Strategy and Wargaming

gary-grigsbys-war-in-the-west-logoWar in the West, one of the most impressive wargame ever created has been updated to version 1.01.37!

You can download the update following this link or here.

Version 1.01.37 Patch notes:

  • Added a new Living Manual that contains New Features and Rule Changes since the initial release of the game.
  • Added Optional City VP item to the Options screen. This impacts campaign games if toggled on. When on, the victory screen lists that the Allies start with -1200 city victory points due to this option. However, they can earn up to 1600 city victory points in total if they occupy the cities listed in the victory screen. When the cities are captured by the Allies, the points for the city are added to the total Optional City VP total, and this amount is also reflected in the Campaign column of the City Points. For example, at the start of the 1945 campaign, Paris (worth 400 points) and Antwerp (worth 200 points) are occupied by the Allies. Thus, the Optional City Points is equal to -600 (-1200+400+200), and this amount is reflected in the City Points Campaign score. The intention of this rule is to provide additional rewards for the Axis player to accept casualties and advance into Germany. While we recommend this game option for all games, we strongly suggest that this game option be turned on when not playing with the East Front Option. This prevents the Allies from accepting a Soviet takeover of Germany, while striving to maximize bombing points and minimize casualties. This was not politically acceptable to the Allies.

READ THE FULL CHANGELOG HERE!

scourge-of-war-lignyThe expansion for the acclaimed real-time wargame Scourge of War: Waterloo is finally here!

Scourge of War: Ligny will put you in command of the French forces of the Armée du Nord, or the Prussian army led by the Field Marshal Blücher, in the battle that mislead Napoleon about his chances to defeat the Seventh Coalition at Waterloo!

Grab the game here!

Scourge of War: Ligny is available also on Steam!

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio announce the release of Rights of Man, a new expansion to Europa Universalis IV, the best-selling historical strategy game about exploration, colonization, and development through the early modern era.

The latest expansion to Europa Universalis IV lets the world’s eight greatest powers throw their weight around with new diplomatic options, including forcing others to break their alliances or giving friendly foreign monarchs a boost to their stats. But becoming a Great Power means balancing expansion with technological prowess and development.

Rights of Man includes:

  • Great Powers: Greatness is rewarded with new ways to interact with the lesser nations around you.
  • Ruler Personalities: Your monarchs have Personalities that will help or hurt your nation, and help you anticipate the behavior of neighboring powers
  • Leader Traits: Generals and admirals can earn bonus abilities through combat
  • New Governing Tools: Debase your currency for quick cash, spend military power to increase your legitimacy, abdicate the throne or disinherit inconvenient heirs
  • Queen Regency: Queens can rule in the name of young heirs, with greater power than normal regencies
  • Religious Changes: Coptic Christians and African Fetishists have new systems, deepening the strategy for these faith groups
  • New Government Systems: Ruling Prussia, the Ottomans or Revolutionary Republics will be new experiences since is each getting another look and new mechanics

As always, Rights of Man’s release is accompanied by a free update for all Europa Universalis IV owners, and this one may be our biggest yet with a complete overhaul of two major game systems – technological progress and cultural acceptance, plus other updates that apply to owners of certain other expansions.

Watch the release trailer here.

Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man is available on major digital platforms and the official Paradox Store for the price of $19.99.

For more information about Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man please visit the “Rights of Man” webpage.

sudden-strike-4New video featurette goes behind the scenes with renowned Killzone: Shadow Fall and Game of Thrones artist Robert Simon

They say a picture says a thousand words, and it couldn’t be more true in this case, as Kalypso Media and Kite Games proudly reveal a brand-new featurette shining a spotlight on the making of the stunning artwork for upcoming World War II RTS Sudden Strike 4, in collaboration with the extremely talented artist Robert Simon.

Having worked on hit games such as Killzone: Shadow Fall and Ryse: Son of Rome as well as the hit TV show Game of Thrones (for which in 2014 he won an Emmy for outstanding special and visual effects), Robert Simon was seen by Kalypso to be the perfect choice to create a set of evocative, propaganda-inspired oil paintings for Sudden Strike 4.

“Kalypso is well known for their attention to detail, and that’s something I’ve tried to achieve with my paintings,” says Robert, explaining the creative process behind Sudden Strike 4’s feature and cover art. “We started discussing techniques and ways to approach the whole thing, and the World War II propaganda topic came up – and this meant that initially, we started with these oil paintings and now, here we are!”

Watch ‘The Art of War’ featurette here.

To find out more about Sudden Strike 4, and to pre-purchase, please visit the official game page on Steam.

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio today announce that Rights of Man, the latest major expansion to Europa Universalis IV, set to release on October 11th, is now available for pre-order at the Paradox Store.

In one of the most expansive updates ever, Rights of Man introduces Great Power politics, more personality for your monarchs and a ton of other changes to religion, governments and economy. In this new video developer diary, Johan Andersson, the Creative Director of the Europa Universalis series, goes through the major changes you will see.

Like Paradox Development Studio’s other expansions, Rights of Man will be accompanied by a major free update for everyone who owns Europa Universalis IV.

Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man will be available on 11 October 2016 for $20.

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

order-of-battle-ww2Last week we spoke of the specialization system coming with next patch, but today we’re going to talk of something different, something new.

Order of Battle: World War II will have a Import core army tool, allowing linked campaigns in which players can carry over their core armies. The idea is to link together campaigns which will form a larger mega campaign. At first it’ll be only Morning Sun linked with Rising Sun, but we plan to make use of this future as we release more campaigns (for instance, we’ll certainly link the upcoming Blitzkrieg with any future-and-yet-unannounced-but-certainly-coming campaign featuring the Wehrmacht).

How does it work? It’s quite simple. At any point during a campaign (although it’s best if you do it once the campaign has been completed) you’ll be able to select the button Export core from your campaign -> Core army screen. You can then save your Core army.

Read on…

panzer-corps-goldThe waiting is over: Panzer Corps Gold has just been released!

Enjoy Panzer Corps with all its expansions in a single package for the first time, at a spectacular price! We are talking of the base game plus 17 (seventeen!) expansions here! It is truly a staggering amount of content which will keep you hooked for months.

To celebrate the Gold edition we are also decisively improving the game’s interface: now it’ll be possible to see a combat prediction in the map screen while planning your movement, and your units’ special abilities will be highlighted in the UI! Those are life changers, trust me, and they come with the free update released today!

Get Panzer Corps Gold now! The culmination of an epic saga.

scourge-of-war-lignyAfter having superbly represented the complexity of the battles of Waterloo and Quatre Bras, another gem is ready to be added to the Scourge of War series!

Scourge of War: Ligny adds one of the fiercest battle ever fought during the Waterloo campaign, featuring five new scenarios covering important parts of the battle from both Prussian and French sides!

Get more information about Scourge of War: Ligny on its official product page!

The game will be also available on Steam!

campaign-series-middle-east-1948-1985Many of you who grew up with boardgames might recognize Alan R. Arvold from the many situations he created for Avalon Hill’s PanzerBlitz, Panzer Leader and Arab-Israeli Wars games, as were made present like in Avalon Hill’s AH General, Wargamer, and other magazines. Later, as tabletop boardgames were replaced with computer wargaming, Alan performed the paramount task of preserving all these games in Talonsoft’s Campaign Series game titles.

Alan’s been continuing to preserve some genuine wargaming history in electronic format, now with Campaign Series: Middle East!

Here you are:

Alan R. Arvold’s Ode To Arab Israeli Wars Scenario Pack

afghanistan-11-boxWe have big news today. We are announcing a new game, one which explores a largely untouched setting and with an extremely original approach to wargaming: Afghanistan ’11.

Afghanistan ’11 builds upon the very successful Vietnam ’65 and brings its original formula to the desolate mountains of Afghanistan, where the US armed forces, assisted by the local Afghan National Army, fought for years against an invisible enemy.

Afghanistan ’11 isn’t your standard wargame: if you want to win it won’t just be about eliminating the enemy on the battlefield, but you will need to conquer the Hearts & Minds of the locals by ensuring safety to villages, isolating and eliminating Taliban leaders, training the Afghan army and building and protecting infrastructure.

Logistics and organization will be extremely important as the Talibans, tribal militias and drug lords will attempt to thwart your efforts with sneaky ambushes and terroristic attacks – the enemy plays hide and seek and could be everywhere and only the most skilled strategist will manage to win the war in Afghanistan and help build a modern nation.

Want to know more? Please visit the product page.

The game is about to enter its beta testing phase, and we could use your help. Feel free to apply here.

And let us know what you think and your first impressions are on the forum, here.

Afghanistan ’11 is coming on PC and Steam in Q1 2017!