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Empires of Black Powder
A Napoleonic RTS with card-based army building and direct commander combat on horseback to support your troops. Open packs, equip your regiments, and command combined arms of infantry, cavalry, and artillery in real-time battles. Keep your veteran guard alive and bring them into the next battle.

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Features
Single-player
PvP
Co-op
Steam Achievements
Family Sharing
Steam is learning about this game 
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔
French ✔ ✔
Italian ✔ ✔
German ✔ ✔
Spanish - Spain ✔ ✔
Korean ✔ ✔
Polish ✔ ✔
Russian ✔ ✔
Simplified Chinese ✔ ✔
Spanish - Latin America ✔ ✔
See all 10 supported languages

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Hi, I'm Baseer and I'm a solo developer. Honestly I just built the game I always wanted to play, but I did it alone and I am looking for the game to grow with feedback from its players.
The core is built: the economy, the formations, morale, and the rock paper scissors of combat.

I've tested the simulation extensively on my own machine. What I can't do by myself is find out how it plays in someone else's hands: where the pacing drags, which orders aren't clear, and which units need balancing.
That's what I want players for. Early Access lets me work on balance and clarity with real feedback instead of my own assumptions, and lets the people actually playing it help shape which operations and systems get built next.
I'd rather build the rest of this in the open, with the people who care about it, than spend another year guessing on my own.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Around 9–12 months after the Early Access release. That's my current estimate, but it may change depending on player feedback and how development goes.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“I'm looking to add procedural map generation so the ground you fight on changes between runs, potentially redo completely but at least improve the models and animations, and polish the environments, UI, sound and effects.

I also want to expand the campaign with more operations and a deeper story layer, giving your army more situations to fight through and more decisions between battles.
Multiplayer is something I'd like to implement with ranking and competitive combat.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current version is playable single-player, with resource gathering, battlefield building and formation-based combat.
You can send Pioneers to gather supplies, build up the local settlement, and construct and repair defenses. You command infantry, cavalry and artillery, using formations while managing morale and ammunition.
Those core systems are in place, but the balance, pacing, models, animations, UI, sound and effects are still being worked on.
”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes, I plan for the full release to cost a bit more than the Early Access version.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“I plan to work directly with player feedback through the Steam discussions, using bug reports, balance feedback and suggestions to help decide what to prioritize.
I'm especially interested in where battles drag, which commands feel awkward, and which building or army choices don't feel worth using. I'll share updates on what I'm changing and why, so players can see how their feedback is shaping the game.”
Read more

Download Empires of Black Powder Demo

This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: January 2027

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About This Game

Empires of Black Powder is a Napoleonic RTS with card-based army building and direct combat on horseback. Assemble your regiments in camp, command infantry, cavalry and artillery in real-time battles, and take control of your commander to fight alongside them. The troops you bring home form the army you take into the next battle.

BUILD YOUR ARMY

Open packs to recruit troops and find equipment for your regiments. Sell unwanted cards, use spare copies to promote your favorites, and decide where to spend your gold.

Another pack could give you the cavalry your army needs, but replacing losses in your veteran infantry might matter more before the next engagement.

COMMAND INFANTRY, CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY

Deploy infantry in line for firepower, use columns to move quickly, and form squares against cavalry. A square can stop a charge, but leaves your men vulnerable to cannon fire.

Protect your artillery, send cavalry around exposed flanks, and watch your troops’ morale before committing them to another fight. Coordinate your regiments so each can cover the others’ weaknesses.

FIGHT FROM HORSEBACK

Take direct control of your mounted commander in first or third person. Fight with saber and pistol, block incoming strikes, and rally nearby troops.

Issue orders from horseback as the battle develops, directing regiments into position while you support them in person.

PREPARE YOUR POSITION

Send Pioneers to gather timber and build fieldworks, gun positions and powder magazines. Choose where to establish your defenses and how much to commit before advancing.

Magazines replenish your army’s powder supply, but your regiments still carry a limited supply of shot. Decide when to keep firing, when to hold, and when to close with the enemy.

KEEP YOUR VETERAN GUARD ALIVE

Casualties carry between battles. Review your regiments’ service records, replenish their ranks, and improve the equipment of the units you want to take further.

Gold spent replacing losses is gold you cannot spend on new packs. Protect your veterans and bring them into the next battle. Three defeats end an expedition, so recovering from a costly victory is part of the campaign.

TAKE ON HARDER CAMPAIGNS

Complete the campaign to unlock the next difficulty and choose cards to carry forward.

Progress from Rookie through Veteran and Marshal to The Emperor Himself, facing stronger armies and more demanding enemy tactics with less powder to spare.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

There are some AI assisted language localizations. There are a small amount of ai assisted images in the initial protype.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

Contains stylized battlefield violence, gunfire, explosions and non-graphic depictions of soldiers being wounded or killed. Stylized low poly blood depicted that can be disabled.

System Requirements

Windows
macOS
SteamOS + Linux
    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-6600 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: OpenGL 3.3 compatible, 2 GB VRAM (NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti / AMD Radeon R7 260X / Intel UHD 630)
    • Storage: 8 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Renders through OpenGL 3.3, not DirectX. Large sieges are CPU-bound single-core speed matters more than the GPU.
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 11 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1060 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 580
    • Storage: 16 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Targets 60 FPS at 1920×1080.
    Minimum:
    • OS: macOS 11.0 Big Sur
    • Processor: Apple M1 / Intel Core i5 (2017 or later)
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple M1 integrated / Intel Iris Plus / AMD Radeon Pro 5300M
    • Storage: 8 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Universal binary. Frame rate can dip in the largest siege engagements, which are the most demanding scenes in the game.
    Recommended:
    • OS: macOS 13 Ventura or later
    • Processor: Apple M3 or better
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple M3 integrated or better
    • Storage: 16 GB available space
    Minimum:
    • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 or equivalent 64-bit distro, or SteamOS 3
    • Processor: 64-bit quad-core, Intel Core i5-6500 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: OpenGL 3.3 support, Intel UHD 620 / AMD Radeon Vega 8 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (Mesa 22+ or the proprietary NVIDIA driver)
    • Storage: 5 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Low or Super Low graphics preset. Steam Deck supported.
    Recommended:
    • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 or equivalent 64-bit distro, or SteamOS 3
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-8600 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 580, OpenGL 3.3
    • Additional Notes: Medium to High preset at 1080p, 60 fps.