The Paradox Interactive web site announced on Tuesday that the price of Supreme Ruler 2020 has been reduced to $9.99 across all digital portals. In Supreme Ruler 2020, players must take control of a nation on the brink of anarchy and take it to world domination.
Update 8 for the game features a number of improvements, enhancements, and additions. These include 20 new MOD scenarios, new units and technologies, dozens of new AI additions, new unit commands, and game performance improvements.
Paradox Interactive announced that its Mount & Blade – With Fire and Sword has gone gold. It will be released on May 3, 2011. Players may serve as mercenaries or join one of the five factions to conquer, destroy, or create empires. Fire and Sword builds on the foundation of Mount & Blade Warband, adding new features such as firearms and grenades, multiple endings, enhanced siege mechanics, 15 new multiplayer maps, and a setting based on Nobel Prize winner Henry Sienkiewicz’s novel "With Fire and Sword". It is available for preorder from several digital portals for $14.99.
EA Games has released Darkspore for the PC. In this game, players are fugitives of a race called the Crogenitors, who were masters of DNA manipulation. They created super-warriors called the Genetic Heroes using their genetic manipulations. After discovering "exponential DNA" (E-DNA) they learned that it was unstable and produced mutated abominations that become the Darkspore. As a surviving Crogenitor, the player must reconstruct the lost Genetic Heroes and lead them to battle against the Darkspore.
Paradox Interactive has released the Majesty2 collection to retail. This package contains the Majesty 2 game and its three expansions, priced at $19.99 MSRP. The game features over 40 missions across four campaigns.
The collection can be purchased through GamersGate, Steam, Impulse, GameTap, GamesPlanet, GameStreamer, and other retailers.
If you’d like to buy the download version of the game for $15.99 (as of this writing) and support The Gamer Hotsheet while doing it, click here to pick it up from Amazon.com.
Matrix Games and Ntronium Games announced the availability of Armada 2526 Supernova this week.
Armada is a space-themed 4X game which offers LAN and play by email options. There are many star and planet types to discover, and more than 30 special features to make each system unique. There is a new trade system in the game and a variety of new technologies.
It’s available from Matrix Games in download form for $14.99 and boxed (with free download) for $24.99. It’s also available via Valve’s Steam client for $26.99 (sale price as of this writing).
According to the Paradox Interactive web site, on March 5, 2009, they debuted the official web site for Elven Legacy, their upcoming fantasy strategy game (developed by 1C:Ino-Co). The site offers in-depth profiles on the heroes of Elven Legacy, and descriptions of the wide variety of battle units used in the game. Developer diaries and online galleries of concept art, screenshots, videos, and more are available. The site is online at http://www.elven-legacy.com.
Shrapnel Games announced a new episodic series of modern warfare simulations for the PC, Battle Group Commander. Battle Group Commander: Episode One comes from ProSIM Company, and focuses pits a battle group (consisting of armor, infantry, artillery, and other assets) against a Soviet-style enemy in the Salisbury Plain Training Area of England. The game uses the same engine as ProSIM’s Air Assault Task Force game, and reportedly is as close to a professional grade simulation as can be purchased commercially.
According to the Decision Games web site, The War in Europe Windows Edition manual has been sent to the printer. The wraps, boxes, and CDs will be printed next. Decision Games encourages pledge customers to get their confirmation and checks in quickly so their shipment isn’t delayed. Orders will reportedly continue to be accepted at the pledge price until shipping starts (expected to be the week of March 23, 2009).
From the Matrix Games web site comes the following news:
The highly anticipated remake of Close Combat – Battle of the Bulge is gold and poised for release
Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and Strategy 3 Tactics are thrilled to announce that their remake of the Close Combat series’ take on Battle of the Bulge – Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein – has gone gold! Gamers will soon have the chance to enjoy the improved and expanded remake of this classic title complete with tons of new art, a new grand campaign, and much more!
David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Newcomers to the renowned Close Combat series will no doubt find Wacht am Rhein wholly addicting and fun. The veterans of the series have even more to be excited about as the Strategy 3 Tactics team has added so much to the remake without changing the fantastic core gameplay.”
Based on Atomic Games’ award-winning Close Combat series, Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein brings together the classic top-down tactical gameplay from the original series and plenty of new features, expansions, and improvements! This remake based on Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge gives newcomers and veterans to the series alike a vastly improved and expanded version of the original experience. The Wacht am Rhein remake comes with a brand new Grand Campaign including a new strategic map with 64 gorgeous hand-drawn tactical maps, over 70 scenarios, tons of new interface and unit graphics, countless engine improvements, and much more!
In Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein, you take command of US or German forces and either retrace the last steps of Hitler’s army in one desperate attempt to turn the tide of the impending allied victory or ride to the rescue with General Patton and push back the German offensive to reclaim Bastogne.
Also included is a bonus “classic” version of the original Close Combat IV.
Features include:
Vastly improved and expanded rebuild of the critically acclaimed Close Combat: Battle of Bulge title, originally developed by Atomic Games.
New enhanced Grand Campaign with a new strategy level map as well as 64 gorgeous hand-drawn tactical level maps.
70+ scenarios based on real-world battles, operations and campaigns.
New graphics for the user interface, aircraft, vehicles and other graphics.
An easy-to-use but powerful Scenario Editor – Create your own “what if” Scenarios.
Largely expanded moddability: all strategic layer features, all campaign details including weather, turns per day, scoring, support mission (artillery, airstrike) capabilities for both Germans and Americans, battlegroup recycling, battlegroup retreat/disband, supply and much more!
Enhanced head-to-head combat modes including: 24/7 campaigns.
Further improvements have been made to the AI to enhance most, if not all, performance issues: vehicle pathing, infantry tactics, team and unit morale, overall AI aggressiveness and decision-making in general.
Accurately depicts World War II tactical warfare and its challenges
Realistic soldier psychological profiles during combat.
Regardless of which political party you’re affiliated with, chances are you see them making campaigning moves that baffle you. You’ve probably wondered if you could do better if you had the chance. That’s the point of The Political Machine by Stardock. In it, you take on the role of one of the Republican or Democratic presidential candidates in an attempt to get them into the White House.
When you first launch the game, you’ll see a screen like the following:
Clicking “Play” on this screen will display an introductory video and leave you at the main menu:
Playing the Campaign mode allows you to choose one of several candidates, not all of which are unlocked at the start. For the purposes of this review, I chose Rudy Giuliani. The computer selected Bill Clinton.
After the candidates are selected, the game displays for the player some information about his opponent in the election:
Once you’ve learned about your opponent, you’re taken to the main game screen, which offers some in-game help to start with:
After dismissing the help screen, the game displays a map of the United States:
Once this map is up, the game really starts. On each turn, your candidate can expend his or her “stamina” to give speeches, travel to other states, etc. These actions affect the candidate’s success in the election. For example, the candidate might be told to give a speech in Florida in favor of Social Security:
Assuming that Social Security is a big issue with voters in Florida (and in this game it tends to be), this speech should improve the public’s awareness and positive perception of the candidate in that state. A similar dialog allows the candidate to purchase newspaper, radio, or television advertising to make a point about an important topic in a particular state.
Periodically, flashing stars will appear under an icon on one of the states. If the players maneuvers the candidate to one of these icons before it disappears, the candidate will have the opportunity to appear on a television show. These include spoofs of The Colbert Report, Larry King Live, and others.
To appear on the show, click yes. A short introductory video will appear, th
e text of which will give you clues as to the political leaning of the host and audience. The host will ask the candidate questions, the answers to which will affect the political repercussions of being on the show in question. Assuming you choose good answers, you will be greeted with positive news, such as the following:
Similarly, an appearance where you choose “bad” answers will hurt your political standing.
In addition to buying ads, giving speeches, doing fundraising, and appearing on television shows, you’ll also be able to construct campaign facilities to help your candidate out. There are three types of buildings you can create: Campaign Headquarters, Consulting Offices, and Outreach Centers. There are three “levels” you can build for each of these offices. The higher the level of the office, the more it costs to build, the more it costs to maintain, and the more it benefits the candidate.
A Campaign Headquarters will make poltical discussion issues available to the candidate and improve the public’s awareness of the candidate.
A Consulting Office increases the player’s “political capital” and allows for the “random events” that occur in the state to be identified as positive or negative.
An Outreach Center increases PR clout and increases awareness of the candidate in the state and/or surrounding region.
Once a “level 1″ structure of one of the above types is built, it may be upgraded to a higher level (up to level 3), making it of more value to the candidate.
Earlier, random events were mentioned. Periodically, a yellow question mark will appear on the game map. If the player moves the candidate there before the question mark disappears, a “random event” happens. These can be positive, such as scoring a large campaign donation or obtaining a supporter. They can also be negative, uncovering someone who could be detrimental to your campaign or a “time waster” who sucks up your remaining stamina.
Around the middle of the game, the player will be asked to select a running mate from the list of available (and unlocked) candidates:
As in the real election, the selection of a running mate can help or hinder the campaign. Note that one running mate (or candidate) is “Lord Kona”, an alien creature. I’ve actually won elections with him.
You can move your running mate around to help increase your popularity in a state, just as you move the main candidate around.
As you build momentum, you’ll be able to seek endorsements from groups like labor unions, gun owners, etc., to help you appeal to voters. Generally speaking, the more Community Outreach headquarters you have running, the more political clout you’ll have to get these endorsements.
That’s pretty much all there is to the gameplay. You’ll move the candidate around, raising funds, running ads, making speeches, building headquarters, recruiting allies, and trying to stay ahead of your opponent in the polls. At the end of week 41, there’s an election. If you’re playing a Republican candidate, as I did in this sample game, the red states are the ones you won. The blue states were won by your opponent. As you can see below, I lost this particular election:
After the map is displayed, you see the candidate hanging its head in shame:
I played the same scenario again later, making better use of my political cloud and advertising, with a much different result:
As I mentioned earlier, I even won with the alien “Lord Kona” once:
If you play the game in campaign mode, each time you run the same candidate, the computer matches you up with a better opponent. Taking Rudy Giuliani all the way to the end of his campaign run meant beating historical figures like Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, and John F. Kennedy.
The game offers a variety of options to tailor the experience, including changing the resolution, turning off music, changing sound volume, setting up auto save, etc.
While this is undoubtedly a simplified version of a national presidential election campaign, it does provide for a reasonable amount of depth and strategy. I found that a strategy which worked well for me was to expend my early campaign funds establishing a series of Community Outreach offices. The political clout these generated allowed me to accumulate endorsements a bit quicker than my opponent, which helped turn a number of states to my side without having to visit them or expend advertising money. Once I began building endorsements, I focused on getting political operatives in the key states like New York, Florida, Ohio, California, and Texas. After that, it became a question of drumming up as much support as I could, wherever I could, using speeches and ads.
The television appearances might be the trickiest part of the game. For each show, you’re asked a number of questions. The answers you give to those questions will either help or hinder your election. In several cases, I chose answers that seemed to fit with the show host’s viewpoint, only t
o find that I lost favor with the voters. In other cases, I made choices I thought would appeal to voters, only to find that they didn’t.
An entire game of The Political Machine 2008 can be played fairly quickly compared to many simulations. Depending on the random events and such, an entire election process can be played in about an hour.
This game typically retails around $20 (US). Given the replayability, level of depth, and the unlockable content, that’s not a bad value.
On a scale of 1-10, where a 10 is a title like Half Life 2, this game rates around a 6-7.
Matrix Games has announced the upcoming release of Commander – Napoleon at War, the sequel to their very popular Commander – Europe at War game. Below is the official press release:
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Commander – Europe at War will be available soon from Matrix Games
Matrix Games and Slitherine Strategies (www.slitherine.com) are thrilled to announce that Commander – Napoleon at War, the sequel to the highly popular Commander – Europe at War, will be available soon from Matrix Games! Commander – Napoleon at War is the newest game in the Commander series, taking the acclaime design introduced in Commander – Europe at War to the next level.
David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Given the enormous success of Commander – Europe at War, the Napoleonic incarnation of the same elegant game system stands to be just as fantastic. Commander – Napoleon at War captures everything that was intuitive and fun about the original Commander while still modeling Napoleonic strategy in all its glory!”
Iain McNeil from Slitherine Strategies added “We are pleased to be publishing another highly anticipated title together with Matrix Games and look forward to working with them for the release of Commander – Napoleon at War. Gamers who found Commander – Europe at War fun, easy, and engaging will no doubt see that this new sequel will retain all the positive aspects of its predecessor while still coming filled with plenty of improvements and innovation.”
In Commander – Napoleon at War, players must use the combined arms of infantry, cavalry and artillery combined with the innovations and strategies of the Napoleonic wars to secure victory. Play on a beautifully rendered map of Napoleonic Europe, where terrain and weather play a large role and mud and snow may bog down your army at a crucial time. Logistics are also modeled, with supply lines, resources and sieges and the use of privateers and naval superiority to stifle trade routes. Players have twelve unit types to choose from as well as fifteen research paths, and eight immersive historical campaigns from 1805 through 1815!
Features include:
- 8 immersive campaigns (including a full 1805-1815 campaign) starting from Napoleon’s war with Austria, Russia and Britan in 1805 up to the 100 days campaign ending at Waterloo in 1815.
- Take control of Napoleon’s forces or the Allied Coalition who opposed him, including Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia.
- Huge map covering all of Europe and stretching from Canada and the United States all the way to the Urals and the Middle East in beautiful historical detail
- Choose from up to 15 different historical research paths for each country in five general areas (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Navy, Warfare)
- Spend Money, Manpower and Horses to build new units and recruit historical leaders, choosing from twelve different unit types ranging from Light Infantry to Frigates.
Can Napoleon’s ambition be denied or will the flag of the Empire of France fly throughout the continent? It is up to you to write the story of the Napoleonic Wars in Commander: Napoleon at War!
The good folks over at Matrix Games recently released “Great Invasions” for Windows PCs. In Great Invasions, you take command of several of almost 80 playable nations throughout 700 years of human history starting in 350 A.D. In order to succeed, you’ll need to master diplomacy, war, economics, and administration.
The game requires Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP, an Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or better CPU, 256MB of RAM, a 64MB video card, a DirectX compatible sound card, 8x optical drive, mouse, keyboard, DirectX 8.1, and about 800MB of free disk space. By today’s standards, that should be pretty much any PC you have on hand unless it’s several years old.
It’s considered a game of intermediate complexity, with a theater that covers Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. A player may control up to 10 nations, and online play can support 1 to 4 players.
Great Invasions can be purchased through the Matrix Games online store. The current price for a “physical shipment plus download” is $29.99. The price for a digital delivery of the product is $19.99.
From the Matrix Games web site comes the following release information:
The sequel to Birth of America now available for purchase at Matrix Games
Matrix Games and AGEOD (www.ageod.com) are thrilled to announce that the new release Birth of America 2: Wars in America, is now available for purchase at the Matrix Games Store! This grand strategy sequel to the popular Birth of America covers warfare in North America from the Pequot War in 1636 through full campaigns on the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War and War of 1812 all the way to the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Wars in America is a new game and comes with a sizeable list of new features and innovations as well as a large scenario list.
David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Birth of America was very well received by critics and strategy fans alike. The sequel to this fantastic gaming system comes loaded with new features and expanded possibilities making Birth of America 2: Wars in America a must-have for American Revolutionary War buffs and turn-based grand strategy fans alike.”
Birth of America 2: Wars in America is the much expanded reprise of veteran developer AGEOD’s acclaimed first release, which allows players to command either side of the conflicts before, during and after the American War for Independence between 1636 and 1815. Apart from the engaging turn-based strategy play that has been expanded and vastly improved over the original, Birth of America 2: Wars in America includes major new features like an improved and expanded map including the Mississippi River, new European off-map boxes (France, Great Britain, Spain, Holland) and more.
Birth of America 2: Wars in America also comes packed with over 100 new leaders and units, new orders, new abilities, several new scenarios and full campaigns including Fallen Timbers (1791-1794), Great Lakes (1813), New Orleans (1815), and new Political, Economic and Diplomatic options!
Features include:
- A new replay feature that allows the player to review any turn that they’ve played for in-depth After Action Reports or to track progress in detail!
- New cohesion system (based on AGEOD’s American Civil War and Napoleon’s Campaigns model) which has a large and more realistic impact on combat.
- Brand new concept of Engagement Points, allowing options for armaments purchases, political, economic and diplomatic options.
- An improved and expanded map including the Mississippi River, new European off-map boxes (France, GB, Spain, Holland) and more.
- New orders (e.g. spiking the guns, surrender with the Honour of War, remove leader, distant unload from ships).
- New updated rules (e.g. combat, Indians, minutemen, blockade, privateers, naval transport, German mercenaries, etc…)
- A challenging Foreign Entry competition system which will allow players to struggle in the race for the French Intervention.
- Over a hundred new leaders and units.
- Several new scenarios including Fallen Timbers (1791-1794), Great Lakes (1813), New Orleans (1815), and full campaigns on the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War and War of 1812
- Improved AI
Today at Gen Con Indy 2008 I had the opportunity to learn about the Entropia Universe. To quote their marketing literature:
The Entropia Universe is more than a game. The Entropia Universe is for real. Real people, real activities, and a Real Cash Economy in a massive online universe.
Join people from around the globe who use the Entropia Universe currency, the PED, to develop their characters everyday on the untamed planet of Calypso. The unique and secure Real Cash Economy allows you to transfer your accumulated PED back into real world funds.
That’s the gist of the game. You play it like any other MMO. You wander around, killing monsters, and picking up loot. The loot you pick up can be sold to NPCs and other players for the in-game PED currency. You can also buy PED with real-world money if you want some.
Given that in-game money can be exchanged for something you can spend in the real world, you might expect the game to come with a hefty price tag and monthly fee. If that’s what you thought, you’d be wrong. The game can be downloaded and played without ever paying a cent of real-world money for it. The manufacturers make their money in a variety of creative ways. They sell advertising in the in-game cities. They sell virtual real estate. Recently, they received $400,000 to establish in-game banks that operate the same as banks in the real world, allowing players to deposit and borrow money.
I played a few minutes of the game this afternoon at Gen Con. The user interface is pretty straightforward, much like the interface in any of the other MMOs out there. The W,A,S, and D keys move the character around. The mouse allows the player to turn left and right. Left-clicking the mouse attacks an enemy.
The graphics are probably a notch or two below those you’d find in more-recent MMOs like Lord of the Rings Online. However, they aren’t “dated” or mediocre. Given that I was in a loud convention hall, I didn’t get a feel for the sound quality, though I would imagine that they are on par with the visuals.
As with most MMOs, there is a crafting system in Entropia Universe. Players loot item blueprints from the enemies they kill. They also loot raw materials and components. The raw material and components can be combined at crafting stations, using the blueprints, into items that can be used or sold to other players.
That’s as much as I can tell you about The Entropia Universe at the moment. I plan to load it up and spend a little time with it once I get back home to my desktop PC. The Asus Eee PC I have with me doesn’t have quite enough horsepower to run it.
Update 08/17/2008: After returning home from Gen Con today, I decided to fire up Entropia Universe and see what I thought of it. Unfortunately, they don’t support Windows Vista yet. I haven’t been able to get the game installed and running on my main PC because of this. I’ll try on a Windows XP Pro laptop later and see how it goes.
I purchased Titans of Steel: Warring Suns
from the Matrix Games booth at Origins a couple of years ago. It
interested me because it focuses on futuristic mechanized infantry
units, similar to Battletech, Mechwarrior, or any number of other
games. In practice, it plays very much like a miniatures game. Below is the battlefield display.
The
game terrain is hex-based, and movement of your mechs is performed much
the same way it’s done in tabletop miniatures games. If you move into
a “plain” terrain hex, the move takes place as normal. If you move
into a swamp or water hex, a skill check is performed which determines
your success with the move. If you fail, your mech falls down and
takes damage.
(Above shows some of the terrain, including forest hexes that can be set on fire to play havoc with an enemy’s cooling systems.)
The damage model in the game follows typical
tabletop mech rules. Each hit causes damage to a part of the mech, one
of its systems, or its pilot. If the pilot dies, the mech is out of
commission. If the mech takes too much damage, or its head is ripped
off, it’s eliminated. Damage to weapons can cause a check to see if
the ammunition explodes. If so, the mech takes additional damage.
Terrain
can be used to assist your mech. For example, if you move your mech
into a water hex successfully, the water will help keep the mech’s
systems cool. This will allow you to fire more weapons, more often,
perhaps getting the jump on a more-powerful mech on the opposing side.
Putting yourself in a position with swamp hexes between you and an
opponent could lead to that opponent stumbling and taking damage.
Play
is turn-based, with each mech on each side having the opportunity to
perform a weapons action and a movement action. This further
reinforces the similarity to tabletop games.
The game allows
players to design or reconfigure their own mechs, starting with one of
450 different types. Each mech, or Titan, has over 74 internal
systems, 4 armor types, 20 chassis styles, 5 size classes, and 29
weapon types.
While I’ve focused on the combat model up to
this point, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to it. In fact, it
actually incorporates an open-ended role-playing system which allows
you to create your own “jocks” and bring up their skills through
battlefield actions.
The game includes multi-player features
allowing for “hot seat”, LAN, and Internet games. I did not have the
opportunity to test those features during the review, so I can’t tell
you much about them.
All things considered, I like this game.
It makes me feel like I’m sitting down at a game convention playing a
miniatures game with others. That being said, I did have some issues
with it that negatively impacted my enjoyment of it.
First, it
is practically required that you go through the tutorial mission. It’s
also a requirement to read the lengthy text displayed on the screen at
each step. If you don’t do that, you’re going to find the learning
curve for the game’s user interface to be pretty steep. Once you’ve
gone through the tutorial and understand how to use the interface, it’s
really not that complicated, but it’s not something you’ll figure out
on the fly. In fact, the first two times I sat down to play the game I
became really frustrated with the interface and walked away from it.
The third time I took the time to read all the text on the tutorial
screens and did what it asked me to do. I came away with a much better
understanding of the interface and the game mechanics, and found that I
enjoyed playing it.
(As I said, there’s a lot of reading. There are about a dozen instructional screens like this…)
Second, you have to be careful what orders
you give your mech’s jock. In one skirmish battle, I managed to give
one of my jocks a combination of orders that essentially made it stop
doing anything for the remainder of the game. It literally stood
there, frozen in place, letting enemy mechs rain destruction down on it
until it eventually blew up. If there was a way to countermand the
earlier orders and restore control of the unit, I never figured it out.
I could only sit there helplessly, watching several enemy units pummel
it into oblivion.
(Above is my mech, in the red hex, getting pummeled by several others because I couldn’t control it anymore…)
Third, when there are multiple units in a hex,
it can be difficult to target the one you want to fire on. If one of
those units is yours and the others are enemy units, it can be nearly
impossible to get out of the hex if you want to.
The first and
third points are minor in the big scheme of things. The second one is
fairly significant, but I’m confident I could have overcome it by
watching the orders I gave my units a bit more carefully.
The
game’s graphics, for a title released in 2003, are adequate by today’s
standards and certainly more visually stimulating than moving a bunch
of miniatures around a tabletop. The sounds are also appropriate and
sufficient.
The game requires a Windows PC running Windows 98,
Me, 2000, or XP. It ran just fine on my Windows Vista PC as well. It
requires DirectX 8.1, a Pentium II 400 MHz or better CPU, 64MB of RAM,
a 16-bit sound card, an 8MB 16-bit graphics card, and 900MB of free
hard disk space. These modest requirements mean that it can easily
play on just about any PC you’re using. In fact, I’ve got a 5-6
year-old laptop that should be able to run it.
Perhaps the best thing about Titans of Steel: Warring Suns is the price. Since February 13, 2008, Matrix Games has been giving this title away free via the Internet. If you’ve enjoyed playing Battletech, CAV, or similar games on the tabletop, you should find this one equally entertaining.
From the Matrix Games web site comes the following news:
Find the Road to Victory in WW2 with this exciting new grand strategy
game!Matrix Games and IQ Software are pleased to announce the release of World
War II: Road to Victory! Now gamers can wage World War II in Europe from
the front lines in France and Russia to the deserts of North Africa and the
airfields and convoys of Britain in a riveting turn-based grand strategy
format.David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “This debut release
from new developer IQ Software delivers great gameplay and historical depth in a
classic hex-based and turn-based grand strategy format. World War II: Road to
Victory beautifully combines highly replayable game mechanics with ease of use
to make a great wargame for beginners and advanced players alike.”World War II: Road to Victory, the first release from IQ Software,
puts the player at the helm of his choice of one or more Axis or Allied nations,
including minor nations, amidst a continent torn by full scale war. Combat,
production, research and diplomacy are all fully modeled.A diplomacy system based on political points allows you to sway possible
allies to your side. Naval combat includes fleet engagements, elusive raiders
and U-Boats as well as a convoy system. Concentrate precious industrial
resources on building, training and upgrading a wide variety of combat units
from airborne soldiers and armored divisions up to nuclear weapons! Historical
leaders enhance the performance of your armies and historical events give you
choices that can change the course of history. World War II: Road to
Victory is fought across turns that vary in length by season and 25 km hexes
with divisions and corps, giving the player a broad strategic picture of the war
while still leaving enough room for operational decisions.Features include:
- 1939, 1940 and 1941 start date scenarios with unique strategic
considerations and challenges- Simple and intuitive user interface with engrossing historical gameplay
- Play as any one nation or multiple nations at once to experience the war
from a unique perspective- An innovative naval combat model and realistic supply convoy attack system
- A simple yet immersive political point system for diplomatic relations -
alienate enemies and solidify ties with allies- A healthy variety of combat units to command from armoured and airborne
forces to strategic bombers and battleships – even nukes!- Historical events including player choices that can guide and shape the
course of the war
From the Matrix Games web site comes the following press release:
The next highly anticipated turn-based strategy hit from SSG is now
available!Matrix Games and Strategic Studies Group (www.ssg.com.au) are thrilled to announce that
long-awaited successor to the award winning Decisive Battles series, Kharkov:
Disaster on the Donets, is now available! To mark the game’s release, a new
promotional trailer exhibiting the various features and new mechanics of
Kharkov is available for download
or viewing on YouTube.David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “The latest
masterpiece from the award-winning Strategic Studies Group has been at the top
of many gamers’ wish lists and for good reason. Kharkov: Disaster on
the Donets brings together the riveting and enjoyable mechanics of the
Decisive Battles and Battlefront titles and combines it with
plenty of innovation and novel gameplay!”Command the Soviet forces, newly confident after stopping and throwing back
the Barbarossa offensive, or try the elite and seasoned German army now
reconstituted after Winter losses and ready to regain the initiative. Two
separate forces prepared offensives in the same area in the Spring of 1942.
When the dust had cleared the Germans had managed a great victory that opened
the doors to the drive on Stalingrad. But the outcome was far from certain and
in Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets, history is yours to rewrite.This new system supports both regimental and battalion level combat, while
incorporating many innovative features such as off-map reinforcement decisions
and on-map historical areas of operation with mystery variants to increase
replayability and limit the effect of hindsight. Along with the streamlined
supply and movement systems, a new bonus and advantage system for headquarters
effects, simplified direct fire and improved combat tables, an improved strong
points system and the ability to create hedgehog defenses make this the most
advanced and realistic SSG design to date. This will also be the first in a new
successor series to Decisive Battles, with an updated Across the
Dnepr sequel already in the works!
Kharkov: Disaster on the Donets – Seize the Initiative and
Secure Victory!Features include:
- Successor to the highly popular and award winning Decisive Battles and
Battlefront engines, combining the best elements of both- An innovative and fun area of operation system which limits unrealistic
redeployments for both players, with changes triggered as local objectives are
achieved and based on mystery variants to keep the enemy guessing- Improved and simplified supply, movement and direct combat systems
- Improved combat tables that better model diminishing returns and new HQ
bonuses that can affect Direct and Indirect Fire- Improved strong points and new hedgehog rules
- Models both battalion and regimental combat
