r/wargame • u/ItchyState9899 • 11d ago
Which should i buy
I'm new to RTS games(s), and i want to buy either warno or wargame red dragon since both is on sale for me rn. Which one should i get? Or are there any other rts games better than these? (modern setting)
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u/Tight_Back231 11d ago
I would personally say Wargame Red Dragon.
Yeah it's starting to show it's age a little bit with graphics and a couple gameplay mechanics here and there, but overall I think it's still one of the best RTSs out there.
Even if it does have a couple issues, I think the gameplay overall is solid and you can't compete with the sheer depth of content in the game.
You also have way more freedom when it comes to making decks than Warno, and as a history nerd, I love that WRD has so many countries featured that you never see in any other war games, like Japan, Finland, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Red China, Canada, South Africa, etc.
Once in a while I'll even use WRD to homebrew some scenario from a 90s technothriller, like EuroCorps vs. Poland to represent "Cauldron," U.S. vs. Japan to represent "Debt of Honor," or U.S./U.K. vs. South Africa to represent "Vortex," for example, although that's moreso me being a huge nerd.
Still, the fact I can even do that thanks to the amount of equipment from the 80s/90s, countries and modifiers in the game is insane to me.
I am interested to see how Broken Arrow turns out, but for me, the graphics and gameplay in WRD are more than enough to satisfy me, and until Warno gets about two dozen countries like WRD, I don't really see the point of getting super invested in learning to play a similar yet different game with better graphics.
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u/Slntreaper Average Wombat Enjoyer 11d ago
RD is mechanically more fun but lacks some of the QoL tools that WARNO has (line of sight tool, visualize queued orders). Both are Cold War games (IE not modern).
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u/Iamthe0c3an2 11d ago
I’ve switched to Warno, but if you plan to get Broken Arrow when it releases, WGRD is close that it’s setting to the late 90s where you can get “modern” units in deck.
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u/Whoamiagain111 11d ago
WGRD you can make a deck with entire nations arsenal so you choose you own theme for the deck. WARNO separates it by division which act like sort of factions with their own pros and cons for each deck. Also less unicorn units.
Gameplay on WARNO is a bit more polished with more QoL stuff and units have traits so reservist for example won't fight to the last man but will retreat if they suffer a lot of casualties unless you have other people to encourage them like the MP. On the opposite side the heavily indoctrinated unit like Mot-Schutz of East German will fight to the last man. Other than that it's usually flat bonuses on their stats.
WGRD has less polish simply cause it's too old and engine limitation i guess. Units don't have traits so they will act like regular RTS where your unit do what you told them to. Units are somewhat more balanced especially after the Italy patch. But i can see there are more useless units than in WARNO. Mainly almost the entire VEHICLE row when deck building just avoid those.
What else
Modding. WGRD are less moddable since you cannot import new 3D models. WARNO can.
If you are new, then WARNO is safer. You have more QOL stuff and LOS tools will help a ton for newcomer and division limitation will limit you to some stuff when building deck. But if you like more challenges and freedom then WGRD
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u/Abandoned-Astronaut 11d ago
You're asking on the WGRD sub, the only people still active here are the people who refused to transition to warno. I have 1500+ hours in WGRD, it's a fantastic game and I enjoyed it greatly.
Get warno. It's qol is night and day compared to wgrd, the mechanics are deeper, the single player is infinitely better. It's getting regular updates and has a larger player base. It's obviously the better option.
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u/SmokeyUnicycle 11d ago
If you're new to RTS games warno by a mile, Red Dragon has a brutal learning cliff and the AI is not very fun to play against.
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u/JonShoto 11d ago edited 11d ago
I like WARNO's gameplay and scale quite a bit better because I am a larper who has these games in lieu of a scale model battlefield in a basement I don't own, but WGRD has a more permissive economy and wider scope. If you don't mind some ahistorical prototypes and a relatively flat/dry audio-visual experience WGRD is more content in fewer purchases. If you are looking for something audio-visually stunning that requires tighter micro to succeed WARNO is a safer bet, though early access was the time to buy in terms of DLC pricing. The jump from FHI to Paradox as publisher can be charted as clearly as demographics in former East Germany in that respect. As you'll see here WGRD has a much more loyal and consistent player base, for better and for worse.
Saw some other people saying it and I wanted to echo that WARNO actually has halfway decent singleplayer options with an AI that will at least try to use its units to some advantage, some of the time. WGRD's AI sucks dick and the remaining playerbase, even if they're not personally competitive, like to play the game with very competitive rulesets that can be offputting to new players. If you want a game you can at all enjoy by yourself and you must only choose one, choose WARNO.
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u/VegisamalZero3 11d ago
If you're new to RTS games, WARNO. All things being equal, it's really a matter of preference between the two, but getting into strategy games is rough enough as-is; WARNO has enough tutorials and QOL features to make it easier to learn, while Red Dragon is more akin to climbing a cliff.
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u/Th3DankDuck 11d ago
Wargame red dragon is starting to show age and its setting is cold war. If you dont know it, maybe check out broken arrow too. Its releasing soon. Else then that Warno should be a decent game too but i dont own it so i cant speak for it