Wargame: European Escalation Message Board

Apologies to non-UK readers for the next few sentences. Here is some hold music to tide you over. The word “deck” is interesting. In the hands of Alan Titchmarsh, for example, it means “The bit of a garden that is not the grass”. In certain parts of northern England it means “He who is not Ant”, and it is spoken with reverence and awe by court jesters. It is a word that can even mean “The bit of a ship that is not the floaty bit”. In games, though, it means the collection of units you bring to battle. And in Wargame: Airland Battle, that means tanks, jets, and everything in war that is not a tank or jet.(more…)

Eugen send word that they’ve released a free DLC (aka “a patch”) for Wargame. It contains a new game mode, they explain: “Wargame’s DLC features “Economy”, a new game mode available in both multiplayer and AI matches with new objectives for commanders worldwide. To earn victory in this mode, you will have to reach a certain number of Command Points before your opponents (points obtained by taking control of areas in the field). These points can also be used to deploy reinforcements, and a hard choice will quickly be imposed: continue your march toward victory or batten down the hatches and build your defenses!” There are also five new maps. Better still, the game is currently super cheap. So now’s the time to start the downloading of this excellent piece of Cold War RTS.

#pc Wargame: European Escalation, released on PC earlier this year, was great. Developed by the team behind RUSE, and very much in the spirit of the just-as-excellent World in Conflict, W:EE took us back to the Cold War with a gorgeous, intimate look at fictional tussle between NATO and the Soviet Bloc. More »

Another day passed, and your bank account is that much lighter, but Valve's annual Steam Summer Sale is back with a whole mess of new discounts. For instance, that copy of Train Simulator 2012 you've been holding out on? It's seeing a massive 90 percent discount, and will cost you just $3.49 if you snap it up soon.

Or how about that Wargame: European Escalation game you've had your eye on, eh? That's ... oh who're we kidding? You want Grand Theft Auto IV for your PC and you want it for like $5. Done. The same could be said for RTS classic Company of Heroes (just $2.50!) and recently released third-person shooter Spec Ops: The Line ($33.50). Head on over to the Steam Store for the full listings of sales, which expire tomorrow afternoon.

GAMEPLAY :

==> Adding a new map : « Mecklenburg ».
==> Adding a new game mode : « Conquest ». Seven maps will be available for this mode, including « Mecklenburg », which can be played both against humans or AI.
==> Adapting two more actual maps for the « Siege » mode : « Hold until relieved » & « None shall pass ».
==> New game lobby interface (multi & skirmish).
==> Better visibility of the number of people in the ranked games.
==> Major tuning patch (see below).


BUG FIXING :

==> Fixing a bug causing a crash when a game host leave the lobby.
==> Fixing a bug causing a crash when using custom flares.
==> Fixing some rare bugs (when a command unit of the edge of a zone is forced to move into another, when loading infantry under fire into a transport, during some solo campaigns briefings, …).
==> Fixing a graphic bug on map « Mlada Boleslav » (solo campaign) & « Open Range » / « Duel Field » (multi). Therefore the patchs weight …


TUNING :

• GENERIC :

=> All flamethrowers are now restricted to direct fire. It means they need a LOS on target to fire.
=> All flamethrowers are now able to auto fire.
=> Aiming time for all flamethrowers decreased.

=> Aiming time for all ATGM decreased.
=> Fire range for all ATGM have been increased of +175m, except for both M47 Dragon.


• PACT :

=> 23mm ammunitions loadout for the Soviet ZSU-23-4V Shilka & NVA FlaKPz Shilka decreased from 4.000 to 2.000 rounds.
=> Fire range of the ZSU-23-4V Shilka increased from 1.575m to 1.750m.
=> Accuracy of the ZSU-23-4V Shilka increased from 3 to 4.

=> Fire range of the ZSU-23-4V1 Shilka increased from 1.575m to 1.750m.
=> Accuracy of the ZSU-23-4V1 Shilka increased from 4 to 5.

=> Fire range of the ZSU-23-4M2 Biryusa increased from 1.575m to 1.925m.

=> Replacing the actual (NATO ) rocket pods of the MI-2URN with a correct 16-rockets S-5 57mm pod.

=> Accuracy of the FJB-40s Strela-2 increased from 4 to 8 (on par with the SAS & Rangers Redeyes).

=> Accuracy of the MT-LB Strela-10 increased from 4 to 6
=> Aiming time of the MT-LB Strela-10 decreased.

=> Price of the Soviet BRDM-2 Malyutka-M & NVA SPW-40P2 Malyutka-M decreased from $35 to $30.
=> Price of the Soviet BRDM-2 Malyutka-P & NVA SPW-40P2 Malyutka-P decreased from $45 to $40.

=> Price of the Soviet BM-21 Grad & NVA MFRW BM-21 decreased from $80 to $70.
=> Price of the CSLA RM-70 & NVA MFRW RM-70 decreased from $150 to $130.

=> Fire range of the obsolete 85mm gun of the Polish T-34/85M1 & NVA KPz T-34/85 decreased from 1.925 to 1.500m.

=> Fire range of the obsolete 76,2mm gun of the Soviet PT-76B & NVA SpPz PT-76B decreased from 1.925 to 1.500m.
=> Price of the Soviet PT-76B & NVA SpPz PT-76B decreased from 30$ to 25$.

=> Fire range of the obsolete 76,2mm gun of the Soviet PT-71 decreased from 1.925 to 1.500m.
=> Price of the Soviet PT-71 decreased from 35$ to 30$.

=> Fire range of the following MBTs main gun increased from 1.925m to 2.100m :
* T-62M-V
* T-64A & T-64B
* T-72A

=> The following ATGMs' AP value is increased :
* Falanga from AP 10 to 12.
* Fleyta from AP 10 to 12.
* Malyutka from AP 10 to 11.
* Malyutka-M from AP 10 to 11.
* Malyutka-P from AP 10 to 12.
* Bastion from AP 10 to 12.
* Sheksna from AP 10 to 12.
* Kobra from AP 11 to 13.
* Svir from AP 11 to 14.
* Refleks from AP 11 to 15.
* Fagot from AP 10 to 11.
* Konkurs from AP 10 to 12.
* Konkurs-M from AP 11 to 14.
* Kokon from AP 11 to 14.
* Ataka V from AP 11 to 14.


• NATO :

=> Fire range of the US M109 decreased from 18.200m to 14.000m (does not affect the Bundeswehr variant).
=> Price of the US M109 decreased from $50 to $40 (does not affect the Bundeswehr variant).

=> Size of the British FV102 Striker changed from "Small" to "Normal".
=> Speed and maniability of the SwingFire increased.

=> Price of the French MILAN F2 team increased from $20 to $25.

=> Price of the German Panzergrenadiers decreased from 35$ to 30$.

=> Blindicide (German Jäger)s caliber changed to 83mm (no gameplay effect, just a realistical change ).

=> Availability of the US M132 Zippo increased from 8 to 12.

=> Stabilizer of the US MBT-70 changed from "None" to "Bad".

=> Price of the German SPz 11-2 Kurz decreased from $35 to $30.

=> Speed of the British Saracen increased from 65km/h to 70km/h.

=> Price of the US V-150 90mm decreased from $50 to $45.

=> Speed of the British FV432 Rarden increased from 45km/h to 50km/h.

=> Replacing the Marder 1A3s actual MILAN F1 with a MILAN F2.

=> Price of the US ATGM jeep M151A2 I-TOW increased from $25 to $30.

=> Price of the French ATGM team MILAN F1 increased from $15 to $20.
=> Price of the French ATGM team MILAN F2 increased from $20 to $25.

=> Price of the US ATGM team M47 Dragon decreased from $15 to $10.
=> Price of the US ATGM team M47 Dragon II decreased from $20 to $15.

=> Fire range of the following MBTs main gun increased from 1.925m to 2.100m :
* Leopard 1A4 & Leopard 1A5
* Chieftain Mk.10
* M1 Abrams & IPM1 Abrams
* M8 AGS
* AMX-30B Valoris& AMX-30B2
* M60A3 Patton & Super M60


=> The following ATGMs' AP value is increased :
* Shillelagh from AP 10 à 11.
* Shillelagh-C from AP 10 à 12.
* TOW from AP 10 à 12.
* I-TOW from AP 11 à 14.
* TOW 2 from AP 12 à 15.
* HOT 1 from AP 11 à 13.
* HOT 2 from AP 12 à 15.
* MILAN F1 from AP 10 à 12.
* MILAN F2 from AP 12 à 15.
* Swingfire from AP 11 à 13.
* SS-11 from AP 10 à 12.
* Hellfire from AP 13 à 16.

Wargame: European Escalation snuck up on me like a Delta Squad stealthing around the side of the map in a pair of Chinooks. The dull, heavy register of the rotors sounded a rhythmic beat that went utterly unnoticed by the net of Luchs Recon Vehicles that I’d spread like an ill-repaired net across my game-spotting flanks. Which is to say that I didn’t hear about it until a good month after it was released, both because my friends who play strategy games are useless, and no one seemed to have covered it. But once it landed that surgical strike on my wide-open brain, it was difficult to understand why there weren’t people on nearby hilltops, shouting about how great it was. It looks beautiful, has unique, interesting battle mechanics, and a meta-game of deck building that makes each encounter different, thanks to the units that people bring to the game.

It’s time to talk about those encounters, and you shake you by the lapels. This is why Wargame is worthy of your attention.(more…)

- Fixing save of keys remapping.
- Fixing a crash in custom flares interface.
- Fixing a crash in the friends invitation interface.
- Improving vehicles pathfind among buildings
- Improving pathfind on some maps.
- Fixing a bug causing some call-in helos to stop on a maps edge when entering it (occurred only when a savegame was reloaded)
- Fixing a bug causing ATGM to disappear in flight.
- Fixing a bug causing low stability ATGM to pass above a target when they should hit.
- Fixing a crash/infinite loading when host quits a lobby with more than 2 players in it
- Updating localization files.

We mentioned earlier in the week how impressed we are with Wargame: European Escalation, and it is about to get better – for free! This weekend’s DLC, which already has a Steam page here, adds new skirmish AI which allows up to seven players to take on an AI-driven opponent – meaning you can play out the kind of epic co-op that made the Men Of War games so special. Then there are seven fresh multiplayer maps, of which two are “asymmetric battlefields for Attack/Defense games”. Finally there are some new tools to enhance team coordination on the battle map. And that overhaul will cost you nothing. (The game is on sale, too.) Splendid.

There’s a game we’ve not said much about in the past few months. And, well, that’s a shame, because it’s a great game, albeit with a forgettable name: Wargame: European Escalation. It’s the Cold War sequel to the RPS-beloved RUSE, and Wargame is – perhaps surprisingly – one of the strongest contenders for RTS of the year. And so it was with some urgency that we sent RPS chum Joe Robinson to investigate its workings, and to talk to its creators, Eugen Systems.

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NATO
- AMX32 is now equipped with [Normal] stabilizer.
- Leopard 2A4 is now equipped with [Exceptional] Stabilizer and Accuracy of Main gun set to "10".
- Apache now cost 165 (down from 175).
- Hellfire missile has now "AP POWER" set to "13" (up from 12).
- Number of deployable VTS1 is now set to 12 (down from 20).
- VTS-1 Main gun reloading time is increased by X seconds (simulation of the time required for the gun to be lowered into the axis of the autoloader).

PACT
- Change MCLOS to SACLOS for Fleyta missiles.
- Fixed the Ataka missiles payload of the Havoc (16 instead 8).
- Havoc missiles change from 9M120M to 9M120 (slight loss of range).
- Reload time decreased by 20s for the RM-70 to properly simulate the fast reload barrel system.
- MLRS SMERCH & Buratino reloading time is increased by 30s.
- Number of deployable BMP-685 is now set to 12 (down from 16).
- Number of deployable BTR-70 Zhalo is now set to 8 (down from 12).
- Number of deployable Strzelcy Konni is now set to 24 (down from 40).
- Number of deployable Motorstrelci is now set to 24 (down from 40).

Updates to Wargame: European Escalation have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Performance fix : Stuttering when zomming to or rotating (especially near villages) is fixed or greatly reduced.
Enabling : NVidia Stereo vision : cursors and water reflections are correct and enabled.
Glitch : The dard SSAO trails behind tanks are alleviated.

Published by Focus Games and developed by Eugen Systems (which previously developed R.U.S.E.), Wargame: European Escalation puts you in the role of commander for either NATO forces, led by the United States, or Warsaw Pact forces, led by the USSR. The units for both sides are based off real-life mil...

Updates to Wargame: European Escalation have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

GENERIC:
- Readjustment of certain realistic payloads ammunition for armored cars (20-30mm).
- The minimum range for at least 1 AP damage is reduced: small AP will now have to approach much closer to inflict damage.
- Fixed issue likely to hit is too high, affecting units level 3 and 4.

NATO:
- Availability of Chasseur FAMAS decreases from 32 to 20.
- Availability of the Legion FAMAS decreases from 16 to 12.
- Availability of 2e FAMAS REP decreases from 12 to 8.
- The accuracy of Canon XM-150 of the MBT-70 decreases from 9 to 7.
- Cost of KPZ 70 has decreased by 5 deployment points.
- The speed of the UH-1M gunship increases from 175 km/h to 300 km/h. (error that does not take into account the new engines, such as UH-1D).
- Increased the M150 RoF to put on an equal footing with other vehicles to load external ATGM.
- Cost of UH-1C Heavy Hog has decreased by 5 deployment points.
- Cost of UH-1M Gunship has decreased by 5 deployment points.
- M551 Sheridan Speed increases by 5 km/h.
- M551A1 Sheridan Speed increases by 5 km/h.
- Improved optical M551 Sheridan to Normal.
- Improved optical M551A1 Sheridan to Normal.

PACT:
- Decreased range of recoilless Tarasnice (OT-62 OT & TOPS-2A-65 Vydra) to 1000.
- Cost of T-62M-1 has increased by 5 deployment points.
- Cost of T-62M-V has increased by 10 deployment points.
- Cost of Spadochroniarze has increased by 5 deployment points.
- Availability of Vysadkaru decreases from 20 to 8.
- Increased the RoF UAZ-469 Konkurs to put on an equal footing with other vehicles to load external ATGM.

NOTICE : If you did the XP SP3 compatibility workaround under windows 7/Vista, it's worth trying to undo that, because we fixed issues concerning this. This will allow you to run DX11 again.
DX11 provides higher performance on modern GPUS, plus AntiAliasing compatible SSAO and motion blur.

Fix : DX11 crash running with Fraps, TeamSpeak, or other overlays.
Fix : Mouse disappearing or clamped to a small region with Windows Vista/7 and font/icon magnification
Fix : DX11 crash in some cases.
Glitch Fix : Low brightness with graphics settings on Very Low.
Glitch Fix : VSync on as default setting.
Glitch Fix : Units are not blurred when you use the track cam.
Glitch Fix : On some graphics cards, when running DX9, trees and grass were a bit clipped on the top/sides.
Glitch Fix : Less flickering when max video memory has been reached.
Improvement : Improved tree/grass rendering performance.
Improvement : Large performance increase on nvidia graphics cards (up to +60% FPS) when you used Autodetect settings. As a rule, avoid manually setting the Instancing Mode to Hardware Instancing on nvidia cards.
Improvement : Tweaks on the graphics settings autodetection.
Improvement : The ground quality setting now adjusts the distance at which the trees pop. No need to hack the Option.ini anymore.
Improvement : The units are nicer when you run on low/very low graphics settings.
Improvement : The game generally uses a bit less video memory - so it will tolerate better graphics settings on powerful but low memory GPUs.
Improvement : The outgame GUI FPS is largely increased on old GPUs.
Improvement : The objects and textures appear faster on dual core systems.
Compatibility : If for some reason, the game fails to boot on DX11 under vista/7, it will show a dialog box allowing you to run in default settings mode with DX9 (DX11 can be enabled again through the options menu).
Compatiblity : Better crossfire support with DX9 under Vista/7.
Compatiblity : Disappearing trees fixed on NVidia 7xxx series.
Compatiblity : Shadows fixed on NVidia 7xxx series.
Geek Stuff : you can disable the Camera Flare in the Option.ini if you really want to. (RenderLensFlare = false)

Updates to Wargame: European Escalation have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

- Fixes crash issues
- Prevents multiplayer cheating
- Fixes incorrect texture in some explosions
- Fixes translation issues

Wargame: European Escalation is Now Available on Steam!

2 sides, 8 nations, and one battlefield: Europe!

Wargame: European Escalation is an intense and spectacular Real Time Strategy game, where realism and strategy are brought to the front lines.

With a phenomenal range of vehicles and units (over 350 different models), build your army and enter a huge military campaign across Europe of the 80's, as the Cold War is about to become World War 3.

The title of Wargame: European Escalation makes me think of all those grey-and-white products you see in the background of adverts for washing powder. There in the front is the packed of Whizzi-Wash, bright and colourful, and behind are stacked greyscale box after box of “SOAP” and “CLEANING POWDER”. I’m saying it’s a bland name. Is that clear? Bland. But it doesn’t look bland at all, as the launch trailer below proves.

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A coded message has just reached me from the lofty frontline of a Europe escalated to previously unimagined heights. After running the string of numbers and expletives through the Unigma Machine, which translates marketing language into actual information, this is what I have learned. Wargame: European Escalation’s multiplayer modes will permit the following: customisable armies, hundreds of unit selected from hundreds of unit types, battlefields up to 150 kilometres squared in size and eight-way warfights, with the option for teams and solo generalising generaleering. You may glean more from the video below.

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If the cold war had turned into a European land war it would have been an impressive kerfuffle, at least according to Wargame: European Escalation from R.U.S.E. creators Eugen Systems. It’s probably acceptable to sit back and enjoy the spectacle since none of this is actually happening, and what a spectacle it is. Hundreds of infantrymen rushing down hills, tanks smashing their way through obstacles, and all kinds of long range and air-based support raining down fire from above. I’m officially Very Excited Indeed about playing this. Perhaps you will be too when you see the latest trailer, which resides below.

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R.U.S.E. creators Eugen Systems are nudging closer to releasing their next war-themed RTS, the rather literally named Wargame: European Escalation. It’s due in the first fourth of next year, and it features tanks and bangs and splodes. It’s also rather pleasing on the eye, as is evidenced below with the collecting of five new screenshots. Stare at them at will.

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Roving reporter Dan Griliopoulos has left Alec in Cologne and is heading deeper into Europe, writing up the best of Gamescom as he goes.

We’re driving through the Black Forest when my thoughts turn to Wargame: European Escalation. Germany’s Schwarz Wald might be famous around the world solely as the origin of an outrageously opulent cherry cake – the schwarzwaldkirschetorte – but it’s also at the heart of the country that’s borne the brunt of European warfare for twenty centuries. That’s notable for us, as it’s also the central area that the two factions of the Cold War would likely have fought through and over if the war had turned hot, as the overwhelming Russian conventional forces pushed towards France. Wargame, the new title from the creators of RUSE, explores this area and the war that never happened, but which the world braced itself against for forty years.(more…)

#wargameeuropeanescalation Eugen Systems' last game, RUSE, had a neat gimmick that in the end fell a little flat. Their next title, Wargame, doesn't look like a gimmick at all. It looks exactly the sort of thing we're looking for in a PC strategy game. More »

Wargame is what Eugen Systems, the chaps behind RUSE, did next. It’s a real-time strategy based on the Cold War, and goodness me, it’s looks hot. The scenario is very similar to World In Conflict, albeit a tiny bit more serious about it. Publishers Focus Home explain: “Wargame: European Escalation pits NATO (USA and Western Europe) against the Warsaw Pact (Soviet and Eastern European countries) in battles that explore “what could have been.” The specter of nuclear warfare loomed large over the real Cold War, but this catastrophic outcome was the ultimate last resort as everyone knew that the first one to start nuclear hostilities would end up wiped out just the same. Large, armored offensives through Europe would certainly have been the core of this hypothetical war; and this is what the game’s explosive campaign takes you through!”

Word is that the game is due in November, but it has also been confirmed for Q1 next year, so I guess that’ll get firmed up soon. We’re seeing it at GamesCom, anyway, so more news then, but I – based on my experiences with RUSE – am excited about this one.(more…)

Set the countryside ablaze with heavy armor and assault choppers.