The Patton Drives East expansion in the second series added a conflict between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

The most important part of the game is commanding the military units, but the player also controls the research of technologies and diplomatic relations.

Apart from campaigns – in which the game takes place on a whole theatre of war – Strategic Command series also feature scenarios taking place on smaller maps,[5] and portraying only single events, such as Operation Market Garden or the 1974 war on Cyprus.

[5] Using diplomatic pressure, the player may eventually persuade a neutral country to either join the war on his side, or to prevent it from becoming his enemy.

[4] With the "random" option, neutral states may decide to join the war depending on current situation, while "historical" means joining the war on an exact, historical date, regardless of the circumstances (for example, the USA will always become an Allied country on December 8, 1941).

[5] Unlike the previous installment, Blitzkrieg features not only campaigns taking place on the map of whole Europe and Atlantic Ocean, spreading from 1939 until the end of the war, but also scenarios played on smaller maps, such as Battle of Kursk or Battle of the Bulge.

The first one added new terrain types, roads and rail lines to the game,[31] while the second one included new campaigns and scenarios, some of them post-World War II or fictional, including the titular "Patton Drives East", which portrays a hypothetical conflict between the US and USSR following the defeat of Nazi Germany.

[33] Strategic Command WWII Pacific Theater, which premiered in 2008 and was based on the same game engine as Blitzkrieg, was the first game in the series not taking place in Europe, instead focusing on Asia and the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.

[34] Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict, was released in 2010 and based on the same game engine as Blitzkrieg.

[46] Reviewers noticed a contrast between the game's interesting gameplay and rather plain graphics and sound effects.

IGN commented: "loads of substance, but not much style,"[47] while Strategy Informer described the second game as being "for the hardcore of turn-based strategists, as otherwise you could soon be finding yourself turned away by the lack of visual and audio passion".