Verdun News

The Second Battle of Artois was primarily a French effort to capture the strategic heights of Vimy Ridge, which the Germans had conquered in 1914. The first French assault actually succeeded, with heavy bombardments and mine detonations opening a path for a fierce assault by the Division Marocaine (Moroccan Division), who succeeded in taking the ridge. Unfortunately for the French, German artillery delayed reserves from moving up to reinforce the Division Marocaine, who were evicted by a strong counter-attack.

The Division Marocaine were among the most decorated units of the French Army.

A memorial to them on Vimy Ridge reads (translated):

"To the Dead of the Moroccan Division
Fearless and Merciless
In memory of Colonel Pein, commanding the 1st Brigade, of Colonel Cros commanding the 2nd Brigade, of the Officers, non commissioned Officers of the Moroccan Division who in glory fell here on 09/10/11 May 1915.
On May 9, 1915 the regiments of the Moroccan Division, rushed from the Berthonval trenches at 10am, fiercely overcame the Germans' resistance and reached Hill 140, their goal, breaking for the first time the enemy's front."



[h2]Two days of campaigning remain[/h2]
The West to East 1915 campaign will continue until this Friday 4th – the balance currently stands at 794,025 vs 772,397 in favour of the Entente. Once again the Central Powers are on the back foot...

[h2]Isonzo Intel[/h2]
In case you missed it, the most recent Isonzo Intel Dev Blog was all about the challenges of recreating historical landscapes in a videogame. Aside from the technical side of things, you first have to find good reference materials, and remember that landscapes can change a lot over the years...

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1556790/announcements/detail/3041597566481848340
Until next time!

This month’s campaign is inspired by two eastward offensives from 1915. A combined French and British effort aimed at Vimy Ridge on the Western Front, while on the Eastern Front the Germans saw a minor offensive intended to relieve pressure from their Austro-Hungarian allies turn into something much larger. We’re talking, of course, about the Second Battle of Artois and the Gorlice-Tarnów offensive.



All casualties in Frontlines and Maneuver game modes in Verdun and Tannenberg will be added to the total. Too many First World War battles essentially became meatgrinders (or were even conceived as such from the start) and so it is for our campaigns. The Central Powers have lost all recent campaigns, often by large margins. Will it be different this time?

Read the Campaign FAQ here!

[h3]Isonzo Dev Blog #2[/h3]

Furthermore, we're still working hard on Isonzo! Please be sure to wishlist our upcoming game if you haven't already! Last week, intell was shared on the creation of historical maps in Isonzo, which of course included some new screenshots and a teaser for the next blogpost..!

You can read our second Isonzo Intel here!

The carso landscape


Good luck in the trenches...

[h2]Verdun celebrates 8 years![/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]The Poison Prince 1915 Campaign is over[/h2]
The battle is over, and the Entente have suffered 50,280 less casualties than the Central Powers. Another Entente victory probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the campaigns so far. Still, things can change so we'll see what happens next time - a new campaign will be coming soon!

A note about the total casualties: they once again cleared 2,000,000 total, reaching almost 2,500,000. That's more casualties than the German military suffered during the entirety of WW1... an important reminder that games like Verdun and Tannenberg represent particularly intense frontline combat, of a kind that generally wasn't sustained for very long.

Sturmtruppe geht vor unter Gas - etching and aquatint by Otto Dix.
(Stormtroopers Advance Under a Gas Attack)

[h2]The first Isonzo intel is released![/h2]
For Isonzo research, we made a small road trip down to Italy last year for some on-site research. Three of the team made the trip: series creative director Jos, together with producer Thomas and level designer Robin. As well as photos and recordings of scenery, we made also made a few videos. Here's the first one:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]Developer Jos on location in Italy, discussing the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo.

Even better, we have an extensive dev blog which goes into more detail about the multi-map Offensive game mode! Check it out on the Isonzo steam hub:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/3059609427948758060
[h3]Remember, a new campaign will be coming soon! See you next time.[/h3]

The date is April 22nd, 1915 - the time is 5:00pm. A heavy greenish yellow haze rises from the German trenches on the opposite side of the Belgian village of Langemarck. Released from metal canisters, liquid chlorine gas slowly drifted southwestward on the gentle breeze of that sunny afternoon as an artillery bombardment began. French troops were seen staggering back through a barrage of high-explosive shells, falling back behind the Canadian batteries and reserve infantry battalions. A British soldier describes the phenomenon:

"{I watched} figures running wildly in confusion over the fields. Greenish-gray clouds swept down upon them, turning yellow as they travelled over the country blasting everything they touched and shrivelling up the vegetation. . .. Then there staggered into our midst French soldiers, blinded, coughing, chests heaving, faces an ugly purple colour, lips speechless with agony, and behind them in the gas-soaked trenches, we learned that they had left hundreds of dead and dying comrades."



The line on the left was broken by the dangerous cloud of poison, and neither the Allies nor German forces were prepared for the amount of damage the toxic breeze would do. The effect of the gas on the French was greater than the German infantry had anticipated. By nightfall, the Germans had crossed the Yser Canal. By around 8:00pm there were no coherent bodies of French troops east of the canal, batteries in the area had been captured, and the entire left flank of the 1st Canadian Division lay exposed to attack. Although the Belgian and Canadian hinges held firm, Ypres was open for the taking. The gas attack was far more effective than the other German attempt earlier in the year at the Russian town of Bolimów - read about that here.

[h3]The Poison Prince Campaign Continues[/h3]
At the time of writing, the Central Powers have suffered around 22,000 more casualties than the Entente, which would be a significant loss compared to previous campaigns, where the differences were often less than 10,000.

The campaign will end on April 30, this Friday.

A new campaign is live in Verdun and Tannenberg! Which side will suffer the least casualties over the next eight days of fighting? All losses from Frontlines and Maneuver mode battles until April 30 will be recorded, with victory going to the side which loses less men.

The Poison Prince campaign is named after Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, who commanded German forces during the first major and successful use of gas during the First World War, during the Second Battle of Ypres. Albrecht was the crown-prince of the Kingdom of Württemberg, part of Germany which would cease to exist in 1918.

Casualties following a gas attack.

Although the Second Battle of Ypres was the first significant use of gas, it was not the first attempt by the German army. That dubious honor goes to the Battle of Bolimów in Russia. We’ll share more about these two moments in history during the course of the campaign!

Read the Campaign FAQ here!

Good luck out there...