Rule the Waves 3 News

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]The naval strategy sim Rule the Waves 3 has a new DLC, Expanded Battles, now available.[/p][p]The expansion adds historical scenarios, a ship and scenario editor, and a Quick Battles mode to instantly generate engagements across different eras. Players can recreate real battles or explore “what-if” clashes, including matchups featuring ships like the Yamato.[/p][p]A solid content boost for those who want to jump straight into naval combat or experiment with custom battles.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Also, today we're releasing a minor update. [/p][p]v1.01.32 - March 19th, 2026[/p][p]Campaign[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where 1920 and 1935 starts did not include aircraft and air groups.[/p]

[p]Preferences[/p]

• [p]Deck color will now never be black. It will default to grey if not defined.[/p]

[p]Battle Resolution[/p]

• [p]Added message of a fleet has too few cruisers for scouting.[/p]
• [p]The strike button will now be enabled if the player has AV but no carriers.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with computer AI when attacking convoys. This means it will be harder to distract the AI force from the convoy as a human defender.[/p]

[p]Ship Design[/p]

• [p]Many ship design templates have received a graphics facelift.[/p]
• [p]Restored export button in Campaign mode.[/p]

[p]Bug Fixing[/p]

• [p]Fixed the missing small Spanish flag in some screens.[/p]

[p][/p][p]BUY THE DLC HERE:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2]Quick Battles[/h2][p][/p][p]We accept that Rule the Waves 3 is not the easiest game to learn, especially given the length of the campaign mode and the ever-changing political and technological landscape. As we mentioned in our previous dev diary, the ship designer is very much the heart of the game. While ship design is vital to success in RTW’s campaign mode, it poses certain limitations and focuses more on the development of your fleet as a whole over time rather than any single ship. We found from feedback and our own gameplay that the tactical battles are where inidividual ships can truly shine as players are encouraged to manage their forces wisely. Tactical battles are also generally easier to get your head around than the full campaign, as you can focus on a few ships in a limited engagement doing your best to keep them alive and complete tactical objectives. As a result, making tactical battles a separate mode seemed like a logical step forward for the series.[/p][p]This of course meant including a scenario designer for players who want to get into the nitty-gritty details of designing their ideal historical or fictional engagement. The flipside of this, is also adding a Quick Battles mode, one of the main features revealed for the expansion way back in 2024 during Home of Wargamers. We think this mode will be best for new players to the new franchise, as it focuses on quickly putting a fleet together and getting straight into the action. All players have to do is let the built-in auto-designer and fleet generator compose a sensible fleet based on several simple parameters, such as choosing nations, basic weather conditions, and location of the engagement. A great way to learn the interaction of different ship classes, weapons, and at different technology levels to boot! [/p][p][/p][p]Quick Battles also offers plenty of depth to veteran players who want to test their mettle and ship design ideas in different circumstances, without necessarily going through the full in-depth scenario design process. The QB system also lets players design their own ships and build a fleet out that fits their vision. This can be easily combined and mixed with auto-designed ships, as well as auto-generated fleets.[/p][p][/p][p]What we think will be of particular interest to all sorts of players, is the ability to modify technology years of the chosen belligerent nations to match for technologically balanced setups or make them widely different. For example, you can set parameters for the auto-generator to create a Jutland-era German fleet with plenty of dreadnought-style battleships that faces off against an embattled carrier group of the Royal Navy from 1945 or later. Or perhaps you want to replay a version of The Final Countdown and have a missile age US carrier group face off against the World War Two-era Kido Butai of the Japanese Empire. Possibilities are really quite limitless within the scope of RTW’s 1890-1970s naval combat modeling.[/p][p][/p][p]Ultimately, we think the Quick Battles system fits perfectly with the naval history sandbox design that’s at the center of RTW’s design philosophy. We want to make sure that different types of players have the tools at their disposal to build, create, and experiment with ship designs and scenarios that lets them engage with naval history.[/p][p]This is our final dev diary for Expanded Battles and we hope you enjoyed our series of deeper dives into the features of this expansion. We hope you enjoy this expansion to RTW3 to be released on March 19. [/p][p][/p][p]By Fredrik Wallin[/p][p]Lead Designer[/p][p]Naval Warfare Simulations[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE NEW DLC NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello wargamers, naval historians, and ship enthusiasts![/p][p]We have a new update available before the release of the new DLC.[/p][p][/p][p]Update highlights:[/p][p]- This update lays the groundwork for the release of Expanded Battles, with a focus on battle resolution, ship performance, and AI behavior;[/p][p] - This includes tweaking and recalibrating gun performance at various ranges, improvements to the tactical AI, increasing the effectiveness of smokescreens, and adding more flexibility to force organization;[/p][p] - In addition, this update includes various minor fixes and changes to ship design, such as refreshing weight calculations and adjusting the cost of cruisers in comparison to larger capital ships, on top of general bug fixing.[/p][p][/p][p]Read all the details of the full changelog here.[/p][p][/p][p]WISHILIST THE NEW DLC NOW, OUT ON MARCH 19TH:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2]The Ship Designer[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]Given that Matrix Games held several ship design competitions in the past, we can safely say that one of[/p][p]the many draws to RTW3 was the ability to create ships to your liking. RTW3 is intended to be a naval[/p][p]warfare sandbox, letting players live through their own history as the head of the admiralty or ministry of[/p][p]the navy for one of the many nations available. This is of course limited to the sole campaign mode in the[/p][p]base game. We thought it only fitting that we should extend the sandbox potential of RTW3 by adding a[/p][p]new ship designer that’s decoupled by the normal restrictions of the campaign mode.[/p][p][/p][p]The ship designer in RTW is in many ways the heart of the game. But in the campaign, the player is[/p][p]limited in the ships that can be built by technology, dock size etc. The standalone ship designer in[/p][p]Expanded Battles is basically the same ship designer as used in the RTW campaign, but free from the[/p][p]infrastructure and tech-based constraints on ship design applied in the RTW campaign. You can design a[/p][p]ship of any displacement, and you can freely add most types of equipment. This makes it possible for[/p][p]players to design any ship of any size from any time covered by the game. This tool is a companion for[/p][p]the scenario editor and will let the player populate scenarios with exactly the ships that are needed.[/p][p]When a ship is designed, the year of the ship design can be set, which means that the ship will have the[/p][p]technologies and attributes appropriate for that time and nation. For example, the armor quality and[/p][p]engine development level of the ship will be saved along with the design and used for various functions[/p][p]when the ship is in battle.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There are extensive functions for fine tuning the appearance of the ships. Apart from the guns and[/p][p]torpedoes, you can spruce up your ships with various visual extras that make them look so much better.[/p][p]This is not necessary for them to function in battles, but it definitely increases their visual appeal.[/p][p]We found that this new ship designer is powerful enough to create ship designs that are both graphically[/p][p]impressive for the perspective we have taken and historical authentic. In fact, our very own content[/p][p]designer utilized this improved ship designer to create a range of ship designs that we used for the[/p][p]historical scenarios. We think that these authentic designs will only serve to help with player immersion[/p][p]when engaging with the historical content of Expanded Battles. Here are but a few examples of some of[/p][p]the historical World War II ship designs we have included with the game, including ships of the Kido Butai[/p][p]of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Kriegsmarine.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]These ships are not just for looks and can be used in scenarios and the quick battle generator (more on[/p][p]that in the next dev diary). Moreso, ship designs will be saved in a convenient location and can then be[/p][p]manually shared with the community.[/p][p][/p][p]By Fredrik Wallin[/p][p]Lead Designer[/p][p]Naval Warfare Simulations[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE NEW DLC NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello wargamers, naval historians, and ship enthusiasts! [/p][p]We have an important update regarding the progress of Rule the Waves 3: Expanded Battles. Development on the expansion has been going full steam ahead, and we’re in the final stages of testing, polishing, and tweaking. During Home of Wargamers 2025, we announced the release date for this hotly anticipated expansion - February 24, 2026. We were fully intent on meeting this release date.[/p][p][/p][p]Unfortunately, today we must announce that we will be delaying the release of Expanded Battles by just a few weeks. The new release date will be March 19, 2026. The additional wait will not be long, but we understand that this may come as a disappointment to some players.[/p][p][/p][p]After careful consideration, we concluded that to ensure that Expanded Battles meets the expectations of the high bar that Rule the Waves 3 has set, and to make sure we release a product that is up to our own quality standards, we need the extra time to put the expansion through its paces and hammer out any remaining critical issues. We don’t want to settle for anything less than delivering a quality wargaming product that we are confident wargamers, naval history enthusiasts, and fans of Matrix Games will enjoy.
[/p][p]However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The additional time has allowed us to expand our content offerings with additional scenarios. In testing, we found that the Operation Rheinubung scenario was a particular favorite amongst our players. For context, Operation Rheinubung was one of the last major efforts by the German Kriegsmarine to tighten the noose on Britain by raiding merchant shipping to the British Isles.
[/p][p]We decided to expand on this exciting period of naval history. The first addition is the detailed scenario of Battle of the Denmark Strait. This scenario encapsulates the famous engagement of the battleship Bismarck with the battlecruiser Hood, leading to the latter’s sudden and explosive demise. We know this is one of the most famous and exciting naval battles of WWII, and we wanted to make sure that players, new and veteran, have a chance to focus on the intensity of the action between these metallic juggernauts.[/p][p][/p][p]We also found that the larger scale of Operation Rheinubung has greater strategic decision-making potential, due to the larger theater of operations and asymmetric setup, compared to some of our smaller-scale scenarios. As such, we’re adding a new Hypothetical version of Operation Rheinubung, which expands the active area further and assumes both sides have even more ships to work with, opening up new planning avenues and unexpected opportunities. Some of the new ships to be included with this are the German Battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and their escorts, historically stationed in Brest for repair, as well as additional elements of the Royal Navy’s Force H task force sailing up from Gibraltar. Who knows, perhaps, the historically incomplete German aircraft carrier, Graf Zeppelin, might make an appearance.
[/p][p]We’re planning a couple more dev diaries in the lead up to the release of Expanded Battles, exploring the improved ship designer and quick battles generator in more detail.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for your understanding, patience, and continued support of Rule the Waves 3! We will see you on the high seas when Expanded Battles releases on March 19, 2026.[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST EXPANDED BATTLES NOW:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]