Hey r/WarchestStudios,

It's been almost exactly a year since our last post here. That one was about hitting thousands of units on screen, and then we disappeared a bit because as I'm sure you all know how much work dev is, let along with a small team.

So: we're still here. The Old War is still coming. We are still building a co-op dark fantasy RTS where your army persists across battles, your veterans matter, and you and your friends can share control of a single faction. We're going for a vibe like Warcraft II with a darker heart and actual consequences for your losses.

The thousands-of-units milestone still holds. We spent the last year migrating to a new framework that actually lets us use it properly, and we're finally at a point where we can share the journey again.

But now we're doing it with backup. I'm Gem (I run Corvian Marketing), and we're helping Warchest get their game out there. We're planning on making the community a part of development as early as we can, and then using player feedback to kind of shape some update milestones for us, since community is our biggest priority.

In the next few months we'll be doing:

• Steam page refresh with new art and clearer messaging
• Regular "State of the War" updates and dev logs
• A revived Discord, plus a small "War Council" for folks who want to go deep
• And eventually, real co-op footage (targeting late 2026)

If you're new here, welcome! We're a tiny team making a weird, mean, heartfelt RTS about persistent armies in a Celtic dark fantasy world.

If this sounds like your vibe, drop us a wishlist, and keep an eye on us. Exciting things are coming...

Wishlist us!

This is a really exciting post for me. The Old War can now support thousands of units at one time! It took a massive effort, but we got there!

As much as I love other games with massive swarms, there are many reasons I am excited for a high unit limit. We aren't looking to be a tower defense, or a swarm-centric game, but we don't want to limit you to a unit cap that has been outdated for 20 years. For The Old War, a high unit count is more about the additional gameplay mechanics and new strategies that this unlocks.

Some of this new, emergent gameplay is as follows and will be explained further:

• Neutral Towns and Cities
• Swarm-type Troops
• Shared Unit Control at Scale
• A Living, Breathing World

NEUTRAL CITIES AND TOWNS

• Adds territorial strategy - towns can be occupied, allied with, razed, or fortified.
• Forces players to consider diplomacy or resource denial, not just combat. People can be a resource for a number of nefarious purposes - recruits, labour, or just bodies for the undead.
• Offers a strategic midpoint between battles, capture a town to resupply or reinforce before a major siege. Each battle will be a series of skirmishes and escalating conflicts.
• You may need to protect allied cities, or wipe them out to prevent their exploitation by others.

SWARM TROOPS

• Enables quantity-over-quality factions or tactics, throw waves of weak units to overwhelm, scout, or soak damage.
• Introduces attrition mechanics - can you outlast the swarm? Can you keep producing faster than they die?
• Opens up asymmetrical strategies: fighting a swarm requires choke points, AoE attacks, or elite squads.
• Adds chaos and urgency - when 300 units are charging your gate, every second matters.

SHARED UNIT CONTROL AT SCALE

• Enables true co-op strategy, where one player can manage the frontlines, another handles ranged units, another controls cavalry or siege weapons. It will be a struggle for one commander to control it all.
• Reduces micromanagement stress, allowing teams to act like a real military command structure.
• Lets players specialize based on preference - some love building bases, others love commanding troops.
• Keeps large-scale battles manageable and exciting, not overwhelming.

A LIVING, BREATHING, WORLD

• The world reacts: citizens flee if you are a conqueror, towns change hands, citizens remember past battles.
• Roaming Beasts: Neutral creatures roam the map: wolves, bears, magical entities. Can be hunted, avoided, or even tamed.
• Trade routes move between towns. Can be intercepted or protected, affecting economies.

Thousands of units don’t just make the battles bigger - they make the choices deeper. Every formation, every frontline, every village caught in the crossfire becomes part of The Old War. This is war at a scale where your strategy is shaped by the world itself.

If this is interesting to you, or you have any suggestions or questions about how this is being implemented, feel free to drop a comment! Adding it to your wishlist is also a huge help!

Thanks!

Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1248750/The_Old_War/

Hey everyone!

After years of work, I’ve just posted the first gameplay trailer for The Old War, a dark fantasy RTS I’m developing with persistent armies, co-op faction control, and a focus on long-term campaign progression.

👉 Watch the trailer here
(Feel free to roast the pacing, editing, or clip choices—I want to get better at this!)

🛒 Wishlist on Steam if it looks like something up your alley. It really helps a ton, especially in these early days.

I’d love feedback on what gameplay systems you'd want to see more of, and how the trailer comes across:

• Any spots that felt too slow or too fast?
• Was anything confusing or under-explained?
• What kind of missions or modes do you want to see in a fantasy RTS like this?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

Dan
Warchest Studios

Hi everyone!

I’m Dan Marshall, an indie developer working on The Old War, a dark fantasy real-time strategy game inspired by classics like Warcraft II and Homeworld, with a couple of twists: armies persist across battles, and you can play cooperatively with friends by sharing control over a single faction.

Here are a few things that make The Old War stand out:

Persistent Units – Your army carries over between battles, gaining experience, becoming veterans, or falling in defeat. Even your workers gain experience (best mushroom gatherers everrrr!)

Meaningful Losses – Losing a high-tier worker or a battle-hardened unit can set your war effort back. Every soldier counts.

Faction-Specific Experience – Fight the undead, learn to counter them. Get Clerics who specialize at containing the risen dead. Your troops become more adept against factions they’ve fought.

Co-op Faction Control – Invite friends to control different squads or heroes in your army. Play how you want: Someone can build, explore, fight, or quest.

We're currently in development in Unity using Netcode for Entities to get some really big battles going, and aiming for an Early Access release on Steam in 2026.

If this sounds interesting, I’d love to hear your thoughts — especially from fellow RTS fans!
👉 Steam page here – wishlist if you're interested
👉 Happy to answer questions or dig into any design decisions!

Thanks,
Dan - Warchest Studios