I felt behind an eight ball at the start, as the computer was running and I was learning to crawl. But Iron Harvest really pushes the need for cover fire and hit and run tactics, especially when playing as Usonia. I understand basic movement and tech trees from playing other RTS games in the past. Operation Eagle doesn’t hold your hand in the beginning of its campaign, which was a problem at the start for me.

I know that because I enjoyed the story of Operation Eagle so much I’m currently working through the three original campaigns. What do I feel I missed out by not playing Iron Harvest first? For one, an amazing story driven campaign. Because this review is specifically for Iron Harvest: Operation Eagle, I intentionally did not play Iron Harvest before hand, because you can play the new DLC without having to. With Operation Eagle you get the Usonian campaign, which spans about 12 hours of playtime to complete, and access to the online multiplayer portion of Iron Harvest. All three of those campaigns tell a separate story and tie together by the end of Iron Harvest. However, if you haven’t purchased the base game you can not play the other three factions' campaigns that come with the base version. Iron Harvest: Operation Eagle is a DLC for Iron Harvest proper, but it also can act as a standalone game it does not require you to have bought Iron Harvest. Usonians, who have no business entering into disputes on the other side of the planet, have decided they are going to do just that. I say these heavy-handed things, because the game plays up all those storylines in the Operation Eagle DLC. What could drag Usonian into the fray? Certainly not land rights, or oil, or spreading freedom to other countries. That’s right, step aside other countries, it’s the United States, or in this case Usonia’s, time to shine. Can you guess which new faction they’ve decided to add with this DLC? But I’m not here to talk about Iron Harvest proper, I’m here to speak of Iron Harvest: Operation Eagle. In Iron Harvest proper, you follow the campaigns of the three main factions as they fight against the evil group known as Fenris. You may also be familiar with the board game Scythe, which used Różalski's art as its inspiration. The game is based on an alternate world created by artist Jakub Różalski. Besides all the changes to locations, Iron Harvest also includes the twist of armored mechs - albeit mechs created in the 1920s - as a staple. Iron Harvest is a real time strategy game set in an alternative 1920s where instead of Poland, Russia, and Germany, the world is occupied by countries like Polania, Rusviet, and Saxony.

Iron harvest concept art