Strategy and Wargaming

Firefly Studios have just released their fourth Stronghold Crusader 2 DLC character pack, meaning ‘The Jackal & The Khan’ is now available at 33% off on Steam! “The Jackal & The Khan” is designed as the ultimate challenge for Crusader players and it is planned as our final release for the game. While those who own all Crusader 2 DLCs are in store for a few little surprises in-game, we would rather players discover these for themselves. We do however have something else to reveal.

If you’ve been holding out until now with dreams of owning the complete Stronghold Crusader 2 package then today is a good day. Out now on Steam with 33% off, the new Ultimate Edition of Crusader 2 comes with all four character pack DLCs and a second copy of the Stronghold Crusader 2 base game to gift to a friend. All Special Edition content is also included giving you an art book, soundtrack and Stronghold Crusader HD. We’ve even added the previously pre-order exclusive ‘Delivering Justice’ and ‘Freedom Fighters’ bonus mini-campaigns to the pack and several exclusive in-game shields, allowing you to own everything we’ve ever created for the game!

Watch the Stronghold Crusader 2 “The Jackal & The Khan” DLC launch trailer here.

Watch the Stronghold Crusader 2 Ultimate Edition launch trailer here.

If you’ve not dived in to 2013’s massive strategy game yet, now’s the time with a collected edition of Total War: Rome II featuring a selection of additional content and expansions available now from selected retailers.

Collecting together a wealth of content from the Rome II opus, players will discover the best of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Thousands of hours of challenging conquest await across a massive main game, two epic campaign expansions and dramatic extra content that introduces additional playable factions and ferocious elite warriors.

The unique mix of real-time massive battles and turn-based campaign map strategy, Total War offers conflict and empire-building on an unparalleled scale, with jaw-dropping attention to detail.

Check out the Total War: Rome II – Spartan Edition release trailer here.

The Total War: Rome II – Spartan Edition contains the following premium content:

• Total War: Rome II
• Imperator Augustus – Campaign Pack
• Wrath of Sparta – Campaign Pack
• Greek States – Culture Pack
• Daughters of Mars – Unit Pack

The Total War: Rome II – Spartan Edition is available from selected retailers, for more information please read our wiki.

Everyone knows the importance of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Some of the bloodiest battles of the whole conflict were fought on the wide oceans and in the deep jungles. After three years and thousands of dead on all sides the Japanese Empire was destroyed and a new balance of power was established.

But this conflict started earlier than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. China saw its own borders constantly menaced and, after many “incidents”, on July 7th of 1937 Japan began a large invasion of the Chinese soil. A nominally united China was still fighting its own internal wars and was initially ill-prepared for the onslaught leading to the Japanese forces conquering an impressive amount of land but at the cost of overstretching its lines..

The Second Sino – Japanese War has begun!

Order of Battle: Pacific after the release of the successful free update Battle of Britain, comes back to the Pacific Theatre, covering one of the cruelest but most underrated conflicts of the Second World War period..

From the Product Page…

“Players take control over the Japanese forces fighting for territorial expansion and rich Chinese resources. The conflict soon turns into a massive all-out war between the two sides during the Battle of Shanghai. While the Chinese forces are numerically superior, they have suffered from internal conflict and are poorly equipped with outdated weapons. The recently modernized Japanese Army on the other hand is well trained and experienced, but as the war drags on it gets increasingly overstretched, allowing the enemy to regain the initiative at several occasions…”

The game is ready for Beta phase and we ask players to join it to help us in giving the final touches!

You can apply for the Beta from here.

Get more information about the game from its product page.

Pike and Shot: Campaigns, the tactical wargame depicting over two centuries of struggles in Europe from The Renaissance Wars to the Sun King, receives a new patch, bringing the game to version 1.1.2!

This update improves the game in many ways, included corrections for the campaign mode and more balanced units statistics!

You can download the patch from here!

Take a look on the changelog below:

• Added details to unit type description in Force Selection screen for Raise New Army in campaigns.
• Added current status of individual units present to tooltips in Force display screen at start of campaign battle.
• Added number of men and armour description to unit type description in Force Selection screen for skirmishes.
• Allowed any non-light foot without missile weapons to charge cavalry.
• Added Map Border plugin to Editor. This allows you to set all tiles outside the playable map area to black.
• Mousing over enemy armies prior to hitting the Start Battle button when a battle is pending now shows the number of infantry and cavalry including any garrison/militia units that have been added. (Previously showed the uplifted point estimate, but only showed the total number of men in field army units present).
• Stopped highly understrength campaign units from getting excessive damage mitigation for small unit size.
• Increased musket % on Scot Highlander musketeers to 66%. (This to compensate for unintended double whammy of having their short range shooting reduced because of impact foot status).
• Corrected various minor bugs.

If you wish to learn more about the game, be sure to visit the official Pike & Shot: Campaigns website.

A hypothetical confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West would have seen Europe as the major battlefield. Highly mobile formations supported by new arrays of technological equipment would have revolutionized the entire concept of modern war.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm – one of the best wargames simulating a Cold War conflict ever made – succeeded in recreating this conflict. Now with the Germany Reforged battle pack we are revisiting the battles of the original Flashpoint Germany release while also adding in a new mega-battle to bring you Cold War land combat at its finest!

To show the high level of realism recreated, we want to share to you a stunning and completely new map, four times larger the normal maps of Red Storm!

Take a look at this incredible picture depicting the critical area around the German city of Eiterfeld!

Historically The US 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (“Blackhorse”) was tasked to guard this terrain in the 1980′s. The Fulda and Haune rivers were the two natural obstacles to base their defence on.

Just across the border were the 3rd Border Regiment and the Soviet 8th Guards Army.

Stay tuned for further updates! Get more information about Flashpoint Campaigns: Germany Reforged from its official product page.

Gaze into the abyss of World War 3

The year is 1975, the Cold War is omnipresent and beneath the veneer of détente, the tension between the two superpowers irreversibly escalates towards the ultimate confrontation.

As an at-sea “accident” results in the sinking of a Royal Navy frigate and the Warsaw Pact is mobilizing, events rapidly spiral out of control. The world is plunging towards another global conflict – but this time, there will be no post-war recovery, only nuclear disaster.

Today, award-winning Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations is getting a first standalone expansion called Northern Inferno. Set in a what-if WW3 context, the game offers a suspenseful campaign, featuring 15 realistic nightmare scenarios written by Paul A. Bridge, active Royal Navy officer and Falklands veteran. Fans of the series can now save the free world and repel the Soviet offensives during massive air, surface and underwater battles. Easing newcomers to the game is a full series of 7 tutorial scenarios plus a whole new series of tutorials videos by the infamous Baloogan.

A special 10% launch discount is available for a limited time period. We are also going to offer a free Steam key to anyone who bought a copy from the Matrix Games or Slitherine store, once the game is available on this digital platform!

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

Summer 1940 – the German war machine has swept away the French army in a few weeks and seems to be the dominant European military force. But the Western front is not completely under Axis control. The UK – the last stronghold of the Allies in this part of Europe – is not going to surrender by any means. A massive landing operation supported by naval and air strikes is planned by the German High Command.

Releasing today on PC and iPad, Panzer Corps: Operation Sea Lion includes a branching mechanic that unlocks missions depending on the player performances on the battlefield. So a single play-through will not be enough to complete the 30 new, challenging scenarios available!

To celebrate this important milestone, we are offering a special sale for a limited time:

• The Base Game is available at -50% off
• The Complete series (base game + expansions) is available at -30% off on Steam
• The Expansion pack (all the expansions released so far) is available at -30% off on Steam
• The Grand Campaign package (includes only the Grand Campaigns expansions) is available at -30% off on Steam

Offer on Steam starts at 19 CEST / 13 EDT / 10 PDT

Get more information on Panzer Corps: Operation Sealion from its official product page.

For centuries, the European steppes were dominated by a unique warrior culture. The Cossacks were fiercely independent soldiers, and some of the elite cavalry of Poland and Russia through early-modern history.

The Cossacks, the newest expansion to Paradox Development Studios’ best-selling historical grand strategy game Europa Universalis IV, pays homage to this legendarily proud people with a ton of new features that enhance the diplomatic game and give you new things to tend to during peacetime. The Cossacks will come to digital retailers and the Paradox store in late 2015.

Check out the announcement trailer here.

The central new mechanic is the Estate system. You can assign control of your provinces to local factions – priests, nobles, or even Cossacks! – sacrificing some income in the name of lower unrest, more manpower or cheaper cavalry. You must keep an eye these Estates, though! If they get too strong, they may make a move on your throne. If they feel neglected, they may interfere with efficient governance.

Other features include:

• New Diplomatic Options: Let the world know what you think of your neighbors by setting a public attitude to foreign powers.
• Tell The World What You Want: Designate neighboring provinces as “places of interest”, build trust with other nations, and entice allies with the promise of land for their support.
• Tengri: Tengri is now a Syncretic faith, allowing it to tolerate a secondary religion as if it were a national faith.
• Horde Unity and Razing: Nomadic nations now must pay attention the horde unity of their tribes – a unity that can only be maintained by the occasional pillaging
• Improved Culture Change: You can now restore a previous culture to a converted province, or convert a province you hold to a culture that is not your own.
• Native Policies: Set your policy for colonial encounters with natives. Are you focused on quick subjugation, peaceful growth or trading advantages?
• Improved Espionage: New spy actions allow you to study the technology of more advanced countries and prod your rivals’ subjects towards independence.

And, as always, even if you don’t buy The Cossacks, its release will be accompanied with a free major content update for all Europa Universalis IV players.

Almost one year ago, Gary Grigsby’s War in the West amazed fans of detailed wargames and critics alike. But even though the scope of the original game was impressive, developer 2by3 Games wanted to cover this part of the war more extensively.

Today they are back with the release of a new expansion called Operation Torch. This introduces a set of new scenarios covering the African and Western European operations between late 1942 and 1945.

On top of that the expansion benefits from an enhanced version of the engine that brings the air war to a higher level with improved navigation panels and scenarios specifically designed for this aspect of the war. Players who like action in multiplayer have now the chance to join bigger games including 3 or 4 players and also play as co-operative air and ground commanders with another human player against the AI!

As part of the release, War in the West is also getting a major free update, with dozens of new features, fixes and data and scenario tweaks. Download it here!

For more information about Gary Grigsby’s War in the West: Operation Torch, check the product page.

A look at the level of detail and attention that went into each audio line for the British faction to truly convey each unit’s unique character

Source: Gamers Hell

SEGA and Relic Entertainment have released one more video developer diary for Company of Heroes 2: The British Forces, a new standalone multiplayer expansion pack for Company of Heroes 2. The British Forces features 15 new units, six new commanders with unique abilities and a total of eight new multiplayer maps portraying historic battlefield locations representing the shattered infrastructure seen throughout Europe at the end of World War II.

Please visit www.companyofheroes.com for more information.