The battle for Przemyśl begins today! This intimidating brick fortress boasted numerous gun emplacements, bunkers and barracks. Austro-Hungarian defenders held the fort in the face of Russian assaults and siege for 133 days. They were forced to surrender, but German troops recaptured it later with the aid of super-heavy artillery pieces that left the fortress a broken ruin with minimal strategic significance.
Surrounding the town of the same name, the Przemyśl fortress was a series of defenses originally planned to include 41 distinct fortifications. However, construction proceeded in stops and starts depending on the diplomatic relationship between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire from 1854 until the start of the First World War.
Nonetheless it was still a formidable position, as the Russians found when they tried a direct assault on October 7, 1914. Ten thousand of the attackers became casualties, with around 3,500 killed. The Russian siege held until March 22, 1915, when the remaining defenders chose to surrender. As food ran out and morale plummeted, 119,000 men were taken prisoner after a failed breakout attempt - though not before destroying the remaining artillery.
Now you can explore some parts of this famous fortress yourself, as you fight for control of two key forts along with their surrounding trenches and gun pits!
There’s more…
Although the highlight of this update is the free new Przemyśl map, there is more. Read the full changelog on the Steam Hub. A few things of particular note:
- Przemyśl map added!
- Updated sandbags to have more accurate colliders.
- Improved checks to limit climbing exploits.
- Fix for instant respawning bug.
- Fix for HMG desync issue.
Share your experiences with the new map on our Discord or in the Steam hub!
And even more… Tannenberg has been released for consoles!
You can now get Tannenberg for Xbox One and PlayStation 4! We can't wait to see what console fans make of Eastern Front warfare. The development of the console versions has been done entirely in-house, like the Verdun Remaster. Everything has been optimized and adjusted for consoles, and the game will make the most of the Xbox One X and PlayStation Pro for those who have them.
If they might be interested, don't hesitate to share the word with your historically inclined console pals ;)