Isonzo News

To celebrate the release of the Montello Expansion, we bring you the Montello Cycling Tour! Clear skies and a light breeze not included.

In the Cycling Tour, we'll be exploring the area represented in the Montello map. There's a lot of history to be found here, from the very structures that played a role in this battle to the monuments erected in memory della Grande Guerra. Every friday we'll make a new stop at one of these historic locations until we arrive at our final destination: The Nervesa della Battaglia train station.

[h3]Previously: The Piave Crossing [#1][/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/4608959311774212150

We arrive at the second stop of the tour after a short 5 minute cycle through Parrocchia Santa Croce. It gets quite steep here, so I hope you haven't been skipping leg day.

The route on Google Maps

Oh and by the way, happy anniversary! Isonzo released exactly 2 years ago, so we'd like to thank you for being here with us! We couldn't have gotten this far with you, and there's plenty more on the way! Now, onto the tour.


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[h2]Stop #2: Monumento Ragazzi del '99[/h2]

We find ourselves at Monumento Ragazzi del '99 in Santa Croce del Montello, a monument dedicated to The Boys of '99. These kids got their call for conscription in 1916 at the age of 17 and sent to the front lines in 1917 once they reached the age of 18.

[h3]About the Boys of '99[/h3]

The first group of 80,000 conscripts was called upon in first 4 months of 1917. Upon arrival, they were hastily prepared for war and merged into the front lines along the Piave in November 1917, shorty after the losses in the Battle of Caporetto in October. Earlier that year in May, another group of 180,000 teenagers was called, with a smaller group later in July.

Source

The end of 1917 was a time of desperation for the Italian Army, as the Battle of Caporetto was a costly defeat and both the German and Austro-Hungarian forces were gaining ground. The Italians managed to prop up their ranks at the Piave, Grappa and Montello with the fresh, but inexperienced Boys of '99. These new numbers helped with the landslide victory in the Second Battle of the Piave River in June 1918 and allowed for a large scale counter-offensive in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Italian victory that ended the war on the Italian front in November 1918 and contributed to the end of WW1 just one week later.

In many places you'll find references to the Boys of '99, from a statue and park in Bassano del Grappa to a viaduct in Gorizia and a plaque in Milan. The last person of the Boys of '99 to remain was Giovanni Antonio Carta, who was born in December 1899 and passed away in June 2007.

Statue Ragazzi del '99 in Bassano del Grappa

[h3]The Monument[/h3]

The monument itself features a large holy cross (Santa Croce), a statue of one of the Boys of '99 holding a flag pole, a second statue representing the mothers of the kids, as well as two field guns. There's a large plaque in honor of "The Heroes of Montello", awarding medals of Military Valor in memory of a number of soldiers. General Giuseppe Vaccari is also highlighted for his command over the XXII corps, which played an integral part in the victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto,

Source

Three times a day, the church back in Santa Croce plays La Leggenda del Piave, a patriotic song about the Italian victory in the Second Battle of the Piave River. You can listen to the song below!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

There's a small local history museum near the monument with a complete historical archive of the Ragazzi del '99, but this can only be visited on request.

[h3]In-game[/h3]

In Isonzo, you may recognize "Ragazzi del '99" from the achievement with the same name. It requires you to win 10 matches as a Defender, in honor of the role the Boys of '99 had in halting the Central Powers' advance and pushing them back out of Italy.



[h2]Up next[/h2]

Next time, we'll head further south in the direction of Nervesa della Battaglia. It's about an 18 minute cycle with some elevation. Our stop next week is the Monumento a Francesco Baracca. See you there!

The route on Google Maps

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[h2]Visit Montello![/h2]
The Montello Cycling Tour is a collaboration with local organizations. We'd like to thank them for helping us out with information about the region, the history and photos they provided. If you're interested in visiting the area, please check them out and tell them we sent you!



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Today we released a patch with fixes to some bugs. Thank you for your reports!

• M.91 Russisches Repetier-Gewehr bayonet is now usable for Austro-Hungarian Engineers
  
• M.91 Russisches Repetier-Gewehr and Schwer-Handgranate now show up in the Profile Weapons view
  
• Fixed incorrect faction voice lines being played at the start of the match
  
• Fixed body armor showing on uniforms when Sentry or Death Company perks weren't enabled
  
• Improved logging for reported issues
  

The download size is expected to be around 57mb.

To celebrate the release of the Montello Expansion, we're bringing you the Montello Cycling Tour! Don't worry, you won't actually have to do any of the cycling.

In the Cycling Tour, we'll be exploring the area represented in the Montello map. There's a lot of history to be found here, from the very structures that played a role in this battle to the monuments erected in memory della Grande Guerra. Every friday we'll make a new stop at one of these historic locations until we arrive at our final destination: The Nervesa della Battaglia train station.

We kick this tour off at the bank of the river Piave, where the Austro-Hungarian forces collided with the Italian bunkers marking the start of the battle.


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[h2]Stop #1: The Piave Crossing[/h2]

Unlike their previous success at Caporetto, the Austro-Hungarians opted to go for an all-out frontal attack at various points of the front line, most of which followed the river Piave. One of these locations was the bank at the north-east point of the Montello hill, where small landmasses in the river could provide cover from enemy fire and make for a saver crossing. However, the Italians did bolster their defenses along the river in anticipation of an attack. Likely having realized this would be a good point for the Austro-Hungarians to cross, various bunkers were constructed here.

Bunkers location on Google Maps

You'll likely notice that Piave doesn't look all that impressive. While the size of the river does depend on the season and the amount of rain, Piave isn't the river it was during the war. In fact, a bit south east of this location is a small airstrip housing many historic (and some goofy) aircraft, built where the Piave used to flow.



The bunkers still exist to this day as a small open air museum called Bunker del Sentiero Brigata Lucca, with a 2.5km path to connect all of them. We've also been here as part of our research for the game! Game development sure is hard work.



We can recommend it if you're looking to visit the area. It's a nice walk if the weather allows it, but it can get very slippery when wet and it's not very accessible.

[h3]In-game[/h3]

The crossing of the river is the starting position of the Austro-Hungarians in-game. In order to get to the first objective on Montello, they'll need to push past these bunkers. Thank to Montello, there's quite a large elevation difference however, making it difficult to climb up to the bunkers and slowing the attackers down massively.

The Austro-Hungarian starting position with references we used to recreate it

The bunkers and the climb to get to them from the riverbank.

[h2]Up next[/h2]

We leave the bunkers and properly start the tour by heading south, following the route of the Austro-Hungarian assault. Our next stop is the Monumento Ragazzi del '99 Santa Croce del Montello. See you there next week!

The route on Google Maps

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Visit Montello![/h2]
The Montello Cycling Tour is a collaboration with local organizations. We'd like to thank them for helping us out with information about the region, the history and photos they provided. If you're interested in visiting the area, please check them out and tell them we sent you!



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[h3]Follow our socials:[/h3]
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To celebrate the new Montello expansion, we're live answering your questions about Isonzo & the new update and give you a little tour through the new map!

The stream is expected to be around 1 hour long.

[h3]Find the update announcement blog here:[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/4575181680255695683?l=english

[h3]Find the new Shellshocked DLC here: [/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2719550/Isonzo__Shellshocked_Units_Pack/

[h3]Hello soldiers![/h3]

We leave the frigid heights of the Alps for a climate a little more pleasant. Back along the river Piave, we find ourselves at the Austro-Hungarian assault on the Italian town of Nervesa della Battaglia: Montello.

Alongside Montello, the Austro-Hungarians get 2 new weapons to add to their arsenal and everyone looks a little bloodied and battle-hardened in the brand-new Shellshocked Units DLC. The best part? All of it is available right now!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][hr][/hr]
[h2]New map: Montello[/h2]

Austro-Hungarian forces cross the river Piave and charge the Italian bunkers along the shore. Fighting continues in the trenches at the farmlands on Montello and towards an ancient Abbey. The final stages of the battle turn into urban warfare, as the Austro-Hungarian push to secure the train station at the other side of Nervesa della Battaglia. Will the Italians be able to fend them off?



The map is named after the large hill (described as being "bean shaped") at the edge of the Alps, due east of Grappa and Vidor bridge.

Montello is a varied map with many different types of encounters, set in a burning forest and leading into close quarters combat if the Italians lose ground.



[h3]Learn more about Montello:[/h3]

[h3]Full map flyover:[/h3]

https://youtu.be/MAGhLmsBBPk

[h3]Map breakdown, first half:[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/4249790899153033249

[h3]Map breakdown, second half:[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/4249790899170884237

[h3]Digital Cycling Tour through Montello[/h3]
Want to get the know the region even more? You're in luck. In the upcoming weeks, we'll be exploring the region even more with a Digital Cycling Tour in collaboration with Bike Rental Agli Zattieri through Prosecco Hills and the War Museum in Vittorio Veneto! We'll discover what the region was like back in the day, as well as how the war affects it to this day. Be sure to keep an eye on Steam and our social channels every Friday!

[h2]New weapons[/h2]

The Austro-Hungarian forces get themselves some new tools to aid them in their advance.

The M.91 Russisches Repetier-Gewehr is essentially a Mosin–Nagant under new management. During the many battles with the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarians captured hundred thousands of Mosin–Nagant rifles and were assigned to their own troops. An estimated 200,000-300,000 of these rifles were converted to the Austro-Hungarian M93 8x50R cartridge by 1918, which was used by the Mannlicher rifles, but the version you'll be using is the original Mosin–Nagant with a new name.

Meanwhile, the Schwere-Handgranate was introduced by Austria-Hungary late in the war. Translating into English as “Heavy hand grenade“ – the grenade is quite sizeable compared to its contemporaries like the Mills bomb. It also shares a similar style of casting – though, as with the Mills bomb the cast pattern might not strictly be due to fragmentation capabilities but so that it was easier to handle is the muddy trenches of WW1.



[h2]Shellshocked Units[/h2]

With a new update comes of course a new cosmetic Units pack to let you customize your look! Shellshocked contains a ton of coats and head gear that have seen better days, to be honest. Luckily, there are also some armor options for those who like to come well-equipped.

When it comes to face customization, there are a bunch of bloody bandage options to really show you're just about done with the war and some facial hair options that look quite well kept, all things considered, along with two pretty mugs to put them on!



The Shellshocked Units DLC contains a total of 40+ items across two nations:

• 6 Italian uniforms
  
• 13 Italian Headgear Items
  
• 6 Austro-Hungarian uniforms
  
• 12 Austro-Hungarian Headgear Items
  
• 5 Facial Items
  
• 5 Mustaches
  
• 2 Faces
  

For more information on what you're getting with the Shellshocked Units DLC, be sure to check out the page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2719550/Isonzo__Shellshocked_Units_Pack



[h2]Sale time![/h2]

Where there's an expansion, there's a sale! You can pick up various discount between now and September 19th! Refer to the table below to see what's on sale and when.

Of course, all DLC mentioned here are cosmetic only and do not impact gameplay.

Until Sept 9
Discount
Sept 5 - Sept 19
Discount
Isonzo - Base Game
-67%
Isonzo - Deluxe Edition
-65%
Isonzo - First Wave
-40%
Isonzo - Second Wave
-40%
Isonzo - Soundtrack
-50%
Reserve Units DLC
-30%
Isonzo - Digital Goods
-30%
Veteran Units DLC
-30%
Royal Units DLC
-30%
Alpine Units DLC
-30%
Expedition Units DLC
-30%
Elite Units DLC
-30%
Glacial Units DLC
-30%

Waiting for a discount on something specific? Be sure to add it to your wishlist, or keep an eye on the Isonzo DLC overview page!



[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

Alongside the shiny new content additions, we have a couple small fixes this update.

[h3]New content[/h3]

• New map - Montello
  
• New weapons for Austro-Hungarian Engineer and Rifleman
  - Schwere-handgranate
  - M.91 Russisches Repetier-Gewehr
  

[h3]Fixes & Improvements[/h3]

• Fixed snow goggle images in customization screen
  
• Potential fix for Gas Kills not counting for Thus With A Kiss achievement
  
• Fixed culling issues with taller buildings on some maps
  
• Stability fixes
  
• Performance improvements
  

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[h3]Now soldier, it's time to fight on Montello. See you on the front lines![/h3]

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