Great news today for wargame fans and iPad wargames fans in particular. Shenandoah Studio, makers of the excellent Battle of the Bulge strategic wargame for the iPad, have announced their next iPad title is coming this Fall.

Drive on Moscow is that next title, and it’s the sequel to Battle of the Bulge. Here is Shenandoah’s brief introduction for Drive on Moscow:

Drive on Moscow invites players to take on the role of either the Soviet or German commander in this defining offensive of World War II. The Battle of Moscow was a large-scale conflict spanning the winter of 1941-1942 and was a key turning point on the Eastern Front.  Designed by Ted Raicer, it features the aggressive German push to Moscow followed by the Soviet counterattack.

Building off of Battle of the Bulge (great UI design, historical photos and commentary, etc), Moscow expands into new directions featuring a changing map based on weather conditions, a larger array of unit types, improved Game Center features, and more.

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The Kickstarter project for the Gettysburg: The Tide Turns iPad and iPhone game has already hit its funding target. So we know this fantastic looking strategic wargame is coming and is already in development.

Now there’s one week left on the project and the developers, Shenandoah Studio, are asking for a little more help to reach some great ‘stretch goals’ for the project. Here they are:

$30k – Alternate History Scenario #1: “Stonewall” Jackson at Gettysburg

Would the tide have turned differently if Jackson were at Gettysburg? This scenario will explore the ramifications of this powerful commander’s presence at the battle.

$35k – Alternate History Scenario #2: The Cavalry Arrives!

Stuart’s cavalry was late to the battle, but what if they had arrived when expected. This scenario will explore that event and what the outcome may have been.

$40k – Alternate History Scenario #3: Hooker Retains Command

What if Meade had not replaced Hooker just before the battle? We will prepare a scenario that explores what may have happened and how the divisions and brigades would have performed.

I love the idea of these stretch goals. These would add wonderful depth to the game and add even more hours of great gameplay.

With their Battle of the Bulge game, which also started out as a Kickstarter project and which we included in our list of the Best iPad Apps of 2012, Shenandoah Studio has shown their ability to create an outstanding strategic wargame for the iPad. And they’re committed to bringing a range of wargames to the iPad and iOS. If you’re a fan of this sort of game on the iPad, it’s well worth looking at backing this project to help get those stretch goals met and just to support this great new iPad game studio. Here’s the Gettysburg: The Tide Turns project page:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ericleesmith/gettysburg-the-tide-turns-ipad-and-iphone-wargamin

Gettysburg: The Tide Turns is an upcoming strategic wargame for iPad and iPhone, being developed by the wargaming All-Star team at Shenandoah Studio. This new title is being partially funded via a Kickstarter project and it has already met and surpassed its funding target in just a little over a week.

Last night Shenandoah Studio hosted a Google+ Hangout on Air to talk about Gettysburg: The Tide Turns and to make an exciting announcement about the game and the rewards available to project backers. The big news is that there will be a board game version of Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, made by Clash of Arms – a leading maker of tabletop wargames. The plan is that both the board game and the iPad version will be released around the same time in the first quarter of next year.

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Gettysburg: The Tide Turns is the latest strategic wargame for the iPad and iPhone being developed by Shenandoah Studio. Shenandoah are the makers of the superb Battle of the Bulge iPad wargame that I have raved about so often here and selected as one of our picks for Best iPad Apps of 2012.

This week marks the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, and Shenandoah have launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the development of Gettysburg: The Tide Turns. Here’s a little slice of the Kickstarter intro for the game:

Gettysburg commemorate this great battle with an historically accurate iOS strategy game integrated with extensive historical commentary, period photographs, maps, and music; an engaging iOS strategy game that also enhances your understanding of battle and the sacrifices made there.

I’m incredibly excited about this new Gettysburg game, for a number of reasons. Here are a few of them:

— Gettysburg was an epic and significant battle – as the game’s name suggests, it is widely considered to be a turning point in the Civil War.

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The popular and highly rated Battle Academy iPad game is on sale this week at 50% off. It’s down from $19.99 to $9.99 until June 23.

This strategic wargame has received rave reviews from gaming sites and users alike. It’s a World War II game covering a range of different battles. Here’s a bit of its App Store intro:

Approachable, absorbing and visually impressive yet detailed, Battle Academy aims to revolutionise the strategy games market with a blend of intuitive design and compelling game play driven by cutting edge technical innovation.
Inspired by an original online game concept devised by the BBC, the game has more than 30 battles in a range of theatres of war from the North African desert through D-Day to the to the snowy Ardennes mountains where the Allies battled to repel the final German offensive.
The team at Slitherine worked with Professor John Buckley, Military Historian at the University of Wolverhampton and a keen wargamer himself, to make sure that the strategy, tactics, scenarios and available firepower of the battles fought in WW2 were turned into realistic AI behaviour, powering expertly crafted battles.

The game’s system allows for iPad, Mac, and Windows PC players to plat against each other. It even lets you play the same game across the iPad and desktop machines.

I have heard all good things about this game, and now at this sale price I’m finally going to give it a try.

Here’s an App Store link for Battle Academy for iPad.

If you try the game out, please let us know what you think of it in the comments.

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.