Strategy and Wargaming

Kalypso Media is excited to reveal that the launch date for Sudden Strike 4 has been set as Friday 11th August 2017 for a worldwide Steam release, as well as retail and the PlayStation® Store in UK and European export territories, and then in North America on Tuesday 15th August for retail and the PlayStation® Store. The release of Sudden Strike 4 sees the legendary RTS series return on Windows PC, Mac, Linux and – for the first time in the series’ history – on console with the launch of the PlayStation®4 version.

To accompany the announcement, Kalypso Media is also proud to share a selection of new screenshots, which perfectly illustrate the detailed, dynamic environments and incredible attention to detail that has been lavished upon the units and gameplay mechanics. For an even more detailed look at the game from a developer’s point of view, Kalypso has also recently released three videos in a new ‘General’s Handbook’ video series on YouTube, in which Sudden Strike 4 Producer Christian Schlütter runs through the basic gameplay principles of the game and discusses how the title has evolved and changed throughout the development process.

Pre-purchase is available now on Steam, which includes a 15% discount, plus a digital soundtrack, digital artbook and the ‘Battle of Kursk’ DLC. Steam customers can download the free Sudden Strike Quiz app on iOS and Android devices in order to unlock further stackable discounts for a total of up to 25% off the pre-purchase of the game.

Watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the ‘General’s Handbook’ video series.

Watch the latest gameplay trailer here.

About Sudden Strike 4
Developed as a fully-fledged series entry and not a remake or reboot, Sudden Strike 4 sends you off on three extensive campaigns set amongst the battlefields of World War II. Commanding the British and American, German or Soviet troops, you will lead over 100 different units into battle, including the German bomber Heinkel He111, the Russian T-34 tank, the British Hawker Typhoon fighter plane and the notorious German Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger. In a first for the Sudden Strike series, you can now choose from one of nine individual commanders, such as George Patton or Bernard Montgomery, who will each allow for different approaches to combat and boast unique abilities.

Prove your tactical expertise in over 20 demanding single player scenarios, the challenge-focused skirmish mode, and the competitive multiplayer mode. A new reward system rewards clever and tactical play, awarding the player with skill points and bonus content, such as historical film footage of the era.

Historically Accurate World War II Experience Launches with 15 Percent Discount from May 1-7

Historically accurate, hardcore wargame Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 is now available on Windows PC via Steam. Continuing the developer Graviteam’s long history of making authentic strategy war games such as Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star and Steel Armor: Blaze of War, Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 is available for purchase at $33.99, a 15% discount from $39.99, and will remain on sale until May 7 to commemorate the ending of World War II.

Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 transports players to the infamous Battle of Tunisia, one of World War II’s grandest displays of armored unit combat. In the game’s large scale battlefields, players can engage in realistic tanks battles using more than 50 meticulously detailed vehicles from the Allied Forces and Axis Powers to gain the upper hand in a heated struggle to dominate the North African territory. Two different methods of control, either turn-based or real-time strategy, makes battlefield management an experience tailored to each player’s personal preferences and provides a true overarching look at the complexities of war.

“Hardcore strategy gamers want the upmost sense of realism to match the urgency of real-world conflict,” said Vladimir Zayarniy, Graviteam CEO. “Our combination of smart design and definitive history, put together by true World War II aficionados, will floor those looking for a new take on the uncompromising game of war.”

Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943’s key features include:

• Unparalleled Realism: Each game mechanic is intricately crafted to match the coarseness of war through destructible environments, dynamic time of day and weather effects and advanced damage modeling based on ballistic histograms
• Efficient Theater of War Management: Balance the morale of hardened soldiers, fight for dominance over critical supply lines and keep precious vehicles in top-repair by using the game’s enhanced and well-designed user interface
• True-to-life Accuracy: The realistic organizational structures and definite strategies of the U.S. Army and German Wehrmacht are on full display for history buffs to engage with.

Published by Strategy First, Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 is now available for purchase on Windows PC via Steam for $33.99 from May 1-7. Afterwards, the game’s price will return to $39.99.

By James Cobb @ The Wargamer

Ah, innovation –so oft desired, so seldom achieved! Yet a combination of familiar functions and concepts can be considered innovative if set in a new context. Eugen Systems and Paradox Interactive have teamed up to produce the first historical tactical game to be published by Paradox: its Steel Division: Normandy ’44 RTS offering. By picking one of the best known theaters of combat, they are tempting the cattiness of Grognards. This game better be special and the beta version is a good place to check out the probability of success.

Read on…

New Country Pack for Hearts of Iron IV Expands Gameplay for Countries Trapped in a Tough Spot

Armchair generals extraordinaire Paradox Interactive today announced that Hearts of Iron IV players will soon have more difficult decisions to make with the launch of Death or Dishonor, a brand new country pack coming later this year. Death or Dishonor focuses on the countries of Europe caught between the dueling ambitions of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany – faced with total destruction by a much larger force or making uncomfortable alliances, survival will take compromise, guile, and perhaps a teensy bit of luck. Death or Dishonor will be available for $9.99 on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs — and will be delivered for free to all Expansion Pass owners.

Make another not-so-difficult choice to watch the Death or Dishonor trailer.

Death or Dishonor introduces new National Focus trees for Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, which revolve around navigating the ideological (and physical) land mines of central Europe during World War II. This content furthers Paradox’s goal of capturing the unique wartime experience of every nation involved in World War II, but players will also find new opportunities to change the course of history if they so choose.

Death or Dishonor – and the accompanying free update – will also include:

• Revamp of Air Gameplay: Take to the skies with new mechanics and quality of life updates that make it easier to bring your airpower to bear.
• Equipment Conversion: Update your arsenal by converting older units — or make use of captured enemy vehicles and gear.
• New Music and Art: Three new thematic musical tracks from composer Andreas Waldetoft, new art content for the four focus nations, and new troop voiceovers.
• New Diplomatic and Puppet Interactions: License military technology to bring other nations’ weapons to the field or sell your advances to the highest bidder. Fascist countries get new subject levels like Reichskommissariat, with access to licenses, industry and strategic resources. The instated governments are held in an iron grip, making it harder for them to break free.
• Improved Map Design and Display: the world map has been clarified to make it easier to follow the action around the world. New impassable areas create tactical choke-points and more historical gameplay

For more information about Hearts of Iron IV, visit the games official website.

By Jeffery Renaud @ The Wargamer

Kriegsmarine is the latest expansion to Artistocrats’/Matrix Game’s Order of Battle: World War II (OoB) series, not surprisingly taking the setting to the high seas as – surprise! – Germany in WWII. Not that the game has heretofore lacked a naval aspect; indeed, it could be argued that, in a Second World War game that features a U.S. Pacific setting and U.S. Marines, not to mention their Japanese opponents, it could hardly avoid introducing navies before this iteration. Thus, one may wonder just what this expansion adds – but as it happens, that’s what we at Wargamer are here to tell you, Dear Reader!

Read The Review Here

The Operational Art of War IV development is proceeding straight forward and today developers are very proud to announce that the game is ready to enter the Beta Phase!

If you think to have what it takes enlist here and help us in giving the final touches to the game!

The Operational Art of War IV is the new generation of operational wargames. With more flexibility than before and with a new array of exciting features, it will make you relive the most iconic battles from the dawn of the 20th Century to modern day, including the ones that never occurred!

More than 200 scenarios like the Battle of Marne, Dien Bien Phu, the Battle of Arnhem, the Falkland Invasion – and lots more! – will forge your strategy skills and ability to master all kind of troops and terrains!

In Order of Battle: Kriegsmarine you’ll brave heavy enemy fire while at the lead of powerful battleships and cruisers – true beasts of steel! You will command silent predators, marvels of German engineering, the U-Boots, in their lethal hunt for Allied convoys. You will build and employ massive new Carriers, platforms from where to launch your newest aircraft, and gain a devastating edge over your enemies.

Kriegsmarine is all of this, and more. Your efforts will decide the fate of the war. Are you up to the task?

The new DLC for the Order of Battle series releases today on our store and on Steam. It features the exploits of the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy, in its effort to fight Allied supremacy at sea. It adds many new units, and it presents players with the intriguing possibility of exploring “what-if” scenarios: what if Germany had developed, built and deployed aircraft carriers? What if Germany had fully executed Plan Z and built the next-generation battleships? You have the choice.

That’s not all! Kriegsmarine is accompanied by several new features which have an effect on naval gameplay in general: new mechanics such as fire efficiency and hit avoidance, new submarine rules, primary and secondary guns for ships, new unit types, a first look at the Skirmish mode, and more! It is truly a massive update.

And if you’re still unconvinced, we’ll stream the game tomorrow on our Twitch channel!

So what are you waiting for? Get Kriegsmarine now, and give us your feedback on the forum!

Watch the new Order of Battle: Kriegsmarine Gameplay trailer HERE.

Learn more about Order of Battle: Kriegsmarine at the games official webpage.

Publisher Strategy First and developer Graviteam, a studio with a long history of developing realistic wargames such as Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star and Steel Armor: Blaze of War, are teaming up to deliver the historically accurate World War II strategy war game Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 to Steam.

“Set in North Africa during the Tunisian campaign in World War II, one of World War II’s most intense conflicts and offers real-time and turn-based strategy options, making it perfect for hardcore strategy fans, World War II enthusiasts and history buffs,” said Vladimir Zayarniy, Graviteam CEO. “We dedicated a lot of time, energy and passion into offering a painstaking level of realism and detail in all of our units and battle scenarios, and for the first time are featuring US military battling against Axis forces.”

Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 offers two ways to play, with both turn-based and real-time strategy options, each featuring unparalleled levels of realism with adaptive soldier behavior and complex vehicle damage for more than 50 detailed vehicles created between Germany, U.S and the U.K. Players can choose between the Allied and Axis soldiers to relive the Tunisian Campaign and experience this ambitious and historically accurate tank warfare game.

Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 will launch in May 2017 on Windows PC via Steam. Further details, including a date for commercial launch and an upcoming trailer, will be revealed later this month.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm has been updated to version 2.0.12 and this version brings decisive improvements to the game!

Numerous bugs affecting the Map editor, waypoints, radio traffic – and more! – have been solved, so don’t wait any further and check the entire changelog HERE!

You can download the update from here.

See you on the battlefield!

Get more information about the game on its official product page.

Source: Matrix Games

Juha Kellokoski is the main programmer and game designer of Armored Brigade. Together with his three fellow comrades Sam, Nikola and Dmitriy, they form the team developing the game.

We met Juha and we had the chance to ask him some questions about its latest work.

First off, thank you for answering these questions about upcoming game, Armored Brigade.

Matrix. Would you like to tell us what has been the driving force behind its design?

Juha Kellokoski. The starting point was to make a game I like to play. I’ve combined elements from games that I have enjoyed, including wargames and simulations, and even flavors from outside these genres. I’ve been an avid gamer since the mid-80′s. The original Steel Panthers is perhaps the greatest inspiration, if I had to name just one, but I’m sure that the players of many other PC wargame classics will feel like home when they try Armored Brigade. Also, especially in the earlier days, I did a lot of research about what the players think is missing from other games, and did my best to make sure Armored Brigade won’t be lacking in those respects.

M. When it was available for free, Armored Brigade got a strong reputation among wargamers. What is the story behind this incredible project?

J.K. Armored Brigade was actually my first game project. The initial steps were taken as early as 2004 when I decided to do something else than just modding the games of others. I considered different ideas, including a “Roguelike” game concept, but with real graphics. A bit later it evolved into making a Steel Panthers clone, with turn-based gameplay. I think the current real-time concept matured in late 2005, and later the ’87 equipment became the data set. Since then it’s been expanding and expanding in all directions. Basically, everything has been redone several times, and even now we’re ditching old stuff we know can be done better. The first freeware version was made public in March 2008. It was a very sincere effort, like “Hey, I made a game, do you want to try it?” I was fairly ignorant about the “grognard scene” and all that. I started receiving emails from the grognards, (ex-)servicemen and established publishers, saying very positive things about the game, even in its early, crude form. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very responsive those days, and even left some of the emails unanswered. Hopefully I’ve improved from that. Around the same time the discussion forum was opened, and I got feedback and help from the players, and kept developing the game. All of the current team members were “recruited” from the forum. I’m still the only programmer and the project leader. Sam is mainly responsible for the textures, Dmitriy makes the maps and additional artwork and Nikola is building the database. In 2016 I decided to work on this project full-time, to give it all the polish and chrome it deserves. For that purpose, I established my company, Veitikka Studios, and signed a contract with Matrix Games. That’s where we’re now.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE