Order of Battle: Red Steel

Red Steel is the thirteenth add-on to the turn-based strategy Order of Battle: World War II, and the second (after Red Star) of three expansions allowing players to look at World War II from a Soviet perspective. Add-on was developed by the authors of the original, the studio The Artistocrats, and published by Slitherine, a company specializing in this genre.

Plot

The action Order of Battle: Red Steel begins in January 1942, when Russian troops already went on a counteroffensive and attacked the city of Staritsa. Then the authors take us to the Crimean front and let us fight the great battle for Stalingrad and carry out an air fight over Kuban.

A total of sixteen scenarios presenting historic events await completion here; two of them are optional and access to them is determined by the outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Mechanics

Red Steel does not change the gameplay scheme presented in the basic version of the Order of Battle: World War II. The authors are putting a number of new units at our disposal. We are talking about tanks OT-34, T-70 and KV-1 m1942, 45 mm anti-tank guns 1942 and 76-mm divisional gun M1942, as well as the Yak-9D and La-5F fighters and the Il-2M and Pe-2FT bombers. New elements have also been added to the Axis. While the Germans can send the improved Panzer 38 G and Panzer IV G tanks and Bf-110 G planes to the battlefield, the Romanian troops make use of R-2 tanks and IAR-80 planes, and the Hungarians have received MAVAG Heya fighters.

Moreover, the add-on illustrates the effects of the Soviet Union joining the Allies, so that during the game we can make use of American and British aircraft and tanks and trucks from North America. All of this is complemented by new commanders, which we get access to when we have completed certain objectives.

Game modes

In Order of Battle: Red Steel we can play alone or in multiplayer mode; available variants of multiplayer are hot seat or PBEM.

Technical aspects

Red Steel is not a stand-alone add-on, so it requires the basic version of the Order of Battle: World War II to work. Add-on does not change the audiovisual layer.

Last updated on 21 October 2022