We are back again, commanders!
In this week’s second DevBlog installment, we look at the final NORTHAG Operation to be included in our new expansion.
Let’s go behind enemy lines with Operation #4 - Survivors.
NORTHAG’s Historical Context
For more info on NORTHAG’s historical context, check out this DevBlog for extra insights into the military situation on the northern front in West Germany.
In brief, NATO is being threatened by two different Warsaw Pact offensive thrusts, a northern one aimed at Bremen and a southern one with Hanover as its objective. The Survivors Operation is set even further south, on the frontier between NORTHAG and CENTAG.
As you might remember, the hammer-blow “Left Hook” attack (as depicted in the base game’s Army General campaign) by the Soviet 1st Guards Army smashes through NATO’s defenses after the initial surprise attack at Kassel. Quite a few allied units, including British, West German, and Belgian combat groups, find themselves behind enemy lines as the Soviet armor surges ahead. Close behind are second-tier communist formations, including East German reserve units, tasked with securing the Warsaw Pact’s rear.
Among the NATO units behind enemy lines are remnants of the 16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers. For the British troops, (relative) safety lies behind the Weser River, which means a perilous life-or-death journey through enemy territory.
Survivors
Interestingly, this Operation is one of the few that didn’t see its name change from initial conception to the final testing round. The mission’s objective is straightforward: the troops under your command must survive! Survivors is a rather demanding mission in which your units are isolated and cut off from friendly lines. We have played with these concepts in other scenarios (including Running the Gauntlet and Marauders), but not on this scale and intensity.
The isolated elements of the 16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers comprise a handful of FV432-transported infantry squads and anti-air teams, plus several ATGM-equipped Striker vehicles. You’ll also get Spartan and Scimitar recon units. Opposing you will be the East German Res. Mot.-Schützenbataillon operating T-34s and T-54Bs. No big deal, right? WRONG! The closer you get to friendly lines, the stronger the communist forces will get (you know, moving up to the actual frontline). These will include numerous T-80 tanks.
The Operation Itself
In this Operation, the British NATO forces are under-equipped and outnumbered, with a scattering of equally dispersed allied units on the battlefield. The choices you make matter; if you might run solo, beeline toward friendly lines, and abandon your allies. However, this might not be a surefire way to make it out alive, as linking up with other encircled units might give you a boost in firepower and increase your chances of success making it out in one piece.
These include recapturing (you read that right) West German Leopard 2A3s, getting together with the SAS, refueling and using a Belgian recon chopper, and more. The last push across the Weser River will be done under the cover of a massive allied airstrike. In Survivors, you need to use your recon carefully, check engagement ranges, and, step by step, make it out of the forward battle zone.
The new WARNO - NORTHAG expansion
WARNO - NORTHAG is the first major expansion coming to WARNO. World War III hits the North German Plain where the attacking Warsaw Pact needs to overcome the staunch defenses of NATO’s NORTHAG. Under British command, Belgian, Dutch, West German, and American forces battle against the powerful northern formations of the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, including East German and reinforcing Polish armies. The expansion is planned for later in 2024.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2978620/WARNO__NORTHAG/
WARNO - NORTHAG will feature:
- 2 new Army General campaigns.
- 4 new Operations.
- 10 new Divisions, including NATO’s Belgian 16e Pantserdivisie, Dutch 4e Divisie, the British 4th Armoured Division and MultiNational Airborne Division, and the American 9th Infantry (Motorized) Division, while the Warsaw Pact deploys the Soviet 25-ya Tank. Diviziya, the East German 9. Panzerdivision, and the Polish 4 Dywizja Zmechanizowan, 20 Dywizja Pancerna and Grupa Desantowa.
- 3 new playable nations: NATO’s Belgium and the Netherlands, and Warsaw Pact’s Poland.
- New voice acting.
- New units and models.
The new WARNO- NORTHAG detailed
Check the dedicated forum post for all the detailed previews for WARNO - NORTHAG!
Until Next Time
That’s it. We’ll return with another WARNO - NORTHAG’s expansion preview next week! Note from next week onwards that we’ll go back to the regular schedule of 1 WARNO DevBlog per week.
Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander.
