Summary

Last Train Homeis set at the tail end of the Great War, now calledWorld War 1, departing from the trend of using World War 2 as a backdrop for video games. The game tells the relatively unknown story of the Czechoslovak Legion, who became trapped in Russia as brewing civil unrest broke into full-blown war.

Last Train Homeplayers assign roles to their soldiers.Five roles are dedicated to combat:Scout, Medic, Rifleman, Machine Gunner, and Grenadier. Soldiers with these roles can be deployed to explore the area around the train and fight inRTS-style missions. The other four roles – Doctor, Cook, Engineer, and Worker – pertain to work done on the train itself between missions. While each role is vital to the Legion’s survival, players need to prioritize some of them to have the best chance at survival.

Two cards are on the screen. The left is a picture of a grenadier from WW1. The right says “grenadier” with some ability icons underneath

5Grenadier

Land Mines And Grenades Can Turn The Tide Of Battle

Grenadiers are powerful, if not essential units to have in a squad, even though the game generallyrewards patience and stealth. The Red Army often deploys machine gun turrets and armored trucks to the field, which can make short work of most soldiers facing them on foot. The grenadier, however, can take these out with relative ease.

Grenadiers are deployed on missions and equipped with land mines, explosive grenades, or smoke grenades. They can place land mines on roads to take out vehicles or crowds of unsuspecting enemies. A single explosive grenade can kill a surprisingly large number of enemies, and it only takes one to destroy a machine gun turret. These abilities make Grenadiers invaluable assets when players can avoid a bloodbath with one or two explosives, but careful planning is needed to not raise the enemy’s alarm and bring even more trouble down on the squad. Their other main use, most beneficial for newer players, is to be a sort of insurance for times when their squad is spotted. When stealth has already failed, a grenade or two can end a firefight faster than a few rifles.

Two cards are on the screen. The left is a picture of an engineer from WW1. The right says “Engineer” with some ability icons underneath

4Engineer

All Trains Need A Conductor

Last Train Homeis as muchabout the player’s trainas it is about the soldiers riding inside it. The train is the soldiers' home on wheels and their only means of surviving the staggering 5,700-mile journey from Moscow to Vladivostok. Train cars can be upgraded to provide insulation from the cold, worker slots to craft resources, and more. Different train cars can be purchased, allowing the player to customize their trains and provide for all of their soldiers' various needs.

It is clear from the very beginning of the game that if the train can’t keep going, the soldiers will all die in Russia. This is where Engineers come in. An Engineer must be assigned to drive, or the train comes to a halt. Additional Engineers can be assigned to the engine in order to slow down the rate of accidents and injuries, or they can produce ammunition if stationed in a Workshop Car. Starting in Chapter 2, the danger of attack increases every second that the train is stopped, so a lack of Engineers can spell trouble for the entire Legion. Players that prioritize enough Engineers to keep the train moving safely during night and day won’t run into this problem and may also be able to start crafting extra ammo sooner rather than later.

Two cards are on the screen. The left is a picture of a doctor from WW1. The right says “doctor” with some ability icons underneath

3Doctor

Stay On The Train To Heal The Sick And Injured

Soldiers can become Injured when they lose too many Hit Points during missions or through random events while exploring inLast Train Home. Injured soldiers cannot be deployed and continue to lose HP outside of combat. The only reliable way to save them from death and allow them to be deployed again is to have a Doctor treat them.

Doctors, like Engineers, remain on the train. They can be assigned to treat soldiers or craft medical supplies in the Hospital Car, which is the only place on the train where they can use their skills. Since players lose their Hospital Car when leaving Moscow, it may seem like Doctors are a low priority until later in the game. However, as more and more soldiers get injured, it becomes difficult or impossible to fill every necessary workstation while deploying squads at the same time. Prioritizing having a couple of Doctors on board the train, even before players have a Hospital Car, ensures that injured soldiers will get treated as soon as physically possible. If a player waits too long to give the Doctor role to a soldier, some of their soldiers will succumb to their injuriesalong their long journeyacross Siberia.

Two cards are on the screen. The left is a picture of a medic from WW1. The right says “Meeic” with some ability icons underneath

2Medic

Combat Role That Keeps Soldiers Alive

During missions inLast Train Home,soldiers are downed for a short amount of time when they reach 0 Hit Points. Only the Stabilize action, available to both Medics and Scouts, can stop them from dying and get them on their feet again. After being stabilized, they are left with only a nominal amount of health and will be in imminent danger of going down again, maybe for good.

Medics are the only role that can use Medical Kits to restore Hit Points to their fellow soldiers. While this healing action does put the Medic in a vulnerable position, restoring a squadmate’s Hit Points gives the squad a significantly higher chance of surviving the current mission. This is particularly true of soldiers like Rifleman, whose only purpose is to deal damage; the Medic’s handgun will never hurt as much as the other soldiers' weapons. Because Medics are so vital to keeping soldiers alive, players should prioritize them, especially those who are more likely to make mistakes like forgetting to silence their squad or others who get cocky and take on a machine gun nest. Having a Medic around keeps these mistakes frombecoming permanent losses.

Two cards are on the screen. The left is a picture of a scout from WW1. The right says “Scout” with some ability icons underneath

1Scout

Stealth Specialist That Helps Track The Enemy

Last Train Home’s missions often set the player’s squad of 3-10 soldiers up against significantly larger forces. Even early in the game, the Red Army regularly guards hills, chokepoints, and trenches with heavy machine gun turrets or large patrols. In these instances, picking enemies off one by one with melee attacks while avoiding enemy alarms is more likely to succeed than charging in with guns blazing. Scouts help the player pull off these kinds of stealth tactics with their unique Recon ability. And while theirWorld War 1-era sniper riflesmay not be the best that players have seen, Scouts can use them effectively to take enemies out from a relatively safe distance.

Recon clears the Fog of War in a radius so that players can see enemy units and their line of sight in an area away from their current soldiers. This extra vision can be used to scope out potential traps and find ways around areas where the enemy has dug in. It is much harder and more dangerous for other soldiers to perform reconnaissance in unseen areas, so Scouts should be deployed on every mission, if possible.

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