Unity of Command

Lore & Background

Unity of Command lets players command the Red Army or Wehrmacht forces and their allies during the crucial Eastern Front campaign of 1942/43, which culminated in the Battle of Stalingrad. German plans centered on capturing the oil-rich Caucasus region, with Stalingrad rarely mentioned in original OKH plans. The Stavka misjudged enemy intentions, placing most strength around Moscow, leaving thin forces to contend with the German offensive in the south. The initial German armored spearheads proved devastating, and the summer campaign began with a string of German victories. However, as they advanced, the Germans carved an enormous bulge they could not hold alone, enlisting help from Axis allies Italy, Romania, and Hungary. The fast-moving campaign also made supplying units with fuel and ammunition difficult, causing German columns to stop and wait for logistics. By fall 1942, the German offensive bogged down against stiffening Soviet resistance, and the world's attention fixed on the battle in Stalingrad. When the Soviets counterattacked in November 1942, the besiegers became the besieged; the German 6th Army was encircled and destroyed, threatening the entire southern wing of the German Eastern Front with collapse. Soviets mounted offensives that shattered weaker Axis armies along the Don River, threatening an even wider encirclement. In a final stroke, Germans under von Manstein counterattacked at Kharkov and restored the situation, with armies ending on almost identical lines where the campaign started.

Reader's Guide

Unity of Command received positive reviews and holds a Metacritic rating of 84 and a Gamerankings score of 83.80%. Tim Stone of PC Gamer gave it 86/100, describing it with a colorful metaphor about two giant powder-filled jiffy-bags labeled 'Ferdinand Fuchs' and 'Boris Bastardov' that materialize as super-sly Ost Front generals. Richard Lane of gamewatcher gave it 8/10, calling it one of the most refreshing turn-based strategy games he had experienced, clever and deeply tactical yet relatively quick-paced and exciting. The game was included in Pocket Gamer's list of the 12 best turn-based strategy games on Steam, PC Gamer's top 20 PC strategy games, Rock, Paper, Shotgun's 22nd of 50 best strategy games on PC, Wargamer's list of best WW2 strategy and war games, and PCGamesN's list of best war games. Several DLCs and expansions were released: Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign (the core game), Red Turn: The Road to Berlin 1943-45, and Black Turn: Operation Barbarossa 1941, all receiving positive reviews. A sequel, Unity of Command II, was developed from 2014 and released on Steam on November 12, 2019, featuring a transition from 2D to 3D graphics, a requirement for a 64-bit operating system, and the addition of fog of war.

Did You Know?

• Unity of Command was developed by the one-man studio 2x2 Games.
• The sequel, Unity of Command II, was released on Steam on November 12, 2019.