Talking about Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command on PSP, Miika Tams shines a beacon of light on the darkness of Games Workshop's futuristic war setting.
Miika Tams is a Producer at RedLynx and has recently completed work on Warhammer 40,000 Squad Command for THQ. He grew up above the Arctic Circle, in Finnish Lapland, playing various computer and role-playing games, reading comics and doing a lot of snowboarding. Now, at the age of 29, he is doing exactly these same things as a profession; designing games influenced by his interests.
Can you explain Warhammer 40,000 to people unfamiliar with the setting and games?
Warhammer 40,000 is a science fiction universe created by Games Workshop. It focuses on the conflicts between the armies of the various races within the universe; the main forces being the Imperium of Mankind and the forces of Chaos. Fans of Warhammer 40,000 paint miniatures of their favourite units and use them to battle against other players in turn-based table-top matches, following a long-standing set of rules that Games Workshop has developed. In recent years, the universe has also spawned a number of videogames, the latest of which is Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command.
The universe is set in the far future, approximately in the year 40,000 and the slogan explains it best, "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." It is a dark world; you could say that Warhammer 40,000 presents a harsh dystopia of the far future.
What is the storyline of Squad Command and how does it fit with the existing Warhammer 40,000 canon?
The main story of Squad Command are the Imperium of Man's endless battles against the forces of Chaos, to prevent Chaos from their pursuit of destroying the last bits of human kind in the galaxy.
The battles in Warhammer 40,000 span the entire universe and as there are hundreds and hundreds of planets where these battles are fought, in the game you are thrown into battle on one planet and must destroy the Chaos forces that have corrupted this world.
The storyline of the Warhammer 40,000 universe is never-ending; there are always new bits and pieces of the canon created. We are proud to have our input to this vast universe with our story. I will look forward to hearing the verdict of the Warhammer 40,000 fans; how well they see the story fits into the universe.
Can you explain some more about the squad based gameplay?
Squad Command is a turn-based strategy game with real time elements embedded. Each unit has action points that are consumed when commands are given. Commands include such actions as movement and shooting. There are variations for even these basic commands; the more action points used in movement, the further the unit can walk and the more action points used for shooting, the more precisely the unit will shoot. During your turn you give commands for your units and when your turn ends the enemy will execute their commands. You can also rotate each unit, crouch and leave action points to be used in the enemy turn for automatic defence.
In single player there is no time limit for your turn, you can use as much time as you want to plan and execute your strategy. The multiplayer however is a completely different story; there is a 90 second time limit, so you will have to be fast to execute your actions and also very fast to adapt to the new situation after the enemy's turn.
Multiplayer is very fast; your own teammates move their forces real time with your units during the same turn and, to be able to win, you need to communicate using the icon-based communication in the battle map. Ninety seconds is not that much time, it is very hectic for a turn-based game. In the multiplayer the maximum amount of players is eight players with six units so altogether there are 48 units maximum on the battlefield.
What sort of weapons can we expect in the 41st millennium?
The easiest answer for that question is to say pretty much anything that can rip, chop, blast or destroy your enemy.
There are rapid fire weapons shooting bursts of bullets; deadly particularly at close range. Pistol weapons, that are rapid fire weapons but can be carried single handed. Also, the basic weapons include assault weapons such as flamers and heavy weapons such as missile launchers; these weapon types are very good for laying down supporting fire on the battle field.
There are also versions of all of these weapon types that are so huge that they can not be carried, but must be mounted on a vehicle. The main difference with these weapons compared to the weapons carried by infantry units is the size and the amount of destruction they can deliver.
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