Month: July 2024

headquarters-world-war-iiSlitherine today announced the upcoming release of the next DLC for Headquarters: World War II – Market Garden.

Headquarters: World War II – Market Garden introduces a new British campaign with eight meticulously crafted battles covering the events of Operation Market Garden. Your force must reach the paratroopers holding the key bridges as soon as possible. However, nothing goes according to plan, and your troops have to deal with the ensuing chaos.

An 8-mission campaign with storytelling elements that will challenge your tactical skills. 10 new units to use in both campaign and skirmish/multiplayer modes. 3 new British heroes. Numerous new visual assets creating mesmerising locations of the WWII-period Netherlands.

Get ready to command, conquer, and liberate with the Headquarters: World War II – Market Garden DLC!

Headquarters: World War II is a fast paced turn-based strategy covering the Battle of Normandy in the three plot-driven campaigns and a number of skirmishes. Choose your side, form your force, assign heroes, level up your units, and use Headquarters skills to overcome the enemy.

unity-of-command-iiSource: Blue’s News

Croteam and 2×2 Games announce new Berlin DLC is expected in Q4 of this year to add new content to Unity of Command II, the World War II strategy sequel. There’s no trailer for this yet, but its Steam Listing is live with screenshots and details. This promises 32 scenarios, including a Soviet Victory in the East campaign and a seven scenario Axis mini-campaign depicting the last-ditch offensive in Hungary and Romania in 1945 with an alt-history branch. Here’s more:

The summer of 1944 saw the massive Operation Bagration, a surprise attack that shattered German Army Group Center. By the fall, Soviet forces were on the offensive all along the Eastern Front, setting the stage for the final push into Germany in 1945. By February, the Soviets stood on the Oder River, just east of Berlin.

The final assault on Berlin began in mid-April. Soviet troops encircled the city, battling their way through the streets in fierce close-quarters combat. Hitler committed suicide on April 30th, and Berlin fell on May 2nd, marking the fall of Nazi Germany.

total-war-pharaohTotal War: PHARAOH DYNASTIES is out now. This free expansion-sized addition provides a host of new features to the campaign experience including new map regions, cultures, units, gameplay mechanics, and sweeping quality of life improvements.

Lead New Cultures

Four of the ancient world’s most iconic cultures join the fight to hold back the cataclysmic events of the Bronze-Age Collapse: Babylon, Assyria, Mycenae and Troy. Each offers a unique campaign experience whilst featuring iconic historical leaders, diverse armies to command, gods to worship and much more. Beyond this, an additional 25 minor factions are available to play, such as the Aeolians led by the fabled Achilles, or Napata led by the warrior-king Memnon.

Expand Your Empire

Spanning much of the ancient world from the Aegean to Mesopotamia and down to Ancient Egypt, DYNASTIES almost doubles the size of PHARAOH’s original campaign map by adding 168 new settlements, new historical landmarks, new victory objectives and more. To traverse this vastly expanded sandbox new Sea Travel Lanes have been added that speed up the fleets carrying your armies, enabling you to raid and invade further and faster. ​

Establish Your Dynasty

Start a family tree to ensure your empire stands the test of time with the new Dynasty system. Reign over the tides of mortality and succession, navigating strategic marriages, heroic deaths on the battlefield, assassinations, and the looming mortality of old age to leave behind a legacy that will last the ages.

Dominate The Battlefield

Wage war with over 150 new and reworked units including cavalry, camel riders and faction specific units such as the elite Guards of Troy. Challenge yourself with new battle mechanics such as the optional Lethality modifier which makes battles more realistic by making combat much more deadly.

For more information about Total War: PHARAOH and the other Total War games in development, visit the Total War, Total War: PHARAOH website or visit the expansions Steam page.

scramble-battle-of-britainSlitherine Games has released the Scramble: Battle of Britain – Flight School, Episode #7 video.

Flight school is back with another advanced topic today, designed to help Scramble pilots master their skills and excel in dogfighting.

Watch Flight School, Episode #7 “Energy Fighting” video HERE.

Airspeed and Aerodynamic Control

Since the middle of the First World War, fighter aircraft have employed guns fixed to their airframes, and a pilot must orient their entire aircraft to bring these guns to bear on a target. Aircraft generally orient themselves through aerodynamic control – the manipulation of the surfaces or shape of a body as air moves around it to inspire forces and moments to act on that body. We define the rate and quality of this air moving around a body as “airspeed” and, regardless of the aerodynamic design of an aircraft or the qualities of the air moving around it, the laws of physics demand that some energy be transferred between aircraft and air, that the energy differential between them be lessened, and thus that every instance of aerodynamic control and every resulting maneuver incur a cost in energy that is mostly paid through airspeed.

Read more HERE.

enlistedPlayers can join massive WW2 battles for free

Darkflow Software and Gaijin Entertainment announce that online military shooter Enlisted is now available for free on Steam. The game supports on Steam Deck and features full cross-play with all platforms on which Enlisted is available: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, as well as the Gaijin.Net service for PC.

Watch the official launch trailer HERE.

Enlisted reproduces all the key theaters of World War II ranging from the snowy outskirts of Moscow to the hot Pacific islands, from the beaches of Normandy to the deserts of Tunisia. Up to a hundred soldiers, along with armored vehicles and aircraft, simultaneously participate in massive Enlisted battles. The player controls a squad of infantrymen, or the crew of a military vehicle, switching between individual fighters at their discretion. Locations, gear, weapons and equipment are carefully recreated based on historical evidence.

The Steam version of Enlisted includes all the content created for the game in recent years – hundreds of models of weapons, vehicles and gear that were used by a variety of countries participating in World War II. Major updates for Enlisted are released several times a year: for example, in June, the Battle of Rzhev, rocket artillery strikes, new models of weapons and equipment, as well as significant graphical improvements were added to the game.

To mark the release of Enlisted on the new platform, two new packs with unique weapons have gone on sale: a Squad of Paratroopers with a Type Hei machine gun (equipped with an protective shield) and a Squad of Premium Engineers with a powerful Winchester G30R semi-automatic rifle.

You can read more about the game’s content on the official Enlisted website.

Enlisted MMORPGs | Donster | |

strategic-command-wwii-war-in-the-pacificStrategic Command WWII: War in the Pacific is finally out now.

Watch the latest trailer HERE.

The game features a vast 36,000 hex map, covering regions from India to North America at an 80km/50mi scale. The main campaign starts with the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, leading to Japan’s rapid expansion in Asia and the Pacific.

Players command forces from seven major powers, engaging in land and sea battles with immersive 3-D graphics or NATO counters. Five mini-campaigns include historical battles like Khalkhin Gol, Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

New gameplay elements feature airfields, naval supply rules, and iconic events such as the Doolittle Raid.

Don’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of the release offer to complete your Strategic Command collection, grab your copy now with a 60% discount on our store for a few days.

over-the-top-wwiFlying Squirrel Studio is excited to announce the release of a new commented gameplay trailer for their highly anticipated first-person shooter, “Over the Top WWI,” which is set for Early Access on Steam in 2024. This brutal and historically immersive FPS promises to redefine the genre with its detailed mechanics, expansive multiplayer battles, and a commitment to authenticity.

Watch Over the Top WWI new commented gameplay trailer HERE.

In the newly revealed trailer, viewers are guided through the core features of “Over the Top WWI” by the development team, showcasing the game’s dedication to delivering an unparalleled World War I experience. Here’s a breakdown of what players can expect:

Key Features:

  • Multiplayer and Singleplayer Modes: Engage in intense multiplayer battles with up to 200 players or bots, or immerse yourself in the game’s single player modes, each offering unique challenges and narratives.
  • Destructible Environments: Players can alter the battlefield with a variety of artillery, axes, and explosives, demolishing buildings, bridges, walls, and other structures to gain a tactical advantage.
  • Deformable Terrain: Experience the chaos of war as explosions and artillery impacts deform the terrain. Engineers can dig trenches and foxholes, adding a strategic layer to the gameplay.
  • Directional Melee Combat System: Inspired by games like Mount & Blade: Warband, this intuitive yet challenging system lets players master close-quarters combat with period-specific melee weapons.
  • Massive Battles: Participate in epic confrontations with up to 200 players or bots, each bringing unique strategies and roles to the sprawling battlefields.
  • Diverse Artillery Options: Choose from a range of heavy machine guns, mortars, and other artillery pieces to support your squad and devastate enemy positions.
  • Realistic Projectile Physics: The game meticulously models projectile velocity, twist rate, and other factors, providing a deeply authentic shooting experience.
  • Grim Realism with Gore & Blood: “Over the Top WWI” doesn’t shy away from the brutal realities of war, with detailed gore and blood effects adding to the visceral atmosphere.
  • Usable Tanks and Armored Vehicles: Drive iconic tanks like the Mark IV and the A7V Sturmpanzerwagen, bringing formidable firepower and mobility to the front lines.
  • Engineer Class Capabilities: Engineers play a crucial role in constructing barricades, digging trenches, and setting explosives, enhancing the strategic depth of gameplay.
  • Authentic Weapons and Uniforms: Featuring over 50 unique weapons from bolt-action rifles to submachine guns, each weapon is crafted with historical accuracy in mind.
  • Strategic Artillery Call-Ins: Call in powerful artillery strikes such as Chlorine Gas, Incendiary Bombs, and Creeping Barrage to turn the tide of battle.
  • Historical Maps and Music: Wage war across more than 12 maps inspired by historical World War I locations, accompanied by a selection of period-specific background music tracks.
  • Powerful Map Editor: Players can create their own custom maps with the included easy-to-learn yet powerful Map Editor, expanding the game’s replayability and community engagement.
  • Dynamic Environment Effects: The game features a dynamic time of day, weather, and seasonal changes, influencing gameplay and creating ever-evolving battle conditions.
  • Comprehensive Customization and Admin Tools: With over 120 server settings, players and administrators can fine-tune every aspect of the game to suit their preferences.
  • Over the Top: WWI is scheduled for early access release in 2024 for PC on Steam. For more information, please visit Flying Squirrel Entertainment.

    dcs-worldEagle Dynamics has announced the release of DCS: World Afghanistan and Flaming Cliffs 2024. DCS: Afghanistan is now available in the DCS Shop and Steam for $55.99. Flaming Cliffs 2024 is now available in the DCS Shop and Steam for $59.99.

    Watch the DCS: Afghanistan Early Access Release Trailer HERE.

    Afghanistan has been one of the most important and interesting combat theatres of the 40 years or so. From the decade long war following the Soviet invasion in December 1979 though the “War on Terror” that lasted twenty years from 2001 to 2021. Few war zones have seen more continuous combat with such a wide variety of aircraft and equipment from so many nations. Afghanistan offers a highly varied landscape with not just deserts but also rolling hills, towering mountains and lush river valleys. The initial release is focused on the southwest region of the country and includes regions around Kandahar and Herat. DCS: Afghanistan is now available, don’t miss our biggest and most detailed map to date. Watch the trailer and enjoy!

    Flaming Cliffs (FC) 2024 will expand the series with the inclusion of three new aircraft: F-5E, F-86F and MiG-15bis. These aircraft are designed to be less complex and easier-to-learn than their full-fidelity sisters, making them ideal for players who prefer a more straightforward flight simulation experience. The new models come with DCS Professional Flight Models that ensure a high level of realism.

    Combat Flight Sim DCS World | Donster | |

    scramble-battle-of-britainSlitherine Games has released the Scramble: Battle of Britain – Flight School, Episode #6 video.

    Watch Flight School, Episode #6 “Dogfighting and damage modeling” HERE.

    Welcome back to Flight School, our dev diary series unveiling the most important elements of Scramble: Battle of Britain step by step. Today, we are introducing an advanced topic to help our demo pilots train their skills as the game takes its best shape.

    Dogfighting and Damage Modeling
    Aerial gunnery is a challenging skill to master in real-time, even with a pilot’s ability to constantly adjust their orientation to maintain a target within their gunsight. The turn-based design of Scramble further complicates this problem by locking aircraft controls for seconds at a time, limiting player authority to minimize targeting errors. Consequently, the Scramble Engine makes some simplifying assumptions to abstract gunnery in a way that rewards traditional dogfighting tactics while still leveraging the analog simulation pillar of Scramble’s design.

    Projectiles & Damage
    Scramble represents projectiles as clusters: each cluster simulates along a ballistic trajectory and has a base damage value that adjusts according to impact velocity and distance traveled. While aircraft guns in the real world are tuned to converge at a point in space in front of the airplane, yielding a very narrow 3D hit box hundreds of meters along their trajectories, Scramble simulates a more generous damage region that universally expands as projectiles fly farther along their ballistic paths. This expanded hit region allows Scramble to both maintain its simulation foundation while rewarding tactical foresight.

    Every projectile in Scramble carries a structure of data representing the active pilot traits at its time of firing, so upon impact the base bullet damage can be increased or reduced according to the pilot traits.

    Scramble aircraft are modeled down to the subsystem level, with the entire body of an aircraft split into small hit spheres that are assigned to the subsystem who most closely shares their position. Subsystems can be marked as dense or penetrable, so the skin of a wing or fuselage will allow a projectile to continue its trajectory, possibly impacting a more dense subsystem in an ensuing simulation frame.

    Subsystem Damage & Failure
    Every subsystem on a Scramble aircraft has a total health value, critical damage threshold, performance impact while critically damaged and while failed, and a potential list of other subsystem components that either feed it or rely on its functioning for their own performance.

    As an example of coupled subsystems, engines require fuel to run and radiators to remain healthy. A failed radiator will immediately move engine damage status to critical. A critically damaged engine has reduced thrust output and can only continue to survive at a reduced throttle state.

    Control surfaces and structural subsystems will degrade aerodynamic stability and performance when critically damaged or failed. Damaged ailerons impact aircraft roll performance, and damaged elevators will limit pitch authority and may induce roll and yaw biases. Critically damaged control surfaces may fail completely when commanded during high-G maneuvers, so players should be careful to minimize maneuvering along damaged control axes while at high speeds.

    Leaks, Fires & Explosions
    Most aircraft in Scramble have both oil and coolant radiators. Damaged oil and coolant systems will leak black and white smoke, respectively, at a rate proportional to the damage they have accrued. Fully failed radiator systems will damage the engines they feed, so subsystem failures tend to cascade into engine failures as dogfights drag on.

    Fuel tanks are positioned and sized according to historical references, and punctured fuel tanks will leak for the duration of a dogfight. Fuel leaks can catch on fire, and empty fuel tanks receiving additional damage will result in a catastrophic explosion.

    Debris
    Every component that falls off an airplane in Scramble contains unique aerodynamics and damage definitions, and will continue simulating until impacting the sea. Aircraft can collide with visual debris and will receive damage proportional to the debris size and closing velocity.

    An aircraft that loses its right wing will begin to roll aggressively to the right side while its heavy wing flutters behind on its own simulated trajectory. If this same aircraft then loses its left wing, the rightward roll will dampen, and the body will continue on a mostly ballistic trajectory until impact.

    Close-range shots are the most sure method of inflicting damage in Scramble, but heavily damaged aircraft tend to leave a wake littered with dangerous debris. Pilots attacking at close-range should plan ahead to ensure they exit the engagement clear of any resulting debris field.

    Live to Fight Again
    Scramble aircraft degrade and fail bit by bit, with coupled subcomponents and plenty of feedback to help players manage the risk of keeping their pilots in the fight for additional turns. The most valuable resource in Scramble is a pool of healthy, experienced pilots, and players will find that leaving combat to fight another day is a far higher rewarded strategy than maximizing kills. Our goal in developing this richly simulated combat engine is to facilitate player stories that mirror the emotional and tactical richness of pilot memoirs from the Battle of Britain.

    Click here for more game information.

    total-war-pharaohFREE EXPANSION-SIZED ADDITION WELCOMES NEW MAP REGIONS, CULTURES, UNITS AND MORE

    SEGA® Europe, Ltd. and The Creative Assembly™ Limited. have today announced that Total War: PHARAOH’s DYNASTIES will release on July 25th. This free expansion-sized addition provides a host of new features to the campaign experience including new map regions, cultures, units, gameplay mechanics, and sweeping quality of life improvements.

    Watch the new gameplay overview trailer HERE.

    Lead New Cultures

    Four of the ancient world’s most iconic cultures join the fight to hold back the cataclysmic events of the Bronze-Age Collapse: Babylon, Assyria, Mycenae and Troy. Each offers a unique campaign experience whilst featuring iconic historical leaders, diverse armies to command, gods to worship and much more. Beyond this, an additional 25 minor factions are available to play, such as the Aeolians led by the fabled Achilles, or Napata led by the warrior-king Memnon.

    Expand Your Empire

    Spanning much of the ancient world from the Aegean to Mesopotamia and down to Ancient Egypt, DYNASTIES almost doubles the size of PHARAOH’s original campaign map by adding 168 new settlements, new historical landmarks, new victory objectives and more. To traverse this vastly expanded sandbox new Sea Travel Lanes have been added that speed up the fleets carrying your armies, enabling you to raid and invade further and faster. ​

    Establish Your Dynasty

    Start a family tree to ensure your empire stands the test of time with the new Dynasty system. Reign over the tides of mortality and succession, navigating strategic marriages, heroic deaths on the battlefield, assassinations, and the looming mortality of old age to leave behind a legacy that will last the ages.

    Dominate The Battlefield

    Wage war with over 150 new and reworked units including cavalry, camel riders and faction specific units such as the elite Guards of Troy. Challenge yourself with new battle mechanics such as the optional Lethality modifier which makes battles more realistic by making combat much more deadly.

    A Message From The Developers

    From the outset of our design journey on Total War: PHARAOH, our vision has always been to deliver a grand-scale recreation of the turbulent Bronze Age Collapse; one brimming with historical intrigue, authentic representations of iconic civilisation, and a sandbox theatre that allows you to rewrite the course of human history,” said Game Director, Todor Nikolov. “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and whilst this will be our final content addition, we hope it serves as a love letter that encapsulates our continued passion for this wonderful age. Thanks for your support.”

    For more information about Total War: PHARAOH and the other Total War games in development, visit the Total War or Total War: PHARAOH website.