Men of War

Men of War is a real-time tactics game from Best Way, released in Russia in 2008 and in English in 2009. It follows Soldiers: Heroes of World War II and Faces of War. Campaigns for the Soviet, German and Allied sides put small groups of soldiers and vehicles into large, simulated battles.

Every soldier and vehicle is simulated: tanks have crews, armour is penetrated or not depending on the angle and the gun, ammunition runs out, and anything can be destroyed. As in its predecessors, you can take direct control of any unit, aiming and moving it yourself.

It is one of the deepest real-time squad games ever made, and its simulation gives every battle surprises. Its modding community and multiplayer kept it alive for years, and the Assault Squad games followed.

Its campaigns are brutally hard and its interface overwhelming at first. It is a game to learn, not to play casually.

Men of War shares Commandos' missions where a few must beat many, and replaces Commandos' puzzles with a simulation in which there are many solutions. It shows how much a real-time squad game can model when it treats every soldier as a body with an inventory.