The Long War

# The Long War — Grand Strategy Edition

**Command a nation. Shape history. Inherit the wreckage.**

*The Long War* is a turn-based grand strategy game set during the Second World War. Pick one of five great powers, choose your starting scenario, and steer your nation through six years of total war — managing focus points, factories and manpower while history hammers down on you in the form of decisions, events and the tightening pressure of the strategic map.

It's a single-player game built in Python and pygame, with a deliberately retro CRT aesthetic — glowing amber text, scanlines, ASCII panels and a theatre map you'll lean on every turn.

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## Choose your nation

Five playable powers, each with their own focus trees, historical events, generals and pressures:

- 🇩🇪 **Germany** — *Axis.* Blitzkrieg, U-boats, two-front nightmare, wonder weapons.

- 🇯🇵 **Imperial Japan** — *Axis.* Carrier strikes, kamikaze doctrine, the slow strangulation of the oil supply.

- 🇺🇸 **United States** — *Allied.* The arsenal of democracy. Pacific and European fronts. The Manhattan Project sits on your desk.

- 🇬🇧 **United Kingdom** — *Allied.* The Atlantic lifeline, Bomber Command, North Africa, and a Commonwealth that needs holding together.

- 🇷🇺 **Soviet Union** — *Allied.* Vast manpower and industrial weight set against a purged officer corps and a wrecked western frontier.

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## Choose when to enter the war

- **1939 — *The Storm Breaks.*** Germany invades Poland. The world holds its breath. *(Hardest — you build your empire from scratch.)*

- **1941 — *World Ablaze.*** Pearl Harbor. Barbarossa. Every theatre is alight. *(Standard scenario, recommended.)*

- **1943 — *Hour of Decision.*** Stalingrad has fallen. Midway is lost. Can you reverse the tide? *(Brutal — Axis nations defending from turn one.)*

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## Choose how hard you want it

Four difficulty settings change AI strength, resource flows and morale tolerance:

- **Easy** — boosted resources, weaker AI. Focus on the story.

- **Medium** — *recommended.* Balanced historical challenge.

- **Hard** — stronger AI, fewer resources, unforgiving morale.

- **Iron Will** — no saves. One chance. History will judge you.

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## What you actually do each turn

- **Spend focus points** on your nation's strategic priorities — research, industry, fronts, doctrines.

- **React to historical events** — Casablanca, Tehran, the Singapore Crisis, Brazil's entry, the Burma chain, Arctic convoys, Soviet separate-peace feelers, and the four-stage Manhattan Project culminating in the atomic decision.

- **Manage the theatre map** — eastern front, western Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic, the Pacific and China-Burma-India all evolve turn by turn.

- **Read the SITREP dashboard** — colour-coded bars for morale, industry, manpower, oil and tension, plus an event log that tells the story of your war.

- **Track resources** — steel, oil, manpower, factories. Run an emergency war-economy purchase when the books won't balance.

- **Climb the Hall of Commanders** — your final score is recorded, win or lose.

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## Features

- 5 fully playable nations with unique focus trees and event chains

- 3 scenarios spanning 1939–1945

- 4 difficulty modes including a permadeath Iron Will mode

- Decision-driven historical events with multi-stage chains

- AI world simulation — the war keeps happening whether you're winning it or not

- Animated theatre map with faction control, supply lines and contested cities

- Full graphical overhaul in v2.0: gradient panels, glow text, CRT scanlines and vignette

- Persistent high scores in the Hall of Commanders

- Save and load campaigns (except Iron Will, which laughs at you)

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## How to play

See below in Download Instructions

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## Credits

An AI and Python coding project, made by **Mark and Malcolm** for [emperormarkus.com](https://emperormarkus.com).

Built with Python and pygame-ce. Inspired by Tom Clancy, *Red Storm Rising*, decades of WWII grand strategy gaming, and a soft spot for terminal-green CRT command centres.

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*Dismissed, Commander. History awaits your return.*