Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

A Warhammer 40,000 squad-based game for the Nintendo DS and PSP. It's considered by some retards to be probably the closest we will ever see to a version of Tabletop 40K brought to console and given justice in terms of play mechanics. Note that whilst it exists for both the DS and the PSP, the differences between the two games are so hilarious, apparent, and obvious that it actually is difficult to clarify without open ridicule. Were it simply that the PSP version had better graphics, most would likely let things slide, but the PSP version is genuinely in every way a superior version of the game, including online multiplayer, a useful tactical mapper, animated cutscenes with full audio, improved mechanics and balance for almost every weapon, and improved weather and terrain effects. The most obvious difference you can see on 1d4chan that's readily apparent, however, is the graphics. Really, it's the difference between a Golden Demon award and THIN YOUR PAINTS.

Gameplay-wise, it's a turn-based game, a-la Warhammer 40K's Kill Team game-type from the previous codex edition - you are given a small squad of units, and are expected to complete objectives (usually by fucking destroying everything on the map). Units you will acquire range from Scouts and Space Marines, to Terminators, Landspeeders, Tanks, and Dreadnaughts. Your enemies are Chaos - by and large they have either identical stats or stats that are analogous to the Loyalists', but with a few changes here and there. Movement and combat use "Time Units," a-la Microprose's famed X-Com games, to perform actions. Being the killer religious supermen they are, your Marines can blow through cover to deal with enemies behind it, or fight like a Reasonable Marine and stick to defillade. With tons of weapons and a fairly compelling (if basic-as-heck) story to it, it's a good game, especially if you have the fortune to have a friend nearby who has it as well.

Differences Between Versions

Really, all you need to do is Compare:

• 

  DS version

• 

  PSP version

/tg/ has nothing more to add.

Plot

Squad Command takes place on an Imperial Forge World, where the forces of Chaos have begun to stir. Not willing to put the important planet at risk, the Ultramarines are sent in to deal with the incursion and keep the taint from spreading. What follows is a hard-hitting and balls-out tricky campaign that sets Marine against Marine.

Idly, ever notice how every fucking game lately features a Forge World?

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Huge array of units with at least partially-sense-making mechanics.
• Lots of really interesting setups with the environments and weapons - Power Fist your way through a wall before sweeping it with flamers, or run enemies over with a Landspeeder.
• Really good dialogue and command interpretation in the PSP version.
• Lots and lots of gun weapons for every unit, from Scouts using Shotguns and Heavy Bolters to Terminators butt-fucking everything in a cone with heavy flamers.
• The Plasma Gun is actually FUCKING LORE ACCURATE,except for not overheating.

CONS:

• Only two factions each for Space Marines and Chaos; specifically, Smurfs, Imperial Fists, Black Legion, and Word Bearers, respectively. (Wrong. There are 3 per-side. Salamanders for the Imperium and some random purple chucklefucks for chaos.)
• Combat system has a steep learning curve.
• Bolters don't make much sense. They shoot like assault rifles and, for some reason, the likes of Chaos Cultists and Space Marine Scouts can take dozens of shots from them before dying.
• You can, for some reason, hack a Predator Tank to death with a chainsword. And because melee attacks cost no four action points (usually out of thirty), engaging any enemy in close combat just about spells instant death to anything in one turn.
• Terribad voiceacting on both sides in that nobody sounds like Space Marines at all. The Loyalist Marines sound largely uninterested in the conflict and Chaos Marines are so horribly cheesy with their "generic evil villian" voices that its hard to take them seriously.
• DS Version is Nurgle-grade AIDS.
• Computer-controlled enemies are cover-camping shits.

See Also

• Warhammer 40,000: Glory in Death - THE clostest thing we have to WH40K tabletop gaming.
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine