Major News As Total War Warhammer 40,000 Is Real, Phoenix Point Receives Another Major Update, and Sins of a Solar Empire Changes Warfare And Much More

This should be the final Strategy and Wargaming News of 2025, and it’s going to be packed with plenty of quality “nouvelles”, as the French say. Warhammer fans are going to be extremely happy, as are those of you who enjoy turn-based strategy titles, with a new, massive Phoenix Point update, and the real-time strategy crowd will have new challenges to tackle during these Christmas vacations in a new update for Sins of a Solar Empire. As for the wargamers among you, the Wargame Design Studio Holiday sale has started, and there are plenty of cool wargames up for grabs.

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 Confirmed

After an underwhelming showcase during the Creative Assembly 25th Anniversary event, Creative Assembly came out guns blazing during The Game Awards and unveiled the last piece of the puzzle and confirmed what we all knew to be true all along: They’re doing Total War: Warhammer 40,000, and honestly, from the small bits and pieces we saw on the trailer (above), I’m surprised the game actually looks like it takes place in 40,000, and it’s not just Empire: Total War with bolters and Orks.

In a developer interview, it has been said that the design philosophy behind the game has been to adapt Warhammer 40,000 to Total War, and not the other way around. The game will use the new Warcore engine, and from the few available details, we know that the game battles will have orbital bombardments, dynamic destruction, and interplanetary conquest.

The four confirmed factions are going to be the Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari, and the Astra Militarum. I’m quite surprised by this, because I would have assumed that the Human factions would have been the Imperium as a whole. Does this mean you’ll be able to fight the Astra Militarum as the Space Marines in the campaign?

I’m quite excited for this, because it’s going to be a clear departure from what Creative Assembly has done so far, and I really want to have a look at what the new engine can do, and what kind of new possibilities and settings it will allow for.

It also helps fuel my excitement that I really enjoy Warhammer 40.000 lore.

Phoenix Point Gets A Huge Update

Julian Gollop’s return to the turn-based strategy with Phoenix Point was met with a mid-level reaction. Between the game’s less-than-stellar technical status and the whole Epic Store exclusivity deal (remember when those were a thing?), Phoenix Point seemed doomed to fail. Fortunately, five years after it landed on Steam, it has received constant updates and slowly earned itself a cult following of turn-based strategy enthusiasts.

Many of the changes the new Firebird update brings are directly inspired by the famous mod Terror From the Void, and the team worked closely with them to make sure that the fan-favorite mod didn’t break with this update. Here’s a birdseye view of what changed:

• Faster campaign pacing and player progressions: research times and construction times for faction-ending projects have been massively reduced.
• Economic adjustments: Reduced ammo production and facility construction.
• New manufacturing screen.
• Late game adjustments to enemy scaling.
• Balancing changes.
• Bug fixes.

As expected, the community reacted to it in the most positive way possible, with players praising the team’s efforts to constantly improve and make the game better, long after it came out. Having played the game a couple of times, I never got around to reviewing it, and maybe I’ll do that in 2026.

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 “Diplomatic Repercussions” Update

Stardock Entertainment has released a major free update for Sins of a Solar Empire 2 today with version 1.5, titled “Diplomatic Repercussions.” Available to all owners of the game, the update introduces a comprehensive overhaul of the diplomacy system, giving players more control over alliances and rivalries while AI factions now weigh multiple factors when forming diplomatic relationships. The update also adds new Quick Start options that allow players to jump directly into mid- or late-game scenarios, alongside notable AI improvements, economic rebalancing, and refinements to the research and tech tree layout. It seems like the best real-time strategy game of 2024 is still getting better in 2025 and going into 2026. Additional changes include enhanced orbital visuals with new shuttle traffic to increase immersion and a reworked economy that places more emphasis on orbital infrastructure.

Rising In The Ranks As A Napoleonic Soldier

When Luke Hughes, the head honcho of one of my favorite games of 2025, Burden of Command, emailed me telling me about Shadow of the Eagles, with a catchy premise of “Rise in the ranks as a Napoleonic Soldier game”, I was paying attention instantly. Paul Wang, a writer for Burden of Command, is independently developing Shadow of the Eagles, a ” text-based military life simulator set during the time of the French Revolution and the Wars of Napoleon. Starting as a volunteer soldier in 1792, your character will have the chance to fight battles, gain glory, scheme, plunder, and rise in the ranks from the Terror to the Waterloo Campaign.”

Paul has set up a Patreon you can check out here and help him make the game come true.

Wargame Design Studio Holiday Sale

Wargame Design Studio has launched its Winter Sale, running from December 12 through the evening of January 4, 2026, offering discounts on every title in its catalog that has been available for more than 12 months. Eligible games are discounted by 25%, bringing most titles down to $29.95, with the usual automatic 20% bulk discount still applying to single orders over $199, allowing for combined savings of up to 40%, while all other promotions are temporarily paused.