Dev Blog - March 2025 Balance Patch

Hello friends!

A new release, a new balance patch. You know the drill. The UNITED FRONT Spring Release will shake things up on various fronts - new cards, cards being rotated and several cards seeing some balance tweaks. It is this last part that we will be discussing here in this dev blog, so strap yourself in! 

As is to be expected with 3 whole months since the Blood & Iron expansion, players are getting a bit tired of the meta and are restless for some shake ups. The meta has a few decks rising slightly above the rest (mainly ramp, self-damage, soviet control), but their edge is so slim that pretty much anything goes and it is possible to get decent results with any old deck. Aggro is weaker though than it has been for a while. With all this in mind, let’s take a look at what we have in store for you in the upcoming balance patch, starting with the nerfs.

The first response to First Responders when it launched with a cost of 4 was muted. The second response to First Responders after it was buffed to 3k was polarizing. It will be interesting to see what the third response to First Responders will be now that the effect is nerfed a bit. A response of 100% approval would be a first.

The 4th Guards Rifles took to the Blood & Iron battlefields with a storm, now the Blitz is being taken away. With their storming days over, is this 9/9 Guard that sometimes comes down for free doomed to become obsolete? Only time will tell, but players are advised to keep their anti-9/9 tools near at hand, just in case.

The popularity of 12th Guards Mechanised is such that the unit now feels it can conquer the world. It has thrown all caution to the wind and is going all out on attack. We feel required to reflect these new megalomaniac tendencies within the game, so we are swapping the attack and defense of the non-veteran version. Note that the veteran version remains the same, only the non-veteran version is seeing any changes.

The ability on Inniskilling Fusiliers is rising from 2 to 3. Math tells us this is an increase of 50%, but our guts tells us it is much bigger, like a slowly digesting Shepard’s Pie. Intel decks have flirted with respectability for a while now, especially in legion with Legions. It now has a payoff card that demands respect and finally puts the Kill in Inniskilling.

Speaking of math, here is a card that is now 20% cheaper, 25% more likely to see play and 30% more likely to frustrate your foe. Make your subs dominate the seas in an orgy of pain and pleasure; penetrate unsuspecting allied convoys with your torpedoes of steel, making your opponents squeal. Germany has taken a bit of a hit recently in terms of popularity, especially as a main nation, but this new tool can invigorate their control and midrange tempo decks. Pack Wolfpack and Master your enemy.  

Covert Operation was so undercover and low-key that it has managed to stay out of pretty much all decks since it sneaked into the game. It has now instigated a buddy program, where it brings a buddy to work. As a 4-cost single unit it had 0 impact, let’s see if a 5-cost double unit has a bigger impact, or ends as double-O 5.

The iconic P-51 Mustang has for a long time rarely found a home outside of draft. It is now regaining its old ability of dealing 5 damage instead of 4. Let’s see if this allows it to range further. The word on the grapevine is that air decks may be seeing a resurgence soon, meaning the P-51 Mustang may be getting into its stride at just the right time.

The 77th Regiment puts its pants on one leg at a time like other mortal men, but what it was lacking was more 2/2s. Witnessing the 77th now roaming the misty spaces of the battlefields chanting ‘More 2/2s’ is sure to strike fear in the most formidable opponents. Alongside similar value-generating midrange units like Winter Regiment, the 77th Regiment may be the start of something new and fresh for Japan.   

‘Where there is smokescreen there is fire’ nobody said, ever. But now they might. The smokescreen deck, with the support it got in Blood & Iron, was capable of growing very big, but was severely lacking in the speed department. Now Hirosaki is giving the deck the tempo-swing it needed. Is it enough to light the fire beneath it?

To answer the question above - if Hirosaki is not enough by itself, maybe this little buff can push it over the edge. Now with an operation cost of 0 this little tankette threatens to grow into a formidable threat quicker than you can say ‘Go Type 92 Jyu-Shokosha, go!’ three times fast.

B-26 Groupe Bretagne cares about the first order you give each turn. Now the Bloch cares about being the first unit deployed. One wonders what this portents, but something tells us Nostradamus’s famous ‘France First’ t-shirt might be a hint of things to come.

Zaza Division never managed to find glory in surviving, so now it is going down in style. This can be a real draw-on-a-stick in the mid game and who knows what other tricks are possible. All we know is that 33rd Recon is now hiding in shame.

That is all for now. Three nerfs and nine buffs to accompany the new cards and rotation, heralding in a new and bright future. Let us know what you think, your feedback is precious to us. The balance patch will be unleashed on the 13th of March, spearheading the changes to come. Until then, see you on the battlefield, commander!