Dragon Commander - Preview @ StrategyInformer

StrategyInformer has a small preview for Dragon Commander.

The campaign map itself is very simple – looking like a ye olde style hand drawn map, the land mass is divided into a number of territories. Each territory has a race (so who the local inhabitants are), and an economy and tech output. The more territories you conquer, the more gold you get per turn and the more research points you get per turn. Research points are used to either research new Dragon Abilities, or new units/unit abilities, presenting you a tactical choice between improving your army, and improving yourself.

Territories can be modified in a couple of different ways – you can play cards (Dragon Commander started off life as a table-top card strategy game thing), which you collect as spoils or through special buildings, or you can build buildings. There is only one building allowed per territory, and these can range from gold-enhancers, tech point enhancers, to factories that allow you build units in territories other than your home one.

Eventually, you’ll run into someone else who wants the same territory you want. Dragon Commander’s battles have the pacing of a pro Starcraft II match – you don’t have much time to take in your surroundings and start giving orders. On the campaign map, each territory is given its own map layout, and there’s several to choose from if you go online. Maps involve starting locations for everyone involved- up to four people, and then there is potentially neutral bases and territory to fight over. In the single-player, you can choose to auto-resolve the battle, either by letting the army fight out on its own, or by assigning a ‘general’ to improve the odds, although this costs gold.

Battles are a typical RTS experience in many ways – although the base building options are limited, you do build up a base, and any additional outposts you can capture, and then build units and send them out. Everything takes on a very ‘Supreme Commander’ mentality to mass produced units, although there’s none of the automation features. Typically, to win a match you have to destroy an opponent, either by grinding down his manpower reserves, or by overwhelming his defences and destroying all of his bases on the map.