Companion to Tides of War: The Command v1.09 Update

Tides of War, the new DLC pack for Command, was released yesterday. Make sure you don’t miss its unique new features, such as persistent campaign progression. As is often the case, the DLC release was accompanied by a major CMO engine update—and in the fine tradition of past releases, this one too packs a wallop.

Let’s take a quick look through the major additions & tweaks:

Explicit GNSS jamming and jammer units

This is effectively the follow-on to the abstract GNSS jamming made possible through the “Side Enablers” feature introduced in v1.08. In addition to defining “access/no access” to specific GNSS networks (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, etc.) at the side- and area-level, you can now deploy distinct platforms with the ability to jam these critical systems.

Just like radar and communication jammers, these platforms tend to be expensive and scarce, so careful positioning is required to maximize coverage and prioritize the assets you wish to protect (or the area you want to deny). As with other jammer types, their emissions can be detected, localized, and targeted.

In addition, the way GNSS disruption affects terminal weapon accuracy has been improved. Instead of measuring the “time without a PNT fix” and using that to calculate INS drift, the simulation now tracks the last 50 PNT-fix attempts (successful and unsuccessful) and uses a simulated Kalman filter to derive the final internal drift. This provides a more realistic model of disruption—since, for example, a single PNT fix is not enough to fully “reset” navigation accuracy to nominal status.

Salvo simultaneous weapon arrival

“I wish my cruise missiles arrived at the target area in a nice, strung-out line so that the defences could swat them down one by one” — said no strike planner, ever.

The navigation logic on weapons supporting TOT has been tweaked so that, within a salvo, all weapons will closely bunch up in order to arrive at the target simultaneously, overwhelming the defences. (Inter-salvo coordination remains the responsibility of the player, either manually or through the MDSP.)

Launch speed-dependent burnout for air-launched boost-coast AAW missiles

In other words: it is now actually important how fast an aircraft is flying when launching a boost-coast missile.

(This option is enabled by default in new scenarios and quick battles, and disabled by default in existing scenarios.)

When enabled, the burnout speed (per altitude) of boost-coast AAW missiles now varies according to the launch speed (in addition to the already-critical launch altitude). The weapon’s nominal range assumes a Mach 1.5 launch at 36,000 ft.

If the launch speed is lower, the effective burnout speed and kinematic range will be lower. If the launch speed is higher, both burnout speed and reach can increase significantly beyond nominal.

A faster burnout speed provides three key advantages in the BVR “missile joust”, all else being equal:

• Your missile flies further, expanding your WEZ and reducing exposure to counter-fire.

• Your missile flies faster on average, shortening your commit–engage–disengage cycle.

• Your missile reaches impact with higher terminal speed, improving hit probability against an evading target.

If you’ve ever wondered why fighters aggressively go to afterburner before launching missiles, this should make it clear.

Incremental / timestamped saves

A long-requested feature: an easy way to undo or roll back scenario changes.

Instead of overwriting the existing save, the game now creates timestamped copies of the played scenario. This does take more disk space, but makes it much easier to revert to previous versions.

Vast A2AR improvements

A major effort has gone into improving air-to-air refueling:

• Improved reliability at high sim speed

• Reworked tanker prioritization and fuel reservation logic

• Fixed several issues with tanker selection and refuel cancellation

• Units now correctly follow refueling orders, even without explicit assignment

• Prevents refueling conflicts and incorrect behaviors in complex scenarios

The Flight Plan Editor also received multiple fixes and quality-of-life improvements, particularly around refueling waypoints and doctrine settings.

Improved manual salvo control

A new “Execute” button has been added to the Manual Weapon Allocation window (Shift+F1).

Salvos are now created and scheduled far into the future by default. Only when the player clicks “Execute” (or closes the window) are they re-scheduled to fire as soon as feasible.

This allows full control over planning, editing, and adjusting salvos without units immediately reacting or moving prematurely.

Improved “one-third rule” on patrol/support missions

The patrol logic has been improved to better handle mixed formations.

Aircraft with different loadouts, subtypes, or even varying configurations can now be treated more flexibly under the 1/3 rule, making patrol rotation management significantly easier.

Area & Reference-point Manager improvements

This system has received numerous fixes, usability improvements, and functional enhancements, making it both more powerful and easier to use.

Limpet mines revisited

The mechanics of limpet mines have been reworked:

• Can be placed on stationary ships or submarines

• Remain attached until detonation

• Use impact-style damage rather than underwater shock effects

This makes them a highly effective “sneak attack” naval weapon.

Improved map settings UI

Map settings are now duplicated in a dedicated window, making it faster and easier to adjust multiple options in sequence.

Other bits & pieces:

• New doctrine option: Threat Max Distance (default: 50nm)

• Aggressive Tile Management option for smoother map performance

• Ships can now use dipping sonar

• Expanded Lua scripting API

• Menu search functionality added

• Improved realism for nuclear submarines (Advanced Propulsor)

• Drag-and-drop loading of save files

• Ability to convert airbases into single-unit airfields

• Improved quick battle interface and templates

• Expanded UI tooltips

• Increased durability threshold for sinking ships

• Set orientation now available in normal play for non-fixed facilities

• Expanded weapon jettison options

• Improved image loading and UI responsiveness

• SEAD units now engage both radars and jammers

• Units react to illumination as if under attack

And as always, the new update benefits from updated official scenarios and the latest DB3000 and CWDB database releases.

With the decks now clear, the dev team is already hard at work on several new features set to further evolve the Command experience throughout 2026. Stay tuned.