''Battle Academy'' is a series of two

turn-based strategy A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a Strategy video game, strategy game (usually some type of wargaming, wargame, especially a wargaming#Unit or map scale, strategic-level wargame) where players take Time-keeping systems in games, turns when pla ...

video games developed and published by

Slitherine Software Slitherine Software UK Limited is a British video game developer and publisher founded on 25 June 2000. It is responsible for the production of a range of over 200 strategy and war video games for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS2, PS3, PS4, Wii, DS, ...

in the 2010s. The first game, ''BBC Battle Academy'' (originally ''Battlefield Academy''), was released in 2010. The second game, ''Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front'', was released in 2014.

Gameplay

''Battle Academy'' series is a pair of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

turn-based strategy games. In the first game, the player leads the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces against the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

through a series of missions in three campaigns:

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

, and

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. The second game features four campaigns set in the Eastern Front, two played from the German side, the other two from the Soviet side.

Play-by-mail A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game, PBEM game, or a turn-based game) is a game played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go were among the first PBM games. ''Diplomacy'' has been played by m ...

multiplayer is featured in both games. ''Battle Academy 2'' also supports

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

multiplayer.

Release

''Battle Academy'' was developed and published by Slitherine Software, a studio based in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

, England. The first game was released on August 5, 2010, for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

as ''Battlefield Academy''. It is based on a 2004

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

browser

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

game. A month after release,

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

claimed the game was infringing copyright because the name was too similar to its ''

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...

'' series. Slitherine was planning at the time ports and an expansion that were delayed because of the dispute. Ports for

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

, and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

were planned but never released. On September 6, 2011, the game was renamed to ''BBC Battle Academy'', and a

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

port was released at the same time. An

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

port was released on March 14, 2012, and an

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

port was released on December 12, 2014. Six expansions were released as

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...

(DLC) for the game. ''Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front'' was released for Windows on September 11, 2014, for iPad on October 23, 2014, and for macOS on November 20, 2014. ''Battle of Kursk'' expansion was released on April 2, 2015.

Reception

''BBC Battle Academy''

''Digitally Downloaded'' summarized the PC/Mac version: " ..ultimately Battle Academy is a little light for the wargame veteran, and a little complex for the casual strategy gamer, it should be reasonably fun for both groups, even if it’s not a game either would come back to six or twelve months down the track." Andrei Dumitrescu of ''

Softpedia Softpedia is a software and tech news website based in Romania. It indexes, reviews and hosts various downloadable software and reports news on technology and science topics. Website Softpedia hosts reviews written by its staff—each review in ...

'' said that ''Battle Academy'' delivers " ..a simple and solid set of gameplay mechanics that can be an excellent entry point for those who have not played any other titles in the genre so far .. Erik Carlson of ''Slide to Play'' summarized: "Battle Academy is for the hardcore strategy gamer only. The high price, high difficulty and occasional technical hiccups will dissuade many. But for those of you who are willing to take the challenge, you’ll encounter a highly engaging, absorbing and lengthy experience the likes of which has rarely been seen on iOS." Jim Cobb of ''

Armchair General "Armchair general" is a derogatory term for a person who regards themselves as an expert on military matters, despite having little to no actual experience in the military. Alternatively, it can mean a military commander who does not participat ...

'' reviewed the ''Operation Market Garden'' and ''Blitzkrieg France'' expansions and gave them a rating of 88%. Cobb said that " e patch and expansions make what was a nice game into something that is almost a classic." In 2012, he reviewed ''Operation Sealion'' expansion and gave it a rating of 92% and said it " ..stands out as the most challenging, innovative and enjoyable so far." In 2013, he reviewed ''Rommel in Normandy'' expansion and gave it a rating of 87% and said it " ..is the most exciting and intriguing campaign so far." In a 2020 retrospective review, Tim Stone of ''

Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

'' said that the game "has aged astonishingly well" and that " ..BA has a knack for drama that

Panzer General ''Panzer General'' is a 1994 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). It simulates conflict during World War II. The designers of ''Panzer General'' were heavily influenced by the Japanese wargame series ''Da ...

-likes like

Order of Battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed ...

and

Panzer Corps A panzer corps (german: Panzerkorps) was an armoured corps type in Nazi Germany's ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. The name was introduced in 1941, when the motorised corps (''Armeekorps (mot)'' or ''AK(mot)'') were renamed to panzer corps. Pan ...

lack."

''Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front''

''Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front'' received "generally favorable" reviews according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. Tim Stone of ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' wrote in a preview: " ..combat is certainly more interesting and more nuanced than before, but obviously if you want real detail and realism in your T-34 vs Tiger tussles (and don't mind the consequent increase in workload/confusion potential) you're far better off with a Graviteam or a

Battlefront In a military context, the term front can have several meanings. According to official US Department of Defense and NATO definitions, a front can be "the line of contact of two opposing forces."Leonard, B. (2011). Department of Defense Diction ...

product." Rob P. of ''Digitally Downloaded'' summarized the PC version: "While it shares a significant amount of DNA with the first game, the clever maps, huge unit roster, and brilliant skirmish generator make Battle Academy 2 one of the most entertaining tactical-level wargames on the market today." Davide Pessach of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

'' said that "Battle Academy 2 is a very focused wargame; perfect for anyone willing to strategize without spending hours going through text walls in a manual. The graphical quality could be off-putting, but mechanics and gameplay are top-notch and perfectly sound." Matt Thrower of ''

Pocket Gamer ''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. The site launched in 2005 and is published and owned by UK company Steel Media Ltd. The site covers all major portable and mobile gaming formats, incl ...

'' called the game " pitch perfect, pick up and play blend of strategy and accessibility, history and thrills".

References

External links

''Battlefield Academy''
at

* * {{Slitherine Software 2010 video games 2014 video games BBC Cancelled Nintendo DS games Cancelled PlayStation Portable games Cancelled PlayStation Vita games Cooperative video games IOS games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online games Play-by-email video games Slitherine Software games Turn-based strategy video games Video game franchises introduced in 2010 Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games World War II video games Xbox 360 games