Ironclads 2: War of the Pacific

I have a soft spot for wargames covering conflicts most people couldn't place on a map, which is exactly why Ironclads 2: War of the Pacific caught my attention. The 1879 War of the Pacific between Chile and Peru-Bolivia is one of the most naval-decisive conflicts of the 19th century, and Totem Games makes a reasonable case that it deserves its own dedicated sim. What you get is a two-layer hybrid: a turn-based strategic map where you manage fleet positions, trade route blockades, harbour sieges, and amphibious assaults, which then feeds into real-time tactical battle sessions where formation control, ballistics models, and individual ship damage actually matter. That structure is the game's biggest asset and its most obvious limitation at the same time. On the strategic layer, the core loop is tighter than it first appears. Merchant fleets generate income each turn by completing trade voyages, and intercepting the enemy's commerce while protecting your own is a genuine resource war. You spend that income on new hulls - everything from small coastal gunboats and armed steamers through to the precious ironclads that anchor each side's battle plan - or on harbour defences like shore batteries, mines, and torpedo boats. The asymmetry between the two factions is meaningful: playing as Chile means fielding battery ironclads where ramming tactics are a legitimate and satisfying strategy, while Peru starts from a position of naval deficit and forces a much more defensive, port-hugging game. That asymmetry gives the campaign real replay value even inside a small design footprint. The tactical layer is where opinions divide. The real-time battle mode uses realistic ship models with advanced ballistics and weapon systems, and individual engagements can be tense, slow-burning affairs where waterline hits and flooding create the kind of cascading damage that wargame fans love. Critics from the community, however, are right to note that the combat system does not hit the mechanical depth of older PC naval sims in the Distant Guns lineage. Battles can drag, the AI has been reported to behave erratically around harbour engagements, and there is no in-game tutorial to speak of - the manual is your onboarding, full stop. For strategy players used to Paradox-style hand-holding options, that will sting. For anyone who cut their teeth on tabletop naval wargames, it will feel perfectly natural. The mod ecosystem is essentially non-existent, which is a real gap for long-term replayability. The game uses AngelScript internally and community members have asked about moddability, but no meaningful mod scene has developed around it. Totem Games does have a track record of patching bugs - a reported harbour defence glitch was fixed post-launch - but the game has not received transformative content updates. Steam user sentiment sits at a mixed 62% positive across 37 reviews, which is an honest signal: this is a niche product that succeeds for its target audience and frustrates everyone else. If you want a polished, accessible naval game, look elsewhere. If you want the closest thing to a proper sim of a genuinely obscure 19th-century conflict, the competition is thin to nonexistent. Diego, Scout Team

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