The Battle of the Bulge iPad game has been updated – adding 3 new scenarios and 2 new artificial intelligence opponents.

Battle of the Bulge is a fantastic, old school strategic wargame for the iPad, made by a wonderful group of long-time wargame developers at Shenandoah Studio. And this is a major update that should give players many, many more hours of enjoyment from this already stellar game.

Highlights of this update include:

– A new free scenario, titled ‘Bitter End’ – enables the historical campaign game to be played to the end of the last day of the historical battle, regardless of how well or badly either side is playing, with the possibility of a draw.

– Another new free scenario called ‘Luck of the Draw’ – which resets the historical campaign game with a random setup and altered reinforcement schedule.

– One new paid scenario called ‘The Endgame’ – a $3.99 In-App purchase – which depicts the counterattack by General Patton that relieved the siege on Bastogne.

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The superb Battle of the Bulge strategic wargame for the iPad is on sale this weekend at 30% off. It’s down from its standard price of $9.99 to just $6.99.

This game has been getting well-deserved rave reviews since it first hit the App Store last December, and it’s been a huge favorite of mine since I was lucky enough to be on its pre-release beta testing team. It’s the first real, proper strategic wargame I’ve seen that’s truly made for the iPad.

I’ll do a review of it soon, but I can tell you right now the short story is that it’s a great game and tons of fun to play. Here are some of its key features:

Battle of the Bulge is a historical wargame, designed specifically for iPad. Bulge is a turn-based simulation in the spirit of traditional board wargames. Pieces represent actual military units fighting on the terrain of the famous WWII battle.
• Play three ways: online through Game Center; vs a computer opponent; or Pass & Play
• Fast turns, deep strategy
• Two scenarios: a quick, tense, fight in the opening days; and a campaign covering the entire battle
• Tutorial, quick start guide, and online strategy forums help players learn to play and to explore the game’s subtleties
• Extensive historical photos, film, and commentary
• Retina support

This is the first time the app has been on sale, and obviously a great time to grab it up.

Here’s an App Store link for Battle of the Bulge.

Battle of the Bulge, the superb strategic wargame for the iPad, has been updated this week – to Version 1.1.0. Here’s the full change list for this update:

• Send messages to your Game Center opponent with your turns.
• Continue the “Battle of the Bulge” scenario after normal victory: fight it out to the bitter end!
• The AI Generals learned from previous encounters: thanks to your feedback they are smarter about supply, avoid simple feints, and make better tactical choices.
• It is harder to forget to move all eligible units.
• Smoother scrolling in Help, charts look better, and the daily history is easier to find.
• Choosing scenario and computer opponent is more obvious.
• Reduced memory usage.
• Added an entry to the iPad Settings app to prevent loading stuck games.
• Fixed bugs restoring Tutorial at certain key points.

Though this is not a huge update it’s still quite a strong list of new features and improvements. I know that the messages feature is one that has been near the top of a lot of players’ wish lists. Improvements to AI are always going to be a good thing in a strategic game of this kind. I also like the UI tweak that makes it more difficult to forget to move all eligible units in a turn.

This game was the best strategic wargame I’ve seen for the iPad right out of the gate. Updates like this one are great to see because they show the developers are not resting on their laurels – far from it.

Here’s an App Store link for Battle of the Bulge; it’s priced at $9.99.