Plates / Plate IV

Plate IV · Conquerors · Twentieth century, round-based

Call of War

Call of War artwork
Pl. IV Call of War. Artwork © Bytro Labs, from the publisher's press material.

Identification

A slow real-time Second World War strategy game. Pick a nation, build factories, research from infantry to nuclear bombers, and move units across a map where a division takes hours to cross France. Coalitions form, spies lie, and the round ends on victory points after two to four weeks.

Observed

Morning and evening, twenty to thirty minutes each, for the length of a round. The first round was spent learning how supply and morale interact; the second was the review. Rounds finishing is the great virtue here, and the reason it sits apart from the open-ended war games.

Diet

Gold buys resources and speed. It is felt in the last week of a close round and rarely before; most rounds we saw were decided by activity and coalitions.

Range

Planners rather than clickers, who can give a round a fortnight. Not for anyone who wants action.

Field marks

  • A round has a beginning and an end
  • Two check-ins a day is the rhythm
  • Readable map, short unit list
  • Gold shows late in a round
  • First round is confusing

Not to be confused with Supremacy 1914 (same publisher, First World War, simpler).