Home of Wargamers 2025: “Tides Of War” DLC announced – Project Hannibal (revised ground combat) early hints

September 26, 2025 · Posted in Command · Comment

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Dank u Brussel!: A roundup of the 12th Command User Event

September 17, 2025 · Posted in Command PE · Comment

It was a week!

From the 8th to the 12th of this September, Command-PE users from across the world coalesced into Brussels for the 12th Command User Event. Attendees reconnected with familiar faces, met new colleagues, shared use cases, and explored the latest Command-PE developments. They also got a glimpse of exciting new features on the horizon.

The Command team was once more honored and exhilarated to host the event and share our past and future work with all present. At the same time, a series of fantastic guest-speaker presentations underlined once more how CPE’s incredible versatility and flexibility have led to it being used for purposes we could never have imagined – while still being the stalwart choice of pros in entirely predictable sections of the defense, wargaming and simulation industry.

As with last year, summaries with photos for each day of the week are available through Matrix Pro Sims’ LinkedIn account:

We would like to thank each and every one of our guests for attending the event. You all made it clear to us that you loved being present and found the experience as useful and informative as each past year, and for us can be no higher vindication and reward.

We would especially like to thank and salute our guest speakers:

Major General Matthew Van Wagenen & Colonel Arnel David (NATO SHAPE)
Vice Admiral (ret) Georgios Floros (Matrix Pro Sims)
Jakub Orlowski (Damen Naval)
Martin Van Lavieren (NavTrain)
Dr Paul Cross & Jamie Etherton (DSTL)
Commander Oliver Kohls & Commander Jorg Feldhausen (NATO COE-CSW)
Even Hvinden (FFI)

You have, once more, opened our eyes and those of our guests, to what is possible out there when using a platform like CPE.

We’re already preparing for CUE 2026 and can’t wait to welcome both familiar and new faces. Mark your calendars and be part of the next chapter in Command-PE’s journey!

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More summer love: Community Scenario Pack #51 released

August 22, 2025 · Posted in Command · Comment

Following the release of the v1.08 update for Command, which includes the new v512 databases, Kushan has now also updated the famous Community Scenario Pack (CSP), the Command community’s curated anthology of user-created scenarios. The new update refreshes 4 existing works and contains 13 new scenarios:

Aegean Hunting Party, 1968: It came as a bit of a surprise that the main Soviet target was not West Germany, but Turkey. Following missile boat attacks that sank three NATO vessels in the Black Sea, the Soviets and their allies began a massive assault on Turkish air bases and air defenses. At the same time, Soviet and Syrian forces struck Turkish and British vessels in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean.
It is now the second day of the war. As Commander of NATO forces in the Eastern Mediterranean (COMEDEAST), you are responsible for naval operations in the waters surrounding Greece. At the moment, your main concerns are to clear these waters of Soviet forces and to get to safety any merchant vessels trying to reach Greek ports.

Casamance 1 – Arrival, 1986: This is the first of a set of scenarios using the Casamance Conflict in West Africa as their background.
The ongoing Casamance Conflict started in the 1970s. Members of certain ethnic groups living in the southern part of Senegal (the Casamance region) believe they are marginalized and oppressed and seek to create an independent state. Fifty years later, they have not achieved this goal, but they have also not given up.

Casamance 2 – Reconnaissance, 1986: This is the second of a set of scenarios using the Casamance Conflict in West Africa as their background.

Chafarinas, 2029: The year 2028 was marked by a serious deterioration of relations between Spain and Morocco. Morocco has escalated the conflict in the gray zone regarding the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla using the usual hybrid tools: migratory pressure, economic isolation, media and social media campaigns.
Spain has closed air and naval traffic in the Strait and the Alboran Sea, although there are still some civilian vessels in the area. The Spanish government must successfully resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

Charlie Deuce Takes the Lead, 1970: It is 1970. Yesterday, the Cold War went hot. Winning the war against the Soviet Union will require NATO to protect vital sea lanes.
You have been ordered to find and destroy any Soviet submarines in the waters south of the Italian island of Sardinia, a choke point for both military and commercial shipping traffic moving through the Mediterranean.

Defending Northern Turkey, 1968: Even early in the morning it is warm, and it looks like it is going to be another scorching day here in Eskisehir. Unfortunately, you are beginning to think it will not only be the weather that gets hot.
In recent weeks the Soviets have moved a lot of military hardware into the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania. All this could simply mean the Warsaw Pact is preparing for a large military exercise. Or they could be preparing to attack NATO. The Soviets have been getting away with a lot in recent years. Do they think they could get away with attacking Turkey? Will the other members of NATO fight to defend Turkey if it means war with the Soviet Union?

Invasion Re-Invasion, 2025: It’s early days of the Great South China Sea War and the PLA has finally made its move on Taiwan. Most US and allied forces are tied up further north in that theater. Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy has snuck into Renai islands off Malaysia, a N-S diamond shaped island just outside their 9 (10) dash line near the south end of the SCS. The island would be a key base over 400nm closer to the critical straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok than their nearest reef outpost. They have caught us off guard… for the moment.

Khrushchev’s War, Day 3 – Duel Near Cape Verde, 1957: It is the third day of the Third World War. NATO, taken by surprise, is trying to blunt the Soviet advance and to organize counterattacks.
The Portuguese colony in Cape Verde would not seem to have much to attract the attention of the Soviets, but it does have an airport that facilitates air traffic between Europe and Latin America. A Soviet surface group on its way back from the Caribbean (and believed to be bringing supplies to the rebels in Cuba) may be getting ready to attack that airport and other facilities on the Island of Sal.

Operation British Harpoon, 1968: It is the second day of the War. As Commander-in-Chief Western Fleet (CINC WF) of the Royal Navy, you also serve as the Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Eastern Atlantic and Channel commands. At the moment one of your most pressing concerns is to eliminate the threat of any Soviet submarines that may have sortied out of the Baltic Sea and into the waters surrounding the British Isles.
The next few days are going to be very busy.

Operation Rising Lion (Improved), 2025: The world holds its breath. After years of shadow wars and diplomatic failures, the crisis with Iran has reached its boiling point. Intelligence is unequivocal: Iran is on the cusp of developing a nuclear weapon, a threat the State of Israel cannot allow to materialize. The time for talk is over.
As commander of the Israeli Defense Forces, you are about to launch Operation Rising Lion, the most complex and audacious military operation in a generation. This is a single, decisive strike to dismantle Iran’s nuclear ambitions permanently.

Operation True Promise III, 2025: This is the fictional sister scenario to Operation Rising Lion, from the Iranian perspective.

The C-Team, 1968: 55 days ago, the conflict known by many as World War 3 started. Until now, the Caribbean has mostly remained quiet, except for a few Soviet submarines most of which were sunk while trying to enter the Caribbean through one of its many passages and channels.
This all changed 4 days ago when Castro delivered an hour-long speech denouncing the US and its allies, accusing the US of planning to invade Cuba, decrying the continued US ‘occupation’ of Guantánamo Bay and ordering all Cuban forces to be placed at the highest level of readiness.
In response, the US heavily reinforced its forces in the area and prepared to take action to remove the Cuban threat.

Turkish Warships Join the Fight, 1968: It is 1968 and World War III appears to have started. Earlier this morning, the Warsaw Pact began a series of massive attacks against NATO forces, primarily those in Turkey. While Soviet intentions are not fully known at this moment, it looks as if a major goal of the offensive is to seize control of the Turkish Straits.
As Commander Northeastern Mediterranean (COMEDNOREAST), you are responsible for NATO operations in Turkish waters. It has already been a very bad day. You are looking forward to the opportunity to avenge the vessels lost earlier this morning.

The new community scenario pack is, as always, available for download at the Command Team site, and also on the Steam workshop.

The CSP now proudly counts 618 scenarios in its stable!

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The muscles for Brussels: Command PE v2.4.2 has been released

August 12, 2025 · Posted in Command PE · Comment

You knew this was coming.

Following the official release of the CMO v1.08 update, it was Command-PE‘s turn to receive a new significant update release. This has now come to pass: CPE v2.4.2 is now available for download to all CPE users.

We have previously covered in detail the new major features introduced in CMO v1.08, and these are all also included in the new CPE update, so a detailed repetition may arguably be redundant. A brief bullet list, however, makes sense as a refresher:

Side-enablers and GNSS disruption
Drone autonomy levels
3D terrain view & vertical scaling
Doctrine/ROE UI & UX improvements
Early ASCM terrain-following restrictions
Chainsaw/Grinder patrol movement style
Depressed-trajectory ballistic missiles

These are not, however, all that is new here, as the new update also includes several features and improvements unique to the professional edition of Command:

New Lua-Hook event overrides: DetermineAttitudeAndThrottleBefore and DetermineAttitudeAndThrottleAfter . These two hooks are relevant to the step where a unit (platform or weapon) determines what its desired new attitude (heading/pitch/roll), altitude and speed are going to be. NOTE: This is distinct from UnitMovesBefore and UnitMovesAfter, which override the actual movement & re-orientation. It is the different between overriding “I want to go there” and “I am physically going there”.
Massive speed performance when using the Lua TCP/IP server feature: The response string now includes “\r\n\r\n” at the very end as a terminator flag, so that the client can see this and immediately close the connection instead of timing out. This allows an increase in communication throughput by *orders of magnitude* when using the Lua TCP/IP interface. Clients that do not recognize this termination will still work normally but will not get the performance benefit.
Variable output frequency for DIS PDUs. Just like with event-export, It is now possible to configure CPE to output DIS PDUs (and especially those of the “EntityState” type) at a variable, rate to allow chocking on the network connection. The configuration follows the format already established for event-export, with output frequency configurable per speed bands of the units in question.
Multiple DIS Force-IDs per CPE instance. Until now a limitation of CPE when acting as a DIS federate was that only one force (ie. side) could be running locally on the running CPE instance. It is now possible to have multiple sides locally owned on the running CPE instance.
You can now add custom DBs to the DB folder and load them in ScenEdit immediately, without needing to restart CPE.
It is now possible to use custom (unregistered) database files with the Lua “tool_buildScenario” function.
The WEGO-MP server always uses 1.0s sim pulse and not dynamic throttling

Plus of course all the content and database updates that have also accompanied the recent CMO release.

The new CPE update forms the perfect companion to the upcoming 12th Command-PE User Event, to be held in Brussels this September. Early-bird discount bookings are now closed but there a select few seats still available, so hurry up and reserve your spot today. See you up close next month!

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Born on the fourth of July: Command v1.08 update now available

July 4, 2025 · Posted in Command · Comment

Well, that took a bit longer than planned; but it happily coincided with the July 4th holiday, so a silver lining in every cloud. The long-awaited massive v1.08 update for Command is now officially released and available for download through Matrix Games and Steam. The full release notes are available HERE.

We have previously covered at length the new very substantial features of this update, so it is not necessary to re-iterate them here.

One thing that is definitely worth pointing out, is that included in this update are the radically overhauled scenarios of the “The Silent Service” DLC. As a reminder, we previously had to temporarily pause the sale of this DLC because of reported serious gameplay issues stemming from various simulation improvements (e.g. refinements in certain aspects of the sonar model). We stated at the time that we would renovate these scenarios when possible and make them available for free to existing owners, together with reinstating sale availability of this DLC. The time for this has now come; the refreshed scenarios are bundled with the v1.08 update (so anyone who already owns the DLC can freely play them), and once the player community confirms that all serious issues have been eliminated, we will be free to make the DLC available for sale again.

The v1.08 update, then, is cause for celebration for multiple reasons.

The Command dev team is already hard at work preparing the pro-oriented mirror counterpart of this update, the CPE v2.4.2 update, as well as preparing for the upcoming 12th Command-PE User Event in Brussels. No rest for the wicked indeed!

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