Master China’s 1929 Warlord Chaos or Fail Spectacularly: Taming the Tigers Is the Ultimate History Brutality Test
Hello everyone. Today we’re taking a stroll down the back alleys and battlefields of 1929 China, courtesy of the upcoming DLC for Rise of the White Sun – “Taming the Tigers.” Spoiler alert: it’s less “petting zoo” and more “the entire enclosure just broke out and set your hair on fire.” This is a history-nerd’s fever dream turned strategy game add-on, loaded with enough names, factions, and clandestine operations to make even the most dedicated Hearts of Iron player develop a conspiracy corkboard in their living room.
Historical Chaos or Just More Pixel Pushers?
The DLC drops us right into the aftermath of the Northern Expedition, where the Guomindang (GMD) proudly declared warlordism dead, only for it to begin eating solid food again five minutes later. Jiang Jieshi, doing his best “strongman in the chair” cosplay, cozies up with his Zhejiang and Jiangsu pals while the Communist Party regroups its scattered strongholds like a multiplayer guild recruiting after a catastrophic raid wipe. Historically fascinating? Absolutely. Fun to play? That’s the part I’m still poking with metaphorical medical tongs to see if it twitches.
Conflict Buffet: Come Hungry or Don’t Come at All
- Central Plains War (1929-1930): The final, bloodiest warlord free-for-all – because apparently the “Northern Expedition” needed a DLC too.
- Sino-Soviet Conflict (1929): Essentially a fight over a railway, proving once again that no piece of transport infrastructure is safe from fragile egos and political brinksmanship.
- Zhang Zongchang’s failed comeback attempt: The 1929 equivalent of reinstalling an old MMO only to realize no one remembers you.
- 1930 Communist summer offensive: Spoiler, didn’t go well. Think of it as a botched speedrun attempt with terrible RNG.
- Rebels everywhere: Because it wouldn’t be a Chinese warlord-era game without rebel spam filling up half your notifications.
New Characters, Same Old Trouble
85 shiny new historical characters join the mix, mainly beefing up the Communist side with officers, spies, and statesmen – basically the League of Extraordinary Revolutionaries. While variety is lovely, don’t expect this to be a Disney parade; this is more like recruiting an entire rogues’ gallery and then wondering why your headquarters smells faintly of sabotage and propellant.
Espionage Goodies
Communist spies can now set up covert shops, safehouses, and “Red Roads” to supply your bases, which sounds like someone unlocked the “Stalin’s Side Hustle” expansion pass. Add new district policies like radio towers for better control and radio operators to buff guerrilla units, and you have the tactical equivalent of unlocking that one S-tier loadout in multiplayer that makes the other factions start passive-aggressively messaging you at 2 a.m.
Remember the Green Gang from the Shanghai Uprising scenario? They’re back, and they’ve turned Shanghai into a vicious underground battleground between two spy factions. Imagine the stealth sections from a bad adventure game, except you’re also trying to manage armies and your spies keep mysteriously “going missing.” It’s espionage theatre, with added body count.
Communist Factions: Six Flavors of Pain
- Jiangxi – historically significant, strategically awkward
- Fujian – waves at the coast but rarely plays nice
- Hubei – scenic rivers, inconvenient conflicts
- Jiangxi (again) – redundant listing or nested faction drama?
- Jiangsu – cozy with Jiang Jieshi… until they aren’t
- Shaanxi – remote but politically radioactive
Difficulty levels range from “manageable” to “throw your mouse across the room” depending on your appetite for punishment. In gaming terms, this is like willingly picking the hardest Dark Souls starting class and then equipping a wet noodle as your weapon.
Final Diagnosis
From an MD’s perspective, this DLC is a fascinating case study. It’s historically dense, tactically rich, and likely to cause spikes in player blood pressure. The dev clearly put passion (and a worrying amount of research hours) into recreating warlord-era political chaos. But underneath the shiny coat of fresh conflicts and playable factions, you’re still working with the same core game loop: political jostling, military maneuvering, and low-intensity background aneurysms from rebel spam. If you loved the base game, this will scratch the itch. If you didn’t, this will just make the rash spread.
Verdict? Good – but only for the kind of player who considers a weekend lost in 1920s Chinese faction politics “fun.” Everyone else, proceed with caution.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Article source: Rise of the White Sun – Taming the Tigers, https://store.steampowered.com/app/3732510/Rise_of_the_White_Sun__Taming_the_Tigers/
