Strategy and Wargaming

The Command LIVE News Team has sent his last editorial report, directly from the frontline!

Saudi Arabia and Iran’s international relations are getting worse, after the news of gunfire between an Iranian marine ship and Saudi forces.

Considering the endless list of proxy wars the two countries have fought for supremacy in the region, the chance of a wider conflict is now more concrete, with rumors of an Iranian retaliation being confirmed!

Read the analysis here (.pdf) to get prepared for what is coming!

Command LIVE: Black Gold Blitz will be available on November 7th.

The conflict that sees Saudi Arabia facing Iran explodes once again. One of the Iran’s marine ships returns fire after it has been attacked by a Saudi force.

While both sides refuse to take responsibility for what happened and the truth will never be known, the situation goes out of control when the Iran decides to retaliate against the Saudi Arabia for its behaviour.

Both nations’ weaponry, military and navy forces have advanced considerably during the last few years, and both sides’ objectives are clear: to strike at the enemy’s economic heart, the oil infrastructures.

The rest of the world can only stand by and watch as the war arises.

Command LIVE: Black Gold Blitz is the latest expansion of the Command series that will bring you in the Middle East, for one of the bloodiest battles of modern times.

This November, the 7th you will have to choose one side and lead it to victory!

• Playable as Saudi Arabia or Iran.
• Asymmetric warfare, matching a large fleet of advanced aircraft against an enemy weaker in that field but strong in ballistic missiles and unconventional operations.
• Both offense and defense must be considered. Knowing how to balance defending your own oil infrastructure while destroying that of your enemies is essential for victory.
• Special operations that are both risky and possibly lucrative.
• A large target set consisting of everything from derricks and pipeline segments to valuable refineries.
• A wide range of playable units that range from cutting-edge aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-15SA to Cold War classics like the Tornado, F-4 Phantom, and F-14 Tomcat.
• Coordinate units based on the length of two gigantic countries.

Get more information about Command LIVE: Black Gold Blitz from its official product page!

In less than a month, desktop royalty will have the chance to test their resilience against the most majestic empire of the Middle Ages. On November 16, 2017, Paradox Development Studio will release Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon, the latest expansion to the best-selling medieval grand strategy role-playing experience.

The Emperor of China is powerful, but not invulnerable. Clever rulers can exploit the Emperor’s occasional generosity to build their own empire, carefully watching the news reports and changes in the Middle Kingdom so that they can best ride out the tides of history. Then, when the moment is right and you are confident in your strength, strike out and seize the Dragon Throne for yourself.

Jade Dragon features include:

• The Further East: A new “China Screen” lays out the status and desires of the Emperor of China, letting you keep tabs on what he wants and how to earn his grace
• An Eventful History: Random events tip you off to major happenings in distant Cathay, letting you know when the Middle Kingdom might be shifting its center of gravity
• Taoism: A Chinese religion that gives bonuses to stewardship, but spreads very slowly.
• New Asian Tributary System: Submit to the Empire as a tributary, always keeping an eye on the waning power of the Emperor, so you can time your escape to freedom
• Ambitious Adventurers: Disgruntled princes or curious adventurers may leave China to seek their own fortune to the west.
• Amazing Riches: Collect wondrous new Chinese artifacts for your characters, and a new Silk Road system that adjusts returns based on China’s stability.
• Chinese Characters: New Chinese and Tibetan portraits and Chinese units bring the empire to life
• Eight New Casus Bellis: Fight!

Jade Dragon will be available on 16 November 2017 for the suggested retail price of $14.99.

For more information about Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon, visit the games official website.

“In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles” - David Ben-Gurion

The Suez crisis, the Six-Day War, the War Of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, the Osirak raid and the grand air battle in the Bekaa Valley. These have been some of the most brutal fights which occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean in over 30 years after Israel declared its Independence in 1948.

Each of these conflicts saw great changes in warfare that changed the geopolitical balance of this area forever and even drew in the superpowers.

Today, you’ll have the chance to relive in first person the tactical and operational choices made by officers at all levels and all sides as Command: Shifting Sands has been released!

Shifting Sands is the latest installment in the CMANO series and its aim is to depict every military aspect of the Arab-Israeli wars fought from 1956 to 1982.

Through 17 campaign scenarios, you will experience all the major changes in warfare, with a historically accurate range of weapons and hardware of the period:

“The combat debut of the modern antiship missile and the countermeasures to it, the revolution in offensive counter-air operations, the emergence of the surface-to-air missile (SAM) and the development of SEAD (suppression of enemy air-defences) systems and tactics to deal with the new threat.”

Command: Shifting Sands is a top-notch military simulation! Grab it now!

Watch the Command: Shifting Sands Launch Trailer HERE.

Command: Modern Air Naval Operations and Shifting Sands are also available together in a bundle on Steam!

Command: Shifting Sands is a stand-alone game that uses the latest version of the Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations (CMANO) engine. It also serves as a DLC for existing CMANO owners.

Paradox Outlines Features Coming in Cradle of Civilization – Release Date Announced

Paradox Development Studio announces that Cradle of Civilization, the newest expansion to its flagship grand strategy game Europa Universalis IV, will be available to all wannabe conquerors on November 16, 2017. In less than a month, the million-plus explorers, traders and conquerors that make up the Europa Universalis community will see deeper gameplay and more detailed modeling of the tumultuous Middle East and Central Asia.

Cradle of Civilization will come with a host of new features, centered on the great empires that rose and fall in the fertile valleys that stretch from the Nile to the Indus. But let’s listen to Europa Universalis IV Game Director Jake Leiper-Ritchie outline the exciting changes in this developer video.

Cradle of Civilization continues the Paradox Development Studio mission to explore and explain the world beyond most textbooks, giving many great societies their chance to shine and open new and exciting ways for players to experience the early modern era.

Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.99.

For more information, please visit the official Europa Universalis IV website.

Challenging new campaigns and powerful units arrive in new DLC expansion

Kalypso Media is pleased to announce that The Road to Dunkirk, the first official DLC for its recent WW2 RTS Sudden Strike 4, is available now on Windows, Linux, Mac* and PlayStation®4, with a limited-time discount of 10% available to Steam customers for one week after launch. This exciting new DLC offers four new singleplayer missions based around one of the most intense and dramatic conflicts in the entire war, as the Allied forces made a desperate bid to rescue British, French and Belgian troops trapped in the eponymous French town, surrounded by the German army with seemingly no hope for escape.

In the German side of the campaign, players must break through the French defenses in the Battle of Lille to capture the town of Dunkirk and ultimately hunt down and destroy a British battleship. In the Allied campaign, players will launch a counter-offensive during the Battle of Ypres-Comines and attempt to evacuate as many soldiers as possible during Operation Dynamo itself. To aid in the battle, players will have two new commanders to choose from: French war hero Charles de Gaulle and British Expeditionary Force division commander Harold Alexander, further adding to your strategic options for each mission.

Last but not least, Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk also introduces 10 all-new units for players to deploy, including the German SIG 33 Bison artillery, the French Char B1 heavy tank, the British A10 Cruiser Mk. II medium tank and destroyer HMS Ivanhoe.

Watch the Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk release trailer HERE.

Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk is available now as DLC for the Windows PC, Linux, Mac and PlayStation®4 versions of Sudden Strike 4 via digital distribution platforms for £7.99GBP / $9.99USD / €9.99EUR. On Steam, the DLC will be available at a 10% discount for one week, until 10:00 PST on 27th October.

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East has been updated to version 1.11.00! This version adds a tremendous amount of changes, among all:

• Improvements to stability, and speed of play vs the AI.
• Removal of several exploits.
• More information about losses in battle, and overall losses.
• Reduced garrison micromanagement.
• Manpower statistics in logistics phase log.
• Better automatic manpower and ground element management resulting in stronger units.
• Data export to CSV.
• Balance adjustments.
• UI improvements.
• New “CV Mode” game option.
• New ground element types.
• 74 new features, 41 bug fixes, 33 scenario changes, and 240 data changes.
• Note: Games started or saved with 1.11.00 are no longer backwards compatible with older versions.

But the changelog is truly huge, so be sure check it out here!

You can download the patch from here.

“Famous men have the whole earth as their memorial.” – Pericles

Few games have been able in the past to truly capture the magnitude and the complexity of Ancient Warfare.

Field of Glory II, the latest masterpiece from the creators of gems like Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai, is one of these games, and it is finally available!

Fight in over two centuries of constant warfare, witnessing the Rise of Rome to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea, from 280 B.C. to 25 B.C.

The game offers an incredible degree of choice: With over 78 Army Lists and 48 Factions to choose from, randomly generated maps, and a wealth of different scenarios, no two battles will look or play the same.

Your skills will be tested against a challenging AI through 4 historically-based Campaigns where strategic decisions will have a real impact on the upcoming battles, and decide everything from your opponents and allies to the kind of map. Or jump into one of the most flexible systems to create your perfect Custom Battle or Campaign!

Do you want to know more about the different gameplay modes? Click here!

The game ships with a wonderful full-colour hardcover manual, but if you want to wait to see what it looks like, look at this abstract!

You can view the Field of Glory II release trailer HERE.

Are you still on the fence? We’re having a live stream on our Twitch Channel and we may have some spare keys to give away, so be sure to come have fun with us!

Last but not least, we have a new Discord channel for whoever wants to join this game’s community, you can find it HERE! (You can use Discord on your browser, but we suggest you to download the desktop version since is way more stable and reliable)

Get more information about the game from its official product page!

The fight continues in upcoming DLC based on one of WW2′s most dramatic conflicts

Following on from the successful launch of Sudden Strike 4 on Windows, Linux, Mac and PlayStation®4, Kalypso Media is excited to reveal the first official DLC expansion for its WW2 strategy heavyweight. Sudden Strike 4: The Road to Dunkirk will launch for Windows PC, Linux, Mac and PlayStation®4 via digital distribution platforms on 20th October. The DLC offers four new singleplayer missions based around one of the most intense and dramatic conflicts in the entire war, as the Allied forces made a desperate bid to rescue British, French and Belgian troops trapped in the eponymous French town, surrounded by the German army with seemingly no hope for escape.

In the German side of the campaign, players must break through the French defenses in the Battle of Lille to capture the town of Dunkirk and ultimately hunt down and destroy a British battleship. In the Allied campaign, players will launch a counter-offensive during the Battle of Ypres-Comines and attempt to evacuate as many soldiers as possible during Operation Dynamo itself. To aid in the battle, players will have two new commanders to choose from: French war hero Charles de Gaulle and British Expeditionary Force division commander Harold Alexander, further adding to your strategic options for each mission.

Last but not least, Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk will also see the introduction of 10 all-new units for players to deploy, including the German SIG 33 Bison artillery, the French Char B1 heavy tank, the British A10 Cruiser Mk. II medium tank and destroyer HMS Ivanhoe.

View the Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk Announcement Trailer HERE.

Sudden Strike 4: Road to Dunkirk will be available as DLC for the Windows PC, Mac, Linux and PlayStation®4 versions of Sudden Strike 4 on 20th October 2017 via digital distribution platforms for £7.99GBP / $9.99USD / €9.99EUR.

Price of Crusader Kings II Expansion Set in Green Stone

His most grand and royal eminence, the Emperor of China, has sent an ambassador with intelligence on what to expect once you make his acquaintance in Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon. In a new feature video from Paradox Development Studio, Henrik Fahraeus, the Game Director for Crusader Kings II goes through some of the changes and new systems coming in Jade Dragon, the newest update to Paradox’s best-selling medieval strategy game.

Jade Dragon expands on Crusader Kings II by introducing the power of a meddling foreign emperor, whose great energies cannot be contained in China alone. Can you channel this imperial ambition to bolster your own kingdom? Maybe you will become strong enough to claim the Middle Kingdom for your own dynasty.

Paradox has also announced that Jade Dragon will be sold for a suggested retail price of $14.99. The expansion will be available later this fall.

For more information about Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon, visit the games official website.