Super mod-friendly game that feels like you're playing the best parts of the Battlefield games. Very addicting.

You set the number of bots (unlimited), the game type, the map.
You can edit the team skins, vehicles, weapon load outs, and settings; all of which can be saved for later use.

Modding this game feels like I'm rediscovering Mount and Blade: Warband for the first time all over again. I have enjoyed endless maps, skins, vehicles, weapons that range from: World War 2, Vietnam, Cold War, Late-Cold War, Second Gulf War, World War 3, Star Wars, and so many more.

Each mod feels like I'm playing a standalone Battlefield title in a different era; with weapons, skins, scripts, and vehicles to match. Worth a buy in its current state; absolute buy when it gets a full release.

This review will focus on the management side of the game, rather than the actual combat.

Just be warned this is a management game first, and real time strategy game second.
But,

If you enjoy Empire: Total War's combat gameplay, you'll experience a more challenging iteration of that in this game. I have 'sank' over 300 hours into this during the closed alpha, and to simply put it, this game takes the officer, equipment, supplies, and manpower management systems of Ultimate General: Civil War and applies it to the combat of Empire: Total War.


You are in charge of a full fledged naval task force for either the British Empire or rebelling American colonies. Outside of the combat, it is your duty to manage finances, ammunition, supplies, personnel, and armament of your entire fighting force. You begin with very limited resources and must figure out the most cost effective way to design a fleet that caters to the way YOU want to fight the war.

- Do you want ships to be slower with heavy, but more powerful guns?
- Or lighter ships to outmaneuver an enemy?
- Maybe ships with cheaper guns and ammunition that you can buy in large quantities at any given time?


These are all the little details YOU have to decide before you even get into battle, just like a real Admiral would. Failure to do this, and you feel the price of not preparing carefully prior to going into battle. This also includes what type of weapons you want your sailors to be outfitted with as well as determining the weight and balance of your crew members, guns, ammunition, and ship upgrades; all of which has pros and cons depending on how you want to play.

You eventually will have to manage land forces as well, assigning non-armed vessels to carry your Marines into landing operations; vessels that are highly vulnerable to enemy fire, both naval and land based artillery. To counter this, you utilize your heavier ships to bombard enemy positions or engage hostile ships. You are not prompted to do this, it is your job to make these decisions yourself in-game.


This is the game's most fun and challenging system. you must be able to hire and manage your office corps. The system remains the same from Ultimate General: Civil War, but with the added challenge of staffing both your ships AND land forces. Typically a ship will need 2-4 officers to manage depending on the size and rate. A ship CAN be lead with just one officer, but will badly suffer in combat due to lack of leadership.

Much like UG: CW; A great, seasoned officer will give special buffs to your ships and marine battalions and a bad officer will affect a unit's morale and overall effectiveness when going muzzle to muzzle with the enemy. Officer's gain experience through battle. Depending on how many enemies their unit kills and how many men he loses, this will determine if his skill set will develop into a great officer with positive buffs or bad one with negative buffs. (The buffs are their sliders on their skills page)

This system is the most challenging part of the game because officers are expensive and can die in battle if you don't posture them correctly in combat. But it is the hallmark of the Ultimate Strategy Series and the first management style war series to seriously observe how the officer corps works when leading troops.


The feeling of all this management gives you the sensation that you are an ADMIRAL of a naval task force. Every decision you make affects the efficiency and lethality of your fleet. Officers, ship armament, ship upgrades, ship repairs, crew size, ship weight and balance as well as infantry officers, infantry weapons, infantry supply and much more. All of these aspects need to be carefully planned and consolidated by you to be successful in your next armed engagement.

The game does include small RPG elements here and there like your admiral’s skill tree and text based decision-making windows; all of which have a risk, consequences, and rewards. But even without those elements, the management mechanics alone in this game make you feel like you're role-playing an Admiral/General officer in charge of task force.