BOSTON, Massachusetts – May 27, 2025 – Warside, the fast-paced turn-based tactics battler from developer LAVABIRD and publisher First Break Labs, has received new AI, a brutal difficulty update, and more in Patch 1.2 today.
Enemies now start with more units (mission and difficulty dependent) and deploy them more aggressively. Maps support having extra properties based on the difficulty setting, giving the enemy increased income, and forcing players to fight harder. The new AI system makes fewer mistakes and will punish yours.
The campaign has been rebalanced with new difficulty levels:
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Standard – Designed to be completed by the average player with moderate challenge.
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Hard – Tuned for the top 25% of players, likely requiring strategic restarts and tight decision-making.
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Brutal – Aimed at the top 10% of players, offering a serious test of skill, planning, and perseverance.
The AI has been completely reworked from the ground up and now features:
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Smarter Enemy Behavior: The AI now adapts to player tactics, coordinates flanking maneuvers, prioritizes key threats, and makes better use of terrain and timing.
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Improved Decision-Making: Expect enemies that think more like players—and punish mistakes accordingly.
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More Reliable Allies: Friendly AI now acts more intelligently in support roles, improving the feel of team-based operations in our 2v2 skirmish missions.
The intelligence of the AI is still dependent on the difficulty setting. Higher settings look further ahead, whilst lower settings are still open to making more bad moves. Standard difficulty will accept a worse value trade than Brutal would.
Warside's multiplayer was always meant to be fast-paced, with moves being made under pressure. To improve this, turn-timers have been added to multiplayer games, with the following modes:
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Standard - 3 minutes per turn.
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Blitz - 90 seconds per turn.
Matchmaking games always use Standard timers.
Read the full patch notes here.
About Warside
Embrace the iconic visuals and turn-based tactical style from beloved wargames of the past in Warside. Take charge as one of fourteen powerful Commanders, each touting distinct passive skills and Battle Powers. Wield these boons to change the tide of war and ensure victory through 30+ missions in a robust single-player Story Campaign.
March a variety of specialist infantry into the thick of battle, including snipers, medics, mortar teams, and more to take opponents down and keep allies standing when needed most. Deploy more than thirty unit types including artillery, tanks, submarines, and warships to control land, air, and sea as ground forces, aircraft, and naval units respectively.
Weather icy snow environments, sandy deserts, toxic wastelands, and even a secret lab hiding lurking enemies. Skirmish solo, recruit fellow commanders in online co-op, or challenge friends and foes alike in multiplayer battles in online PvP battles. For the ultimate creative touch in battle, design maps with the built-in mission editor and become victorious over all Warside has to offer!
Features:
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Intuitive turn-based gameplay with a familiar feel for fans of the classics.
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14 playable Commanders, each with unique passive skills and Battle Powers.
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Control 30+ unit types. Simultaneously battle over land, air, and sea with ground forces, aircraft, and naval units.
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Faction-unique units with mechanics specific to each faction.
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Single-player campaign with over 30 missions.
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Forest, desert and snow environments, plus the toxic wastelands.
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Challenge friends and foes with multiplayer battles. Design your own maps with the built-in mission editor.
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Language support for English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Polish
Warside is available now on Steam and is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox later this year.
Watch the First Break Labs Showcase revealed at PAX East: https://youtu.be/ReQnsu_t60g
About LAVABIRD
LAVABIRD is a London-based indie game development company. The team is currently focused on development for Warside, its first title.
About First Break Labs
First Break Labs is an innovative, independently financed collective of video game industry veterans, committed to spotlighting groundbreaking new video games. With extensive experience at SEGA, Nintendo, ATLUS, and SmileGate, First Break Labs is on a mission to provide essential funding and marketing support to like-minded indie developers.