armour was penetrated or not.

-Upon further inspection the AI does actually cheat. it appears to know where units were originally deployed, and will decide to focus down units that have yet to be revealed. This makes defence missions extremely annoying at times, as the AI will decide to move units towards your AT, regardless of whether any unit has line of sight on them. This is most apparent with Mortars, as the AI will target units as they move around, regardless of whether they are revealed or not.

-The AI will also target unrevealed units with mortars constantly, even if there are revealed units for them to target

-Units that arrive late to the battlefield arrive on their turn, and get to attack on that turn. This is a rookie mistake for game development and makes it so that there is no opportunity to react to these threats. making it so that these units enter the field with no actions, or no ability to fire, would make it a lot less annoying

-The Line of Sight tool. Its a good inclusion, but a better one would be a dynamic target list that updates based on what your unit would be able to see from each tile if they were to move there. XCOM does it quite well

-Infantry weapons are a bit odd. Standard Grenades can damage or even destroy tanks, AT teams have a singular shot weapon for Anti-Infantry. MGs are supposed to be able to damage open-topped vehicles, but I've yet to see them actually kill any crew. Infantry AT teams have longer range than they should, but its never really worth using them at their maximum ranges anyway.

-Line-of-sight and visibility is a bit odd. I get stuff hiding in hedgerows or behind buildings, but an 8.8cm FlaK 36 sitting out in the open shouldn't be hidden, and neither should a tank that's sitting in an open field.

-Line of sight and movement are both further complicated by the hexagonal grid that the game uses. it makes it so that moving in a straight line is damn near impossible at times, due to needing to calculate routes diagonally. It also messes with line of sight, as LOS needs to follow the same convoluted system

-There are very, very few voicelines in this game, and even fewer voice actors. it makes it really repetitive when moving units around

-It feels like there is a singular music track. put on your own music instead

-The stability mechanic seems a bit half-baked, units start out with around 50-75% of the bar filled at the start of the turn and lose it by doing anything. this mechanic actively punishes you for moving around or trying to manoeuvre. and vehicles that were designed with stability in mind don't get any benefits either. M4 Shermans and M3A1 Stuarts had stabilisers, they shouldn't have as much of a debuff when moving

-The 3D models look like they were pulled out of Company of Heroes 1. The infantry and AT guns are alright, but the tanks really show their edges when the cinematic camera activates.

-Animations are kinda bad for infantry and weapon teams. they're mostly good for tanks though

-Lighting is sub-par for a 2023 game, but it gets the job done

-A minor nitpick is that the UK vehicles don't have all of the upgrades that they should have. all UK Tanks had access to smoke grenade launchers in some capacity. even the land-lease vehicles had them.

-The tutorial isn't all encompassing, its mostly just movement mechanics and stability mechanics. LOS and cover aren't given a proper tutorial

-Story missions are not continuous, you have to select the next mission in the menu every time you want to progress.


A lot of these issues are minor, but they add up over time. I think that a few small changes could go a long way towards making this game a lot better and smoother to play, without removing what makes good.