Welcome back to Strategy and Wargaming, my dearest readers. I’m so sorry for the low activity this week, but a bad flu and a ton of work kept me off the website. I hope you’re all fine and ready to dive into this week’s strategy and wargaming news! We have the disastrous launch of Shogun 2; Steam Next Fest starts in a couple of days; BattlePlan and Beyond These Stars have come out; and Europa Universalis V is getting a new DLC. Let’s go!

Total War: Shogun 2 Is A Disaster

Creative Assembly and SEGA truly managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with this one. They took the best Total War game ever made and turned it into a steaming pile of crap with the Complete Edition, while also removing the original game from sale. The backlash was so severe that the game has been pulled from sale, and the original version of Shogun 2 is now back.

The reports vary: Longstanding bugs haven’t been fixed; Reports of new ones abound; No Steam Workshop support; Worse cinematics; Worse graphics and visual glitches; For a company that was back in the good graces of a major part of the community and had people hyped for Total War, this is a major blow to their public trust.

If you bought the game, first off, I’m sorry. You’ll still be able to play it if you want. A shameful display.

Steam Next Fest Starts Next Week

We have some good news, however! The Steam Next Fest is starting on October 19th, and it will run until the 26th. There’s not a whole lot to say about it aside from what we have come to expect. It’s going to be a multi-day celebration featuring hundreds (or thousands) of playable demos for upcoming games. I currently have around 150 unopened emails from game developers about their demos, so this event is going to be stacked. I’ll probably do some coverage and gather some of the best demos to recommend to you, so make sure you stay tuned.

BattlePlan Out Now

Now let’s go back to less favorable news again: Battleplan, the new World War 2 real-time strategy game from Foolish Mortals and Slitherine, received a mixed reaction. In case you’re out of the loop, let me fill you in rather quickly: The game is a new style of wargame at the operational level where you control your forces by laying orders on a map using a similar tool to the ones you find in Hearts of Iron. It’s quite interesting, and I have played the game a lot during the previews, and it looked like it had a ton of potential. There are a ton of reviews from players complaining that the demo showcased some months back was amazing, and that the final product really fell off since. I wanted to review it, but I think I might have missed the interest window for this one. If I ever decide to pick it back up, I’ll let you know.

WW2 Steel Company Demo Now Available

There’s a new World War 2 turn-based wargame doing the rounds online called Steel Company, and I have been playing it since it was available on the developer’s website quite some time now. It’s a tactical-scale wargame that shares a ton of DNA with Steel Panthers: Tactical-scale, World War 2, tons of units, scenario editor and generator, realistic combat outcomes- you name it, it probably has. The available demo is of a generous composition, sporting 3 tutorials and 19 full scenarios alongside a scenario editor and skirmish generator.

Europa Universalis V: Across the Pillars Goes To Iberia

Europa Universalis 5, my favorite game of 2025, is getting a new DLC called Across the Pillars, and this might be the one that will finally have me crack and pick up a DLC for a Paradox title that isn’t Cities: Skylines. This expansion n is a “Chronicle Pack” themed for Castile, Morocco, and Granada, during their struggle for the dominion of Southwestern Europe and Northern Africa. The DLC features a ton of new events, decisions, paths, bureaucracies, as well as new cosmetics and theme songs.

Beyond These Stars Released

I do not consider myself a fan of surrealism, and I have always found the concept of flying cetaceans to be rather unnerving. It’s just like those weird anthropomorphised animals. It’s just weird. Don’t ask me why; that’s just how I’m wired. Anyway, in Beyond These Stars you build your city atop a space-faring whale, and your role is to keep the balance between expanding and maintaining the well-being of this amazing creature. It’s like this is a metaphor or something, right? The game is currently 20% off on Steam, and it will cost you $23.99.

Steel Wolverines: Modern Armored Combat Demo V2

Fans of the Steel Panthers series are eating well this week. Not only can you play Steel Company, but Steel Wolverines too, yet another turn-based tactical wargame set in the modern day, is getting version 2 of its demo. This demo features improvements to the infantry, aviation, helicopters, and a plethora of changes to the drones and artillery. Balance adjustments and improved controls and map interaction have also been implemented.

Star Wars Zero Company New Patch Adds Campaign Modifiers

A massive patch for Star Wars Zero Company is now out. This is the second one since the game was released in September. It adds campaign modifiers for players who want to customize their own rules. A lot of balance changes were implemented, especially making facility upgrades a lot cheaper; Recruitment costs will be permanently locked at 100 credits as well. A Performance and Stability pass was also implemented, but I booted up the game to check, and mine is still very choppy, which was my main complaint about it in my review.

WDS Game of the Week – Panzer Campaigns: Scheldt ’44

You still have some time left if you want to pick this week’s best wargaming deal with Panzer Campaigns: Scheldt ’44. The game takes place after the failure of Market Garden, and you’ll lead the 21st Army Group actions in the autumn of 1944, focusing on the titular battle of Scheldt, the Maas Salient, and the Channel Ports. The game has 46 scenarios, playable by both sides, a master map of 66,400 hexes, and orders of battle for the Axis and Allied Forces.