Matrix Games

Hi everyone!

We’ve been continuing to work on ICBM: Escalation and now that the major AI update is out, we’ve been making small fixes and improvements where we can, but our attention has been mainly focused on our new upcoming DLC. As you may have been able to guess, from subtle hints like the new loading screen and Steam trading card featuring the DF-41 mobile ICBM, or less subtle hints, like that time we openly said it in the last DLC dev diary and then publicly announced it later, our newest DLC is focused on what I think many people would agree is the most obvious contender. With a substantial nuclear arsenal, a huge roster of unique indigenous units, a massive army and considerable geopolitical sway, our next DLC is about China!

Like our last two DLCs, this one will feature new Chinese unit cosmetics as well as an 11-mission campaign spanning from shortly after the end of WWII and into the not-so-distant future. Now, some of you might be wondering what’s special about this campaign, and why it’s called Assassin’s Mace. While the USSR campaign focused on matching or overwhelming NATO’s capabilities, and the DLC US campaign focused on being an unbridled powertripping psychopath, China’s campaign is also asymmetrical, but this time in another direction. You see, while the US and USSR came out of WWII as obvious winners and new undisputed superpowers, China wasn't quite as lucky.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

While we might think of China as being an economic powerhouse and a growing technological hub with an advanced military today, this wasn’t always the case. While most agree that WWII started in 1939, the Chinese were fighting the Japanese well before that, and before that, they were fighting themselves. After the Japanese were defeated, the Chinese civil war continued and eventually (sort of) ended in 1949, with the communist party routing the KMT out of the mainland and into Taiwan. Years of fighting, as well as a number of other factors, like a limited technological and industrial base, meant China entered the Cold War as an extremely poor country, with the average person earning less than $100 a year in 1950. Although the economy has obviously improved enormously since then, it was still very poor for most of the 20th century. As a result, its military wasn’t well funded and was generally technologically inferior.

But, the Chinese military was no slouch for its part either. Even despite being ravaged by years of war and not having a strong military industrial complex, China contributed enormously to the Korean war, and later stood its ground against the USSR after the Sino-Soviet split. So, if you’re China, how do you fight an opponent with a better equipped army?

In order for China to beat superiorly armed opponents like the United States, their strategy relies on their massive manpower advantages, and a doctrine some refer to as the “Assassin’s Mace”, from which the DLC takes its name. The actual “Assassin’s Mace” is a Chinese weapon used to smash an enemy’s sword and disarm them. In a doctrinal sense, it refers to a strategy of undermining the enemy’s advantages with asymmetrical measures instead of trying to match them. It’s also central to this campaign. You’ll be squaring off against superiorly armed enemies every mission and must come up with some solution to nullify their advantages, doing things like denying enemy naval power with anti-ship batteries and submarines, or wiping out SAM sites with commando raids. And of course, because China has more soldiers than anyone else, you also get to make up the difference with sheer, overwhelming numbers.

In many missions, you’ll have divisions deployed for you automatically, so you won’t have to worry about wearing down your armies as much and can focus on other tactics.

Another thing we’ve changed for this particular campaign is we’ve slightly adjusted how the tech system works. It’s no secret that people would play the other campaigns and stretch out the mission timer as long as they possibly could to maximize their tech gains. Of course, sitting around and dragging your feet doesn’t make for exciting gameplay, and it’s obviously antithetical to the fact that you would want to decisively win any war as fast as possible, for all sorts of reasons. To that end, the research timer is out and pure production is in, so all you need to worry about now is completing the mission. And after all, China’s military has been technologically stunted for some time. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of free techs to keep you roughly in line with what China had historically, and you’ll be able to spend points between missions on new techs and units as usual. Make no mistake, you’ll still be a technological powerhouse by the end of the campaign, but it’s probably for the best if you don’t have 5th generation fighters in the 1970s.

In 1979, J-20s aren’t nearly as attainable as Q-5s, but this photo should also serve as a reminder that having literal millions of soldiers is at least okay as a substitute for having a technological advantage.

And of course, this DLC also comes with a full set of Chinese unit cosmetics, ranging from old Soviet imports and copies like the ZTZ-59 and the the J-7, all the way to the latest and greatest purely Chinese indigenous designs, like the J-10, the J-20 and the ZTZ-100.
 

Made in China.

And that more or less wraps up what to expect for Assassin’s Mace! The DLC is scheduled to release on October 13th and we can’t wait to hear what you think about it. As always, we’re listening to your feedback and doing what we can to polish the game even more. Thanks for all your ongoing support, it’s gotten us this far and we’ve got even more plans for ICBM in the future!