Hey folks!

Hello I’m Simon from Robotality, one of the development leads on Wargroove 2. If you’ve been hanging out in The Wargroove discord, then you may well already know me 🙂 With Wargroove 2 coming to PC and Switch later this year, we thought we’d take the time to give you a sneak peek at some of the new and improved custom creation tools we’ve been working on.

Before we start – if you’re heading to Gamescom this week, come and play Wargroove 2 at the Nintendo area of the Indie Arena Booth! The demo is also fully localised into English, French, German, EU Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.

Firstly, if you’ve used our map and campaign tools before, you’ll be happy to know that all the content (and much more!) will still be available for you to create your best battles. If you’re new to the world of custom creation, these tools have never been easier to jump right into. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the new additions.

Symmetry Tool
It’s now easier than ever to balance your multiplayer maps with the help of the 5 symmetry tool options. These magical map mirrors will work on tiles, buildings and units. 

Y-Mirror Symmetry

X-Mirror Symmetry

XY-Mirror Symmetry

2x Point Symmetry

4x Point Symmetry

Storytelling & Map-based Cutscene
Being a highly-requested feature, we’ve now added scripting functionalities for units! You can now command your units to perform attacks and movement. Additionally, we’ve also introduced the capability to script special effects directly on to map objects, so you can sprinkle in a little zhuzh and pizzazz onto the battlefield. 

We’ve also made significant strides in dialogue options. Our multiple-choice dialogue system now enables branched scripts, helping you deliver a more personalized narrative journey. 

For those who enjoy story-driven experiences, you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve also added story-only maps. This means you can now enjoy non-combat stories, which you’ll see utilised in our own campaigns where you can interact with characters and objects.

Weather and daytime visuals can now be altered on the fly, primarily for storytelling purposes, be it a skirmish in the sun or a raid during a stormy night.

Lastly, we’ve introduced a screenshake feature for those scenes that call for a little wibble wobble.

Wang Tilesets
Why is it called that? It’s named after mathematician, Hao Wang, who coined the term to describe tile arrangements that had matching edges without breaks in their pattern. For Wargroove 2 we looked holistically at all of the creation tool feedback and felt Wang tilesets were the answer.

One of the largest bits of feedback that we got from our fine map-making community is that the original Wargroove tileset felt limited due to the kind of tiles that could be placed next to one another. To solve this issue we extended the complexity of the tileset and made it from a partial Wang tileset into a complete Wang tilest.

Sounds fancy you say, but what brings this to the table for us map makers? Well glad you asked: In short, way more flexibility. You can now place nearly any combination of tiles against each other without breaking the map: Want to have a stretch of islands connected via beaches that the player can walk over? Easy.

Have roads that are broader than 1 tile? No problem. 

Walls that can be combined into whole structures.? Now possible.

Deep Sea that touches the coast? Sure thing.

This feature is hard to describe as it is a very technical change but the result is super obvious once you have started making maps. You should now hit nearly no limits on how tiles can be placed. Previously maps looked a bit confusing 

Other Cool Additions
We want to make map-making as simple as possible. So whether you made a misclick with your placement or simply want to try a different option, the undo and redo feature comes to your rescue.

One of the most significant updates in Wargroove 2 is the addition of scripted bonus objectives for maps – which you’ll also get to sink your teeth into in the campaign too! This new map creation feature not only introduces an extra layer of challenge to your gameplay, but also offers opportunities for additional rewards for your players

If you’ve had the chance to play our Conquest Mode demo then you’ll know we’ve added some super cool items to bolster your units and give them that much-needed edge. In creator mode, units can now hold items, adding an element of strategy and offering diverse possibilities for gameplay. Similarly, maps can also have items, helping encourage player exploration and even tempting them to overextend themselves…

We’ve also introduced a new feature that allows you to spawn units inside travel boats or wagons via script. This gives you more control over units’ deployment and increases the strategic depth of your maps.

And finally, our new toolset also brings with it three new tilesets: cut forest, abyss, and abyss bridge, and we can’t wait to see what kind of creative things you do with them! 

Before we sign off, we want to give a shout out to all the closed beta testers who’ve been helping us refine the custom content tools for this game. Having seasoned community members, who love to create and share has empowered us to deliver the best version of these tools, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Until next time!

Simon and the Robotality team 

Hi everyone!

Today we’re sharing a mini blog update to reveal our fantastic new key art for Wargroove 2! To celebrate, we’re also extending the Steam Next Fest demo for 48 hours. That means you have until 6pm BST on Wednesday 28th June to download the demo, and play the updated Conquest mode and Multiplayer maps. Enjoy folks!

Key Art

This time we’ve teamed up with Vancouver-based artist, Justin Chan, to bring the Saffron Isles to life. A BIG thank you to Justin for creating this beautiful artwork.

The key art sees the return of Starbound’s Nuru, everyone’s best boy Caesar, notorious fire-starter Nadia, as well as Wulfar in his all-new pirate get-up. Look at that hammer upgrade!

You might also spot some new unit types in the background too. More details on these later!

We hope you’ve been enjoying playing Wargroove 2 in Steam Next Fest. If you did get a chance to try the demo, do make sure to let us know your thoughts and feelings in the feedback thread!

Until next time!

Hi everyone!

We’re excited to announce that Wargroove 2 will be taking part in this Steam Next Fest. That means you’ll be able to play the demo from June 19th – 26th, starting at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST / 2am JST / 1am CST.

The demo will be playable in English, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese (Japanese players, we’ll have news for you soon!).

In this demo we’re giving you a look at Conquest, a single-player roguelike mode completely new to Wargroove 2, as well as access to online and local co-op Multiplayer skirmishes! If you played the PAX Wargroove 2 demo, fear not, we’re made some changes based on initial player feedback, and have new commanders on the roster: Caesar, Mercia, Emeric and Dark Mercia.

Check out the Steam Next Fest demo teaser trailer here:

What’s Conquest mode?

Hands up if you crave permadeath! 🙌 In Conquest you’ll take on quick-paced, bite-sized battles, where every choice is permanent. Once you’ve selected your starting troop, plan your route to victory as you take on a series of challenges, leading up to the demo’s boss. 

The Steam Next Fest demo is of course an early snapshot of what you can expect from Conquest mode in the full game – with more trials to unlock with various Commanders, as you climb the ranks of this new challenging game mode!

What’s changed since the PAX East demo build?
We’ve made a few exciting changes to the build since our PAX demo, which we did a progress update on last month. Those changes are finally ready, with a changelist that includes:

• Lucky Coins (previously Blessings) are permanent
• Instead of one commander, you pick your commander at the beginning of the conquest. 5 commanders in total available. Selection is randomized.
• New items
• Rebalanced progression in conquest mode
• Conquest is a bit longer overall (2 elite fights)
• New events (there’s a couple of new mystery events, merchant events and heal events)
• Dedicated recruit events (with randomized capacities)
• Lots of UI Tweaks + new UI elements
• Improved controller support
• Free Move mode has been added: In non-combat maps you can move around freely without turns.
• Improved/fixed AI in Fog of War (they don’t cheat quite as directly any more)

How do I start a Multiplayer game?

In this demo you can play both Online and Local Multiplayer modes with up to 4 players, with a limited number of Commanders old and new alike at your disposal (you might notice though that we’re keeping a few a secret for now!)

To kickstart a match, select ‘Multiplayer’ from the menu and select either Local or Online. For an Online match, you can join a friend’s match by selecting the button to the bottom right and join with a code, or host a New Match and have a friend (or stranger!) join your game.
Looking for people to play with? Join our Discord and find folks who want to play!

What else will be in the full game?

• 6 Factions with 22 Commanders
• 3 Campaigns, interwoven by an explosive conclusion
• 5 new units, bringing the total unit types to 26
• Conquest mode – the new roguelike game mode
• Local and Online Multiplayer
• Map & custom campaign creation tools
• Original OST by Dale North
• French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese localisation

Where can I share feedback?Thank you for checking out our game! Please feel free to share any demo feedback you have in this Steam Forums thread. If you enjoyed the demo, and want to find out more about Wargroove 2, find us on Twitter or come and join the official Wargroove Discord. The development team often pops in to answer questions and share insights on the game’s development. Lastly, be sure to wishlist the game for a notification as soon as the full game is available later this year!

Enjoy the demo!

-Chucklefish & Robotality

Ahoy mateys!

I’m Hassan, the Narrative Designer on Wargroove 2! I’ve been responsible for expanding Aurania and the events happening within it since the first Wargroove. I’ve also led the charge in building the journeys of the new Commanders and factions we’ll meet in Wargroove 2!

When we revealed Wargroove 2 back in March, we also introduced the latest Commander to the Wargroove roster: Nadia, a notorious pirate known to her enemies as Captain Firebird.

Hailing from the Saffron Isles, Nadia leads a formidable crew of pirates who are feared for their ruthless raids and plundering of the islands surrounding Aurania. During Wargroove 2’s campaign you’ll get acquainted with Nadia’s crewmates, including the wanted men Janjak “The Ripper”, and the grinning devil Aki the “Akuma”.

Nadia and her crew often run afoul of the Heavensong Navy, who have several bounties out for Nadia and her rivals. But despite Heavensong’s bravado, they are still to this day terrified at the sight of the pirates’ skull and crossbones flag -iIt wasn’t long ago after all that Heavensong’s previous Emperor was killed by an army of undead skeletons.

While some commanders might prefer to stay back and let their armies do the dirty work, Nadia fearlessly charges into battle, wielding her signature flamethrower and striking fear into the hearts of her enemies, who believe she can command the sea itself.

Nadia’s Groove revolves around her flamethrower, which becomes increasingly powerful as it charges up. At tier 1, it can deal significant damage to a few enemies in close proximity. However, once fully charged, it becomes an unstoppable force, leaving a trail of scorch marks and burn damage in its wake.

Playing as Nadia requires a strategic approach, balancing the risks of putting her on the frontline with the rewards of her devastating attacks. But for those who are up for the challenge, she is an exciting and formidable addition to the Wargroove 2 roster.

Fun fact: Before Nadia had a flamethrower, she had a pet parrot! While we would have loved to keep this addition, once the flamethrower came into play we found Nadia had too many moving elements for the parrot to stay feasible. We miss you, dear parrot!

But while the parrot is no more, you might have already caught glimpses of Nadia’s pet battlepig named Nufnuf! 🐷 Pigs are basically the same as having a pet dog, right? Maybe we’ll share more on Nufnuf in a full Pirate Faction blog deepdive!

Thanks for reading, and we hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Nadia more when Wargroove 2 releases. In the meantime, we’ll have many more delightful development updates over on the Wargroove Twitter account, and our official Discord server.

Until next time!

– Robotality & Chucklefish

Hi everyone! I’m Stefan, Lead Game Designer on Wargroove 2! I’m really happy to be the first on the Robotality team to bring our own voice to the Wargroove Dev Blog, and we’re excited to bring you all the juicy details and deep dives into what’s new in Wargroove 2.

It’s been a busy month for Chucklefish and the Robotality team. After announcing Wargroove 2 in March, we made our way to PAX East with our shiny new demo. It was great to meet members of the Wargroove community in person and we received a lot of valuable feedback for the in-development Conquest Mode. Players on Steam also had the opportunity to give the new game-mode a try and we’ve been left with a to-do list of exciting changes we’ve been digging into!

Today, I want to dive a little into what Conquest Mode is and what changes we’re hoping to make in the future! In the demo we played as Nadia, a fiery pirate wielding a ferocious flamethrower. We’ll be doing a deepdive into the latest sea-faring Commander to join the roster in the near-future!

Conquest Mode is our take on a turn-based strategy roguelike experience using the well established Wargroove formula (with a Robotality twist!). It’s a single player game mode that offers lots of replayability and a chance to truly master turn based mechanics by ramping up the ante and putting player’s strategic abilities to the test. Some goals for Conquest Mode include:

• Battle through a randomly generated series of quick paced bite-sized skirmishes.
• Your army is persistent: if you lose a unit, they will not respawn in the next map.
• Encounter mystery events where you can gain recruits, unique items or gold.
• Select between a pool of possible starting troops and build a strategy that assures your route to victory.
• Take on increasingly challenging trials by unlocking new Commanders.

The PAX demo was our opportunity to put our ideas to the test. We had amazing feedback from members of the community who felt like the additional challenge, replayability and unique take on this old formula brings something new and exciting. So thank you to everyone who played, and especially to those who took the time to leave feedback, it means a lot to us! There’s a few things we hope to address in upcoming iterations of conquest mode. Most notably:

• Giving the player more choices. Instead of a single blessing at the beginning, we want players to have multiple opportunities to refresh their army and gain new perks. We also hope to offer more variety in starting troops so players can test out a range of armies to progress through a conquest, offering even more replayability than before!
• Make blessings permanent, so future recruits benefit from perks the player has gained earlier in a run.
• Improve the UX on the Conquest Mode screen. The map screen didn’t work as we’d hoped in communicating where players could go next – we aim to give the Conquest map a bit of a face lift to make it easier to plan the next move. We’ll also be reworking the controller support on this screen again to improve its functionality.
• Improve fog of war. No more cheating AI!

This is the first of many updates to come! Other than conquest mode, the team have been busy making each of Wargroove 2’s campaigns a pixel-perfect experience. If you want updates on future developments, be sure to follow us on the Wargroove Twitter or our Discord. Next time, we’ll be deep diving into our new Commander, Nadia – with some details about her story and what strategies she offers!

Today we are extremely excited to announce that we’ve been working in collaboration with the team at Robotality (creators of Pathway and Halfway) to bring you the much-anticipated Wargroove 2!

The extremely talented, strategy game veterans at Robotality have been not-so quietly working away to bring you an all-new kickass Wargroove experience. So get your sword and shield ready for the return of the series’ signature turn-based strategy gameplay, filled with new mechanics and modes to master, an exciting all-new campaign to discover, and a lovable cast of new Commanders to try out on the battlefield. Without further ado… check out the trailer:

About Wargroove 2

Trouble stirs on the shores of Aurania. An ambitious new faction has unearthed forbidden relics capable of catastrophic consequences. But how far will they go to achieve glory? Take to the field, sea, and sky with a cast of new Commanders, using your wits to wage turn-based war!

• An all-new Wargroove adventure for new recruits and veteran wardogs alike!
• Return to the frontline with new Commanders, as mysterious new factions join the fight
• Commanders are more powerful than ever, with an all-new tiered Groove system
• Follow 3 new Campaign arcs, interwoven in a fierce conclusion
• Battle with or against your friends in Co-Op & Multiplayer mode, locally or online for up to 4 players
• Put your strategic abilities to the test with a new roguelike mode – Conquest!
• Develop new tactics with 5 new unit types to master
• Level-up ordinary units by picking up special items
• Get more creative than ever with new & improved map, campaign & cutscene editors
• Captivating soundtrack written by composer Dale North (Nintendo eShop, Disney Wish, River City Girls 1 & 2, RWBY Arrowfell)

The extended Wargroove universe is E for everyone meaning that you don’t need to have completed Wargroove 1 in order to play Wargroove 2. Pick up and play on your own terms, in your own time, at your own pace. And if you fancy giving Wargroove 2 a go, click here!

In the meantime, if you’re ever stuck or want a buddy to play with, we have a thriving Discord community of old and new players looking to enjoy the game with you. Not on Discord? Follow us on Twitter where you can find the latest updates with bonus emojis.

We’ll be updating with blogs, tweets and behind-the-scenes content going forward, so keep your eyes peeled!

Hey y’all! Before diving in today, I wanted to let you know that this is going to be the last community spotlight we’ll be putting out for Wargroove, at least for a while. With development ramping up on Witchbrook, and Wargroove having just celebrated its third birthday, it felt like the right time to take a pause. Don’t worry, we’ll be back with even more Wargroove goodness in the future. Moregroove if you will.

With that announcement taken care of, let’s get to those community creations!

1. Canal Streets 1.0 by BarrettRTS – Code: U73PFK84
This map has some really interesting dynamics once unit production gets up and running. You’ll want to get a barge on the water fairly quickly to ferry your units across rather than taking the long winding path. Doing so will help you push back faster against the opposing forces that cut across the central streets claiming villages as they go. I really enjoyed playing this one!

2. Resolution by Xmo5 – Code: SN9F8RSW
There’s a few interesting points with this map. First, the ports on this battlefield are exclusively to recruit barges to quickly hop across the water. Secondly, the towers that are on fire are only capable of recruiting harpies, so if you want to invite any other air units to the party, you’re going to have to spend a few turns and resources to secure one of the side towers. Lastly there are a few villages situated directly on top of road tiles, so dragons have the potential to do tear them down without rebuttal.

3. Quaint v1.0.1 by justyoureventualruler – Code: CBZ2K9BC
Control of the corners are likely to decide the outcome of a match here, with several villages tantalizingly packed into these areas between each side’s barracks. A great many of these villages are sitting on road, so they’re more susceptible to a quick takedown. However don’t get too sidetracked by the treasure trove of resources here, as the strongholds are centrally positioned and pretty easy to reach. Losing track of an errant knight could be very costly to you.

4. The Encounter – v1.3 by Kokoado – Code: 5JHB9VHK
The recruitment structures are all tucked into the same area for each side, so some of these villages are decidedly longer treks to reach than what you’d see in most competitively-oriented skirmish maps. That said, the long roads at the top and bottom are prime territory for swift wagon and ballista positioning. Keeping firm control of this territory may be the key to victory as it better facilitates your access to the enemy Stronghold as well.

Bonus Dev-made Map – Face the Horde: The Cursed Keep by Armagon – Code: APRQW545
This is another entry to my “Face the Horde” series. You’ll be pitted against endless waves of enemies that come pouring out the portals, with your goal being to survive as long as you can. The strength of the enemy escalates as the match progresses, and you earn gold by defeating hostile units, so you’ll wanna make sure to finish off any weakened stragglers. Unlike prior entries to this mode, eventually enemies can start spawning in behind you as well, so you have access to a third barracks by way of compensation.

That’s it for the community maps spotlights, at least for now!
While this monthly feature will be on haitus, our players are still sharing incredible creations over on the Wargroove Discord and there’s never any shortage of new maps to download from the in-game sharing portal. What’s more, the Featured tab has been expanded to include more than 150 of the maps that we’ve highlighted on this very blog; so whether you’re a newcomer or a returning player, there’s no shortage of quality content to play!

On a personal note, I wanted to thank you folks for sticking with us all this time! When we launched Wargroove back on February 1st of 2019, I could scarcely have imagined how incredible our community of players would end up being, nor the kinds of creativity we’d get to see when we gave you access to the tools we made the game with. How has it already been three years since this wild ride started?

Rest assured, we’re far from done with Wargroove. We’ve got some exciting stuff in the pipeline and we can’t wait to be able to share it with you all in the future! Until that time, I wish you lovely folks all the very best and thanks for staying groovy!

Hello everyone, we made it to 2022! I hope you guys have had a great start to the new year. To be honest, after coming back from holiday break, I half-expected to find new standout Wargroove maps to be a bit thin on the ground as people went off to spend time with friends and loved ones. In reality not only was my assertion wrong, but I’ve also been very pleasantly surprised by the originality and effort on display in today’s highlights. Let’s dive in!

1. Gladiators – Survival Map! by Jarle – Code: G2W3HAJ4
This custom mode is impressively robust. In this three player co-op map, each player is put in control of their own gladiator tasked with surviving thirty waves of enemies. If you’re able to keep your gladiator alive and keep taking out enemy units, they will grow in strength, becoming more resistant to damage and even gaining additional effects to their grooves!

There’s also a shop each player can use between waves, with everyone starting with some funds, and earning more by taking down enemy units. These funds can be spent to get each player a single companion unit from a limited pool of options. If you’re able to use your ally effectively, taking down enemy units while keeping them in one piece, these units can level up as well!

If one of the gladiator’s is taken down, the game isn’t over yet. If one of the other players has enough gold, they can spend it to resurrect any downed gladiators. The trade-off is that they come back with none of the gold or the levels they had earned, meaning things will be tougher moving forward. The game ends when all three gladiators are taken down.

While designed for co-op, you can just as easily play this mode on your own and have a great time. Give it a shot!

2. Discord at the Volcano Base by Deminobody – Code: 3DYEHBX2
This is one of the most bizarre scenarios I’ve ever played, which makes sense because this was designed by the community. Deminobody presented the Wargroove discord with a survey for what features the map should include and then set out to build the best mission they could while adhering to the community’s choices.

The result is this mission that sees you combining different felheim units at portals to transform them into more powerful heavensong variants while fighting off a ravenous Caesar that’s running wild. It’s not super long but it’s hard not to appreciate the creativity and absurdity on display as what’s here works surprisingly well. Give it a spin if you’re in the mood for something quirky!

3. Ransacked (3.1) by Whargarbl – Code: 6URCRKV9
This map looks great and provides a tight competitive experience for those that are looking for it. In the early goings your forces are likely to be spread wide as you contest the villages, but as the economy ramps up everything tends to shift towards the center field as players attempt to take down their opponent’s Stronghold.

One thing to note is that the titular ransacking took place at the hideouts in the corners, thus they cannot be used to recruit at all and are chiefly there for thematic flair.

Bonus Dev-made Map – Dice Roll Army 4P: The Killing Desert by Armagon – Code: MS5Z4RQL
This is a four player version of the Dice Roll Army mode I made last month. Dice rolls determine your starting commander and what units will spawn for all players, mirrored in full. As the match progresses, stronger waves of units will spawn, including the possibility of spawning additional commanders, though losing a commander will not cost you the match. Victory goes to the last player with a Stronghold still standing!

That’s all for todays entries!
If you’ve made something Wargroove-related that you think deserves to be featured here, you should share it on the Wargroove Discord in the Creative channels! I regularly check those channels for cool stuff to feature, so that’s your best bet for ensuring I’ll see your work.

I’ll be back with more highlights next month, so until then you lovely folks stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Hey y’all! I can scarcely believe it’s December already, this past year has really gone by in a flash! Looking back on the last twelve months, the Wargroove community has consistently impressed me with the quality and variety of their creations; it can be really tough to pick which to shine a light on sometimes! With that said, here I present to you the final spotlight for 2021. Let’s get to it!

1. Dragonfly 1.1 by Xmo5 – Code: SF3DVWTS
Winding paths surround the rivers and lakes. Do you push your units forward along the tantalisingly open beaches and plains of the center, or do you systematically focus the villages along the roads? Another excellent competitive map from Xmo5!

2. The Pale v1.1 by Kokoado – Code: MLCGFMUD
This larger-scale map is built with fog of war play firmly in mind. There’s no shortage of forests to set up ambushes in, nor mountains to use for extending your view of the surrounding battlefield. Mask the approach of your forces to crush your foe!

3. Gimlé’s Fields by Alpha_75159 – Code: VKST2PKM
With the titular fields surrounded by water, merfolk have easy access to a number of villages as they shift from one body of water to the next. It’s a really interesting use of the terrain while keeping the central area mostly open for strike attempts on the enemy Stronghold.

Bonus Dev-made Map – Dice Roll Army: The Blistering Heights by Armagon – Code: EYLETSWV
In this Face the Horde spinoff, dice rolls determine your starting commander and what units will spawn for both players, with each mirrored in full. As the match progresses, stronger waves of units will spawn, including the possibility of spawning additional commanders, though losing a commander will not cost you the match. Victory goes to the player that destroys their opponent’s stronghold first.

The high amount of randomisation should lend the map well to high replayability. You can never be sure when a counter you need for a given threat may appear, so the mode rewards those who are most adept at making the most of the units they’ve got, while creating and exploiting weaknesses in the enemy’s ranks. I hope you guys have fun with this one!

That’s all for todays entries!
If you’ve made something Wargroove-related that you think deserves to be featured here, you should share it on the Wargroove Discord in the Creative channels! I regularly check those channels for cool stuff to feature, so that’s your best bet for ensuring I’ll see your work.

Until next time, take care of yourselves and I look forward to speaking to you all again in the new year!

Hi folks, it’s great to see you again! I’m back with more high quality maps from our lovely community with the usual little bonus from me! Let’s dive right in!

1. Meadow ver 1.0 by Mr.Cat – Code: HTHQ3Z8Y
This stunning piece of work plays as good as it looks and has some distinctive touches that I appreciated.

While most Wargroove multiplayer maps typically feature two barracks per player, this one has a third that is effectively and purposefully slowed to half production rate thanks to the necessity of using the nearby barge. There’s only one space available at each of the two drop-off zones, meaning you can only ferry across one unit every two turns. While you’ll typically want to have your highest priority units being produced by the barracks on the mainland, you still have leeway to bring over the occasional extra dog or soldier to bolster your ranks.

The other welcome wrinkle is that the lavishly decorated hideouts next to the Strongholds are exclusively for the purpose of dropping off stolen gold. If you want to get thieves in play you’ll have to recruit them from the hideouts tucked neatly into the corners. Once you’ve got one on the field you have plenty of targets that are ripe to be ransacked.

2. Far Too Near 1.3 by Fadedsun – Code: GG2VVZ5T
This map looks pretty straightforward at first glance. Then you notice just how unusually far the strongholds are from their team’s barracks. Then you also notice that each commander is starting right next to their opponent’s barracks, at low health. This is not your typical skirmish map design.

While the match will typically begin with you retreating your commanders and laying claim to villages along the way, the greater flow is all about balancing the distribution of your forces between the need to protect your very out of the way stronghold and attacking your opponent’s equally isolated one.

Also worthy of note is that four of the most central villages are sitting directly on the road, meaning they are primed for instant takedowns from a healthy dragon. This is something you’ll definitely want to watch out for, and potentially exploit to your own advantage.

3. Bords de Loire v2.0 by Kokoado – Code: KEVHE2YS (2v2) ZYXJ8K8V (1v1)
This 2v2 map, split as it is by a large winding river, poses a number of interesting choices for each team to make. The first player of each team gets responsibility for providing air units and is primed to assume control of the hideout. The second gets access to a second barracks, meaning they are responsible for the majority of ground units and may need to help protect their ally’s very isolated Stronghold in the opposite corner of the map, all the while having to keep their own centrally positioned one intact.

If you like what you see here, there’s also a 1v1 version of the map available that’s more or less the same, with the added wrinkle that each player has to take care to keep both Strongholds intact, or face defeat the moment one topples.

Bonus Dev-made Map – The Devil’s Tundra – Code: AMYDNXUN
Four player skirmishes can last a very long time; sometimes you just want a quicker match, so I decided to put together this smaller-scale map. While not quite as small as my past effort, The Sanguine Borderlands, the villages aren’t as plentiful or as densely packed, so you’ll have more room to manoeuvre and potential ambushes may be a bit easier to spot. I hope you like it!

That’s all for todays entries!
If you’ve made something Wargroove-related that you think deserves to be featured here, you should share it on the Wargroove Discord in the Creative channels! I regularly check those channels for cool stuff to feature, so that’s your best bet for ensuring I’ll see your work.

I’ll be back with more highlights next month, so until then you lovely folks stay safe and take care of yourselves!