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#1
G'day Ron.
Congratulations on all your efforts with NASA.
:howdy
I've been along for the ride since Anglo-German War, and Middle East Wars, and obviously WW2-E.
Being from Aus; I'm obviously interested in how you'd treat the Pacific Theatre, A series of Island hopping scenarios and a tweaked Naval model perhaps?
Would also be good to see some polish and some upgraded scenarios for the Middle East game.
(imho, there's enough ACW games already).
Anyhoo, looking forward to seeing where your retirement leads to.
Hear's to a brutally aggressive tactical and strategic A.I.
Regards
A.
:cheers
#2
Games Discussion / Re: Black One Blood Brothers
Last post by Asid - Today at 12:01:38 AM
Update 2.15 - Preview
Fri, 4 September 2026



Attention, Operators.
The next major update is just around the corner. Here's everything you need to know about what's coming.


Thank you for all your feedback. It has helped Helios continue improving the game while introducing new features and content you've been asking for.

1. Overall Improvements
Helios continues to improve the overall experience. Staying true to the realism and immersion that define Black One Blood Brothers, Operators who want to completely remove the HUD and on-screen indicators will now be able to navigate using the tactical phone and access mission information directly through this diegetic interface.

Improvements have also been made to weapon sights, particularly sniper scopes, while issues affecting accessory placement on certain weapons have been fixed.

Operators will now attempt to protect wounded teammates by deploying smoke grenades to provide cover.

More improvements and changes will be detailed in the final patch notes.



2. New Map: Kozol-Tai Mountains
Step into the lush wilderness of the Kozol-Tai mountain range.

Make your way through the jungle, but stay alert: enemies can be scattered throughout the environment and difficult to spot among the dense vegetation.



This massive map offers something for every playstyle. Its wide-open areas encourage long-range engagements, while other sections create opportunities for intense close-quarters combat. The terrain and waterways also open up new tactical routes and approaches for Operators to explore.

New assets from Kozol-Tai Mountains will also be added to the Map Editor, and we hope they'll inspire our creators!



3. New Weapons & Equipment
We know how much you care about the arsenal at your disposal.

This update introduces new equipment, new weapons, and new customization options for your Operators. With a new assault rifle, SMG, revolver, and two sniper rifles, along with their respective attachments, the arsenal continues to grow and give you even more ways to tailor your loadout and gameplay.

And don't worry: more equipment is coming in the future.



Keep sending us your suggestions!

Before we go, here's the most important piece of information: The update launches September 9 at 3:00 PM CEST.

Helios & Kane,
Out.
#3
Games Discussion / Re: Victory at Sea Atlantic - ...
Last post by Asid - Yesterday at 11:09:49 PM
Victory At Sea Atlantic — Update 1.1.1.0
Thu, September 3, 2026



Update 1.1.1.0 is now live.
This one adds two new researchable aircraft variants for the Luftwaffe, gives German vessels a mix of steam and electric torpedoes, and makes a broad pass over enemy AI behaviour and aircraft spotting. There's also a long list of fixes covering weapon assignments, firing arcs and fleet handling.

Gameplay
  • Added the Heinkel He-111 J torpedo/ASW bomber as a researchable variant of the Heinkel He 111.
  • Added the Junkers Ju 88 A-4 dive/torpedo bomber as a researchable Ju 88 variant.
  • Removed ASW capability from the Junkers Ju 87, and added its "Trumpet of Jericho" sirens.
  • Removed torpedo bombs from the basic Junkers Ju 88.
  • Britain may now commission their own Wickes, Clemson and Bogue class ships.
  • German vessels now carry a mixture of steam and electric torpedoes.
  • Added active sonar to some American destroyers.
  • Reduced the turn speed of all ships.
  • Added more realistic reaction times for enemy AI.
  • Improved AI ship port bombardment behaviour.
  • Improved AI ship retreating behaviour.
  • Increased aircraft spotting ranges at the campaign level.
  • ASW-equipped aircraft are better at spotting submarines.
  • ASW aircraft start combat closer to enemy submersibles when no surface fleets are present.
  • Enemy landing fleets are no longer excluded from spot alerts.

Bug fixes
  • Fixed inaccurate weapon assignments, displayed gun counts, weapon model angles and available firing arcs on multiple ship classes.
  • Fixed a bug where flights could end up with two lead aircraft and fail to complete combats properly.
  • Airfields no longer automatically send ASW bombers against non-submersible fleets.
  • Stopped submersible fleets potentially vanishing after being split by the AI.
  • Fixed a bug where depth charge models could linger after they should have been destroyed.
  • Prevented audio declaring that a periscope has been spotted at night.

Mods
  • Fixed a bug preventing aircraft combats from starting after enabling or disabling a mod.

UI
  • Subtitles and instruction text now remain visible on tutorial videos while paused.

#4
World War II Europe 1939-1945 / Re: Retirement Finally Happene...
Last post by pjkj - Yesterday at 09:47:48 PM
Hello, Ron!
Nice to see you!
I hope you'll fix the problem with the Bulgarian troops, which are completely black and unreadable =)
#5
Hi.
It's great to hear from you again.
Great news.
We're still with you.
Go for it!
#6
Games Discussion / Re: Modern Naval Warfare
Last post by Asid - September 03, 2026, 12:02:08 AM
Bridge Systems & QoL Update
Mon, August 31, 2026



Submariners, today, we are thrilled to deploy this new technical update directly to your command consoles.

Below is the complete list of fixes, features, and known issues included in today's build (0.123.2):


Fixed Issues & New Features.


Audio & Crew Systems
  • Auto Crew Voiceovers Integration: Added full voice-over support for the in-game Auto Crew system.
  • Voiceover Toggle Settings: Added a new setting allowing commanders to toggle Autocrew Voiceovers ON/OFF in the settings menu.

UI/UX, Display & Navigation
  • ECDIS Charting Tools: Integrated a series of new design and charting tools for the ECDIS system to improve spatial planning and navigation.
  • Minimalistic QUAD Display: Added a new minimalistic design option and hover integration for station QUADs, toggleable in the settings menu.
  • Settings Restructuring & Dynamic Elements: Reorganized settings tabs and sections for better navigation, including dynamic enable/disable controls for UI elements and mission difficulty visibility.
  • Lofar-grams Database: Updated the in-game database with missing Lofar-grams to match the recognition handbook.
  • Photonics B4 Fix: Resolved an issue that prevented taking photos in Photonics B4.

Weapons, Fire Control & Back-End Refactoring
  • Fire Control Back-End Integration: Enabled a new Fire Control back-end architecture for improved system performance.
  • VLS Ammunition Storage: Fixed an issue where VLS Tubes were not correctly accounting for ammunition storage weapon pieces.
  • LAM Waypoint Visuals: Changed the final waypoint marker for Land Attack Missile (LAM) missions to a cross icon.
  • DOS Screen Refresh: Resolved an issue where the DOS ammunition screen failed to refresh text upon entering a mission.
  • Scripting Preload Packages: Updated MNW scripting logic so weapon preload packages now accept empty packages.
  • Masts Controller & RayTraceRefactoring: Refactored Masts Controller back-end and resolved weapon instantiation race conditions with the RayTraceManager.

Scenarios, Missions & Debriefing
Convoy Hunt Target Vulnerability: Fixed an issue in Quick Mission Convoy Hunt where the LHD was incorrectly flagged as unsinkable.

  • Scenario Range Checks: Resolved an issue where scenario zones failed to correctly handle range checks for elements, incorrectly rendering them dead.
  • Debriefing Screen Stability: Fixed review screen freezes and scrambled recordings caused by conflicting interval times during debriefs.
  • Localization Updates: Added Romanian and Greek language localization support.

Known Issues
We are actively tracking the following verified issues and are working on solutions for upcoming patches:

  • Active Intercept Contacts: Active Intercept may register the same contact multiple times if the incoming contact's lifetime exceeds the maximum cache time of the AI system.
  • Ship Hull Names: Saved ship names currently do not print on hulls during gameplay or after loading due to a shader issue.
  • Upscaler UI Artifacts: Setting upscalers (DLSS) to Performance or Ultra Performance modes can cause station UI text to appear blurry.
  • ASM/LAM Mission Display: Loaded Anti-Ship Missile (ASM) or Land Attack Missile (LAM) missions from a save file may not immediately display in the UI until an interaction occurs.
  • AI Shallow Water Plotting & Proximity Spawns: Known issues where some AI ships remain idle in shallow waters due to plotting constraints, or fail to start if spawned too close together.
  • Snapshotting & Torpedo Handler: Loading save files containing torpedoes in specific behavioral transitions may cause temporary control handler requests before registration.
  • Mission Refactoring: Ongoing work continues for simulation mission distance and setup refactoring to improve player experience and immersion following Operational AI integration.

Moving Forward
Our commitment to expanding and perfecting Modern Naval Warfare remains our top priority. We are continuously monitoring your feedback as we polish core features and move forward towards future updates.

Good hunting, Captains.
#7
Histwar : Napoleonics by JMM / Comparison of 'Paper' Wargames...
Last post by Asid - September 02, 2026, 09:46:23 PM
Comparison of 'Paper' Wargames and the HistWar Simulator
September 2, 2026



Regarding tactical realism, HistWar and Napoleonic paper wargames approach the problem with two almost opposite logics, even if they aim for the same final objective.


"Physical" rather than abstract modeling

HistWar offers a precise and deterministic modeling of combat, taking into account numerous parameters such as the relative position and orientation of the protagonists, the presence of corps commanders or guard units, the density and formation of regiments, their quality, their value, their morale, and their fatigue.

This is the fundamental difference with paper: on the tabletop, a regiment's formation (line, column, square) is represented by an abstract convention—a counter is turned, figures are aligned according to a written rule, and a numerical modifier applies ("+1 if in line", "-2 if flanked"). In HistWar, each figure represents one or two real combatants, so the formation literally emerges from the individual position and orientation of each simulated soldier—it's not a modifier read from a table; it's a real geometry that mechanically produces its effects.


Morale as a system, not a dice roll

Paper generally manages morale through a one-time test (a dice roll against a threshold, triggered at a specific moment: losses suffered, charge received). HistWar aims for a more continuous and cascading simulation: the engine naturally simulates a domino effect where an entire army can disintegrate upon seeing a single guard unit flee. This is "systemic" realism—panic spreads like a wave, not as an isolated event triggered by a written rule.


The real differentiating factor: order transmission delay

This is undoubtedly HistWar's most interesting contribution to tactical realism, and something that paper simulates very poorly in practice: it sometimes takes a long time for troops to execute an order, and in reality, it has always been this way—the classic player error is to multiply orders thinking they haven't gone through, which causes exactly the kind of chaos experienced by Erlon's corps at Ligny in 1815, tossed between contradictory orders from Ney and Napoleon.

A paper wargame rarely simulates this command delay so organically: at best, there is a "command test" rule per turn, or an activation card, but the order is almost always executed immediately once validated. HistWar, in real-time, can make the player experience the true Napoleonic frustration: giving an order and having to wait, without knowing exactly when or how it will be executed—which paradoxically brings the experience closer to the real lived experience of a commander-in-chief than a turn-based system does.


The five (or three, depending on the version) AI engines

HistWar uses five artificial intelligence engines to better model the chain of command at the army, corps, division, brigade, and regiment levels. This is an attempt to simulate the decision-making hierarchy itself: each level has its own decision logic, with its own delays and relative autonomy—which quite accurately reproduces the real problem of Napoleonic generals (Ney, Grouchy...) who interpreted orders with a degree of autonomy. Paper simulates this very schematically via "command" rules (a general's control radius, a roll to activate a unit out of range), but rarely with a five-level hierarchy that interacts continuously.


What paper still does better

  • System transparency: On the tabletop, an experienced player knows exactly why their unit lost (they saw the table, the modifier, the die). In HistWar, the result emerges from a combination of opaque factors—more realistic in a sense (the true chaos of battle isn't always explainable), but less pedagogical for understanding why.
  • Negotiation of edge cases: On the tabletop, two players can discuss an ambiguous case and decide together. A computer engine applies its rule without discussion, even if it produces a result that seems counter-intuitive.


In summary: HistWar aims for granular and continuous realism (real position, command delay, morale cascade), while paper achieves conventional and transparent realism (readable abstractions, collectively debated). Both can be equally "realistic" in their outcome, but their way of achieving it—and what they ask the player to understand—differs profoundly.

Perrine Mathe
#8
Schwerpunkt / Retirement Finally Happened on...
Last post by Asid - September 02, 2026, 09:29:27 PM
The future plans for Schwerpunkt by Ron
02 Sept 2026


See post here
#9
General Discussion / ETC 2026 – The Biggest Flames ...
Last post by Asid - September 02, 2026, 05:51:52 PM
ETC 2026 – The Biggest Flames of War Tournament of the Year Is Made in Italy!
August 16, 2026



By Paolo Paglianti

Twenty-six teams made up of 156 players converged on Milan for four days of Flames of War. Wargaming friends from every corner of the globe came together for dice rolling and good times. For me, it was a dream that finally came true.


I first started playing at ETC thanks to an invitation from my friend Soren Petersen, who in 2022 asked me to play as a "mercenary" for the Icelandic team. What an experience! All the best FOW players in the world compete for a spot on their national team—or, indeed, as mercenaries—to take part in the most important and prestigious tournament of the year. That year, with Team Iceland, we also won the award for "Most Sporting Team," and I even finished second in the individual standings.

Over the following three years, I returned as a regular member of Team Italy, with more than satisfactory results: third place in Belgium, another third place in Poland, and second place in Austria. However, since I also really enjoy organizing tournaments (I've been doing it since 2001!), from my very first ETC I had dreamed of bringing the event to Milan, Italy. And finally, I managed to do it!


The colorful brigade of 156 players (and two umpires!) at ETC 2026!


Preparing for ETC 2026
While the lights were literally still going out on ETC 2025, together with the Milan club staff we submitted our bid. The venue was the sports hall at the Sandro Pertini Sports Centre—a rather fitting name, considering that Sandro Pertini was one of Italy's most beloved Presidents and one of the leaders of the anti-Fascist Resistance.

The sports hall is a huge basketball court of around 800 square metres. In our original bid, we expected to have enough space for 20 or 22 teams. Other advantages included the possibility of eating on site at the Sports Centre's Pub Pertini, with different menus every day, and being strategically located within easy reach of Milan's two airports, Malpensa and Linate.

On top of that, the hotels in my home town of Cornaredo are very close to the venue. One is literally across the street from the sports hall, while the other is about three minutes away by car and offers a highly efficient free shuttle service.

We won the Captains' vote—with just one vote separating us from our friends from Greece—and from September 2025 onwards, we immediately got to work.



In every tournament I organize, I love giving each player a painted souvenir. For the ETC, that meant painting 160 small Semovente tanks and adding them to a turn counter. I started 3D-printing and painting them back in late February!


The tables
One of the Milan club's promises was that ETC 2026 in Italy would have gaming tables worthy of such an important event. Since I regularly organize FOW tournaments, including the Italian National, I already had 10 completed tables in my garage. Together with the tables owned by the Milan club, we had around 30 very good and highly varied tables. The ETC chairmen then introduced a new system for classifying the six tables making up each "group," ensuring that the two teams playing against each other would face a suitably varied selection of terrain. The categories ranged from "City," with 50% of the table covered by buildings or ruins—think the Fall of Berlin or Stalingrad—which favour infantry, to "Countryside," with a majority of hills and woods, and "Steppe," which is more open and better suited to tank armies. The response from all the Italian clubs was simply moving. Right from the beginning, friends from the clubs in Trieste, Assisi, Padua and Verona, Turin, Trento, and even Switzerland offered to lend me their tables.

I therefore created a classification system to allocate the tables to the different groups according to the ETC requirements. Here you can find the Google Sheet showing all the tables and where they came from. This was shared to all Captains, Chairmen and players, to check every single table layout.

Read on...
#10
World War II Europe 1939-1945 / Re: Retirement Finally Happene...
Last post by Asid - September 02, 2026, 05:17:01 PM
Great news Ron  :thumbsup

Civil war sounds interesting. Maybe war of independance?

Regards