14 DAY TRIAL // 
It is always great for old-timers like me to see there still are some ambitious developers around fighting to revive the lost glory of 2D World War II TBS games. While games like Steel Panthers, Panzer Campaigns, Battles in Italy, or Korsun Pocket also addressed those forgotten hardcore board-games fans (i.e. Avalon Hill's The Third Reich), Strategic Command 2:Blitzkrieg chooses to follow a more user friendly path, intentionally neglecting the exacerbated detail of the aforementioned.
There is something ineffable about the Second World War that drives people beyond casual polemics and into - let's say - fantastic speculations sometimes about how would things look like today if the Allies would have failed to secure such a decisive victory. Despite the deep moral, political and social implications of the WW II (not mentioning individual drama), history books and games alike have managed to give it something of a more bearable approach. Oblivion cures humanity of many things? The irony of it, through the gaming perspective, war has gained through unexpected entertaining and educational values.
Concept
Leaving behind the design of its prequel (European Theater), rather schematic and somewhat unappealing, Blitzkrieg managed to preserve its core gameplay only to push it on a level that guarantees its own "personality" by adding an improved interface with more context menus, more game options and a pleasant graphic engine.
For those who are familiar with the series, SC II: Blitzkrieg will surely prove a distinct, matured game experience. For those who never had such a chance, Strategic Command is a TBS of the old school, strongly rooted in the design of the first title from the Panzer General series, but - as mentioned - far from being a mere clone.
In order to succeed in its efforts to overwhelm his opponents, the player has to keep a close eye on all the elements the game provides, making it a less tactical than the latter, and more strategy focused. This is guaranteed by the little tactical difference between Allied and Axis armies, and several essential features - one of them being the rigid scripting of the Campaign.
Gameplay
The ease with which one can learn to master Strategic Command's inns and outs is - simply put - comfortable. It is one of those rare cases of the game meant to make you forget you had a bad day. If there is something your ignorance prevents you from undertaking, the intuitive GUI will reveal it at some point. And it isn't just for the GUI, that Strategic Command 2 allows itself to fall into your hands with so little effort, but also the balance between its elements: the battlefield itself, the technology research system, and elementary diplomatic and economic features which effectively
The single player campaigns allow you to command one of the two major combatant forces (either the allies, or the Axis) kicking off from one of the key military engagements of the conflict. The theater of operations is stretched across the European continent, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, North Africa, the heights of the Urals and the Middle East, while the Pacific and the Oceania have been left outside of the game. Therefore, those military operations that took place in these regions have been implemented (i.e. Case White/Fall Weiss, Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Kursk/Zitadelle, and so on), but not the Attack on Pearl Harbor, only mentioned, and with no consequence on the game's progress.
As mentioned, the tactical value of the game was intentionally left aside. There aren't any true operational units (anti-tank, AAW, and so on) as everything is structured according to a type (infantry, armor, field gun, fighter, or bomber divisions), each with its own strengths, but not necessarily with its own (read: vital) role on the battlefield.
The game was intended to provide its players - but only to a limited extend - with an appealing strategic approach. Every square cell (there aren't hexes anymore) has both a military value and a geopolitical value. Furthermore, every unit copies actual armies from the era the 3rd Panzer Division for example, or the commission of the Tirpitz and Bismarck battleships on August 1940 and February 1941 respectively. Supporting this point, there are also specific upgrades (i.e. mechanized transport for infantry, anti-tank upgrades or long range for aircrafts) and a reasonable range of actions for every unit, such as auto/intercept/escort/ground for fighter/air fleets, or hunt/silent for submarines. Weather/season variation also plays an important role, greatly perturbing unit behavior.
These may indeed prove very useful in some given situations. However, failing to cope with such features won't disturb the overall campaign progress if men and materials are aplenty. "Zerging" the opponent with units of a single type (tanks for instance) will prove as efficient as any choice of combined forces.
In this respect, one would believe that the game misses a feature of utmost importance, but it is not the case here. As mentioned before, the game's strongpoint is the easiness of play and friendly approach, thus the casual gamer will more likely concentrate in preserving the initial military forces to upgrade them as new technology or equipment becomes available.
To manage this, the military operations will have to be harmonized with other elements of the game (such as diplomacy, research and economy). This will guarantee a constant flux of reinforcements and unit refits. Therefore, the player has to establish a strong network of industrial areas and cities through both conquest and diplomacy. Granted he succeeds, a variable number of MPP (military production points, the only in-game currency) will be generated each round. Without the MPPs, the chances of succeeding will be affected of course, but given the open ended character of every of the Strategic Command's campaigns, the player won't be as bothered as he would expect to be.
The game is thoroughly scripted to imitate actual facts of the Second World War. For instance, without the occupation of the Benelux countries, the Axis player will find France an impossible nut to crack. But choosing the more comfortable solution and occupying Nederlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, other countries will race to aid the allied cause. On the other hand, after the winter of 1941, both the Russian and U.S. forces will receive a strong boost in both man power and resources.
Unfortunately, event triggers provide the game with only a moderate historical simulation value. Besides known sympathetic countries that may be convinced into siding you in the war effort either diplomatically or through military accomplishments, it is impossible to turn others to your cause. Country allegiances are written in stone.
The in-game diplomatic mechanics have their own distinct finesse - even limited, as they are. "Bribing" nations may not always be the best solution. And when this fails, a wise military move may stall things for a while. And even if there isn't much more to be done about this aspect, as diplomacy is restricted just to a country's "readiness" factor and declarations of war, it plays an important part throughout a campaign's overall progress.
A notable feature of the game is its editor. As I mentioned before, the game is rich in special triggers and tweaks. Thanks to the greatly expanded editor, there is little that cannot be modified. In addition, it allows the creation of new unit types, new countries or events (i.e. territorial surrender, new annexation rules, troop or MPP transfers, and so on).
Video/Sound
You can easily imagine that the sound is as straightforward as the graphics are. Strategic Command is exclusively focused on the gameplay detail, thus leaving little room for anything else than basics. Adding more candy to the mix would have been a futile effort anyway, as such games are designed to appeal the mind, in spite of senses.
Multiplayer
Playing the campaigns in single player will eventually show the AI's limitations. Difficulty settings add more punch to your AI's military force, but do not revamp its decision making.
Luckily, SC2: Blitzkrieg, unlike its predecessor supports Hotseat, PBEM, as well as Network (TCP/IP) play. And if the AI failed to put some pressure on your brains, a human player will surely save its stained reputation.
Conclusion
Being focused a little too much on historical accuracy, the game is a little short of balance. I was surprised to find out that, in the first stages of the war, the allies are simply helpless to the German war machine. A cunning Axis player will surely make a short work of U.K. and even the U.S., long before he even takes into consideration to declare war in the Soviet Union.
Another itsy-bitsy problem is the severe shortage of maps to play. There is the editor of course, but I - as well as many others - am not really the map creator kind of a guy. Hopefully there will be someone around with enough passion and time on his hands to address the problem.
Even if it suffers from some evident quirks (i.e. Malta is just a square, so there is no way one could land troops there, thus bombing the island until it touches the sea floor is the only solution available) and the aforementioned shortage of maps, thanks to its accessibility and intuitive gameplay, Strategic Command 2 is worthy of keeping WW II strategy addicts up for a couple of nights.
If you are not one of those learning their way around Second World War related strategy games, but on the lookout for something to cause you severe brain trauma through intense thinking, you can go back without any remorse to your good'ol Hearts Of Iron.
