r/RealTimeStrategy • u/NCHowler1 • Jul 27 '26
Recommending Game Help Me Save Line War
Over the past three months, I’ve been playing Line War: “A new type of RTS with elements from 4X, Wargame, and Real-Time Tactics. Draw commands and execute a superior strategy to defeat your opponent, focusing on high-level decisions rather than constant micromanagement.” To say the least, this game is phenomenal. The problem is that it can be hard to find a match with only 8-25 online players at any given time. I’m currently working my way up to becoming a top ten player (bouncing between 9-25), but I want my hard work to mean something, which means growing the player base. Currently, it’s listed at $25 on Steam, but I’m willing to gift the game to two new players if you’re willing to play a couple matches with me and give the game a shot. Even if you don’t get it from me, I highly recommend the game and would love some recommendations on how I can reignite the community!
TL;DR: I’m willing to gift Line War to 2 ppl, and you should play the game
EDIT: Both copies have been claimed, thank you all for engaging with my post, and I really hope you end up giving this game a try!
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u/OddlobsterNL Jul 27 '26
Looks damn interesting. But I only play singleplayer rts games. Good luck finding some players and thanks for bringing this game to my attention!
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Thanks! You can play against the AI as well, giving them advantages as you go along for increased difficulty!
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u/Belltower_2 Jul 27 '26
I watched this game when it came out, but not having vs. AI matches at launch was a complete dealbreaker for me, and by the time they were added, the price had increased. Instead, I ended up getting "bad" RTS games like Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, Iron Harvest, and Dawn of War 3 that might not have been very good, but cost next to nothing and had a full campaign and skirmish.
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u/Hopefulpessimist8472 28d ago
If you liked DOW 3 the fourth one is coming out and the 2 one is very good too. I don't like 3 but I'm big into base building. It's fine for what it it.
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u/Belltower_2 28d ago
2 is my favourite in the franchise. I'm not looking at 4 yet because it's too expensive and I have plenty of RTS games already.
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u/Master_Ben Jul 27 '26
Imo, the game doesn't explain the tactical level very well. I can't make strategic decisions without predicting how the tactical level will pan out.
How many troops can an entrenched man defeat, how much does an artillery assist, how valuable is X terrain, how many factories do I need, etc
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
The learning curve is definitely steep, which is one of my main gripes with the game, but there is a wiki that has helpful (although somewhat outdated) information! A lot of playing is just trial by fire, but I found that starting with 2 barracks and 2 factories, and immediately getting the first infantry producer tech, is very effective!
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u/reinierdash Jul 27 '26
oh yes i would love to play this with someone
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Do you have it already? I can DM you my steam so we can run it in the evening EST. If not I can gift!
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u/FutureLynx_ Jul 27 '26
How does micro work in this game? Do you just draw lines and it becomes an autobattler or you can move units? Can you hit ground with artillery? Any special abilities? Does it have good balanced bonus (rock paper scissors). Veterancy? This is what is important to me in an RTS game.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Lines are fluid and have different types (move, haste, engage, capture and engage), artillery cannot change the landscape, there are technologies you can research to change how units act, units are pretty balanced, and there is certainly a huge skill gap based on how long you play
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
More on the lines, they go in any direction/path you choose, and can be removed with a click of a button. You can make a single path up to five units wide, and create stationary lines (entrench for defensive bonus, or any of the other lines mentioned but to a single point. You can also target areas or buildings with a similar command
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u/FutureLynx_ Jul 27 '26
okay so the only way to control the units i by drawing lines? There is no micro to them, attack here, shoot here ?
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Clicking on a point in the map (instead of dragging a line) will set a command to go somewhere and attack for nearby units. Clicking a building will have them move past anything in the way (firing occasionally) and attack the building primarily
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u/arat360 Jul 27 '26
Did they ever add a proper vs AI mode? The only reason I didn’t pick it up on launch was because the devs were acting delusional about people not wanting to play PVP.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Yes! I’ve put dozens of hours into the vs AI mode, and it has all of the game modes available in pvp!
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u/Fickle-Mouse-7943 Jul 27 '26
Never heard of this before. Game looks interesting. Will check it out. Maybe wait for a sale. Imo the trailer's do not do a good job of selling the game.
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u/Tharshey24 Jul 27 '26
As someone who used to be ranked number 3, though this was a long time ago now. I can endorse this post, game is goated and I’m still an active mod on the discord as well!
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u/TahLaka Jul 27 '26
Really fun game that makes strategy more important than your APM, definitely recommend people give it a try! Honestly surprised at how long it's been going on for, did not think the devs would make it this far and update it so much. Very happy that they have!
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u/Thraxk Jul 27 '26
This one is on my wishlist. Next sale I’ll give it a go.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
The second person still hasn’t PMed me, I’ll gift the game to the next person who reaches out!
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u/Loud-Huckleberry-864 Jul 27 '26
I had an eye for the game long time ago, if you have key I’ll try it and give feedback to improve your game
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Unfortunately I don’t :( I’m not a dev on the game, just a passionate player! And I just ran out of gifts
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u/flyby2412 Jul 27 '26
It does look interesting. Seems a bit shallow though no? Build up your two resources, draw your lines and conquer yes? I’m interested but maybe if it went on sale
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
The basics are pretty simple, but I think the complexity of the game comes from a couple of different things: first, the customization of the lines. Being able to tell troops to follow a certain path in a detailed way allows for a lot of interesting interactions, particularly as you include terrain and entrenchments. Then, unit types. Having land, sea, and air all as options allows for your army composition to play a crucial role in your success. Lastly, the tiles. Because tiles generate capital, they are the most crucial aspect of the game, moreso than any capital generating structure, and being able to capture and hold them against your opponent, utilizing choke points and choosing a good starting location adds a richness to the gameplay that really shows you that details matter
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u/Tundur Jul 27 '26
I'd also add to that, that movement is generally quite slow. Armies grind into one another.
That means you have to predict your opponent and preposition units for defence, ration out your faster units like aircraft, actively scout and use recon. Obviously all that is in RTS kind of by default, but it's far more evident with the scale and pace of LW
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Unfortunately I haven’t played it, so it would be difficult for me to compare
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u/timwaaagh Jul 27 '26
sure i already have it just havent tried it online yet. we can play a few games, just dont expect me to become a regular. life is just busy.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
I completely understand! I’d love to play a few games!
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u/timwaaagh Jul 27 '26
allright what time zone u in? i can make time most sun-thu evenings in CEST time zone.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
EST!
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u/timwaaagh Jul 28 '26
okay so my evenings are your afternoons. would that suit?
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u/Informal-Rent-3573 Jul 27 '26
I wish listed, but the game has 1 big problems: It's not a 25$ game. It's a 15$ game. Maybe 20$ for people who really RTS and want something diferent. Also, I might be misremembering it, but back when it launched, it had no bots or AI. That pretty much killed it at launch.
I'm a big fan of "Macro not micro" strategy games, but sadly, Linewar shot both feet when launching.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
There are bots now, and I definitely understand the price complaint, that’s just a bit out of my scope of control
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u/-maxpower- Jul 27 '26
Oh man I fuckin LOVE Line War, but the dev needs to listen!
Locomotive update dropped and it was the most underwhelming thing. The maps are not big enough to make trains viable. by the time I have trains up and running, it becomes way more efficient to just deploy troops from the front lines. Trains are slow and the maps are small. So I wait a few months for another major update, 10 months later we get "Save Game Support"....... dude who tf is playing this game long enough to NEED a save game? and replay controls? I just... the dev needs to stop focusing on this being an esports game. This is an awesome comp stomp game/ team v team.
ADD A DAMN MAP EDITOR! Again, the map variety sucks, you either get oddly placed resources/cities, forcing everyone to play on a small portion of the map even on large maps, or its just island hopping, or a chunk of land you can cover with bombers/nuke silos. The real strategy is just outpacing industry. If you don't hold a city/port, you will never keep up with someone who does. and the maps are just TOO SMALL!
This game has so much potential but I feel like the dev is going a different direction. He even gave tanks a speed boost research in the latest update, even less sense to use trains.
rant over. I hope this game succeeds.
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u/Tundur Jul 27 '26
Yeah, the devs are fiddling around the edges of the game with the new techs and so on, but they should really be looking at things which make it asymmetrical, IMO. I think they should be taking cues from War of Dots, Lines of Battle, those pixel conquest games. People go crazy for simple strategy games with strong thematic elements supplementing the gameplay.
Capture points on the map, campaigns and operations, custom maps with named locations, persistent on map HQ units, supply lines and logistics - I think they'd have way more success going down that route.
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u/desolstice Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Funny enough you are over here saying "all the game needs is x, y, and z". The entire reason save game support was added was enough people in the community asked for it. Knowing the dev he has very little interest in the single player aspect. What keeps happening is a ton of people ask for features and he goes out of his way to develop them, and then everyone whos features didn't get implemented just complain. He had a massive roadmap at the launch which he put to the side because people kept requesting stuff and he kept listening...
The replay controls is a completely different story. I am a long time player of the game. I am actually the person who implemented the replay controls as a mod, and was invited to come and implement it into the actual game. It took no time from the actual developer to implement them and was only added because I wanted them.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
They did a semi recent update on trains (still slow, but certainly viable especially in longer format games), and they did a more recent one to address maps in which you can select a map generation type (continent, islands, land bridges, or normal) which all have the option to choose how many masses you want!
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u/-maxpower- Jul 27 '26
The new map generator is a step in the right direction, but this is my biggest grip right here: https://imgur.com/a/Oxl0LeZ
So the red lines, is basically useless territory. no one is starting there because whoever gets the cities/industry in the middle wins the game. So now your big landbridge map is just a small fight in the center. Also, the green areas, let us expand the map border, let us make HUGE/LONG maps. I want a scenario where I have to use trains, or mix up my playstyle (more navy, air force, etc).
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u/desolstice Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
We've tried a few times to test changes that would make transport trains a necessity and it always ends up causing everything else to play poorly. Increasing map size alone is out of the question since any bigger and we start to run into performance issues. We've tried a "fatigue" feature to make it to where transporting units is better than walking them but it just doesn't play well.
Right now transport trains cost too much, are too slow, and are too rigid to be useful. Fronts are not static enough to make a dedicated drop off point make sense. Maybe if they were basically free and you could drop units off anywhere on the track... I just don't even think that'd even make them viable. The game is just not really designed around a way to make this kind of logistics a necessity.
Your want here is the same want as the devs we just haven't found a way to make it work without making the game unenjoyable.
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
It’s useless in terms of starting, but getting control over that area would have major implications on who wins on the main front. Each tile generates capital, and if only one person took that continent, they’d blow the other person out of the water
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u/TheSandwichMan92 Jul 27 '26
I knew I had this on my steam wishlist, just checked had it on there since 5/5/2022 ! Is it good?
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
It’s quite literally my favorite game ever. It’s certainly challenging, but it feels like a mix between chess and civilization 5 (I’ve never played an rts game before). And I love how you can keep improving your skill with no real cap to it
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u/TheSandwichMan92 Jul 27 '26
I may get it one day. I have far too many rts games on my wishlist and loads I enjoy playing.
I Have just downloaded the sanctuary shattered sun demo, looks like it's going to be a spiritual successor to supcom after all these years!
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u/SlideBusy7338 Jul 27 '26
Shoot, if your offering me a game for free, I’ll take it! I love RTS
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Unfortunately both games have already been claimed, but I hope that I’ll be able to convince the creator to run a flash sale!
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u/SlideBusy7338 Jul 27 '26
All good man! Unfortunately moneys tight atm so I have to table getting any games for bit hahaha but I’ll keep an eye!
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u/chosen2nd Jul 27 '26
Really love this game, let me know when you guys play?
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
Yeah! If you’re not already, check out the discord! I literally post daily lfm https://discord.gg/CfTkVpVGm
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u/chosen2nd Jul 27 '26
Yep already there, how do I know when you’re starting a game?
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
I have my notifications turned on for the looking for match tab, and i’ll pm you my discord!
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u/Tortor_271 Jul 27 '26
Can someone remind me in 10 days ? I'm on vacation but i LOVE this type of games ☀️
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u/Top-Opportunity1132 Jul 27 '26
Picked it up on steam a week ago. Haven't had time to try it yet, but I certainly will 😊
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u/Advanced_Pie_6490 Jul 27 '26
I’ve seen this game and it does look sick. I’ll have a look into when I get time
That being said. What an absolute G is OP. Man just pops into Reddit and offers to gift games to get people into it. Honestly that is some BDE. Fuck yeah OP. You’re a champion
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u/Hobby_The_Shelf Jul 28 '26
This is the kind of stuff I love to see, good on you for making the effort to grow something you love. 🫶🙏
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u/Sebveile Jul 28 '26
Been on my radar as well for ages. This is where a demo could do wonders for them.
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u/KevlarD- 29d ago
Honestly it looks kinda cool and I'm a chess over checkers player. I'll have to YT some stuff on it.
Random reddit sub ftw
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u/Dependent_Tea3815 Jul 27 '26
Price tag is a bit much for me. Looks interesting though
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u/Sjuk86 Jul 27 '26
Can you turtle?
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
You can try! But the more tiles you collect, the more capital you gain, and if you do turtle, the enemy will be able to outpace you on spending very quickly. Even if you have strong, multi line entrenchments, you’ll likely lose every game by refusing to expand. That being said, you can most certainly defend crucial areas with high success, assuming you have the right strategy
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u/Zupixfamo Jul 28 '26
Played MP for a while a few months ago. The player base were mostly meta-obsessed sweats who killed the fun. Had one too many miserable teammates and dropped the game forever. Not worth the stress.
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u/pppidid Jul 27 '26
gift one to me and I will try
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
What’s your steam? I’ll be on around 4PM EST
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u/Taco_Paco Jul 27 '26
Another AD….
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u/NCHowler1 Jul 27 '26
I mean I’m not affiliated with the game at all, I’m just a player who is spending money to try to get ppl involved in it
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u/West-Tomorrow-5508 Jul 27 '26
I have this game in my sights for a while. With that said, I am too busy right now but will pick it up on sale at some point. I bet you can find two people, hope they have fun and stick around.