There are some big commitments one can bestow upon him or herself while in this world – a long and loving marriage. Raising a happy and healthy kid. Having a pet. Buying or building a dream house. Be a Star Wars fan in this day and age.

All but pale in comparison with the commitment of running the online gauntlet looking for news on all things wargaming and strategy. To scour the endless press releases pilling up in the corner of my email in the hopeless escapade of finding something remotely interesting to write about. To streak ad infinitum the most recent patch notes hankering for useful data. To fish around on the turbulent tides of the neverending flood of new releases longing for something to pen.

2021 Giveaway Announcement

At the end of 2020 my wallet and I partnered up for giveaway of 20 video games that I personally enjoy and wouldn’t break my bank while doing so. It was a fantastic initiative that did wonders to ciment OneHexAway on the map prior to being aptly renamed Strategy and Wargaming. It’s no surprise that with this new uptick in views a lot of videogames and press builds have found their ways into my hands. This would have never happened otherwise. So it’s my time to give a little bit back to you, my readers and the developers whose games I’ve been playing for free. I’m just letting everyone know with a couple of weeks in advance that I’ll be doing another giveaway soon, hopefully with a lot more wargaming and strategy.

This is, of course, another way to garner attention to the website, this time the focus will be on social media so make sure you like Strategy and Wargaming Facebook Page for future updates. And because let’s be real, where else do you get weekly news and wargaming focused content if not here? It’s a wasteland out there, let me tell you.

Last year, these were the Games that found their way into new Steam accounts: Frostpunk; Ancestors Legacy; XCOM: Enemy Unknown – The Complete Edition; Chroma Squad; SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition; Stronghold Crusader HD; Stronghold HD, Lethis – Path of Progress; Battle Academy; Bomber Crew and Bomber Crew – Deluxe Edition; Men of War: Red Tide; Omerta – City of Gangsters; Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga; Theatre of War Collection; Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf; Iron Storm; Dirt 4; Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II and Borderlands 2.

I’ll have more updates about Strategy and Wargaming future soon.

Unity of Command 2 New DLC Announced

It’s that time again, strap your pony-fur Tornister Affe rucksacks, load them Pistolet-pulemet Shpagin 41 and don your ushankas, we’re going East again. The new DLC for the absolutely fantastic Unity of Command 2 will be out on the 31st of August on Steam and the price will be 6,99 USD or your regional equivalent. Aspiring comrades will take control of the Soviet forces as they fight against the Wehrmacht during the winter counteroffensives of 1941 and 1942 across 11 historical scenarios with many variants that can lead to alternative historical outcomes; New Soviet Guards units; A new winter look for German and Soviet troops; New specialists: Soviet Ski Troops and Divisional Gun; New card: Artillery Preparation. My review key will be arriving sometime next week so expect a wargaming showcase coming soon. In the meantime watch the Historical Gamer first look of the base game and check out the Steam Page here.

Victoria 3 – People, Law and Institutions

This 19th century looking gentleman is having a really hard time explaining the mechanics behind Population Groups, if that doesn’t mean Victoria 3 is going to be a complex brain-spinner you’re either too smart or too stupid. Trade Unions, religious folk, industrialists, landowners, armed forces, laws and institutions. Laws changing institutions, institutions acting reinforcing the positions of Pop Groups. Fascinating stuff, really.

Hearts of Iron IV – Opposing Stalin

I really need to boot up Hearts of Iron IV once more, it’s really been too long by now. The up-and-coming DLC “No Step Back” for the delicious alternate history generator that is HoI IV is focusing on Mother Russia and is offering players ways to avoid the domestic abuse Stalin brought down on his people. Go down the Trotsky and in no time soviet Russia will be embroiled in another civil war. This absolute unit of a post is worth delving into if you have a passing interest in the misadventures of soviet politics in the mid 20th century.

Highrise City Is German Complexity At It’s Best And It Wants You To Know It

Cities: Skylines is, by all intents and purposes, the ultimate City Builder, finally dethroning the uncontested rule of SimCity 4. Cities: Skylines probably has the most active modding community in the world, with 265,263 submissions (and growing) to the Steam Workshop. The sheer amount of assets dwarfs even Skyrim’s impressive 22,959 submissions by ten fold. That’s virtually unlimited content, as there’s absolutely no way one single person could ever explore every single asset or modification. That’s why it’s mildly entertaining to see the folk behind Highrise City absolutely undeterred by the idea of going against . While superficially similar to Cities, Highrise City is putting it’s eggs in the resource management basket, and that, my reader- is a formulaic twist. Besides, that’s a very german-sounding, reassuring accent.

Here’s what to expect from it: 1,000,000 inhabitants per city; 5 different population classes; 50 different resources; 30,000 buildings per city; 20,000 people per scene; 194 square kilometers cities.

Survival City Builder Patron Out Now

Somehow developers keep trying to find new ways to come with successors to Banished, but Patron seems to be aiming too high and landing a bit down low. It’s squalid graphics paired with generic medieval music in the trailer showcased below do very little to sell me on the fantasy of building my “fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach a boiling point”. Here’s hoping this is but a bad first impression and a lesson on how important it is for indie developers to release a proper trailer. Also, is this supposed to be medieval? Colonial? Pine trees and palm trees?

Toy Soldiers HD Revealed

It’s indeed a stretch to include Toy Soldiers in the category of Strategy Games but when push comes to shove it’s one of the best executed tower-defense games ever. It’s an eerie mix, this one. Toys are brutalized in ways inconceivable to the sane mind. Units are meticulously animated and their art harkens back to Armies in Plastic and that is, in some disturbing way both fascinating and interesting to watch unfold. It’s a unique game from the early 2010’s and memorable experience nonetheless by toying around with the sickening idea of the disposability of plastic toys and humans lives.

Irving Finkel Teaching Us On How To Play Ur

‘Tis? This but a curiosity. A fantastical look into one of Humanity’s first games.

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