Strategy and Wargaming

The dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea has reached a turning point.

China has never hidden her intent to extend her power in the region, both diplomatically and militarily. And the nearby countries have always tried to do the same, in temporary coalitions or alone. The United States, despite their interest in countering the Chinese’s ambitions, have been involved too much in the Middle East to be able to have a strong presence in these waters.

But now, Beijing has decided to raise the stakes deploying the aircraft carrier Liaoning, switching the balance of power in her favour.

How long this situation could last before it escalates in a larger conflict?

Spratly Spat, the third title in the Command LIVE series, has been released! This scenario is an exploration of what could happen if the regional powers around the Spratly Islands unite and – with limited assistance of the US – challenge the Chinese Navy!

Command Live: Spratly Spat is an expansion of Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations and requires the base game to be played

The Command LIVE News Team has just sent his last reportage, directly from the frontline!

Things are getting critical around the Spratly Islands, as China seems to have deployed her aircraft carrier PLAN Liaoning, and rumors of military exercises run by Vietnam, Philippines (with a limited support from the US) in the region have been confirmed!

Are we close to an open conflict in the South China Sea?

Watch the latest report here.

Sunflower Update Brings Host of Improvements to Wargame

Today, Paradox Development Studios released the first major update for its hit World War II grand strategy wargame, Hearts of Iron IV. The “Sunflower Patch” is largely devoted to improving the game’s AI and user interface, as well as the usual changes to Hearts of Iron’s balance and historical database, plus a number of bug fixes.

You can read the full list of changes and updates on the official Paradox Community forum here. But read on for a brief list of some of the highlights in Sunflower.

• Changes to how peace conferences are handled, based on a design by Steam user Neutrino
• Hotjoin now available for multiplayer games, so you can connect to a match already in progress
• Custom difficulty settings let you adjust the relative power of Germany, Italy, France and the Soviet Union
• More nations can now be released as independent countries
• Re-sync button added to address connection issues without rehosting the game
• AI more likely to update templates, build nuclear reactors and cancel unnecessary production
• AI less likely to risk encirclement, opt for a Communist France or throw everything at North Africa
• Naval combat has been balanced to prevent light cruiser spam
• Changes to national territorial cores (Portugal loses, Sinkiang gains)
• A number of crashes caused by modding have been fixed
• Submarines better at finding surface ships, worse at finding other subs

Go to the Community Forum for the complete rundown of all of the improvements and updates now available for everyone that owns Hearts of Iron IV.

For more information on Hearts of Iron IV, check out the games official website.

The hit Order of Battle: World War II will be expanded with a new campaign DLC focused on the first blitzkrieg wars of Germany in the Second World War, and a free major update!

Order of Battle: Blitzkrieg

On 1 September 1939, under the pretext of reclaiming the city of Danzig, German armed forces invade Poland. Honoring their diplomatic treaties and driven by the desire to maintain the balance of power in Europe, France and Great Britain swiftly declare war on Germany. This chain of events sets in motion the greatest war the world has ever seen: a Second World War…

Order of Battle: Blitzkrieg brings you to those frantic years which saw Germany successfully incorporating modern aircraft and tank technology in their military doctrine, and then unleashing their newly rebuilt war machine on the rest of Europe. This new DLC aims at representing those years and those brilliant campaigns, from the invasion of Poland to the Fall of 1941 and the Wehrmacht advance being halted only by the cold bite of Russian winter.

It brings several new nations, tons of new units and 12 new scenarios! Pure, unadultered, 100% Blitzkrieg gameplay.

Get more information on the product page.

Important: the game is entering its beta testing phase; we need your help to quash bugs and we want to hear your feedback, so please feel free to apply here. It’d be of great help!

A new major update for Order of Battle: World War II

The Blitzkrieg DLC will be accompanied by a big free update to the base game! What does it add?

Well, along with many balance changes and bugfixes, a brand new Specialization System is being added to the game! Complete major and minor objectives during scenarios and earn Specialization points, then spend them in the Specialization tree and completely customize your army as you see fit.

It’s not all. We’re adding a new Import Tool to carry over your core army between campaigns! Play through Morning Sun, then carry over your troops to Rising Sun! Or maybe play through the entirety of the Blitzkrieg campaign, and then use your battle hardened regiments in future-yet-to-be-announced campaigns I’m probably speaking too much here.

The South China Sea is an area where the economic and geopolitical struggles bubble just covered under the surface. Numerous low-intensity conflicts have erupted over the years, and many countries have tried to extend their territorial claims over key islands and atolls.

In particular, domain over the Spratly Islands have been strongly disputed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines and other nations. The large reserves of oil and the huge volume of maritime traffic make this area crucial to the regions balance of power.

China, the strongest player in this delicate game, has recently strengthen her sea power, deploying her first aircraft carrier – the PLAN Liaoning – with the clear intent to achieve definitive military superiority, dissuading her rivals from direct military action.

However this deployment itself has disrupted the balance of power. Could it lead to an escalation that ends with open conflict for regional supremacy?

Command LIVE: Spratly Spat, the third installment in the ambitious Command LIVE series, will explore this fictional – although perfectly credible – situation!

A full analysis of the situation has been dispatched and it is already available!

Stay tuned! Command Live: Spratly Spat will be released on September, 20th!

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

By James Cobb @ The Wargamer

Middle-aged or older players will no doubt get a frisson of déjà vu when they read today’s headlines: two super powers and a confusing mix of proxies involved in the volatile Middle East and Russia apparently trying to regain lost areas of the Soviet Union as NATO loses coherence. WarfareSims and Slitherine/Matrix uses Command Modern Air and Naval Operations (CMANO) to simulate both these situations in the first two expansions of their new Command LIVE program: “Old Grudges Never Die” and “You Brexit, You Fix It”. Insights gained in these DLCs will disrupt a restful sleep.

Read on…

Developers from Fury Sofware are very proud to share with you a new bunch of screenshots! With the UI practically done, it’s time to see how the entire World War II will look like!

From the early operations in Poland in 1939, passing from El- Alamein. Stalingrad, the D-Day and coming to the final Allied victory in 1945, you will see how much Strategic Command: World War II in Europe has been improved!

Stay tuned for further updates and get more information from the official product page!

Drive on Moscow is an immediate, exciting and fast paced strategy game set in 1941, with the German Wehrmacht making a push for the capital of the Soviet Union. It was previously available only on iPad, but it’s being ported to PC and upgraded with many new features for the occasion!

The game puts you in charge of either the Wehrmacht or the Red Army. In the winter of 1941, the key to the war is Moscow. Were it to fall, the Soviet Union would receive such a huge blow that it might not recover. But were it to stand, maybe the Russians will be able to reverse the tide…

Sporting an incredible impulse-based turn activation system, the gameplay revolves around decisive initiative, clever timing and exploiting the weather and the terrain. Weather in particular is crucial: it affects the dynamic map, and even the turns’ duration!

The game is being upgraded with a new Live PBEM system, implementation of Slitherine’s Tournament system, as well as a greatly enhanced AI! Drive on Moscow is being improved greatly in both single and multiplayer. The addition of the tournament system in particular will allow us to organize tournaments in the future: you’ll have the chance to win glory on the battlefield (as well as some nice prizes!).

Last, but not least: the game is about to enter its beta phase. Feel free to join and help us: the goal is to provide you with the best gameplay experience, and we need your help. We’ll be extremely grateful for that. Click here to join the beta.

The hit Heroes of Normandie gets richer with the release of its latest DLC, 21st Panzer Division.

This expansion adds 20 new units, a new hero, several new unit abilities, new mechanics such as the firing arc, and more, all for the mighty Wehrmacht!

Heroes of Normandie is an extremely fun game, a digital adaptation by the popular boardgame with the same name by Devil Pig Games. The developers Cat Rabbit are working hard to constantly improve the game and add more features: 21st Panzer Division is yet another step in that direction.

The expansion is now out on our store, and on Steam.

Today Firefly Studios becomes the first developer to place the fate of entire game worlds in the hands of its players. The Stronghold developer announced that their ‘Final Age’ expansion for medieval castle MMO Stronghold Kingdoms will give a single player, the Marshall of a winning House, the option end their game world with the press of a single button.

Stronghold Kingdoms: The Final Age – Launch Trailer

As the British developer prepares for the cross-platform release of Stronghold Kingdoms on iOS and Android, players on PC and Mac ready themselves for the unique trials of the Final Age. In this expansion a single House of players must conquer and capture all Royal Towers, a new PvE target on the world map, before deciding whether or not to press ‘The Button’ and close their world forever. Players are then rewarded with multiple prize tiers based on their rank and position at world end, with up to $500 of in-game loot each.

“From the very beginning we knew players would be involved in development, this is the ultimate expression of that” said Simon Bradbury, Lead Designer at Firefly Studios. “Players deserve a proper endgame and in the case of Kingdoms we believe this means letting the community decide whether or not to close their game worlds. This doesn’t mean Stronghold Kingdoms is coming to an end, far from it! For those worlds that players do decide to close new ones will open. We also have updates planned for the game, including our upcoming events system and redesigned iOS and Android versions.”

While the Sixth Age is already available, the Final Age expansion is set for release in the near future. Meanwhile Firefly is responding to one particular request from the community by developing a new in-game event system, offering global PvE and PvP challenges in which players compete for rewards. There are even new world types on the horizon to replace the old and give all players the opportunity for a fresh start in new and uncharted lands.

For more game information please visit the official Stronghold Kingdoms website.