Oh the horror, the horror! A red sea stretches for as far as the eyes can see, its crimson hue casting that of the writhing bodies on the distant horizon in an eerie, unearthly glow…

So Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and as such SEGA announced yesterday that two of its most popular franchises would go head-to-head in a rematch of last years ‘Make War Not Love’ campaign. Communities from both Total War: ROME II and Company of Heroes 2 will face off against one another in a series of battles each 3 hours long that start today at 18:00 GMT/10:00 PST and end 18:00 GMT/ 10:00 PST, February 15th. For each victory a point will be awarded to the game that particular community was fighting for, and when the dust settles all points will be tallied up and an overall victor declared.

Like soldiers of certain wars hard fought but long past, ‘But what are we fighting for?’, I hear you cry. Well, free DLC, as it happens. The Company of Heroes camp will be looking to win a plethora of premium skins and commanders worth $20 a pop (available 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 16th until 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 18th), while the Total War troops will see the Black Seas Colony Culture Pack made available for free download (18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 15th until 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 17th). Rumour also has it that come victory, the Longbeards Culture Pack for new game Total War: ATTILA will also be available as free DLC for a day upon its release later this month.

Both teams appear fairly confident in the run up to the event, but to add some more fuel to the fire SEGA also announced that the winning team’s community manager will take a shot in the ‘Make War Not Love’ Shooting Range, where after selecting from a multitude of historical weaponry, they can take a shot – in slow-mo – at a number of those annoying Valentine’s trinkets.

“We’ve met in the war room and our plans for domination are almost complete”, said Craig Laycock, Lead Community Manager for Total War. “Our plans are dark and impenetrable as night, and when we move we will fall like a thunderbolt. We will show Relic the true Art of War”.

Cynthia Griffiths, Associate Community Manager for Company of Heroes 2, sounds pretty solid, saying, “We beat them last year. We’ll beat them again. We’re confident that spears and shields will continue to be no match for our heavy artillery and automatic weapons. To arms!”

With additional Steam achievements to unlock, why not get involved in these anti-Valentine war games yourself by heading over to either game’s respective websites, or check out makewarnotlove.com when the battle commences to discover more information about the cause, how to get involved, and the scoring system.