Burden of Command is a rare twist of something familiar and new, in this case sensibilities of turn-based RPGs meet turn-based tactics while wearing the skin of skirmish-level wargaming.
There’s a lot going on in that opening sentence, and that’s because it’s boiled down to the simplest version. To fully explain Burden of Command by using existing concepts you have to explain that it’s like a zoom-in of your standard WWII wargame but with separate leaders that need to activate troops for them to be useful. You also need to restructure the turn-order, slot an action point system on it and then bolt on a pure, but meaningful morale system. Finally, you slather the whole thing in quotes, art, restored and recoloured photos (truly, its like an interactive museum exhibit, full of careful notes and quotes), an RPG system and well-developed characters. It’s a masterwork in design intent, and feels like more of a ‘life’s work‘ than an entry in any set genre.
When I first heard about Burden of Command I’d thought it would be a narrative game pocked with small chess composition style skirmishes. I wasn’t expecting it to be simultaneously familiar to traditional battle-level wargaming while also being an upset to that formula. It’s because, more than series like Panzer Corps and Order of Battle, it rocks the applecart from the get-go. Due to the scale in play, supply-lines are out, but unit effectiveness and weakness (Rock, Paper, Scissors to the Nth degree) tables are out too. It very much feels like a delivery of the concept that sometimes you’ve got to break stuff to build it back stronger.
Morale and suppression are key here, in fact, I’d argue that Burden of Command’s combat and structure is based almost entirely around the ‘Five Fs’: Find, Fix, Fire, Finish, Feedback. Staying in cover, identifying, supressing, surrounding and deactivating enemies is the structure, rather than any sort of deliberate flanking, overwhelm or outmatch system. It’s a big step, and its because this is about a company of individuals rather than a single collective. It’s also because, as per its own lessons, strategic conflict is often won with one force surrendering, rather than through kills or a massacre — almost nobody actually wants to die in armed conflicts.
I’m not particularly well read when it comes to of military doctrine or history — maybe that shows — however I do appreciate how much care has gone into the role distribution of soldiers under you in your role as a company captain. You’ve got four Lieutenants that you’ll move around and command, and under each of them are three squads that you’ll inspire, command, and protect throughout the campaign.
I’ve now played through some of the earlier stages of the campaign, which doubles as an onboarding tutorial, and while it feels a little early in development (if anything, just through how it handles tutorials, which are voiced video, not subtitled and sometimes contradict written instructions) the heart of Burden of Command is already in place.
The average skirmish is flanked by story briefings and debriefings which feature regular faces from your company as they struggle under the exhausting conditions that the war demands of them. Within the skirmish you’ll ‘active’ squads before being able to use them, however activation costs your lieutenant’s action points (known as orders here) which are — themselves — also used for boosting the morale of your troops. There are vastly more things that you could do than there are action points to use, and the option to take things slow is erased by the pressure of appeasing The Mission. Combat gives you the question, if victory has to be achieved at all costs, then how can your troops follow you faithfully when they don’t want to die.
That’s where Trust, Loyalty and other modifiers like your sarcasm or how chatty you are, come into play. Most choices, as well as the results of your battles, are tracked and impact how your superiors and reports view you. Get too snappy or sarcastic and, well, I don’t think your superiors will appreciate that. Meanwhile, if you regularly gamble away or endanger the lives of your troops then morale will waiver and you’ll end up having to deal with broken troops that are willing to surrender to the enemies.
Keeping morale high while also isolating and applying heavy pressure to opponents so that they surrender is the aim of the game here; but doing all of that while also trying to keep your troops in cover and safe, is an incredibly hard balance, especially when time is of the essence.
I could chat about the small amount of Burden of Command for hours — I’ve not even discussed the refined turn structure — but I’m going to stop here and wait patiently for my next chance to play. It’s expected to launch early next year, so hopefully it won’t be long.
Burden of Command is expected to launch for Windows PC in Q1 2025
