Strategy and Wargaming

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.

Command: Modern Air Naval Operations is renowned to be the most advanced modern military simulator in the market.

We are happy to share with you that the last expansion for Command: Shifting Sands, is coming out on October 19th, in just two weeks!

Prepare to be challenged in 17 thrilling campaign scenarios covering all the major conflicts between the State of Israel and his neighbors!

The state of Israel has endured contentious warfare for its entire existence. No sooner had it been declared in May 1948 than it became involved in a struggle for survival, fighting its neighbours in a ferocious clash. This was the first Arab-Israeli war, but it would be far from the last.

Shifting Sands traces the history of the successive Arab-Israeli conflicts: from the sidelines of the Suez crisis, through the lightning Six-Day War, the guerilla-like War Of Attrition and the strategic surprise of the Yom Kippur War, all the way to the historic Osirak raid and the epic air battle over the Bekaa Valley.

The campaign covers both the battles that happened and the clashes that did not, but could have; all of the snapshots of the ever-shifting sands of a fragile balance in arguably the most violently fluid region of the planet since WW2.

Get more information from Command: Shifting Sands from his official Product Page!

Firefly Studios has announced that Stronghold 2: Steam Edition is now available to download and play! Discounted by 15% during launch week and released as FREE update for existing owners on Steam, this new remaster is designed to future proof one of your favourite Stronghold games. With new content, enhanced graphics and a reworked UI the Steam Edition brings Stronghold 2 into the modern era for both veterans and Stronghold newbies.

Watch the Stronghold 2: Steam Edition – Launch Trailer HERE.

Created exclusively for Steam, Stronghold 2: Steam Edition comes packed with Steam multiplayer support, achievements, enhanced visuals, a new map pack, digital art book, soundtrack and Steam trading cards. The Steam Edition also updates Stronghold 2 with full Steam Workshop integration, allowing to you easily create and share custom maps with friends. Recreate iconic real-life castles, battlegrounds from medieval history and scenes from your favourite fantasy epic!

Stronghold 2 already in your Steam library? Then simply launch the Steam client and enjoy all Steam Edition features in a FREE update!

Cradle of Civilization Expansion for Europa Universalis IV Focuses on Muslim Empires

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio today announced Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization, a new expansion to the best-selling grand strategy game about exploration and empire in early modern history. For millennia, empires have battled over the deserts and valleys where humankind once took its first tentative steps towards to something larger. From Sennacherib to the great khans, the crossroads of trade and learning have also been the highways for armies and warlords. Now, in the shadow of the collapse of Timur’s great empire, new powers are staking their claim to be the heirs to the Cradle of Civilization.

Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization adds greater depth to the Muslim nations that occupy the lands between the Nile and the Indus. With new governmental powers and game options, the major powers of the region will each feel even more distinct from each other.

Features in Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization include:

• Mamluk Government: In a diverse empire, where the slaves are now masters, new sultans must rely on cultural power to stay viable.
• Persian Theocracy: Persian nations can use the power of the faith to bolster their regime.
• Tribal Federations: The Black and White Sheep tribes in Armenia and Mesopotamia must expand to exploit the unity of local clans.
• Army Professionalism: The Age of Mercenaries slowly transitions to the Age of Standing Armies as you recruit new generals and drill your peacetime army.
• Iqta Taxes: Muslim governments can impose new taxes every 20 years for special bonuses.
• Trade Policies: Instruct your merchants to take actions in trade nodes to increase your trade power or military advantage.
• Islamic Schools: The wide range of Sunni and Shia disciplines offer unique perks to their disciples and transforms international relations across the Middle East.
• And Much More: The Cradle of Civilization expansion will be accompanied by a free update for all EU4 players, including a new map with many new nations.

Cradle of Civilization continues the Europa Universalis IV tradition of letting players explore new histories and cultures, giving starring roles to empires often forgotten in textbooks. Cradle of Civilization will be available in late 2017 for the suggested retail price $19.99.

Watch the Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization Announcement Trailer HERE.

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

WarfareSims and MatrixGames are proud to announce Shifting Sands, the third DLC/Standalone to be released under the Command label!

Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, … few places in the world could claim the title of being one of the most conflict-ridden regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean. Religious and geopolitical fractures are ravaging the region since the end of the British Mandate over Palestine in 1948.

Countless conflicts have erupted all over the years -in particular between the State of Israel and its Arab neighbours – constantly changing warfare’s nature.

Only fast-thinking commanders will be successful, in a world where threats are never static and last conflict’s triumphant strategy will lead you to disaster in the next!

Command: Shifting Sands traces the history of the Arab-Israeli conflicts following the proclamation of the State of Israel: from the sidelines of the Suez crisis, through the lightning Six-Day War, the guerilla-like War Of Attrition and the strategic surprise of the Yom Kippur War, all the way to the historic Osirak raid and the epic air battle over the Bekaa Valley.

• 17 campaign scenarios (14 historical and 3 hypothetical) written by Paul A. Bridge, ex-Royal Navy officer and author of the award-winning “Northern Inferno” campaign.
• Witness the dramatic changes in warfare hardware and tactics first-hand: the combat debut of the modern anti-ship 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.
• Explore the great historical what-ifs of the Middle East theatre: The US responds forcefully to the attack on the Liberty, the Soviet and US fleets clash over their supported allies, and Israel resorts to nuclear weapons as the defensive fronts collapse.

Get more information about Command: Shifting Sands from its official Product Page!

Command: Shifting Sands can be played as a separate game (with the possibility to upgrade it to the base game with all the available database and scenarios at any point in time). Alternatively, it can be integrated as a new set of scenarios for owners of the original Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations Game of Year Edition!

Second Wave and Closer Combat Now Available from Eugen Systems and Paradox

Paradox Interactive today launched the first DLC for Steel Division: Normandy 44. Second Wave, the first DLC since the tactical RTS game’s release in May 2017, is now available on Windows PCs for $7.99. Today’s update also features a new free game mode, “Closer Combat”, the first of several free updates coming this year, as announced in the content roadmap.

Check out the Steel Division: Normandy 44 – Second Wave release trailer HERE.

The Second Wave DLC rolls out four new divisions, including two Allied: the 4th Armored Division (US) and 1st Special Service Brigade (UK), and two Axis: 9. Panzer (DE) and 16. Luftwaffen (DE). Second Wave also includes an exclusive ace – Lt. Col. Creighton W. Abrams and his famous thunderbolt M4 tank, along with 35 new units, including the legendary M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer!

Closer Combat, based on the Conquest Mode aims to make the beginning of battle more authentic by restricting the vehicle rush to the center of the map. This gives players more time to define strategy and more control on unit placement. In Closer Combat mode:

• All transported units can be purchased and deployed without a vehicle.
• Deployment zones are closer to each other than in other modes.
• Players earn points once they control 52% of the battlefield (instead of 51%).

Other new features in today’s update include a remastered, more accessible first campaign mission, a new shortcut to toggle “slow-mo” in single player mode, and official servers for 4v4 games, to help reduce lags induced by the peer-to-peer mode, along with more balancing and more bug fixing.

For more information on Steel Division: Normandy 44, visit the games official website.

December 1941. Russian winter takes its toll and the German offensive is halted at Moscow and Leningrad. But the Wehrmacht high command knows that the winter is not going to last forever, and they are already making plans for a huge, renewed offensive in 1942. Long Panzer columns will be the armored spearhead of what is going to be the biggest offensive in history. It is the Panzerkrieg!

Order of Battle: Panzerkrieg is the upcoming DLC for the Order of Battle series. Lead the Wehrmacht in its effort to bring the Soviet Union to heel and unleash your panzers on the rolling plains of Russia. With a huge number of new units and specializations, the new campaign focuses on the strategies and tactics employed in the battles of 1942 and 1943 on the eastern front. If you want to succeed you’ll have to master the art of mechanized warfare!

Panzerkrieg is flawlessly integrated with the previous DLC, Blitzkrieg. If you own both you’ll be able to play them in succession for a mega-campaign focusing on the eastern front, and exporting your army from one campaign to the other. You don’t have to own Blitzkrieg in order to play and enjoy Panzerkrieg, but we wanted to give players the opportunity to experience WW2 on the eastern front in its entirety, from start to end!

Order of Battle: Panzerkrieg is about to enter its Beta, so feel free to sign up and give us a hand with bug chasing!

For more game information and screenshots, visit the official Order of Battle: Panzerkrieg web page.

Hi, I’m Luke Hughes project lead On Burden of Command. Our two minute teaser video focused heavily on RPG aspects. But what about tactical combat?! While tactical details are still being worked out, today I can give you a high level impression by pointing to inspirations from cardboard. Hunh? Cardboard? Well IMHO a lot of creativity over the last few decades has come from the physical board game space (a future blog will cover digital influences). I feel privileged to “stand on the shoulders of giants” (well at least crouch). In this blog I will describe those influences and how they shape Burden of Command’s tactical design. The games below are by no means an exhaustive list, there are many other fine designs out there, these are just the ones that have had the most influence on me.

Read on…

Welcome to this AAR for Field of Glory II, the upcoming sequel of the original Field of Glory and developed by the legendary game designer Richard Bodley Scott (Field of Glory Tabletop, Pike and Shot, Sengoku Jidai).

For this After Action Report, I decided on a Custom Battle, with the AI at the highest difficulty level: Deity (sounds intimidating)!

In Field of Glory II, Custom Battles allow players to build their favourite battle with a wide range of options at their disposal. You can choose between 78 army lists of the period (check here for the entire list!), you can set the force size, the map type, and many other settings. An interesting thing when you select your enemy is that you can restrict the selection to geographical and historical consistency (or you can just go ahead and make the Ancient British fight against the Sarmatians!).

I picked up the Roman Army (219 – 200 BC) and, for my opponent, I decided to face the Macedonians (260-148 BC).

Read the After Action Report HERE.

Today, for our “Community Content” format, we wanted to highlight the extraordinary work made by Crossroads (who is actually one of the developers) for Campaign Series: Middle East 1948-1985!

The devs of Campaign Series: Middle East 1948-1985 always did their best to let their game be as modders-friendly as possible, in order to let the community always have fun playing and creating new contents, and this is why they created this amazing guide to help everyone, from newcomers to veterans, learn and further their knowledge regarding the modding world.

You can also find a list of a bunch of mods for the game itself, hurry up and check it out!

So go on and enjoy this thread, and if you have any question don’t hesitate and ask! The devs will do their best to answer as soon as possible!