Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront News

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Hello everyone, we’re back for another devblog.

Time is flying and more of our scenario designs are being turned into complete missions at the moment. We promised you - the community - that, as compensation for the long wait before EA, we would increase the mission content. This means we are busy working on a growing collection of historical missions, making sure these have great replay- and entertainment value. This may be the most difficult part of (historic) game development; It’s a historical scenario for sure, but is it nice to play? In this update we want to explore this, presenting a mission we have just finished, and which will be available for the German SP campaign.

This mission is set at the time of the Kursk battles. The battle itself is well- known, and we think our readers do not need explanation as to what happened there in july 1943.
The south pincer of the German offensive has reached Prokhorovka. North of this position lies the town of Petrovka; this is where our story takes place.
But first we’ll introduce you to the guy that is the main focus of this story, Günther Rall.



We’re talking about the 3rd most successful fighter pilot ever.
Rall was shot down no less than 8 times during WW2, and in july ‘43 it is one of those days for him. After a fight involving several LaGG’s, his engine receives hits and he turns for home, but he doesn’t quite make it there; the engine loses power too quickly. He has to make an emergency landing. He comes down between the lines, near the road that is part of the attack route for army detachment “Kempf”; their route leads past Petrovka (Belgorod Oblast) towards the town of Tim. The scene is set near Petrovka. The moment Rall touches down, he can hear there is a fight going on already; he immediately realizes he has landed right between the lines!
Rall writes: “fortunately, an energetic Panzerkommandant pushes forward and offers me a ride to our lines”. He was lucky once again.

Above: “Somewhere on the eastern front” a carefully posed shot of Rall “after having just shot down his 250th victim”.


In this mission we will put you in the shoes of the “Panzerkommandant” whom Rall mentions in his book. In our mission, you are the spearhead of army detachment “Kempf”.
You have just observed that a Bf109 is flying low and trailing smoke, and it touches down for an emergency landing in the field, not far from the road - right in front of you, just about a kilometre away!

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Fortunately for Rall, you quickly lead a column forward, far enough to reach him at his plane and quick enough to outrun the Soviet forces, who are equally interested in this pilot and his plane. The bitter fighting you were in for most of the week has unfortunately depleted your unit and you do not have a lot of choice in what you can spare to rush forward.

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What you don’t know is what to expect on this road… soviet defences all around Kursk are layered so deeply that the German offensive will not even reach the last line. Fields are possibly mined, so maybe you have to keep your tanks from going off- road? You can’t be sure of anything here.
There’s only one thing for it: push forward a small number of tanks with infantry around them, and surprise any defences along the way; you are in a hurry to retrieve that unfortunate pilot!

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You also need to be quick. Soviet artillery is ever- present and soon the defenders will understand what goes on and relay the information to the nearest artillery battery. How long do you have before the Katyushas are deployed and ready to fire?
If they don’t open fire, what is the reason? Are Soviet tanks about to counterattack?
Well, you will see when you get there…. get a move on!

Needless to say perhaps; we use the real life location for the map; the way in which roads are lined with bushes and hedgerows, the scattered buildings, the fields, craters, everything is modeled after the real 1943 situation as closely as possible.

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This mission will be part of the German SP campaign and will be included in EA. We are still on schedule to have EA this year.

• What’s your forgotten battle? We have opened a mission suggestion thread in the forums. You are welcome to share ideas there.
  
• The G-6 subtype of the Bf109 was not Rall’s favorite. He had received his G-6 just a week before he crash-landed it.
  
• We will include an exact replica of Rall’s personal aircraft in the mission.
  
• Airfields on the eastern front were mostly improvised, so Rall usually didn’t look as fresh as in the photo, like most eastern front pilots.
  
• Rall fought on western and eastern front, and very often says that the Soviet opponents were extremely tough, fighting for every metre of ground, and he says the Soviet air force were quick to learn and VVS tactics improved rapidly from the outset.

Well, that’s it folks. We hope you liked this update.
Do you think you will like to play this one? Let us know!

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Hi folks, it’s time for an update.

After the “shrubbery update” it’s back to something completely different. This time we want to tell you about a mission we’re building which is - of course - based on an epic real battle.

This one is from 1942, when “Fall Blau” was supposed to give Germany control of the oil fields of the Caucasus and which was supposed to include the conquest of Stalingrad. It was a “make or break” battle that was arguably the nail in the German coffin on the eastern front.

The part of the offensive that went for the Caucasus was called “Operation Edelweiss”. The directive was passed by Hitler on 23 July 1942. The main force was accompanied by a large number of oil industry workers, supposed to go to work in the oil fields immediately following the battle.

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In August 1942, German mountain troops (1st & 4th Mountain Div.) were being monitored closely at Hitler's headquarters. The moment they would reach the black sea was eagerly anticipated.
Hitler is said to have exploded in anger when he heard that his troops had scaled mount Elbrus to plant a flag. As Albert Speer recalled:
“I often saw Hitler furious but seldom did his anger erupt from him as it did when this report came in. For hours he raged as if his entire plan of the campaign had been ruined by this bit of sport. Days later he went on railing to all and sundry about "those crazy mountain climbers" who "belong before a court-martial." They were pursuing their idiotic hobbies in the midst of a war, he exclaimed indignantly, occupying an idiotic peak even though he had commanded that all efforts must be concentrated upon Sukhumi.”
So why did the German mountain troops climb the “roof of Europe”? It turns out it was the pet project of the commander of 1. Mountain Division, Hubert Lanz. As the XXXXIX. Mountain Corps advanced into the Caucasus Lanz ordered his personal aid, Heinz Groth, to assemble a team to climb Mount Elbrus. The Corps commander, Rudolf Konrad, didn’t like the idea but Lanz went ahead with it anyway. The main objective of the XXXXIX. Mountain Corps was the Kluchorski mountain pass, the main “road” through the mountains towards Sukhumi. On August 17th a bataillon led by Harald von Hirschfeld stormed the pass in a daring night attack. Lanz promptly decided to rename the closest summit to Mount Hirschfeld. Lanz, a passionate national-socialist and mountaineer, had a similar cunning plan for the Elbrus: he wanted to impress Hitler by renaming it “Adolf-Hitler-Spitze” (A-H-Peak). That plan quite evidently backfired badly.

Gebirgsjäger in action hauling supplies up a mountain slope.

So how did the German troops get up to the 5642m (17.000ft) summit?
They used a base camp which they had taken before, which is at 4100m (13.000ft). This base camp (Priut-11) was named after the 11 scientists who had built the first refuge at that place (“shelter for the 11”). It had only been rebuilt and finished as a hotel in 1940.
The iconic building had been designed by architect Nikolay Popov. It was rather luxurious, with heating and electricity in the rooms; the Germans took it by ruse without firing a single shot. The mountain troops enjoyed the amenities of the luxurious hotel and a team climbed the peak in a snowstorm on August 21st. Two days later they repeated the climb when the weather conditions were better. Despite Hitler’s negative reaction the climb was a propaganda coup for the Wehrmacht, which attracted Joseph Goebbels attention. He sent Ernst Ertl, an expert mountaineer and war correspondent, to restage the event so the German propaganda machine had good quality pictures to print and show everywhere, which Ertl did on September 7th.

The Soviet Transcaucasus Front at first didn’t think the Germans would be foolish enough to force the crossing of the Caucasus mountain range and was concentrated on the defense along the black sea coast and on defending the border with Turkey. When it became clear that German mountain troops were pushing south General Ivan Tyulenev quickly and effectively organized the defense of the mountains ending all hopes for the German mountain troops to achieve a meaningful breakthrough. As part of this defensive effort Soviet units launched counter attacks against the most forward German positions, including a counterattack against the mostly symbolic German outpost at the Elbrus base camp.

This happened on the 28. of September 1942. The stalemate that had existed since august was broken by the Soviets, who had formed a special NKVD detachment of about 100 men to recapture the hotel.They were led by Lieutenant Grigoryants and armed with machine guns, mortars and sniper rifles.
The German mountain troops were surprised at first but reacted quickly. Machine gun fire echoed between the mountains for hours.
Slowly the battle turned against Lieutenant Grigoryants and his men. After the battle, only 4 of them got back alive. The Lieutenant’s body was one of many that were left behind on the mountain slope. Thus ended one of the most unusual battles of the war.
Meanwhile the Germans did not reach their objectives (to push past the Caucasus to the Black sea coast) and had to retreat hastily when Stalingrad was surrounded.


In GoH you have the choice of playing this mission as either single player or as a cooperative battle.
Supplies and reinforcements can not be called in; you have to make do with whatever you have available, because the real life situation does not allow rapid deployment of reserve troops or whatever.
In the mission, when playing as Soviets, you get a chance to use alternative tactics in an attempt to take the hotel either by stealth and surprise or by sheer speed of attack. Using snipers you can try to take out the enemy machine gunners when you open fire.

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The height difference of the real situation is copied into the map. This means that from one end to the other, the map has a 90m height difference, exactly like the real slope.
Being this high above sea level, the ambience is very cold and windy. The attacker is exposed to the wind and the enemy; there is nearly nowhere to hide, so you need some stealth to get close enough to Priut 11 before you can attack.
Once you are close enough you can try to use speed and the element of surprise to complete the mission.

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When playing as Germany, you will have to defend in such a way that the NKVD troops do not outflank you, or kill your machine gunner.
By prioritizing your targets and by using the hotel structure to your advantage you may or may not be able to stave off the attack.

Troops will be equipped with the weapons they carried in real life; machine gunners and snipers are equally important and can turn the mission around completely for you - but only if you use them well!

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• Most transport for the Gebirgsjäger was done with mules
  
• MG34 and MG42 gunners within the Gebirgsjäger units carried more ammunition than regular infantry MG gunners, but there were fewer of them.
  
• Priut 11 was lost in a fire in 1998, when a tourist accidentally put a pan of gasoline on a stove in his hotel room, thinking it was water.
  
• Fall Blau was actually re-named “Operation Braunschweig” on June 30th 1942, two days after the beginning of the attack, but the original name stuck.
  
• Further reading about priut 11 can be found in: Kev Reynolds, “The mountain hut book”
• Further reading for German readers about the 1. Mountain Division can be in found in: Hermann Frank Meyer, “Blutiges Edelweiß : die 1. Gebirgs-Division im Zweiten Weltkrieg”, Berlin 2008.
  

Last but not least; we are working on a new game trailer and other content to renew our steam store page. We hope to have that ready soon, so we can tell you in one of the next updates.
Well, that’s it for this one. We hope you can see that Gates of Hell is turning into the first RTS game in which your knowledge of historical military operations and tactics can actually give you the edge in combat. That is certainly the case in this mission! Are you ready for realism? Tell us all about it!

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Hi everyone, we have a special update for you.
For the first time, we want you to take a look at something other than vehicles, weapons and explosions; this one is about natural elements in Gates of Hell and how we plan for “the nature of things” to be 100% new. Remember, Gates of Hell is aimed at total realism and we don’t think anyone will ever feel the need to make a “realism mod” for it, because that would suggest that GoH does not follow the historical truth.
On to the story; in this update, we want to show you a different side to realism.
So we invite you to “stop and smell the flowers” in this issue, and have a look at trees, shrubberies, grass, forest and the like.

“We want a shrubbery” (The knights who say “Ni”)

Check these Panzergrenadiere; they are using the forest to remain hidden while approaching tanks passing by in the background. Notice how the screenshot shows plenty of trees but you can still see what's in front of you. As a result of this key decision in game design you can use all of the forest areas in GoH without too much vision penalty.
Another design feature is the number of different kinds of trees, which will be much larger than in any game you know. Also, we will only use trees that are particular to the countries we have maps for. Trees that are typically found in one country are not always present in another and we want it to look right. Currently we already have well over 100 different tree models ready.

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HD link Not every treeline is a closed row of one single species of tree, just like it is in real life

Many games will offer you pretty good- looking trees in the game’s levels and in the in- game editor (which will also be featured Gates of Hell). In other games, the total number of different tree shapes will be limited and the kind of trees and bushes is not necessarily fitting for the environment.
For GoH maps, however, because they are based on real places and real history, we have also researched the natural look of the places we modeled. We made 3d models for the right kinds of bushes and trees for these maps.

HD link Not every forest has pine trees, and not every tree in the forest is healthy.



HD link We want creeks and small streams of water to look realistic. As in real life, the water level is not always at its maximum and instead a river bed may look more or less dry.

HD link This seashore was modeled after the real thing. Note the wooden wave breakers on the floodline.


Another important element in our landscaping is realism. We make maps based on real places and real stories. Having played other games where famous battles are portrayed in a map that is (at best) a caricature of the real place, you know that many map features have been put in to add cover, block lines of fire or whatever.
Not so in Gates of Hell; we want to show you what really happened during WWII. On our maps, you will find a really natural look. We can even challenge you to have a look at the real place in google maps/ google earth, you will see that our maps look like the real thing. Have a look at these screenies from our Vistula Spit map and see there is a road that runs straight through the forest, parallel to the beach. The side roads have different shapes every time. At one point, the forest slowly merges into a dune landscape. It would be easiest to make a forest with any old kind of road, which has a very clear- cut end where the dunes start. But we do not want it to be clear- cut, we want it to look real.

What else will be new:

• We have introduced tree/ wood splintering
  
• We have introduced trees that can’t be pushed over by tanks due to their sheer size, acting as natural obstacles - But they can be blown to pieces by artillery instead.

HD link Forest slowly merging into dunes

So you see, we are working on a game that has massive immersion potential. Any modders will be able to work with oodles of material and, depending on the modder’s abilities (and willingness to spend time in the editor), you will see some nice variation everywhere.

Did you know?

• The university of Helsinki published a comprehensive study of the environmental history of WW2.
  
• According to BioScience, September 2008 / Vol. 58 No. 8, “Landscape-scale research has documented immediate battlefield effects as well as indirect impacts of war across landscapes. Water-filled bomb craters from the Battle of Britain were rapidly colonized by nearly 40 species of native plants and invertebrates (Warwick 1949).”
  
• According to ScienceDaily, “Bombing raids by Allied forces during WWII sent shockwaves through Earth's atmosphere big enough to weaken the electrified upper atmosphere (the ionosphere) above the UK, 1,000 km away.”

That’s it for the moment. Do you like what you see? Let us know in the forums, thanks!

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Hi everyone,

we hope you had a safe start to the new year!
Now that 2019 has started, and the dust from our previous announcement has settled, it’s time to show you what we have developed in the past weeks.
We had a second and third look at 300+ beta tester applications and took all of the associated process steps.
We have notified everyone who applied for the beta test via e-mail.
As you probably remember, we can start the beta only after important software changes are made. However, progress is good.

On to the title subject of this update. As we promised in our dev update at the start of october we want to show you our BM-13 Katyusha in this edition.
As far as artillery goes, the BM-13 is an iconic weapon that can’t be omitted from our game for obvious reasons.
Let’s go back to its origins first. Where did this weapon come from?


The origin of rocket launchers as artillery dates back to the 15th century, when Leonardo da Vinci designed his version of a multi- barreled field gun. Rocketry as a scientific field got really popular in the modern era after World War One, and in the 1930s the military started to be interested in this new technology. In the summer of 1938 an idea by general Kotskov was being worked out secretly. It was inspired by ideas of Giuseppe Marco Fiesci, but this time using the RS-132 rocket which had been developed for use by aircraft. The rocket would have been used as an air to air weapon against bombers, similar to the German R4M 'Orkan' that appeared later during the war.

Several prototypes were built using ZIS-6 trucks. Configurations varied from 14 to 48 rockets per vehicle, the RS-132 rocket being adapted and re- named M-13.
In 1941, a smaller aerial rocket (RS-82) was also adapted for use on the ground and this one was used on a wide variety of vehicles as well, such as the T-40 and T-60 (BM-8-24), 36 and 48 rockets (BM-8-36 and 48) and the BM-8-72.

M-13-16 (RS-132) on a ZIS-6 and M-8-24 (RS-82) on a T-40


The new weapon was to be used in new special divisions - they were named as “guards mortar units” (as secret), as these were considered the right choice to keep the weapon secret. It’s military designation remained secret until WW2 ended so nobody knew it was officially called the BM-13; as a result, Soviet troops called it “Katyusha” after a popular song about a girl, and the German troops called it “Stalin’s organ”.

The first time the Katyusha was used was in 1941 at the town of Orsha. The seven BM-13’s that were deployed fired at the town’s market place and caused panic and many casualties.
The appearance of this weapon was a great shock to the Germans, some German infantry reports called it the most fearsome asset in the Soviet arsenal.

This wintery Katyusha (BM-13N) just opened fire.

On many occasions, Katyusha’s were a big factor on the battlefield. No wonder! Whereas one needed just four BM-13 launchers to fire 4.35 tons of HE into a 400,000-square-metre (4,300,000 sq ft) impact zone, no less than 72 conventional artillery guns would be required to achieve the same. The comparatively slow reload meant however that Katyusha barrages were not conceived to deliver continuous fire like conventional artillery. The Katyusha excelled at delivering a very dense saturation barrage over an area in a very short amount of time to stun the enemy: perfect just before an assault.


In Gates of Hell this one is obviously a must- have! The one we show you here is a very common variant of the BM-13. It’s the one that was built on a Studebaker truck. The salvo it fires is 16 rockets; 8 below and 8 on top of the launch rack. The official designation of this specific configuration is the BM-13N as it’s on lend-lease truck.
Here’s some screenies of it; remember, it’s still work in progress:

HD Link The gunner rides along

HD Link This battery has deployed and is firing

HD Link Transit to the front

We plan to add a number of katyusha systems, fitting for the different war stages. In addition to the BM-13N shown here, the BM-8-36 mounted on a ZIS-6 platform will be a devastating early war carpet bomber. As the war progressed, the T-60 became outdated and was converted to mount the RS-82 rockets too, resulting in the familiar BM-8-24. Towards the late war the monstrous 310mm BM-31-12 will make an appearance, paving the way to Berlin.

These rocket platforms are modeled to be as inaccurate as they were in real life, but unlike the German Nebelwerfer types, accuracy is not as important when you can unleash such a massive battery of rockets.

Well, do you like our new artillery asset? Let us know in the forums! Meanwhile, let us know which rocket-propelled piece you’d like to see next for the third part of the ‘It’s not rocket science’ series. Thanks!

Did you know?

• At the end of WW2, 518 batteries of all kinds of rocket launchers were in use in the Soviet army
  
• The maximum range of the BM-13 was just over 8.700m (9.500 yd.)
  A special long range version of the rocket achieved 11.800m (12.900 yd.)
  
• Countries around the world have continued to build and operate Katyusha-like systems well into the 21st century
  

Well, that’s it for the moment folks. Thank you very much for your support, please let us know what you think of our Katyusha and don’t forget to like & share!

Let’s not beat around the bush. It’s not the kind of thing we want to tell you, but owing to a number of major factors we will need to postpone EA.
In this update, we will explain why.
There are several reasons; an important one is that we have raised the bar on content in the day 1 release, having decided that the number of missions in EA should be higher, after we intensified the specifications for the development of singleplayer missions.
In addition, our publisher BestWay is continuously developing vastly improved versions of the game engine for the different platforms. BestWay is currently engaged with all their resources in the development of Soldiers: Arena.
For Gates of Hell, it means we will not start the closed beta test until the publisher’s updates to the engine have been completed, because testing without the software upgrades means we would have to go through all the tests again after the update.

So what do these facts mean for our development and release?


• We will be delivering a more stable game on a more powerful platform, at the cost of starting the beta test later than expected.
  
• You will enjoy having much more singleplayer content on day one of the release.
  
• EA will be postponed to mid 2019

We see the community growing, and since a lot of time has passed since we announced this game, it is time to make a clear statement and remind everyone about what we want to achieve with it.
It has been developed totally independently. We are developing Gates of Hell on the Gem 2 engine and technologies that Best Way has provided to us, but we don’t have any relationship to MOW franchise. Best Way helps us to develop and publish our game. We build at the highest possible quality level within technology constraints and this results in a greatly extended development time. We are crafting Gates of Hell with historical settings and realism as the supporting pillars, aimed to give you atmospheric battles with a strong singleplayer component. As you can this project is merely by concept already very different from what's out there.

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• It’s historically accurate.
  Some examples: correct engine sounds, correct 3d models and paint schemes, correct animations, correct hitboxes, correct equipment limitations, correct ballistics, etc.
  
  
• Includes maps of real places and missions built on real history. For each mission, we put in a tremendous research effort, trying to get historical and geographical details right, whilst attempting to achieve enjoyable gameplay and within the constraints of the game engine.
  
  
• Mission duration is longer, for instance there are resupply times and logistic issues to be considered. Tactical decisions must be considered with greater depth, for mistakes will not be forgiven. Knowledge of WWII strategy and tactics will give you an edge in this game.
  
  
• Emphasis is placed on atmosphere, sense of place and immersion. You will not see graphical elements that downgrade the view of things. Effects and sounds are designed to enhance the visual and acoustic experience.
  
  
• Multiplayer combat will be cooperative-based and asymmetric unlike most RTS games. Maps to play as PvP can be considered closer to a single player mission, with historical setups on both sides where terrain, unit line- ups and strategic advantages are not necessarily balanced. The only “balanced” term is in the victory conditions, so both sides are likewise able to achieve victory, within their completely different situations in terms of numbers, momentum or situation.
  

Did you know?

• During internal testing, one of the feedback points was about the T-34 which was performing badly in a hilly section of the map, because it did not have enough gun depression compared to the enemy Panzers when fighting through the hills and valleys. This is another historical detail which comes into play when considering your tactics in GoH. “It’s not a bug, it’s historically correct”.
  
  
• Our team of 20+ develop this game in their spare time.
  

Well, that’s it for now. As you will understand, we would rather have given you other news. However, we think it’s a blessing in disguise for we will now be able to bring you a game that will be more stable and new, the EA being a bigger package than planned. We are confident we can achieve our planned ideas.

We want to thank the community for its valuable contribution in 2018, and we wish you a happy end to the year and a healthy start to the new one. We will be back with more in 2019!

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