Hello Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm fans, and welcome to our very first official tournament.

The Winter Tournament will see players go head to head using Flashpoint Campaigns new PBEM+ function.

Registration is open now and will run until February 28th when the tournament will go live. You can register here on the Matrix website.[www.matrixgames.com]

The tournament consists of three sequential PvP scenarios, each with a 10 day time limit. The tournament will conclude March 30th. As this is our first official tournament we have given players plenty of time as we find the best format for PvP Flashpoint Campaigns.

Now lets get down to the missions. For veterans of Southern Storm these scenarios will be familiar. These scenarios are all available to play in single player mode.

In no particular order we have...

Brothers in Arms

The scenario starts at 2000 hours with a six hour time limit. With night about to fall the East Germans are looking to cross the Weißer Main river.

NATO forces on the field are a mix of West German and American units. The U.S. brings a cavalry force of eight Abrams tanks and twelve Bradley IFV's. In 1989 this is a cutting edge cavalry detachment. The West Germans have two companies of mechanized infantry, with one company in Marders and another mounted in M113s. With the only artillery support being a small battery of mortars, the firepower of your IFVs and Abrams are essential.

The NVA has a much larger force. A reconnaissance company and two battalions of T-55AMs start off on the field. Another battalion of tanks and another of mechanized infantry in BMP-1s will arrive within 10 and 20 minutes of scenario start respectively. Two batteries of Akatsiya self-propelled artillery will also come on line separately at the one and two hour marks. With Abrams and Bradleys on the field, you are qualitatively outmatched and need to leverage your advantage in both artillery and mass.

With NATO holding the opposite bank there is a big emphasis on maneuver and deception in this mission - will NATO catch the NVA traversing the river, or will the East Germans successfully cross the river and turn NATO out of their position?
A Final Push

Next up is a very traditional Cold War battle, with an American battalion defending a highway against a major Warsaw Pact thrust.

The Americans have one company of Abrams and two companies of Bradleys, supplemented by mortars and a pair of Cobra gunships that should arrive one hour into the scenario. Can the U.S. army hold off this major thrust?

Coming down the road is an entire Soviet motor rifle regiment with one battalion of T-80B1's and two battalions of BMP-1P's with dismounts. Six units of six Gvozdika SPG's, four SU-24 Fencers, and six Mi-24 Hinds are in support.

While the Soviets have mass and artillery, the Americans have the advantage of terrain and the terrific firepower of the Bradley - not to mention the TOWs of the Cobras. With a six hour time limit both sides will have plenty of opportunities to maneuver on a daytime battlefield.

The Great Escape

To mix things up a bit here we have a mission that is not exactly a traditional attack/defend, but more of a pursuit. As the Americans you need to transit your forces west to avoid a rapidly approaching encirclement by Warsaw Pact forces. Once your forces are no longer overextended, you can then focus your attention on holding objectives. As the East German player coming down from the north, you want to smash as much of the American forces as possible before they make their escape. With a six hour time limit its up to you whether to engage in an aggressive pursuit, or try to plan a more deliberate attack.

The Americans are mechanized cavalry, mostly a mix of Bradleys and Abrams with very few dismounts. They will start with two mixed companies of Bradleys and Abrams, with an Abrams armored company reinforcing them 45 minutes into the mission. Kiowa helicopters are also on the field for reconnaissance, and four Cobras are due to arrive within two hours of scenario start. A company of off-map 155mm howitzers will also be on call shortly.

As the East German player you only start off with several reconnaissance units plus a battalion of T-72M's on the field. As the situation develops the rest of the regiment will gradually arrive on the field - two battalions of T-72's and a battalion of BMP-1s. Three companies of Gvozdiikas are due to shortly after scenario start, and air defenses are bolstered by a pair of Shilkas.

Good luck everyone. With the large maps we see in Flashpoint Campaigns we are eager to hear about all the clever maneuvers and approaches the community comes up with.

Hello Colonels and Polkovniks, today we have another Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm update for you.

Update 2.1.4.8795 brings you several new QoL features. To summarize - and this is all backwards compatible - the radio log has been redesigned so that it can be customized with filters. These filters will let you tailor the log to give you specific information based on the tags you select. If you want to see information about shooting, movement, or reinforcements arriving you can filter out all the extra bits and focus on the info you need.

Also included are tweaks to the command cycle. Larger formations like Brigades will now generally have a shorter loop - previously they were a bit more cumbersome than you would realistically expect.

There are also plenty of smaller QoL features included - a fullscreen mode is now available by pressing the F11 key and artillery units can now be ordered to counterbattery fire at the end of a move, et cetera et cetera.

You can download a lovely PDF copy of the complete changelog here.[www.matrixgames.com]

Happy hunting everyone!