My Review of Shattered Union

[FA sear 0]

For starters this game has a VERY steep learning curve. You can figure it out in about fifteen minutes, but it will take much longer before you begin playing effectively.

First off I thought the maps were pretty good. It was easy to use them since you are dealing with the US of A.

The controls are VERY easy to learn, but the tactical know how will take some time to master.

Here is what I learned:

The topography of the land effects the ability of your units to traverse the landscape, so plan your route properly. You are only given 14 days to complete the take over of a region, so you have to be quick

Armor units and other vehicles can run out of fuel (you have a fuel gauge) so you have to plan properly, or else you will end up stranded for a couple turns before you can refuel and continue. This loss of time can make or break your campaign. Also being stranded on a road exposes you to enemy fire

Try to end each turn with as many of your units in a wooded area or city as it provides cover and your unit is much more difficult to destroy in such an area

The computer often uses hit and run tactics. Don't be lured into imitating such antics as it is not effective and will only end up with you losing units

Proper planning is EVERYTHING in this game. This game is all about placement and proper movement of your units

Commandos and Heavy infantry absolutely own the city environment, so make good use of them as they are very inexpensive to purchase. However, beware, they are VERY vulnerable to enemy fire on the open road, so take great care when moving them about

The FCS armor pretty much rule the open land, but each one has its strengths and weaknesses depending on which faction you choose, so try them all out and figure out which one you like best (I liked the New England FCS armor the best)

Aircraft are OVERRATED IMO. I went through the entire campaign without them. I sold them immediately and with the ton of $$$ from the sale, I loaded up on Commandos, Heavy Infantry units, FCS Braggs, and AA units

Good placement of AA units can effectively neutralize an enemy airforce, but beware, because I noticed that the enemy often target your AA units right before an airborne movement, so you must provide proper protection of your AA units. Without proper protection, once your AA units are knocked out, an enemy Stealth bomber or Warthog will wipe you out

Artillery can also be useful, but pass up on the Big Tom it is too easy to destroy. The Crusader is by far the best

The EU has the strongest armour, soldier, etc.... The easiest faction to win with is the EU. The EU is the one I won with first before winning with the New England faction

Sometimes it is good to sit back and watch the others fight while you increase your wealth. Also, having a full complement of units shows strength, so a neighboring faction is less likely to attack. Always stay loaded up on units

Watch your political reputation. Partisans are very useful in the begining, so don't do anything stupid as the locals will refuse to help you

RPG elements are KEY in this game. Preserve the lives of your units. The more combat experience your units see, you will see their "rank" increase. This increases their ability to survive attacks, and also deliver more damaging attacks in return. Don't look at your units and think you will simply buy another if you lose one

I have been in situations where my handful of veteran units took on nearly twice the number of enemy, and with proper placement although they were damaged, I had no losses, and the enemy experienced a total loss. The RPG elements are much more important than you think

I have never played an RPG before. I always thought they looked extremely boring, but this one is actually good.

Anyone care to share some strategy? Post your thoughts.

[the.ronin 5]

Nice jchung!! You are tempting me to dust this bad boy off and throw it in the box. Hit & run = bad? Damn. I was gonna try that since the computer keeps using it on me.

[FA sear 0]

Nice jchung!!  You are tempting me to dust this bad boy off and throw it in the box.  Hit & run = bad?  Damn.  I was gonna try that since the computer keeps using it on me.

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LOL. I do everything differently from what the computer does.

Remember that their goal is to occupy the cities with the highest designated "point value", so if you are in the city they will not retreat, but instead stay to try and drive you out.

If you are attacking an enemy city this is how I usually position my units. I first line up the partisans, then right behind them I line up the FCS, then I will leave a bit of space and put my Crusaders back there, then last but not least the AA (usually a Chaparrel, maybe an Avenger. The Vulcans are useless IMO).

The enemy always go for the Partisans first, and I always line them up first.

I NEVER go right up to the border of a large city without the partisan bait out front.

The small cities I just drive right up to and drive right through, but the larger cities I always have the partisans out front.

I used a lot of Heavy infantry and commando units at first as I could not afford many FCS Braggs, but as the game progressed and I my wealth grew, I switched in favor of the FCS Bragg. That is about the only thing I changed as the game progressed. Otherwise my strategy remained the same. I still employed commandos and heavy infantry to harass the enemy when defending a city, but whereas before they were the spearhead of any invasion or line of defense, in the end I favored the FCS Bragg.

Drop the game in and we'll talk some shop. I'm going to try and beat the game with the other factions.