Development update #93: Assorted news
HD linkHi, everyone, time for another update.
In this one we want to show you some more of the content you will find in our initial release.
Most of you will know that the background of our campaign missions is always a historical battle, and that we use the actual location for our maps.
Since we will have a dynamic campaign generator as well, it’s important to note that our DCG maps are an exception to that. But now, on to the SP mission we want to show today, which plays out in late 1943 when the weather becomes wintery.
The Wotan line in WW2
Following the battle of Kursk, a change of strategy seemed to be necessary for the German army. Abandoning the “blitzkrieg” idea, the germans wanted to switch to a strategy that would lead to a battle of attrition, assuming the Soviets could be stopped by a strong defensive line, and that the losses that the red army would suffer when attacking the line would exhaust their offensive capacity. A construction order was signed on august 12th, 1943, and work began on a line that spanned from the Finnish gulf to the Crimea.
The northern part of the line was called the “Panther- Stellung” and the southern part was called the “Wotan- Stellung”. It ran along the Dnieper river for most of its length.
In retrospect, the fate of this defensive position seems obvious. The lack of building capacity and suited materials led to mediocrity and in the fall of 1943, the red army was already on the Dnieper and threatened to break through the line in several places. In late 1943 and early 1944, several breeches appeared and many german defensive positions found themselves threatened on their flanks. In many places they successfully repelled attack after attack but in other places the sheer weight of the soviet attacks could not be checked.
This is how Newsweek magazine presented the situation at the Wotan line in their december 6, 1943 issueThe mission in Gates of Hell
November/ December 1943. You command a small part of Heeresgruppe Mitte. You overlook a German defensive position just west of Gomel, and you are about to find out how many soviet units have already crossed the Dnieper river.
The weather is awful; the wind blows the snow around, chilling your men to the bone, and visibility is not very good either.
At first, you feel confident that your position can withstand any infantry attack from the east; you are fortunate to have the 20th panzer division on your south flank. But then, the red army attacks in force.
From the northeast, wave after wave of enemy infantry comes forward; the russian 3rd army is not short of anything and it shows!
Even if your position has no real bunkers, you should be able to fend off the waves of infantry. Your fate now depends on your ability to keep your troops supplied and keep your enemy out of your trenches.
Then, a familiar sound is heard from the southeast. Tanks! A first wave of T-34’s appears at speed, coming for your part of the line. You need assistance immediately! After a call to the 20th panzer, some tanks are put under your direct command. But how to stop an enemy that outnumbers you?
Well, that is for you to answer when you play this mission. If you want to get the historical outcome (defensive success) you’ll have to give it everything you’ve got!
We included some screenshots from this mission, what do you think of these?
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Our buildings are destructible, allowing positions like this to be made
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muzzle flashes last under 0,2 sec.
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Listen to the sergeant’s orders and prepare for the attack
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If needed, you can hide your StuG in a smokescreen
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The enemy doesn’t throw snowballs
Doctrines
On to a completely different topic, one that has been a wish we have had ever since we started developing. This was one of our long- time goals, and now it’s complete; the addition of “doctrines”. This feature will be available in multiplayer.
What we call doctrines is a way of allowing each player to make choices based on their personal approach to doing battle.
Doctrines are sets of equipment that come as extras (special units), on top of your regular equipment. Depending on the task you see ahead, or based on your personal tactical preferences, you can choose a set of goodies to help win your battle.
They change depending on the historical period of your game. Examples of these doctrines are “breakthrough”, “order of the red banner”, “lend lease equipment” and the like. Each of these has its own set of units that will fit the role.
In a next update we will specify these doctrines, of which we have more than a dozen in the Ostfront release.
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Screenshot from the Glushkovo mission, see the note below.
Did you know?
- The Elefant/ Ferdinand tank destroyer used the hulls that had been built for Porsche’s failed Tiger I design.
- The first KV-85s appeared at the front in september 1943, but production was halted after 148 had been built, just 3 months later.
- The KV series of tanks was named after Kliment Voroshilov, the defence kommissar and general who had commanded the red army in the winter war (after which he was made deputy premier of cultural matters).
- The T-34 was still in use in no less than 9 countries in 2018.
- The BT series of tanks followed a first modification (BT-2) of the american Christie tank, which was refused by the US army.
- Gates of Hell campaign missions are based on real locations. Check out how our Glushkovo minimap compares to satellite imagery HERE.
That’s it for now, thanks for stopping by & thanks for your continued support!
