Strategy and Wargaming

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa is coming to Steam very soon. This award-winning wargame, considered as one of the best games around by both players and press, can appear very intimidating to newcomers. It’s not really something you would consider as an introductory game for novices.

We have asked YouTuber and avid tactical wargamer Idjester to try and explain the game from the point of view of someone who never got to face a complex operational wargame.

“What I am trying to accomplish with this video series is to give players an idea of the game concepts and understand to core mechanics behind the gameplay, once you understand these important parts you will be able to dive into Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa very easily”

In the first video you will see the start of the German campaign and the initial key strategic decisions that set the tone of the overall gameplay features. Becoming a master is only a few hexes away.

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa is a wargame simulating the German Invasion of the Soviet Russia. Alongside more “traditional” elements (like the map divided in hexes, turn based system, etc.), the innovative “Human” Factor feature adds a new layer of depth to the strategic decisions, making you feel the importance to deal with superiors and subordinates for the achievement of the war objectives!

Coming to Steam on April, 28th

“The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years. “

James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 1945

U.S. Marines, the latest expansion for Order of Battle: Pacific, has been released on PC and Mac!

Are you ready to be thrown into the adventurous island-hopping campaign of 1942-1945? A long and bloody military operation that starts with the assault of Tulagi and advances across small and isolated jungle islands, reaching up to the iconic epilogue at Iwo Jima.

Order of Battle: U.S. Marines is the second expansion of the franchise and it includes a campaign with 11 brand new scenarios against the Imperial Japanese troops. You’ll fight, amongst others, the historical battles of Guadalcanal and Tarawa. In these savage landscape enemies adapt their strategy from ruthless assaults to deep and well-prepared defensive systems.

Fight with the new U.S. Marines faction, deploy many new units on the battlefield and employ the new support fire ability for Heavy Infantry.

Onwards to victory! Semper fidelis!

A special 10% launch discount on the expansion is available for a limited time period!

Watch the Order of Battle: U.S. Marines launch trailer here.

Last but not least, don’t miss the Twitch stream tonight at our official Twitch Channel at 8PM CEST / 6PM UTC / 2PM EDT!

By Alex Connolly @ The Wargamer

If  you didn’t do your fair share of fighting up the Ia Drang last year, you really should. South African studio Every Single Soldier crafted a slick COIN wargame in Vietnam ’65, one that received hearty praise across the board. Counter-insurgency is an extra-dirty business in the modern era, where the might of state actors don’t quite have the purchase they’d otherwise have in more conventional scenarios. In a post-9/11 world, mired in protracted military campaigns, this is the war of the Now. This is also the war ESS’s Johan Nagel wants to tackle in the follow-up to Vietnam ’65, Afghanistan ’11.

Read on…

Since its release, Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa has been considered one of the most groundbreaking wargames depicting the German invasion of Soviet Russia.

Awarded “Overall Digital Game of the Year and Digital Wargame of the Year” by the Groghead’s Readers, Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa employs an innovative gameplay mechanic, in which political affiliations and personal relations between you and your superiors (and subordinates) have a strong impact during the military operations!

Today, developer studio VR Designs is very proud to announce that Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa is marching straight to Steam with a full set of improvements and upgrades, included an elegant “War Diary” feature, which follows the diary of a German soldier, based on what is happening in the game, giving you an insight into how your progress and decisions reflect on the “ground level”!

Plus, the map artwork has been significantly improved to make the gameplay more realistic and immersive than ever!

Is your will strong enough to face both external and internal enemies?

Stay tuned for further updates! The game will be available on Steam on April, 28th!

Get more information about Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa from its official product page!

Command the Seas and Control the Trade in Mare Nostrum

Your nation has long been at one with the sea. Salt water runs through the veins of your sailors, and no sound is as stirring as that of the wind whipping a top-sail just before the full gale arrives. The sea lanes hold the wealth of the East. Heave ho, and set sail for profit.

Mare Nostrum has arrived.

Mare Nostrum is the newest expansion DLC for Europa Universalis IV, Paradox Development Studio’s best-selling grand strategy game set in the adventurous days of the Age of Exploration, the Renaissance and the wars of Reformation and Revolution. Mare Nostrum adds a number of improvements and updates to the game, bringing more control and detail to the naval game.

Features include:

• Naval Missions: Naval interface improved to make control of your fleets less hands-on and more mission oriented
• Barbary Raids: The Berber nations of North Africa can raid their neighbors for money and extra sailors
• New Espionage System: Build a spy network and call on it to undertake actions in enemy lands
• Trade Leagues: Merchant republics can recruit minor nations into their Trade League for common defence and, more importantly, common riches
• Condottieri: Rent out your army so it can fight someone else’s wars while you earn gold
• And, as always, the expansion DLC is accompanied by a massive update that is free to every Europa Universalis IV player – even if they never buy Mare Nostrum. This update will include an updated map, a new state system to organize your nation, tweaks to naval combat and the introduction of sailors to man your ships.

Mare Nostrum is available from major digital retailers for $14.99.

Watch the release trailer here.

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

Tackom Ltd is developing a new Tactical Simulation Art of Combat: Anzio 44.  This new game will be a hybrid game with a complete strategic layer, as well as a battle layer for real time battles.

The best way to imagine Art of Combat is as an old table top game. The Table is the Strategic [Strat Map] This is where the operational aspects of the game take place. You move your Bgs [Battle Groups] around, [Infantry – Armour – Recon – Heavy Infantry – Engineers – Mixed etc] . You endeavor to outmaneuver your AI or human opponent as you would on a real table top, using real tactics. Once you have moved units, sorted supply, intel etc out, you finish your “turn” hit next, the opponent moves in the same way. At this point Battles will occur, this is where you drop down to the battlemap, to actually fight your battles in realtime.

This is where the actual real time fighting will occur. Here below the Strategic [Strat] layer, on the Battle layer is where your Battle Groups will engage in real time combat. With a far better AI than any tactical wargame until now, with AA class modelling and graphics, pathing, physics etc, you will be able to fight ultra-realistic battles with features that have never been seen before in any game.

About The Art of Combat

What we as developers are aiming to do, is to create a new type of wargame, with brand new features. All it will have in common with past RTS type games is that it will be Real Time. It is essentially an RTTS [Real Time Tactical Simulation]. The aim is to build a game that will eventually cover many time periods, not just WW2. The game will have a host of features, such as civilians who can become insurgents/partisans, booby traps, the ability to realistically model many differing types of tactical warfare from WW2 to Asymmetric, insurgent based warfare.

Find out more, view some screenshots, and join the game forum at the official Art of Combat website.

“There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.”
Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army

With the release date of Order of Battle: U.S. Marines drawing near, we have decided to prepare a little treat for everyone interested in the WW2 era: some infographics showing the maps and interesting facts from three of the eleven new scenarios included in this expansion. Which is completely focused on the “uncommon valor” of the American Marines in the Pacific Theatre.

Order of Battle: U.S. Marines is the second expansion for Order of Battle: Pacific and it’s due to release on 7th April!

Source: The Wargamer

Last year’s Vietnam ’65 was a fantastic game, a wargame in which controlling the hearts and minds of the local population is just as important as which hexes your units occupy. Developer Every Single Soldier isn’t done delving into wargames with a slightly political bent, as their next game will delve into the Middle East, specifically Afghanistan ’11.

There was a time when war was fought by two regular armies on battlefields. That time is over. The year is 2011, you are commanding the US army operations in Afghanistan. But contrary to the previous generations of military officers in your family, killing the enemy is only a secondary mission. Most of your efforts and resources are spent elsewhere. Providing security to the civilians, persuading local tribes to reject the Taliban and isolating insurgent leaders are your main focus.

Counter-Insurgency will have better results in the long run than conventional tactics but a simple incident during a routine patrol can ruin your relationship with the locals and damage your image in the Western newspapers.

Afghanistan ’11 will include:

• A full nation building module, whereby player can affect the hearts and minds of the local population via non-military means (constructing infrastructure and delivering UNICEF aid)
• An intense 19 battle campaign covering the iconic Afghan war operations from establishing Camp Rhino to the Bin Laden Raid (Neptune Spear)
• Command the American and the Afghanistan National Army during ground and air operations
• Drones, multirole fighters and ground-attack aircraft are available to help you to spot and eliminate enemy units
• Upgrade your bases with specific buildings to offer a better support to your soldiers and military vehicles
• Random social and political events – like Afghanistan National elections – affecting the balance of power in the Afghan theatre
• Taliban operations are financed from the growing and harvesting of opium crops. Locate and destroy these fields to cripple the opponent’s resources
• Full range of modern military units including artillery, mechanized and infantry units, engineers, helicopters, etc
• Special forces including sniper and forward air controller actions, offering you plenty of tactical options.

Aside from Afghanistan ’11, Every Single Soldier is working on another game right now that puts you in control of the USS Ronald Reagan supercarrier in the middle of a warzone. It’s called Carrier Deck, and sounds more like a management sim than a straight-up wargame. That’s not a bad thing.

No clue on when either of these two new games are hitting the shelves, but we do know that Afghanistan ’11 is slated for both PC and iPad. Not sure what platforms Carrier Deck is coming to, but we should be talking with Every Single Soldier soon and have a lot more info to pass along.

Dev Video Outlines Coming Changes

Paradox Development Studio has decided that Mare Nostrum, the newest naval themed expansion to their best-selling historical strategy game Europa Universalis IV, will leave port on April 5, 2016.

Mare Nostrum adds new depth to many parts of the classic empire builder, including new options for the merchant republics. These tiny financially motivated states can now form Trade Leagues, uniting their commercial might in a military and a mercantile alliance that makes everyone richer and stronger.

The expansion also introduces new mercenary options with greater control over your naval missions, the chance to rent your armies as condottieri, and the ability to share maps with your neighbors.

A new developer video with Creative Director Johan Andersson outlines some of the coming changes.

And, even if you pass on buying Mare Nostrum, April 5 will also be the occasion for a substantial free update for all Europa Universalis players. This massive patch will add new features, which will enhance the player experience. The update will include:

• Map Expansion: Greater detail to Ireland and sub-Saharan African, especially in the Congo and East Central Africa, and new “States and Territories” system
• Espionage Reworking: Your diplomats can now build spy networks in enemy nations, from where you can fabricate claims on enemy holdings or undermine them from within.
• Interface improvements: Better tooltips overall, and naval blockades are now more obvious on the map
• Naval Combat Changes: better morale system and increased chance to capture enemy vessels

And even more changes to game balance, AI and modding triggers.

Watch the new Developer Diary here.

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

Total War Battles: Kingdom is a challenging, persistent-world, real-time strategy game, which launches worldwide on Thursday 24th March on iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, Android devices, PC and Mac.

In Total War Battles: Kingdom, shape your lands to transform the wilderness into a powerful and productive Kingdom. Manage your Kingdom’s economy, build castles and towns, grow your population and expand your territory. Raise powerful armies and go head to head with other players or AI enemies in large scale real-time battles. With one persistent world, players will be able to continue their game across multiple devices, at home, work or out and about.

To find out more, check out the new trailer released today.

Total War Battles: Kingdom will be available to download free from the App Store, Google Play Store and Steam worldwide from March 24th.

For further information visit the Total War Battles: Kingdom website.