2024 Quarter One Review & News
New post up with all sorts of good information packed in. Not only reviewing what has happened, but new information as well!
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2024-quarter-one-update
Bits & bobs about happenings within the community and the company that you don't want to miss - check them out in todays blog post:
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/news-shorts-aug-2024
In this edition of the WDS blog we go into the basics of scenario design. Its another aspect of the games which can bring further enjoyment once you dig in, and one which is largely untapped by the customer base at large. Read more about it in todays post:
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/so-you-want-to-create-a-scenario-huh
Our 3rd Quarter review has been posted today recapping what we have shared with you for the last three months. Busy times... you can only see the tip of the iceberg...
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2024-quarter-three-update (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2024-quarter-three-update)
Our 2024 Year in review is now posted... plus some items we're looking forward to!
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2024-end-of-year-update
The 2025 First Quarter Review is up. Check it out for a recap of what has happened in this busy season here at Wargame Design Studio & a peek at what is coming down the pike!
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-quarter-one-update
2025 2nd Quarter Update + Orel '43 Expansion Package
We're halfway through the year so we'd like to share our second quarterly update for 2025. This post includes both a recap of what has happened these last few months, but also items coming down the road.
Additionally, Orel '43 gets updated to 4.05.3 and has a large expansion pack included!
Read all about it in todays post:
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-quarter-two-update-and-orel-43-expansion-pack
The end of the year is in sight, and we would like to share our third quarterly update for 2025. There has been no shortage of news and updates over the previous three months...
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-quarter-three-update (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-quarter-three-update)
Wow. Really exciting news about the new graphics and 3d assets. Great work!
Wargame Design Studio is celebrating a milestone - it's now four years since we took over the JTS catalog, and what a ride it's been: a dozen new games, multiple demos, and major updates across almost the entire range. In our latest blog post, we look back at those busy years and also look ahead with a first preview of the next Sword & Siege title, Crusades: Book II - the second volume in our planned Crusades trilogy.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/crusades-book-ii-preview (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/crusades-book-ii-preview)
Quote from: Llaird on November 21, 2025, 07:15:54 AMWargame Design Studio is celebrating a milestone - it's now four years since we took over the JTS catalog, and what a ride it's been: a dozen new games, multiple demos, and major updates across almost the entire range. In our latest blog post, we look back at those busy years and also look ahead with a first preview of the next Sword & Siege title, Crusades: Book II - the second volume in our planned Crusades trilogy.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/crusades-book-ii-preview (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/crusades-book-ii-preview)
Can you take over CMx2 and give it the same treatment? :)
In our latest blog post, we dive into the "What If?" of history – from classic alternate-history novels and TV series to video games that let you walk the roads not taken yourself. This is Part I of a two-part series, tracing how storytellers have played with divergent timelines and why that same spirit underpins so much of modern wargaming.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-i (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-i)
In our latest blog post, we return to the world of "What If? – The Long Tradition of Alternate History in Wargaming and Beyond" – this time on the screen rather than the page. Part II of our alternate history series explores how Wargame Design Studio brings plausible roads-not-taken to life in titles like Panzer Campaigns: Sealion '40, Japan '45/'46, and Moscow '42 – Fall Kreml. From the beaches of southern England to the planned invasion of Japan and a renewed drive on Moscow, we show how careful research powers compelling campaign sandboxes. It's a tour of battles that never happened – but could have.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-ii (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-ii)
In our latest blog post, we push the "What If?" lens into the last, tense years of the Cold War — and draw comparisons with past and current crises. Part III of our alternate history series imagines June 1985 as the moment deterrence fails: Warsaw Pact forces crash into West Germany through the Fulda Gap and across the North German Plain, while a parallel crisis erupts on the Korean peninsula. From doctrine and terrain to logistics and the shadow of escalation, we explore the opening weeks through Modern Campaigns: Fulda Gap, North German Plain, Danube Front and Korea '85.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-iii (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-iii)
Today, we want to share with you the latest info about our upcoming American Revolutionary War game. This project has been in the making for some time now, and we're excited to give you an update on what's coming. From scenario design to maps and graphics, the team has been hard at work to bring this era to life. The full preview highlights battles, features, and resources to explore as we count down to release. Head over to the blog now to read the complete announcement and see what's in store!
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/american-revolutionary-war-preview (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/american-revolutionary-war-preview)
In the final part of our "What If?" series, we turn from speculative World War III back to muskets and sabers – and show how WDS campaign games themselves become alternate-history machines. From the Crusades to the 1809 Eckmühl–Wagram campaign and beyond, branching decisions and persistent forces let you refight entire wars and campaigns along new yet plausible paths. Take command, choose your road, and see where history might have gone instead.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-iv (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-if-the-long-tradition-of-alternate-history-in-wargaming-and-beyond-part-iv)
In our new blog post, we trace the "eternal logic" of shock warfare across two millennia: from Parthian cataphracts at Carrhae and Byzantine hippotoxotai under Belisarius, to Crusader knights, pike-and-shot assaults, Napoleonic breakpoints, and WWII armoured spearheads—ending with helicopter-borne Air Cav in Vietnam. Along the way, we connect the history to WDS titles across Sword & Siege, Musket & Pike, Napoleonic Battles, Panzer Campaigns, and Squad Battles.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/from-cataphract-to-tank (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/from-cataphract-to-tank)
I have to give you kudos on your excellent articles your team writes
I hope you get lots of people reading them
I really enjoy them and love the different historical themes they explore and how you tie them together with wargaming
Looking forward to the next ones
Con
Not every bit of news can fill a blog post, so today we are grouping some of the more noteworthy (small) items to share with you. In this roundup, we highlight recent improvements and plans for our blog content, share community-created campaign support documents and maps for Panzer Campaigns Stalingrad '42 and Moscow '41, and provide a detailed progress report on the Squad Battles graphics overhaul — including what's changed since the beta.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/news-shorts-december-2025
In our first blog post of 2026, we dive into the Anatomy of a Siege — a guided tour of how siege warfare plays across four WDS series and nearly a millennium of war. Storm stone walls with towers, rams, sappers and a short preview of the upcoming ladders mechanic in Sword & Siege: Crusades Book II; grind through Petersburg's trench lines in Civil War Battles; fight room-to-room among rubble and cellars in Squad Battles' Stalingrad-style city sieges; then zoom out in Panzer Campaigns to encirclements, relief attempts, isolation, and final collapse. See why sieges feel so different—yet oddly familiar.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/anatomy-of-a-siege-from-walls-and-ladders-to-rubble-and-cellars (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/anatomy-of-a-siege-from-walls-and-ladders-to-rubble-and-cellars)
Happy 2026! Our Year in Review looks back at everything WDS delivered in 2025: four new releases plus a new demo, from Panzer Campaigns: Poland '39 and War of the Austrian Succession to the debut of Sword & Siege (Crusades: Book I and Age of Longbow Vol. I). We also recap Game of the Week, major engine updates and expansions, and the progress of upgrading 82 of 113 titles—alongside a growing forum community. Then we look ahead to a busy 2026: Crusades: Book II, American Revolutionary War, and Panzer Campaigns: Donbas '43, with more improvements across the catalogue.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-end-of-year-update (https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2025-end-of-year-update)
Really looking forward to the updates of the post-WWII Squad Battles titles. Fingers crossed we can also one day see the Modern Air Power titles updated, and dare I dream, expanded... :RockOn:
Quote from: Sigwolf on January 10, 2026, 11:04:23 AMReally looking forward to the updates of the post-WWII Squad Battles titles. Fingers crossed we can also one day see the Modern Air Power titles updated, and dare I dream, expanded... :RockOn:
I was just about to say that I'd love another MAP game and can't wait for the Squad Battles updates for Modern War.
How do you turn dusty documents into a fighting force on a hex map? This post walks through the craft of building a WDS Order of Battle from archival records and historical sources: weighing what a return, muster, or report really measures, reconciling contradictions, and filling gaps without pretending certainty. Then comes the translation step—turning names and numbers into units with real strengths, organization, leadership, and condition, tuned to the exact day and hour of the action. It's part detective work, part design, and the difference between a generic roster and an OOB that plays like history.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/from-archive-to-oob-part-i
Part II of our "From Archive to OOB" series jumps from scarcity to overload. WWI's Eastern Front shows how labels and paper hierarchies crumble under attrition—especially in the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies.
Then we move on to WWII and Kursk, where "bottomless" archives still mislead unless you align definitions, timing, and what "loss" really means.
From myth-busting Prokhorovka figures to squad-level granularity, it's about turning mountains of data into the force the player actually experiences—without letting myths (or tidy tables) do the counting.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/from-archive-to-oob-part-ii
Why is it Austerlitz and not Slavkov u Brna? Breslau and not Wrocław? Donbas and not Donbass?
Historical names are rarely simple. They pass through languages, maps, armies, archives, borders, translations, typos, and centuries of convention.
Our latest article looks at how WDS approaches names in historical games: when to use period forms, modern local names, established English battle names, catalog titles, or simply the least confusing option.
From Pointe du Hoc to Stavka, Kyiv, Danzig, and the Romans who were not yet "Byzantines," it is a tour through the messy afterlife of historical naming.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/what-s-in-a-name
Our 2026 Half-Year Update is here.
We look back at three major releases — Crusades: Book II, Panzer Campaigns: Donbas '43, and American Revolutionary War — along with the first wave of WDS titles on Steam and what we have learned from that move.
The post also covers ongoing patch work across several series, new situation maps, the growth of our historical blog content, and two years of Game of the Week. Finally, we share a careful look ahead at Steam plans, improvements, future series updates, and other work now taking shape for the rest of the year.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/2026-half-yearly-update
The Vietnam War did not stop at the borders of South Vietnam.
In the shadows of Laos and Cambodia, the CIA, U.S. Special Forces, Air America, and allied local forces fought a clandestine campaign against North Vietnamese infiltration along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Hidden from public view for decades, this "Secret War" became one of the largest covert operations in modern history. Our latest article explores how these parallel conflicts shaped the wider war—and why their legacy still matters today.
https://wargameds.com/blogs/news/the-secret-war
WDS Important Update Information
A quick note for everyone updating WDS games: we are now using a new code-signing certificate. As new updates roll out, Windows or other security software may temporarily display a warning when you run an updated WDS executable.
The files supplied directly by Wargame Design Studio are safe to use. This is a temporary reputation issue associated with the new certificate, rather than an indication that the game files contain malware.
We have put together a short support article explaining why this happens and what to do if you encounter the warning:
Why am I seeing a Windows security warning after updating? (https://wargameds.com/pages/why-am-i-seeing-a-windows-security-warning-after-updating)