Wartorn Hands-on Preview – Crying over the last man

When your home is burned by invading forces and you must flee, you don’t consider the harsh reality ahead. Wartorn takes that harsh reality and runs with it, putting you in unfavourable situations where you fight to the last man. As you travel across the land searching for help, you must decide where you go and what battles are worth fighting. Ensure morale stays high because everything collapses if you can’t keep everyone motivated.

Wartorn is a real-time strategy roguelite that makes you reconsider the risk of your battle tactics. I had the chance to sit down and experience the tactical gameplay by leading squads to safety. Within minutes, several squads had fallen, and defeat was imminent. It quickly became clear that approaching Wartorn like a regular strategy game was a recipe for failure, and a new approach was necessary. Every life matters, more so than if I were operating a squad of elite soldiers or professional adventurers. Without a fully formed squad, I felt like I was walking into enemy territory naked.

The premise of Wartorn is a pair of elven sisters whose home comes under attack. They manage to escape and try to seek help from the elven authority in the land. However, the attack on their home is just the prelude to a larger conflict, making it difficult for any help to arrive. The sisters must rally whatever forces they can find while travelling to find whatever assistance is available. The journey isn’t easy, but in a crisis, they must do whatever they can.

Wartorn pushes this by giving you limited reinforcements. While you can recruit a number of squads, replenishing your fallen forces is a difficult task. Your squad is only as good as the number of soldiers, and losing a single member dents your offensive power considerably. Early on, it’s hard to lose a single soldier as the game eases you into combat. But you are quickly thrown into the deep end when enemy forces begin to outnumber yours. That’s when you feel the pain of losing a single soldier and learn what it is like to fight against overwhelming odds.

It wasn’t difficult to navigate the early battles, but I didn’t realise how precious my soldiers were. Only after a skirmish that claimed three lives did I realise how much my offensive power had dropped. This wasn’t too bad in the beginning, as I could top up my forces, but it became apparent that I couldn’t keep this up forever. I either had to recruit more soldiers or be more cautious. Both would take significant time to learn, as I assembled a patchwork of various factions to survive.

As I travelled with my strengthened army, enemy forces constantly ambushed me. Whether it was emerging from the fog of war unexpectedly or surrounding my forces, I was frequently taken by surprise. This resulted in my army getting decimated and fighting to the last man. Several situations became untenable, and I was forced to abandon a run or accept defeat. But like every roguelite, every failure was a teaching experience that helped me refine my tactics.

Unfortunately, the battles never got easier. Even as I learned to slowly advance or bait enemies with the two sisters, there was always a surprise around the corner. Enemies brought out bigger and better units while my reinforcements were paltry at best. Even when I finally acquired a giant of my own, they were quickly dispatched by the enemy. It feels unfair, unjust, and cruel to always be at a disadvantage. But that’s the point of Wartorn: fighting against overwhelming odds to gain even a sliver of hope that tomorrow is better.

Coupled with choices whose consequences aren’t always guaranteed, this adds a new dimension to your planning. You aren’t working with a powerful fighter or soldier, but a squad that’s only as strong as its numbers. Losing even one unit affects your combat capabilities in a big way, and it’s tough to replace them. You can recruit more squads, but you have no idea when that might be. This new dimension adds to the difficulty and immerses you in the gameplay.

Even if you encounter the same set of choices, there’s no guarantee they end up the same way. You might recruit powerful forces or end up worse than before. I couldn’t refuse any choice because it was either salvation or the end of the run. Even if I got lucky with good choices and built an army, there’s no substitute for good tactics. Every battle was a risk, and I was wary of any situation where combat didn’t end immediately. I thought about whether it would be good to advance or wait for enemies to approach. Sometimes it was a coin toss, and I had to reveal the fog of war or nothing would happen.

But the whole experience drew me in, unlike other strategy games I’ve experienced. It was the first time that faceless mooks in a squad became precious. I had to think like I was fighting a guerrilla operation. Every resource and upgrade was vital. While I didn’t enjoy losing and starting over, every flawless victory brought on a wave of relief like never before.

Wartorn isn’t an easy game since your first few runs through several unknown factors at you. You wonder how your squads got wiped out, why you aren’t recruiting anyone, or why your food is running low. As you become familiar with enemy types and strategies, you learn to preserve your squads and figure out what battles are worth fighting. It takes a lot of time since squad management is a difficult dimension to master.

However, it’s hard to think of a title that makes you attached to squads instead of individuals. When you finally figure out how to keep everyone alive and travel somewhat safely, it’s a genuine relief. Your commanding skills won’t face a greater test than what you experience in Wartorn, and I can’t wait to see what future challenges await you.

Wartorn is launching into Steam Early Access on June 17, 2025.