A is for Alphabetised wargame, sim, and site news. Now and again, assuming I can persuade Austerity’s Blackburn Cirrus Bombardier engine to perform the miracle of internal combustion, I spend a few days scouring Simulatia and Grognardia for stories with the potential to fascinate, startle, cheer, dismay or amuse. Those stories are then dehydrated, alphabetised and delivered, via articles like this one, to people who’ve got better things to do than plough through puff and platitudes.

B is for Biggish announcement

After much soul-searching, discussion, and envelope-back arithmetic, me and Roman have made the difficult decision to take a six-month sabbatical starting on January 1. We won’t be treating this service interruption as a holiday. We intend to use it to overhaul the increasingly temperamental Corner, readying it for the next five years of quirky news dissemination and thoughtful criticism. We’re also taking a breather because we’re keen to fulfil a lifelong ambition. Aware that they’re in chronically short supply, the duo that brought you ‘cult classics’ such as Das Football Boot and Crab Simulator 2014 plan to fashion and release a computer game next year.

Right now we haven’t decided which unfinished GameMaker prototype we’re going to blow the dust off, but chances are the ‘unmissable’ diversion we deliver mid-summer will be 2D and involve English history, literature, or folklore. Don’t expect fancy graphics or breathtaking ambition. Do anticipate at least ten quid’s worth of depth, novelty, and replayability.

C is for Cessation of the airlift

Naturally, Roman and I aren’t expecting the gallant/generous airlifters to fund The Interval. Later today, all subscriptions will be paused*. In the weeks to come, assuming all goes to plan, THC will lose its rougher edges and migrate to a new, reliable web host** and I’ll do my best to commune with my inner Sid Meier. For the first half of 2026 the man-hours and creative energy that previously went into writing articles and concocting foxers, will be channelled into site refurbishment and game design instead.

* Paused subscriptions should be cancellable.

** One that actually responded to technical support requests would be nice. Any recommendations, Cornerites?

D is for Do keep visiting the Corner

Assuming orders are forthcoming, Bounce the Bogen, the ongoing game of play-by-comment Combat Mission will continue as normal until the turn limit (35) is reached. Roman may get restless and produce a foxer from time to time, and, occasionally I may take a break from coding and spritewrighting to post something short.

E is for Enablers enshrined and rewarded

Hopefully, those of you who’ve been kind enough to sustain the site these past five years feel you’ve had your money’s worth, and will drift back once Roman and myself have relocated, refurbished, and worked through our belated mid-life crises. The thirty airlifters who’ve delivered the most supplies since January 2021 will get a complimentary copy of the game when it’s ready, and if, as seems fairly probable, our creation ends up featuring named personnel or minor characters, at some point I’ll be asking past and present subscribers if they’d like to lend their surname to an NPC.

F is for Fresh demo from Franzoar

Approach battles in the latest Kriegsspiel trial the way you approach battles in Master of Command, Ultimate General, or Total War and the defeats will come thick and fast. Because Franzoar’s 18th Century WIP hides out-of-LoS friendlies as assiduously as it hides out-of-LoS foes, and distributes all orders, intel, and supplies using interceptable couriers and carts, colossal SNAFUs are always just one poorly defended line of communication away.

G is for Geoff is back

Unchanged for almost two decades, Geoffrey J. Crammond’s credits list at MobyGames looks likely to lengthen in the next year or two. Not only is born-again MicroProse bringing enhanced versions of all four of Geoff’s well-regarded F1 sims to Steam, they’ve hinted a new entry in the series is in the works.

H is for Hexes always need turns?

Hexed battlefields in turnless wargames usually make me grimace. Could that be because I’ve next to no experience of Nineties obscurity Napoleon 1813? Given a second chance by Strategy First, Empire Interactive’s surprisingly ambitious dual-layer wargame would have benefited from a pre-re-release camera overhaul (mouse and keyboard are poorly utilised) and a more appropriate Steam banner image. However, an impressive campaign engine and promising battle mechanics (order delays, nationality rules, numerous formation options…) quickly sidelined my early misgivings.

I is for IFfy Waterloo

Both of Burden of Command’s writers hail from the same region of video gaming – interactive fiction – and both have gone on to create solo projects chock-a-block with words and military history. While Allen Gies chose to stop in WW2 after BoC, Paul Wang has retreated, not for the first time, to the cusp of the 19th Century. Recreating the atmosphere and spectacle of battles like Waterloo and Austerlitz with text sounds like an awfully big ask. How well will Napoleonic soldier sim Shadow of the Eagles cope? Patreon backers should find out in the next month or two. The less patient could well find clues in past Paul Wang creations such as Sabres of Infinity.

J is for “Just the quiet horror of paperwork in war”

12 Months: Vietnam’s platoon management plus Squad Battles or Close Combat-style engagements? Enticing. 12 Months: Vietnam’s platoon management on its lonesome? I’m a tad sceptical, but will, of course, reserve judgement until I’ve some first-hand experience of AlphaSixGames’ rear-echelons wargame. It reports for duty on Jan 26.

K is for Kwestionable funding decisions

How many of the 41 concepts that secured Creative Europe funding last year will actually mature into finished games? Going by past years, not many. As usual, most of the funded ideas don’t have European settings or subject matter. One of the few exceptions is the genuinely intriguing 1969: The Final Cut…

“a historical narrative adventure set in the world of Czechoslovak cinema, offering a unique blend of interactive storytelling and an unconventional game mechanic — creating your own film. As an aspiring young director in the turbulent aftermath of the Prague Spring in 1968, you must make your way through the evolving realities of censorship, ambition, and artistic integrity. Inspired by the visionary filmmakers of the Czechoslovak New Wave, players step into a world where cinema was both an art form and an act of defiance. What begins as a dream of making your first feature film soon becomes a test of resilience, as state control tightens its grip on culture and creativity. The Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 marked the end of a fleeting era of artistic freedom, replacing it with repression, censorship, and a climate of fear.”

…from Charles Games.

L is for Liftoff lets off

On-sale drone piloting sim Liftoff isn’t quite as windy as Samson, a bull terrier of my acquaintance, but it’s getting there. Fans have been requesting mischievous air currents for almost a decade, and just before Christmas they finally arrived.*

* On some maps. If you opt into the experimental beta.

M is for Midway mayhem on the horizon

A new Taskforce Admiral demo is set to strain arrestor cables later this week and the first incarnation of the full game shouldn’t be far behind:

“The release proper is set for the end of January, possibly early February if things don’t go 100% according to plan (but we hope to meet the deadline in good order). It will be a bit bare-bones perhaps for those who have played the demo extensively, but Midway should be absolutely playable, possibly with half a dozen or so scenarios and variants making the best use of available objects and settings. We aren’t promising something revolutionary immediately, but the goal is to provide our Kickstarter backers with access to the game within a reasonable timeframe, and we’ll keep building from then on. Obviously, early access means that there’s still much work to be done, but we’re getting to the point where it’s more generic work than fundamental work, considering the game mechanics and stability seem strong enough to us.

At any rate, those who might harbor any doubt are welcome to try the demo before buying, or keep the demo as long as needed until they consider our pricing fair.

Said pricing is not going to be “hardcore wargame” premium. Something closer to what you had with Sea Power. The final call will be made at the time of release, based on immediate business considerations. We do hope, though, that the presence of a demo will help ensure that everybody knows well in advance what they’re getting, so that no misunderstanding sours our relationship with future newcomers to our fanbase.”

N is for No more vids from the Armchair Historian

Was Griffin Johnsen’s decision to stop making bijou history documentaries influenced by the success of Master of Command? We should find out soon. Having added a new playable nation, an endless campaign mode, and a demo to likeable Master of Command in the dying days of 2025, Armchair History Interactive intend to spend the first quarter of 2026 focused on “fine-tuning, bugfixing, and AI”.

O is for Over and under FPS

Those with fond memories of Deer Hunter’s feathered sibling Bird Hunter, need to keep a beady eye on BULT’s Steam page. What looks from the videos I’ve watched and the articles I’ve read, to be the PC’s most realistic fowl downing sim, has been out in Russia for a while and should be hitting Steam any day now.

P is for Premature nostalgia

The disappearance of the long-lived Class 455s from the British rail scene is bad news for those of us with soft spots for endearingly ugly multiple units, but good news for purveyors of digital recreations of the type. Doubtless, Armstrong Powerhouse are seeing sales of their Class 455 enhancement packs spike as wistful enthusiasts attempt to assuage sorrow with the help of the trio (!) of Train Simulator Classic 455s.

One of the less obvious fringe benefits of rail enthusiasm is it teaches you to appreciate the ubiquitous. Once you’ve witnessed the passing of one quotidian class, it’s hard to look at anything – animal, vegetable, or mineral – currently considered commonplace without a twinge of prescient sadness. If there’s such a thing as premature nostalgia, the hardcore train lover is familiar with it.

Q is for Quick fag card

While some of the ‘history’ served up by History of Naval Dress – a fifty-card set issued by John Player & Sons in 1930 – is a bit dodgy, splendid art makes this one of my all-time favourite cigarette card sets. Like Commandos 2, HoND isn’t too hot on Arctic wildlife. The heavily winterised penguin inspector on card #8 is meant to be searching for the North West Passage in the company of George Weymouth!

R is for Retro Cobra sim

Due next year, the payware follow-up to the free Defender Patrol will go by the name Low Level Hunters and star everyone’s favourite flying serpent, the AH-1. Improvements such as a campaign mode, improved unit AI, desert and Arctic environments, and temperature and wind effects should help the sequel stand out from its forerunner.

S is for Scandi drama

Armored Brigade II’s first DLC is imminent and will include one of the Cold War’s most unorthodox AFVs – the low profile Stridsvagn 103 – and one of its most distinctive aircraft – the Saab 35 Draken. Covering the armed forces of Norway and Denmark as well as Sweden, AB2: Scandinavia is being readied alongside an engine update that will introduce “the first foundations of AI stances designed to make battlefield intent clearer and more expressive, and a revamped anti-air missile model where guidance types and countermeasures play a much more significant role.”

T is for THC’s 2025

Gosh, I’ve prodded the ‘PUBLISH’ button over three hundred times this year. While short daily pieces, foxers, and Bounce the Bogen updates have made up the bulk of my output, I reckon I can look back on the selection of previews, reviews, interviews, and other features furnished by THC in 2025, with a modicum of pride. Show me another PC gaming site that, in the past twelve months, has, in addition to shining spotlights on dozens of relatively obscure wargames and sims, organised a virtual rail tour of County Durham, scrutinised police and firefighting diversions, quizzed readers about the Geneva Conventions, pondered AI coding assistants, used the alphabet to recommend 26 great games, and interviewed their cousin.

U is for Ukrainian units

Although adding drones to Firefight via a mod is probably impossible, Flexxy’s otherwise-well-equipped adjunct does a pretty good job of turning Sean O’Connor’s cracking Close Combat substitute into a top-down Ukraine War RTT. Units available on the pre-battle purchase screen include M1A2s, Challenger 2s, Stridsvagn 122s, and Stugna and Javelin teams.

V is for Virginian vigil

Does the fact that Modern Naval Warfare, a spiritual successor to Dangerous Waters, commenced beta testing in late October, mean this Maslas Bros/Matrix Games project will be involved in a violent collision with a bottle of bubbly sometime next year? Normally I’d speculate ‘yes’, but as the game has already missed multiple ETAs, simmers interested in operating a deeply-modelled Virginia-class SSN could still have a long wait ahead.

W is for Warthog substitute

Nuclear Option owners got a rugged Warthog substitute for Christmas, amongst other things. The fictional A-19 Brawler has plenty of “redundant control services” (always useful in NO’s flak-rich skies) and can unstick with a hefty 57mm can opener on it ventral centreline, and prodigious quantities of AGMs, rockets, and bombs (including glide bombs) attached to its hardpoints.

X is for Xcavate or die

Briefly playable last summer, Dig In’s pre-alpha demo has returned. There are no tutorials, but extensive tooltips, a fairly intuitive GUI, and helpful nudges from a ‘notifications’ panel, mean it probably won’t be long before your Tommies have a hot meal inside them, a dry place to kip, and a trench to protect them from Boche attacks and bombardments. The game’s title is somewhat misleading. While turtling is fun, you’ll need to take the fight to the enemy in order to beat the demo.

Y is for Yeasty war game

Running a village bakery in occupied Belgium during WW2 can be tricky, especially when flour is scarce, one of your regular customers is a German soldier, and you’ve got nervous ‘relatives’ hiding in your attic. Created for a museum in Nazareth, East Flanders, and reminiscent of Gerda: A Flame in Winter*, Hidden Heroes is totally free and available in both downloadable and browser form.

* A bargain £3.60 at the moment.

Z is for Zaragoza deftly defended

It’s not often you hear a dev say something like this…

“To be honest, it’s the best wargame AI I’ve ever played against. And I’ve played against most of them!”

…about their own AI. The bold claim appears in the latest dev diary entry for hexy heavyweight War In Spain 1936-39. Clearly Project Lead Joe Wilkerson’s is proud of his unscripted silicon generals. By early Feb we should know whether early adopters of “the most realistic and engrossing WWII-era European theater game available” (the blurb on the official page is also pretty confident) share his positivity.