Update 0.10.5 also brings German Destroyers as a fully researchable tech tree, and celebrates US Independence Day with the USS Colorado and a themed auction, on top of major changes to game mechanics

Today Wargaming, developer and publisher of the widely popular, free to play naval combat game World of Warships (WoWS), has released Update 0.10.5 bringing a barrage of new features to the game alongside other improvements and additions.

Enter Grand Battle

The all new Grand Battle mode places players in an alternative history where main batteries take precedence over deck aviation. Players will take the helm of new super battleships from a time where navies focused on pure firepower. The mode tasks players to captain Tier IX-X ships, including super battleships, in a 9v9 battle with a limit of three super battleships allowed per side.

Arriving on the seas is the Satsuma, a project modelled on the famous Yamato with whopping 510mm guns, and the Hannover, a version of the H-42 with 483mm guns, both in four twin-gun turrets. The Hannover’s secondary battery also packs 128mm calibre dual-purpose artillery.

Players earn Intelligence Reports – a new kind of temporary resource collected daily on log-in and by playing in Grand Battle on Tier IX-X ships – in order to earn the opportunity to command these mighty vessels. Rewards from participating in dedicated combat missions include Dazzling camouflages, a commemorative flag, and the Grand Battle patch.

German Destroyers hit main servers

Fresh out of early access, the German Destroyers tech tree is now live on main servers. The Tier VII Z-31, Tier VIII Gustav Julius Maerker, Tier IX Felix Schultz and the Tier X Elbing are all available to research.

These ships combine accurate main batteries with destructive AP shells, combining high penetration and damage with enhanced shell ricochet angles. For a full overview of the new ships hitting the waves, and associated imagery, click here.

Celebrating the US Independence Day with the Summer Battles

With the release of the Update 0.10.5, four themed groups of combat missions will guide the players to receive, along with camouflages and signals, the final reward – battleship Colorado in her new Independence Day permanent camouflage, alongside a themed auction.

Finally, additional features include major alterations to some game mechanics, such as the removal of friendly fire, as well as changes to the rocket launching mechanics of all attack aircraft. For the full details, developer notes can be found here.

Visit the official World of Warships website now for more game info and to sign up to play World of Warships for free!

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Turtle Beach Brand Neat Microphones Launches the King Bee II Analog XLR
• Alphacool Launches NexXxoS ST30 & XT45 Full Copper White Special Edition Radiators
• Montech X3 Mech and X3 Glass Now Available
• LG Electronics Announces 31.5-inch 4K Organic EL Display 32EP950-B
• GIGABYTE Unleashes AMD X570S Motherboards with Fanless Chipset Cooling
• Razer Unveils Impressive New Raptor 27 Gaming Monitor
• Genesis Launches Neon 750 RGB Gaming Headset
• Mini LED Based ASUS ROG Swift PG32UQX Available End of June 2021
• Turtle Beach Recon Controller and VelocityOne Flight Announced
• EK Water Blocks Announces Active Backplate for RTX 3090 Founders Edition
• Strictly Quantum: EK Shows New Velocity2 CPU Blocks, Lignum GPU Block, Real Gold Fittings and More!
• G.SKILL Announces Unique Pentagonal Z5i Mini-ITX PC Case
• Noctua Introduces NH-P1 Passive CPU Cooler and LS-PWM Fan for Semi-fanless Systems
• ASUS Launches Its RTX 30 Series GPUs with Lite Hash Rate
• QNAP Now Offers a Dual-port 100GbE Network Expansion Card
• Mad Catz Announces the F.R.E.Q. DAC, DAC-L Gaming DAC
• Thermalright Announces the TA140 EX CPU Cooler
• Alphacool Unveils Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX for Palit RTX 3070 GameRock and ASUS Strix
• EK Launches Active Backplates for ASUS TUF RTX 3080 and 3090 GPUs
• Razer Unveils the BlackShark V2 Pro Siege Special Edition Headset
• Aqua Computer Introduces Innovative Water Cooling System Protected Against Leakage
• Plextor Unveils M10P Series PCIe® Gen4 Solid State Drives
• CORSAIR Launches RTX 3080 Ti & 3070 Ti-Powered VENGEANCE i7200 Series Gaming PCs
• CORSAIR Announces H55 RGB, H100 RGB, and H150 AIO RGB Coolers

The 1980′s Czechoslovak People’s Army enters the Arma 3 sandbox

Publisher Bohemia Interactive and third-party developer CSLA Studio are announcing today the release of the Arma 3 Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain. The DLC is available for purchase on Steam for $12.99 USD / €12.99 EUR / £10.99 GBP, and early adopters will receive a 10% discount in the first week of its release.

Watch the Arma 3 Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain Trailer HERE.

In the CSLA Iron Curtain Creator DLC, players are taken back to the Cold War era of the 1980′s, and experience what life in Czechoslovakia and its heavily-guarded border with the Federal Republic of Germany could have been like if an armed conflict had ever come between the East and the West.

CSLA (or ČSLA) is an abbreviation for “Československá lidová armáda” in Czech and “Československá ľudová armáda” in Slovak. It refers to the Czechoslovak People’s Army, which were the armed forces of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1990.

Key features of the CSLA Iron Curtain Creator DLC include:

• 256 km2 terrain – Original landlocked map called “Gabreta” with deep forests, windswept mountains, calm valleys, a railway network, and various military outposts.
• 3 factions – Cold War era armed forces of the United States and Czechoslovakia, as well as local rebel fighters.
• 35 weapons (incl. variants) – A mix of classic pistols, rifles, and launchers (with a large variety of weapon attachments), including the FAL and Sa-58 assault rifles, XM177 carbine, and M1911 pistol.
• 52 vehicles (incl. variants) – Various ground, air, and water vehicles such as the T-72 Main Battle Tank, M113 and OT-62 APCs, and Mi-17 and UH-60 transport helicopters.
• 19 scenarios – 9 singleplayer scenarios depicting various armed confrontations in the Gabreta region, 1 singleplayer Showcase scenario, and 9 multiplayer scenarios (Zeus, Warlords, co-op, team deathmatch, and more).

CSLA Studio has published a ‘compatibility data pack for non-owners’ via the Steam Workshop, which enables those who do not own the CSLA Iron Curtain DLC to still play on multiplayer servers that make use of its content. However, the DLC’s terrain and singleplayer scenarios remain exclusive to owners of the DLC. Restrictions to the use of non-owned content also apply.

Creator DLC is a label for original Arma 3 projects made by third-party developers and published by Bohemia Interactive. It enables external talent to earn a financial reward while players get to enjoy more quality content. CSLA Iron Curtain is the third Creator DLC project to come out after the release of Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany in April 2019 and S.O.G. Prairie Fire in May 2021.

Developer CSLA Studio will share further development news and updates via their website. More information about the Arma 3 Creator DLC program can be found on https://arma3.com/dlc/creator.

Panzer Division Games has released a new gameplay video of their game Attack at Dawn: North Africa. In this video, the designer plays a new game scenario “Battle of Alam el Halfa” with features: unit counters with illustrations of tanks, vehicles and guns; fast switching between Turn-Based and Real-Time modes of play; reworked AI and more.

You can watch the gameplay video HERE.

You can see the maps and read about the history behind this scenario HERE.

About The Game
Attack at Dawn: North Africa is an operational level wargame set in WW2 North African theatre. It features 3 campaigns, and 15 scenarios which can be played in solo or multiplayer modes. It can be played as a real-time, or turn-based (WeGo) game. The game begins with the German troops probing into the Libyan region of Cyrenaica, and finishes either with the total defeat of German-Italian Panzer Armee, or with the British loss of Egypt and their retreat across the Suez Canal.

For more game information, please visit the official Attack at Dawn: North Africa website, or you can visit the games Steam page.

Source: Blue’s News

A new trailer from DCS World unveils a new free-to-play program for Eagle Dynamics’ extensive integrated flight simulator family. This will allow players to evaluate any of its aircraft and map modules for free for up to 14 days. Although DCS World is also offered through Steam, they express regrets that the F2P offer does not apply there:

Today, we are also introducing a new Free to Play system that lets you evaluate all of our modules (aircraft and maps) for 14 days. You can play each module sequentially for 14 days or any number of them at a time. Once you have ‘consumed’ the 14 days, you will be given another 14 day free trial period for all modules six months later. Enjoy the offer and please tell your friends!

Fly the DCS: F/A-18C Hornet for two weeks and then DCS: F-16C Viper for another two. You can download new terrains at the same time, whatever you fancy. Each module will give you 14 days to evaluate and enjoy them without any limitations or obligations. If you’ve tried a module and aren’t 100% certain about purchasing, you can re-evaluate six months later.

Campaigns are excluded.

Next Generation of Battlefield Launching Worldwide on October 22 for Xbox® One, Xbox® Series X|S, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, and PC via Origin, Steam, and the Epic Games Store

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) and DICE today announced Battlefield 2042, a groundbreaking first-person shooter set to revolutionize the modern multiplayer sandbox. Powered by cutting-edge technology that pushes the capabilities of next generation hardware, the game drops players into a near-future, all-out-war experience that includes the franchise’s hallmark, game-changing destruction. Featuring matches filled with up to 128 players on the latest consoles* and PCs, this unprecedented scale adds a new dimension to multiplayer battles. Battlefield 2042also ups the action with the inclusion of real-time events that reshape the battlefield and tactical combat. All-new weapons, vehicles, and gadgets give players the freedom to be strategic and create jaw-dropping, only-in-Battlefield moments.

In Battlefield 2042, the world is on the brink. Shortages of food, energy, and clean water have led to dozens of failed nations, creating the greatest refugee crisis in human history. Among these Non-Patriated, or No-Pats, are families, farmers, engineers – and even soldiers. Amidst this crisis, the United States and Russia draw the world into an all-out war. No-Pat Specialists join both sides, not fighting for a flag, but for the future of the Non-Patriated in this new world.

Players will jump into the boots of Specialists, an all-new type of playable soldier for the franchise. Inspired by the traditional four Battlefield classes, Specialists will be equipped with their own unique Specialist Trait and Specialty, and will have fully customizable loadouts. As a Specialist, players will have access to a cutting-edge arsenal of weapons, equipment, and vehicles to use in battle. These powerful new tools give creative players a wealth of options as they find the perfect combination to fit their play style and outsmart and outgun opponents on the battlefield.

“Battlefield 2042 is an evolution of the franchise and embraces what our players want – the ultimate Battlefield multiplayer sandbox with intense combat and a ton of incredible, unexpected events,” said Oskar Gabrielson, General Manager of DICE. “All of us across DICE in Stockholm, DICE LA, Criterion, and EA Gothenburg have had so much fun developing this game and now it’s time to let players jump in. What they’ll find is that we’ve built three distinct, absolutely epic experiences that we think they’ll love.”

Watch the Battlefield 2042 Official Reveal Trailer HERE.

The biggest, most ambitious title in the franchise, Battlefield 2042 includes:

• All-Out Warfare – the next generation of fan-favorite modes Conquest and Breakthrough, featuring the largest maps ever for the franchise and for the first time, up to 128 players*. Experience the intensity of All-Out Warfare in large-scale battles like never before on maps filled with dynamic weather, dangerous environmental hazards, and spectacular world events that see tornadoes rip across the map and sandstorms block out the sun.
• Hazard Zone – an all-new, high-stakes, squad-based game-type for the Battlefield franchise that is a modern take on the multiplayer experience that is distinctly DICE but very different from All-Out Warfare’s Conquest or Breakthrough modes.
• TO BE ANNOUNCED – the third experience, being developed by DICE LA, is another exciting new game-type for the franchise. This experience is a love letter to Battlefieldfans and one that long-time players will feel right at home with. Tune-in to EA Play Live on July 22 for all the details.

Battlefield 2042 is available now for pre-order and is set to launch on retail and digital storefronts on October 22 for $59.99 on Xbox® One, PlayStation®4, and PC, and $69.99 on Xbox® Series X and S and PlayStation®5. EA Play members get a 10-hour trial starting Oct 15, 2021. EA Play members and players who pre-order will receive early access to the Open Beta**. Players who pre-order have three different editions to choose from, including the Battlefield 2042Gold Edition for $89.99 on PC and $99.99 on console, or the Battlefield 2042Ultimate Edition for $109.99 on PC or $119.99 on console. For more information on each edition’s offerings, the EA Play and EA Play Pro subscriber offerings, and more details on the game, visit https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-2042.

Slitherine announces the next Axis Operations DLC for Panzer Corps 2: 1942.

It is a crucial year in WW2, with some of the largest battles of the whole war occurring on the fiercely contested Eastern Front. This new campaign is 17 missions long with players needing to fight both tooth and nail against the Red Army as Germany.

Axis Operations 1942 retains some classic features of the Axis Operations series, such as returning mechanics like Commendation points as well as original and unconventional new mission objectives, including airlifting supplies to pockets of German forces, providing dedicated Close Air Support for Axis partner nations, and one very unusual mission to assist in the escorting of several Kriegsmarine vessels directly through the English Channel.

It is also the first Axis Operations DLC with more than one ending. Given the importance of the battle of Stalingrad, seen by many as the real turning point of the war, you will see different outcomes depending on how well you perform there.

It also includes new units, of course. There are new units for Hungary (improved Toldi II Model 1942 and Turan 1 tanks), new utility and prototype units, to supplement the game’s impressive array of mid-war era vehicles and weaponry, as well as visual upgrades for existing German vehicles.

Just like any other Axis Operations DLC, it can be played as a standalone DLC or, if you want, you can import your core army from the previous DLC, 1941. At the end of 1942 you will also be able to export your core army to any future DLC of the Axis Operations series.

Axis Operations 1942 will be released on July 9th.

If you would like to sign up for the beta, you can do so by clicking here. Your feedback is extremely valuable, and it will help us greatly.

Last but not least, we’re opening a new tournament for Panzer Corps 2. You can sign up now. The first round will begin next week, on Thursday June 17. It is a PBEM tournament which will accompany us throughout the release of the DLC, and will conclude one day before its release.

NVIDIA has launched its new Geforce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card. The review embargo has been lifted, and we have gathered together a number of reviews on the Founders Edition and various custom cards from different manufactures. Here’s a bit from NVIDIA:

Launching June 10th, starting at $599, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti turbocharges the GeForce RTX 3070, our most popular NVIDIA Ampere Architecture graphics card. This new Ti GPU boosts performance with more CUDA Cores and our super speed GDDR6X memory. Altogether, they enable the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti to deliver a 1.5X performance improvement versus the previous-gen GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, and a 2X improvement over the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti.

Check out the reviews via the links listed below.

• GURU3D - GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition
• HEXUS - GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Founders Edition
• TECHPOWERUP! - MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Suprim X
• GURU3D - Palit GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GamingPRO
• TECHPOWERUP! - Zotac GeForce RTX 3070 Ti AMP Holo
• TECHPOWERUP! - Palit GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GameRock OC

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released the GeForce 466.77 WHQL software. The drivers come with support for the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card. Also added is support for the DLSS feature in “No Man’s Sky,” with its latest patch. The drivers also provide optimization for “Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 2,” “Chivalry 2,” “The Persistence,” and NVIDIA Reflex support for “War Thunder” and “Escape from Tarkov.”

A handful bugs were also fixed. For starters, a BSOD error with “DPC Watchdog Violation error” occurring on NVIDIA “Kepler” and “Turing” GPUs, has been fixed. System freezing when launching a VR game on machines connected to 4K UHD TVs, has been fixed. 4K @ 120Hz display mode not being available on RTX 20-series, GTX 16-series, and GTX 10-series; has been fixed.

You can download the GeForce 466.77 WHQL drivers via GeForce.com.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Sharkoon Unveils TG6M RGB Case
• EK Water Blocks Announces Quantum Vector Nitro+ Full Coverage Blocks
• EK Unveils Vector Water Blocks for Aorus Master 6000 Series GPUs
• ENERMAX Announces New Product Lineup at Computex 2021
• Sharkoon Launches its Shark Disc RGB Fan
• Alphacool Presents Eiszapfen Terminal and Temperature Sensor for Liquid Cooling Setups
• GIGABYTE Adds Three MAX-COVERD GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Graphics Cards
• SteelSeries Unveils PrismCaps- New Pudding style Doubleshot PBT Keycaps
• GALAX Rolls Out OC Lab GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Hall of Fame Graphics Card
• GAMDIAS HERMES L1 / S1 Keyboards Get Short-contact Speed Axis