Tannenberg News

The battle for Przemyśl begins today! This intimidating brick fortress boasted numerous gun emplacements, bunkers and barracks. Austro-Hungarian defenders held the fort in the face of Russian assaults and siege for 133 days. They were forced to surrender, but German troops recaptured it later with the aid of super-heavy artillery pieces that left the fortress a broken ruin with minimal strategic significance.



Surrounding the town of the same name, the Przemyśl fortress was a series of defenses originally planned to include 41 distinct fortifications. However, construction proceeded in stops and starts depending on the diplomatic relationship between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire from 1854 until the start of the First World War.

Nonetheless it was still a formidable position, as the Russians found when they tried a direct assault on October 7, 1914. Ten thousand of the attackers became casualties, with around 3,500 killed. The Russian siege held until March 22, 1915, when the remaining defenders chose to surrender. As food ran out and morale plummeted, 119,000 men were taken prisoner after a failed breakout attempt - though not before destroying the remaining artillery.



Now you can explore some parts of this famous fortress yourself, as you fight for control of two key forts along with their surrounding trenches and gun pits!

There’s more…
Although the highlight of this update is the free new Przemyśl map, there is more. Read the full changelog on the Steam Hub. A few things of particular note:

• Przemyśl map added!
  
• Updated sandbags to have more accurate colliders.
  
• Improved checks to limit climbing exploits.
  
• Fix for instant respawning bug.
  
• Fix for HMG desync issue.

Share your experiences with the new map on our Discord or in the Steam hub! 

And even more… Tannenberg has been released for consoles!
You can now get Tannenberg for Xbox One and PlayStation 4! We can't wait to see what console fans make of Eastern Front warfare. The development of the console versions has been done entirely in-house, like the Verdun Remaster. Everything has been optimized and adjusted for consoles, and the game will make the most of the Xbox One X and PlayStation Pro for those who have them.

If they might be interested, don't hesitate to share the word with your historically inclined console pals ;)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]That’s all the news - now time to hold that fortress![/h2]

The new map is almost here! We're really looking forward to seeing what you think of this one. It's been fun watching everyone's guesses as well. Some of you guessed it, as always!

[h2]Przemyśl[/h2]
Our console release date trailer shows off the new map - check it out...

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The new map is called Przemyśl!

Przemyśl was a fortified town that was the site of the longest siege during WW1. For 133 days the defenders held out against the Russian army, but were ultimately forced to surrender. In-game, you'll be able to fight around the bunkers and gun positions of the fortress.

[h2]Tannenberg on consoles[/h2]
We can announce the release date for Tannenberg on Xbox One and PlayStation 4: July 24th. Like the Verdun Remaster, we've handled the development of Tannenberg for consoles entirely in-house, and it's shaped up very nicely. If any of your console owning friends might enjoy some WW1 action, let them know!

The release will also be optimized to make full use of the extra power offered by the Xbox One X and PlayStation Pro. You can already pre-order Tannenberg for Xbox One.

[h2]Steam Summer Sale![/h2]
Tannenberg is 60% off, and Verdun is 65% off! If you’ve been waiting to complete your WW1 Game Series collection, or introduce a friend with a gift, now is the perfect time.



Come discuss the new map on our Discord!

It was this day 105 years ago that Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip fired two shots that would be the spark to ignite the First World War. His first shot hit the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in the neck, his second hit the Archduke's wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in the abdomen. Both died.

It was June 28th, 1914. A month later, the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia on July 28th would mark the start of the First World War.

Painting of the assassination.

Princip only had the chance to attack the Archduke because of a series of unlikely coincidences. He was one of six assassins organized by a secret society called the Black Hand. They were posted along the route of Franz Ferdinand's drive, which was published beforehand, and armed with pistols or bombs. The first two assassins that the motorcade passed chose not to try an attack. The third assassin was Nedeljko Čabrinović, who threw a bomb. It bounced off the roof of the Archduke's car, disabling a car behind and injuring about 20 people. The Archduke disembarked to examine the damage before the motorcade continued. Čabrinović took a cyanide pill and jumped into the Miljacka river, but the cyanide was expired and the river was shallow - he was apprehended by police shortly afterwards.

Colorized photograph of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

From this point the speed of the car prevented any further attempts, including from Princip as the motorcade passed him. Even with blood from the injured still on his clothes, the Archduke proceeded to give a speech as planned at the city hall, but then decided to visit those injured by the attack in hospital. His driver was not properly informed however, and took a wrong turn leading down a street where Princip was still standing. Even this might not have been fatal, but on being informed of his mistake the driver stopped the car, then stalled it while trying to reverse... practically in front of Princip, who drew his pistol and opened fire. His third shot was intended to kill himself, but he never had a chance to pull the trigger before being captured.

Both Princip and Čabrinović suffered from tuberculosis, and had already known they didn't have long to live before joining the assassination attempt. After his capture, Princip said: "I am a Yugoslav nationalist, aiming for the unification of all Yugoslavs, and I do not care what form of state, but it must be freed from Austria."

Gavrilo Princip in prison.

They were both were sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, their tuberculosis along with harsh prison conditions meant that Čabrinović died in 1916, and Princip in 1918. Four of their co-conspirators were hanged, and others imprisoned.

It seems likely that even without the assassination of the Archduke, something would have triggered the First World War. Tensions were high in Europe, and although the assassination served as a reason for Austria-Hungary to issue the July Ultimatum - a series of demands, some outrageous - to Serbia, no doubt they would have found another reason in time. The Serbian response to the ultimatum, which accepted many points but not all, led to the recall of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, and ultimately war.

[h2]Another teaser for the new map...[/h2]


Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

[h2]Summer Offensive 1915 Concludes[/h2]
Almost four million losses for both sides. After a little more than a week of action, the total campaign casualties come out to 4,210,058 from the Central Powers and 4,167,371 on the side of the Entente. Of course, Verdun and Tannenberg only simulate intense front line combat, which was not the standard state of affairs during the war. A week's hard fighting since we last posted on June 15th has increased the total count from around 1,000,000 per side to 4,000,000. How does that tally up with the actual battles?

Well, for comparison, France had roughly 1,000,000 killed in action during the entire war, with 4,000,000 wounded. Germany ended the war with closer to 2,000,000 killed to 4,000,000 wounded, while Russia had somewhere in the region of 2,000,000 killed to almost 5,000,000 wounded. These numbers also don't account for captured soldiers taken prisoner, which were huge numbers in some cases - for instance around 92,000 at the Battle of Tannenberg, or perhaps as many as 250,000 during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive.




If we use a 1:4 ratio of killed vs wounded, and count perhaps 20% of the Central Powers 'kills' as captured troops with a smaller value for the Entente (as mentioned, a large number of Russian soldiers were captured during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive), the following numbers might emerge:



[h2]Historically...[/h2]
In the actual battles, the total losses were closer to 480,000 for the Entente compared to 220,000 Central Powers casualties. If you missed it before, you can read a bit more about the history of the Second Battle of Artois or the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive in our previous news posts.



As for the balance of losses for each side, historically the Germans lost far fewer troops, despite their very successful offensive in the East. In contrast, in our campaign, the Central Powers have actually suffered about 37,000 more losses than the Entente. Maybe the Germans committed less of their artillery to the Eastern Front, and the Russian defenders were better able to hold their positions - it's even possible that the fortifications at Przemyśl would have proved more consequential if the Germans hadn't brought up their super-heavy guns.

Alternately, the Tsar was more decisive in ordering an initial withdrawal alongside urgent fortification of rear areas. The Russians fell back in good order to solid defensive lines, and the Germans overextended their strength, at the limit of their supply lines and unable to capitalize on their huge advantage in artillery pieces due to supply issues. There might have been a good deal of land captured, and the pressure on Austria-Hungary would still have been lifted, but Central Powers casualties could have been far greater and Russian losses far less. Probably still a Central Powers victory, but not nearly as decisive as historically.

Do you have any theories about how the battles could have gone differently to explain this almost 1:1 casualty rate? I haven't touched on the Western Front here, but there are surely possibilities there as well!

We hope you all enjoyed this surprise event! It's been great to see people chatting about the event and the history of the two battles we were inspired by. Remember you can always visit the #history channel on our WW1 Game Series Discord to talk to other fans about WW1. There are some cool images and facts to be found there!

We'll end with congratulations to everyone who earned a Gold Summer Offensive 1915 Veteran medal!


And credit to player GoldenHelmet for the rare peaceful screenshot below.