WARNO News

Milestone Murat Preview - 2. Panzergrenadier

Hello commander!

Time for some action again. We will take another look at the upcoming MURAT milestone. In today’s post, we put the spotlight on our West German friends and the new 2. Panzergrenadier-Division.

Before we continue, a brief message from the team. Game development takes time and sometimes schedules slip. We wanted to highlight that with MURAT we are adding in features from future milestones - case in point being… a certain set of missile platforms and units. These are ready earlier than expected. Now, several other game elements are still in the Eugen workshop and come a bit later than predicted.

As we stated in our Early Access roadmap for WARNO, delays might be encountered along the way with timelines difficult to predict. Such is the reality of life. Please keep this in mind.

Now onwards to panzergrenadier business!

[h2]2. Panzergrenadier[/h2]
You might think that panzergrenadier is a decidedly World War II name. Make no mistake, as a catch-all German term for mechanized infantry, so too did the West German Bundeswehr used the name for its mobile foot soldier accompanying main battle tanks. Not only that, the panzergrenadier act as escorts for armor while being transported on the battlefield (and supported while dismounted) by APCs or IFVs.

As a mechanized infantry formation, the 2. Panzergrenadier division was formed in 1956 in Kassel, West Germany. It was first established as a grenadier formation, made up of volunteers and a cadre of West German border troops, before being designated a panzergrenadier division in 1959, featuring brigades. Primarily based in Hesse, a central German region, the division’s coat of arms features the Hessian lion in red and silver. For a moment in the early 70s, it was known as the 2nd Jager Division and moved headquarters before returning to Kassel and ultimately regaining its original name in the 1980s.

As part of III Corps, it served alongside 5. Panzer and 12. Panzer in CENTAG’s area of responsibility. Interestingly enough, the 2. Panzergrenadier was situated in the far northern reaches of the command zone, above the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry in Fulda. This placed it in an enclave in NORTHAG’s area. After the Cold War, the 2. Panzergrenadier was disbanded in 1994.

[h2]What to expect in-game?[/h2]
Using the same brigade structure as the 5. Panzer, the 2. Panzergrenadier obviously features more panzergrenadier infantry brigades than armored ones. That means more soldiers on the battlefield and fewer tanks, though both types of Bundeswehr division rely on the same equipment and vehicle pool. There are some notable differences, though. What can you expect from the 2. Panzergrenadier in WARNO?

Though the 2. Panzergrenadier receives its share of Leopard 2A3 tanks, the mainstay of the division is the older Leopard 1 (both Leopard 1A1A1 and Leopard 1A5 variants).
No Marder Roland SAM, as these were not divisional but corps assets. In our wartime scenario, these have been attached to 5. Panzer.
Instead of Alpha Jets, close air support will be provided by the older G.91 R/3 Gina light CAS jets.

Being so near to NORTHAG, some reinforcements will come 2. Panzergrenadier’s way from nearby NORTHAG nations.

As the 2. Panzergrenadier was the vital link between the two NATO commands, the division will receive additional troops from a Belgian recon regiment securing NORTHAG’s right flank.
Practically, this means that we will feature some units from other NORTHAG nations. This includes Belgian Scimitar and Scorpion recon tanks, Spartan’s scout APC, Sultan CV and Striker ATGM launcher, plus some light Eclaireurs (scout). They will get their own infantry models and camo, but acknowledgment dialogue will be French or German until the time we fully release the Belgian army.

The 2. Panzergrenadier will also benefit from NORTHAG’s air cover, in the form of some RAF planes (first British units unveiled!). This support comes as Harrier GR.3 and Tornado ADV F.3 fighter planes, as well as the Tornado ADF F.3 SEAD.

Situated close behind the division was the Luftlandebrigade 27, a West German paratrooper and special forces formation. Much like the Luftsturmregiment 40 from our NVA’s 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision, it means the 2. Panzergrenadier will have access to some heliborne support units. This might be either Fs.-Jäger Füh. and Fs.-Jäger in UH-1D, and the CH-53G heavy supply chopper.
Short but sweet: yes, we will also include new German plane loadouts.
And we will feature the Fuchs RASIT radar recon to both the 2. Panzergrenadier and the 5. Panzer.

[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
That’s all for this week.

Join the awesome (and passionate) growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, or our Instagram.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Milestone MURAT Preview - 4. MSD

Hello, hello, hello!

It is good to be back. From the whole Eugen team, while we are busy chipping away on our next milestone, we hope you are enjoying the fruits of our hard labor - DAVOUT. Today is the day, however, we are going to take a look at MURAT, and the two new German divisions - from either side of the Iron Curtain.

There is more: we can finally lift the tip of the veil on an exciting new gameplay feature coming soon to WARNO.

Before we continue, MURAT is named after Joachim Murat, the dashing, brave military cavalry commander and “Marshal of Egypt” who eventually married a sister of Napoleon. Napoleon even bestowed the honorable “First Horseman of Europe” on Murat… the man, the legend!

Back to WARNO. First up is the East German 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision (4. MSD), also known in English as the 4th. Motorized Rifle Division.

Keep reading to find out more!

[h2]4. Motorisierte Schützendivision[/h2]
We already deep-dived into East Germany (the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR) and its armed forces, the Nationale Volksarmee (the NVA) in the post detailing the 7. Panzer. In 1989, the East German Army featured two tank divisions and four motor rifle divisions, modeled after the Soviet structure (tank divisions exploited breakthroughs made by the motor rifle divisions).

Created in the 1950s, the 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision found itself frequently in military exercises, or in the 80s, as support for industrialization projects in the country, disaster relief, or providing troops for state infrastructure works. Regardless, stationed in Gotha and Erfurt, opposite Fulda, the 4. MSD was initially based on the Soviet motorized rifle division model. Later, the division’s organization changed, resulting in no organic helicopter support and less armor than its Soviet counterparts. In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision was disbanded.

[h2]What to expect in-game?[/h2]
The 4. MSD was the closest NVA division to the Inner German border, positioned right behind the Soviet 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division (in turn, the closest of all Warsaw Pact divisions to the frontier). In case of war involving the NVA in a direct conflict with NATO, the 4. MSD would have found itself rather quickly on the frontline and in the heat of the battle.

We already touched upon this with 7. Panzer preview, but in 1989 the T-72 was still considered rare in the East German armed forces. The main battle tank was limited to tank divisions. This is why the 4. MSD has to rely on the aging T-55 only for its armored firepower.
Also noted, but NVA divisions could not count on their own helicopter assets. Nonetheless, we have decided to attach some additional airborne assets to the East German divisions. In the 4. MSD’s case, being at the tip of the spear in the opening stages of World War III, the heliborne forces of Militärbezirk III (3rd Army)’s sole helicopter regiment will be made available.
This means that the division will feature a large amount of HELI slots, with plentiful choices, including MI-24D AA variant with R-60 missiles or the Mi-24P anti-tank version with its 8x Kokon ATGM missile loadout. There will also be the Mi-8 gunship with GUV pods (which will also find its way to Soviet divisions later) and the wonderfully nicknamed ”Ghetto Gunship” Mi-8TB. This is a rare, specifically East German variant of the Mi-8, armed with 6x 57mm rocket pods, 6x Malyutka guided missiles, and a nose-mounted 12,7mm HMG.

As part of the spearhead of a Warsaw Pact invasion into the Fulda gap, the division will be reinforced with elements of the Luftsturmregiment 40 (LStR-40), the NVA’s elite airborne regiment. These special forces will be deployable as assault infantry in helicopter transports (either unarmed Mi-2 or heavily armed Mi-8 as Fs-JÄGER FÜH., Fs-JÄGER and Fs-JÄGER (Metis) variants.
There is more… these elite East German paratroopers will also deploy with two unique and secretive recon units: the regiment maintained a “false flag” company dressed as and equipped with American equipment and speaking American-English fluently. You know, think Skorzeny’s “Operation Grief” commandos during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II and you get the idea. Don’t be surprised to find some recon troops modeled after Americans in the 4. MSD armory. They will be featured in the RECON category as Fs-EINSATZGRUPPE heavy recon squads, or Fs-SPRENGTAUCHER “saboteur” squads with explosives.

The 4. MSD will also gain access to one specific Soviet unit: the BM-30 Smerch, the biggest MLRS so far in the game, available in the ART category.
AIR additions to the 4. MSD will be the introduction of the streamlined MiG-29A fighter plane, as well as the ubiquitous MiG-23MF and a better armed variant of the MiG-21bis. Note that 7. Panzer will also receive a new, and better equipped, MiG-23ML.

So, how best to describe the 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision in WARNO? It will have access to fewer (and lesser) tanks compared to the 7. Panzer, which makes sense of its status as a motor rifle division. To counter this, the division will feature a much more powerful and versatile roster of INFANTRY forces, as well as HELO units. Furthermore, the aerial top cover is provided by a more than decent fighter plane force in AIR.

[h2]A major new gameplay feature[/h2]
We saved the best for last! We know what you must be thinking: all this talk about East Germans and Ghetto Gunships, MiG-29s, yadayada, but the most exciting feature in the WARNO works is… drumroll maestro...

Dynamic mustaches! No Cold War game would be complete with fabulous lip foliage, ever-so-popular during the 80s until sadly falling out of fashion, like M.C. Hammer pants and oversized shoulder pads. At Eugen, we got you covered. WARNO will not only include painstakingly modeled handlebars and realistic whiskers on its infantry models, but also tie it with the perfect gameplay implementation: mustaches link to veterancy! The more veterancy you take your INF squads, the bigger the hairy caterpillar!

It makes perfect sense: you can now quickly check, at a glance and zooming in, the veterancy status of the infantry forces of your opponent. Investigate their facial hair real estate, and you know if these are mousy recruits or battle-hardened macho men. As a result of the overwhelmingly positive feedback, we have decided to fast-track this feature to be included in WARNO at the earliest possible date! At Eugen, we pride ourselves on our attention to detail. Let us know if you agree! ;)

[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
We know your head must be spinning with our la moustache reveal this week, but a small note before we adjourn for the week. The West German M113 models (from DAVOUT) are done and ready, and should already have found their way to you by the time you read this.

Join the awesome (and passionate) growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on the excellent Discord server and the new Reddit page, as well as our Instagram.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Sound Design

Hello commander!

We hope you are well. While the team is hard at work on the next WARNO milestone, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a lesser-known (but critical) aspect of our game.

Today is the day that we talk about sound design!

Some of you might have noticed, but we worked long and hard on upgrading the audio and sound design of WARNO, taking it to entirely new levels. We feel that WARNO’s soundscape is a massive step up from our previous titles in every way.

Before we dive in, some news from other fronts!

[h2]DAVOUT’s missing models[/h2]
We are busy at work incorporating the missing models from DAVOUT into WARNO. Specifically, the light Mil Mi-2 helicopter for the Warsaw Pact, and the West German variant of the ubiquitous M113 armored personnel carrier.

Let’s talk about sound!

[h2]Engines and weapons[/h2]
Sound in games: you might not think about it, but it is such an essential part of the overall game’s immersion that if it’s not “right,” it can quickly break a player’s experience. We always aim to get the highest degree of authenticity in our games, and sound design is equally important to graphics or gameplay.

To establish the greatest immersion possible, we did extensive research on late 80s Warsaw Pact and NATO units to ensure that every vehicle sounds real. Unlike previous titles, there is no "generic vehicle sound" in WARNO.

This means that almost every vehicle family, be it soft-skinned or armored, plane or helicopter, uses audio from its real-world counterpart. This is true when moving, stopping, engine idling, and even when rotating the turret. Listen for yourself:

https://youtu.be/jD571ev0n8c
And that's not all. The same principle applies to weapons. Different guns mean different sounds. Check by yourself.

https://youtu.be/S9nAurJy2Gk
We didn't stop there. Some weapon systems work in rather exotic ways, which results that the sounds they produce can be pretty unique. We took the extra care to ensure those weapons got the (sound design) love they deserve.

For example, the distinct puff of the Dragon ATGM has been faithfully copied in-game:

https://youtu.be/rNCHuk2TfPs
The intimidating plane-equipped MW-1 cluster dispenser, courtesy of the Luftwaffe, also received extra attention:

https://youtu.be/fUDvoTHof7E
While this dedication to realism means more work, we believe it is very much worth the effort if it means to immerse our players fully on the battlefield. That's not all!

[h2]Spatialization[/h2]
To reflect the importance of sound when designing our games, the audio part of our updated engine, used for WARNO, has been completely reworked. We took great care in creating a believable and realistic soundscape, starting with something called spatialization.

https://youtu.be/GuYD2aVVsV0

https://youtu.be/NskfzImCQE8
With our revised engine, we can now modify sounds as the distance between them and the camera changes. Now, let's mix it all together.

https://youtu.be/FhmkI70hrCc
Can you hear the explosions getting muffled as the camera moves further away?
Pretty cool, right? Well, we have one more thing to show you.

[h2]New Community Tournament for WARNO[/h2]
Before we leave you be, a short message from our community. The SD League is hosting a new Tournament Series for WARNO! The 1st Monthly Tournament is a casual 1v1 Tournament event in which players don’t get eliminated, as well as being matched to other players with the same skill level in later rounds. The SD League intends to make this an ongoing series for WARNO, with each month featuring a new iteration (and potentially with changing rule sets from time to time).

Any player interested in joining can find more information in the Google Doc or join our dedicated Discord server.

[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
That’s all for this week!

Join the awesome (and passionate) growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on the excellent Discord server and the new Reddit page, as well as their Instagram.

See you, commander!

WARNO - Milestone DAVOUT release

Rejoice, commander!

Make way for the DAVOUT update coming hot to WARNO, bringing you two new nations (Cold War-divided Germany on either side of the coin), two new divisions, and a brand-spanking new map, Geisa!

We know you have been eagerly awaiting this moment. So while waiting for downloads and updates, keep reading for a recap of all the good stuff coming in hot with DAVOUT!

[h2]DAVOUT Recap[/h2]
First things first: as we previously explained, one reason for the DAVOUT milestone coming a little later than excepted was because of a large chunk of modeling that had to be done. All the Bundeswehr’s units needed to be readied within a very short amount of time.

All done and dusted, what can you expect? Of course, the Germans have arrived in full force. Some individual units were teased in our previous NEY milestone, but DAVOUT features the first complete pair of German divisions, armored no less, from both NATO’s Bundeswehr and Warsaw Pact’s Nationale Volksarmee.

The West German 5. Panzerdivision brings a host of new units, from the Leopard 1A5 to the powerful Leopard 2A3 MBT, Marder IFV, Panzergrenadier infantry, Alouette II recon helicopters, Unimog trucks, Marder Roland SAM and Gepard 1A1 SPAAG amongst other. The Luftwaffe deploys its share of airplanes, including the F-104G fighter and the state-of-the-art Tornado IDS strike aircraft.
The East German 7. Panzerdivision is well-trained but uses slightly older equipment, including “vanilla” T-72 and T-72M, as well as T-55 variants such as the modernized T-55AM2 and T-55AM2B. Other units are ZSU-23-4 Shilka SPAAG, Czech-made RM-70 MLRS and T813 supply trucks. Air support is provided by Su-22M-4, MiG-21PFM and MiG-23MF.

The West German M113GA1 currently uses the American counterpart model. We are aware and will fix this as soon as possible; the specific model is still being worked on. Another known omission is the WarPac Mi-2 helicopter: this model is currently not ready. In the meantime, it is being replaced by an armed Mi-8 in the transport role.

Mind you, the German dialogue and acknowledgments are currently not fully integrated. However, this is planned to happen soon!

[h2]A small disclaimer[/h2] Please note: the national squad leader's names are presently placeholder and will remain so until WARNO’s official release. We will open recruitment lists for each nation at a specified time in the future.

If you are unfamiliar with this practice: the recruitment list is a nice little Eugen tradition harking back to the Wargame series and which we continued with Steel Division 2. It means that players can provide their name suggestions - with some caveats and only if they are authentic to the requested nation. It also means you get to have your own name in the game! When the recruitment drive spins up, we’ll let you know!

[h2]New Geisa Map[/h2] DAVOUT update also brings a new battlefield for you to play in. The new Geisa map is featured in 4v4 only for now, but we are testing it in 10v10 too. We'll keep you updated. We previewed WARNO’s 6th map previously in this blog post here.

Geisa is massive, it being 12 kilometers wide and 9 kilometers deep (Loop 10v10 is 6 km deep in comparison). It is relatively plain, but with three elevated locations in the center. We designed the map to give you plenty of different tactical options depending on the topology: from mountains to forests and some small lakes. Don’t be lulled by the swooning late summer atmosphere (and lightning) - some brutal battles are bound to happen.

[h2]DAVOUT patchnotes[/h2]
Check out DAVOUT’s patchnotes here!

MAPS:

New map Geisa available in 4v4.

FEATURES:

Changed the icon of command points in the zone to match the one at the top of the screen.
Added more audio cues in the menus.

FIXES:

Fixed unit labels being invisible when multiple units are in the same building and when using the "Diplay unit names only" option. Note: right now we're displaying the icons. We're working on displaying the names instead.
Fixed some units not stopping to fire on targets when in Hunt mode and when Smart Hold Fire was enabled.
Fixed helicopters not taking into account their altitude to determine their line of sight.
Fixed "Short" on-foot pathfind being the fastest route instead of the shortest. Infantry will now follow straighter paths instead of avoiding forests.
Fixed pinning a unit in the Armory not working as intended.
Fixed most cases of helicopters flying through forests. It will still happen on short distances (
Fixed a rare bug that would make it impossible to select units.
Fixed disappearing decks at first launch after an update when a used unit had some changes (for instance, Veteran XP not available anymore to a unit). Now only the affected unit will be deleted from the deck.
Fixed the Mi-24V [RKT]'s rocket loadout from 10 to 20 (as fitting the model) plus price changed from 130 to 160 accordingly.
Fixed Su-25 [RKT]'s 80mm lodaout from a wrong 64 to the proper 80 rockets plus price increased from 95 to 115 accordingly.
Fixed the MG-3 gunner's manner of holding the gun.

GENERIC:

Normalization pass on units' optics.
Normalization pass on supply vehicles' load, in order to even it across al unit cards plus some price changes.
Overall adjustements on helicopter prices.
Decreased all F-111/Su-24/Tornado tactical bombers (HE, cluster, napalm) max card per deck to 1.

[h2]See you on the battlefield[/h2]
Enough reading, time for some much-wanted action! Get ready to deploy, commander. Let us know what you think of DAVOUT. We can’t wait to hear your feedback and comments.

Join the awesome (and passionate) ever-growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on the excellent Discord server, https://www.reddit.com/r/warno/Reddit page, or Instagram.

See you on the battlefield, commander. Over and out!

Cold War RTS game Warno gets two new maps in today's update

Early Access RTS game Warno has an update out today that adds two brand new maps to the map pool. Patch Six introduces Mount River and Two Lakes, as well as a new single-player mode for the Death Row map. The update also includes a welcome list of tweaks and fixes, so let's get down to business.

Mount River is a new 3v3 map that developer Eugen Systems says is 83 square kilometres. Its varied terrain features plateaus, forests, and towns, but its central area is shaped by three lakes that create a series of defensible chokepoints. However, should one battlegroup gain a solid foothold there, the western corridor of the map is prime for flanking manoeuvres, so there's no chance for anyone to get too complacent.

Two Lakes, on the other hand, is a narrower 2v2 map that features central fields surrounding two towns. Adjoining this is a U-shaped forest, which can allow a player to regain some of the initiative if their opponent swiftly captures the towns.

Read the rest of the story...