Strategy and Wargaming

Players Can Now Pay Monthly Fee to Access All Heart of Iron Content

In the six years since the release of Hearts of Iron IV, Paradox Interactive’s grand strategy wargame has expanded many times to reflect the size and complexity of World War II. More detailed army and naval management, as well as new espionage and resistance systems have been added, not to mention the many new alternate history paths for the major nations of the world in this tumultuous time.

If you own Hearts of Iron IV but have found it hard to keep up with this growth, Paradox Interactive has introduced a subscription model for players unable or unwilling to commit to six years of added content. This is especially helpful for new players who are unsure where to start when buying expansions or country packs.

Watch the Heart of Iron IV subscription video HERE.

Available only to Hearts of Iron IV owners through Steam, the expansion subscription gives players access to:

• Five expansion packs: Including the naval themed Man the Guns and the recent Eastern Front focused No Step Back
• Two Country Packs: Adding new national focuses for Central European and Eastern Mediterranean nations.
• Sound Packs: Including period music and historical speeches, as well as two song packs from the Swedish metal band, Sabaton.
• Cosmetic Packs: Special cosmetic skins for Allied and Axis Armor, new ship models and planes of the Eastern Front.
• All upcoming expansions and content

This subscription is available now on Steam for the suggested monthly retail price of $4.99/£3.99/€4.99.

Your court is the heart of your kingdom, and now, in Crusader Kings III: Royal Court, you will be able to engage in vital affairs of state in a new game area to awe visitors with your splendor and display marvelous items and artifacts. The first major expansion for Paradox’s award-winning grand strategy role-playing game is now available.

Decorate your court with works of art created by master craftspeople or with rare artifacts captured or inherited across the generations. Hear the pleas of your subjects as they ask for royal favors or mercy, while maintaining a court grand enough to reflect a reputation appropriate for someone of your stature.

On a less personal note, reshape your society with dynamic and dramatic cultural options. Change your realm’s habits and practices to better suit a large multicultural empire or strike your own path, forging an original culture as old ways prove unsuitable for new circumstances.

Watch the Crusader Kings III: Royal Court Release Trailer HERE.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Royal Court include:

• Royal Throne Room: A visual representation of your royal court will reflect all the accumulated majesty and prestige of your dynasty. Only kings and emperors have royal courts, so climb the ladder of power to bask in your own majesty.
• Hold Court: Interact with vassals and courtiers as they come to you with their problems, seeking a royal judgment.
• Grandeur: Increase the quality of life at your court with fancier trappings and better food, all the better to impress your rivals and attract higher quality guests.
• Inspired People: Talented artists, craftspeople and thinkers can be commissioned to work on new projects, adding treasures and artifacts to your court. The higher the grandeur of your court, the better the quality of creator you will attract.
• Court Artifacts: Put your arts and crafts on display, and pass these items of great renown down the family line. All artifacts can be stolen in war, building a legacy of ownership and personal claims down the centuries.
• Hybrid Cultures: Make the most of a multicultural realm, developing a new way of life that is specifically adapted to your varied population and geography.
• Cultural Divergence: Split from your traditional culture, adapting it into something new that better fits your situation or aspirations.

As always, this expansion is released with a major update free for all Crusader Kings III players. This update adds more detail and context for the game’s culture system, as well as the addition of minor court positions, a character inventory system for weapons and armor, new events and a way for you to design your own custom coat of arms.

Learn more about Crusader Kings III: Royal Court at the expansions official website.

On January 20th Campaign Series: Vietnam will land on Matrix and Slitherine’s websites.

Get ready to relive the most iconic battles in Southeast Asia spanning from 1948 to 1967.

Campaign Series: Vietnam boasts a wide variety of new units with special capabilities, such as helicopters, riverine units, tunnel rats, civilians, and supply units. New tactical realities include flight limitations, no-go zones, IEDs and hidden minefields, tunnels, and unconventional warfare.

Each scenario is based on a painstakingly researched historical engagement and has a variable number of turns in which you and your opponent attempt to achieve the maximum number of victory points, usually by destroying your opponent’s forces or by capturing objective locations.

A wide variety of battle situations are represented in the game, including firebase defense, helicopter air assaults, meeting engagements, trench defenses, armored breakthroughs, battles of attrition, mobile defenses, search and destroy, and more.

104 Scenarios plus 4 low-complexity Boot Camp scenarios designed with step-by-step instructions to help new players get into the game, and a full suite of editors for those who would like to create their own scenarios and many ready-to-use historically accurate master maps.

Get more information about Campaign Series: Vietnam from its official product page.

MicroProse is happy to announce that Regiments, its new Cold War RTS, has an Open Playtest Build available for everybody to try, now on Steam. There is also a shiny new trailer introducing Operation Firebird, the main mode available in the playtest.

What will be included in this new Playtest?

The Playtest is focused on the new Operations game mode.

In Operations, you will lead your regiment through days of grueling combat over several maps, making tough decisions and experiencing the full weight of their consequences.

Operations feature a high level of persistence. All the losses are recorded, the deployed platoons retain their positions, the engineering obstacles stay where they were emplaced. Even the wrecks and the scarred terrain remain between battles on the same map.

Each phase of combat advances the time of day – eventually, you’ll have to fight at night, relying on night vision equipment or Illumination artillery rounds.

How will Operations unfold?

Between and during the battles, you have to carefully watch your main resource: Operational Points. They’re earned for completing certain objectives – and have a wide array of uses. They can be used to replenish losses in the depleted companies, to order more supplies or engineering support, request new Task Forces, or upgrade existing ones with better equipment.

Operational Points are, thus, always in short supply.

The enemy will not sit idly and will ferociously counter-attack your hard-earned gains. A wide variety of war events is represented by the Events system.
Each phase will have a single event play out. Some are beneficial, like extra air support or an allied battlegroup. Some are negative – supplies failing to reach you in time or an enemy electronic jammer interfering with the communications and radars.

Other updates

Along with the Operations mode, you’ll experience the usual set of improvements. AI updates, extra quality-of-life features, refined visual presentation, more units.

What will be the final Regiments experience?

It’s 1989 and the flames of a New War are flaring up. Thousands of square miles of German landscape will become a stage for sweeping battles between the best NATO and Warsaw Pact has to offer.

Lead your Regiment through the inferno of a wide-scale Cold War conflict in this new Real-Time Tactics game. Break through the lines, call in artillery and air support, maneuver, feign retreats, and stage mobile defenses. Do not relent.

The Platoon Command system lets you orchestrate battles with unprecedented precision and ease. No need to micromanage every infantryman – you’re a Commanding Officer, not a sergeant.

Form your force on the fly. Selecting the main Regiment is just a start. You can expand your army during the game by calling in unique Task Forces, each bringing its own equipment and off-map support options.

For more game information and to join the open playtest, visit the games Steam page, then select “Request Access”.

The legendary strategy franchise is back, combining heart-pounding combat with new layers of strategy in a breathtaking Mediterranean setting. Company of Heroes 3 is coming to PC in 2022, bringing the series’ intimate boots-on-the-ground storytelling to a brand-new theatre of war. For the first time in the history of the franchise, step into the role of a WWII general on the brand new Dynamic Campaign Map and determine the course of the Allied campaign in Italy day by day, battle by battle. With a birds-eye view of the theater, players will make decisions that impact both the tactical battles they’ll be playing, as well as the course of the war itself.

To close 2021 on a high for all things Company of Heroes 3, Relic Entertainment have prepared a deep dive Developer Diary video here, where players can learn more about the origins of the new Dynamic Campaign Map. The Relic devs discuss some of the exciting new systems, decisions players will have to make, and how the new Dynamic Campaign will affect the classic RTS gameplay that players know and love. Players can also find out more about new resources and mechanics on the Dynamic Campaign Map, such as Partisans, Air and Naval forces, and how these systems can be used to turn the tide of the conflict.

For more game information visit the official Company of Heroes website or visit the games Steam page.

Panzer Division Games has announced the release of their upcoming game Attack at Dawn: North Africa for Spring of 2022. They have also released a new trailer showcasing the game’s latest graphics, user interface and outlook.

Watch the Attack at Dawn: North Africa Release Announcement Trailer HERE.

About The Game

This is a WW2 strategy game that puts the player in the shoes of Rommel or Montgomery, fighting a vicious battle in the deserts of North Africa. It can be played in a real-time, or turn-based (WeGo) mode, which reflects the speed and chaos of the desert mobile warfare.

Game map and the units have been designed to be informative and easy to understand. With the ability to zoom out and see the entire battlefield with a glance, the player will have the best possible situational awareness.

Scenarios have been created after studying the historical orders of battle, and battle histories. Attention was given to the composition of the armies, combat values of individual units and overall authenticity of each scenario.

The game features a large map, covering a distance of almost 2000 kilometres and you can use the Scenario Editor provided within the game to create your own scenarios anywhere on this large battleground.

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

Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive, the fourth wargame in the Decisive Campaigns series, is now available exclusively on Matrix Games store. Covering the battles in the Ardennes between December 1944 and January 1945, it brings to life Operational wargaming by lowering the scale to just above tactical level.

DC: Ardennes Offensive is a classic wargame with an exceptional level of detail where the main unit of maneuver is the battalion. The game comes with a huge, full campaign scenario lasting over 16 days and several smaller scenarios focusing on several days of combat on specific parts of the front (like St. Vith and Bastogne).

Players will be able to play the whole Ardennes campaign on a 1 Km/hex map with battalion-sized Units at their command. Each day is divided into four turns, including a night turn. Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive comes with dozens of additions, changes, and improvements designed to fit its scale and to bring innovation to the series. The result is an extremely immersive operational wargame where, more than ever, intelligent tactics can beat the odds.

For more game information please visit the Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive webpage.

Matrix Games have announced that Combat Mission Cold War has been released.

Take command of either US or Soviet tactical formations, centering on the Company Team or Battalion Task Force between 1979 to 1982.

Combat Mission Cold War is set in the tipping-point years of a conflict that gripped the world for 45 years.

Between 1979-1982, both the NATO and Soviet Warsaw Pact militaries began the shift away from industrialized warfare of the early 20th century and towards the modern digital battlefield of today.
Combat Mission Cold War simulates several “what if” conflict scenarios between US and Soviet forces centered on the strategic Fulda Gap and environs in West Germany.

15 standalone scenarios set in the US V and VII Corp sectors of West Germany and 3 full length campaigns:

• The NTC Campaign: Puts you in command of a US Army Company Team as it begins its rotation and trial by simulated fire against the premier Soviet style formation in the world.
• The US West German Campaign: Set in the southern Fulda Strategic Corridor between Fulda and Hanau (there are two versions of the US Campaign, 1982 and 1979 to allow players the opportunity to see and compare the differences in equipment between the two periods).
• The Soviet Campaign: Set north and east of Fulda, the Soviet Campaign follows the “Ride of the 120th Motor Rifle Regt” on the opening 48 hours of a fictional “what if” West German invasion.

Watch the Combat Mission Cold War release trailer HERE.

Battlefront and Slitherine join forces to deliver the world’s most accurate cold war simulator to Steam and the Matrix Games store.

Source: Blue’s News

Stalingrad is now available for Windows and macOS on Steam as new DLC for Unity of Command II, the World War II strategy game. This gives players the chance to do battle on the eastern front, fighting the enemy, the elements, and starvation. Here’s what to expect:

After staving off the Soviet winter counteroffensive of 1941/42, the German Wehrmacht reclaims the initiative the following summer. Concentrating their forces in the south, the Germans once again slice through Soviet lines, aiming for the oilfields of the Caucasus and the industrial city of Stalingrad. But the Red Army has learned much from past failures and prepares to strike back in an overwhelming fashion.

In this DLC, you will command the multinational Army Group South in its bid to deliver a crippling blow to the Soviet war machine, while securing oil for Germany’s ongoing conquests.

Matrix Games has released the second tactical video from Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive. 

We’re back with a new technical video, this time regarding the new rules designed to fit the game’s lower scale. Discover what’s changed with LOS, height levels, Kampfgruppen, and much more with this new technical video, and get ready for November 18th.

For more game information please visit the Decisive Campaigns: Ardennes Offensive webpage.