Strategy and Wargaming

The North Pole is hitting the front-page news these days, turning to be the next element of confrontation between Washington and Moscow.

Russia is in the 4th year of a 15-year project to install the ‘SHELF’ underwater Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), a very modern equivalent to the US Navy’s Cold War system of listening arrays in the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) Gap.

And it’s news from yesterday that a Russian submarine launched a cruise missile in Arctic Barents Sea, testing Moscow’s offensive-defensive capabilities in the far north.

The United States are seeing this revamped interested and military activity from the Russians as a main threat to their claims over the Arctic, as the region has always been considered a military and economic choke-point of extreme importance.

Do we have to expect a reaction from Washington or will it choose other, subtle, ways to protect its National Interest?

Get more information about Command LIVE: Pole Positions from its official product page.

As the developing process is marching quickly along the beta testing phase, it’s time to dig a bit more into the main differences and improvements players will find from the original game released in 2009.

“Field of Glory II is a complete reboot of the franchise, based on the original tabletop Field of Glory rules as a starting point, rather than on Field of Glory I” says Richard Bodley Scott, the main designer of Field of Glory II. “There are therefore many differences from FOG1 – which we hope are all improvements. Being co-author of the original tabletop game, I am in a unique position to create a fresh take on the system”.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

New graphics!

The game has vastly improved graphics. All of the terrain and unit models are true 3D. They are all fully animated – firing bows, throwing javelins, charging with lance, meleeing with sword or spear and so forth. Arrows and javelins fly. Men fall mortally wounded to the ground and die. The battlefield is littered with their corpses. Rear ranks shuffle up to replace the lost men.

Formations become disordered, and men turn to face their opponents when a unit is fighting in multiple directions. Pikes visibly form square. Each unit type has up to 4 variants within the unit, but also has multiple variant texture sheets, allowing the units of each side to be easily distinguished even in civil war battles.

New AI!

The game has vastly improved AI, drawing on the experience of developing the (generally praised) AI for Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai. There are six levels of difficulty, allowing all players from novices to experts to enjoy challenging games against the AI.

Read the full developers diary HERE.

We have received a bunch of new screenshots showing some intense fighting more closely!

Thanks to these images, you can have a clear vision of the amount of detail developers at Byzantine Games are putting into Field of Glory II!

Field of Glory II is a turn-based tactical game set during the Rise of Rome from 280 BC to 25 BC. Which allows you to fight large or small battles for or against Rome, or between the other nations who are as yet unaware of the Roman threat, or what-if battles between nations that never actual came into conflict historically, but might have if the course of history had been different.

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

If you love the original co-in strategy game developed by Every Single Soldier, Afghanistan ’11, then we have some wonderful news for you. We are currently working on a big, major free update for the game which will add some new important features!

So, what is being added?

We have a long list of changes, many of them affecting gameplay, but there are two brand new features which stand out.

The MOAB

That’s right! The Mother of All Bombs is coming to Afghanistan ’11! With a big cost of 4000 political points you will be able to use this bomb on the Intel map. It will decrease the H&M of every neighboring village but it will also disable any militia or Taliban cave in its radius!

Convoys

Ever heard the old saying that there’s safety in numbers? Now you can apply that concept in your logistical plans and deploy convoys moving between your headquarters and FOBs. Build a convoy in base, select a convoy leader, then attach up to other 5 vehicles to it!

These new features will surely assist you in organizing your logistics network.

What else?

Lots of things. You can now drop emergency UN Aid on villages, helicopters can now level up and acquire a higher resistance to RPG fire, a new rappelling animation for Special Forces unloading from helicopters on mountains, explosions adjacent to villages reducing H&M, and much much more!

1.10 is currently in Beta so feel free to join and check it out!

Visit the Afghanistan ’11 official product page for more game information.

Few wargames of the past have reached a legendary aura like The Operational Art of War. The incredible flexibility of the editor, the massive number of playable scenarios, the quality of the AI, made Norm Koger’s latest effort an operational wargame with unsurpassed standard.

No surprise that the recent announcement of a new chapter in the series captured the interest of many wargamers out there.

But as the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”, a Live Stream is definitely better than 1000 pictures, and applying this rule, we are happy to announce that next week on Tuesday 27th we will be taking a look at The Operational Art of War IV LIVE!

Agrippa Maxentius will play some of the scenarios available in the game, including Iwo-Jima and Korea 1951 and show-off the different strategies, the features, the key innovations and more.

We will stream Tuesday 27th at 11 am CEST / 3 pm GMT / 5 pm CEST and for the first time ever, we will be live simultaneously on our official Twitch Channel, Youtube Channel and Mixer Channel at the same time.

Get more information about The Operational Art of War IV on the official Product Page.

The Asian theater is back! This summer, lead the British defense of Burma against the Japanese invasion – Order of Battle: Burma Road is coming!

In this original and unique DLC, you will fight for the first time in the jungles of Burma, and organize a deep defense to stop the invading Japanese army. You guard the gateway to India, and they can’t be allowed through! Lead forces of both British and Indian conscripts, including the fearsome Chindit infantry, in a 13-scenario campaign! Fight in the sky, on the sea and on land, and command many new units, from 1942 to 1945, reliving the fall of Burma and its reconquest! Remember, Commando operations will be essential!

Encounter special Commanders including William Slim, leader of Britain’s so-called “Forgotten Army”. Fight alongside Brigadier Orde Wingate, mastermind behind the infamous Chindit operations, as you fight deep behind enemy Japanese lines to disrupt their command structure and supply lines. Re-take control of the skies over Burma with pilots such as Ace Elsdon.

The campaign also comes with a set of new Specializations, to reflect the theater and the strategies employed in those years.

We will tell you more of Burma Road in the weeks to come! Stay tuned!

Last but not least: if you’d like to give us a hand in polishing the game, feel free to join the beta. That would be really appreciated!

Guide Russia to Glory or Resist the Soviet March in Third Rome and Death or Dishonor

Paradox Interactive, a publisher and developer that’s never rushin’ out its games, today released new content for two of its best-selling Grand Strategy games, both focused on the nations of Eastern Europe during different, formative periods in history. Third Rome, a new immersion pack for Europa Universalis IV, adds new gameplay features for the Russian empire, and is available for $9.99. Death or Dishonor, a new country pack for Hearts of Iron IV, brings new events and national focuses to the nations bordering the Soviet Union during World War II – Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia – and is available as well for $9.99. The two packs can also be purchased together in a discounted bundle for $17.98. Both packs are available today for Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs.

• See what happens when you wish upon a Tsar in a new trailer for Third Rome
• Prepare to make a not-so-difficult choice between Death or Dishonor in the new trailer

In Third Rome, players will find new means to wield spiritual, political, and military control in the Russian empire, with new ranks of government and unique military units. Features include:

• Tsardoms and Principalities: New ranks of Russian government with new abilities and, for Tsars, strong bonuses including the right to claim entire States – not just provinces.
• Iconography: Commission great religious icons for the Orthodox church, boosting your empire’s power depending on the saint you choose to revere.
• Siberian Frontier: Russian nations can slowly colonize uninhabited border regions, with no fear of native uprisings

Meanwhile, in Death or Dishonor, the Soviets lie on your eastern borders while the Axis march forth from the west. Players will have to find ways to come out of the war with their lives and/or their dignity intact. Features include:

• Four New Focus Trees: Experience the war from the difficult perspectives of Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.
• Equipment Conversion: Update your arsenal by converting older units — or make use of captured enemy vehicles and gear.
• New Diplomatic and Puppet Interactions: License military technology to bring other nations’ weapons to the field or sell your advances to the highest bidder.

Players can purchase Third Rome and Death or Dishonor together here via Paradox Plaza.

The packs can also be purchased separately via Paradox Plaza at the following links:

• Third Rome Pack
• Death or Dishonor Pack

Award-winning wargame designer Richard Bodley Scott is back. The mastermind behind successes like Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai, returns to his roots and is busy at work on the sequel of one of the most successful wargaming systems ever: Field of Glory.

“The first digital adaptation of the most popular ancients and medieval tabletop wargaming rules served as a stepping stone in the foundation of the Slitherine Group as we know it today”, said Iain McNeil, Development Director of Slitherine. “We are happy to have RBS working on the next iteration of this PC game as he is both the father of the original tabletop game and the creator of its digital conversion”.

It’s 280 B.C. The Republic of Rome has just finished defeating its Italian neighbours and already the Southern territories are menaced by King Pyrrhus of Epirus. Carthage, to the South-West is also a threat to the newborn Mediterranean power. In the north, the Gaul’s continue to see the rich Roman cities as inviting targets.

A new age of war is coming.

Set during the Rise of Rome from 280 BC to 25 BC, Field of Glory II will accurately simulate the battles of the Ancient World, before the full establishment of the Roman Empire. Boasting a set of unique and detailed Army Lists for each faction, the game offers a wide variety of tactical choices with more than 80 beautiful and fully animated 3D models, each with multiple uniform variations.

“We really wanted Field of Glory 2 to be a big step up both in terms of visuals and in gameplay. We knew that with RBS on board, gameplay would fit well with both the historical setting and the nature of warfare at the time. For the visuals, we have put together a team that includes Pat Ward, formerly Art Director at Shenandoah and our Art Director Richard Evans. The result is a wargame that will please the fans, but also attract a brand new generation of gamers”.

Players can already join the beta of Field of Glory II by applying here.

Expect to experience a Classic Age that’s more vibrant than ever in this tabletop miniature wargame brought to life to PC! Field of Glory II is set to release this fall.

Find out more about Fields of Glory II at the games official webpage.

By Ian Boudreau @ The Wargamer

Steel Division: Normandy ‘44 is a game about combined arms warfighting, but it’s very easy to over-focus on the movie stars of the Second World War, infantry and armor. These are the branches that have provided the basis for the war’s human dramas, and it’s not hard to see why. Thousands of troopers storming the French beaches, paratroopers dropping in over the countryside, and the rumble and terror of the Tiger all are immediately recognizable as moments of human valor and fear.

Artillery in Steel Division is divided into four types, and using each effectively means the difference between smashing the enemy to pieces and getting stranded on the wrong side of the front without fire support. Being that there are 400 unique units and vehicles in the game, we’ll talk broadly about the four types of artillery and where they’re most effective in the fight.

Read on…

Matrix Games announce Mare Nostrum, a strategy game by the developer of Qvadriga, set during the turbulent war galleys era, when the civilizations along the Mediterranean Sea started to extend their ambitions towards new lands!

Naval Squadrons employ real tactics of that time, and the WEGO system will force you to think three moves ahead of your opponent!

Choose between fourteen ship types, ranging from the small and primitive penteconter to the powerful decares, and wage war in 24 historic naval battles!

Ram enemy ships, board them, or make use of your on-board harpax to make their encounter with Neptune the last!

Click here to sign up to participate in the Beta testing!

Tim Stone, from Rock Paper Shotgun, has just posted a nice article on it! Check it out here!

Get more information about Mare Nostrvm from its official product page.