Matrix Games Forums

It has been some time since Armored Brigade wrote the book on combined arms warfare. Now, it has returned to open a new chapter...with Armored Brigade II.

Set against the tense backdrop of the Cold War, “Armored Brigade II” offers a plethora of enhancements and innovative features in comparison to its predecessor. The game shifts from a 2D to a more immersive 3D environment. Furthermore, it introduces a refined waypoint editor system, major improvements to the spotting sharing system, enhanced infantry mechanics, expanded fire and air support options, and many more novelties.

This is EXTRAORDINARY news!

To be fair, except for some quirks in initial positioning and pathfinding when moving in columns, my only real gripe with the game was that having to use an isometric map was really inconvenient. That problem should be completely out of the way with the change to 3D.

I hope the marvelous AI from the first game is up to the task. Then again, it already had to process heights and occlusions so maybe the leap isn't that huge?

All in all, this is probably an instant purchase on day 1!


EDIT: Oh, and I hope infantry is a bit quicker on their feet now or at least able to be transported by other vehicles as well.

Fantastic news. I cannot wait. I know this is a painful question but any sense of a ROM release date - 2024?

Sunbather wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 6:05 pm This is EXTRAORDINARY news!

To be fair, except for some quirks in initial positioning and pathfinding when moving in columns, my only real gripe with the game was that having to use an isometric map was really inconvenient. That problem should be completely out of the way with the change to 3D.

I hope the marvelous AI from the first game is up to the task. Then again, it already had to process heights and occlusions so maybe the leap isn't that huge?

EDIT: Oh, and I hope infantry is a bit quicker on their feet now or at least able to be transported by other vehicles as well.

You'll be pleased to learn that we have completely reworked column movement, which now operates flawlessly. Movement in general has been enhanced, and there is significantly less friction on roads.

Infantry hasn't been made faster (a sustained 4km/h speed is already at the realistic limit of human endurance), but they can now dash to the nearest cover when under fire, or crawl. We have also introduced motorized troops. You can detach dismount formation from their vehicles without experiencing delay penalty.

midnight_mangler wrote: Wed Sep 13, 2023 5:42 am Fantastic news. I cannot wait. I know this is a painful question but any sense of a ROM release date - 2024?

Yes, 2024. We still have at least 6 months of development left, including beta testing.

Will there be Campaign ?

of course!

Good news! I am happy to see this!

MP in the near or far plans?

Hoping for much better UI Scaling per the the text vs the first one.

nikolas93TS wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 5:24 pm of course!

Linear or dynamic ?

budd wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 5:11 pm MP in the near or far plans?

In the far plan, once we figure out how to implement it effectively. Likely turn-based only.

As for campaigns, both types are planned.

Thanks for the reply. Turned based ala combat mission with a turn replay would be fine.

nikolas93TS wrote: Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:19 pm

budd wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 5:11 pm MP in the near or far plans?

In the far plan, once we figure out how to implement it effectively. Likely turn-based only.

As for campaigns, both types are planned.

Will it be only "classic" Cold War USSR vs NATO, or will there be some smaller scale wars, like Korean, Vietnam, Russo-Ukraine 2022 ?

I hope you can introduce drones and EW

when we can expect gameplay footage ?

nikolas93TS wrote: Wed Sep 13, 2023 12:06 pm
You'll be pleased to learn that we have completely reworked column movement, which now operates flawlessly. Movement in general has been enhanced, and there is significantly less friction on roads.

Infantry hasn't been made faster (a sustained 4km/h speed is already at the realistic limit of human endurance), but they can now dash to the nearest cover when under fire, or crawl. We have also introduced motorized troops. You can detach dismount formation from their vehicles without experiencing delay penalty.

That sounds very good! And yes, it is probably good that you just leave infantry at a realistic speed. The only thing seriously exacerbating this was the bad teamwork between IFV/APC and its infantry. I hope now you can attach an infantry unit to a new vehicle as well? In fact, both units should be able to act completely independent. Similar to Combat Mission titles. But I am sure you'll work something out. Great first blog post btw!

adarbrauner wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2023 5:06 pm I hope you can introduce drones and EW

+1 for having this possibility even if it is less Cold War than modern times.

PanzerCro wrote: Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:31 am

nikolas93TS wrote: Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:19 pm

budd wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 5:11 pm MP in the near or far plans?

In the far plan, once we figure out how to implement it effectively. Likely turn-based only.

As for campaigns, both types are planned.

Will it be only "classic" Cold War USSR vs NATO, or will there be some smaller scale wars, like Korean, Vietnam, Russo-Ukraine 2022 ?

Good question, I hope the modding possibilities will allow simulating a wide range of modern conflicts.

In a future teaser, I will be interested to see the infantry movements.

Thanks in advance

A new dev log would be appreciated