Review: Locked Down? Then Lock and Load Digital

Like many of you I am under lockdown and I am itching for some gaming relief, well the good people at have finally released a PC port of their iconic board war game Lock and Load called . This project is one I was following for a while since it seems to been in development for a long time and now it is in early-release and has been giving me hours of fun while at home. The board version of Lock and Load is a tactical level game where you control units at squad level and covers all the fighting from World War Two until the present day. I have not played the board game version in years; I did check it out when Mark Walker (the original game developer) had a demo at Perezcon many years ago.

I always had a favorable impression of the series, the game’s aesthetics with its colorful counters and maps always appealed to me along with the super-tight mechanics. I never invested in the board version of the game and my unpunched Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits was enough proof to me not to start another tactical level game until I played the ones I had already.

The digital version of the game stays true to its tabletop predecessor and is a fun and challenging game. The mechanics are smooth and the digital game is easy to learn. Each turn consists of players alternating impulses where the players can activate a stack of units (or multiple with a leader) and give the units an order to move, fire or call in airstrikes and artillery. You really have to think when you activate your units; do you try to spot a hidden unit in cover? Do you wait until you can fire at your enemy on the move? So many decisions but so much challenging fun.

I dove into the scenarios and have played most of them (heck I have the time) since the game’s release on 2 April. The AI does offer you a challenge and I have noticed that the set up in many games is random so the game has some replayability.

You can also change your tactics and how you assign crew-served weapons to your units, so you will find yourself playing some of the scenarios over and over again. The Long Tan scenario in the Nam game was nailbiting fun, where my small Aussie contingent was holding a rubber plantation and was in danger of being overrun.

I used my off-board artillery effectively and had my units take very high percentage shots (the mechanics tell you the hit percentage) and after a few tense turns, I was able to hold the objective and routed the masses of VC that were attacking me.

The early release comes with the core game with four scenarios, two taking place in WW2 and two in Vietnam. The first two expansion packs each have 12 scenarios and the first two packs are Heroes of Normandy and Heroes of the Nam. The next pack coming next month is Heroes Against the Red Star which covers the fighting in Europe during a hypothetical World War Three.

Each of the present expansions features multiple combatants with the Germans, British, Free French and Americans in the Normandy game and the VC, NVA, ARVN, Australians, and US Army and Marine units in the Nam game.

The game is only available via the and it looks like the game will have a lot of future content coming out. I really hope that LnL Publishing sticks with the game and pushes out the expansion packs. I have seen too many “module” games show a lot of future content only to have the project abandoned.

If I could fix two things in the game the first is the box that shows the unit you have highlighted, it is rather small and cannot be zoomed in on, however, it is not a real problem and will not ruin your enjoyment of the game. While the game rules are downloadable they are for the board game and any instructions on how to play a multi-play game are missing, so I have not been able to figure out how to play against another player.

Lock and Load Digital is a hit and I recommend it to pass the time during the lockdown.