HexWar – Stately Play

Putting the Carthage before the horse; Commands and Colors: Ancients now live on Steam

September 12, 2018 David Neumann 5

iOS & Android (soon), PC/Mac (out now) • It’s been a long while since we’ve heard from the folks at HexWar which may be because their last few releases weren’t given the warmest of receptions in the hallowed halls of Stately Manor. That said, their next project is a digital port of GMT Games‘ seminal card-driven block game, Commands & Colors: Ancients. We love the cardboard version so we’re willing to give them a little leeway and see what they can come up with. As luck would have it, today is the day we see how they did as C&C: Ancients has just been released onto Steam for PC and Mac.

Sequel to 1775: Rebellion, 1812: The Invasion of Canada released

August 4, 2017 David Neumann 5

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • Last week Kelsey compared HexWar to Lucy van Pelt with the rest of us taking on the role of Charlie Brown running at the football. Well, let’s just say that the ball has been teed up again, and it’s up to us if we’re going to take the bait. Unfortunately, the football in this case is a pretty great board game from Academy called 1812: The Invasion of Canada, which means I’ll probably end up charging toward the App Store. I’m really hoping I don’t end up on my back this time.

Review: Lightning: D-Day

July 27, 2017 Kelsey Rinella 4

iOS, Android • Dave has given me the impression that HexWar are the Lucy van Pelt to our Charlie Brown, repeatedly advertising wonderful games and delivering troubled ones once we get our hopes up. I assume that, once the running gag had been established, the challenge for Charles Schultz was to find a way to create interest in a joke with a predictable ending. With Lightning: D-Day, HexWar did it by translating to app from a well-regarded, unusually simple WWII card game famous for its poorly-written rules. I had hoped that the combination of a lower degree of difficulty than their ambitious past games mixed with an easily addressed problem in the cardboard version made this a superb candidate for an unqualified HexWar success. Then again, we all know how this joke ends.

Lordz and HexWar combine forces on the just released Lightning: D-Day

July 14, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • We’ve known that the wargame developers Lordz Games Studio and HexWar are working on bringing the classic GMT title, Commands & Colors: Ancients, to our iPads for a bit. What we didn’t know is that C&C: Ancients isn’t the only project they’ve been teaming up on. This morning they launched another board game (well, card game) conversion on iOS, Android, and PC/Mac based on a 2004 Dan Verssen design, Lightning: D-Day.

First look at upcoming Commands & Colors: Ancients

June 28, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, PC/Mac • The Commands & Colors series already has its share of digital versions available on Steam or the App Store. Memoir ’44 was pushed out as a free-to-play PC game well before Days of Wonder clambered under Asmodee‘s umbrella, Fantasy Flight published a take on BattleLore for tablets only a couple years ago, and, last year, HexWar launched the World War I title, The Great War, on both Steam and iPad. That’s all well and good, but we’ve been told for eons that GMT Games was bringing the ultra-blocky Commands & Colors: Ancients to the digital realm and, thus far, have nothing to show for it. This month’s GMT Update changes that, giving us our first look at HexWar’s take on the venerable C&C entry.

Next up for HexWar, the War of 1812

May 12, 2017 David Neumann 8

iPad, Android Tablet, PC, Mac, Linux • While you’re probably familiar with the fact that, last year, HexWar published a digital version of Academy Games‘ wonderful 1775: Rebellion, you might not be aware that 1775 isn’t the only game in the series. It’s actually only one of three games dealing with early American warfare with the others covering the French and Indian War of 1754 and the War of 1812. The games aren’t clones of each other, but they do share several similarities, so I had been wondering if HexWar would be porting the others to digital at some point down the line. We aren’t sure about 1754, but today they did confirm that 1812: The Invasion of Canada will be coming to in June.

The patches are coming! 1775: Rebellion updated to version 2.0

April 12, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • As a huge fan of the tabletop version, 1775: Rebellion was one of my most anticipated board game ports in 2016. When it launched in November, it managed to capture the light brilliance of its forebear, but as Matt mentioned in his review, was a bit subpar in terms of AI and other glitches here and there. Fear not, fellow gamers, for HexWar has been on the case and has just released a massive update to the PC/Mac version that will soon also be coming to the App Store.

The Great War comes to iPad

March 24, 2017 David Neumann 0

iPad, PC/Mac • When Commands & Colors: The Great War was released earlier this year for PC/Mac, HexWar assured us that it would only be a matter of time before we could play the Commands & Colors title on our tablets. True to their word, yesterday The Great War was unleashed on the App Store.

Short Cuts: The Horus Heresy: Battle For Tallarn

February 9, 2017 Alex Connolly 1

iOS Universal, PC/Mac • The Games Workshop licensing bonanza continues. Crazy Warehouse Man says all licenses must go by midnight tonight! No exceptions. Battlefleet Gothic: SOLD! Man-o-War: Bring your floaties, we’ve got the flintlocks! Necromunda: It just makes such perfect sense! And don’t think we forgot about your massed armour fans! Sadly, that’s as excited as I’ll ever get when discussing HexWar’s absolutely perfunctory turn-based effort. I’m beginning to think they’ve kept the art team on and sent the coders home. What makes The Horus Heresy: Battle of Tallarn a tough one to level criticism at is a by-the-book approach to both source material and its tactical crunch. If ever a game felt like it was helping a studio reach a monthly quota, Battle of Tallarn is it.

HexWar set to tackle the Horus Heresy with Battle of Tallarn

February 2, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS Universal, PC/Mac • HexWar, HexWar, HexWar. Seems like we can’t go a week without more HexWar news popping up. It’s not rehashing a release we’ve already talked about before, either, it’s all new stuff. First The Great War launches, then we find out they’ve teamed up with GMT Games for more Commands & Colors, and now we learn they’re going to tackle endless war by entering into the Warhammer 40K universe. That’s right, they’ve teamed up with Games Workshop and are bringing a new Warhammer title to PC, Mac and iOS: The Battle of Tallarn.