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21st October 2026 - Link Blog

Panache — RTS Belle Époque pour mobile (via) Well this is delightful: I released Battle Drones yesterday under an Apache 2.0 License and there's already a French language fork which reskins the game to take place in steampunk 1900s France and adds an animated intro!

Panache est un jeu de stratégie en temps réel pour mobile et navigateur, dans la France de la Belle Époque (vers 1900) : dirigeables, Fardiers à vapeur, Creusot cuirassés, automates en képi, Gargantua la forteresse marchante — et beaucoup de panache.

You can play Panache here - it's worth clicking that link just to experience the new intro video.

So far it's mostly just aesthetic updates as opposed to gameplay changes. The music has had a French twist added to it as well.

The new steampunk models are so cool!

The new buildings are gold and red, there are dirigibles and biplanes, and the Goliath stomping mech has had a total makeover.

Here's a page with the original Battle Drones models and that same page with the new Panache alternatives.

This is a comparison of the original and the new design for the Goliath:

On the left: blue stomping mech robot, missile launcher shoulders, classic sci-fi robot look. On the right: gold, steampunk, much more 1900s French look.

This is a link post by Simon Willison, posted on 21st October 2026.

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