Hello, and welcome to 2026! I hope you had an amazing festive season, and that Santa treated you very well this Christmas, with plenty of new strategy and wargames to enjoy going forward into 2026. This week, we have some exciting stuff, with a new Task Force Admiral demo up for grabs, the soon-to-be 1.0 Terra Invicta, and some bittersweet news from my friendly competitor, the Tally-Ho Corner.
Task Force Admiral New Demo
In preparation for its release, Task Force Admiral has launched a new demo on the 1st of January, meaning that you can play it right now! Task Force Admiral’s demo lets you take command of Task Force 17 during its showdown against Carrier Division 5 in the Coral Sea, in May 1942. Featuring two single scenarios (one historical, one alt-history variant) and a battle generator, this generous piece of software is clamoring for armchair admirals to take it for a spin.
I want to praise the Task Force Admiral team for having the courage to do what so many gaming companies don’t, by letting players experience their title before clicking on the purchase button. The demos used to be such an integral part of our gaming experience; it’s awesome to see them making a return, as of late. Add to that the fact that, from what I have seen so far while giving it another go, my first impressions of the game are still very much the same: highly positive, and I’m certain it’s going to be one of the best wargames of 2026.
Players Aren’t Happy With Arms Trade Tycoon’s New Roadmap
Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks is a game I have been paying attention to for the longest time, but have been holding off playing it, while it’s being cooked in Early Access, as Tycoon-type games are ones I enjoy playing while they’re mostly finished, or completely done for.
The team at FunGi, the developers of Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks, just recently announced a new, revised roadmap for future development that has very little to do with the one they had previously made public, dated October 11, 2024. See below:
While the one from 2024 announces WW2, Cold War, and Modern Expansion packs, the revised roadmap is a lot less ambitious, and is focusing a lot on “core modding foundations”, leading players to speculate the game might be reaching its final moments of active development, and being abandoned to modders.
I cannot opine on this because I have no further information, but I hope this isn’t the case because the premise of the game is pretty damn cool. The first version I played showed a lot of promise, and the fact that the “phase 8” of the roadmap describes “expanded military scope” gives me some hope that the game still has a future ahead of itself.
Terra Invicta Goes Gold
Terra Invicta, the grand-strategy title from the team that brought us The Long War mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, has been in Early Access since 2022, and since then, the game has been steadily cooked to become a fine 5-star course on space strategy. The 1.0 version goes live on January 5th, 2026, after a massive update in November. This 1.0 version will update the world situation to the present day, and support 5 new languages: Czech, Italian, Korean, Russian, and Ukrainian.
The game’s development, however, isn’t done, and there’s still work to be done. This announcement was made with the caveat that the implementation of these ideas is subject to change based on player feedback, the team’s judgment, money, and staff work hours. Here’s a quick rundown of the ones that piqued my interest the most:
- Sea zones and wet naval warfare (for a Cold War scenario);
- Off-Earth regions and nations;
- Cold War scenario;
- Foothold (far-future alien invasion scenario);
- Aftermath (alien invaders are exhausted, and Earth is rebuilding);
Read the whole roadmap here.
Legendary Pilots Looks Awesomely Retro
One of my premises going forward into 2026 is to cover a wider range of genres of games I enjoy, but I never expected to be struck by the idea of a “cozy flight simulation with a retro feel” like I was when I laid my eyes for the first time on Legendary Pilots, a game from BerkBox, and being publisahed under the banner of MicroProse Software.
I enjoy a game that doesn’t “aim to be the most realistic flying game ever”, but wants to offer the fun parts of flying and airline management without the boring bits, including a pilot’s career, the possibility to pilot, buy, and manage several different planes, manage routes, and even fight fires! It looks like something that came out of Dreamcast, so cool.
Mars Tactics Coming Along Nicely
A recent developer update on the up-and-coming turn-based tactics game Mars Tactics explains that changing the strategic layer to play as a real-time-with-pause was the “magic trick” that solved all major issues. Not only is the game going to have turn-based combat at the tactical scale, but this real-time grand-strategy campaign will feature expansion, research, and diplomacy with the powers that be, back on Earth. Just another reason to be excited for what’s setting up to be one of the most exciting turn-based strategy games set to come out in 2026, with a release window set for May 2026.
Tally-Ho Corner Goes On Sabbatical
Tally-Ho Corner, the home of the venerable Tim Stone and his iconic Flare Path column, is currently on a hiatus. Set to last for 6 months, during which Tim will be improving the website and working on his lifelong ambition of developing his own game.
As a massive fan of his writing, I wish him all the best and cannot wait to give his soon-to-be game a go and pen my thoughts on it.
Transformers Battlegrounds Delisted from Steam
Unfortunately, another strategy game bites the dust. The XCOM-like Transformers Battlegrounds has been delisted from Steam on December 31st, 2025, making it unavailable for players to purchase. The game had been released in 2020, showcasing once more why digital preservation is so important.
Conclusion
That’s all I got for you, for the first week of 2026. As usual, things will only ramp up from here on out, because 2026 is going to be a stacked year with amazing games coming down the line, and some of which I’m super excited about!
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