Greetings, Commanders,

The time that all the Men of War fans have been waiting for has finally come. As we're celebrating exactly 10 years since the full release of Men of War: Assault Squad 2, it is our utmost pleasure to announce that Men of War II is NOW AVAILABLE!

Watch the official trailer here:



And just in case you have not heard about Men of War II yet, it is an anticipated sequel to the highly acclaimed Men of War franchise. It brings all-new units, locations, campaigns, game modes and true trademarks of the series: historical fidelity and action-filled gameplay on the Eastern and Western Fronts of WWII.

Learn more on the game's store page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

There is no time to waste - if you buy Men of War II before May 22, you will get the Frontline Hero Pack DLC absolutely for free!



You are most welcome to join the Men of War II Official Discord server. The worldwide community is waiting for you to join their forces and fight by their side!



Today also starts a franchise-wide sale for previous Men of War games. You can get them all together in a bundle, where you'll get additional discount even if you already own some of the included games, or buy them separately. The choice is yours!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/12621/Men_of_War_Complete_Franchise_Bundle/

Hello Commanders!
Today we are thrilled to announce that the anticipated sequel to the acclaimed RTS franchise, Men of War II, will be launching in 2022!

Experience World War II real-time strategy like never before!



Men of War II will bring all-new units, locations, campaigns and game modes, combined with the series’ trademark historical accuracy and action-filled gameplay on Eastern and Western Fronts of WWII. Stay tuned to experience the unforgiving heat of WW II battles first hand!

Wishlist MEN OF WAR II on Steam right now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

Hi everyone,

we published another update that fixes some issues you have reported to us and made adjustments based on your feedback.

Version 1.005.0 change-log:

• Added increase start resources for dynamic campaign
• Improved helicopter pathing
• Fixed HE penetration
• Fixed small issues

Hi everyone,

we published another update that fixes some issues you have reported to us. We improved the AI and performance of the game. Please continue to provide us feedback, it is extremely valuable to us and helps us to speed up the progress. If you have suggestions, please use our dedicated topic:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1135240/discussions/0/2564160288789230559/

Version 1.004.0 change-log:

• Added Workshop uploader
• Improved helicopter pathing
• Improved AI reaction time on cover and hit
• Optimized map loading speed
• Fixed several small issues

Hi everyone,

we published another update that fixes some issues you have reported to us. We also adjusted the game based on your wishes. Please continue to provide us feedback, it is extremely valuable to us and helps us to speed up the progress. If you have suggestions, please use our dedicated topic:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1135240/discussions/0/2564160288789230559/

Version 1.003.0 change-log:

• Improved unit balance
• Reduced weapons that were mainly used in WW2 drastically
• Fixed that helmets were re-supplied but not equipped
• Fixed several crash sources
• Fixed several minor issues

We have been collecting tons of feedback thanks to you and we are evaluating and discussing each of your wishes in our team. Our desire is to design this game the way you want it and for that we need as much constructive feedback from you as possible. Our team is listening to you and we already published two updates based on what you wanted us to change. In the next couple of weeks, we will continue to fine tune the gameplay and improve the game to move it further into a direction that our fans want it to have. We are also working on a more challenging AI that you face in singleplayer, as well as the responsiveness of your own troops.


As you probably know, this game runs on a new iteration of the Men of War: Assault Squad 2 engine. It supports 64-bit and has massive tweaks to its core to not only have better performance, but to allow a so far unseen boost in creativity of what content creators can do. The Cold War maps were so demanding on the old engine, that they would kill the fastest computers available for purchase with the view distance we have right now. The 32-bit engine would crash on loading or soon after, as big maps require too much data. Therefore, this platform is perfect for bigger ambitions and for any modder who wants to benefit from it, to make their dream creations come true. We have enabled Workshop, provided an updated map editor and plug-ins for 3d programs of the latest generation.

Let’s explain in detail how the new armor system works. For that, let's first look into the magic behind the old armor system of AS2.
This is a line of what happens if a 50-57mm projectile hits a heavy tank in AS2. It gives the projectile a 20% chance to crush the hull on penetration. This is simply a rnd value that works like rolling a dice. Every time you penetrate a tank, it will roll a dice with 5 sides and only if one specific side is the result of the dice roll, the tank will break.

This can result in very strange situations, where a tank dies on the first shot, or after the tenth shot. It’s pure luck, no physics behind it. Statistically it would need several hundreds of tries to receive an average that reflects the 20%, as in every 5th shot kills the tank, otherwise it is pure coincidence. If you have a dice at hand, you can test it by throwing it for as long as you get a 6. This is how tank combat is decided in AS2.

In the old game, there were also hidden “healthbars” used for certain parts of vehicles and tanks, such as tracks. Cars in fact used healthbars, called "durability", as they would otherwise break on every rifle shot. However, this system was very poorly designed and almost impossible for us to balance properly. Even tank armor has some durability values, that makes it possible to penetrate a tank after multiple hits on the same part of the armor within a certain threshold.

The new damage system of Cold War gets rid of all this magic behind the scenes and uses full penetration physics (armor, shell penetration value, caliber, body angle etc.) and provides accurate results on what happens next. So instead of throwing a dice, the system detects if a shell penetrated the armor with all physics applied, then it will check the caliber size for base damage and adds additional damage based on the overmatching penetration. It makes a difference between a 50mm shell and a 120mm shell, it also makes a difference between penetrating an armor that has 100mm with 101mm or with 200mm. The more powerful a gun is, and the better hit you had on the enemy, the more damage you will do. Most importantly, if you do the same exact things, with the same physical interaction, you will have the same results. This system also allows use to control the fragility of certain vehicles to make them easier to destroy once penetrated.

This is perfect to balance tank combat and to create a competitive environment where it really matters where to hit a tank and it removes the crazy luck from the game, where you could hit a tank 3 times and do no damage, while the enemy shoots back, killing you on first shot. We want to reward smart gamers, who flank enemy tanks and even if they can’t destroy their enemy, they at least caused damage, if they landed a good shot. Before it was pure luck, whether a flanking maneuver succeeded or not. It was pure luck if your King Tiger exploded on the first hit, or after ten hits.

Admittedly, we have balanced the damage to be too weak on standard settings, when we were launching the game. It was a result of too long ranges that lead to penetrating almost every tank on any distance. We have fixed this and balanced it so that the average damage you do to a tank resembles the AS2 gameplay way more closely. Another huge benefit of the system is, that we can have the standard system for most players, but also allow realism buffs to have the “hardcore” setting, that is closer to reality and way more destructive for infantry combat, as well as for tank combat.

Therefore, if you are into the real deal, choose “hardcore” in game options and enjoy deadly tank and infantry combat. Make sure to try out the latest update!

Hi everyone,

we published another update that fixes some issues you have reported to us. Please continue to provide us feedback, it is extremely valuable to us and helps us to speed up the progress. If you have suggestions, please use our dedicated topic:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1135240/discussions/0/2564160288789230559/

Version 1.002.0 changelog:

• Improved airstrike ability
• Improved machine guns of UH-1
• Fixed range limitation issue
• Fixed helicopter collision on trees
• Fixed some crash source
• Fixed small issues

Hello everyone,

we have been reading your comments and we would like to thank you for all the feedback so far. It's extremely valuable for us as it allowes us to work on improving the game and addressing your main concerns. Anyway we know that actions speak lounder than words so without any further ado here is the first update based on your feedback.

• Changed armor penetration physics to match AS2 gameplay
  
• Changed infantry damage to reduce game pace
  
• Changed weapon ranges to match AS2 gameplay
  
• Changed dynamic campaign AI to spam less units and to run out of units earlier
  
• Fixed mods
  
• Fixed most common crashes
  
• Fixed small issues

We've been going through the reviews and we are sorry we didn't match the expectations for a new game in the series.

For us, this is a new start with a new game and we hope to push it as far ahead, as we did with the original Men of War: Assault Squad 2. Of course, this is a new setting, with new types of units, so we were just laying the fundations of what comes next.

But for that, we will need your help. Please provide us your feedback on what we can do to improve the game. We are eager to listen to what you have to say and we hope to make to implement plenty of it, as we believe it has quite a lot of potential. Hopefully you do so.

Let's push together to make this game greater!


You can also talk to us in our discord:

Men of War: Assault Squad 2 – Cold War is available now!

Building upon the framework of Men of War: Assault Squad 2, Cold War introduces a brand-new feature to the series: dynamic campaign creation. Mirroring the ever-present feeling of dread that permeated the era, dynamic campaign creation ensures no two campaign experiences play out the same in single player and co-op. From randomized skirmishes to custom army compositions, players will be forced to think on their feet in the heat of battle.

Study each individual unit in detail up to their weaponry and individual skillsets. Scavenge enemy equipment and carry it over to the next battle. Build up experienced and combat proven squads, as each single soldier will move from one battle to another. Unlock new technology and evolve armies up to 5 times larger than the regular Assault Squad 2 multiplayer matches.


Join us in Discord to ask us questions and hang out in our release party channel!






You may notice that we introduced a new armor penetration system into the game. Don’t be scared of the healthbars, these aren’t typical ones, like you know from other games. In fact Men of War, used a sort of hidden armor health system and upon penetration of a tank, it was throwing a dice as of what is going to happen next for instance:
If you shot a tank and penetrated it, there was a 30% chance for hull crush and a 15% chance for hull broken and a certain chance for crew to die. This caused entire random results: if you hit a M24 tank, this could lead into a kill on first hit, or a kill on the 5th hit.

The new system works as follows: it gives each caliber a certain minimum damage it causes, as there is a difference between a 20mm and 120mm projectile. Then it uses the real penetration mechanics and depending on how hard you hit a tank, it will do more or less damage. This is to simulate that there is a difference between 1mm penetration and a shell just going through paper.

The new system allows accurate results each time, perfect for competitive gaming. It’s no less realistic than the old system, other than we visually display what’s happening to you. It also allows us to balance tanks in different ways, not just by armor thickness, but also by how big a tank is and how vulnerable it is. Use hardcore mode for a similar experience, you are used to in AS2.

For the future, we have plans for an entirely new netcode. The game will move away from peer2peer networking and support real server2client. This means, out of syncs will be a thing of the past, as everything will be synced through a server. It also will be a huge gain on performance for clients. In the previous netcode each PC must do all the calculations, in the new netcode, server will do most of the work and clients have time for fast render speed. We will invite the first players to help us testing as soon as the beta version is ready and then we will gradually op

And that’s not all! We will be presenting a lot of additional features soon. Check out every detail in the game, there is lots to discover. Some hints: you will see medics in multiplayer, as well as engineers with new construction options, oh and helicopters, as well as airstrikes in multiplayer (which will be expanded)!

Please don’t be shocked by the amount of maps in-game, we moved away from having tons of little maps to massive maps that are split into several parts. Each gamemode and in fact, even the same gamemode, will randomize the spawn points and parts of the maps that are accessible to you. One Cold War map has the size of 4 of some of the largest AS2 maps.