C&C was amazing / Red Alert, not so much...

The remastered edition of the classic RTSs Command & Conquer (Tiberium dawn - I never knew it had a subtitle...) and Red Alert was released at the beginning of June and I pre-ordered it many moons ago because they are such classics. I eagerly awaited its release and dived straight into the campaigns in C&C as soon as it was released.

For the first couple of weeks of ownership I relished every cut-scene and battled my way, firstly, through the NOD campaign and then through the GDI campaign. I loved every minute! I think they have aged so well as games, the map design, the corny cut-scenes and story line, it was like being transported back 25 years. I use to get up at 6am on a Saturday just so I could get a couple of hours in before my brothers awoke and kicked me off the computer. Such good times!

After completing both campaigns on C&C I then eagerly dived into Red Alert and started the Allied campaign, which I finished last night. I have to say that I was disappointed. The missions were fairly lacklustre and felt like glorified skirmishes and the cut scenes were fewer than I remembered and a bit crap. The ending cut scenes in C&C were both good and felt like a reward after such grooling campaigns, but the end of the Allied campaign in Red Alert seemed like a short between clip, with hardly any effort put into it. I'm going to start the Soviet campaign soon and I hope it's better!

This isn't to say that Red Alert, as a game, is worse than C&C. On the contrary, it's an improvement. The maps are bigger, there are more units and base building is easier. It's an all round improvement. But there is an aesthetic to C&C that Red Alert misses and there seems to be less attention given to the campaign, which is such a shame!

If there are any C&C/Red Alert fans out there who haven't picked up the new remastered edition, I can highly recommend it. If nothing else, the multiplayer has been refreshed and is such a laugh with a couple of mates.

Napoleonic French force almost complete

I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted. I guess I haven't had a huge amount to talk about and having moved house and changed jobs, it's been a bit busy too.

Anyway, this is just a quick update on my Napoleonic French. Further from my last post, I got a second box of Perry's french and also got a few bits which my brother kindly painted for me. So, I now have a large block of almost 50 conscrips, supported by about 30 grenadiers, 36 voltigeurs, a cannon and a various officers and NCOs.

For Sharp Practice this is enough to enjoy almost any scenarios and campaigns. It would be nice to have some cavalry to go with them, but I'm not up to painting those yet.

I think I'm going to move on to some Napoleonic British next, but I'm taking my time to decide. With lock down happening there are no events happening in the near future so no rush.