Buy Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm - Player's Edition PC key

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm - Player's Edition is a turn-based command game set in 1980s Central Europe, where NATO and Soviet forces fight after the Cold War turns into a world war. You issue battle-plan orders to your units, weighing mission objectives, the strengths and weaknesses of both forces, terrain, weather and time of day. Crews try to carry out your plan, but you must adapt as the battle changes.

The conflict

The setting draws on the division of postwar Europe between a Western bloc led by the United States and a Soviet-led Eastern bloc. The Iron Curtain separates them, and decades of political and military tension bring the world close to World War III. In the game, that conflict becomes a shooting war, with the possibility of escalation to an all-out nuclear war.

Command and combat

An asynchronous turn structure models the OODA loop. Turn lengths vary with each force’s command, control and communications (C3) state, which is affected by unit losses and electronic warfare. The combat engine accounts for weather, sensors, terrain and troop capability, while reconnaissance units can see farther than other units and are harder to detect.

Fog of war requires units to see and identify enemies, and reports can be incorrect or incomplete. Dynamic weather affects weapons and sensors: rain and wind degrade thermal systems, while some aircraft and helicopters cannot fly in bad weather or darkness. You can adjust settings to suit different levels of realism.

Units can use artillery ammunition including high-explosive, smoke, mines and ICM. Nuclear and chemical warheads are also available on strategic platforms such as surface-to-surface missiles, but using them comes at a cost. The game also includes an improved infantry model, engineering functions for demolishing or bridging rivers and clearing mines and obstacles, and the ability to reassign units under different command.

Scenarios and campaigns

The game includes over 20 single scenarios and four campaigns, in which you manage a core force across a series of battles. Scenarios feature three NATO forces against the Soviets, and a crafty AI opponent seeks to achieve its own objectives or deny yours. More than 20 maps are based on real Central European terrain. A new scenario can be played from either side or as a head-to-head match.

Forces and tools

The game represents US, UK, West German and Soviet forces, with 1980s platforms and weapons. These include aircraft and helicopters with different types and loadouts, tanks, APCs, self-propelled guns, anti-tank, flak and SAM systems, towed guns, trucks, jeeps and infantry with a wide range of weapons. Detailed orders of battle and information before, during and after each scenario help you track the state of your forces.

Built-in editors let you change map parameters and create or edit scenarios and campaigns. The mod-friendly design supports changes to graphics, sounds and data elements, including units, weapons, orders of battle, formations and national ratings.

Player's Edition changes

This edition adds visual improvements, expanded multiplayer options, and changes to the interface and combat logic. Its additions and adjustments include new OTS Standard Maps by William, a Sudden Death multiplayer setting, an ATGM launch hint, a wider date range in the scenario editor, improved helicopter combat and AI logic for scooting, standoff range and resupply. It also clarifies the difference between fallen-out and destroyed subunits, improves labels, corrects artillery fire kill percentages, and fixes counter-battery fire and direct support issues.