Wargamer Weekly Mod Squad By Joe Robinson

I've finally let my Rule the Waves 2 habit die-down. It was the Russian's fault... tried starting several games as Imperial Germany and kept getting into early wars with Russia that dragged on forrreeevvverrr. Despite having what were essentially similar ship designs, it was really hard to win straight up engagements and they always seemed to get the better of me in smaller engagements.

It was enough to make me want to play something else instead for a bit.



Meanwhile, in the world of wargames...

Matrix Games/Slitherine

Not much to report on this week. Dev updates include a sneak peak at some of the scenarios coming to Order of Battle: Red Star, while Campaign Series: Vietnam is finally getting some official love from Matrix again, with the publisher sharing some new screenshots:

Also, you can check out the early draft of Matrix's brand new website, if that’s your thing.

Unity of Command 2

Not as much to say this week as there will be next week when the new Dev Diary drops, but the developers did release a new trailer today, which is nice:

Armoured Commander 2

Another new RC build is ready for testing, this time with a working Polish campaign and a (hopefully) bug-free experience on Windows. No new updates will be coming until August at least.

MapMod for Panzer Campaigns

This is something we found whilst browsing one of the Facebook groups we frequent – someone has created a repository for visual changes and enhancements for JTS/WDS’ Panzer Campaigns Gold games. It seems to mainly be visual enhancements for the map, but they sure do look pretty.

The website also has a map mod pack for Gary Grigsby’s War in the East, with plenty of screenshots, documentation and information for both. Here’s a sample from Japan ’45 using MapMod:

X-Wing Miniatures Game

Indulging my personal table-top habits for a moment, it emerged late last week that Fantasy Flight Games would be releasing an ‘Epic Battles’ set for the second edition of the X-Wings Miniatures Game. ‘Big’ ships were in the first edition of the game, of course (each faction had at least one), and they’re all getting re-released and/or a conversion kit, but it’s interesting FFG seem to be putting a specific focus on their use by introducing this multiplayer expansion.

Designed for up to 8 people, it introduces new rules, tokens and mechanics to facilitate the use of large forces by one or more sides. For example, if you’re fielding multiple copies of the same unit, you can control them all ‘as one’ via the ‘Wings’ system, which comes with its own manoeuvring tools. They also introduce more cinematic and objective-themed expansions, which brings it more in-line with how Star Wars: Armada works.

It’s a weird positioning, if I’m honest, and as an Armada player I’m concerned by the fact that the only thing we have to look forward to at the moment is the Super Star Destroyer expansion, as well as rumours of another campaign expansion.

Avalon Digital & Columbia Games

Last but certainly not least, Avalon Digital have announced they’ve partnered with Columba Games to bring several of their block wargames to digital, starting with Richard III: The War of the Roses. It’s currently going through Kickstarter although it’s already been fully-funded, with release expected this October. Seems like the game is already pretty much done, they’re just looking for extra money for stretch goals and other goodies.

Other games looking to make the jump include Julius Caesar and Crusader Rex, each of which will get their own dedicated Kickstarter for funding.

That's all we've got time for this week - enjoy your weekends, and happy gaming!