Fortification Pack Another unit pack, again with one unit per faction, but hey, now there are two extra factions. More value! All the units are themed around – wait for it – fortification. Of the six, four are actually immobile structures deployed by engineer-type units with the Fortification trait, so they will capture and hold adjacent outposts automatically, like the original Space Marine Fortress of Redemption. The remaining two are a little special. The Aquila Macro-Cannon goes to the Space Marines – an absolutely giant fortification that fires two shells with 5(!) range, which can hit up ..read more

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in the grim, dark future of the year 40,000 must be in want of war. Warhammer 40,000: Gladius: Relics of War – we’re just going to call it Gladius – is one such war, featuring the regular misfit cast of fantasy tropes shot into space with enough DLC to sit at Paradox’s lunch table. Gladius includes four factions with DLC adding seven more, with additional smaller “unit pack” DLCs adding new units to each faction available at the time of the pack’s release. Gladius, despite turning 5 in 2023, honestly hasn’t aged much. While there are man ..read more

Let’s just rip the bandaid off: Have you played Heroes of Might and Magic 3? I know. I hear your groans. At this point, it’s thoroughly cliche for touchstone games to get trotted out and compared to any new 4x or 4x-adjacent. Any game that starts with little people in loincloths discovering farming is compared to Civilization. Any game with galaxies and spaceships is compared to Stellaris. Any game with swords and spells is compared to Master of Magic. And these comparisons will, inevitably, not be favorable. You can’t go home again. But Songs of Conquest (Songs) openly invites this comparison ..read more

With Eldritch Realms already on the horizon and even more premium DLC confirmed after that (a second season of DLC is a first for the series!), let’s look back at the Wolf and Primal Fury era. Hungry Like the Wolf Well known for being the sickest animal to have painted on the side of your van, Wolf is also the name of the latest Age of Wonders 4 (AoW4) content patch because research shows decimals are confusing. It’s probably better to hand out goofy names because Triumph’s versioning mathematically seems like barely any progress has been made (Wolf is “only” 1.006). This is certainly not the ..read more

Hey 4X fans, we’re sorry for the lapse in content these past couple of months. Things have been hectic here at eXplorminate headquarters. However, we’re finally settling back into our routine. That said, we have a review of the newest Old World DLC in the works and a full review of Songs of Conquest, the latest contender for the Heroes of Might and Magic throne. We also interviewed Proxy Studios about their fantastic combat-focused 4X, ZEPHON; you’ll want to hear it. There’s some excellent new information provided and some exciting changes coming to gameplay that you’ll really want to know. B ..read more

This is an addendum to the StarDrive Plus: Starting Out As The Humans (2023) article and was intended to be released within a week or two of that article. Be sure to take a look at it if you haven’t seen it, or if you find this one confusing and need to refresh your memory. All factions in StarDrive Plus (a single installer for StarDrive 1 with the Black Box and Combined Arms mods) have access to a common set of orbital defense platforms/stations. Although they can use the same weapons as ships, they’re most effective when armed with specialized weapons that can only be used on these hulls. S ..read more

When Solium Infernum was first announced, I confess to being excited without being particularly informed. I didn’t read any of the coverage, and consequently, I imagined a traditional 4X set in Hell. The prospect of interesting factions, units, and mechanics captured my imagination, and I jumped at the chance to review the game.  It turns out that reading announcement headlines may not be as informative as taking the time to read preview articles. Solium Infernum is not a 4X set in Hell. It’s not any kind of 4X. It is, instead, a complex and fascinating turn-based board game with some uni ..read more

Songs of Silence is a unique-looking 4X, with some key features that set it apart from traditional 4X strategy games: Single Evening Gameplay: Songs of Silence is designed to offer a satisfying gaming experience in a single evening, catering to modern gamers with limited availability of time. Mix of Gameplay Elements: It combines turn-based strategy with hero development, where players manage resources, make crucial decisions in battles, and engage in real-time battles enriched with auto battlers and playing cards. Kingdom Management: The game focuses on managing three resources – gold, ston ..read more

A millennium after mankind’s near-extinction, a few sleeping “Emissaries” of the old world rise from the ashes of the apocalypse in an attempt to reunite humanity and begin again. Revival: Recolonization, developed by HeroCraft PC, retells the familiar story of Civilization, but set on an Earth that’s now alien and starring a humanity that can no longer take their environment for granted. “Ok,” says you, “so Alpha Centauri.” No. Well, ok, sort of. There are elements of Alpha Centauri here, from the themes of the game to customizing unit equipment. But that’s hardly all: the strategic layer is ..read more

After releasing my first article, 2024X: A Golden Age of 4X (eXplorminate link), I soon realized I was missing much of what will make 2024X a great year outside of new releases. Quite frankly, some of the best parts of 2024X will be the continued support some already great games will be getting this year. Old World (already received the Wonders and Dynasties DLC) Age of Wonders 4 Galactic Civilizations 4 Distant Worlds 2 Interstellar Space: Genesis Dune: Spice Wars Stellaris, I’m sure. I’m likely still missing something, as there is SO MUCH this year that it’s hard to keep track of. Let’s di ..read more