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Nemesis Air Assault Preview #1 - Warsaw Pact

Hello commanders,

We hope you are well. The upcoming Nemesis: Air Assault DLC takes center stage in today’s DevBlog. We’ll look at the new mini-expansion to grace WARNO, highlighting one of the two new divisions (and the new units the airmobile formation brings).

Let’s put the spotlight on the hardy veterans of the Soviet 56-ya O.G. DShB or the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade.



[h2]Nemesis: Air Assault[/h2] Nemesis: Air Assault will be the very first of the Nemesis DLC to make its way to WARNO. The Nemesis mini-expansion, each with two divisions and bringing new weapons, units, and models, is a concept we introduced in Steel Division 2 - where it has proven to be very popular. The idea is simple: out of three options, you get to vote on which Nemesis DLC should be developed next.

Be prepared for some furious propaganda battles, as we will prepare three separate themed Nemesis options. After showcasing each pair, the ballot opens, and whichever pair of divisions wins will get trucked over to Eugen’s workshop for a release on a later date. The other divisions will go on the shelf (perhaps even to be dusted off at a future date).



Much like Steel Division 2, the debut Nemesis DLC we have decided already ahead of time. This is chiefly for ease of development and to allow the divisions to be ready quicker.

In WARNO’s case, this will be Nemesis: Air Assault, focusing on two airmobile divisions, featuring the Soviet 56-ya O.G. DShB or the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault and the U.S. 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).



[h2]56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade’s History[/h2]
The Soviet 56th Separate Guards Air Assault’s history is closely tied to the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. The particular formation was created from several independent or disbanded Soviet airborne units. Only two months after its creation, the brigade took part in the initial invasion of Afghanistan, securing key mountain passes and allowing the 40th Army to advance throughout the country quickly. For almost ten years, the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade would remain in Afghanistan, producing some of the most hardened Soviet airborne veterans of this conflict.



Although the brigade’s air assault troops would initially ride their helicopters from peak to pass or strike in the heart of the enemy territory, things changed after the introduction of Stinger MANPADS into Mujadheen's hands. From the mid-80s onwards, helicopter and gunship losses mounted, putting prominence on the “Stinger Scare” and forcing the reorganization of the Soviet brigade.



This meant that the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault became closer to a mechanized infantry formation, transported to battle in much safer BMP-2s and getting some additional organic firepower in the form of T-62 main battle tanks.

In real life, the brigade returned to the USSR in June 1989 as part of the overall Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, in WARNO’s timeline, the Afghan-Soviet War is still ongoing, with the Soviet Union never retreating from the Central Asian country.
The 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade is transferred just in time for the Warsaw Pact’s invasion of West Germany in the summer of 1989. Soviet high command envisioned a much better use for the brigade’s hardy air assault forces fighting Americans and West Germans instead of getting bogged down in hunting hard-to-defeat guerillas.



[h2]56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade’s Detailed[/h2]
How will the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault look like in Nemesis: Air Assault? Note that most of the following is still very much work in progress. Units bolded and italic are new!



Most of the brigade’s infantry units will be roughly similar to the current 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade, although there are some historical and gameplay differences. We also found a way to introduce a host of new units.

  • We have duplicated all the ”DESANT” units and created a ”DSh.” variant. While using the same model and sharing the Veterancy and Shock trait, the main difference is that the DSh. versions lack the Forward Deployment trait.
  • Furthermore, some specific infantry units will use different weapons, mostly older small arms and armaments, including the new RPO Rys (shorter range but bigger caliber than the existing RPO A) and RPG-16 (more range but less AP compared to RPG-7).



  • Lastly, no UAZ jeep, but instead the new LuAZ amphibious jeep used in a corresponding role.


Although nominally an air assault unit, the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault has been reorganized with heavier mechanized equipment. This means only part of its infantry can use helicopter transport. For the same reason, the battlegroup will have fewer HELO slots open compared to their American Nemesis: Air Assault counterpart, but in turn, count on a bigger TANK category.

[h2]The 56th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade Detailed[/h2]
So, what can you expect?

  • LOG - more generous than existing WARNO airborne divisions. Like other airborne battlegroups, the brigade will not be able to deploy any Forward Operating Base.
  • New units include the Mi-6 heavy (although not as much as the Mi-26) supply helicopter and the CHAIKA, a dedicated but unarmed command variant of the BTR-60.


  • INF - the battlegroup’s main strength thanks to:
    • The new DSh. infantry coming in a variety of shapes and sizes, including one with the RPG-7VL, another with the RPG-16, a PULEMETCHIKI flavor, METIS and a unit with the RPG-22. The latter supersized unit is particularly special, representing half a platoon (so a 1.5 squad) with 50% more men, machine guns, and AT ammo, but only deployable in a Mi-8. With the large capacity of a Mi-8, it felt more than fitting to cramp some extra troops into the hold. Note that the U.S. 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will have a similar counterpart infantry unit.
    • A few elite DSh. AFGANTSY squads, with the RPO A.
    • ”Flame” DSh. SAPERI using the older (and new weapon) RPO Rys.
    • The lightly armed OKHRANA units were used for securing and demining roads (an endless chore in Afghanistan).
    • The usual array of PG-9, FAGOT, KONKURS, NSV, AGS (model redone) and KOMENDATURA squads.


  • Transport for the infantry is one area where the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault shows its variety and unit diversity:
    • The infantry’s main transport is the BMP-2D, which is an up-armored and non-amphibious BMP-2 (already featured in-game).
    • The main wheeled APC will be the new BTR-70D, also up-armored and non-amphibious. This vehicle proved the favored platform for Soviet battlefield modifications by bolting extra weapons on top of the turret. These include the new BTR-70 AGS with an extra grenade launcher.
    • One of the most unusual (and most famous) Afghan Frankenstein APCs are, without a doubt, the BTR-70 S-5 and BTR-70 S-8, respectively featuring a 16x57mm and 20x80mm rocket pod sourced from a helicopter for extra ground-based fire support!
    • Added to that, the BTR-70 RYS with four RPO Rys packed together, Flash-like, bolted-on, and used as assault engineers’ vehicles.



  • The BMD and BTR-D proved unsuitable for the harsh environment in Afghanistan, too light to withstand the often-encountered mines. These vehicles were quickly discarded for the more unusual GM-TU, basically an MT-LB cut in half. These come in several variants: the unarmed GT-MU-1D and the battlefield-modified weapon-carrying GT-MU-1D AGS, GT-MU-1D SPG-9 and GT-MU-1D ZU-23-2.
  • For the same reason, the GAZ-66B trucks weren’t liked due to their cabin being unprotected from mines. This is why the brigade favors the heavier URAL-4320.
  • Of course, for an airmobile brigade, armed variants of the Mi-8 will be available for some infantry squads, as well as the Mi-24D DESANT for the veteran DSh. AFGANTSY.
  • The new OKHRANA security squads will have their own transport, the URAL-4320 METLA, an “A-Team”-like up-armored truck with a BRDM-2 turret and S-5 rocket pod stuck on top. This truck will be a troop transport for security troops and will likewise come with the Security trait.



  • ART - an average category in a number of slots with light options.
    • These include 82mm and 120mm mortars, as well as a few MT-LB VASILEK and NONA-S self-propelled units.
    • Further backed by D-30 towed and 2S1 GVOZDIKA self-propelled 122mm howitzers.
    • Plus BM-21 and BM-21V MLRS.
    • The heaviest artillery unit on hand isn’t a howitzer but a mortar, the relatively rare (and new unit) M-240 240mm coming in separate HE and CLU variants.



  • TANK - a stronger category compared to other airborne divisions.
  • A new unit includes the LuAZ-967M FAGOT amphibious jeep.
  • Furthermore, one card each of the new T-62MDK (command), T-62MD1 (without ATGM) and T-62MD (with ATGM) main battle tanks. The “MD” variant features extra side and rear "cope cage" armor compared to the “M” version.


  • RECO - another strong category, featuring units such as:
    • DSh. RAZVEDKA, a 4-man team deployable in either LuAZ jeeps, Mi-8 or Mi-24D DESANT, as well as heavier 8-man DSh. MOT. RAZVEDKA with access to RAZV. BTR-60PB or RAZV. BMP-2D.
    • The venerable BRDM-2 armored car.
    • The Mi-8PPA recon jammer helicopter. This variant is older than the Mi-8MTPI already in the game, and features less ECM.
    • The only member of the BMD family kept in service in the air assault brigade is the REOSTAT radar recon unit.
    • A more unusual radar recon unit is the ZSU-23-4M2 (PSNR), which is a Shilka SPAAG with a PSNR ground radar bolted on the turret. Very useful to spot Mujahedins on the move - even at night - this vehicle has turned into a pure fire support recon vehicle, unable to engage planes anymore.
    • SPETSNAZ GRU (Stinger) are wily special forces recon troops operating deep behind enemy lines. This particular squad has pilfered an enemy weapon cache, using captured (early) Stinger Basic MANPADs against their previous owners.


  • AA - a mere brigade, the 56th Separate Guards Air Assault doesn’t have access to any heavy or long-range AA systems. On the other hand, what it does do well is protection at close range.
    • The main MANPAD available (aside from the Spetznaz carrying looted Stingers) will be carried by DSh. IGLA teams.
    • SPAAG units include the ZSU-23-4M2 AFGHANSKII (which we first introduced in reference to this real-life brigade) and the battlefield-modified URAL-4320 ZPU-4 and URAL-4320 ZU-23-2, used in equal measure as ground fire support vehicles and for short-range anti-air warfare.
    • The only SAM system available is the MT-LB STRELA-10M.


  • HELO - helicopters are well represented with far-ranging access to armed Mi-8 and Mi-24V andMi-24P (but not the Mi-24VP variant).
    • A new helicopter available only to this battlegroup is a Mi-24P [AA] with two R-60M missiles.


  • AIR - a rather average category.
    • You can count on a mix of MiG-23MLD air cover and MiG-27 and Su-25 close air support aircraft.
    • Two new MiG-27 variants are featured: the MiG-27K [AT1] and MiG-27K [AT2], respectively with 2x (new) KH-29L AGM plus 80mm rockets, and 2x KH-29T AGM with R-60M A2A missiles.


The 56th Separate Guards Air Assault will prove to be a versatile division, being half airmobile, half mechanized, with plenty of veteran soldiers. A host of jury-rigged and battlefield-modified vehicles will give the battlegroup’s arsenal a colorful twist.

[h2]Until next week[/h2]
That’s all for this very first Nemesis: Air Assault preview. We’ll be back next week to detail the DLC’s NATO counterpart, the elite U.S. 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

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.

Reinforcement Pack #1 - Urban Frontlines

Hello commanders,

We hope you are well. In today’s DevBlog, we’ll give a sneak peek at the first free Reinforcement Pack, a new map coming to WARNO: Urban Frontlines.

Let’s go!

[h2]Bigger and Better[/h2]
We are pretty stoked to show you our latest map for WARNO: Urban Frontlines. This one is inspired by the West German “railway” city of Lehrte in Lower Saxony. We took extra care to ratchet up the intensity of this particular battlefield, requiring the best of our commanders in terms of tactics and strategy.



One of the things we managed to do differently is our back-end optimization and performance, even on smaller configurations. That has allowed us to create a denser urban city than ever before.



Until now, we always had to position our urban maps on 2x2 grids. Urban Frontlines is, however, using a 3x3 grid, covering approximately 9 km² which is similar in size to popular maps like Airport, Twin Cities, and Rocks. This new scale will allow for even more destructive and all-encompassing urban combat.



[h2]Mechanized Infantry [/h2]
The city’s design has been geared towards letting both infantry and mechanized units duke it out. You can see this with some of the open areas in the city's heart, allowing units to benefit from decent lines of sight. The infantry will, however, excel in the numerous covered zones scattered throughout the town, providing endless opportunities for ambushes and heroic last-stand defenses.



One element that makes Urban Frontlines unique is that it's crisscrossed by several railway lines, reflecting the real-life Lehrte inspiration. This allowed us also to introduce a new railway wagon asset - ta-daa! These can block lines of sight depending on their location.



[h2]Until next week[/h2]
Do you like the new Urban Frontlines map? Let us know what you think!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

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.

Mi-24 Hind Update Preview

Hello commanders,

It’s good to be back! We hope that the dust has settled a bit after WARNO’s official launch out of Early Access and our “lessons learned” roll-out of the deluxe Gold and Expansion variant. There are many great things to look forward to.

In today’s DevBlog, we take an initial stab at the upcoming Nemesis: Airborne Assault DLC coming in the near future.

As part of this helicopter-heavy DLC, we want to rework a rather Cold War-iconic Soviet gunship: the fearsome-looking Mil Mi-24 Hind.

[h2]The Devil’s Chariot[/h2]
So, what’s the deal with improving the “Devil’s Chariot,” aka the Mi-24 Hind? We wanted to update the Hind’s in-game models, which we found to be incorrect and lacking in certain areas, especially the Mi-24D variant.

Thanks to expert research and work from WARNO’s very own Strike Team, the Soviet gunship will shine like new (or old, depending on World War III usage).



Let’s detail each of the variants currently in WARNO, including some sexy new images showing all the latest fine-tuning that has gone into the helicopter’s models.

[h2]A Little Renovation[/h2]
The Mi-24 is the epitome of a “scary Red attack helicopter.” Though it might look crude, its aggressive lines are a sight to behold, putting the living fear into the hearts of combat soldiers and sandal-wearing insurgents alike.

The Soviet attack helicopter is actually a small wonder of aerodynamics, being one of the fastest helicopters in operation in 1989 with a surprising amount of agility. This was achieved with some unconventional design choices, including tilting the entire fuselage with the tail twisted in the opposite direction. Apart from featuring plentiful armament hard points, the wings provide extra lift.

[h2]Mi-24D[/h2]
It might not have been the very first Hind variant, but it surely can be counted as one of its most famous. Entering into production in 1973, the Mi-24D was the first one to have the tandem arrangement of pilot and gunner. The weapons carried were a highlight, with the improved 9M17P Falanga-P being a particularly powerful weapon.



The Mi-24D made its debut in Afghanistan, with additional survivability elements added while in theater, also making its way to WARNO’s model of this gunship. The revised Mi-24D will be present in Soviet and East German armies and future Polish and Czechoslovak arsenals.

[h2]Mi-24V[/h2]
Next up is the Mi-24V. This can be considered an improved Mi-24D produced from 1976 onwards. It received a much more powerful anti-tank missile, the Kokon, as part of the Shturm-V weapon system.

Another defining feature of this variant was the helicopter's speed. Soviet designers realized that an attack helicopter only had a brief window to use its armaments against an armed-and-dangerous opponent effectively. The Kokon was a great example, upping the projectile speed to supersonic flight with increased range, making it one of the fastest ATGMs in the Cold War.

[h2]Mi-24P[/h2]
The Mi-24P from 1981 focused on upgrading its cannon by installing the powerful GSh-30-2 (as seen on the Su-25, but with slightly longer barrels) as its main gun. This autocannon was extremely effective against all types of targets. The example we are showing is a late production variant, which the East German Volksarmee also used.



[h2]Mi-24VP[/h2]
The Mi-24VP, introduced in 1985, is the ultimate incarnation of the gunship as designed by the Soviets. Aside from all the previous improvements, this variant gains the GSh-23L autocannon in a special nose turret, which is a slight step up compared to the brutish gun example in the Mi-24P. The turret is an upgrade, as it can freely turn. An extremely rare variant, the Mi-24VP, was only fielded by the Soviets.

[h2]Mi-24K[/h2]
The Mi-24Kp is a separate branch in the gunship’s lineage, better known as Korrektirovschik or “the one that corrects artillery fire”. Equipped with more advanced optical sights and cameras, it is unable to carry ATGMs in combat. This recon helicopter can still fire a respectable quantity of S-8 rockets.

[h2]Until next week[/h2]
All right, commanders, that’s all for this week’s DevBlog. After last week’s developments, we understand emotions may run high in certain corners. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience - we can only learn from our mistakes and do it better next time.

Once again, thanks for the continued support, commanders. Don’t forget to keep the discourse civil and respectful.

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.

As always, see you on the battlefield.

Realistic Steam strategy game apologizes for 1.0 mix-up with free DLC

The long-awaited 1.0 launch of the massive scale, ultra realistic strategy game Warno has brought its brand of incredibly detailed war games to a full release on Steam. Following in the footsteps of Arma and War Thunder, Warno is a much more intense and immersive approach to the genre than the likes of Command and Conquer, and it's been met so far with a very positive review score on the Valve platform. A mix-up with the game's new deluxe edition, however, has seen developer Eugen Systems deliver a make-good in the form of free gifts for existing players.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Hyper realistic strategy game and War Thunder rival just hit 1.0

Massive military RTS boosts player count with major update

Cold War RTS game Warno gets mod support ahead of schedule

WARNO Gold Snafu and Update

Hello commanders,

We bring some bad news… and good news.

Yesterday’s launch of WARNO Gold, the belated deluxe version of our game, clearly didn't go according to the plan (but which plan does in the face of battle?).

The bundle’s pricing and actual discount for our dedicated community were not what we had foreseen. WARNO Gold doesn’t carry nearly as much of a discount for Early Access owners as we would have liked. Coupled with technical problems and back-end discount/sales issues, this makes the “bad news” part of today’s emergency DevBlog.

However, we hope to make amends for this little snafu. Please keep on reading for the “good news”!

[h2]WARNO Gold, 1-2-eh-5?[/h2]
This deluxe bundle of ours is turning into a bigger headache than we expected. We originally envisioned to have Gold launch before the game’s official release out of Early Access. This didn’t happen; we encountered difficulties getting the Gold Steam pages approved and validated. Added to this, there were a lot of “under-the-hood” mechanics to do with Steam pricing and discounts that threw a wrench into our release plan.



This resulted in the inclusion of an Expansion Pass, and with Gold’s release, our calculations for the actual discount price were erroneous. The horror! We have punished those responsible and put them together with the latest batch of interns in Eugen’s coal shed for a much-needed “reeducation” program.

This leads us to:

The discount to get Gold does not live up to a special discount previously proposed to Early Access owners, which, in reality, fell far too short of what we had envisioned.

As the Eugen team, we apologize for this mistake.

[h2]WARNO Gold Technical Issues[/h2]
Making a game is hard, but releasing and marketing a game is even harder, or so it seems. One technical issue was that “officially,” WARNO did not launch out of Early Access until the Gold’s launch yesterday, May 30th…



This technical consideration makes it impossible for us to distinguish between Early Access owners from those before the actual official launch on May 23rd and players who joined the battle after that (so until yesterday).

We also can’t just add an extra discount on top of the current discount or the Expansion Pass (Steam doesn’t work that way).

This left us finding an alternative way to make amends. Here it comes!

[h2]WARNO Gold Extra Extra Goodies[/h2]
So, within the limited playing field we currently have, we wanted to offer the following to all WARNO Early Access owners (that is, those who owned the game before yesterday’s Gold launch).

Digital Guides as a Gift
Instead of an actual extra discount - which we can’t do - we will make for free immediately the Digital Guides with a value of $9.99 / 9,99€ (or $7.99 / 7,99€ discounted in the bundle).

Now, these Guides are pretty kick-ass, and we think this goes part-way to righting the ship, but we understand this gift might not be for everyone. Before you raise your torches and pitchforks again, there is more!

Two Brand-New Early Access Pack Divisions
We will add for free 2 brand-new Divisions as part of the Early Access Pack (containing 5 Divisions already). These Divisions need to be first created, designed, developed, etc. so they will come at a future, still-to-be-determined date. This will most likely be after Nemesis: Airborne Assault.



The Early Access Pack is already automatically and freely available to Early Access owners of WARNO. This means 7 Divisions for a DLC with the value of $9.99 / 9,99€ (newcomers can buy the pack separately from now on).

[h2]Once again, apologies[/h2]
That’s it, commanders. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience. We hope that we have things put right, with gifts of a combined value of $20.00 / 20,00€ for those caught in the WARNO Gold snafu.



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.