Isonzo News

Today’s Isonzo Intel is focused on the Assault class and a few of their weapons! How do these specialists break through enemy positions to complete objectives or conduct spoiling attacks to prevent enemy advances? Read on to find out…

[h2]Assault[/h2]
Equipped with high impact weaponry and training, the Assault class excels at breaking through enemy lines or denying ground.

The Italian Royal Army has the Arditi to serve as their shock troops - the name roughly translates to ‘the daring ones’. Alongside the German stormtroopers, they are widely recognized as some of the first specialist troops trained to break through enemy defenses before the main advance by regular infantry. They had a reputation for winning battles sometimes armed with only daggers and grenades!

Italian Arditi.

The Austro-Hungarians were not as quick as the Italians to form assault troops, once they did they followed a similar line to the German stormtroopers. Melee weapons and grenades featured heavily in their loadouts, and they made use of the Danish Madsen LMG.

Austro-Hungarian SturmTruppe.

One of the signature abilities of the Assault class is being able to wield light machine guns in combat. In terms of sheer weight of fire in a man-portable weapon, little compares to the LMG. They might have weaknesses including reload times and burning through ammo at a fearsome rate, but for those moments you absolutely need full auto they can’t be beat. That said, while the ability to use light machine guns is a unique trait of the Assault class, it doesn’t define them! The standard Assault weapon is a rifle, with their other equipment and abilities giving them that aggressive power to break enemy positions.

Controlling your bursts is important when using the Villar Perosa.

One such piece of equipment is the canteen which grants unlimited stamina and reduced suppression for a limited time - useful for assaults, where the ability to return fire unphased by suppression and sprint through open areas is invaluable, or for infiltration where the unlimited stamina will allow you to relocate far more quickly than your opponents expect.

Using the canteen when making an assault across No Man's Land on the Carso.

The ‘Quickshot’ perk makes you twice as fast to aim down sights, which in close quarters action can give you the jump on less quick opponents. Alternatively, you can unlock powerful melee weapons - a trench mace or the Arditi dagger - which are deadly in a straight melee fight. Or if you want to focus on that light machine gun, you can take a perk to boost how much suppression you cause!

Let’s look at a few of the weapons Assault troops might find themselves using…

[h3]Villar Perosa[/h3]
We’ve talked about the distinctive Villar Perosa light machine gun back in our third Isonzo Intel, from it’s birth as an anti-aircraft weapon through to becoming an effective weapon in the Italian army arsenal as time went on. What we didn’t tell you at the time was that it is an Assault class weapon. Whether you’re suppressing defenders to allow your teammates to charge forward, or covering chokepoints and objectives to stymy an enemy attack, the rapid fire Villar Perosa can be invaluable.

It’s actually two complete gun mechanisms coupled together!

[h3]Grenades galore![/h3]
These hand-tossed high explosives are a key part of the firepower available to the Assault class. They don’t have the range of the Rifleman’s rifle grenades, but they are far quicker to prepare and use in the heat of battle. Useful both while attacking and defending, grenades can shock, suppress and eliminate opponents.

A selection of grenades: Italian grenades on the left, Austro-Hungarian on the right.

The unusual round grenade on the left is an Italian Spaccamela “OSP” grenade - the charge and detonator are held inside of two sheet metal halves welded together. Next to it is a more conventional Baldari fragmentation grenade, with wooden handle, . Both of the other grenades are Austro-Hungarian Rohrhandgranaten, one with a high explosive head designed to kill by concussion, and the other using a ball top filled with shrapnel to serve as a fragmentation grenade, effective over a larger area. These Austrian manufactured grenades used cardboard handles, which worked fine but could disintegrate if allowed to get too wet.

Team cutting wire in front of enemy trench while you cover them with grenades.

The Assault class can carry more grenades than other classes, and they can also choose to bring a grenade supply crate as a perk! Place it somewhere close to the action and you and your allies can rain destruction down on nearby enemies!

Building a crate also adds one additional grenade to grenade-wielding classes spawning near it!

[h2]That’s all… for now![/h2]
There’s a lot more to talk about coming up as we continue working on Isonzo and more things get to a point where we’re ready to share! We’re keen to talk more about some of the maps you’ll be fighting over, and we know you’re looking forward to that. Hopefully soon!

Our ninth Isonzo dev blog is focused on a very special class - the Mountaineer! We obviously couldn’t make a game set on the Italian Front without including the specialists who trained explicitly for Alpine warfare. So what’s the role of the Mountaineer in Isonzo, and what kind of skills and equipment do they have? Read on to find out…

[h2]Mountaineer[/h2]
”With training and equipment suited to the extreme terrain of the Alps, Mountaineers excel at reconnaissance and infiltrating enemy positions.”

Mountain troops were used extensively by all factions on the Italian Front, given that most of the terrain was extremely mountainous - ranging from steep foothills on the Carso to the extreme high altitudes in the Dolomites. For the Kingdom of Italy there are the famous Alpini troops, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire can count on the famous Kaiserjäger to counter the Alpini. While the Kaiserjäger were not officially mountain troops, they were highly trained light infantry who fought hard in rough terrain. Both have a unique appearance, especially the Alpini with their characteristic cappello with feathers. We knew that representing the mountain troops in-game with a specialised class designed to scout and make their way through challenging environments quickly was essential.

Their equipment options reflect their role. The Mountaineer is the only class apart from the Officer to be able to carry a flare gun, though the Mountaineer’s flares work a little differently: one flare will grant spotting in the targeted area (identifying enemy forces on the mini-map) while following it up with a second flare will increase the speed and accuracy of any mortar being aimed by allies within that area. There’s an obvious synergy in simultaneously spotting enemies and allowing more deadly mortar fire on those enemies!

Italian Alpini in action.

Other choices include binoculars for spotting without the ammo limitations of a flare gun, an icepick melee weapon, a canteen, and even a bugle which inspires teammates around the mountaineer to advance with perks like faster sprinting and suppression immunity (representing mountaineer knowledge of the terrain and ability to lead troops through less obvious paths).

The Mountaineers enjoy perks that suit their role as mobile scouts. The Alpinist perk grants double vault and climbing speed, allowing for swifter navigation across obstacles and when moving vertically. The Observer perk gives the Mountaineer the ability to construct a periscope, which is a spotting tool that can be used by anyone on their team once built, and they can be built anywhere the Mountaineer deems useful. The construction system is something new to Isonzo that we’ve only hinted at so far, but you can expect a larger blog about it soon!

A mountaineer using a trench periscope to observe enemy positions.

All of this isn’t to say that Mountaineers aren’t ready to be in the thick of the fighting when things get hot! The aforementioned icepick is a deadly close quarters weapon, and they have a variety of rifles and carbines to choose from, including some with bayonets.

[h2]Reserve Rifles[/h2]
Speaking of weapons, today we’ll also look at two of the more… venerable rifles you’ll see in action. You’ll be able to unlock these as Mountaineer weapons as you play - we’ll talk more about how you unlock weapons in Isonzo in a future dev blog! If you missed our previous blog about how the class and loadout system works, read all about it here. Now onto the rifles!

Vetterli 1870/87
The original Vetterli was a single shot Swiss design from 1868, which Italy started manufacturing for their troops in 1871. That’s far enough in the past that the rifles produced in those early days often had minor differences due to variations in local construction - standardization was only introduced in 1874!

The 1870/87 version isn’t the only Vetterli rifle in the game…

By 1887, these Vetterlis were being converted into four shot magazine rifles. This was the Vetterli 1870/87, which would be replaced by the more modern six round Carcano rifle in 1891. But production of the more modern weapon never caught up to demand once the war started.

By late 1915 the Italians were running low on modern rifles, so the Vetterli 1870/87 was issued to various new regiments that nobody expected to see combat soon - however, the unpredictable nature of war meant that a number of these old rifles would see action as their users were forced into battle. If you don’t mind a somewhat smaller magazine, the Vetterli 1870/87 can serve you well!

M1867 Werndl–Holub
If the Vetterli sounds long in the tooth, spare a thought for the Austro-Hungarian troops who found themselves armed with the M1867 Werndl–Holub rifle, which was even older than the original Vetterli. A single-shot breechloader, the Werndl was perfectly serviceable but no match for the rate of fire of modern guns.

The reliable but elderly Werndl.

They were issued to some rear-echelon forces so that more modern weapons could be concentrated in frontline units. As with the Italian soldiers issued Vetterli rifles, the troops given the Werndl did sometimes find themselves in combat with their decades old firearms. If you can make every bullet count and avoid chaotic situations where you need more than one shot at a time (or bring your icepick for when things get up close and personal) the Werndl can be a very satisfying weapon to master.

[h2]Join the Isonzo Beta![/h2]
We’re still gathering interested players for our Isonzo closed beta. If you’re one of them, you can sign up here. There’s no guarantee that everyone who signs up will get a chance to be part of the closed beta, since we pick people based on various criteria from hardware and server region to playtime. That said, we are looking for a broader audience than with the alpha tests, so your chances are good!

[h2]Stay tuned![/h2]
We’ve still got lots of exciting details to share about Isonzo, not least the new construction system. There’s no guarantee it’ll be ready for the next dev blog, but we’re eager to share it with you as soon as we can! Don’t forget to follow for the latest updates and wishlist Isonzo on Steam!

We’re proud to announce that Isonzo has been nominated for an Indie of the Year award over on IndieDB, in the Upcoming Games: FPS category. There are three days left for voting!

[h2]We’d love to get your vote![/h2]



[h3]You can also vote for Tannenberg, which was nominated for the Released Games: FPS category![/h3]

Thanks to you all for your continued support of the WW1 Game Series! Make sure to wishlist Isonzo already - it might not be all too long until beta testing begins...

With Movember drawing to a close and our focus on facial hair this month, Isonzo Intel number eight is all about character customisation, though gun lovers will enjoy reading about two notable Steyr handguns! In Isonzo, customization is spread across five categories: uniforms, headgear, mustaches, faces, and facial accessories. But first…

[h2]Isonzo Beta News![/h2]
Following the end of the alpha tests, a beta is planned. If you're interested and don't want to miss any news, sign up here.

[h2]Movember[/h2]
November is the month of Movember - a charity for men’s health that encourages men to grow mustaches to raise awareness. Since 2003, Movember has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world! You can donate here!

If you look at photos from the World War One period, you’ll find a lot of mustaches, some of them very impressive indeed. Several members of our community were inspired to join in!

Just two of the many community members who joined Movember sharing their ‘staches.

We also asked the world (well, the world of Discord, Reddit, Facebook and Twitter) which mustache was their favorite from a wide selection of well groomed individuals who had a significant impact on the war. Different communities had different favourites - Reddit enjoyed Wilhelm II’s mustache, while Twitter favored Von Hindenburg. However, the winner (from a pool of eight magnificent mustaches) was Paul von Rennenkampf! To celebrate, we will be implementing von Rennenkampf’s excellent mustache as an option for players to choose from in Isonzo! Take a look…

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Glorious “Rennenkampf” style moustache

[h2]Character Customization[/h2]
For Isonzo we are introducing a new and extensive character customization system. Whereas in previous titles your uniform and appearance was based on the squad type and squad rank, in Isonzo the uniform is foremost decided by player class and the player themselves! As with Verdun and Tannenberg, the focus is on historical authenticity and an accurate depiction of the troops found on the front. So without further delay, let's dive a little deeper into the different customization options available!
Do note that the UI may be subject to some changes however - this is WIP stuff.

[h3]Uniforms[/h3]
With a class type selected you will now have the option to choose a uniform variant attached to that class. The uniforms for these classes are based on the unit and historical variations of these units, as they may have been seen on the Italian front. We’ve already taken a brief look at the available classes in a previous Isonzo blog entry and will elaborate more on what each class entails in future dev blogs.

While in previous games it was squad level that dictated your uniform, in Isonzo things are different. The Italian and (especially) the Austro-Hungarian armies sported an enormous variety of non-standard fabrics, dyes and uniform styles across the years, so we decided that it was both more liberating and more representative of what soldiers would have actually experienced to let player veterancy in any given class be the primary influencer of uniform selection. In particular, the unique combination of different ‘ersatz’ materials such as corduroy or linen in summer tunics gave an interesting contrast to regular uniforms when it was used.

Swapping between various Italian infantry Uniforms.

Uniform options for different units are only available to the class that makes sense historically. For instance, ‘Arditi’ uniforms are only available for the Italian assault class. Furthermore, as the player gains experience in the game, uniform options will become far less pristine - some outright filthy - depending on the deployment of the unit and player veterancy. In this way, every player has the opportunity to give themselves a truly unique appearance, while remaining historically authentic. How all of these variants will be made available to players, in-game or via DLC, is something we’ll explore further in a future blog.


Headgear
With historical accuracy in mind, you can choose headgear from a range of items that are appropriate for the uniform + class type you have selected. For instance only Italian Mountaineer class “Alpini” can wear the Alpini “Capello” cap variants, officer caps are only available for officers, and so on.

Selecting Alpini-specific headgear for the Italian Mountaineer class “Veteran’’ uniform.

This system is deeper than just linking items to classes though: for instance, should you have an Arditi officer uniform variant selected, Arditi specific headgear will also be available to that loadout.

As we did research and studied historical photos and footage, we noticed a variety in the shapes of things like soft caps, with the Austrian “Feldkappe” being a prime example. These many shapes, which usually alter the silhouette drastically, are something we have looked to replicate in many of our headgear variants. For further indulgence, the Austrian forces of the time carried a tradition of ornate cap badges, many of which have been included in our artwork. We hope to go into detail about these in a future Isonzo Intel instalment - they’re quite fascinating!

As will hopefully become evident when you try it out, we spent a lot of time making sure that we offer cosmetic freedom whilst at the same time ensuring we don’t end up with any historically incorrect setups - or indeed anything which looks like it belongs in the realm of fantasy.

Selecting headgear for an “Arditi officer” uniform. Note how some of these are dirtier than others!

[h3]Faces[/h3]
Character faces are also something the player can now select. We have a fair number to choose from, and we have paid attention to accentuate where possible the subtle differences you might notice in troops from either side - e.g. the Italian faction faces will generally sport a more Mediterranean appearance in terms of skin tone and darker hair colour.

A selection of Italian faces.

[h3]Facial Hair[/h3]
With facial hair we knew from the start we had to do something special. Doing justice to the sheer quantity of different facial hair that was worn during the great war is no small feat! As it’s Movember, now is the perfect time to share our special Isonzo mustache showcase:

A selection of over 45 facial hair styles - can you identify their historic owners?

Our approach has been to model our facial hair assets from images of famous generals, cultural figures and charismatic individuals from the period. We started the blog of course with the introduction of the “Rennenkampf” style (which is also mentioned in this Great War channel episode). The current list consists of 50 unique styles, and it may grow. From the thin pencil-like moustache worn by Emperor Charles I of Austria, all the way up to large, bushy, and extra bristly ones such as that sported by German General August Von Mackensen.

[h3]Facial Items[/h3]
Along with editing faces, uniforms, headgear and facial hair, players are also able to choose from a vast list of facial items to add even more character. This list spans a range of historically inspired eye-wear, tobacco accessories, and bandages. Equip spectacles such as the pince-nez style worn by many famous figures from around the turn of the century. Choose from some of the many tobacco smoking items from the period, with many different smoking pipes and cigarettes available. For alpine units, there’s even a range of snow and ski goggles that can be selected.

Battle worn Bersaglieri Ciclisti veteran wearing “Chekhov” style pince-nez and a “Cadorna” style moustache.

[h3]The Barracks[/h3]
The barracks, accessible from the main menu, is where you can prepare yourself before battle! You’ll be able to see all the available uniform types and variants for each class of soldier for each nation, and customise the above options from there. A variant of the barracks will also be available during a game, this way you can customise your appearance when there is a lull in the fighting...

[h2]Steyr, Steyr, Steyr[/h2]
The Steyr Mannlicher AG is a 157 year old Austrian arms company, which was at the forefront of auto-loading pistol technology in the early 20th century. The Austro-Hungarian military made use of several Steyr firearms, including the two we’re going to look at today: the Roth-Steyr Model 1907, and the Steyr-Hahn 1912. We’ll start with the Roth-Steyr...



This was the first semi-auto pistol adopted by the land army of a major power: it was issued to the Austro-Hungarian cavalry. Because of this, it has a heavy trigger pull to prevent accidental discharge - you don’t want a hair trigger on a pistol to be used by mounted cavalry!



The Steyr-Hahn is based on the mechanism used by the Roth-Steyr. It was initially issued to the Austrian Landwehr (remember that Austria-Hungary had effectively three armies - the Austrian Landwehr, the Hungarian Honvéd and the Common Army - with the Austrian and Hungarian armies generally being better equipped than the Common Army).

The Steyr-Hahn was a popular enough weapon that Germany would place orders for 10,000 during WW1, and years later the Wehrmacht would order 60,000 after annexing Austria in 1938. These aren’t the only weapons manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher AG that feature in Isonzo, though. Can you guess what the other(s) might be?

[h3]So ends another Isonzo Intel...[/h3]

Wishlist Isonzo and follow the page so you don’t miss an Isonzo Intel drop!



[h3]Meanwhile on the Eastern Front...[/h3]
Wolves are on the hunt in Tannenberg!

Until December 5 you can be part of the Wolf Truce event in Tannenberg, our Eastern Front game! Packs of hungry wolves may invade your battles, giving both sides a choice - team up to fight off the canine foe, or just try to take advantage of the chaos. For those who succeed in maintaining a truce until the last wolf is dealt with, a special medal is available! Handily, you can get Tannenberg for 65% for a little longer as part of the Steam Autumn sale:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/633460/Tannenberg/

[h3]Until next time![/h3]

In today's development blog we will take a first look at one of the classes we are introducing in Isonzo. In a previous blog we gave an overview of our new approach to classes and their balance. Today we will focus on the officer.

[h2]Role[/h2]
“No force should be without a leader. The Officer issues orders, inspires those under his command, and can request support at command posts.”

The officer in Isonzo is the core of the team. Unlike in Verdun & Tannenberg where every squad had a commander with the ability to call support, in Isonzo there can only be a very limited number per faction. The officers in Isonzo are also of a slightly higher rank (commissioned officers, or COs) - this is clearly distinguishable visually thanks to their uniforms.

A typical Italian infantry officer on the Carso frontlines, 1916.

An Austro-Hungarian officer in front of the Schonburg Tunnel, 1916.

The duties of the officer are to call in divisional resources and provide direction for the team. We’ve seen in our playtests that a competent officer, especially for the attackers, can turn the tide of battle. Don’t worry, we’re well aware of the risks that a less capable officer can pose, so we’re looking into systems to check that officers are making use of the resources available to them.

The standard officer equipment includes a pistol, a trench whistle and a unique way of calling in off-map support. Many of you have already guessed it based on teasers from previous blogs…

Italian officer firing a flare gun.

[h3]The Flare System[/h3]
In the last dev blog we confirmed the Hebel Model 1894 flare gun was in the game - so what role do flares play in Isonzo?

We’ve developed a unique flare system based on historical flare usage. Many people are familiar with the use of flares to provide light at night - even though these lights would often be artillery shells (‘star shells’) rather than flares fired from flare guns. However, flares were also used for signalling.

This photo from the Imperial War Museum shows a soldier firing a flare gun in 1917.

A flare could signal both location and intention, and this is how they function in Isonzo. After shooting a flare, the location will be marked on the command map viewable by officers, and can be used to target support. Firing two flares in quick succession signals a request for stronger support, and then there are colours to consider… but that’s for another time.

Up to six flare markers can be present on the map - any more than that and the oldest flare marker will be removed to make way for the new one. There’s no timer on the flare markers, which allows for more strategy.

Flares must be physically fired by an officer (or another class with a flare gun, which we’ll reveal later). The flare provides information to rear line observers, which the player officer can then make use of by making their way to a command table and using a field telephone to call in support. What kind of support, you ask?

A wide range of choices! Low-res image is intentional: we’re still finalizing all the options.

We’re still nailing down the details of what each support type will cost and what you get for each call-in, but as you can see there will be plenty to choose from, in the areas of artillery, chemical weapons, and aviation. Some different support types offer degrees of power - field guns hit harder but cost more than mortars, for instance. Aviation leans towards recon and information gathering, as it did historically. But some support types are a little more involved - the creeping barrage for instance, which requires the officer to indicate the direction of the barrage. Very powerful if used correctly.

Loading a flare gun.

We mentioned cost - it won’t work like Verdun and Tannenberg where you would call in a support power, and there would be a cooldown before you could use any kind of power again. We’re still finalizing the details, but officers will be able to call in multiple support types at once - as you can imagine, this opens up some real possibilities for strategy.

You can keep enemies suppressed over longer periods by using lots of relatively cheap mortar barrages, or hammer them with a simultaneous combination of heavy artillery and gas barrage… but you won’t be able to afford to keep that up for long, so you’d better have a big push planned to follow right away. Luckily, in Isonzo the officer has a great way to bring about such a coordinated assault...

[h3]Whistle While You Work![/h3]
The officer can use the trench whistle to both set an order to players or to temporarily reduce the spawn wave timer to zero, meaning all players on your team will immediately be able to respawn. An obvious way to use this is to call in artillery on enemy positions, then use the whistle to bring your whole team into action, and finally use the whistle again to indicate where the assault should go to follow the artillery.

An officer directs his men with the whistle.

But such a use invites the opposing team’s officer to wait out your assault, and use their own whistle to call in a devastating counter-attack, so it might be smarter to hope they use their whistle when your artillery comes in, and then in the event your first wave suffers heavy losses (surely not) use the whistle to bring in a second wave immediately...

[h3]Officer Perks[/h3]
Every class has a number of perks to choose from which influence how they play. Here are a couple of the options open to officers:

Frontline Officer: Gains the ability to spawn on all squad leaders, and all squad leaders are able to spawn on the officer.

Staff Officer: Gains the ability to draw Orders on the map. Rather than placing general command markers, you’ll be able to draw arrows to give specific guidance to your troops.

[h3]Very nice[/h3]
We’ll close this blog out with one of the flare guns available to Italy: the Lanciarazzi Very.

Can you figure out what the handle on top is for? This flare gun has a horizontally rotating barrel!

Very doesn’t sound especially Italian, right? If you read more about flares, Edward Wilson Very will come up. He was an American naval officer who developed a single-shot breech-loading snub-nosed flare gun and flares to go with it (Very lights). These ‘Very guns’ became very popular, and the name became common - so much so that British soldiers tended to call every flare gun, enemy or allied, ‘Very lights’ - even though their own flare guns were probably made by Webley & Scott.

[h2]That’s all for today![/h2]
Look forward to more class deep-dives in future Isonzo Intels, and of course we’ll share more about the different kinds of support call-ins when the details are ironed out. Lots to look forward to...

[h3]Wishlist now![/h3]