Hello everyone, and welcome back to your weekly dose of strategy and wargaming news. It’s been a busy week for the genre, with some long-awaited DLC announcements and a surprisingly high number of demos hitting Steam. Whether you’re looking to lead a colonial rebellion or command a fleet in the vacuum of space, there is something here for you, and this week we have the largest news round-up I can remember, because 2026 has been a year absolutely packed with new games, announcements, DLCs, and all else in-between, and it’s shapping up to be one of the bes years of strategy games in History.
The Stone of Madness is Free To Keep on Epic
If you’re looking for a bargain this week, you can’t beat “free.” The Epic Games Store is giving away The Stone of Madness until April 23rd. Coming from the developers of Blasphemous, this is a gorgeous but brutal real-time stealth tactics game that feels like a dark, Goya-inspired take on the Commandos formula. You’ll lead five inmates through an 18th-century Spanish monastery that serves as both a madhouse and an Inquisitorial prison. The game features a heavy focus on character psychology, where your squad’s phobias and waning sanity can be just as dangerous as the guards or the supernatural horrors lurking in the shadows after curfew.
Wargame Design Studio Releases American Revolutionary War
The masters of hex-and-counter are at it again. WDS has officially released American Revolutionary War, a massive undertaking covering the conflict from the initial skirmishes to the final British surrender. It uses their refined engine to simulate the unique challenges of 18th-century warfare, including morale, supply lines, and the importance of terrain in the colonies. For fans of the era, this is likely to be the definitive digital wargame on the subject. It features hundreds of scenarios and a level of historical detail that few other developers can match. Chris Irviw, our WDS specialist, will be putting out a review in the following days.
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Beta Sign-ups
This is the one many of us have been waiting for. Team17 has officially opened sign-ups for the Hell Let Loose: Vietnam beta testing program. Moving the hardcore, 100-player tactical formula from the hedgerows of Normandy to the jungles of Southeast Asia is a bold move, and I’m curious to see how the asymmetric nature of the conflict is handled. If WW2 was already difficult, I can’t wait to see what challenges will arise from this one, and I’m not a great fan of the Vietnam War era, but the fact that Hell Let Loose, one of my favorite FPS games of all time, is going there is enough to take me as well.
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is a tactical first-person shooter that emphasizes communication and combined arms. Expect intense firefights where visibility is low, and the threat of ambushes is constant, all while trying to coordinate with your squad leaders and commander. There are vehicles and artillery, too, as well as air support. You can read my impressions on it if you want to know more.
Sudden Strike 5 Demo 2.0 is Back
If you, like me, have missed the first chance to play Sudden Strike 5, the 2.0 version of the demo is now live on Steam. This update brings several refinements to the controls and UI based on player feedback. It’s looking like a return to form for the series, focusing on high-stakes tactical combat without the burden of base building.
Sudden Strike 5 is a real-time tactics game that puts you in command of Allied, Axis, or Soviet forces during WWII, and it’s coming later this month, releasing on the 23rd of April. I’ll be having a go at its demo as soon as I’m done writing this news piece, and I’m so hopeful that this one will turn out to be an absolute blast. I really need to go back and play some classic RTS experiences from the early 2000s.
BAFTA Games Awards Winners Announced
The BAFTAs have wrapped up, and while the general industry usually focuses on the big action-adventure titles, it’s always worth seeing how our neck of the woods is represented somewhat represented, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a turn-based RPG that’s an absolute masterpiece in story-telling and turn-base design innovation, taking home 3 awards for “Debut Game”, “Best Game”, and Jennifer English winning “Performer in a Leading Role”. Strategy games often struggle against the “cinematic” giants, but it’s a good reminder that the medium is being celebrated across the board. You can check out the full list of winners to see which titles took home the masks this year.
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