Hello commander!
We have a little surprise for you! We will bring two new, previously undisclosed, divisions to WARNO, courtesy of the next WARNO milestone, codenamed OUDINOT. What’s more, the milestone will focus on a rather special theatre in our World War III scenario: the Battle for Berlin! All Early Access owners of WARNO will get these two divisions for free!
Thanks to the new divisions, the total of divisions of the base game will rise to eighteen! OUDINOT is Eugen’s present to all of you players who supported WARNO’s development by getting the Early Access version of the game.
We will detail the two divisions in later DevBlogs. We can say that the NATO battlegroup will call on the arsenal and men of three different brigades stationed in Berlin, while the Warsaw Pact’s formation will be formed by the tens of thousands of soldiers surrounding Berlin.
Now, you’ll be clamoring to know more, but first: after whom did we name our next milestone?
A little bit of historical context
Each WARNO milestone is named after a famous French marshal active during the Napoleonic wars. Nicolas Oudinot’s claim to fame was that he got wounded so many times (34, half of them serious!) that a chronicler, who came across the former commander later in life, remarked that “he looks like a colander”. Oudinot was, and remained for the duration of his whole military career, a true “Grenadier” (Napoleon’s elite assault infantry).
Whatever his rank or distinction, Oudinot was never a better man than in the thickest of the fight, known as an excellent leader of soldiers, rather than a great tactician. Given an independent command, he was usually beaten; but when acting under Napoléon or other more able commanders, Oudinot’s led assaults could tip entire battles, such as the one at Friedland (1807). In 1814, he led “Marie-Louises,” a nickname for the year’s levies, which were very young and sent into battle with barely any training. In that year, decrees were signed by the Empress in the absence of Napoléon, hence the name. Oudinot, in a sign of strength, during a battle, would place himself in the middle of the firing line, showing the young soldiers around him how to load, aim, and fire their muskets.
Oudinot rallied behind the new French government after Napoléon’s deposition and remained loyal even after Napoleon’s return. He continued active military service for many years before dying of old age in Paris in 1847.
A (new) Battle for Berlin
Let’s return to the matters at hand: WARNO’s next milestone! The Battle for Berlin (1989) is an exciting war scenario that plays out far beyond the front lines centered on the Inner German Border. Being situated away from the expected theaters of battle, the divided Berlin occupies a special place within our World War III storyline.
Considering the array of forces focused on NATO’s urban outpost, the battle would have been lopsided. However, disregarding this thorn in Warsaw Pact’s side (or rear) would have been foolish: restricted by international treaty, NATO still had considerable combat troops placed in West Berlin.
A brief history: after World War II, the four great powers divided Berlin into separate occupation zones (much like the rest of Germany). With the deterioration of relations between the West and the Soviet Union, the three Western Allies (France, the United Kingdom, and the United States) merged their sectors: West Berlin was born. East Berlin became part of the DDR, and in the 1961, the famous Berlin Wall was constructed to stem the flood of East Germans escaping to West Germany. From then onwards, West Berlin was tenaciously connected to West Germany through several highways and rail corridors. The distance to the border was more than 160 kilometers.
A supersized garrison
In the 70s and 80s, treaty limits put restrictions on the size of the four occupiers' garrisons. None of them could have more than a mechanized brigade (and a company’s worth of tanks) within the city in Berlin. Having tens of thousands of Warsaw Pact troops on the outer perimeter of Berlin, the Soviets in East Berlin had no reason to try to stray from the rules. Meanwhile, the Americans, British, and French did their darnedest to bend the rules (or discreetly break them) and increase their forces.
For example, the U.S. tank detachment in West Berlin, as part of the U.S. Berlin Brigade, was officially a company yet, with an “upgraded” Table of Organisation and Equipment, increased its size by 50% compared to a regular armor company. As the Berlin Infantry Brigade, the Brits had the appropriate number of tanks in their company. Still, they tinkered with most of their APCs, adding RARDEN turrets, and turning the battle taxis into an additional company of light tanks.
As for the French, with the French Forces Françaises à Berlin, they got off lightly by placing a tank battalion instead of a tank company in West Berlin. Maybe the Soviets didn’t think too much of the paper-thin AMX-30B that formed the core of this formation? Supposedly, the French garrison should have turned in its older AMX-13/90 tanks in 1985, but some say they kept them in storage in the city.
Warsaw Pact forces
While a single Soviet Motorized Rifle Brigade was stationed in East Berlin, an immense force of Warsaw Pact troops was arrayed around West Berlin, mostly made up of East German units. In case of a World War III, it was planned to reinforce them with additional Soviet forces, including engineers and artillery. East German police, frontier troops, KdA soldiers, and other specialized units would have been present as well.
As promised, more information about the two new divisions will come in future DevBlogs! Safe to say that both divisions will be internationally mixed battlegroups.
Join the Army
At Eugen, we have a special tradition allowing players to have their name featured in-game. This is the “Join the Army” event, and one will come soon for WARNO. We’ll have some limitations and restrictions in place, but you’ll be able to propose a personal name of your choice to be featured in-game in the appropriate army, such as American, Soviet (not only Russian), East and West German (which will use the same list), British and French. More details to come in the near future!
See you on the battlefield
Enough for this week! Tune in to next week’s DevBlogs for more details on the new WARNO milestone OUDINOT. One last detail: OUDINOT will release before the full launch of WARNO out of Early Access.
As always, we ask you to join the passionate WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander!
