Master of Command News

[h2]Welcome Commanders![/h2]
Today, just like before, I'll be answering questions from our Discord community, specifically focusing on customization. As always, please remember everything you see is a work in progress!

Discord Link

If you want to watch this development log, you can do so here: Youtube Link

[h2]Building and Customizing Your Army[/h2]



In previous dev logs, we covered the campaign and combat systems, but today I want to dive into something that makes Master of Command stand out: customizing and building your own army. From the flags your regiments fly to the colors and facings of your units, you have complete control over your force.

[h3]Customizing Your Division Leader[/h3]
In the spirit of customization, you can also change your division leader in just a few clicks. Want to add a bit of flair? Customize their look to match your army's theme: give your leader a green jacket for a light division or a cuirass breastplate for a cavalry division.



You can even rename divisions! If you're modeling your army on a specific scale, you can name your division a brigade, and its units, battalions. It’s entirely up to you.
[h2]Manpower & Ammunition Sliders[/h2]


We’ve introduced a new feature with easy-to-use sliders for manpower and ammunition. Just click and drag a unit’s HP or ammo bar to redistribute resources. This eliminates the need for extra pop-up menus and lets you quickly manage your army after battle. Players also have the option to auto-refill both if they have a surplus.
[h2]Designing Your Regiment[/h2]


Now let’s look at unit customization. Opening the Regimental Color Designer, you can choose an emblem for your regiment. Each nation has historical options and generic ones to choose from.


For example, I could set a Hungarian emblem, select one of Austria’s historical patterns, and use Hungary’s national colors. Or, if I’m feeling creative, I might choose a Papal emblem, set a bicolor pattern, and make the colors gold and white. You can also modify the facing colors to further personalize the unit.
[h2]Unit Inventory & Items[/h2]


Customization extends to the unit’s inventory slots, where you can assign items won in battle or acquired from shops and encounters. Items range from horses and canteens to specialized ammunition like quartered musket balls, or even unique weapons like glass grenades or jaeger rifles. You can even give your regiment an animal mascot or a beer ration!



[h2]Historical Accuracy & Recreating Battles[/h2]


For those who prefer historical accuracy, our Regimental Editor lets you recreate historical orders of battle. Using references like Kronoskaf, you can easily replicate famous regiments like Prinz von Preußen. Select the correct patterns, emblems, and facings, and bring your historically accurate regiment to life on the battlefield. The customization extends even further—whatever you design shows up in the game, from the uniforms to the flags on the field.
[h2]Camp Evolution & Customization[/h2]


Whether you’re recreating history or building a custom army, our camp screen grows as your army does. Each time you purchase a new division, the camp evolves. You’ll notice new tents, barrels, and paths being added. In the final version of the game, you’ll even see animations like trees falling and tents being erected as you expand your forces.
[h2]Dynamic Music System[/h2]


Before we wrap up, I want to quickly preview our dynamic music system. We’ve worked with Jacob to create a soundtrack that changes based on what’s happening in the game:

• At camp, you'll hear a single, calm instrument.
• On the march, a violin joins in to make the music fuller, reflecting the journey ahead.
• When danger is near, war drums weave into the track, adding urgency in real time.

[h2]Officer Abilities[/h2]
To address a question from "Dino Inc" on our Discord, officers will gain experience from combat and earn skills. Some are passive (automatic) while others are active, requiring you to click to use them. For players who like micromanaging, active abilities offer more control, while passive abilities free you up to focus on more strategic elements.



That’s everything for today! Let us know what you think about the customization system in Master of Command. Don’t forget to wishlist and join the Discord if you liked what you saw. Let us know in the comments what part of the game you’d like to see next. Thanks for watching!

Hello everyone, Griffin here, Game Director and Lead Designer for Master of Command: Seven Years’ War. If you enjoy what you see today, please consider wishlisting our game and following us on Steam—it’s the best way you can support the project. You can also join our Discord via the link below, where I'll be answering questions you may have based on this post.

Discord Link

If you want to watch this development log, you can do so here: Youtube Link

As noted in the last dev log, everything you see today is in Alpha, and many visual elements are placeholders.



[h2]Campaign System Overview[/h2]

In our previous dev log, we covered combat in Master of Command. Today, I want to introduce the campaign system. Our approach to MoC's campaign design differs from what you’d typically see in most historical strategy games. Instead of being a ruler overseeing a nation's economy, diplomacy, military, and technology, you play as a commander, overseeing your army. You will manage food for your force, invest in expanding your camp, and hire new troops and officers. These officers are your governors, and your army is your nation. As Voltaire famously said, “Where some states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state.”

[h2]Starting a New Campaign[/h2]



When beginning a new campaign, players can select from one of five nations: Prussia, Austria, Russia, Britain, and France. Each nation begins with a unique “Strategem,” which provides strategic perks that significantly impact your forces. For example, the Prussian stratagem “Junker Aristocracy” means your artillery gains less experience, but your officers start at higher levels. Another example is the Russian stratagem “Extended Supply Lines,” where your army consumes supplies 50% faster but gains manpower passively throughout the campaign. Every national stratagem has both a bonus and a penalty.



But that’s not all that sets each nation apart. After selecting your nation, you can choose from three different army compositions, each with an additional stratagem that defines what makes that army unique.

1. “Cantonist Levies” come with the “Canton System” stratagem, automatically supplying manpower anytime you visit a village for the first time
   
2. “Freikorps Volunteers” boost your campaign speed by 20%, but your force suffers a passive attrition rate of 1% every day.
   
3. “Old Corps” makes heavy infantry upgrades much cheaper, but the experience gained for the army as a whole is slowed by 10%.
   

Each army composition, besides the first one for each nation, must be unlocked by completing challenges during campaigns. For example, to unlock Russia’s “Cossack Contingent,” the player may need to complete a full campaign while only utilizing cavalry. We’ll explore army compositions and challenges in more detail in a future development log. For now, let’s jump in as the Prussian Cantonists and begin a new campaign.

[h2]Procedurally Generated Campaigns[/h2]



Campaigns in Master of Command are procedurally generated, meaning everyone’s Seven Years’ War will play out differently. Players are given three theaters to fight in across Germany, with each theater comprising two choice regions and one theater headquarters. The theater headquarters is contested once one of the choice regions is taken. The player's army can’t be in two places at once, so you must choose whether to confront a Russian force stationed in Western Pomerania or Lusatia before pushing out the Russian headquarters in East Prussia. After each region is taken, the next one becomes more difficult. This continues until three theaters (or six regions) have been secured, and the war is won.

We received a question from Union Raptor on our Discord: “Does the size of the enemy theater headquarters change based on how many casualties you inflicted in previous regions?” The answer is no; the difficulty in MOC is very consistent. This means if you’re winning, the game will not punish you by spawning more armies, nor will it reduce enemy numbers if you’re struggling. This way, a successful strategy can lead to a very successful campaign, but a weak strategy might leave you underequipped against higher-caliber armies later in the game.

[h2]Choosing Your Starting Region[/h2]



When deciding on which region to start in, you can select between each region and read the modifiers and terrain that are displayed. The terrain of regions is always consistent, so anytime you fight in Lusatia, for example, there will always be Foothills and Forests as dominant terrain features. However, the modifiers in the area are completely random. For example, the player will need to decide whether to fight in an area with a Provincial Barracks, meaning you'll have more opportunities to recruit infantry, but the region is Blockaded and items are more expensive. Alternatively, you could go to Western Pomerania, which has a Military Academy with more officers but Plundered Towns that reduce the number of available items for purchase.

[h2]Entering the Region[/h2]



Regions are made up of procedurally generated terrain, so it’s impossible to memorize an optimal path to towns, villages, and objectives. You may also notice the map looks different from our initial concept; it was originally turn-based but is now fully real-time, just like the battle system.

The objective in each region is to knock out the enemy headquarters stationed there. The enemy's headquarters starts weak but grows over time. The player's army might be capable of taking them on as soon as you enter a region, but by the time you get there, the enemy could be as strong or stronger. Therefore, it’s wise to stop at populated areas to levy troops or engage in smaller skirmishes to gain experience and loot, which can be sold in towns.

Terrain matters in every region: roads increase movement speed, forests slow it down and reduce visibility, and mountains also slow movement but increase vision. Winter campaigns introduce more extreme terrain conditions and less food, making logistics more challenging.



Enima from our Discord asked how the supply system will work. Unlike in our previous game, Fire & Maneuver, you’re not managing a network of several armies. Instead, your army travels independently without a discernible frontline. That being said, food is constantly consumed every day, and depending on the terrain, your army may require additional provisions, such as when moving uphill or through mountains.

[h2]Managing Resources and Recruitment[/h2]

When you arrive at a town you have options to purchase three different manas: Food, Manpower, and Ammunition.



Aside from purchasing manas, you can also head over to recruitment and pick up an additional recruit. You will have to manage your camp before purchasing recruits since you only have room for a single division at the start of a campaign, so you can save up money to open a second division for your new recruits.

We will explore customization further in a future development log, but players can alter the appearance of their troops and the flags they carry into battle. You can also rename regiments.



Val from our Discord asked if you can modify your artillery poundage. In MOC, you can not only equip different muskets but also different sabres and cannons for your artillery regiments. All of this is fully customizable.



[h2]Random Encounters and Battles[/h2]



Across the regions, you will find many in-game encounters. These are random events triggered by investigation. For instance, while investigating a broken caravan, you can find some supplies to pick up. Tread carefully as there is always a risk of an ambush.



When you spot an enemy force, you will have the option to flee or fight. Fighting will thrust you into a battle while fleeing will damage your morale and manpower.

In the previous dev log, forming battle lines was clumsy; now, it’s easier and customizable. The density of lines you draw impacts the troops’ firepower, speed, and morale.



After winning the battle, your troops will gain much-needed experience. You will also capture some loot and get to decide what to do with the prisoners.



After battles, your officers will grow and earn traits, such as Heinrich August gaining his leadership trait. We’ll show this off later, but officers develop traits through combat experience that boost the performance of their troops. Officers may die in combat, but they provide morale buffs to more troops the closer they are positioned to the frontline.

Recruits can also be upgraded. Instead of deleting units to make room for better ones, in Master of Command, you can promote troops down a unit tree. We’ll showcase the unit trees for all factions in a future development log.

2716 Caesar on the MOC Discord asked how the casualty system works. After battles, the losses sustained are permanent. If you have 100 men left out of a regiment of 1,000 at the end of a battle, that’s what you return to camp with. However, some casualties are considered injuries and are returned through your manpower pool. It’s your job to refill regiments after losses, and if necessary, visit more towns for manpower reserves.



Once your army is strong enough, you can take on the regional headquarters. If this fight is won, you get to choose a new stratagem to keep for the rest of this playthrough, which will stack with your faction and composition stratagems. Through stratagems and officer traits, players can develop a very particular playstyle, but because these rewards are always selected from a random pool, players also need to learn to adapt to what they’re given and try new strategies.



That’s everything I have to show off for today. Hopefully, you like our unique approach to Master of Command’s campaign system. It was built specifically with replayability in mind, and with 15 unique army compositions across Prussia, Russia, Britain, Austria, and France, it means you could easily spend over 100 hours mastering each of these armies across varied and dynamic campaign playthroughs. If you end up liking one particular composition, we’re also planning on letting players continue after winning all three theaters in a campaign, to conquer the rest of the map.

[h2]Let us know in the comments what part of our game you’d like to see next. Thanks for reading![/h2]

Hi everyone, Griffin here, Game Director and Lead Designer for Master of Command: Seven Years’ War. If you like what you see today, don’t forget to give our game a wishlist and follow on Steam. It’s the best way you can support the project. You can also join our Discord, linked here: Master Of Command: Seven Years' War Discord

In today’s development log, we’ll be going over what’s changed since our first dev log, and I’ll be giving you a first look at our brand new battle system. If you want to watch this development log, you can do so here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZw0mkIAzxU

Starting Fresh
For this project, we started 100% from scratch. None of our code for Fire & Maneuver, our previous game, is being carried over to Master of Command. This means we got to lay new foundations, and our aim is to deliver a polished game. That being said, we are still early in development, so everything you will see here is Pre-Alpha.

[h2]What’s New Since Our Last Development Log?[/h2]

Name Change and New Focus:



The most obvious change is that we’ve retitled our game from Master of Command: Prussia’s Glory to Master of Command: Seven Years’ War, along with a new logo. This name change reflects the new focus of our game, which will now represent the big five nations involved in the Seven Years’ War, instead of just focusing on Prussia.

Our new nation lineup now includes:

• The Kingdom of Prussia
  
• Archduchy of Austria
  
• The Russian Empire
  
• The British Empire
  
• The Kingdom of France
  

[h2]Faction-Selection Screen Preview[/h2]

Here, you can see a preview of our faction-selection screen. Keep in mind that many UI elements and the art are still a work-in-progress. In a future development log, we will go over how our game differentiates each nation in some pretty major ways.

Additionally, every faction will receive its own main theme, reminiscent of what we created for Fire & Maneuver. The theme for Prussia, composed by Jacob Gullion, has already been posted, and you can hear a preview of that track linked here: https://youtu.be/h4zWlLKKFtY?si=EMQifUuxKwMkF6nD

Some new art has also recently been made, including mouse cursors and loading screens.

[h2]The Battle System[/h2]

Let’s get to the interesting part - the battles. This is a very early preview of our battle system. There’s still a lot of time we’ll need to give it more polish, especially in terms of animation, visuals, post-processing, UI, and the AI.

Real-Time Battle System
Master of Command utilizes a real-time battle system. There are no tiles, nor turns. Issuing commands is simple: left click to select a unit and right click to move. Everything is quick and snappy, and while our animations are still a work-in-progress, it’s a lot smoother than we had done with 2D sprites in Fire & Maneuver.

Your units can access four different formations:

1. Closed Order: Decent firepower and melee resilience.
   
2. Column: Moves quickly but is vulnerable to enemy fire.
   
3. Square: Great to repel cavalry charges but is immobile and vulnerable to enemy fire.
   
4. Open Order: Covers a large section of the front but is vulnerable to enemy fire and has weaker morale.
   

We’re reworking the way we handle formations. In a future log, we’ll showcase a new system that will allow players to determine the exact length and depth of their formation by dragging and holding right click to draw out wider lines. This will give players full flexibility to build their lines the way they want them.

Customizable Units and Flags
Each one of our units flies its own regimental flag, which the player can fully customize, including parts of the unit’s uniform color. We’ll go into more depth about that in a future development log.



Combat Mechanics
Combat is a work in progress, but the AI currently forms columns to position their troops to the frontline before deploying in line and engaging my troops. The AI has an issue where they group up a little too closely, but we intend to improve this over the next few weeks. We have a developer on our team whose primary job is to focus on AI, so we are making great progress.

User Interface in Combat
The white bar displays the reload progress of the regiment. This is especially useful because we have unique weapons for all the nations in our game, and they can be mixed and matched. If you’re leading a Prussian army and beat a Russian force, you can loot their weapons and your stats are updated accordingly.

Above the reload bar, we can see our unit’s strength in green and its morale in blue. We are making morale a really important part of battles, where superior positioning will win a fight rather than just sheer firepower alone. It won’t be uncommon for a defeated force to rout from the battlefield without a ridiculously high casualty ratio like 90% of men lost.

[h2]Firing Methods[/h2]

Players in Master of Command can control the firing method of their troops:

• Volley Fire: Requires every soldier to have their weapon fully loaded before being allowed to shoot. This deals higher morale shock to enemies but takes longer.
  
• Free-Fire: Troops will fire as soon as they’ve got their weapon loaded. This deals higher casualties over time but doesn’t shock the enemy with sudden volleys.
  

Division System
Your regiments are all grouped under divisions, led by an officer. These officers can provide passive or active buffs to the men under their command by gaining “traits.” Traits are received after an officer levels up in battle and allow you to specialize your division toward certain playstyles. Players can have up to 5 divisions at once under their command, which means the maximum unit size is 20. This number is best for getting attached to your men, and each unit is unique with no copy & paste stats or uniforms.



Development Progress
Overall, we have been making fantastic progress in achieving our goals. All of our core gameplay systems are nearly finished, and it’s just a matter of spending several months polishing and improving off the foundations we’ve laid. Thank you for the support on our previous video, “What Happened to Fire & Maneuver.” I tried my best to respond to as many comments as possible, and I’m hoping to win back your trust and support with a far more polished release than our previous game.

I’m really excited to show you more about Master of Command, especially the real-time campaign system we recently adopted over the turn-based node system previously shown, as well as the customization features we’ve added. Let us know in the comments below what part of our game you want to see next, and hopefully pretty soon we can showcase a full proper battle in Master of Command: Seven Years’ War.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to wishlist and follow, as well as join our Discord server to keep up-to-date.

Master Of Command: Seven Years' War Discord

Hi, We are the development team for Armchair History Interactive. If you haven’t seen it already, we released our first trailer for Master of Command: Prussian Glory.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Master of Command will be a single-player game that pairs historical strategy with the rogue-like genre. Set in the 18th century during the Seven Years’ War, you start the game by selecting one of three factions, Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Battling across Europe against overwhelming forces surrounding you from all directions, earning victories from each battle through your own tactics and experience gained from your regiments and officers. For those unfamiliar, roguelike games are those that primarily fulfill two requirements: permanent death, and random map generation. But we’ll get to that in a bit.



Everyone’s Seven Years’ War experience is going to play out differently every time. In one playthrough, fighting may be concentrated in the north around Pomerania, but in another, it’s around Silesia and Saxony, all depending on the strategy of the enemy forces. Where should you march your army? A difficult choice as you must select between the risk of difficult terrain and trained enemies to gain precious rewards and advantage to stop the invading forces. Unlike other games in the historical strategy genre, this means just like Frederick, you must constantly adapt against your evolving enemy as well as the hardships of the brutal terrain.



When you move your troops into a region, your mission is to reach the enemy encampment and face them in a large climactic battle, which is ultimately how you secure a region- like painting the map in a historical strategy game or beating a boss in a roguelike. But the enemy’s camp that you’re after grows the longer you spend campaigning in the region. If you move too fast to reach them, you'll face the enemy unprepared; but too slow, and they'll grow too strong. In preparation for this fight, you'll be doing things like aiding locals through unique encounters, conscripting troops at local villages or towns, and even confronting small enemy forces to gain veterancy and loot, all while advancing towards the enemy's camp. And the terrain on this map isn’t just decoration, you can leverage the terrain to gain advantages, just as strategic masters like Hannibal Barca or Gustavus Adolphus did; by choosing to navigate through challenging terrain, like using mountain passes to obscure your movements, you slow the rate at which the enemy’s camp is reinforced, as they’ve lost track of your army.



This strategy, while effective, comes with its own set of challenges, including the increased consumption of supplies and high attrition rates on your troops. Visiting nearby villages for winter coats and extra provisions might be the prudent course of action to prepare for such a demanding campaign. Once you find yourself thrust into combat, whether it’s the enemy’s camp, or a group of enemy troops along the way, you’ll be sent into a pitched battle. Our battle system operates fully in real-time, requiring you to vigilantly monitor your troops’ morale, ammunition, and effectiveness.



After securing your first region, how do you win a game of Master of Command? Well, once you’ve taken enough regions, which get increasingly difficult over time, a final assault is launched around your capital, and this will be the hardest battle to fight. We’ve spent a lot of time refining our core gameplay loop, and despite the smaller region we’re covering, I really think you’ll find our game to be a unique experience every time you play.

The best way to support us is by wishlisting here on Steam and becoming a member of our Patreon. Patreon will get you access to the game a week before we release it. Thanks for your support, and I’ll see you next time.

Wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2878450/Master_of_Command_Prussian_Glory/
PLAY EARLY on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/armchairhistorian
LEARN MORE Development Diary: https://youtu.be/Qo9XpRRo_s8
JOIN COMMUNITY on Discord: https://discord.gg/SDxBahCGG8