WARNO Early Access preview — Look, it already has ‘no’ in the title

WARNO is Wargame: Red Dragon with Steel Division mechanics and more, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. Like the previous Wargame series entries, WARNO is a Cold War real-time strategy (RTS) game, albeit much more limited in scope. This time, it’s set strictly in 1989 — literally the worst occasion to set a Cold War game. The technological balance has swung overwhelmingly to NATO’s benefit, while Warsaw Pact’s preemptive invasion stance shifted to a much more passive defensive posture. However, the kids want Apaches, Bradleys, and 120mm M1A1s, so that’s what they’re getting. The gameplay in WARNO is the same as it was in Wargame. You build your deck, get to the field, spawn whichever units you can afford, wait for the ticker to award you more units, and so on. Units can carry up to three weapons each, vehicles still have directional armor, infantry still uses men as HP, and both can still be healed by supply trucks. Command units exist and, going by the manual, they actual…