After twelve hectic months in Steam Early Access, indie studio Stormhold Interactive has confirmed that its turn-based strategy RPG will march into a full 1.0 release very soon.
Pennon and Battle is a HOMM-like strategy game set in a war-torn high-fantasy realm where banners and beliefs collide.
The game blends Heroes-style tactical skirmishes with kingdom management and RPG hero progression. Players recruit and promote diverse armies, construct sprawling towns, master rival spell schools, and explore procedurally generated campaign maps, solo, online, or on the same couch.
Stormhold cites classic turn-based series like Heroes of Might and Magic and Disciples as touchstones, but leans heavily on modern quality-of-life features, moddability, and community-driven balance passes.
The 1.0 version will feature:
- Alignment & Town Overhaul – Each of the game’s factions now fields 140 recruitable soldiers across three promotion branches, plus nine neutral units. Six unique buildings, tier-three barracks, and wonder structures have been added for every alignment, while towns abandon linear upgrades in favor of a flexible City Level system. A new allied-cooperation mechanic even lets players visit friendly towns for bonuses.
- Sharper, faster battles – Mages fire ranged basic attacks, ranged troops can toggle to melee, and heroes may cast spells during any allied turn without ending that unit’s action. Units with area damage—and war machines—can now target empty tiles to splash nearby foes, and quick-battle AI finally respects whether you want heroes to risk the front line.
- 55-strong hero roster – Ten fresh commanders push the total to 55, all backed by a rebalanced talent tree (tier-three skills unlock by default) and overhauled artifact sets. Significantly, Action Points no longer scale with the lumbering pace of a hero’s army.
- Light & Dark spell schools – Two new factions swell the spell list, complete with bespoke artifacts and mastery tracks, while several units pick up signature casting animations.
- New modes for every mood – Story campaigns arrive for the Elven Empire and the Eternight Council, joined by a seven-map challenge mode, tournament play that levels the field with shared rulesets, a Steam-integrated online lobby, and a local eight-player hot-seat option.
- Tooling up the sandbox – A map editor, Steam Workshop integration, treasure-map side quests, and beefier loot tables (hello, soulstones) round out the content drop.
A launch-week discount will soften the entry price, but Stormhold warns that the tag will climb later to reflect the expanded feature set.
Even so, the developers insist that version 1.0 is not a finish line but a staging ground for future seasons, balance passes, and new stories.
For now, veteran city-builders and would-be warlords alike can look forward to planting their banners when Pennon and Battle exit Early Access on August 7, 2025 on PC via Steam, below the latest trailer.
