Angola '86

The game is in EA with a lot of ongoing development happening so I'll focus the review on the differences in how it plays to the previous games in the series (Afghanistan '11 and Vietnam '65). It's got the same underlying counter insurgency theme but a lot more ingredients have been added to the mix. The core game loop has also been tweaked in interesting ways. The developer has done a good job with the extra features of adding more [i]depth[/i] without bogging the game down in complexity. Essentially you've got more balls to juggle but you're still juggling and not, for example, having to balance on a monocycle at the same time. In the two previous games in the series you were dealing with an enemy that spawned from fixed random locations, either caves in the mountains or jungle locations. This worked pretty well due to the fact that you didn't know those locations and units spawned out of them at random intervals. You got a good sense of fighting a nebulous insurgent force. In Angola '86 (A86 from here on) the mechanics are more sophisticated. The map is bigger. There is an underlying logic to how the enemy spawns (a series of linked bases and arms caches) that you can interrupt. Here you not only find the enemy but mostly find [i]signs[/i] of the enemy. You find their tracks and have to hunt them down which isn't easy. There's an element of having to put your Detective hat on. You can intercept tracks, mines go off, villages are intimidated, etc. The bad guys (SWAPO guerillas) are running terror missions out of the nearest arms cache which are themselves linked to a set of forward and rear bases in Angola, all of which are hidden. You get clues. You send out patrols. You have fast response forces ready to pounce. You never quite have enough information. There's stuff happening throughout the portion of South West AFrica (Namibia) that you're responsible for. You're given a very informative Strategic map with all the info and the ability to mark it up yourself. If you can find and destroy an arms cache you can shut down the operations in that sector for a period. There's a [i]logic[/i] behind the enemy actions, it's not just an RNG output. It's more interesting to interact with and a lot of fun. Then there are the forward SWAPO bases over the border in Angola. This is another big differentiater between the previous games where [i]over the border[/i] was off-map. Not in A86. It's right there in front of you. The border is a living thing that you, at times, need to cross over and try and shut down enemy bases (after you've sent your Special Forces in to find them). Over the border is a game within a game. You meet different factions. Angolan army units. Cubans. They have an airforce (something the Vietcong and Taliban didn't). You form up battlegroups and venture forth into Angola to fight a more conventional war. But not for too long. International opinion isn't on your side. Invading a neighbouring country is frowned upon. There is a friendly faction in Angola that you control. They need support. Training. They are waging a conventional war. You can chose to intervene directly. Hearts and minds are still a thing. But this time you've got to worry about water towers AND disease outbreaks. You need to build Medical Clinics. Connect up the villages with roads. Look after the farms. Provide a bus service. Sweep the roads for mines. Another interesting aspect with A86 is that the developer has placed a number of restrictions on what you can do. The insurgency area of the map is split up into 3 sectors with a fixed base in each. Units in one sector can't move into another (with exceptions). There are distinct number limits to certain unit types that force difficult decisions upon you. For example there are three sectors requiring roads, water works and clinics yet you only have two construction vehicles. You have an airforce but have to carefully decide it's composition as it's finite and has limited availablity. You get the picture. The restrictions make the game more interesting and get around the issue in the two previous ones of eventually honing in on a winning build strategy. Mined roads are a big deal. You don't have the fancy tools to handle it. Unlike Afghanistan '11 you can't buy the appropriate mine clearance vehicles and regularly run them up and down your network. You have to patrol them with infantry on foot. It feels frustrating at first. Like you are engaged in stone age mine clearing. Your rare "Mine Resistant" vehicles are pre-MRAPs. They are a lot flakier and need to be mothered. Thankfully Infantry auto detect mines but you still need them there in the first place which is a challenge as there are demands on them elsewhere. It's another trade-off. Units aren't anonymous. They are based on actual units that served in the conflict. Some are regulars. Others are conscripts that you only have for a certain time window. The there are the [i]campers[/i]. I'd recommend you read a book on the [i]Border War[/i]. It's a little known conflict (outside of Africa) and you can (or I did) struggle with all the different factions and the bigger picture. From a military history point of view it's actually a very interesting conflict with an unusual combination of counter insurgency and conventional warfare that the game models well. If you enjoyed the previous games or you are drawn to something different, this is shaping up to be an excellent choice. As mentioned it's a work in progress and if that's not to your liking you can keep a watchful eye on it with a view to a purchase once it's a polished gem. Note: I paid for my copy and have no connection with the Developer. I bought and own both the previous games in the series which I also enjoyed

If you're into niche wargame settings I would pick this up. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but once you figure out how the hidden enemy is operating, it becomes easier to anticipate their moves and find them--but no less fun. You're constantly trying to balance security with logistical issues, keeping units fueled and maintained (breakdowns are a big concern), while relying on ground units to locate hidden units via their tracks. It abstracts a lot of this in a well-thought-out way, so you get a sense of events happening on a strategic and tactical level at the same time--so you'll encounter issues like tied-up air support, or the need to medevac wounded units back to base while the war's timeline ticks away a month per turn. This can lead to some odd concessions for game balance, like the need to move a unit or two out of base (which can be annoying due to maintenance and fuel costs, and a need to be in the base to resupply) to allow an ambulance with a wounded unit in (bases have a capacity range of 2–6). There seems to be a decent level of freedom to pursue your own strategy, with a good mix of unit types, as well as resource and unit-count constraints. I haven't figured out the ins-and-outs of battle groups for cross-border operations, but I would have appreciated better detail on the capabilities of the units meant for conventional warfare in Angola. For example, there's three types of artillery available, each with different costs: self-propelled, towed, or rocket artillery. I don't really have any idea what is suited for what types of enemy, range of attack, or if it's worth bringing at all in a given situation. The same question marks pop up for choosing between light and heavy armored units, IFVs, etc. Still, it's been a blast figuring this out, the in-game manual is pretty helpful, and the developer put some useful videos up. Incidentally, the developer is very responsive, and was very quick with patching the one bug I ran into. Overall, I'd say this was a very enjoyable game, with a good sense of groundedness--to win you'll have to operate with political considerations in mind, in addition to securing your supply lines, managing hearts and minds, and keeping the situation from escalating.

This review isn't about gameplay. It's about how I reported an issue with the game (Wide monitor not being supported) and the Dev and I emailed back and forth until a patch was released less than a day later. This dev clearly cares about feedback and the community, that alone is worth its weight in gold. 10/10

Very in depth and strategic game if you like the other games by Every Single Soldier you will like this one only problem with it for me is the UI is a bit clunky but I think it just takes some time getting used to it

There are many negative reviews of the game, mostly related to bugs and rough edges of the UI. You can turn a blind eye to all this because there are no similar games (unless, of course, you count earlier games by the same developer). This is an excellent simulator of a humanitarian crisis with a military bias. It is in this game that you understand what logistics is and how important it is. These are not percentages of mythical supplies, when you do not particularly feel the difference between 54% and 39%, but a specific truck with fuel and ammunition, which you did not think about or forgot to send on time and now you can only watch as Angolan guerrillas gut a local village. This is a mobile hospital that blew up on a mine, because you were too lazy to send soldiers to check its route for mines, despite reports of enemy traces nearby. The game consists of such moments and I do not know of any other games like it. The interface is clumsy, there are bugs, but at the time of the review, dozens of fixes have already been released and the developer continues to work on the bugs. So for strategy lovers it's more difficult than "kill everyone" - I recommend it.

I was very excited for this game after loving Vietnam '65 and Afghanistan '11. The worst part for me is the graphics and general clunkiness of the game, making it frustrating to play. It seems like there are some really fantastic ideas here but the inaccessibility of it made it more annoying than enjoyable. Needs a wholesale graphics and useability upgrade. Things like: -Tooltips on top of each other -Over-focus on unnecessary details (unit numbers for example) over important ones like unit ability, role, etc. -Terribly configured tutorial -Clunkiness in transitioning between map modes -Poor presentation of information I hope to return to this one day maybe with more patience but it's one I'll leave for a bit to get sorted out before I return. ____ Returning to the game and now doing multiple full game attempts, I still can't give it more than a 4/10 (as much as I want to). They seemed to have fixed the configuring of the tutorial by just making it non-interactive. The YouTube guides are decent at explaining the mechanics, but there's still way too little information given in tooltips to help you as you go. Good: -Really novel ideas with cross-border raids and activities (although the dual-nature of the conflict is still poorly explained). -Interesting setting with some new interesting considerations (UN, medical, etc.) Cons (Plz change/fix) -Complexity seems annoying rather than hard but rewarding to master systems. Compounded by poor explanation of features and poor tooltips. -The game seems to end too quickly? I feel like i'm barely established and it transitions to the UN end game after 2 votes -UI is better than above but remain far below the level of Afghan '11 or even Vietnam '65. Exemplified by inaccurate estimation of unit movement, poor multi-turn unit movement/action. (also please give us back road building on the tile in front!!) Graphics look circa 2004 which is fine but annoying. -Decision to not 'see' SWAPO is annoying. -Tracks & locations fade almost immediately and you can't 'draw' on the map meaning than it's hard to track the arms caches & linking logistics systems that are such a core component of gameplay. Sometimes the hard-won enemy locations just randomly dissappear even on the same turn. Also why can your unit not detect what direction the tracks are (please give us the footprints facing an orientation). -'New Game' resetting all your progress rather than just starting a new round. Why would I want to delete my game-to-game rank progression & awards progress?? -Why do both the save & main menu options seem to mean 'save and exit'? -Limited base space & limited number of (even smaller) outposts compound the supply situation and unit actions. EA Bugs: -Cursor dissappearing and it getting stuck on a unit action -Inconsistent saving: sometimes it doesn't save, sometimes you load a save before your last.

Headline - There is an excellent game in the making here, albeit there is still a way to go through the early release process before it realises its full potential. If you have played the Vietnam and Afghanistan predecessors to this game Angola '86 has quite a bit more depth and complexity. I'm still getting my head around it and having my arse kicked in the process but enjoying the experience. The UI is still rough round the edges and some of the graphics make my eyes hurt in a way that their predecessors didn't but that's the sort of thing early release is for sorting out. Developer is helpful and responsive in the disucssions.

(Updated review, given meaningful changes continuously introduced by the developer) Tentative recommendation IF AND ONLY IF you are a veteran of Vietnam '65 and Afghanistan '11 games. And are willing to pay for a new buggy, janky and unpolished beta-version entry in the series. Assuming the developer keeps up the current rapid rate of meaningful improvements. For a player new to the series, the previous games are much better. Both (Vietnam '65 and Afghanistan '11): have crisper graphics and higher production values. Their mechanics are equally fun, similarly complex and better tested. The game is very buggy. Currently, on average I find 2-3 serious bugs every 2 hrs of gameplay. The game is playable in general. The systems mesh together. But there are noticeable bugs in the systems. Not game-braking but impactful. And there are multiple UI bugs. On top of screen-tearing (on a widescreen monitor). The developer is rapidly iterating, which gives me hope. Angola'86 has a new smart and engaging system. Similar enough to recognize. But fresh and interesting. Enemy units travel across the entire map, from distant bases. This should make them easier to spot. But you are no longer able to post SOF units to cover large areas. You have much narrower visibility. This keeps you patrolling. Similarly, you cannot flood the map with firepower. You will have local superiority - for a time in certain areas. This is on top of the bigger changes - the border, sectors etc. Very engaging. Engaging but (at this time) often frustrating.

i want to love this game. I really do. They shed light on those forgotten conflicts that the major players in the cold war stole. Like the border wars, Rhodesias bush war, Iran vs Iraq etc. I want to love this game. But to be honest the interface is terrible, the tutorial is very flawed and it is oh so buggy. The save system in itself is horrible. You can field one game and one game only, and of course, one save. As sad as i am for writing this review, this game is garbage. I am sorry, but it is. It hurts me moore than you.