Strategy and Wargaming

By John McArdle @ Wargamer

The recently released “nation pack” for last November’s Armored Brigade is a great example of why you can never have too much of a good thing. The two nations included in the DLC, Italy and Yugoslavia, bring Armored Brigades already fulsome roster up to nine cold war combatants.

What’s more, players who purchase the nation pack will also have access to the new 61×61 Km map of the Italian-Yugoslav border, making for plausible randomly generated missions between the starring nations of the DLC. Or should I say plausibly generated campaigns, as Veitikka Studios, to coincide with the release of the nation pack, co-released a free dynamic campaign generator, adding an aspect to Armored Brigade that was sorely needed since launch.

Read on…

Matrix Games has announced that a new installment for Field of Glory II is coming and it is “darker” than ever. Wolves at the Gate depicts the epic struggles that newly forged European kingdoms had to face for their survival during the “Dark Ages”, a long period of recurrent conflicts that eventually gave birth to Europe.

This age was marked by the volcanic expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate and its fights against the Byzantine Empire, the last bastion against the Islamic advance in the middle-east. In Europe, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, and then crowned Emperor of the Romans, built the foundations of the Carolingian Renaissance and the beginning of the Translatio Imperii in the West.

But no-one was prepared for the endless waves of ruthless and merciless raiders and warriors that from the end of the eight century onward ravaged almost the totality of the Continent and the Mediterranean. Christendom’s towns and holy places were in constant danger from the depredations of the Vikings and Magyars, as well as the on-going Saracen threat. The Vikings were to carve out colonies in Ireland, the Danelaw in England, Normandy in France and the Kievan Rus in Russia. The Magyars were eventually to cease their raids and become the Christian kingdom of Hungary.

The Wolves have arrived. Is this end of Christianity, or is it just the birth pangs of a new world order?

Get more information about Wolves at the Gate on its official webpage.

Matrix Games announces that Armored Brigade Nation Pack: Italy – Yugoslavia, the first DLC for the acclaimed Cold War wargame Armored Brigade, is now available.

Italy and Yugoslavia are ready to join the conflict with hundreds of new units and aircraft, on a complete new map (the Gorizia Gap) covering 61×61 kilometers.

Together with the Nation Pack DLC developers have released also an important update featuring, among many other goodies, a Campaign Generator tool! And it is free!

If you want to know about how Campaign Generator works, have a look at this guide.

You can check the full changelog here.

Get more information about Armored Brigade Nation Pack: Italy – Yugoslavia from its official webpage.

Developer Kraken Studios and Matrix Games are proud to announce WarPlan. 

WarPlan is a game like few others. It is more than a WWII game. It’s a tool. Merging the experience of 50 years in wargaming, WarPlan puts in players’ hands the control of virtually everything.

Supply System, Production, Politics, Military operations and many other layers are offered to you thanks the great engine flexibility.

Today, developer Kraken Studios and Matrix Games are proud to announce that WarPlan has reached the Beta Phase, so if you think you have what it takes to help polishing and testing don’t miss this incredible opportunity and join the Beta now!

Learn more about WarPlan on the games official webpage!

Matrix Games has released an overview of the first iteration of the Armored Brigade Campaign Generator system. It and the original Battle Generator are built with the same design philosophy in mind: To have an easy way to generate an infinite amount of replayable content that can be shared with others.

It provides a context for the battles and adds more depth to gameplay by making use of the game’s features that some players might otherwise have overlooked.

The flexibility of the battle system that can handle almost any forces, locations, and other parameters is made use of by having units with tracked statistics, battle locations that are dictated by the outcome of the previous battle, and the time of day and the weather that keep changing during or between the battles. One strength of Armored Brigade is the enormous size of maps. They offer a myriad of unique and realistic locations, and when fighting over a piece terrain, even for several battles, its special characteristics become familiar and memorable.

The system tracks explosions and terrain fires, and these areas become destruction zones in the following battles. All this creates a sense of drama.

Let’s take a look at how a fresh campaign is generated, and how the transition between the campaign battles works.

IMPORTANT – The Battle Generator tool comes with the free update that will be released along with the Nation Pack. It will be available both for the base game and the DLC.

Click here to read the document (.PDF File).

Get more information about Armored Brigade from its official webpage.

Strategic Mind: The Pacific is a turn-based strategy set in the WW2 period depicting the war between the USA and the Empire of Japan waged in the Pacific Ocean with mindblowing historical accuracy and attention to detail.

It offers an immersive experience of commanding both sides of the conflict, allowing you to gain a unique understanding of the situation through the eyes of both sides top commanders, resulting in enjoyable and insightful gameplay.

Build up, train and equip your troops with the newest weaponry available to maximize their efficiency and set sail for victory. The core element of the game is large scale naval battles with numerous carrier ships bringing so much more aircraft into the battle for seizing the control over the ocean. Upon overtaking the sea you will have to set foot on hostile land through a series of costly landing operations.

You will have to make your naval, aerial and amphibious forces act as one flawless mechanism – a task only a truly strategic mind can achieve.

Two Sides. Two Commanders. Two Destinies.

View the Gameplay & Mechanics video in Strategic Mind: The Pacific HERE.

Head on over to the Strategic Mind: The Pacific Steam page to purchase the Early Access version of the game at a discount.

The third official update of Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe is finally available for download.

After the “Garand” and “Gewehr” updates, we are very proud to release the “Panzerfaust Update”, and there are many reasons to be excited about it.

This Update is truly massive, touching hundreds of game elements, bringing the game to its highest level.

Before proceeding to download the update and to view the changelog, there are two important things to notice.

The first is that all the changes and updates previously released for World at War are now in place for War in Europe as Well. This has been a major effort and we’d like to thank the developer for the constant great support on the game.

The second important element to know is about PBEM. With the Panzerfaust Update current PBEM matches won’t be compatible with the latest version so, if you have important battles going on, our advice is to not update until you have completed the session. You’ll have 3 months to play your multiplayer session after which we would turn off PBEM support for older versions.

If you are playing a Steam version, the update will be moved to a beta branch and you’ll be able to keep playing you sessions in there.

GoG users will have full control over the download choice.

But let’s not waste any time further and jump straight into the Panzerfaust Update! Click here to download it.

Eugen Systems details Beta Phase 4 content for Steel Division 2, set to launch May 2

• Beta Public Access Starts: May 2
• Beta ends: May 6

New content:

• 6 Divisions: Gruppe Harteneck (New), 9th Cavalry Corps (New), 5. Panzerdivision, 2nd Guards Tank Corps, 20. Panzerdivision, 29th Tank Corps.
• Three Game Modes: Conquest, Closer Combat and Breakthrough, featuring the brand-new Defensive Structures

Three Maps:

• Slutsk (New): A large new map, perfect for 4v4 encounters! Please note that the developers are aware of performance issues with this map. They have identified the problem and are working on a solution.
• Lyakavichy (Updated)
• Orsha North (updated)

To stay up to date on the latest regarding Steel Division 2, be sure to visit the game’s official website.

Paradox Development Studio Releases New Grand Strategy Experience

Alexander is dead, and his generals now fight over his legacy and empire. To the east, Chandragupta has established dominion over much of India. To the west, the commercial republic of Carthage and martial republic of Rome are on a collision course for control of their half of the Mediterranean. And, far from the cities of coastal empires, fierce tribes of what the Greeks call “barbarians” follow their own paths.

Get ready to dive into the epic conquests and geopolitical drama of the classical world in Imperator: Rome, a new grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studio available now for $39.99 at major online retailers.

Choose from hundreds of republics, monarchies and tribal regimes and guide your nation to eternal glory. Will you repeat history and lead Rome to empire and glory? Or will you defy the fates and unite the Hellenistic Kingdoms under one crown? Can Carthage resist destruction, or will old Cato’s demand for its total destruction be fulfilled again?

The features of Imperator: Rome include:

• Challenging but familiar classical setting: Rome does not yet dominate Italy. Carthage manages dozens of vassal city states in a naval empire. The mantle of Alexander is disputed by kings in Macedonia, Egypt, Anatolia and Persia. India bows to Chandragupta’s Mauryan might.
• Unique Government Mechanics: Kings will find they have a freer hand to do as they please than a consul in a republic, but with fewer political outlets, monarchies may breed traitors more quickly.
• Most detailed Paradox map yet: Hundreds of towns dot the map, some with fortresses or ports to emphasize their strategic importance. Each province’s population will ultimately determine its value and purpose in the empire.
• Population management: Citizens, freemen, slaves and tribal populations bring benefits to your empire, but also burdens if the influx of cheap foreign labor strains your research or food supply.
• Flexible trade system: Exchange surplus goods from far across the sea to satisfy your people or build better armies, or keep your surplus for added bonuses at home.
• Cultural Military Traditions: Different cultures will evolve their armies in different ways. Embrace the Parthian horse archer as a Persian nation, strengthen your triremes as a Punic power or trust everything to the heavy infantry as a Roman.
• Battle tactics: Choose how your general will approach the coming battle, making the most of force composition and terrain. Use your light infantry to skirmish advantage in rough ground. Gamble on a full assault in open plains.
• Manage a court of hundreds of characters: Watch and guide hundreds of characters through three centuries of history. Families will rise and fall in prominence. Some will be heroes, some will be traitors. Create new legends that will sing through time.
• And Much More: Dynamic events, scheming against rivals, beautiful art and music, barbarian migrations, inventions, religious ideas, laws, royal pretenders and other features to fill in a rich ancient mosaic.

Be a Hannibal. Be a Ptolemy. Be a Caesar. The riches and majesty of the ancient Mediterranean are yours for the taking. Seize the day!

For more game information, to purchase the game, and to view the new release trailer, visit the official Imperator: Rome webpage. Imperator: Rome is also available via Steam.

Eugen Systems Delays Launch for Additional Army General Mode Improvements, and Extended Beta Phases

Independent developer and publisher Eugen Systems announced today plans to delay the launch for Steel Division 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed real-time strategy title Steel Division: Normandy 44. Players who pre-ordered a Digital Deluxe Edition of Steel Division 2, can now look forward to playing the final version of the game on June 18, 2019 before the wide release of the Standard Edition on June 20, 2019.

For an independent studio, this decision was not made lightly. The decision to delay the Steel Division 2 launch will afford the development team additional time to focus on improving the Army General mode. This single player campaign mode has grown over the course of development and is shaping up to be an entirely new game-within-a-game. Steel Division 2 fans can expect more details on the progress concerning the Army General mode soon this month and are encouraged to keep an eye on the official Steel Division 2 news feed on Steam for Developer Diaries on the topic.

In addition, the new launch date will allow Eugen Systems to deliver on direct requests from players for more frequent and extended beta phases. With more development time, Eugen Systems will focus on addressing direct requests and feedback from beta players to create the best possible single- and multi-player experiences when Steel Division 2 launches.

To that end, starting today, Steel Division 2 players can look forward to the biggest and longest Beta play session to-date with Beta Phase 3 starting today on Steam. Playable today, from April 18 through April 23, players can look forward to a ton of new content to experience, including:

• Four Divisions: The 20. Panzerdivision, the 29th Tank Corps, as well as the 78. Sturmdivision, the 26th Guards Rifle Division
• Three Game Modes: Conquest, Closer Combat and Breakthrough, featuring the brand-new Defensive Structures
• Three Maps: Autobahn zur Hölle, Vitebsk East (now updated with new lighting, a new mini-map, and a lot of fixes) and the well-known Orsha North
• And of course, more 5-Player coop

Starting on May 29, the Steel Division 2 beta will remain open and uninterrupted until the final game launch on June 20. Until then, Steel Division 2 fans can also look forward to regular updates and additional beta phases as development continues. For details on the upcoming beta phases and more on the recent delay announcement for Steel Division 2, please head to the page on Steam.

For full details on pre-order bonuses for Steel Division 2, please head to the official website at buy.steeldivision2.com.

Steel Division 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed real-time strategy title Steel Division: Normandy 44. Set during Operation Bagration on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1944, Steel Division 2 pushes the limits of the World War II tactical experience, delivering new 1:1 scale Dynamic Strategic Campaigns. Command entire armies during Operation Bagration, covering the Soviet counter-attack against Axis forces in Byelorussia. Battle in the multiple skirmish modes on 25 maps and customize your battlegroups in the brand-new deck system, allowing for an unprecedented level of customization.

To stay up to date on the latest regarding Steel Division 2, be sure to visit the game’s official website.