Hello!
It is Oleksandr from Starni Games with the new Dev log entry. The upcoming Ardennes DLC has two new campaigns - the German and the US. Today, we will examine the German campaign to see what it has in store for you when the Ardennes DLC comes out.

GERMAN CAMPAIGN

As you know, the Ardennes Offensive, also known as, the Battle of the Bulge, started on December 16th, 1944, following Operation Market Garden. In the first days, there was no snow despite it being the middle of December, so we tried to recreate that weather in the game. That is why the first few battles look more like late autumn than winter. Here is the list of operations and weather conditions in them:

1. Battle for Auw | No snow
2. Breakthrough at Andler | No snow
3. Encirclement at Schoenberg | No snow
4. Battle of the Schnee Eifel Pocket | No snow
5. St. Vith Assault | Snowfall + night
6. Ourthe Crossing | Snow, fair weather
7. Rochefort Assault | Snow, fair weather
8. Push for Celles | Snowfall

The campaign follows the central axis of the German Offensive, including the capture of St. Vith and eventually breaking through as far as Celles. At the same time, the US campaign will be focused more on the Battle for Bastogne.

In command of the German troops, you must ensure the successful advance of your forces and take control of several vital towns in Ardennes. In some missions, the weather would not be in your favor, but you will have to persist, despite the adversity.

As you push forward, the enemy will put up ever stronger resistance, until you reach a breaking point at Celles, where the battle will be as tough as it gets, and you will have to push your tactical skills to a limit to find a way to overcome strong enemy forces and arriving reinforcements. We did our best to try and replicate the increasing difficulty that the German army met in the Ardennes, ultimately losing momentum and stopping the advance, only to be pushed back very soon.

The campaign starts in high spirits and ends in extremely tough and gruesome battles that tire out the already weakened German forces forcing them on the back foot once again. Still, it is one of the last German offensives in the war, and it is fascinating to recreate those epochal events.

The weather plays a crucial role in the campaign, as it dictates the visibility on the battlefield. Advance in bad weather is extremely risky, as you can run right into the enemy positions at close range. At the same time, you are also getting extra camouflage to hide your troops’ movement. So, having good reconnaissance and moving your troops inconspicuously are even more vital skills in bad weather conditions.

The campaign features new German and US units, a new German character, 3 new German heroes, and an updated set of German awards. Although, the awards are a sore point for the team - there are not so many historically accurate new awards we could provide to the player that would fit the character’s rank and achievements, so we had to use some of the ones we also awarded in Normandy - there are just not so many other existing real awards that we could add.

To sum up, 8 new challenging battles await you with new units, autumn and winter environment assets, characters, heroes, awards, and unique combat situations. We really hope that you will be excited to explore the Ardennes and relive the momentous events. While we keep working to improve the game and provide new challenges for your tactical skills.

P.S. We are also working on some changes to the multiplayer balance to make tanks a more viable choice in competitive multiplayer games. We will update you on that in the next Dev log entries.

See you next time!