Warbanners

Game + Dlc --> 29 hours to complete

good game, looks simple, but it has a very tactical complexity with positioning of units, use of terrain and skill/magic abilities to use, i hope to see more of this type of combat from this developer in the future

I am having a really enjoyable time playing through Warbanners thus far - at time of review, I have not yet finished the game.
I had wanted this game for many years, and finally picked it up during the 2025 Spring Sale. Totally worth it.

- First & foremost - this is a story driven game, not a sandbox like Battle Brothers. I would offer it is like the first 2 Metro games in this sense; you go through missions where every battle/experience has been handcrafted, and have been made very well at that.
- There are an array of units to add to your party, unlocking as progression is made; along with potions to be bought/used, and a system of "assistants" (kinda like the retinue in BB), which provides various bonuses or aids, oft at the start of missions.
- The environments in each mission have lots of interactivity to be manipulated; from building little barricades or digging up hexes, to breaking down barriers / or using barriers for chokepoints or general defense. Setting fire to areas, climbing the walls / using battlements in a siege battle/mission... And more to be seen, (as I have much more of the campaign to go through still!)

- *(Now, to address the comparing of Warbanners to others, as I know many will want to, have done so, etc.. Even myself!):*
- Warbanners is mostly not the same gameplay experience as Battle Brothers; it is different than BB - and rightly so! It can definitely be felt/seen that the developer very much knew fully what type of game he wanted to create, as well as what all he wanted to be in the game, and hugely, what it was going to present & feel like. All in all, Warbanners does all it aimed to do, very well.
- Now, in my findings, while different gameplay experiences, Warbanners DOES scratch the same "vein or itch" that BB is within... Which, IME, very, very few games even make it to the same "vein" that BB is in. The dev himself & other players have posted very helpful comparison of Warbanners to BB; so for those coming from that standpoint, I suggest finding that forum post & reading...
- BUT regardless of that; if one enjoys tactical, turn based battles & a high-bar ("realistic"/hardcore) difficulty, then go ahead and give Warbanners a try; just open thyself up to interacting with what it is presenting, & what it is bringing to the table.

I am excited to continue playing & ultimately making it to the ending. I also already purchased the DLC while on sale, as it is the addition of a few missions on a playthrough/mini-story of its own - but playing as ORCS!

This is a really neat, enjoyable turn-based tactical experience that requires some sound thinking & strategy + use of all tools available, thought into the maps & environment factors, and of course, actions carried out by ones units.

I also really appreciate, from reading older forum posts & discussions, the openness & honesty from the developer behind this game. He does not bend/warp or try to say/present anything of this game beyond what it is, what is has, and everything of it. There's no false or "tipsy advertising or describing", so to say, like one may find in other titles *(meaning, how sometimes certain elements are described more flowery or "stretched" to appeal more broadly...)* None of that here / from this dev! Which again, I find very respectable.
Thus, to anyone interested in this type of game; know what you see is what you get.


**P.S.**
Dev is working on a new game now, Veterum; which I am keenly following now, as he did a great job in crafting Warbanners. Am even allowing myself some hype (which I very rarely do nowadays) for his next title.
Keep up the good work @CrasleenGames.

Good show

Very fun game. Worth every penny. Look forward to the sequel.

Very nice strategy game. Looking forward to Veterum!

4/10

Warbanners is essentially a set-piece-on-rails wargame with some RPG elements such as unit advancement and inventory management. Not a bad thing, being a table top war gamer for year this is not strange or unwelcome. For purely RPG folks this may be a dealbreaker.

I think a miss here is not being able to create your own character from the start. Maybe it would be fun and have replay value if that were the case. To which I think for the most part this is a one play through game. This is not a bad thing, I think that it is enjoyable.

Combat is at a reasonable pace. Some of the set battles are quite challenging and fun without being too much of a puzzle game. There is a lot of RNG, which may turn off some younger players. I like that not every attack or spell will be a known outcome.

Units gain experience and you get to pick from a few options every level, with some levels offering up abilities and spells as options. Units also have some inventory, which varies. However a unit/character can only have one artifact in their inventory including the hero. I think this is a little bit of a miss especially for the main character but it is not like the game hands them out like candy.

Janky interface, weird slowness in the game especially early on as tips will pop up. I welcome play aids but when they make the game unplayable that is an issue. Per the dev, this is just how it is with the underlying code. Not sure I buy it, but the good news is this is less of an issue as the game progresses.

Graphics and sound are pretty rudimentary but also completely adequate for the game. They don't take away from the game, but some polish could have been applied post release.

Overall, Warbanners is a fun wargame and worth playing. Well done.

Very good tactical game. Story becomes great near the end. Choices affect the end also. It will be hard for those not used to tactical turn based combat like Fantasy General even on easiest. A must play for fantasy story and turn based fans.

The presentation is not exactly on par when compared to other similiar titles of varying budgets, but the ideas of the game are pretty cool and interesting, and it's quite fun to play. I got mine on sale for 5 bucks, but tbh even 10 would be absolutely worth it.

The hit chances are way too low for this game to be fun. Nobody plays strategy games because they like to watch their guys miss a lot even on common enemies.

OK

Great game, looking forward to Veterum.
I hope Veterum will be as awsome as this one, it will be a challange because the linear story based fights aer very well designed and offer a perfect difficulty... In the demo of the Veterum after some time iam vastly overpowered...

Not a bad game by design with a good balance between simplicity and complexity with a taste old school games. Have some technical issues (game freezing sometimes for a time or just hanged at the start of the battle). If you like tactics games and ready to endure this problems then try it.

Have thoughts about refund game, but it's cheap and got it on sale so keeping it. Just want to support devs and hope their next game will be better.