Matrix Games

WarPlan Dev Diary #5: Supply system

Posted: 5 AUG 2019

You can now check the latest Dev Diary for WarPlan!

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WarPlan Dev Diary #4 - Production

Posted: 22 JUL 2019

With the production system I examined the materials and facilities that were critical to war during that time period. Then I thought about the complexity of making that system work that let players have options with minimal management. In Commander Europe at War they had manpower and oil which everyone seemed to like. It made players consider their options in unit balancing between oil, production, and manpower. 

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WarPlan Dev Diary #3 - Naval System

Posted: 8 JUL 2019

Most naval battles occurred within a very short span of time over long distances. Simulating this on the WarPlan scale of 2 weeks is a difficult task. Consider the map following the Bismarck and the Prince Eugen. This whole engagement took just 1 week from the day the left port to the day the battleship was sunk. It took half the British navy to find her at sea. Another example is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The movement and attack on Pearl Harbor took 11 days crossing 140 hexes WarPlan hexes of map distance. The complexities of recreating realistic scenarios are a challenge to say the least.

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WarPlan Previews

Posted: 28 JUN 2019

Hello Commanders,

WarPlan has recently entered Beta Phase and we'd like to share what a selected pool of wargamers have said in their previews and articles so far! Of course, being in beta means that many things could change during the development, so what you are going to see is not final.

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WarPlan Dev Diary #2 - Land and Air System

Posted: 24 JUN 2019

The land system for a wargame is one of the most crucial parts of the game. Land units allow you to control territory which is how you win the game. Nothing generates as much excitement and a healthy level of anxiety than seeing a Russian front stretched from Leningrad to Rostov with both players desperately trying to achieve their goals while feeling they don’t have enough resources just as the weather turns to mud.

I wanted to add flavor to the operational level of WarPlan without overwhelming the players with information or actions. I tried to take what was important and incorporate it as simple decisions for units grouped in as few categories as possible. This way they can make quick decisions without overwhelming procedures. This is also incorporated into the fog of war system which is based on inaccurate and incomplete information instead of being completely blind to what is happening where. Play like a general not a calculator.

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WarPlan Dev Diary #1 - Introduction

Posted: 10 JUN 2019

This story starts out when a 15 year old kid was introduced to the game Rise and Decline of the Third Reichfrom Avalon Hill back in 1982. A friend taught me the game in a learn the rules and watch me exploit your lack of knowledge method. He would pull out convenient rules when it suited him and didn’t tell me rules that helped me. He thoroughly kicked my ass by 1942 as the Axis as I had little clue as to what I was doing. For most people this would only encourage them never to play the game again. Instead I became fascinated.

Since then I have played just about every game that has involved WW2 on a grand strategy scale. If I didn’t play it I at least read the rules of the game to understand the system. 

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Take WWII into your hands and create your best WarPlan!

Posted: 8 MAY 2019

Your name is unknown. Your deed is immortal - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)

WarPlan is a game like few others. It is more than a WWII game. It’s a tool. Merging the experience of 50 years in wargaming, WarPlan puts in players’ hands the control of virtually everything.

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