Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical, Indie
Warno
v.93663: Hotfix AUGEREAU
Patch notes
Code fixes
Fixed FOB, which no longer blocks LoS
Fixed supplies not always resupplyling at a FOB with the autosupply order
Fixed a crash that occurred when importing a deck
Fixed a crash that occurred when capturing a unit or producing a unit
Fixed clicking on the empty edge of the in-game feedback window moving the camera
Data fixes
Increase of the damage values on the effect areas (from 30 to 35% at the periphery of the splash)
Stun effect duration +1 second of duration, decrease of thresholds to pass stun by 15%.
Correction of reload time effect on mediocre and low cohesion that were applied 2 times
Autocanon aiming time raised to 2.5s
Automatic grenade launcher aiming time raised to 2.5s
Increased repair time x100%
MLRS supply cost raised by 20% (all but NPLM and CLU ones), aiming and reload time by 20%
Howz 120 to 175mm, suppression raised by 10%
v:93411: Introducing AUGEREAU
Hello commander,
It took its sweet time, but here's come milestone AUGEREAU and the long-awaited FOBs. Or more exactly FIELD SUPPLY POINTS as they are now called ingame (and localized in every language).
Keep reading to find out more.
But first ...
... we wish to offer our apologies for the delay it took to deliver this feature. FOBs weren't something we had intended for WARNO, and thus buildings weren't part of the code anymore. We resurrected them to grant a community request and they had to be brought back from scratch. This took longer than we expected.
Then the FOB's design also delayed us, for we researched what an actual Field Supply Point would look like IRL, instead of reproducing WRD's hard concrete infrastructure. Our 3D artists put such heart in that task that the new model was so detailed it became too CPU-heavy and had to be optimized several times to fit the game properly. Finally, the final tests brougtht back some minor but time-consumming little issues to fix before rebuilding an entire version each time. Each time delaying release by forty-eight hours or more, quickly bringing us back to a Friday. And for this, we wouldn't do a Friday launch ...
This DevBlog has been waiting for publication this past two weeks for we had hoped to release the FOB for some time already, but always delayed at the last minute with no ready replacement to take its place. Hence the silence.
A little bit of historical context
Each WARNO milestone is named after a famous French marshal active during the Napoleonic wars. Pierre AUGEREAU is quite typical of most of Napoléon's marshals: a formidable leader of men, a decent tactician but a poor commander-in-chief.
Born in 1757 of modest origins, he enlisted in the royal army at 17. He soon became famous for his swordmanship, and in one of many duel he was to fight in his lifetime, Augereau killed a noble officer, forcing him to desert and go into exile! For the next 13 years he traveled accross Europe, working as a mercenary for the Russians and Prussians. He then settled briefly in Saxony, Naples and Portugal, usually earning a living as a fencing master.
He returned to France, then in full Révolution, in 1792 and enlisted again but this time in the Republic's armies. A young army, lacking officers and military talents due to the emigration of the nobles. Augereau knew everything there was to know about military life and his rise was meteoric: in about a year, he was promoted from sergeant to général de division. That's the rank he held when young general Napoléon Bonaparte took command of the Army of Italy, in which he served. Augereau's division played a key role in most of Napoléon's First Italian Campaign's major victories: Loano, Montenotte, Lodi, Arcole ... but especially Castiglione, which Napoléon later granted him as a ducal title. But in 1797 his military career was already at its zenith.
Rallied to Napoléon's Empire, he was among the very first generals to receive his marshal's bâton. He took part in Napoléon's lightning campaigns of 1805-1806 in Moravia & Prussia, but always as the commander of the reserve, under Napoléon's direct command. Nearly killed ar Eylau in 1807, it would take him three years to recover from his wounds and be fit again for command. Sent to Spain in 1810, he proved there as incompetent as most of his colleagues (Suchet excepted), yet established himself as one of the greatest looter of a Grande Armée in which it was quite a national sport. In 1812, he was to garrison Germany while the Grande Armée was freezing to death in Russia but fought well at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. Well enough that Napoléon gave him a major independant command in 1814, the Armée de Lyon which was to prevent an invasion from the Alps and Italy. Although his army was far weaker that expected on paper, his complete lack of activity in this campaign brought suspiscion that he had been bought by the Allies. When Napoléon abdicated, he rallied to the Bourbons monarchy immediately.
Augereau and Napoléon met one last time, just after the Emperor's abdication. On its way to Marseille to board a ship for his exile in Elba, Napoléon decided to stop and bid farewell to his old friend from 1797. But as soon as Napoléon stepped out of his car, Augereau subjected the deposed Emperor to a barrage of insults and reproaches. Such was the end of their friendship.
In 1815, when Napoléon returned during the Hundred Days, Augereau obsequiously tried to regain Napoléon's favors, but the latter wouldn't even meet him, had him striken from the list of marshals and labelled a traitor for his poor 1814 performance. Nonetheless, his failed attempts at ingratiating himself the favors of the "Impostor" didn't suit Louis XVIII well when he returned on his throne three months later: Augereau was stripped of all military titles and pensions. He died a year later on his estate.
Words have meaning
But let's get back to 1989! In Wargame: Red Dragon (and previous Wargame title), the term FOB was standing for Forward Operation Base. Although FOBs would provide logisitical support to local troops as they did ingame, a real FOB would also be housing troops, sometimes even artillery or mortar support, helipad, ... That is a much bigger role than our ingame FOBs were actually providing.
Therefore, FOBs in WARNO are called Field Supply Point (FSP), referring to a provisional field depot or "ammo dump" (although containing more than just ammunition). The model has also been designed in order to look more realistic, that is like a provisional infrastructure established close to the frontline to supply combat troops with ammunition, fuel, rations, ...
But what is a FOB?
But to hell with all the semantics: what do FSP do ingame, shall you ask? If you're new to Eugen games, you might be at loss understanding what some people are clamoring for about them ...
An FSP is a unique unit in WARNO, for it is the only building you can deploy. You will be allowed to take one, and one only, in your deck, occupying one LOG slot. Since it is a building, it can only be deployed during the deployment phase: if you don't use it then, you won't be able to deploy it later! So, make sure to plan ahead if you will need one in your deck, or if not deployed from the start it will just fill one precious slot for naught.
FSP are basically a HUGE reserve of supply, which you can use to resupply other units with ammunitions, fuel or spare parts/replacements, as any supply unit. You just have to bring another unit close by, and it will be resupplied. But of course, the best use you can make of it is to refill more mobile supply vehicles. Once empty, the latter can be brought to your FSP and then supply will be transferred from the building to the mobile units, refilling them before sending them back to the front. And then you've got a supply chain! Supplies only go from the FSP to a unit, not the other way around. You can't resupply an FSP! But don't worry, they hold a lot of supply.
Of course, FSP will become a prime target for the enemy! Since they can't be moved, once spotted you can expect heavy shelling and air bombardment, hence you better keep some AA nearby. Yet, they won't go boom at the first enemy round: FSP are very resilient! It will take a lot of firepower to take them down ... but when this happen, make sure not to have friendly units in the vicinity: no one want to be nearby when an ammunition depot detonates!
Another way, and shall we say the most enjoyable one, to neutralize an enemy FSP is of course to capture it! As any supply unit ingame, an undefended FSP will surrender to the enemy, who will then be able to use it to supply his own troops. If you don't want your FSP to end up feeding the enemy, make sure to guard it well against sneaky special forces on the hunt. That's what security troops are meant for.
Map updates
But FSP aren't the only thing coming with this milestone: Iron Water and Ripple maps have been upgraded
During WARNO's Early Access, we made significant improvements to the existing maps. In this instance, we worked on Iron Water and Ripple, which received significant fixes & changes, including:
Fixing bugs identified by players
Improved vegetation
Improved cities
Improved water and riverbank treatment (Iron Water)
Optimization of visual effects (lights and colors)
Improved game performance
We hope these updates will improve the gameplay experience for our players. We remain committed to continually working to provide a superior gaming experience.
Patch notes
With the milestone comes other changes & fixes, listed below.
Features
introducing FIELD SUPPLY POINTS (aka FOB), with one added per battlegroup
DATA OPTIMIZATION
We have optimized the disk size of Warno from 56 GB to 25 GB. If you need to replay old replays, it is necessary to switch to the Steam branch compat_save_older_than_93194.
MAPS
Ripple and Iron Water maps have been reworked:
improvements in urban rendering, colorimetry and light processing
CODE FIXES
fixed the button at the end of the tutorials, which restarted the same tutorial
fixed Puma HC.1 supply, which no longer uses fuel
fixed feedback placement in game
fixed the loss threshold in the lobby, which sometimes showed huge numbers
fixed the voiceline of some infantry talking continuously
fixed feedbacks that were offset from the minimap
DATA FIXES
Polish translation improved thanks to GreenHD
improved sniper FX's speed
fixed the orientation of the barrels of some mortars
fixed display of HE values of S-13 and S-24 rockets
fixed M107A2's salvo length
GENERIC
standardizing LRRP avail/vet
NATO
(Berlin) adding one card of British SNIPERS
PACT
decreased E-German MIG-29's price from 245 to 215, on par with its Soviet counterpart
(Zentrum) adding one card of Fs-SCHARFSCHUTZE
Swap the VSS Vintorez for the Dragunov sniper rifle, for the Spetsnaz using them
Add a more realistic version of the VSS Vintorez for the SNAYPERI SPETSNAZ (short range, but better aim and reload time)
See you on the battlefield
All right! That’s it for the FSP, we are looking forward to hearing what you think!
Today is milestone day! And more precisely, the still unannounced yet already delivered milestone MARMONT. It brings to you several items that we have announced and teased in some previous DevBlogs, namely snipers for all nations, LRRP overhaul, some new units, new soundtracks, maps rework, urban improvements, new language, ... and more. And of course, balance changes.
A little bit of historical context
Each WARNO milestone is named after a famous French marshal active during the Napoleonic wars. Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont belonged to the petite noblesse and trained as an artillery officer. He immediately adopted the principles of the Revolution and fought in its armies, where he quickly became acquainted with a fellow penniless artillery officer, Napoléon Bonaparte, with whom he was even roommate for some time.
When Napoléon rose to power, Marmont was never far away: aide-de-camp to his friend, then promoted general in Egypt, he was among those Napoléon entrusted with his Coup d'Etat of 18th Brumaire. Although promoted to général de division and general-inspector of the artillery at the age of 30 only in 1804, Marmont was disappointed not to be made a marshal with the first promotion.
For Marmont, although a very good artillery officer, was an ambitious and self-important man, sensible to fawning. Intelligent and well-educated, a cynic with a sharp tongue, he would always consider himself above his peers. A trait which would lead him to occupy a unique and dark place among Napoleonic marshals.
Governor of the Illyrian provinces (nowadays part of Slovenia & Croatia), he was recalled back at Napoléon's side for the 1809 campaign in Austria, where he was finally promoted to Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Ragusa. Sent to Spain, he proved one of Wellington's most able and dangerous opponent, before being recalled at Napoléon's for the campaign of 1813 in Germany,
In 1814 in France, his performance would have secured him a place as one of the best general of the campaign, had his vanity not brought him to occupy another place in Napoleonic History: that of the "Judas among Marshals", the man who betrayed and brought Napoléon down. His VI. Corps amounted for about a third of Napoléon's small Grande Armée of 1814 when Marmont let himself be convinced by royalist conspirators that he would be France savior's, putting an end to war, if he would remove his troops from under Napoléon's command. Which he did, leaving Napoléon with no choice but to abdicate. In doing so, the deposed emperor commented about his former friend: "The ungrateful one, he will be more unhappy than I will".
For Napoléon knew Marmont had been lured by unctuous words, but would be forever remembered as a traitor. And indeed, for the rest of his life, under whichever government he served, Marmont would always be reminded by fellow officers and court members that he once betrayed his master and could not be trusted. "Raguser", from his title Duke of Ragusa, even became a byword for "to betray".
And even today, the ostracism against "Marmont the Traitor" can still be felt! For Paris intra muros is separated from its suburbs by a ring of boulevards, collectively known as the "Boulevards des Maréchaux" for their are named after all of Napoléon's marshals. All? No, for two are missing: Grouchy, wrongfully accused of being responsible of the defeat at Waterloo, and of course Marmont, for his betrayal.
Despised by his peers, Marmont ended up his life in self-exile at the Russian court in Saint-Petersburg, then in Venice.
Snipers
But let's get back to 1989! This milestone introduces the much-expected snipers. Although scoped rifles also make an appearance with LRRP too, the only units truly worthy of the name (and thus the trait) Sniper are the two-man recon infiltration teams. Other scope-equipped soldiers in various squads are mere marksmen: they get a more accurate rifle, but that's all, not the sniper bonus.
All nations will get sniper teams, although not all divisions. Scout-sniping in its modern definition was an Anglo-Saxon tradition (starting with Canada in WW2) passed on to foreign special forces, but never as widespread as in English-speaking armies. Therefore, while all British & American divisions have some, only a selected few other divisions have special forces' snipers attached.
Sniper units all come as a two-man team with Very Good optics and the Sniper trait. The latter grant them, when static only, an Accuracy bonus and a +1 Stealth level. For we all know the value of not being seen! Here is the list of all the sniper teams added:
Scoped rifles are divided into two categories: bolt-action & semi-automatic. The former has a longer range, better accuracy but slow rate of fire; the latter has shorter range, lesser accuracy but ... you guess it? ... better RoF. Sniper teams preferably use a bolt-action rifle when available to the nation, while semi-automatic ones can more commonly be found in non-sniper squads. The following rifles have been added to the game:
French FR-F2 (bolt)
British L96A1 (bolt)
American M14 (semi-auto)
American M24 (bolt)
W-German PSG-1 (semi-auto)
Soviet SVD Dragunov (semi-auto)
Soviet VSS Vintorez (semi-auto)
LRRP
LRRP stands for Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol, you know those scouts with GSR trait ingame:
FERNSPAHER
SAS PATROL
LRS
SPEZIALAUFKLÄRER
SPETSNAZ G.R.U.
Now that the GSR trait has been introduced, we have reworked all LRRP squads to fit a (roughly) same pattern: a veteran 6-man team, with GSR trait and mostly light weapons. In some cases, weaponry has been adapted to fit a marksman (with scoped rifle, but no sniper trait), therefore we're inviting you to check them for differences.
Only one nation remained without LRRP: France! That's why MARMONT introduces the new DRAGONS-PARAS squad to fill this role with the 5e Division Blindée. The 13e Dragons Parachutistes, or 13e RDP, was the French First Army's elusive French LRRP unit, its eyes and ears.
New units & models!
But the snipers and DRAGONS-PARAS aren't the only units we're adding with this milestone.
With Oudinot, we introduced the Military Police trait for ... military police units obviously. But only NATO had such troops. The reason wasn't a specific bias against Pact, but because military law enforcement didn't work the same way with WP armies and as such there wasn't a direct counterpart in Soviet & East-German divisional TO&Es. MARMONT rectifies this omission with the introduction of the East-German MILITÄRSTREIFE and Soviet KOMENDATURA patrols. Both featuring the Military Police trait and added to all WP divisions. And since the latter used a specific version of the UAZ, we've modeled it too while we were at it.
We're also introducing a second Soviet MiG-29: same variant, but different loadout, a cheaper one. The reason why was both to give 35-ya GvDShB a choice between a top-of-the-line MiG-29 and a lesser armed but cheaper one ... but also to feature a new gorgeous camo we identified. Look at that beauty:
Although they were already featured ingame, we've reworked both Soviet MiG-27K (LGB & SEAD) with their specific nose. And in the process, we reskinned the LGB one with its own specific skin.
Maps
Based on community feedbacks, we made some modifications on Cyrus and Two Lakes maps.
Regarding Cyrus, we have improved the treatment of the plateau edges, which previously had too many trees blocking the units' LoS toward important strategic points. Additionally, we have made graphical improvements to both Cyrus and Two Lakes, including modifying urban densities within cities. Our goal was to bring more realism to cities by reducing the size of gardens around housing and redesigning some districts.
We have also enhanced lakesides on both maps by adding new textures and assets, as well as reworking the color scheme and lighting to reinforce their overall appearance. We have also optimized the game's performance in order to improve the gameplay experience.
Finally, three new maps have been added to ranked mode: Two Ways, Black Forest Storm & Loop
And more ...
By popular demand, MARMONT also introduces four new soundtracks for you synthewave lovers!
And last but not least, WARNO now has a Polish translation. Still incomplete in this version, but the rest will be added soon. We wish to thank GreenHD, and hope you will too, for his heroic efforts in bringing that localization to the game.
And for course, balance changes, which you'll find here.
But what about the FOB?
FOBs were meant to be delivered with this milestone, but we detected a last minute bug regarding them. Waiting for it to be fixed and rebuilding a version meant delaying MARMONT to Friday ... and you know we don't release on a Friday. Hence it would have pushed back release to next week.
We considered it was better to deliver MARMONT without it in order to fix the FOB properly, then release it to you ASAP as a hotfix.
Added feedback in replays, indicating destroyed units and captured areas, near the minimap
Updated music
The Polish language has been added, the Polish translations have been kindly done by a Polish fan, it is not complete and being improved.
improved display of the Options menu in specific resolutions
Maps
Cyrus and TwoLakes maps have been reworked: Improvements in urban rendering, vision on plains, water borders, colorimetry and light processing
Code fixes
fixed a crash when disolving a smart group
fixed crash in tutorials
fixed shortcuts with a key combination containing Alt
fixed "Add Friend" button in the lobby which was sometimes greyed out
fixed a rare case of planes managed by the AI which would sometimes team kill
fixed a cover bug with no effect versus rocket fire
Data fixes
binding proper recon acknows on most recon units & vehicles
fixed M998 AVENGER's Stinger accuracy to 55% both in motion and static
Snipers
adding snipers in all US & UK divisions (being widespread), as well as French 11e DP, German 2. PzGrenadier, Soviet 35GvDShB & E-German 4.MSD (as special forces).
Introducing sniper rifles in two form: bolt-action and semi-automatic.
bolt-action are dedicated sniper rifles, with longer range and better accuracy, but are suffer from a lower Rate of Fire
semi-automatic are DMR (Dedicated Marksman Rifle), more widely distributed, with shorter range and accuracy, but better RoF.
Sniper teams (with such trait) only refer to 2-man teams. Soldiers with scoped rifles in other squad are just marksmen.
LRRP
We have been rebalancing LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol since the introduction of the GSR trait they now carry, as 6-man recon squads with vet3 & Forward Deployment, and thus no helo transport. Some changes in weaponry too, so better check them, LRRP are:
Soviet SPETSNAZ G.R.U.
E-German SPEZIALAUFKLÄRER
American LRS
British SAS PATROL
French DRAGON-PARAS (new unit!)
W-German FERNSPAHER
Generic
gaining a veterancy level takes more time, requiring to destroy more ennemy units
increased light supply jeeps (250)'s availability from 12 to 20
increased buildings' resistance (HP) by 25%
HE AoE buff: more damage in the area of effect and on the periphery
decreased MLRS' time between 2 rockets by 15%
decreased howitzers' Health Point to 8
decreased MLRS on wheel chassis' Health Point to 6 health
increased 227-250 kg bombs' HE damaged by 10% & AoE by 5%
increased cluster bombs' splash by 10%
increased napalm bombs' splah by 8%
increased aiming time of infantry rockets to 2 seconds
decreased units' speed in forest (slightly)
Nato forces
reduced A-10 ECM to 15% SU25 ECM reduced to 5%
locked AH-64A APACHAE [RKT]'s veterancy at vet2, preventing from selecting one at both vet2 or vet3
Pact forces
added KOMENDATURA (=MPs) to all Soviet divisions
added MILITÄRSTREIFE (=MPs) to all E-German divisions
modified weapon loadout for the SPETSNAZ KOM. & SPETSNAZ G.R.U., now having scoped rifles
reduced SU-25 ECM to 5%
increased KPz. T-55AM2 FÜH.'s availability per card from 1 to 2
(35GvDShB) replaced one card of MiG-29 with another one of the same plane with cheaper loadout and new "Daumgarten" camouflage
Army General Update
Hello Commander,
In last week’s DevBlog, we lifted the veil on some solo play content, the tactical OPERATIONS. Today, we will bring you some news about the long-awaited ARMY GENERAL mode.
In earlier DevBlogs, we already gave you a sneak peek of the two huge maps which will be the setting for our various scenarios: one centered on the Fulda-Frankfurt axis, the other on the Kassel-Paderborn axis. What have we been up to since then? Why the delay? Don’t worry, we haven’t been idle, far from it.
What is Army General?
Let’s get back to basics for those among you who might have joined our community recently. Army General mode will feature turn-based wargame campaigns, playable in single-player, versus, or cooperatively. You’ll play on massive maps with a host of different formations and units, simulating a particular offensive or large-scale operation. We used the historical order of battles, with each division portrayed as they were in 1989, including corps or army assets. These orders of battle (formational structures) will be realistic and accurate down to the platoon level. In comparison, Steel Division 2 only went down to the company level.
How many campaigns? We’ve planned four, but are considering more by creating smaller additional scenarios focusing on a specific theater, timeframe or units of the battlefield. See those as “Army General snapshots” with more specific, intermediary objectives.
But where is it?
As of now, we’ve got a functioning campaign featuring the early stage of the Soviet assault on Fulda and through the Kinzig valley, based on Steel Division 2‘s Army General mode. Although it works well as it is, we do not consider it satisfactory enough to be released, because we want more than just porting SD2’s AG mode to WARNO. We want to improve it. We want to offer a new experience, as well as explore new movement and combat mechanics. Right now, starting over again, is when we can try new stuff.
Battle Plan
One of the main improvement from SD2 lies with the Battle Plan phase, that is once a combat is engaged when each player selects which of his battalions will take part in it. In SD2, we initially allowed only three battalions to take part in a combat, which we felt were too few, then increased it to five … which some considered too much. In WARNO, the Battle Plan will be split between several roles, meaning all battalions won’t be competing for the same slots as in SD2.
Battle slots will be divided 4 categories:
COMBAT BATTALIONS will be given two slots for either/both armor and infantry
ARTILLERY SUPPORT can only be filled with one artillery battalion
AIR SUPPORT can only be filled with one close air support squadron
AUXILIARY SUPPORT will get one slot to be filled with either recon, engineer, HQ, … or any battalion not included in the previous one
Therefore, most battle should be fought with 3-4 battalions, while only the biggest one will field 5 when all types of units are represented. And that way, the often shunned “auxiliary” battalions from SD2 will get a bigger role since they won’t be competing for the same slots with more powerful “combat” battalions.
Air Support
Another improvement we’re bringing concerns the management of air assets.
Unlike ground (or hovering) units, air squadron will only be featuring a fragment of their real strength … but they will retain it throughout the campaign, the balance of force representing planes in reserve or in short repair to replenish it. Squadrons won’t be assigned permanently either: at the start of every turn, each side will be assigned a number of available air missions depending of their level of air superiority. You can use them in your phase or keep them for the enemy one, but they’ll be removed anyway at the end of the turn, giving way to others the next turn.
Strategical choices
We also want the player to be more involved in devising the campaign’s strategy. While in SD2, players would acquire reinforcements with Action Points; in WARNO reinforcements will be fixed, arriving according to schedule. Some reinforcements though, can only be accessed through strategical decisions, and thus not all at once. For example, as a NATO commander planning a counter-attack against the tip of the Soviet offensive, will you rather be granted the entire 82nd Airborne Division to be dropped behind enemy lines, or the powerful 12. Panzerdivision to strike its Southern flank? Other such choices will be given, some involving the use of technological (satellite, spy plane, SINGIT, …) or human (sabotage, special forces, …) assets, all with immediate effect on the strategic level.
See you on the battlefield
All right! That’s the first batch of Operations done. We are still working on the next series; it might take some time before we can shine a light on these. Regardless, we are looking forward to hearing what you think!
We hope you are well. In today’s DevBlog, we’ll look at an exciting new mode for WARNO: single-player, narrative-driven Operations.
Operations are playable as one-off missions and can be imagined as sitting in-between Tutorials and the strategic Army General campaigns, in terms of length, depth, and their place in our fictional World War III.
Each Operation focuses on a specific battle or combat event set in West Germany during our conflict, highlighting actions from both sides. Today, we can detail the first five (not necessarily in chronological order).
What are Operations?
As you know, the base game of WARNO is focused on CENTAG’s area of operations, including the Fulda Gap. While our Army General campaign will give you the ability to experience a n operational level of the conflict, the Operations zoom in on specific battles which occur across a two-week period in the latter part of June 1989.
Whereas the Tutorials can be little vignettes of the very beginning of the war, with different (but at times recurring) call signs, locations, units, and characters, Operations take a wider (but still detailed) perspective. Army General, on the other hand, will give a bird’s-eye view of various large-scale attacks and counter-offensives which occur in our fictional timeline.
Some considerations
A major difference with predecessor’s Steel Division 2Historical Battles is that WARNO’sOperations will only be playable by one or the other side, not both. Why?
In Steel Division 2, we ran into developmental roadblocks when balancing Historical Battles to be playable for both sides, made worse if we increased the number of players, be it AI or humans, single-player or online. Instead, we wanted to focus on creating the best experience as much as possible, really polishing and making each Operation shine.
That’s why each of the missions only focuses on one side of a battle. On the other hand, it means most Operations have unique mechanics, battlegroup compositions, and other special features.
What can you expect?
We currently aim to have X Operations in WARNO at its official launch out of Early Access. We can reveal details of the first five of them. Note that the Operations are still work-in-progress! The list is roughly in chronological order:
The Kitzingen Ruse In this exciting operation, you take command of the VDV’s 900th Air Assault Battalion, part of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, in a surprise strike against the city of Würzburg in one of the very first actions of the war. Your mission will be to establish a bridgehead on the river Main and hold it against a mass of counter-attacking NATO forces, chiefly West German but also American, as you wait for reinforcements.
Will it be a “bridge too far,” or are you going to “bring everlasting glory to VDV and USSR”? It all depends on how you execute a hard-to-realize defense in depth, prioritizing which command zones to hold, which reinforcements to drop, and more.
Black Horse’s Last Stand So, we all know that the American 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, with the 1st Squadron being based in Fulda, was predicted to receive the brunt of any Warsaw Pact offensive into CENTAG. Well, we made that happen… and then some. Fulda was pretty much lost after a day, but the 11th ACR was not completely annihilated. As a matter of fact, some, including the 1-11th, performed heroic defensive actions, stemming the enemy invasion for as long as possible.
One of these, the so-called Black Horse’s Last Stand, occurred in the Kinzing Valley, near Bad Orb. You won’t have much time as you have to defend against the overwhelming Soviet steamroller pushing through the valley. Still, with some German territorial reinforcements and helpful A-10 air support, you might have a chance to hold back the enemy long enough.
Red Juggernaut Comrade commander, you’ll lead your heroic tankmen in the Red Juggernaut operation all the way to the gates of Frankfurt. Foolish NATO thinks they can make a new defensive line near Hanau, but the might of the Soviet 79th Guards Tank Division will surely prove to be too much.
Red Juggernaut is one of maneuver and attack, and to keep going, even against stiffening resistance. You’ll have a sizable force at your disposal, but the command zones to be captured increase with distance, meaning the toughest battles will be at the end of the operation.
Götterdammerung We focus on the Nationale Volksarmee, specifically the East German 11. Mot.-Schützendivision as it is defending the southern flank of the offensive into West Germany. Blocking NATO counter-attacks, the East Germans must perform a successful rearguard action to preserve their forces on the outskirts of Bamberg.
Like Black Horse’s Last Stand, this is a defense-in-depth operation but with some special mechanics. You can deploy in Defense Zones across a large valley floor, but they cannot be recaptured once lost. And trust us, with all the fighting that’s going to happen, you will be pushed back to the crucial hill pass you and your Genossen need to defend.
Backhand Blow An operation that focuses on a NATO counter-offensive north of Hanau aimed at breaking the mass of Soviet armor threatening Frankfurt. This mission will see the 3rd Armored Division perform a lightning strike, with lots of tanks, against the Soviets.
Once again, the map is big, and the command zones need to be taken very quickly if you want a chance of success. Furthermore, the Soviets’ deployment zones are closer than yours, meaning they have the advantage of positioning. Let’s see if NATO’s superior firepower and mobility can inflict a devastating defeat on Ivan.
See you on the battlefield
All right! That’s the first batch of Operations done. We are still working on the next series; it might take some time before we can shine a light on these. Regardless, we are looking forward to hearing what you think!
Improvements in urban rendering, vision on plains, water borders, colorimetry and light processing, for maps Rift and Geisa
CODE FIXES:
Fixed division icon now visible on unit info panel in deck creation
Fixed vision issues and missile range
GENERIC:
HE and splah for howitzers and bombs raised by around 15%
Artillery rockets hit the target area at random
Cover in buildings and in forests reduced by around 15% each
HEAT splash damages' reduced
New maps
Hello commander,
We hope you are well. In today’s DevBlog, we’ll give you a quick status update on the next batch of maps (and revisions to existing maps) that will come to WARNO. Keep reading to find out what’s in store!
Maps Pipeline
With the OUDINOT milestone out in the wild, which brought its fair share of map updates, from Black Forest’s revision to the new Destruction variants of existing battlefields, we can give a sneak peek of what’s to come. The new Black Forest map was a great success, confirming to us the direction we want to take with our next maps.
Both Dark Stream and especially Twin Cities were received well as well.
We are focussing on three main goals for future updates:
Improving existing maps.
Creating and delivering new maps.
Polishing, balancing, and testing of Army General maps.
Improving existing maps
Based on various feedbacks - and plenty of it - we are continuously improving our WARNO maps. Many of these updates are done through the level build or design, such as adding roads, relaying fields or replanting forests, modifying command zones, etc. Next, we also fix bugs and visual oddities, boosting quality and performance and upgrading post-processing in terms of light and color rendering.
The following maps will be updated soon :
Geisa
Chemical
Iron Waters
Rift
Cyrus
Ripple
Two Lakes
Vertigo
New maps to be delivered
We had planned to deliver the two new maps: urban Twin Cities and water-rich Dark Stream maps alongside this DevBlog, but for once we were a bit ahead on schedule. Hence why they were delivered with Monday’s patch.
Both map were introduced and detailed in previous DevBlog: Twin Cities is set to introduce urban combat with high-rise buildings and dense city-like sections, while Dark Stream lets the new Amphibious trait units shine.
Deliveries also concern multiplayer options. Crown, Loop and Geisa are now playable in destruction mode in 10 versus 10 dedicated servers. If you're more of a ranked player, we also thought about you. Two ways is coming back to 1 versus 1 ranked, as well as Loop 2vs2 and the new Black Forest.
Army General maps
Besides the main Army General strategic maps, which feature the largest environments in the game, Army General will trigger a wide variety of tactical skirmishes. Each one will be launched on a tactical map picked from the existing pool based on the location and terrain the units find themselves in. We are very hard at work making these maps enjoyable, dynamic, and authentic: we aim to have a unique and fun experience for each Army General game. In the future, we will share more details!
See you on the battlefield
That’s all for today. Next week, we’ll be back with another DevBlog!
Finally, TWIN CITIES & DARK STREAM are available. We hope you will enjoy them.
MAPS News maps
Twin cities 6P CONQUEST
Twin cities 6P DEST
Dark Stream 8P CONQUEST
Maps improvements Many improvements on maps (Bugs fix, global optimization, Lighting improvements, add roads, command zones adjustment) :
CROWN
TRIPLE STRIKE
MOUNT RIVER
FEATURES:
Improved LoS tool : the new version of the vision line tool is available!
supply chain : it is now possible to transfer the supply between logistic vehicles
improved the individual selection of labels in the Smart Group panel
improved the display of statistic gauges in the units' information panel
added the players' avatar in the kills/losses' list in the end game screen
added a detection range in the line of sight feedback
added _5x2_crown_10vs10_DEST & _4x3_geisa_10vs10_DEST to the 10v10 servers
CODE FIXES:
fixed stats affected by veterancy in the units' info panel
it is no longer possible to add the left click as a shortcut in the options
GENERIC:
Anti-air combat: SAM missiles suppress damages increased (quite a lot) and range against helicopters/aircraft increased
Better distinction between HE and suppressed damage for artillery (note that some improvements on terrain defense bonus will come very shortly in order to improve artillery damage there)
Splash and HE damage reduced for HEAT weapons.
Reduction of the bonus for successive shots
Damage reduction and area of effect of HE / cluster and napalm bombs
improved stun mechanic
MMGs inflict more suppressive damages
HMG range +175m
Resolute trait suppress reduction is now 15%
SMG HE damage reduced (div per 3)
Slight adjustments around stress resistance
decreased thermobaric/incendiary infantry launchers (RPO, Flash, AGI 3x40 & Handflammpatrone)'s HE damage by 50%
fixed Handflammpatrone's caliber, further decreasing its HE & suppress damages
increased all RCLs (M40A1, SPG-9, M67, WOMBAT)' aim time from 1,5 to 2s
decreased M40A1, WOMBAT & SPG9's accuracy from 40 to 35
NATO:
decreased M67's accuracy from 40 to 30
decreased PIONIER (FLAM.)'s price from 55 to 40
increased GAZELLE CANON's price from 30 to 35
increased GAZELLE HOT's price from 40 to 45
increased GAZELLE HOT 2's price from 50 to 55
increased PUMA PIRATE's price from 30 to 40
decreased AMX-30B2's price from 135 to 130
decreased AMX-30B2 BRENUS' price from 175 to 165
decreased FV510 WARRIOR MILAN's price from 45 to 40
increased ENGINEERS [FLASH]'s price from 25 to 40
increased AB ENGINEERS [FLASH]'s price from 35 to 45
increased FIRE TEAM [AT4]'s price from 30 to 35
increased AB FIRE TEAM [AT4]'s price from 35 to 40
decreased MECH. RIFLES' price from 80 to 75
increased AIRBORNE (DRAGON)'s price from 75 to 80
increased F-117A NIGHTHAWK's price from 175 to 265
decreased JAGUAR [SEAD]'s price from 190 to 175
increased AH-1F ATAS' price from 130 to 140
increased AH-1F COBRA's price from 110 to 120
increased AH-1F HEAVY HOG's price from 100 to 120
decreased AH-1F HEAVY HOG's availability per card from 4 to 2, number of cards increased accordingly
decreased AH-64A [RKT]'s availability per card from 2 to1, number of cards increased accordingly
decreased FV721 FOX's availability per card from 2 to1, number of cards increased accordingly (but in 2ID which had too many already)
decreased (British & Belgian) SCIMITAR's availability from 9 to 6
decreased (British & Belgian) SCORPION's availability from 9 to 6
(1AD) removed MAG 7,62mm's acces to WARRIOR as transport
(1AD) removed GUN GROUP's acces to WARRIOR as transport
PACT:
decreased RPG-29's accuracy from 60 to 50
decreased T-80U's price (back) from 320 to 305
decreased T-80UD's price from 350 to 320
increased Mi-24V [AA]'s price from 135 to 140
increased Mi-24V [RKT]'s price from 135 to 140
decreased Mi-8MT [RKT2]'s price from 145 to 125
increased Mi-8MT [RKT3]'s price from 100 to 115
FOB, LoS & Balancing
Hello commander!
In today’s DevBlog, let’s go full ACRONYM and take a deep dive into FOBs and LOS. Yup, we got some interesting details to share both about a new structure and an updated (and very important) game mechanic coming to WARNO.
Both the FOB and revised LOS system will deploy in a patch soon!
Keep reading to find out more.
First up: FOB
Let’s begin with the new Forward Operating Base. This structure was introduced back in Wargame: European Escalation. Many of you veterans of our earlier games have been asking for the FOB’s inclusion into WARNO.
We are getting very close to introducing FOBs in the game, so let’s get down to brass tack logistics and explain what’s moving, where, when, and how.
The FOB in WARNO is a single supply depot that can be placed at the beginning of a game in your deployment zone. And ONLY during the deployment phase. Supply vehicles will be able to enter a FOBs area of effect and automatically receive supplies (“health” repair, ammo, fuel). Not only that, FOBs can resupply any type of unit if they are close enough.
There is more: you have to be careful defending a FOB. These are very hardy structures, but they can still be destroyed. But a greater prize is to capture one! If an opposing player places enough units in the zone of influence of a FOB, they will gain control. If you want your FOB back, you need to have more units than your opponent in its radius.
Visually, we wanted to ensure WARNO’sForward Operating Base was a bit more realistic than its Wargame: Red Dragon predecessor. Gone are the reinforced concrete walls and watchtowers (which, realistically, would take several days to build).
Instead, the new FOBs are made of weapon and ammo stock, military equipment, and fuel barrels, all urgently transported to the forward edge of the battlefield. This reinforces the core theme of WARNO, pushing the idea that the FOB is a scratch-built base of operations deployed in a rush when your game - the battle - begins.
Let us know what you think!
A new Line of Sight tool
We have also worked on an updated and revised Line of Sight tool. As you know, during a tactical battle in WARNO, a player can press “C” to display the Line of Sight, either on the cursor (useful to check locations on the map) or centered on a unit.
We have improved the Line of Sight tool to make it faster to use, easier to understand, and more accurate. We have done this by differentiating better what cannot and what can be viewed.
Faster to use With the updated tool, when selecting a unit in the game, you will see how their field of view holds up.
If we compare two examples:
We have here an M1A1 Abrams tank, with poor vision, and a dedicated recon M3A1 Bradley CVF.
The former can see more of the battlefield than the latter.
Easier to understand Check out the screenshot. As you can see, the new Line of Sight tool now displays two different colors:
In white transparency, the “true” Line of Sight. That is to say, the unit cannot see beyond the white line. A unit’s field of view on the battlefield is cut by buildings, forests, or other obstacles or simply limited by distance.
In blue, we show intermediate areas in which your unit is unable to detect any potential enemies. However, if an allied unit detects a hidden enemy, they will appear in this region, even if the selected unit can’t see any foe directly.
More accurate We have also incorporated the functionality to simulate the detection of any type of unit by clicking on the LoS icon. By doing this, you can immediately tell which units can be detected in the blue area depending on their level of Stealth.
Wondering if you can spot that towed AT gun? Click. Or an enemy Spetnaz recon team? Click.
The tool also lets you distinguish all the environmental elements that influence vision and detection. See how it works in the screenshot below.
What we are aiming at
Our main objective is a high Time to Kill (TTK), promoting a more deliberate and tactical pace of playing WARNO, which would appeal to all of our players, regardless of level.
That’s not all: we also want to reduce as many cheesy tactics as possible. On a strategic level, nothing should come for free or be done in such a way that it is annoying. We wish to create a comfortable, worthwhile atmosphere in WARNO that doesn’t promote any feelings of injustice or frustration.
WARNO is a game of strategy and tactics, brains and daring, set in the late Cold War, and we would loathe seeing simplistic techniques that allow players to win effortlessly with no thought.
Make no mistake, we are on a never-ending quest to provide you with the deepest, most fun, and most authentic experience possible in WARNO!
What can you expect to be rebalanced in the near future?
Aircraft, helicopter, and AA
When it comes to aircraft, helicopters, and anti-air adjustments, we will enter a cycle of experimentation. At the moment, we are not fully satisfied with this aspect of WARNO. We are studying various ways how we can update the mechanics involved. Planes are too often used as suicide “jokers” that prevent the deployment of heavy tanks, while also allowing some players to win a game within the first few minutes.
Please be patient, as the coming weeks will see some different meta-approaches being implemented. It will take time, and we will consult your feedback and comments on the official Discord server. If problems arise, we’ll react as soon as possible!
Artillery and MLRS changes
Much like helicopters and aircraft, we will also take a good look at artillery and MLRS. Some recurring issue with multiple rocket launcher systems is the tactic in bombarding access routes and spawn points at the start of a game. We need some time to find the right balance here. And, once more, we can use your feedback to identify the most useful gameplay solutions possible.
In the next patch, we will preemptively decrease the damage output of a howitzer while increasing the area of suppression. This would allow team games, from 2vs2 to 10vs10, to be less dependent on artillery. Once this change is in, we’ll likely slowly adjust the damage and suppression variables until we find the right balance.
Stabilizing the meta
Once we have addressed the above gameplay areas, our aim is to get a stabilized meta that is viable and fun over the long term. This will guarantee a fair and strategic experience, and to make WARNO a balanced and exciting game, for beginning players to veterans and military experts alike!
See you on the battlefield
That’s it. As mentioned before, the new FOBs and updated LoS tool should make it to WARNO shortly, maybe even as quickly as next week!
