Tannenberg News

The Entente wins again with 22,754 less casualties than the Central Powers, although with almost 1,000,000 casualties it would be a horrifically expensive victory.

Even the highly successful Gorlice–Tarnów offensive by the Central Powers only resulted in around 300,000-400,000 Russians captured, killed or missing in action - a vast number, but not even half of what we've seen from about nine days of frontline combat in Verdun and Tannenberg. On the Western Front, the French and British attackers in the Second Battle of Artois suffered around 50,000 more casualties than the defending Germans.

[h3]Isonzo Intel[/h3]
Don't forget to check out the latest Isonzo Intel dev blog, all about the challenges of recreating historical landscapes!

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1556790/announcements/detail/3041597566481848340

The ruins of San Martino del Carso, that you will find yourself battling through in Isonzo.

See you next time!

Following the initial military disaster of the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914, the Russian Army had been doing better, particularly against the Austro-Hungarians. A Russian counter-attack routed their opponents in the south and allowed them to besiege the fortress city of Przemyśl. The Germans launched a number of attacks to try and distract the Russians, but despite some minor successes they were unable to deal serious damage.

Central Powers troops on the march.

This would change in May 1915. A combined German and Austro-Hungarian force was assembled with more than 700 artillery pieces, including 159 heavy guns and 96 mortars – such as the 305 mm Skoda siege howitzers. They were attacking Russian defenders with only 145 artillery pieces, of which a mere 4 were heavy guns. It did not go well for the outgunned Russians, and what was intended as a distraction quickly became a huge offensive, with the Russians unable to organize a meaningful resistance. What counter-attacks there were only added to the Allied losses. The offensive would continue until June 22, and triggered the Russian withdrawal known as the Great Retreat.

Austro-Hungarian 305 mm heavy mortars – the Central Powers advantage in artillery numbers gave them a significant advantage. Image from Imperial War Museum.

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

[h2]Isonzo Intel[/h2]
In case you missed the latest Isonzo Intel, it 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!

Which side will suffer less casualties in this month’s campaign? West to East is named after two major offensives that began in May 1915: the Gorlice-Tarnów offensive and the Second Battle of Artois. Both aimed eastward, but only one was a real success.

The Germans intended the Gorlice-Tarnów offensive to be a relatively minor operation to take some pressure off their Austro-Hungarian allies, but it would turn into a major assault that collapsed Russian lines. The Second Battle of Artois had the goal of capturing Vimy Ridge, and while the French would take the heights, they would not be able to hold them.

Artwork depicting fighting during the Gorlice-Tarnów offensive.

How do campaigns work? It’s fairly simple: all Entente and Central Powers casualties in the Frontlines and Maneuver game modes in Verdun and Tannenberg will be tallied up, and the ‘victors’ will be the ones with least losses. The Central Powers have not won a campaign in a while. That doesn’t mean they can’t do so 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 out there...

[h2]The Poison Prince 1915 Campaign has ended[/h2]
When the dust settled, the Entente were well ahead, having suffered 50,280 less casualties than the Central Powers. It certainly seems like the Entente are the favored faction among the player base, as they keep coming out on top. A new campaign will be coming soon, so maybe things will be different next time.

The total casualties once again cleared 2,000,000 total, almost reaching 2,500,000. There were 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.

German troops releasing gas from canisters on the Western Front.

[h2]New Isonzo intel is released![/h2]
Last year we made a small road trip down to Italy for some on-site research. Three of us made the trip: series creative director Jos, together with producer Thomas and level designer Robin. While there, we made a few videos too...

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

Alongside the video, we've released an extensive dev blog going into more detail about the multi-map Offensive game mode! Check it out:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1556790/view/3059609427948758060
[h3]A new campaign will be coming soon - stay sharp![/h3]

On the morning of January 31st, 1915, a German soldier on the Eastern Front might have looked towards the town of Bolimów hoping to see an experimental German weapon in action for the first time. The weapon in question was a number of 15cm artillery shells loaded with tear gas. Once the shells met a charge of TNT, they would be blasted open and the canisters would transform into a large cloud of xylyl bromide tear gas. Russian soldiers would suffer extreme irritation to their eyes, noses and ears. Once blinded and suffering, they would be unable to prevent a German attack breaking through their lines.

That German soldier would have been terribly disappointed - the contents of thousands of gas shells blew back towards German lines instead of towards the Russians. Ultimately, an even greater debacle was only avoided because the gas froze due to the cold temperatures on the battlefield, which minimized German casualties.

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

Although the attempt went poorly (to say the least), the new German innovation in their usage of poison gas did not go unnoticed by the Russians. But the failure did mean that the news was not widely spread to Russia’s allies in the west, which set the stage for a more effective gas attack the following year at the Second Battle of Ypres. 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.