This is a major update, incompatible with campaigns saved under previous versions. If you are currently playing a campaign, follow these steps:
1) Open the game's properties in Steam (Gear Icon -> Properties)
2) Click on the Betas menu, and in the selection menu, select the legacy_7.x branch
Steam will update, and then your local game will be on the 7.2.3 update, allowing you to finish your campaign. Once you are done, simply return to this menu and under Betas select None to update to the new 8.0 branch.
This is quite a substantial update that changes many systems within the game, and adds a ton of new content. As always, please report bugs and crashes in the Steam discussion board.
8.0 Changelog
ADD: 13 New Steam Acheivements for the Spades suit, representing chance and rare events
ADD: Urban Combat Mode
- adds two new campaign day missions: Urban Assault and Urban Defense
- if either mission is selected for the day, it will take place in an urban area
- new set of new zone types
- additional types of scenario terrain: Concrete Buildings, Boulevard, Row Houses
- not possible to shift map areas; the entire day will take place on one area
- weather is generated normally as per the region, but Deep Snow ground conditions not possible
- recon time increased slightly
- player may be ambushed as they are trying to leave a zone (also added to North Africa)
- some enemy unit types less likely to be spawned
- higher base chance of resistance being encountered
- higher base chance of being ambushed at start of scenario
- like in North African campaigns, enemy resistance may be present even in friendly-controlled zones
- concealed infantry and guns have higher terrain bonuses when a spotting attempt is made on them
- infantry get a bonus when attacking in close combat
- harder to withdraw from a battle, even when no enemies are within 2 hexes
- Infantry and Gun units more likely to start fortified, entrenched, or dug-in
ADD: Sandstorm weather conditions for North Africa
- increases travel time on the Campaign Day map by 10 minutes
- increases times required for resupply to arrive by 5-15 minutes
- Air Support requests not possible during sandstorm
- Player may end up moving into a different zone on the Campaign Day map than the target zone
- Increased chance of vehicle breakdown
- No unit Dust possible during sandstorm
- More difficult to spot enemy units, negative modifiers on point and area fire attacks
ADD: Gyrostabilizers
- Mostly fitted to main guns on American vehicles
- Gunners require a skill to make use of them; has a basic and an advanced level; must currently be in a tank with a gyro fitted in order to add the skill
- Penalty for firing a gun after moving is improved from -60% (-45% for basic, -30% for advanced)
- If player moves forward/background and the gun's acquired target is still in its covered arc and in LoS, then acquired target is not lost (only with advanced skill)
ADD: Animated transition to main menu, sound effects for main menu
ADD: In-game glossary of key terms, viewable from F1 menu, two languages available and preference is saved in config file
ADD: In-game message log, viewable from F2 menu
ADD: In-game info on current campaign and campaign options, viewable from F3 menu
ADD: HE hits may cause dust around the target in North Africa and Urban Combat
ADD: Optional descriptive difficulty field for campaigns
ADD: 'Go It Alone' campaign option
ADD: Campaigns can now set odds of encountering each enemy nation, and these odds can later be modified during the campaign
ADD: Campaign weeks can now set a 'special_unit_rarity' factor for that week only, will override the usual rarity factor
ADD: Wait/Rest command to Crew tab in Campaign Day menu (same effect as Wait/Rest in Travel tab)
ADD: Canister (C) Ammo
ADD: White Phosporous (WP) ammo: causes some smoke but also applies FP to the target when hit
ADD: Button/Open Up hotkey to Campaign Day layer
ADD: Animation for Smoke/WP round
ADD: If player tank has a dedicated radio operator, slightly greater chance of success when requesting support, and slightly shorter response times for resupply
ADD: Display summarizing crewman stats when crewman is transferred to a new tank or is killed in action
ADD: Unit definitions may now have region-specific rarity factor tables
ADD: If Player Commander spends time in Field Hospital and returns to duty, chance to rejoin their old tank and at least some of the old crew
ADD: Subsequent attempts to go HD will add a bonus each turn
ADD: Generic Units: Paratrooper Squad, Combat Engineer Team
ADD: USA Units: M20 Utility Car
ADD: British & Commonwealth Units: Crusader III AA Mk I1, Crusader III AA Mk II, Self-propelled 40mm Bofors AA Gun
ADD: German Units: StuIG 33B, SPW 250/7 (8cm mortar), SPW 250/8 (75mm gun), SPW 251/9 (75mm gun), Ju 87D Stuka, Ju 87G Stuka, Hs 129, Bf 109, Fw 190, SPW 250/9, Panzer II L, PSW 233, FlaK 43,
PaK 36, PaK 43/41, Sd. Kfz. 10/4, SPW 250/1, SPW 250/10, Panzer VD, RW43 (Puppchen) Launcher
ADD: Soviet Units: T-34 M42, T-34 M43 (early), T-34 M43 (late), T-37A, T-38, T-40, T-50, M3L, M3S, M4, KV-1S, KV-85, Mark IV, SU-76M, SU-76i, SU-122, SU-152, SU-85, 45mm obr. 1942, 57mm obr. 1943, Petlyakov Pe-2, BA-64B, BM-13 Katyusha, P-39Q Airacobra
ADD: Four new mid-war Eastern Front campaigns: Moscow to Stalingrad (Germany and USSR), Kharkov to Kursk (Germany and USSR)
ADD: Kingdom of Hungary nation definition, Hungarian units, campaign
ADD: 'elite' tag for unit definitions; less likely to be pinned, more likely to recover from pin, more likely to activate at easy difficulty settings, more likely to become Alert if Lax
ADD: Crewmen still inside the tank after the last round of the bailout mini-game have a 10% chance of being KIA
ADD: 'hd_ok' tag for weapons, allows them to fire when would otherwise be blocked by Hull Down
ADD: 'Rocket Launcher' weapon type: functions as ballistic fired gun, except less likely to score a critical hit, and less accurate
ADD: Fortification zone type
ADD: Weapons in unit defs can include an optional 'available_from' tag; if unit is spawned before this date, this weapon will not be added
ADD: Command to set orders for squadmates, can Fire at Will or Hold Fire; Hold Fire order may be broken if unit is attacked
CNG: Minor updates to several existing campaigns
CNG: Hold objectives on the Campaign Day map must now be held until a certain time of the day to be completed
CNG: Recon actions now have a small chance of triggering a zone capture/loss
CNG: In North Africa and in Urban Combat missions, player no longer needs a clear path to a friendly map edge to request supply or to return to base
CNG: Replacing the old 'Realistic Enemies' campaign option, there are now 4 enemy AI difficulty levels to choose from
CNG: Revised appearance of Campaign Options menu
CNG: Player can now fire Smoke ammo at friendly units
CNG: Infantry and Gun units spawning in a Fortress or Fortification zone more likely to start fortified, entrenched, or dug-in
CNG: Revisions to air attacks:
- aircraft can make multiple attacks before withdrawing, will pick a random weapon system to use for attack
- rarity factors now added for airplanes and checked upon spawn
- fighter aircraft can be added to campaigns, will not be selected for requested air support attacks but may arrive for random ground strafing attacks
CNG: New folder structure for modded units, unit portraits, and campaigns
CNG: If a crewman on the player tank spots an enemy unit, its identity is displayed in a chatter speech box from that crewman
CNG: Demolition Charge can now score critical hits
CNG: Demolition Charge, Molotovs, and Grenades more effective versus fortifications, entrenchments, and dug-in targets
CNG: Random campaign option now only selects a random campaign, player can then select length before proceeding
CNG: Crewmen in an armoured vehicle who are CE but are on a command that does not allow them to spot have a reduced chance of being affected by incoming firepower
CNG: FIXED turret type is now FXT
CNG: Units that bail out of a destroyed transport are now automatically spotted
FIX: Incorrect messaging when a crewman in a commander position, but who was not the Player Commander, was injured
FIX: Minor bugs in unit info display
FIX: Bug where if an unspotted unit dug in, the game would reveal its identity in a message
FIX: Surrendering units will automatically be spotted as they surrender
FIX: Minor error in some of the crew names
FIX: Crewman must be now CE to attempt to unjam an AA MG
FIX: Early KV-1 models only had a two-man turret, with the Commander also serving as Loader for the main gun
FIX: Bug where units on the scenario map would sometimes not be shifted during a player move if they were adjacent to an enemy unit
FIX: Player & Squad acquired targets were not being cleared after a failed move action