Apr 9 2011
Table Top WarGaming with Lead Wars on the iPhone
Table Top WarGaming is a popular hobby and comes in many forms, from expensive models with complex models to simple pen and paper, it’s enjoyed by millions of people across the world. With Lead Wars the hobby comes to your iPhone or iPad.
Combat in action
Lead Wars aims at replicating a basic paper and pen version of wargaming, but this should not put any serious wargamers off Lead Wars as there is still a high level of strategy involved. in each battles.
Each game consists of 2 armies battling to eliminate their opponents either in a local multi-player game or over the Internet through Apples’ Game Centre. The latest version of the game also includes AI allowing a single player to take on a computer opponent, a feature which was badly missed in previous versions of the game.
Control of each unit happens through the use of a virtual on screen pencil by drawing the rout and distance that the unit should follow, or the direction of gun fire. The control system is easy to learn, simple to use and makes fantastic use of the devices touch screen. 3 different types of unit can be controlled, these are tanks, artillery and planes, each having slightly different attributes, and there are also many different types of obstacles, buildings and scenery that can be utilised and that need to be avoided.
A great feature of Lead Wars is the included map creation tool that allows you to create your own sharable battle fields from small skirmishes to large scale battles, and the use of scenery needs gives you map character and provides the ability for plays to develop tactics.
A small user created map
The graphics style of the game replicates the hand drawn battles that many of us enjoyed as kids
There are versions of Lead Wars for both the iPhone and the iPad, and the game looks and plays identically on both devices, although the iPad with it’s larger screen lends it’s self more naturally to replicating a table top activity. All screen shots in this article are from the iPad version.
A large detailed map
Lead Wars is a brilliantly implemented game, providing a fun and strategic challenge for both War Gaming fans and those new to the genre.
The game is developed by DemonStudios and I would really like them to take this concept further by introducing more advanced units and rule sets. The iPad works brilliantly for this type of game and could be used to recreate warhammer style rule sets.
