Glorious news, commander.
The latest milestone for WARNO has hit the digital shores, with BRUNE being available now!
Teased in last week’s DevBlog, we bring a couple of exciting new features with milestone BRUNE, first and foremost two new divisions and two new maps (variants).
But first, a little historical recap about the milestone’s namesake: Guillaume Brune.
A little bit of history
Eager beavers not interested in Napoleonic military history can skip this section. For you keen to read on Eugen’s tradition of naming major milestones after military commanders from the Napoleonic wars - you found yourself in the right spot! You have been warned. Let’s dive in!
Guillaume Brune might be one of the least known marshals, as he was mostly left unemployed by Napoléon. Morbidly enough, his death seems to be most well-remembered (and documented).
His reputation as a staunch Republican, much like his fellow marshal Macdonald, brought him into conflict several times during his career, resulting in Brune being employed as an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. If we rewind a bit, it should be noted that Brune served with distinction under Bonaparte in Italy, and while Napoleon was campaigning in Egypt, Brune successfully took command in Switzerland and the Netherlands, where he repelled a British-Russian invasion.
A checkered career
After Napoleon’s return from Egypt and during the subsequent coup, Brune was one of his closest advisors. However, even though he was a capable military commander, administrator, and diplomat, he seemed to keep on getting in the Emperor’s way. He, for instance, signed important documents with the “French Army” instead of the required “His Imperial Majesty’s Army.” Napoleon took this as a personal affront and sacked Brune.
Brune returned only in the end stages of Napoleon’s career, in the Hundred Days in 1815. Left unemployed and ignored by the new monarch, during Napleon’s last hooray, Brune rallied to him, gaining the command of the Armée du Var, defending Southern France against Austrian-Sicilian troops. With Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Brune surrendered before being forced to return to Paris.
Going down fighting
During this ill-fated final trip, Brune was recognized by a royalist mob, who caught up with him at the gates of Avignon. Despite interventions from the mayor and local prefect, the monarchist population was intent on blood and followed the once-Republican military commander from house to house. Brune’s fate was doomed; not once losing his calm and even asking for weapons to fight back, the lynching mob at last cornered him in a hotel. As ladders were placed against the windows and the first rioters entered his room, Brune put ink on paper and wrote a last letter to his wife.
What happened next has been well documented. Pushing away a pistol with his bare hands, another one misfires before a third is pushed against the back of his neck and kills him. Brune’s body is snatched and dumped in the river, where it is used as target practice. Only two days later, the marshal’s corpse is recovered and buried. An inglorious but battling-to-end finish to a Napoleonic marshal.
Milestone BRUNE
Back to WARNO. What can you expect from the next milestone?
Two New Divisions
- The U.S. 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) with its contingent of National Guard units and vehicles.
- The Soviet 27-ya Gv. Motostrelk. Div. (or in English, the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division) brimming with the latest Soviet Army equipment.
- Read more about the two new divisions coming with BRUNE in this dedicated DevBlog.
New Airport Variants
- The first of the new maps will be a new 1vs1 variant of the popular Airport map.
- The second will be a massive 10vs10 version of Airport.
- Check out more details about these new variants in the dedicated DevBlog here.
Until next week
All right, commanders, let’s get to it. We are keen to hear your thoughts on the BRUNE milestone. As always, keep the comments constructive and the feedback respectful.
Join the passionate 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.
