Happy Easter, my dearest! Come on in! Get off the streets, it’s dark and dangerous out there. It’s so good to have you back. It’s the first day of a long, relaxing weekend. Sit down. Sit down, please. Pull up a chair by the hearth. This week has brought us good news from all around and, even better, a long catalogue of announcements. 2021 Is shaping up to become a good year for Strategy and Wargamers.
Field of Glory 2: Medieval Reconquista
I’m sure I called this a couple of weeks back, when a new DLC for Field of Glory 2: Medieval was announced. After dedicating the base game to central Europe, FoG2: Medieval is going to explore the first steps of the Reconquista (it means: To conquer back, to take back). The Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate, who defeated and destroyed the Visigothic Kingdom in the early 8th century. For nearly three centuries the moors tried to consolidade their position in this far way land, isolanted from the conflicting kingdoms of central Europe. Even if the Peninsula was only a passageway into France, where their goal of conquering Europe was. Their lighting expansion was cut short by Charles Martel, who defeated the Umayyad armies at the battle of Poitiers. The Umayyad grip on the Peninsula was puny at best, downright decrepit at worst. The Reconquista was a process that started on the first day of the Islamic invasion of Europe and lasted until 1492, when Cordoba, the last muslim stronghold in the peninsula finally fell.
- 20 more nations and factions covering Spain, Italy and North Africa from 1040 AD to 1270 AD. These include Andalusians, Almohads, Arabs, Aragonese, Byzantine Catapanate of Italy, Castilians/Leónese, Catalans, Granadines, Hafsids, Italian Guelfs, Italian Ghibellines, Italo-Normans, Lombards, Marinids, Murabits, Navarrese, Papal, Portuguese, the Kingdom of Sicily and Tuaregs
- 41 more units and 45 more army lists
- 8 more historical scenarios covering key engagements of the period on an epic scale. These include Monte Maggiore 1041, Civitate 1053, Cabra 1079, Sagrajas 1086, Legnano 1176, Las Navas De Tolosa 1212, Montaperti 1260 and Benevento 1266.
- 33 more historical matchups added to Quick Battle mode, increasing the total to 98, playable from either side.
- 4 more historically-based campaigns covering major leaders and conflicts of the era: El Cid, Muhammad II of Granada, Normans in the South and Frederick II Hohenstaufen.
- Sandbox campaign expanded to include all the new army lists, allowing you to lead any nation (and their historical allies) against any other nation (and their allies) – giving thousands of permutations.
Slitherine and Matrix are having an Easter sale
If, by change, there’s anything on Slitherine and Matrix store that you’ve been keeping on that wishlist for too long, now would be the time to get it. Until monday, April 6th, you can use their store coupon to get 30% off on any game. It’s the perfect time to snag Gary Grigsby’s War in the East 2 if you haven’t already. I was unable to pump my first impressions by now due to a very busy week at work but, hopefully, it will be going live rather soon.
South African forces coming to Wargame: Red Dragon
I’m tired of writting about the Wargame franchise in general, really. Take a look at this, the smartasses at Eugen Systems justify their choice of including the South African forces because “South Africa is one of the rare countries missing from Wargame Red Dragon which featured a large indigenous armaments industry producing a series of cool-looking vehicles, from IFVs to helicopters. What about the Ratel, Casspir, Buffel, Rooikat, G6 Renoster, Rooivalk?“.
Imagine creating a game with 1450 units and thinking “Well, we could do more than that!”. You naughty, Eugen. You cheeky, glorious and beautiful bastards. Here’s what the South Africa Nation Pack will bring to the Wargame: Red Dragon table:
- Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
- These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Elan (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
- The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design that never left the drawing board.
- Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also will be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
- Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers, etc. You will also find Portuguese-speaking Angolian UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos), as veteran light infantry formation.
- SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.
Warhammer 40,000 video explains Hellblasters and Intercessors
The folks at Slitherine were really nice and sent me early access into Warhammer 40,000 Battlesector so I’ll be saving my snarky words for that piece. It should come out in a couple of days.
Evil Genius 2 is out now
More Austin Powers than Double Oh Seven, Evil Genius 2 has finally arrived unto Steam a couple of days ago. I’ve been dreaming of World domination since I was aware of my own existence, but never knew logistics and team management were a thing, much less having to deal with pesky do-gooders, trying to ruin my operation. Reviews are mild, not trashing nor praising the game, with users mainly complaining about the art-style and the world map design. It appears to be an acceptable entry to the genre, but with classics such as Dungeons 3 on the market, Evil Genius 2 will need to paddle up faster to stay afloat. PSA: Dungeons 3 is on Steam right now for 7,49€. I listed as one of my favourite games of 2018 and described it as: “Dungeons 3 arrises from the underground to a top spot in strategical entertainment […] Dungeons 3 stands out as being a colourful two layered game by mixing the underground facet of light-dungeon management and adding up a cover of typical RTS that has you controlling powerful evil minions to defeated the disgusting forces of good.”
Eurotruck Simulator 2: Iberia DLC coming out April 8th
Portugal and Spain are on a roll this week. With both countries finally being the focus of SCS Software haul’em’up simulator. Let me tell you something right away! Portugal looks exactly like the real thing. I’ve driven around in Spain last year, did a nearly 2000km trip and while I can’t confirm everything is perfectly aligned, what I can say is that it captures the feeling of driving around the spanish countryside like no other.
By the way, it seems War Hospital is a thing
Not a lot is known, but it’s already listed on Steam
Strategy and Wargaming 