Wargame is a great game – in my opinion, the best RTS of all time – but due to its unique mechanics and PvP focus it is hard for a new player to break into. As there’s a shortage of good guides I decided to write one, focusing on tactics and on explaining how the different unit types are used.

Deckbuilding advice is not the focus here. I may write some posts on it in the future, but if you need help with that you can always look up meta decks or copy what other players are using. No point providing specific unit picks when they change every patch and highrank meta decks are public knowledge.

For what game types to play while starting out, I think both ranked 1v1 and random 10v10 have their advantages. 1v1 is where you improve, but losing costs motivation. 10v10 with normal settings (no tacticals, no tiny maps) gives you little responsibility so it’s good for learning the game without always losing or being noticed by your teammates every time you make a mistake. If playing 10v10, don’t hesitate to check winrates and try to join the stronger side. In fact, you should check player profiles aggressively for all matches you play – if you don’t look out to protect yourself against stacking, nobody will.

Consider playing a mission or two of the European Escalation campaign. Wargame EE is a different beast from Red Dragon in many ways, but it’s still Wargame. It will give you a taste of victory and it’s a fun thing to come back to if you get burnt out on the multiplayer. It’s also a lot slower which is good when getting used to the wargame format.

And a final piece of advise – add people you have good games with. It’s common and accepted practice to friend people that you’d like to play with again. Having a decently sized friend list also means you’ll always have teammates you can rely on. This saves a lot of frustration in 2v2 and up.

Big thanks to Faust for teaching me how to play, and to nande for all the feedback he provided on the guide < 3