Here at long last is the first open beta test version (0_01) of REN II.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/REN%20II%20BV%200_01.zip


Please unzip in a safe place on your PC and follow the instructions in the MS Word ReadMe file.

Enjoy

Ian

I have not blogged for some weeks but I now have quite a lot of progress to report.  First off, play testing for the battle of Marj Dabik 1516 between the Ottomans and the Mamluks has gone well.  The scenario is now fully functional both when played against the AI and against a human opponent using Hot Seat. The only thing left to work on is a revised version of the two AI scripts.

Once this is finished I will release a full preview version of the Modd including this scenario as well as a  scenario design resources pack.

While play testing the scenario it became clear that this game works much better using the "divisional colours" option.  I have therefore redesigned the two zoom levels of 2D counters for the game, to take full advantage of this feature.  In some ways, these now look much more like the 2-D counters that ship with the HPS Panzer Campaigns & Great War Campaigns series, although they are much more colourful.  I have added horizontal colour bars to both zoom levels of counter, so that the colour of the counter centre is still visible when the "Divisional Colours" option is used. 

Please see below a screenshot from the scenario showing the action on the Mamluks left wing, at Marj Dabik along with another showing the 2D zoom in level from the battle of Seminara, 28 June 1495 (from the start of the Italian Wars) showing a wider range of unit counters. Finally I have included another screenshot of the same battle in the 2D zoomed out view.  

Over the last week or so I have also added an additional 50 unit portraits to the "units" file.  Before starting work on the armies of the various Western European states I thought it would be a good idea to provide some generic mercenary images, as all of these armies hired in large numbers of foreign troops under contract, particularly the ubiquitous German Reiter cavalry and Landsknecht mercenary infantry. See this screenshot below for the new images added.

Finally, anybody who is interested in speeding up production of this modd by taking on producing versions of existing scenarios, and indeed new ones, is very welcome to come on board.  Drop me a line using the private message facility at wargamer.com (you can find me in the HPS “Musket & Pike” section) and we can take things from there. You would get access to the latest version of the modd (credit for any scenarios’ included) and any updates as and when they are made.

Kind regards

Ian