Winter (War) is coming!

The news many of you were waiting for: are you ready to brave the frozen lakes of Finland and the thick snow of Karelia? Order of Battle: Winter War is going to be released this summer (ironic, isn’t it?) on July 21st!

Winter War brings the highly praised and extremely successful Order of Battle formula to a conflict never covered before by any other game in such detail.
Will you manage to lead the outnumbered Finnish forces and stop the red tide in the Winter War? Will you regain ground in the Continuation War? Will you master arctic warfare in the unique Finnish landscape? Will you be able to make the best out of the many new units at your disposal?

A campaign of 13 new linked scenarios, more than 90 new units and a new way to wage war: Winter War will be available on Steam on July 21st.

Me taistelemme kodin, uskonnon ja isänmaan puolesta!

It’s time to take your skis out.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/458860/

Winter (War) is coming!

The news many of you were waiting for: are you ready to brave the frozen lakes of Finland and the thick snow of Karelia? Order of Battle: Winter War is going to be released this summer (ironic, isn’t it?) on July 21st!

Winter War brings the highly praised and extremely successful Order of Battle formula to a conflict never covered before by any other game in such detail.
Will you manage to lead the outnumbered Finnish forces and stop the red tide in the Winter War? Will you regain ground in the Continuation War? Will you master arctic warfare in the unique Finnish landscape? Will you be able to make the best out of the many new units at your disposal?

A campaign of 13 new linked scenarios, more than 90 new units and a new way to wage war: Winter War will be available on Steam on July 21st.

Me taistelemme kodin, uskonnon ja isänmaan puolesta!

It’s time to take your skis out.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/458860/

Hello everyone! We have interviewed Lukas Nijsten, one of the members of the Artistocrats studio and author of the Order of Battle series. He speaks at length of the upcoming expansion, Winter War, as well as the saga in general, and gives us a hint on what we can expect next. And with Lukas' interesting information we're also publishing a new set of screenshots on the Continuation war - click on them for a better resolution!

We hope that you’ll enjoy it! Also, feel free to contribute with your own questions.

1) The Winter War and the Continuation War are wars which haven’t been touched by many other games - not at this level of detail, and not as the main focus. What’s the reason behind your choice of setting for the new DLC for Order of Battle?

The idea first came up after we completed the Morning Sun campaign pack, which covers the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Winter War turned out to be an ideal step toward the European theatre of WW2. Because the Chinese forces in Morning Sun use a lot of Soviet aircraft and vehicles from the 1930's, a substantial number of required unit models were already available. In addition, it allowed us to create a small subset of German and Soviet WW2 units, as well as the new winter climate, as a stepping stone toward future Eastern and Western Front campaigns.
Aside from these production-related advantages, the Winter War is a very exciting conflict which had a significant impact on WW2 in general. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged the Germans to launch their Operation Barbarossa, while it also brought valuable lessons and reforms for the Soviets. And with Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the Finns took up arms again in the Continuation War - also covered by this DLC - which tied up a substantial amount of Soviet forces and posed a constant pressure on Leningrad and the Murmansk railroad line.

From a creative point of view we really enjoy covering some of the more unique conflicts in military history - as demonstrated with Morning Sun - which made the struggle of the Finnish Army in 1939-1945 an outstanding candidate.



2) The other campaigns for Order of Battle: World War II focus on the Pacific theater and have an emphasis on amphibious and naval warfare. In this new campaign things will be different, as it is land based, with different tactics employed on a completely different terrain. How does the gameplay differ? What are the main differences from the other campaigns?

One of the unique aspects in this campaign is that the Finns are not capable of purchasing any tanks or armoured vehicles during the Winter War and most of the Continuation War. The only way to obtain such units is by capturing Soviet vehicles, which is generally achieved through completing secondary objectives. This constant shortage of armoured units makes even the lighter enemy tanks a significant threat, as they can only be effectively destroyed through clever use of anti-tank guns and ambush tactics.

After adding the winter climate, the gameplay mechanics of the original Pacific game have proven quite solid to represent this new conflict. In particular the supply system allows the player to effectively use Finnish "motti" tactics to surround, isolate and destroy pockets of Soviet troops.

Another new and interesting aspect is the frozen lakes and rivers during the winter climate. River combat and movement penalties will no longer exist, and lakes suddenly provide a very flat route toward the enemy. Because units cannot entrench on ice however, these frozen plains often turn into areas of no-man's land between the opposing forces.
And while the terrain is harsh, it does provide more room for manoeuvre compared to the Pacific islands and jungles of previous campaigns. Roads often provide a quick route toward the objective, but can be treacherous with enemy troops hiding on the forest-covered flanks.




3) What was the biggest hardship in representing the type of warfare fought in Finland in World War II in a videogame like Order of Battle?

I wouldn't say there was anything particularly difficult about the Winter War. Aside from the requirement of the winter climate, all the effects on gameplay that come with it, and the specific balancing of individual Soviet and Finnish units we didn't have to do any major changes or additions to the game.

The Order of Battle engine represents the 3 key factors in 20th warfare in an abstracted but detailed manner: a wide range of combat statistics for individual unit types, terrain effects on movement, combat and cohesion and finally supply and logistics. This allows us to cover all conflicts in the period of ~1935 to ~1945 in a single game, without any of it feeling unrealistic or out of place.
Whole not specifically related to the Winter War, we have also used the opportunity to revise the key statistics of all ground units. This is particularly important to achieve realistic tank vs tank combat results. While this was less of a factor in the Pacific campaigns, it is vital to get the individual performance right for all the panzers, Shermans, T-34s, Tigers and all other armoured vehicles and their variations. Finding and reading details of armour angles and thickness, gun velocity and ammunition penetration values as well as other key aspects such as turret rotation speed and visibility for the crew takes an incredible amount of time. This is certainly the most complicated and intensive job we've had to do for the Winter War update.



4) What do you see next in Order of Battle’s future?

It is no secret that we intend to cover all of World War 2, so without naming any specific themes, players can expect many more content featuring common and less common conflicts in the near future.
As for a more distant future, our plan has always been to keep expanding the Order of Battle engine to cover a wide range of military history, ranging from ancient civilizations to modern warfare. Assets for what will become "Order of Battle II" are already in production, but that is all I can say for now :)

Hello everyone! We have interviewed Lukas Nijsten, one of the members of the Artistocrats studio and author of the Order of Battle series. He speaks at length of the upcoming expansion, Winter War, as well as the saga in general, and gives us a hint on what we can expect next. And with Lukas' interesting information we're also publishing a new set of screenshots on the Continuation war - click on them for a better resolution!

We hope that you’ll enjoy it! Also, feel free to contribute with your own questions.

1) The Winter War and the Continuation War are wars which haven’t been touched by many other games - not at this level of detail, and not as the main focus. What’s the reason behind your choice of setting for the new DLC for Order of Battle?

The idea first came up after we completed the Morning Sun campaign pack, which covers the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Winter War turned out to be an ideal step toward the European theatre of WW2. Because the Chinese forces in Morning Sun use a lot of Soviet aircraft and vehicles from the 1930's, a substantial number of required unit models were already available. In addition, it allowed us to create a small subset of German and Soviet WW2 units, as well as the new winter climate, as a stepping stone toward future Eastern and Western Front campaigns.
Aside from these production-related advantages, the Winter War is a very exciting conflict which had a significant impact on WW2 in general. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged the Germans to launch their Operation Barbarossa, while it also brought valuable lessons and reforms for the Soviets. And with Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the Finns took up arms again in the Continuation War - also covered by this DLC - which tied up a substantial amount of Soviet forces and posed a constant pressure on Leningrad and the Murmansk railroad line.

From a creative point of view we really enjoy covering some of the more unique conflicts in military history - as demonstrated with Morning Sun - which made the struggle of the Finnish Army in 1939-1945 an outstanding candidate.



2) The other campaigns for Order of Battle: World War II focus on the Pacific theater and have an emphasis on amphibious and naval warfare. In this new campaign things will be different, as it is land based, with different tactics employed on a completely different terrain. How does the gameplay differ? What are the main differences from the other campaigns?

One of the unique aspects in this campaign is that the Finns are not capable of purchasing any tanks or armoured vehicles during the Winter War and most of the Continuation War. The only way to obtain such units is by capturing Soviet vehicles, which is generally achieved through completing secondary objectives. This constant shortage of armoured units makes even the lighter enemy tanks a significant threat, as they can only be effectively destroyed through clever use of anti-tank guns and ambush tactics.

After adding the winter climate, the gameplay mechanics of the original Pacific game have proven quite solid to represent this new conflict. In particular the supply system allows the player to effectively use Finnish "motti" tactics to surround, isolate and destroy pockets of Soviet troops.

Another new and interesting aspect is the frozen lakes and rivers during the winter climate. River combat and movement penalties will no longer exist, and lakes suddenly provide a very flat route toward the enemy. Because units cannot entrench on ice however, these frozen plains often turn into areas of no-man's land between the opposing forces.
And while the terrain is harsh, it does provide more room for manoeuvre compared to the Pacific islands and jungles of previous campaigns. Roads often provide a quick route toward the objective, but can be treacherous with enemy troops hiding on the forest-covered flanks.




3) What was the biggest hardship in representing the type of warfare fought in Finland in World War II in a videogame like Order of Battle?

I wouldn't say there was anything particularly difficult about the Winter War. Aside from the requirement of the winter climate, all the effects on gameplay that come with it, and the specific balancing of individual Soviet and Finnish units we didn't have to do any major changes or additions to the game.

The Order of Battle engine represents the 3 key factors in 20th warfare in an abstracted but detailed manner: a wide range of combat statistics for individual unit types, terrain effects on movement, combat and cohesion and finally supply and logistics. This allows us to cover all conflicts in the period of ~1935 to ~1945 in a single game, without any of it feeling unrealistic or out of place.
Whole not specifically related to the Winter War, we have also used the opportunity to revise the key statistics of all ground units. This is particularly important to achieve realistic tank vs tank combat results. While this was less of a factor in the Pacific campaigns, it is vital to get the individual performance right for all the panzers, Shermans, T-34s, Tigers and all other armoured vehicles and their variations. Finding and reading details of armour angles and thickness, gun velocity and ammunition penetration values as well as other key aspects such as turret rotation speed and visibility for the crew takes an incredible amount of time. This is certainly the most complicated and intensive job we've had to do for the Winter War update.



4) What do you see next in Order of Battle’s future?

It is no secret that we intend to cover all of World War 2, so without naming any specific themes, players can expect many more content featuring common and less common conflicts in the near future.
As for a more distant future, our plan has always been to keep expanding the Order of Battle engine to cover a wide range of military history, ranging from ancient civilizations to modern warfare. Assets for what will become "Order of Battle II" are already in production, but that is all I can say for now :)

You fought on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Order of Battle: Pacific, but now the war is global!

Order of Battle: World War II, formerly known as Order of Battle: Pacific, is a bigger project with a wider scope and the goal of featuring multiple fronts of World War II, and it is OUT NOW!

It is available to everyone for free: it contains the initial bootcamp missions plus the first scenario of every DLC Campaign, and they are completely free. Players will be able to try the game, play several scenarios and decide if they’d like to get the DLC Campaign.

The original campaigns of Order of Battle: Pacific are now split into two different DLCs:

· The Order of Battle: U.S. Pacific DLC, featuring the American campaign.

· The Order of Battle: Rising Sun DLC, featuring the Japanese campaign.


Important: if you already own Order of Battle: Pacific you will be given these two DLCs, Rising Sun and U.S. Pacific, and retain any other DLC you already own!


Stay tuned for more news in the future: the expansion b]Winter War[/b] is in development, and there are plans for more amazing content…

You fought on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Order of Battle: Pacific, but now the war is global!

Order of Battle: World War II, formerly known as Order of Battle: Pacific, is a bigger project with a wider scope and the goal of featuring multiple fronts of World War II, and it is OUT NOW!

It is available to everyone for free: it contains the initial bootcamp missions plus the first scenario of every DLC Campaign, and they are completely free. Players will be able to try the game, play several scenarios and decide if they’d like to get the DLC Campaign.

The original campaigns of Order of Battle: Pacific are now split into two different DLCs:

· The Order of Battle: U.S. Pacific DLC, featuring the American campaign.

· The Order of Battle: Rising Sun DLC, featuring the Japanese campaign.


Important: if you already own Order of Battle: Pacific you will be given these two DLCs, Rising Sun and U.S. Pacific, and retain any other DLC you already own!


Stay tuned for more news in the future: the expansion b]Winter War[/b] is in development, and there are plans for more amazing content…

Order of Battle fans, we have big news for you. The game previously known as Order of Battle: Pacific is being restructured into Order of Battle: World War II, a bigger project with a wider scope and the goal of featuring multiple fronts of World War II.

Order of Battle: Pacific is going to be split into three different products:

• Order of Battle: World War II, featuring the bootcamp missions and the first mission of each DLC.
• The Order of Battle: U.S. Pacific DLC, featuring the American Pacific campaign.
• The Order of Battle: Rising Sun DLC, featuring the Japanese Pacific campaign.

Now hold on to your seats! Order of Battle WORLD WAR II will be available to everyone for free! It contains the bootcamp scenarios plus the first scenario of every DLC (including future ones), and they are completely free. You will be able to try the game, play several scenarios and decide if you’d like to buy the DLCs.

Important: if you own Order of Battle: Pacific you’ll be given free keys for the two DLCs, Rising Sun and U.S. Pacific, plus any other DLC you already own!

That’s not all: in order to unlock the fully-featured editor and every single faction in multiplayer only a single DLC purchase is needed!

Ok, here is an example of what you can expect from this system.

Below is the campaign screen that you’ll see if you’re a newcomer to the series and you have never purchased the base game. You have immediate access to the bootcamp campaign (at the top) and all of the other campaigns (which are DLCs) are grayed out but you can still click on them!



Let’s click on the US Marines campaign (at the bottom). A description is displayed on the left panel and now two buttons have appeared on the right. If you click on “Try Campaign”, you’ll be able to see the campaign screen and launch the first scenario, which is Solomon Islands.





So you can enjoy this scenario with absolutely no restrictions.



After a few hours of intense combat, you finally beat the scenario and switch to the next one in this campaign (which is Guadalcanal).



Now you can read the briefing, deploy your units and plan your future moves. But when you’ll press end turn, you’ll see the following screen. Either you want to continue your amazing wargaming experience and purchase the DLC to unlock the whole campaign or you can quit and go back to the main menu. In any case, your progression is saved so even if you decide to purchase the campaign later, you’ll be able to keep the experience that your units earned in the first scenario.





Also, as mentioned previously, the editor, multiplayer modes and community content are not available in the free version, but you only need to own one of the DLCs to instantly unlock this content!



Finally, here is an example of what happens when you buy (or already own) a DLC of Order of Battle: World War II. Every single campaign owned appears with bright colors in the campaign screen. Also instead of the buttons previously displayed, you now have a “Launch” button. Click on it and you’re ready for a full campaign of amazing scenarios!

Order of Battle fans, we have big news for you. The game previously known as Order of Battle: Pacific is being restructured into Order of Battle: World War II, a bigger project with a wider scope and the goal of featuring multiple fronts of World War II.

Order of Battle: Pacific is going to be split into three different products:

• Order of Battle: World War II, featuring the bootcamp missions and the first mission of each DLC.
• The Order of Battle: U.S. Pacific DLC, featuring the American Pacific campaign.
• The Order of Battle: Rising Sun DLC, featuring the Japanese Pacific campaign.

Now hold on to your seats! Order of Battle WORLD WAR II will be available to everyone for free! It contains the bootcamp scenarios plus the first scenario of every DLC (including future ones), and they are completely free. You will be able to try the game, play several scenarios and decide if you’d like to buy the DLCs.

Important: if you own Order of Battle: Pacific you’ll be given free keys for the two DLCs, Rising Sun and U.S. Pacific, plus any other DLC you already own!

That’s not all: in order to unlock the fully-featured editor and every single faction in multiplayer only a single DLC purchase is needed!

Ok, here is an example of what you can expect from this system.

Below is the campaign screen that you’ll see if you’re a newcomer to the series and you have never purchased the base game. You have immediate access to the bootcamp campaign (at the top) and all of the other campaigns (which are DLCs) are grayed out but you can still click on them!



Let’s click on the US Marines campaign (at the bottom). A description is displayed on the left panel and now two buttons have appeared on the right. If you click on “Try Campaign”, you’ll be able to see the campaign screen and launch the first scenario, which is Solomon Islands.





So you can enjoy this scenario with absolutely no restrictions.



After a few hours of intense combat, you finally beat the scenario and switch to the next one in this campaign (which is Guadalcanal).



Now you can read the briefing, deploy your units and plan your future moves. But when you’ll press end turn, you’ll see the following screen. Either you want to continue your amazing wargaming experience and purchase the DLC to unlock the whole campaign or you can quit and go back to the main menu. In any case, your progression is saved so even if you decide to purchase the campaign later, you’ll be able to keep the experience that your units earned in the first scenario.





Also, as mentioned previously, the editor, multiplayer modes and community content are not available in the free version, but you only need to own one of the DLCs to instantly unlock this content!



Finally, here is an example of what happens when you buy (or already own) a DLC of Order of Battle: World War II. Every single campaign owned appears with bright colors in the campaign screen. Also instead of the buttons previously displayed, you now have a “Launch” button. Click on it and you’re ready for a full campaign of amazing scenarios!

Order of Battle fans, we have some news for you!
We are releasing a new patch for Order of Battle: Pacific. The 2.4.0 patch, previously on beta, goes now live. This update fixes some issues from US Marines and also has a fix for the recent issues where AI turns would take a very long time in some circumstances.

Here is the changelog:

- Changes to AI systems to reduce AI turn times
- Rail move marker display a train icon again
- Fix for embarking to an adjacent port hex
- Fix for Tulagi M2A4 tank award sometimes not triggering
- Fixed Munda secondary objective text, stating that aircraft damage must be against ground targets
- Fixed discrepancy between Peleliu primary objective text and actual condition.
- Fixed Nanchang AI freeze related to off-map AI unit.
- Fix for Strategic Map related bug in 2D Tactical Map display mode
- Fix for Ambushes not activating in certain conditions

Order of Battle fans, we have some news for you!
We are releasing a new patch for Order of Battle: Pacific. The 2.4.0 patch, previously on beta, goes now live. This update fixes some issues from US Marines and also has a fix for the recent issues where AI turns would take a very long time in some circumstances.

Here is the changelog:

- Changes to AI systems to reduce AI turn times
- Rail move marker display a train icon again
- Fix for embarking to an adjacent port hex
- Fix for Tulagi M2A4 tank award sometimes not triggering
- Fixed Munda secondary objective text, stating that aircraft damage must be against ground targets
- Fixed discrepancy between Peleliu primary objective text and actual condition.
- Fixed Nanchang AI freeze related to off-map AI unit.
- Fix for Strategic Map related bug in 2D Tactical Map display mode
- Fix for Ambushes not activating in certain conditions