EA Pack Plus - The US 35th Infantry Division
Hello commanders,
Not too long ago, we released a little game called WARNO out of Early Access, and with this wonderful launch, we experienced the necessary last-minute technical hic-ups and issues (to be known hereafter as “the snafu”).
As you might remember, we promised to make amend by adding two extra new divisions - for free - to the already existing EA Pack (creating in effect an EA Pack Plus). As you might remember, this EA Pack, with five divisions, was made available for free to all EA owners of WARNO.
In today’s DevBlog, we’ll go into detail about NATO’s offering, showing you what you can expect in-game (next week, it will be the Warsaw Pact’s turn which we will keep a secret for now).
So, let’s welcome to the stage NATO’s US 35th Infantry Division!
[h2]EA Pack plus[/h2]
What’s this whole EA Pack thingy? All owners of WARNO during its Early Access period have automatic and free access to this pack. Latecomers (so players who bought WARNO after its official launch) can still purchase the EA Pack separately.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2978610/WARNO__Early_Access_Pack/
The EA Pack features 5 divisions, 3 of them representing formations in and around a Cold War-era divided Berlin and 2 additional battlegroups. And soon, 2 more will be added.
The current list:
In the very near future, NATO’s US 35th Infantry Division and the still-to-be-disclosed Warsaw Pact division will make their way to the EA Pack (release date to be determined)!
Please note that the Early Access Pack is not the same as the Expansion Pack, which gives pre-order access to two major expansions and two Nemesis DLC.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division’s History[/h2]
The National Guards’ 35th Infantry Division has a long and distinguished combat career, seeing the light in World War I, with action in the Vosges mountains area in France in the summer and fall of 1918. One of the notable soldiers was the later US president, Captain Harry S. Truman. After the war, the division was inactivated until the next big conflict.
The 35th Infantry Division got its nickname, the “Santa Fe Division,” from the distinctive blue cross in a circle insignia. Most of its initial recruits hailed from Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, with a heavy presence of National Guard units.
During World War II, the division spent its first few years training and working up before shipping out to England and then France, landing in early July 1944. Fighting with distinction in Normandy, the 35th Infantry Division took later part in the relief efforts aimed at Bastogne. After further combat in Germany saw the formation finishing the war in Hanover.
During the Cold War, once again after a brief intermission, the division was first reformed as a pentomic division before being inactivated. The 35th Infantry Division was re-established as a mechanized infantry division in the early 1980s. Its fighting forces were composed of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kentucky National Guard units. The division was earmarked for deployment in Europe in case of WW3.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division’s Detailed[/h2]
What can we expect from the 35th Infantry Division in WARNO? Aside from its air forces, the battlegroup will be a 95% filled National Guard formation, acting as the true American counterpart to the West German Territorialkommando Süd or East German K.d.A. Bezirk Erfurt.
One distinctive feature is that the division has as many armored as it has infantry battalions. This makes it sort of a missing link between an American mechanized and tank division. In WARNO, there will be an equal number of INF and TANK slots.
Please note that a lot of the units are already existing ones with the Reservist trait added. We only marked the really new units in bold and italic (see further below). Likewise, if not mentioned specifically, all units with N.G. (National Guard) will feature the Reservist trait.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division in WARNO[/h2]
How will the National Guard units of the 35th Infantry Division look like in WARNO?
The 35th Infantry Division will turn out to be a well-rounded formation, lacking resilience due to the widespread Reservist trait, but compensating this with low prices and high unit availability.
[h2]Some General Unit Changes[/h2]
On a separate note, we plan two generic changes that are not specifically related to the 35th Infantry Division but will affect it:
[h2]Until Next Time[/h2]
All right, commanders, we’ll be back next week with more of our beefed-up EA Pack: the East German Rügener Gruppierung.
Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander.
Not too long ago, we released a little game called WARNO out of Early Access, and with this wonderful launch, we experienced the necessary last-minute technical hic-ups and issues (to be known hereafter as “the snafu”).
As you might remember, we promised to make amend by adding two extra new divisions - for free - to the already existing EA Pack (creating in effect an EA Pack Plus). As you might remember, this EA Pack, with five divisions, was made available for free to all EA owners of WARNO.
In today’s DevBlog, we’ll go into detail about NATO’s offering, showing you what you can expect in-game (next week, it will be the Warsaw Pact’s turn which we will keep a secret for now).
So, let’s welcome to the stage NATO’s US 35th Infantry Division!
[h2]EA Pack plus[/h2]
What’s this whole EA Pack thingy? All owners of WARNO during its Early Access period have automatic and free access to this pack. Latecomers (so players who bought WARNO after its official launch) can still purchase the EA Pack separately.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2978610/WARNO__Early_Access_Pack/
The EA Pack features 5 divisions, 3 of them representing formations in and around a Cold War-era divided Berlin and 2 additional battlegroups. And soon, 2 more will be added.
The current list:
- NATO’s Berlin Command contains the combined forces of three Western Allied garrisons stationed in West Berlin during the Cold War.
- The Soviet 6th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade is East Berlin’s powerful garrison.
- The East German Berliner Gruppierung is built up around a Nationale Volksarmee’s motorized rifle division, its wartime task to eliminate West Berlin as part of Unternehmen Zentrum.
- American 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) contains a substantial National Guard component.
- The Soviet 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division was used to trial the latest Cold War equipment available to the Soviet Army as part of the “Division 90” concept.
In the very near future, NATO’s US 35th Infantry Division and the still-to-be-disclosed Warsaw Pact division will make their way to the EA Pack (release date to be determined)!
Please note that the Early Access Pack is not the same as the Expansion Pack, which gives pre-order access to two major expansions and two Nemesis DLC.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division’s History[/h2]
The National Guards’ 35th Infantry Division has a long and distinguished combat career, seeing the light in World War I, with action in the Vosges mountains area in France in the summer and fall of 1918. One of the notable soldiers was the later US president, Captain Harry S. Truman. After the war, the division was inactivated until the next big conflict.
The 35th Infantry Division got its nickname, the “Santa Fe Division,” from the distinctive blue cross in a circle insignia. Most of its initial recruits hailed from Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, with a heavy presence of National Guard units.
During World War II, the division spent its first few years training and working up before shipping out to England and then France, landing in early July 1944. Fighting with distinction in Normandy, the 35th Infantry Division took later part in the relief efforts aimed at Bastogne. After further combat in Germany saw the formation finishing the war in Hanover.
During the Cold War, once again after a brief intermission, the division was first reformed as a pentomic division before being inactivated. The 35th Infantry Division was re-established as a mechanized infantry division in the early 1980s. Its fighting forces were composed of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kentucky National Guard units. The division was earmarked for deployment in Europe in case of WW3.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division’s Detailed[/h2]
What can we expect from the 35th Infantry Division in WARNO? Aside from its air forces, the battlegroup will be a 95% filled National Guard formation, acting as the true American counterpart to the West German Territorialkommando Süd or East German K.d.A. Bezirk Erfurt.
One distinctive feature is that the division has as many armored as it has infantry battalions. This makes it sort of a missing link between an American mechanized and tank division. In WARNO, there will be an equal number of INF and TANK slots.
Please note that a lot of the units are already existing ones with the Reservist trait added. We only marked the really new units in bold and italic (see further below). Likewise, if not mentioned specifically, all units with N.G. (National Guard) will feature the Reservist trait.
[h2]The US 35th Infantry Division in WARNO[/h2]
How will the National Guard units of the 35th Infantry Division look like in WARNO?
- LOG - pretty average.
- The division still uses the old GAMA GOAT (introduced with the 101st Airborne Division in Nemesis: Air Assault and hasn’t received the new HEMTT as a supply truck. And, instead of the M35, it relies squarely on the heavier (and new unit) M813A1 truck for its supply haulin’. This new supply truck will feature more payload than the M35 but less than the HEMTT.
- CVs featured are the usual array of M151 MUTT, M577 CPC, and a few heliborne UH-60A CO.
- The division still uses the old GAMA GOAT (introduced with the 101st Airborne Division in Nemesis: Air Assault and hasn’t received the new HEMTT as a supply truck. And, instead of the M35, it relies squarely on the heavier (and new unit) M813A1 truck for its supply haulin’. This new supply truck will feature more payload than the M35 but less than the HEMTT.
- INF - a solid category. As explained, the 35th Infantry Division can call on more INF slots than an armored division, but less compared to a mechanized one.
- Riflemen squads receive the Reservist trait. This includes the N.G. RIFLES LDR. Combat squads are 9 men strong, fielding M16A1 and M60 machine guns, with different AT weapons available: N.G. RIFLES (LAW), N.G. RIFLES (DRAGON) and N.G. RIFLES (M67).
- Engineers also sport the Reservist trait and include N.G. ENGINEERS LDR., N.G. ENGINEERS, N.G. ENGINEERS (FLAM.) and N.G. ENGINEERS (M67). These are larger squads, sometimes sporting old equipment, even WW2-vintage M3 Grease Guns and M2 Flamethrowers.
- Riflemen squads receive the Reservist trait. This includes the N.G. RIFLES LDR. Combat squads are 9 men strong, fielding M16A1 and M60 machine guns, with different AT weapons available: N.G. RIFLES (LAW), N.G. RIFLES (DRAGON) and N.G. RIFLES (M67).
- All infantry support weapon teams are available. These include M60, M2HB, the new M40A1 RCL, TOW and I-TOW, all with the Reservist trait.
- All the National Guardsmen are brought to the battlefield in trucks or N.G. M113A1 APCs.
- The only infantry units without the Reservist trait will be the MPs, with a rather useful Military Police trait. These squads will even get their own (new) M1025 HUMVEE MP (armed with an M60). This jeep will also have the Military Police trait.
- ART - a pretty good and strong category with plenty of cheap slots. While it can’t count on an MLRS battery, it receives an entire M110A2 battalion instead.
- All of its choices are National Guard units with the Reservist trait. These include the new M29 81mm (towed “foot” version of the one mounted on the M125) plus M30 107mm mortars, M125 and M106A2 self-propelled mortars, M109A2 and M110A2 self-propelled howitzers.
- TANK - another good category. As mentioned previously, the 35th Infantry Division features more TANK slots than a mechanized division but fewer than a true armored formation.
- The battlegroup relies entirely on older M60 Patton tanks, both N.G. M60A3 (TTS) and National Guards’ M60A1 RISE PASSIVE (abbreviated to N.G. M60A1 RISE in-game). All units will deploy with the Reservist trait.
- Much like the Marines did with their tanks during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, we have added a battlefield-customized (new) N.G. M60A3 (TTS) ERA variant with reactive bricks.
- Both the new M60A1 CP and M60A3 (TTS) CP are leader units without the Reservist trait.
- The division can also deploy the N.G. M728 CEV.
- And lastly, the tank destroying department is made up of older N.G. M151A2 I-TOW and the newer (and new) N.G. M150A2 TOW-2.
- RECO - a little bit less stellar, with some original choices, but mediocre in terms of slots and cost.
- The division’s recon battalion was an old-style “cavalry” one with tanks and scouts intermixed (much like the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment).
- These include the N.G. SCOUTS already featured with the 24th Infantry Division, transported in M151, N.G. M113 ACAV or UH-1H HUEY.
- The new N.G. CAV. SCOUTS (LAW) and N.G. CAV. SCOUTS (Dragon), which are large 8-man squads brought to the battlefield in trucks, N.G. M113A1 or UH-1H HUEY.
- The unarmed (new) N.G. OH-58A recon helicopter.
- The “cavalry” N.G. M60A1 ACAV recon tank.
- And a brand-new unit type that will be tested for the very first time with this division: the recon plane! This will take the form of the new and non-National Guard OA-37B DRAGONFLY, a slow (but faster than any helicopter) plane armed with rockets.
- The division’s recon battalion was an old-style “cavalry” one with tanks and scouts intermixed (much like the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment).
- AA - average in terms of slots and costs, but there are some interesting unit options, probably better than most other American divisions.
- Why’s that? The division uses shiny Euro-tech! In the 1980s, the US Army was interested in the Roland missile system, testing it and even approving it, but this endeavor never materialized into something more concrete. Instead, it passed whatever Roland stock that was acquired to the National Guard.
- This means that the 35th Infantry Division is equipped with the new N.G. XM1058 US-ROLAND. This is basically a Roland turret mounted on a M812 truck (the same heavy chassis as the M813A1 supply truck in LOG). In real life, the US Army bought the Roland 2, but with low stock, we considered they would have been supplied upon landing on the Old Continent due to World War III, with compatible Roland 3 missiles by their thankful French and German NATO allies.
- Why’s that? The division uses shiny Euro-tech! In the 1980s, the US Army was interested in the Roland missile system, testing it and even approving it, but this endeavor never materialized into something more concrete. Instead, it passed whatever Roland stock that was acquired to the National Guard.
- Another new unit is the much older (but cool) N.G. M42A1 DUSTER, a SPAAG sporting twin Bofors in an open-top turret. Lacking radar and equipped with old-fashioned sights, this AA vehicle is not a sniper but still very dangerous and lethal at close range to both low-flying and ground targets.
- MANPAD teams are divided between the new N.G. REDEYE and N.G. STINGER.
- And some non-National Guard I-HAWK have been added to the formation.
- HELO - not very good, with only a few slots and all being very pricey.
- The division can only count on Cobra gunships in the form of the new N.G. AH-1S (ECAS)[. This one is, stat-wise at least, exactly the same as the AH-1F Cobra with the Reservist trait, but featuring a new model. The N.G. AH-1F TOWCOBRA can also be deployed.
- The National Guard kept some old UH-1M GUNSHIP running. These are Vietnam War-era predecessors of the AH-1E, with 2x M134 gatling guns, 2x 19-strong rocket pods, and 1x grenade launcher in the nose.
- The division can only count on Cobra gunships in the form of the new N.G. AH-1S (ECAS)[. This one is, stat-wise at least, exactly the same as the AH-1F Cobra with the Reservist trait, but featuring a new model. The N.G. AH-1F TOWCOBRA can also be deployed.
- AIR - is average but all aircraft are non-National Guard.
- The division relies on the F-111F in HE, CLU, NPLM, and LGB2 load-outs for ground pounding and the F-16C in AA, AT, and SEAD for air superiority and armor sniping.
- A new plane includes close air support variants of the Dragonfly, in the form of the light AB-37B [HE] and AB-37B [NPLM] bombers.
- The division relies on the F-111F in HE, CLU, NPLM, and LGB2 load-outs for ground pounding and the F-16C in AA, AT, and SEAD for air superiority and armor sniping.
The 35th Infantry Division will turn out to be a well-rounded formation, lacking resilience due to the widespread Reservist trait, but compensating this with low prices and high unit availability.
[h2]Some General Unit Changes[/h2]
On a separate note, we plan two generic changes that are not specifically related to the 35th Infantry Division but will affect it:
- All Dragon I and II plus Metis light ATGM will be decreased in range to a more realistic 1250m. On the other hand, there will be an increase in accuracy and/or a price buff for the units equipped with these weapons.
- All 4-man MP squads with only assault rifles or machine guns will also feature the Security trait. More heavily armed or larger squads, including leader MP units, will continue to feature only the Military Police trait. Dedicated military police vehicles will all receive the Military Police trait as well.
[h2]Until Next Time[/h2]
All right, commanders, we’ll be back next week with more of our beefed-up EA Pack: the East German Rügener Gruppierung.
Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander.