Hardcore Military Games

This is a new section where I will be posting a list of hardcore military games that I think worth recommending. By hardcore, I mean games that offer a relatively high fidelity of simulation or a high degree of strategic complexity coupled with hefty punishment for mindlessness or impatience. Some games are more hardcore than others, and I am assigning each a `hardcore rating’. Note that this rating is relative: a game with a low hardcore rating may be less complex/demanding that others on the list, but still more so than an average AAA game.

Over time I hope to flesh out this page with more details, as well as adding to the length of the list.

ArmA series

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: first/third person combined operation battlefield simulation.

Combat Mission series

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: real-time (or turn based, you can choose) tactical-level strategy.

Command Ops: Battles From the Bulge

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: real-time operational-level strategy.

Commandos series

Hardcore rating: low-medium.
Type: top-down real-time stealth.

DCS World and its modules

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: first-person flight simulation.

Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star (formerly known as Achtung Panzer: Operation Star)

Hardcore rating: medium-high.
Type: real-time tactical-level strategy, with a turn-based operational-level campaign element between battles.

Hearts of Iron III

Hardcore rating: medium-high.
Type: real-time grand strategy.

Insurgency

Hardcore rating: low.
Type: multiplayer first-person shooter.

IL-2 Sturmovik series

Hardcore rating: medium.
Type: first-person flight simulation.

Iron Front: Liberation 1944

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: first/third person combined operation battlefield simulation.

Silent Hunter series

Hardcore rating: medium.
Type: first-person submarine simulation.

Steel Armor: Blaze of War

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: first-person tank simulation (modern).

Steel Beast Pro PE

Hardcore rating: high.
Type: first-person tank simulation (modern).

Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942

Hardcore rating: medium-high.
Type: first-person tank simulation (World War II Era).

Theatre of War series

Hardcore rating: low–medium.
Type: real-time tactical-level strategy.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (early games)

Hardcore rating: medium.
Type: squad-based first-person shooter with advance tactical planning element.

Wargame series

Hardcore rating: low.
Type: real-time tactical-level strategy (later games have a turn-based campaign between missions).