It’s new, it’s cinematic, it’s legacy.

What’s not to like about Undaunted: Stalingrad?

I once played a full campaign of EuroFront. The whole shebang, maps stretching the whole 6 meters from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural mountains, hundreds of blocks on the table, a World War II nerd’s dream.

I started out hard with one major goal: I wouldn’t bog down in the Balkans and I’d go all in for North Africa, roll Rommel right through Egypt and take Russia from the south. I’d capture the Iraqi oil fields and get to roll for Spain to join the Axis. Then I’d use the Spanish troops to bolster the Atlantic Wall together with the Ost-truppen, withdraw the experienced Panzer divisions from the West and do a double hammer at the Rostov-na-Don area from both east and south.

Incredibly enough I managed to do that. I scraped, I scampered, I wasted resources like a madman to acclimatize the Panzer divisions to the African desert. Then I fought my way to Persia. Then I got Spain to join the dark cause. Then I realized that the game lied to me. (more…)