Hi everyone,
I’ve been thinking about how Enlisted could expand its campaigns into something more dynamic and engaging, and I wanted to share an idea: a Heroes & Generals–style War Mode, where battles across multiple maps contribute to a persistent frontline. I made a similar post, but I have since gone away, thought about it more and here is what I’ve got! Here’s how it could work:
1. Structure of the War Mode
- Persistent Frontline: Multiple maps in a campaign (e.g., Normandy, Moscow, Far Eastern Front) are linked. Each sector of a map is a tile on a larger strategic map.
- Dynamic Progression: Victories in one sector push the frontline forward, unlocking new maps or objectives. Losses may trigger fallback missions, defending previously lost sectors.
- Time-Limited Operations: Campaigns could reset weekly or biweekly, keeping the frontline dynamic and giving players new goals.
2. Player Participation & Roles
- Squad-Based Combat: Players continue using their squads (infantry, tanks, planes), but choices influence the strategic map. Certain sectors could require specific units.
- Team Coordination Incentives: Reward players for focusing on strategic objectives rather than random engagements, e.g., holding key sectors or completing mission chains.
3. Map & Battle Mechanics
- Connected Maps: Example: Normandy could have linked maps like Sainte-Mère-Église → Carentan → Cherbourg. Winning one map gives the attacking team an advantage in the next.
- Sector Objectives: Capture points, destroy assets, and defend supply lines to move the frontline. Casualties and reinforcements influence how fast sectors are captured.
- Vehicle & Air Integration: Tanks, planes, and artillery affect both battles and the state of the sector, reflecting combined arms warfare.
- Real-World Map Correspondence: Maps in the War Mode would match the actual campaign maps in the game. For example, a Tunisian campaign would feature Tunisia maps, Normandy would use Normandy maps, Battle of Moscow maps for the Eastern Front, Pacific maps for island campaigns, etc. This keeps the mode consistent with the game’s immersive and historically inspired environments.
- Tickets and Resource-Dependent Forces: The resources available to the Generals determine which units appear in each battle. For example, a well-supplied faction might deploy tanks, APCs, and jeeps, while a poorly supplied faction may only have infantry or limited vehicles. This creates a dynamic logistical layer and emphasizes the importance of resource management, rewarding factions that maintain strong supply lines and strategic control.
4. Faction Selection, Resources, and Victory Conditions
- At the start of each war, players are prompted to join a faction.
- To encourage balance and participation, joining an underrepresented or currently losing faction would provide bonus XP and resource rewards.
- Equal Starting Conditions: Every faction begins the campaign with the same number of cities, factories, and resources, ensuring a fair start.
- Victory Condition: A faction wins the campaign by capturing a set number of major cities, encouraging coordinated strategy across the frontline.
5. RTS-Style Engagement (Unlockable Generals & Squad Control)
To add a strategic layer, players could unlock the ability to manage squads on the campaign map:
- Completing a tech tree could unlock a General role.
- Generals can create squads, assign them to sectors, and move them across the frontline.
- Players could then choose whether to personally play a battle with a squad or deploy them strategically for AI and player driven engagements elsewhere.
- This would reward long-term progression and give players a meaningful way to influence the campaign beyond individual battles.
6. Linking Game Objectives to Strategic Orders
- In this system, frontline objectives could directly influence and unlock mission orders for squads.
- Example: Paratroopers could be sent behind enemy lines to sabotage a factory, which could trigger a destruction-focused game mode for players assigned to that objective.
- This approach links the macro strategy of the frontline to specific tactical missions, allowing for deeper gameplay than the Heroes & Generals model by connecting strategic decisions with actual in-game consequences.
- Different squad types could have specialized orders, e.g., engineers demolishing bridges, tanks securing supply points, or infantry capturing command posts.
7. Squad Quality and Battle Rating
- Instead of a traditional battle rating system, the quality of the squad raised by the General corresponds to a notional battle rating.
- Example: A Volksturm or militia squad might correspond to BR1/2, while a veteran squad could be BR5.
- Higher-quality squads are more expensive in resources or gold, rewarding strategic allocation and squad management.
- Dynamic Realism: Just like in a real war, when a faction is struggling or resources run low, the only available troops to raise might be militia or lower-quality units. This means the overall quality of troops decreases in real time, adding realism and forcing players to adapt their strategies based on the current state of the war.
8. Voluntary Participation
- This War Mode would be completely optional. Players who prefer the traditional, standalone missions can continue playing as usual.
- Joining the War Mode would offer strategic depth, rewards, and a new progression layer, without restricting access to the core Enlisted experience.
9. Progression & Meta Layer
- Campaign Map: A “mini-strategy map” shows sector control and frontline movement. Players can choose where to fight for maximum impact.
- Persistent Rewards: Controlling sectors could provide resources for new weapons, squads, or equipment.
- Strategic Events: Random events like air raids or reinforcements could dynamically shift the frontline, making campaigns feel alive.
10. Next Steps
- New Maps: To cover entire fronts, additional maps should be added for each campaign. This would allow full coverage of theaters like France, Italy, the Pacific islands, and Eastern Front campaigns (like Kursk).
- New Subfactions: Introduce more playable subfactions such as French and Italian forces to increase diversity, realism, and strategic options.
- These additions would ensure the War Mode feels comprehensive, historically inspired, and engaging across multiple fronts.
[So Enlisted Community, do you want a War Mode?]
- Yes - we will fight them in the fields… and on the landing grounds…
- No - Arcade mode for the win
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