Dear players, I am pleased to announce a fantastic new update! Playtesters were highly satisfied with it, so I believe you will love it too! The main contents of this update are:

• A better (by far) automation system
• A large new scenario set in 1923, called United Front
• A difficulty system reworked and balanced (thanks to 1 month of playtests)

A better (by far) automation system

Tired of repetitive actions? Bored with province development? Overwhelmed by managing a large empire? Just delegate these tasks to the AI! In fact, you're not delegating tasks directly to the AI, but whole characters management. While this feature existed previously, it has been enhanced and expanded. What as changed? 1) Now, you can delegate even your active characters to the AI. This can be reverted at any time, and if the AI hasn't utilized all of a character's QI, you can still utilize them during your turn to complete actions with the remaining QI. 2) The loyalty cost of delegating a character to the AI has been significantly reduced, so you no longer need to worry about using this feature. 3) You can still delegate characters from your reserve pool to the AI, which is essential for managing large multi-province domains. However, I've introduced two useful improvements. (For those new to the game, the option to delegate characters from your reserve pool to the AI unlocks when you have 5 active characters.) You can now assign these characters to specific provinces. These characters will appear in the province HQ panel, allowing you to interact with them directly. Additionally, I've implemented actions to facilitate the transfer of resources to them effortlessly. How to decide what kind of action the AI should perform? The behavior of characters when controlled by the AI depends entirely on their roles. I invite you to read this Steam guide about roles. If you aim for province development, employ a statesman character. For combating banditry, deploy a police character, and so on. A warlord character will prioritize cultivating opium and building the largest army imaginable. How competent is the AI? The AI's competence level is decent. Playtesters were generally satisfied with it. However, it's worth noting that I deliberately toned down its capabilities to ensure it doesn't match the opponent's AI. Additionally, characters in the reserve pool will exhibit less responsiveness compared to your active characters when delegated to the AI.

United Front scenario

The new scenario spans from Sun Yat Sen's return to Guangzhou in 1923 until his death in 1925. Key events of this scenario include: -The Beijing-Hankow railway strike -The formation of the United Front between the Guomindang and the Communists -The establishment of the Whampoa Academy and the presence of Soviet advisors in Guangzhou -A merchant uprising in Guangzhou -Conflict between Jiangsu and Zhejiang over control of Shanghai -A new Zhili-Fengtian war leading to the collapse of the Zhili clique -Feng Yuxiang's betrayal and the formation of the Guominjun The Communist, Guomindang, and Zhili Clique factions are central to many events and dialogues in the scenario. The Zhili Clique prompted me to extensively rework the automation system. Playtesters found managing large factions remarkably easy with the new system. Navigating the challenges of holding together a large faction at its peak power and on the brink of collapse offers an engaging challenge. If you've ever been hesitant to choose a large faction, now is the perfect opportunity to do so. Furthermore, the introduction of a new significant scenario necessitated adjustments to opponent AI. They should now be more proficient, especially those specialized in combating Communists in 1927. However, I'll rely on your feedback for further fine-tuning, as they may require additional playtesting.

Difficulty sytem

I recently introduced a difficulty system, and after weeks of playtesting, I made some slight improvements to it. There are now five different difficulty levels: Green: Designed for a relaxing game experience. Bandit generation has been reduced, and the maintenance cost of your armies is decreased. Seasonned / normal: he default difficulty level, perfect for playing as a small warlord in the warlords melee. Elite: The AI will field larger armies, reflecting historical accuracy. This level offers a challenging gameplay experience, particularly when playing as a major faction competing with other major cliques. It's also the difficulty level used for playtesting the game. Dare death: The AI will deploy even larger armies and may receive bonus resources at times. Generalissimo: At this level, you'll really notice the AI's advantage with bonus resources. It's intended for seasoned players seeking an extra challenge.

Next steps

After such a big update, I will probably take a time to rest, coding smaller and more relaxing features. In the to do list for next months (this is not an ordered list): -Some more 1927 content. -Some more guides and wiki entries -Steam achievements -Linking the event chains of the different scenarios -A 1923 sandbox? (if you really need it) Have fun! Post Scriptum: Don't hesitate to leave a comment below. Your feedback encourages us to keep improving the game, and we're excited to hear from you!