Strategy and Wargaming

“The Guard dies but does not surrender!” (General Pierre Cambronne)

It is the morning of June 18th 1815. The whole French army led by his Emperor in person is marching trough Belgium to engage with the forces of the Seventh Coalition. The armies of the Duke of Wellington and Blücher’s are still divided. It is the last chance to defeat them, before they become too organized.

This will be the battle where the fate of Europe is shaped!

Today all of you fans of the musket era have the chance to become immersed in the final chapter of the Napoleonic Wars with the official release of Scourge of War: Waterloo!

From Hougoumont to La Haye Sainte including Placenoit, you will do your best to coordinate your infantry, cavalry and artillery units in order to outsmart your opponent in huge battles counting thousands of soldiers, while seizing the key locations in time.

Along with 20 historical scenarios and a set of multiplayer maps, the new creation from developer NorbSoftDev includes a sandbox campaign for the very first time in the Scourge of War series! This game mode regularly requested by the community finally allows you all to string battles together for a thrilling what-if approach of Waterloo.

Your soldiers are waiting for your command!

Grab the game here!

Get more game information and view the release trailer here!

Common Sense Expansion Brings Major Changes to Acclaimed Empire Builder

The Common Sense expansion to Paradox’s strategy hit Europa Universalis IV is available today, and it comes with tonnes of major changes to the core game, making it one of the most significant pieces of DLC yet in the EU4 franchise. With a focus on making your nation work better, Common Sense gives you new tools to make sure your global empire rests on a sound foundation.

This new trailer will give you the run down on some of the peacetime opportunities coming your way.

Central to Common Sense is the idea of Development – your provinces are now more than an all powerful tax number. You can improve your regions based on tax, trade and military power specifically, giving each a focus or strength. Or, you can develop broadly to prevent crushing losses when a center of manpower falls to the enemy.

We’re also introducing Parliaments, allowing constitutional systems of government new ways to put the power of the people’s representatives to work on behalf of the nation – for a price.

There is a host of other changes to the game, including improvements to the Protestant religion, the creation of national churches, karma for Buddhist rulers and much, much more. And even if you don’t buy the expansion, the free update we provide with every new expansion will transform your play experience in interesting ways. This time, we have modified the role of forts in battle and shaken up the map and diplomatic situation in the 1444 start date.

And click this link for a list of all the free updates coming courtesy of today’s major patch!

Common Sense is available at major digital retailers now! Become the king (or doge, or empress or khan) you have always wanted to be.

For more information, visit europauniversalis4.com.

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development are putting the finishing touches on Common Sense, the next expansion for Europa Universalis IV, and ahead of its launch have released the last video dev diary for the game where the dev team shows conquerors worldwide the latest, most sensible features coming to the critically acclaimed empire builder.

View the non-nonsensical developer diary here.

Keeping in tradition with expansion launches from Paradox Development Studio, a patch featuring additional content for Europa Universalis IV will be available to all players at zero cost and without having to purchase Common Sense, adding even more to a game that is already packed to the brim. Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense will launch across all territories for Windows, Mac, and Linux on June 9th.

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

Hot Mongols Are In Your Area and They Want to Talk to You!

The sound of hoof beats echoes across the plain, and you can see the dust kicked up by their approach hours before the first arrow falls. You have heard about this demonic army of master horsemen for years, laying waste to everything before them. Sheikhs and Caliphs and Tsars have failed to stop their progress. The tumult can only mean one thing.

The Horse Lords are coming to Crusader Kings II.

The nomadic invasions of the Mongol and Turkic steppe tribes transformed the history of Europe, the Near East and much of Asia. Genghiz Khan built the largest contiguous land empire the world has ever seen. And now Paradox Development Studios brings you the clan politics, the mighty hordes and the migratory push for new lands that will bring this exciting and vibrant culture to life.

With an expanded map, revised interface and new rules for successions and trade, Horse Lords will immerse you in a world very different from the fixed settlements of Europe and challenge you to become the Great Khan – the Ruler of the Sky.

Horse Lords is the eighth major expansion to Crusader Kings II and will be coming to major digital retailers very soon. In the meantime, prepare to meet the Great Khan on the field of battle; your stone walls won’t help you.

Check out the announcement trailer here.

For more information on Crusader Kings II, click here.

We were succeeding. When you looked at specifics, this became a war of attrition. We were winning.” (William Westmoreland – Chief of Staff of the US Army from 1968 to 1972)

Vietnam ’65 has been updated to what we could call “the Napalm Upgrade”!

Releasing today on both iPad and PC, this new version of the game introduces major changes that not only affect the gameplay but also the overall replay value and immersion level! A custom game mode with 10 variables to tweak, combat modifiers, fog of war, zones of control mechanics, village and unit names, weather, hex overlays on maps, and many other new features come together for a completely overhauled Vietnam experience!

Download the patch from here.

Be sure to check the entire changelog here.

The game is also available via Steam.

Paradox Reveals Screenshots and Update Info on New EU4 Expansion

The Common Sense expansion for Europa Universalis IV will encourage you to take a closer look at the dominions you control – provincial development, new options for subject states, and parliaments to bend to your will. So it makes sense to take a closer look at how the game will appear. Paradox Development Studio has you covered.

Ten new screenshots of Common Sense reveal a few of the secrets hidden by our cabinet ministers for the last few months. Get a sneak peek at a few of the new events relevant for subject states, our new theocracy government and the Buddhist nations of East Asia. Our new building menu is revealed, as well as the master menus for the Parliamentary and development mechanics.

Also, pictures of tall men carrying pikes, because that’s how we roll at Paradox.

Common Sense hits digital retailers on June 9th – get ready to rule a whole new world.

Today sees the release of the first gameplay trailer for Total War: Arena, showing exclusive Alpha footage of this energetic and exciting new entry to the award-winning series.

Total War: Arena is a free-to-play, team-based strategy game, putting players in the middle of epic-scale battles. Using key elements of award-winning Total War design, it is made from the ground-up for multiplayer realtime strategy fans, with players going head-to-head in 10v10 battles.

To join the Closed Alpha sign up at: www.TotalWar.com/Arena. The Closed Alpha is currently available in Europe, US servers will be added soon.

What’s more, this weekend sees the first live stream of an ARENA match, with games broadcast live from an exclusive ESL event in Cologne. To see more of the game, watch the first live stream on Saturday 23 May at 17:00 CEST on the official Total War Twitch channel: http://www.twitch.tv/totalwarofficial.

This Patch brings many changes, improvements and bug fixes. The most important are two new maps added to play in coop (vAI) and “Scenario restart” now correctly resets campaign events!

Be sure to check the changelog here.

Set in Pacific theater of WW2, Order of Battle: Pacific features playable campaigns for both the US-led Allies and the Japanese Empire. Starting from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the dynamic campaign system allows players to alter the course of history and even win the war as Japan in the fictional “what-if” conquest of Australia, or lead the Allied forces from the struggle at the beginning of the war to ultimate victory with the invasion of Japan.

Get more information about the game here.

Source: Blue’s News

Firefly Studios now offers The Emperor & The Hermit on Steam as new DLC for Stronghold Crusader 2, their siege warfare simulation. This carries a 33% launch discount, offering seven new player missions, AI opponents, castle designs, achievements, and coat of arms designs. Here’s a trailer, and here’s more:

Following on from the ‘Invasions’ update, which added Sandbox sieges and an easy AI mode for the modern laid-back gamer, The Emperor & The Hermit introduces spiritual successors to The Emperor and The Abbot from the original Stronghold Crusader. Playable in skirmish mode and multiplayer The Emperor and The Hermit are leaders driven by religious fervour and an insatiable desire to ‘cleanse’ their enemies. Backed by zealots who follow their cause without question, said cleansing typically ends in virtual bloodshed.

Nival, an independent game developer renowned for their strategy games, have today announced that Blitzkrieg 3, the long awaited next installment to one of their most beloved franchises, is out now on Steam in two editions. Nival have also released details of a limited time offer for anyone purchasing the game up until May 12th.

As an added thank-you to everyone who purchases Blitzkrieg 3 on Steam from May 6th to May 12th, digital copies of the first and second part of the Blitzkrieg Anthology will also be included. Blitzkrieg Anthologies includes the first two games in the series along with all the official add-ons.

The brand new launch trailer can be viewed here.

For more information on Blitzkrieg 3 and to pre-order the game head to the games official website.