Strategy and Wargaming

New gameplay footage, details on The Wolf’s combat style and recommended strategies against the series antagonist

Stronghold Crusader 2 has gone gold and to celebrate Firefly Studios has released new gameplay footage of the series’ most notorious AI opponent.

“Stronghold is known for its tendency to test players’ mental dexterity and with the resurgence of these kinds of games it makes perfect sense to include The Wolf” the developer said in a new blog post. “We want this addition to the cast of AI characters to reinforce our message that Crusader 2 retains the series’ sense of challenge. When you are victorious against The Wolf, or any character for that matter, it should feel like an absolute triumph.”

An opponent who taunts the player with lines such as “I would rather tear down your castle with a spoon than offer you assistance”, The Wolf does not mince words. As an AI Lord he is not the greatest ally, his aggressive attitude and unpredictable mood making military assistance or trade unlikely. As an AI opponent however The Wolf provides skilled Stronghold players with the worthy challenge they seek.

Skirmish matches against The Wolf are characterised by his ability to build strong defences early on, turtling until he can amass an army of the game’s most heavily armoured units. Rushing The Wolf is difficult, but the longer players leave him alone the more dangerous he becomes! In order to stand a chance, players must match his numbers and employ effective counter troops. Crossbowmen are required to pierce his troops’ thick armour and Pitch Ditch needed to set his Swordsmen ablaze. Units who are weak against armoured troops, such as the Whirling Dervish, should be avoided.

Stronghold Crusader 2 can be pre-ordered on Steam with 10% off, exclusive mini-campaigns and more.

All standard edition owners to be upgraded to latest expansion

Source: CVG

The upcoming Emperor Edition of Total War: Rome 2 will be given to all existing owners of the game free of charge. Due for release on September 16, Rome II: Emperor Edition will include numerous improvements and downloadable content. Sega announced that all owners of the standard edition of the game will be automatically upgraded to the Emperor Edition come September 16 and receive everything that comes with it.

The main addition is the new Imperator Augustus Campaign Pack DLC. This covers the events of the 2nd Triumvirate War, which led to the end of the republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. Gameplay changes in the Emperor Edition include “overhauled building chains, a redeveloped and more impactful politics system, improved campaign and battle lighting”. All free downloadable content updates released since the game’s original launch in September 2013 will also be included, however the paid DLC – including the Hannibal at the Gates campaign and the Caesar In Gaul campaign – will not.

First-ever Galactic Gameplay Revealed in All New Video with Developer Commentary

Prepare for an interstellar mission to the outskirts of the universe as Ancient Space is now available for pre-order. The upcoming single-player real-time strategy (RTS) title from Paradox Interactive and CreativeForge Games will be released September 23, 2014 for PC and Mac.

Commanding a fleet to the outer reaches of deep space on a quest to discover what lies inside “The Black Zone,” Ancient Space will take players on an adventure that combines a compelling storyline with classic real-time strategy elements in a full 3D environment, challenging players to come up with strategies that utilize the x, y, and z axes as they progress through the campaign and upgrade their fleet of ships.

Start planning your expedition into the world of Ancient Space by checking out the gameplay video here:

Launching into the unknown, players will need to keep their wits about them as they make strategic decisions, battle the odds and undertake deadly missions in the dark recesses of space. Players will be joined by a cast of character voiced by recognizable actors from popular science-fiction television shows including Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and more in this tale of strategic resource management and engrossing interstellar warfare.

For more information on Ancient Space, please visit www.ancientspacegame.com.

“War is not a river, or a lake, but an ocean of all that is evil” (Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden)

Initially introduced to the lucky few who attended our 2014 annual convention “Home of Wargamers”, Pike & Shot is now mature enough to show more of the game to public! This upcoming strategy game designed by Richard Bodley Scott – the mastermind behind the Field of Glory table-top wargame rules – aims to simulate the majors battles in the age of Pike and Shot – the 16th and 17th centuries.

The period covered by this game is particularly interesting from a tactical point of view as lots of changes occurred on the battlefield at that time. In only two hundred years commanders have been substituting traditional medieval tactics with modern ones, inserting musketeers and artillery in the armies. Obviously the players will be able to feel this tactical revolution in Pike & Shot!

This setting, combined with the approachable and visually immersive Battle Academy engine, makes Pike & Shot a very engaging title for any gamer that has an interest for this period. 3 huge campaigns, a skirmish mode that allows to generate an infinite number of “What-if” scenarios and a multiplayer system powered by the famous PBEM++ come together for a captivating experience in the heart of the bloodiest battles of the Renaissance.

Pike & Shot is currently in beta and will release later this year for PC, with an iPad version following soon.

Click here to view the new screenshots and get more game information!

BattleGoat Studios is proud today to announce Supreme Ruler Ultimate, the most ambitious and comprehensive title in our Supreme Ruler strategy game series. With the announcement of Supreme Ruler Ultimate David Thompson, Lead Designer and Co-Founder explained, “Our recent release of Supreme Ruler 1936 has proven to be very popular with our fans and strategy/wargame players as it revolves around World War II, but one of the biggest requests we’ve received has been to blend it with the near future game we released back in 2008, Supreme Ruler 2020. That game provided players with the opportunity to make anything they wanted of our modern world, from any starting nation, without any preconceived expectations.”

Supreme Ruler Ultimate will incorporate the content from all of BattleGoat’s Supreme Ruler series, letting players take control of a nation from the historic troubles of World War II, through the Cold War, and into the near future where established relations are undermined by disorder and turmoil. Thompson went on to comment, “With what is currently going on internationally and the intense domestic polarization forming within various countries, it certainly is not hard to imagine a spark spreading unparalleled chaos through our world.” Thompson indicated that BattleGoat will continue to add historic events and content to the game for players that want to start in the 20th century, as well as updating the near future storyline to incorporate new technology threads and to reflect the new international crises that have developed.

Supreme Ruler Ultimate will be released on October 17, 2014 at an SRP of $29.99, and an announcement regarding a Steam Early Access Beta is expected soon. BattleGoat have also announced that owners of Supreme Ruler 1936 will be given a special upgrade price to the new title.

Find out more about Supreme Ruler Ultimate at the games Steam Store Page.

Wargame is back with a second dose of free DLC for the million-selling franchise’s third installment, Wargame: Red Dragon. In this new expansion for the spectacular real-time strategy game from Eugen Systems, which will patch automatically into the game today, 12 new units and an additional full-length story campaign are added, which takes the war to 1992 charging an uchronical alternate-history narrative.

Fielding some of the most advanced military technology of the time, The Second Korean War will see China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union pit themselves against the might of the United Nations’ coalitions. Armed with the Patriot missile system, the USA buffs their anti-air defenses, as do the Chinese with the JH-7. The South Korean K9-Thunder marches onto the field, to the detriment of the USSR’s elite Spetsnaz GRU infantry units.

In the all-new campaign, a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded in 1991, a year prior to the events of the narrative. The former guard succeeds Gorbachev, and restores Soviet order, bringing them closer to the communist leaders in Asia, as leaders in the West grow ever-distant from the Soviet super-power. After a year of friction, the entire Korean peninsula is at war as the Soviets and UN coalitions take their increasingly distancing ideologies onto the battlefield.

And there’s more good news: Wargame is the MidWeek Deal on Steam!

SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe, Ltd. today announced Total War: Rome 2 – Emperor Edition, the definitive edition of the best-selling game in the Total War series from Creative Assembly. Emperor Edition collects together all free content to date, which includes wide-ranging revisions, additions to game features and adds a brand new Campaign Pack expansion, ‘Imperator Augustus’.

Most importantly, existing Rome 2 players will receive all of the above content via automatic update on the day of launch, upgrading them to Emperor Edition at no cost.

The new ‘Imperator Augustus’ Campaign Pack adds hundreds of hours of sandbox gameplay across a new campaign map reflecting the geopolitical boundaries of the Second Triumvirate War. Players will determine the outcome of a vast civil war, which saw Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus vying to become the very first Emperor of Rome.

Alongside all feature updates from launch (including Twitch.tv integration, touch controls, new factions, new units and now the Mac version), Emperor Edition also features an improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles, and improved visuals in both campaign and battle.

For more information about Emperor Edition and the’ Imperator Augustus’ Campaign Pack, please tune in to the latest episode of community show Rally Point which aired today.

“This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.” (David Lloyd George – UK Prime Minister)

One hundred years ago today, Russian and German forces were standing facing each other in East Prussia. This early confrontation on the Eastern Front – known as the Battle of Tannenberg – resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army and the suicide of their main commander, Samsonov. On the German side the battle made Paul von Hindenburg famous for the rest of the war, and proved that moving troops quickly by train could bring a decisive advantage. Technology was an asset that could make all the difference in the years to come…

In To End All Wars – their new Grand Strategy game dedicated to WW1 – Ageod (www.ageod.com) aim to reproduce in detail this conflict that involved all of the main powers of this period. The AGE engine has been especially enhanced in order to cover the specifics of this war. New technologies, trenches, war plans, aerial and armored units, and an original diplomatic system have been implemented to simulate the Great War with a high level of realism.

Today we are proud to announce that the game is finally released! Players can now embrace a new military career by leading the destiny of one the major WW1 alliances that fearlessly fought, not only for Europe, but also for Africa and Asia. The game allows a high degree of freedom in terms of decisions, so battles, diplomatic relations, political events and war production will depend on player’s choices.

In order to celebrate the release we are offering a $5 discount to the early adopters during the week of the launch! Note that To End All Wars will be released on Steam as well on August 29th and that this version will also benefit from the launch discount. We are also going to offer a free Steam key to anyone who has a copy the game, wherever they bought it from, once the game is available on this digital platform!

Get more information on To End All Wars from its product page and its official Introduction Video.

New Story-driven Real-Time Strategy Game With Stellar Cast Announced

Paradox Interactive today revealed that Ancient Space, a new story-driven real-time strategy (RTS) game from developer CreativeForge Games, will be coming to Windows and Mac PCs in Fall 2014.

Ancient Space is a single-player, real-time strategy title that puts the player in command of a fleet conducting a scientific mission on the edge of the known universe, charting what lies beyond in ‘The Black Zone.’ A rich and compelling story will guide the player as they build and upgrade their fleets and then survive overwhelming odds in deadly strategic missions.

See what awaits beyond the fringes in the Ancient Space announcement trailer.

Ancient Space mixes an engrossing single-player campaign story with time-honored RTS gameplay for a suspenseful experience. Mission objectives are many, varying from exploration to stealth, from assault to defense and more.

Ancient Space is host to a cast of characters voiced by fan-favorite actors from sci-fi television series and films, including:

• John Billingsley (Star Trek: Enterprise, True Blood)
• Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica)
• Ron Glass (Firefly)
• Richard Gunn (Dark Angel)
• Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers, Star Trek: Nemesis, Saw)
• Dwight Schultz (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager)

Ancient Space Features:

• New Frontiers, Classic Gameplay: Build, maintain, upgrade, and strategically command a multitude of ships in tactical battles and missions, facing aliens, pirates, and the unknown
• An Explosive Space Opera: A compelling story, performed by a stellar cast, follows the player as the fleet tackles questions of humanity and science in an epic single-player campaign
• Live with Your Choices: Each mission advances the plot, and introduces new challenges to be met by choosing the right crew and the right upgrades for the job

For more information on Ancient Space, visit the games official website.

We are very pleased to announce, along with The Lordz Games Studio, the release of the 1.52 update for the PC version of Commander: The Great War! This patch comes with loads of fixes and improvements for an enhanced gameplay experience.

This time the focus was set on the AI and technical issues reported by the community. With this new boost the AI is likely to provide an even tougher challenge, so good luck commanders!

Please find below the official changelog of the 1.52 update.

PC and Steam versions:

• Various AI crashes fixed including the AI crash caused by incorrect embarking and the long (to infinite) AI turn loops
• Fixed a problem with loading game when custom unit name has “,” (comma)
• Fixed Unmoved unit cycling with PageUp/PageDown keys
• Introduced double click to confirm action or move to reduce accidental actions/moves
• Rendering via Direct3D support
• Fixed a bug in the Steam installer causing game not always starting
• Fixed camera AI swinging bug by auto zoom-out on turn end
• Added link to gameplay support forum

Click here to download the 1.52 patch. Steam will download the update automatically.

Get more information on Commander: The Great War from its official game page.