Hello all!
In today’s DevBlog, we’ll look at the second Army General campaign to ship with WARNO - SOUTHAG: Closing the Trap.
Let’s go!
WARNO - SOUTHAG’s Strategic Situation
As we mentioned in the DevBlog detailing the first Army General campaign - Holding Attack - the situation on the southern reaches of the front is relatively quiet compared to the heavier battles fought in CENTAG and NORTHAG. Some perfunctory Warsaw Pact attacks are easily contained, and while NATO re-institutes SOUTHAG, bringing ever more reinforcements, a plan is concocted to strike the communists where it is easy to regain the strategic initiative.
After beating back a Soviet-Czechoslovakian attack at Nuremberg, the NATO allies begin a campaign to first fix the Czechoslovak 1st Army in place (Holding Attack). The second phase of this campaign aims to attack across the flank of the Warsaw Pact - briefly breaking through the neutral borders of Austria - before taking the fight to the Czechoslovakians on their own territory. And this second phase of the strategic counter-attack is depicted in the Closing the Trap Army General campaign.
WARNO - SOUTHAG’s Closing the Trap
The Closing the Trap campaign takes place after the Holding Attack campaign, but before the Hydra Operation. The West German II Korps, strengthened by the 1st Canadian Division, successfully engages and fixes as many Czechoslovak 1st Army units as possible along the Iron Curtain. With the communist attention in one place, NATO plays the ace up its sleeve.
NATO takes a gamble, and breaches briefly Austrian neutrality (despite the latter's official and vehemently issued complaints), surging its mobile French and Spanish task forces in a surprise move against the Czechoslovak flank. They brush aside second-rate Warsaw Pact units that guarded the supposedly calm sector.
Having outflanked the Czechoslovak 1st Army, on the defensive roughly following the Iron Curtain, NATO plays to win: they intend to race from south to north, parallel to the frontier, in order to encircle the whole of the Czechoslovak 1st Army before they can pull out from the West German-Canadian stranglehold. To speed things along, NATO drops the French 11e Division Parachutiste in two separate battlegroups, which aim to seize key crossroads in the rear and then - as the famous saying goes - “hold until relieved” by allied ground forces.
NATO’s daring mission on a strategic level is to link the two paratrooper pockets with the ground units quickly. If this is successful, the Czechoslovak 1st Army is effectively surrounded. Of course, the communists see the danger and rush in substantial reinforcements in a desperate bid to relieve their almost besieged friendly forces.
(insérer vidéo Closing The Trap / Chaudron)
The Campaign Itself
As with Holding Attack some of the divisions involved in this Army General campaign can be played in multiplayer, while others are only featured in the campaign itself.
NATO
On NATO’s side, we have a mix of French FAR (Force d'Action Rapide) and II. (FR) Corps, the Spanish Brunete armored division and elements from the West German II Korps.
- The 6e Division Légère Blindée (a multiplayer division, featured in this DevBlog). The FAR’s tip of the spear, this division will be at the forefront of the offensive. As mentioned in previous DevBlogs, French Cold War divisions were notably smaller than other NATO ones, and this will clearly show in this Army General campaign. This French division will field about half the number of battalions compared to American or West German divisions, though these formations will be well-equipped and powerful on the battlefield.
- The 4e Division Aéromobile. Among the already small French formations, this division is the smallest of them all, with just four battalions. This means it amounts to barely a brigade size by NATO standards. This French division fields three combat helicopter regiments (Gazelles) and an (oversized) airmobile infantry regiment.
- The II (FR) Corps provides the French 3e Hussards (a powerful AMX-10RC recon regiment) and the 53e Régt. d'Artillerie (Roland) formations, acting in support of this spearhead. Each amounts to a single battalion.
- The 5e Division Blindée (already in-game), also coming from II (FR) Corps. This French division follows closely behind, bringing some much-needed firepower, but only appearing later as reinforcements. This formation is larger than the 6e Division Légère Blindée, but still only features about two-thirds of the battalions of a similar NATO division.
- Split in two pockets, the 11e Division Parachutiste holds the objectives from the start. The closest group of paratroopers threatens Plzeň and is sure to attract the enemy's full attention. It contains the airborne division’s professional regiments (2e REP, 8e RPIMa, 1er RHP, etc.) and is very solid in its defensive capabilities. The second group, further away, holds the reservist units and the HQ, and while in less immediate danger, will have to hold out longer before being able to be relieved.
- More reinforcements will become available as the Army General campaign progresses, but you’ll have to choose between them: either the 24. Panzerbrigade (from 1. Gebirgs-Division, linking the French-Spanish enveloping troops with II. Korps across the border) or two Spanish brigades from the División Mecanizada «Brunete» n.º 1 (as previewed in this DevBlog here). The former brings a few hard-hitting Leopard 2 tanks, backed by Panzergrenadiers; the latter features lighter battalions equipped with the M113 and AMX-30E.
Warsaw Pact
On the communist side, we have elements from both the Czechoslovak 1st and 2nd Army, plus some welcome reinforcements from the Soviet Group of Central Forces. At the start of the campaign, the Warsaw Pact’s troops on the ground are isolated forces from several dispersed formations, trying to establish roadblocks in front of those pesky Frenchmen rushing the battlefield from all directions: the south, the rear, the sky.
- Directly facing the French onslaught from the south is a single battered Czechoslovak regiment from the 2nd Army’s 3. Motostřelecká Divize. Isolated from its parent formation further south, this regiment has been pushed back towards the 1st Army and is the main obstacle between the French and the first paratrooper pocket.
- From the west, and thus the 1st Army’s direction, several individual - at times reinforced - regiments from divisions that call this army home (2. Motostřelecká Divize in the south, and the 20. Motostřelecká Divize in the north) have managed to extricate themselves from the West German and Canadian advance. They are either trying to contain NATO’s threat on their back, or recapture the crossroads held by the paratroopers.
- In Plzeň itself, a motley combat group made up of security troops, elite paratroopers, SAM anti-air units, and 19. Motostřelecká Divize elements hold the town. These forces have prevented a successful coup de main from the French paratroopers.
- Spread across various villages on the campaign map, a few security battalions can be used (or some say, sacrificed) to slow down the French advance. They could also be deployed to reinforce the individual regiments battling NATO in isolation.
Salvation for the Czechoslovakians will less likely come from inside, but rather from outside friendly units. Powerful reinforcements have been sent to the front by the Warsaw Pact, arriving in force from the east to break the encirclement.
- The Czechoslovak 9. Tanková Divize. Being the best of the 2nd Army, this division is roughly similar to the 1. Tanková Divize (which we previewed here). This particular formation arrives from the east, heading straight towards Plzeň. However, it won’t arrive immediately, so the few locally available troops need to hold out until this armored battlegroup arrives.
- Shortly after the above, the Soviet 15-ya Tank. Diviziya will enter the battlefield, this time from further north. This particular division is equipped with T-72A and BMP-1s.
It is a race
The Closing the Trap campaign is a race. For NATO, the main aim is to rush and encircle the entire Czechoslovak 1st Army before it can escape or be rescued. The opposite is true for the Warsaw Pact: they need to break out the 1st Army as soon as possible.
If you have read closely, you might have realized it isn’t a race in exactly the same direction, but instead, at a 90-degree angle: NATO’s effort goes from south to north, while the Warsaw Pact races from east to west, in their effort to reopen communications with the 1st Army.
Both sides’ offensive movements within the campaign will intersect, usually around the two French paratrooper pockets. Neither NATO nor Warsaw Pact reinforcements are forced to take a straight line, so the big clash might happen anywhere on the campaign map.
If Holding Attack was mostly a West German/Canadian and Czechoslovakian affair, Closing the Trap gives prominence to the French and Czechoslovaks (again), with a beefier supporting role for Spanish and West German troops, and the Soviets for the communists.
WARNO - SOUTHAG Expansion In Short
WARNO - SOUTHAG is WARNO’s second expansion after WARNO - NORTHAG and showcases the fighting in southern West Germany near the Alps and on the Czechoslovakian frontier.
In the southern reaches of Germany, the Warsaw Pact with the Soviet Central Group of Forces, bolstered by the communist Czechoslovakians, battles against a counter-attacking NATO SOUTHAG command led by France, with American, West German, Canadian, and reinforcing Spanish troops.
- 2 new Army General campaigns, including Holding Attack.
- 4 new Operations, such as Delayed Retribution, Glory or AttritionHydra
- 10 new Divisions, featuring Canada, Spain, and Czechoslovakia as new nations. These include NATO’s 1st Canadian Division, the Spanish División Mecanizada «Brunete» n.º 1, the French 6e Division Blindée Légère and Division du Rhin, plus the West German 1. Luftlandedivision. The Warsaw Pact features the Czechoslovakian 1. Tanková Divize, 19. Motostřelecká Divize, and 303. Tanková Divize, while the Soviet Central Group of Forces deploys the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya and the 17-ya Gvardeyskaya Tankovaya Diviziya.
- New voice acting.
- New units and models.
Until Next Week
As always, we’ll be back with another WARNO DevBlog in the near future!
Don’t forget the vibrant 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, commanders.
