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Wargame: Red Dragon is a real-time tactics video game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Focus Home Interactive. Like its last two predecessors, it is set during the Cold War but after the original games, in East Asia. Along with the new setting, it introduces China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea[1], and the ANZAC[2] as new nations.

The time frame has been extended from 1975 to 1991. There will be over 1200 units featured in Red Dragon, including returning units from AirLand Battle.[2] The most important addition to Red Dragon would be the addition of ships and naval warfare.

Although only the nations involved in the campaign (USA, USSR, UK, France, West Germany, and Canada) will be brought up to 1991 standards at release, free DLCs has been announced that will update the Scandinavian and Non-Soviet Warsaw Pact nations to 1991 standard after the game is released.[3] The Millionth Mile DLC was released on July 24, 2014 to update the NSWP to 1991 standards.

Singleplayer

1991 – War between NATO and the Pact intensifies. The two superpowers battle fiercer than ever on a new battleground, Asia, joined by their new allies: Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

There are a total of five playable campaigns in Wargame: Red Dragon of varying difficulties:

Gameplay

All features from Wargame: AirLand Battle retained. The gameplay is still revolved around various modes of holding control zones on a large map, with a command vehicle required to capture the zone. Each faction starts a battle with a deck of units with each unit worth a given number of Command Points, and the player can place out a limited number of units from that deck on the battlefield. Then, as command zones are captured, CP or a Score Points required to win will be added during the battle at a faster rate. The player need to hold reinforcement zones in order to bring in reinforcements.

The Red Dragon single-player features five solo-campaigns spanning from 1975 to 1991.

In depth

(of course all units strength comparisons are of equal by required resources counts)

The WRD gameplay are much more interesting than in a linear RTS games (like: StarCraft. Planetary Annihilation, Command & Conquer and Act of [_] game series). Maintaining the most efficient resources to forces conversion scheme are mostly replaced with the strategical re-dislocation and type/role-related control of the forces.

The next after Wargame -- a Steel Division games, in comparison to it have a much less diversity, basically in them a player just need to maintain appropriate amount of forces in appropriate areas. Because of lower units and their effects diversity, lower speeds and less-variative areas/terrain, the players need to make about 1-4 tactical choices in a 10-20 sec, in comparison to the Wargame's 1-7 in a 10 sec, most of actions in the Steel Division games are about same as in the mentioned above -- Linear strategy games.

Frontline

In the linear RTS you need to calculate and manage just an amount of forces of certain types in certain areas, what mean that a player with more forces always have a perfect uniform set of mostly 1-step actions and reactions that he almost never need to rethink, by performing which, he'll never loose.

In the WRD you need to calculate and manage an enough diverse effects of forces at certain locations, so a player can overweight and capture another to affect, or use the case specific combination of effects to overweight, a targeted location, even if he have fewer forces. That leads to dynamic frontline where a player need to often recalculate the situation and different types of forces are often attacking, reorienting and retreating in different directions and conditions. That make a much more diverse gameplay than in the listed games.

Actions

The most basic set of gameplay key-points and action schemes are the following:

  • Maintain: operability of the most efficient forces on suiting positions/locations (includes ability to perform relevant Air strikes, etc.), possible looses on minimum and enemy unit looses on maximum; (includes exchanging of the less worthful ones and even some territory looses, in any of the default gamemodes, the forces/positions efficiency can vary based on an enemy's actions, you should keep all the possibilities covered).
    • ( it involves stealth( weapons disabling, enemy disturbing, ..), manual target selection, multitask timing, debuffs( stun), reloads/cooldowns( includes movements), area modification( smoke), logistic with: diverse properties, roads and rivers usage;( includes retreating), 3d Line-Of-Sight calculation and resupplying )
  • Maintain relevant recon coverage all the time and block advancement of enemy's (that includes main forces usage, recon firefights, etc.).
  • Consider/memorize enemies' Artillery and Air capabilities (or expect the most efficient ones with a cost of: higher expected AOE ranges, some movement freedom, etc.) and adapt tactics based on them ( the tactics include defence, recon, etc., move/{certainly dislocate} forces to avoid maximum of a possible damage/strikes (including creation of a Buffer Zones) ).
  • Only AA with {>~3500m from the Air's target} anti-plane Coverage Area can prevent a bomb drop. To prevent a "3500 range" guided bomb strike, the CA need to be >~3900m (this mean requirements for AA positions/movements for forces coverage), AA Air can be more efficient than anti-plane Surface-to-Air AA, but its less effective in the covered area and using it will likely lead to a direct Air fire-fight, in this case you'll can't control the result, enemy can buy/have more/better air-to-air AA and random are also influence such fight alot.
  • Move all artillery after ~15-20s after each 1st shot from current position (~7 against mortar counter Art that can stun the target until Heavy strike).
  • Send Anti-Radiation Missile Aircraft/-s behind each strike Air to cover it (unless exchanging the attack Air benefit more), this makes sense in playing mainly for countries with the No-Rad Medium Range SAM Systems;
  • Ensure the Air superiority ( for ally ~50% of the map its about enemy patrol planes, but to perform Air strikes further you need to destroy enemy's AA Air or use a cover AA Air or in certain areas a close to the frontline MR and LR SAMSs ).

( as in the most of other games the WRD have ways to increase enemies' mind load more than own, without or with a min of looses, for example covering action schemes by preceding ones in other areas or performing an abstracted actions that intended to look separate and/or requiring analyzation for the enemy (do not misconcept such tactics with a use of a basic difference in the players' multitasking and processing capabilities) )

Armor

In WRD tanks are used as universal Surface-to-Surface weapon at <2300m Ranges, a force barrier in an open space to defend ATGMs and/or cover infantry's entry (forest, city), requir.-ative high-power AT weapon on close range and provide a Recon By Fire.

  • Tanks with 19+ Ar and 19+ "AP Power" can and here will be considered a Heavy Tanks/MBTs.
  • Tanks with 14+ Ar, 16+ APP and 90- CP price can and here will be considered a Medium Tanks (they can hold 1 any Surface-to-Surface to-Line-Of-Sight weapon hit).
  • In open firefight HT are stronger than MT that are or not mixed with a Tank Destroyers, see: Pact and NATO strengths (of course if HT can't reach the TD (because of stun, flanking or Inf.), TD becomes the main AT (to do not loose the expensive HT)),
  • At 700- R, MT are equal to HT, each MT's +1 APP adds 175m to that range.
  • All HT and MT are "MBT: 45s to 85s" and above.
  • Light Tanks can be useful if enemy failes to defend tanks' flanks or use an Anti-Personnel Fire Support Vehicles without enough tank support, on certain range they can be equal to MT and HT, but MT cover all of their purpose, are more survivable and multipurpose/useful. The only sense in buying LT is a wheeled MGS ones, for mobility.

( ofcourse MT are more efficient against other forces than HT (including LT rushes with even more resources used, which can overweight HTs) because of higher count, cheaper to loose in more risky conditions and more efficient in spreading )

Infantry

Infantry Anti-Personnel efficiency follows this scheme:

  • 35 CP 15 Strength SF > 35 CP 10 Stre AoE SF,
  • 35 CP 10 Stre NPLM SF > 35 CP 15 Stre SF,
  • 35 CP 10 Stre AoE SF > 35 CP 10 Stre NPLM SF,
  • >
  • "Training" worth ~5 Stre that worth ~ unit price / 2.5 CP for Shock and SF, this mean 25 CP 15 Stre Shock > 30 CP 10 Stre SF = 20 CP 10 Stre Shock,
  • +10% Prec and +170 ROF LMG worth ~2 Stre (Shock),
  • DMR worth ~0.3 LMG, Regular main weapons -- ~0.5, Shock -- ~1 and SF -- ~2 (note for LMG's "CQB").

(as weaker so: more CP are required to be used for transport, when Training are lower a suppression resistance and movement speed are lower, but amount of the units are higher so damage resistance are tactically higher and AT can be stronger, FS transport vehicles can be useful, for example even just an auto-cannons are more efficient than LTs against enemy infantry and a combination of ATGM carrying veh. and cheap infantry in certain conditions can replace a TD with a free addition of the skirmisher/recon infantry)

notes

High AoE AA (9 Dam., and high suppression ones -- like NASAMS) are the most efficient AA Against Heli-Rushes, but they often loose some of the heli-ters, 2nd by AHRush efficiency are AAAs.

Media

Images

Screenshots

Main article: Wargame: Red Dragon/Screenshots

Characters

Gamescom

Videos

References

  1. Gamescom 2013: Wargame: Red Dragon. playnation.eu (August 23, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-8-25.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wargame Red Dragon: Facts & Flags. Wargame-EE.com (August 26, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-8-27.
  3. Rumour control, here are the facts.... Wargame-EE.com (September 30, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-10-3.

External links

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