Hello Commanders!
Hot on the heels of the popular Tribute to D-Day Pack and the new online Army General Versus mode we have prepared another big day for you.
After last week’s tease, we can finally unveil all the juicy details of our next History DLC. We couldn’t fool you for much longer. Some of you already shrewdly guessed that Steel Division 2’s new battlefields would be on the southern flank of the Eastern Front.
That’s right: the new Steel Division 2 History DLC is named Black Sunday and will focus on the chaotic battles on Romania’s frontiers in the summer of 1944.
Steel Division 2: Black Sunday features
- 6 new divisions, three on each side (all Axis divisions will be Romanian),
- 2 Army General campaigns,
- 2 new Aces,
- 15 new Camouflage skins,
- 150 new units,
- new infantry and weapon models,
- full voice-over
- and much more exciting new stuff.
Keep on reading to find out more!
Black Sunday’s Setting and History
Steel Division 2: Black Sunday transports the action to Romania, with the new expansion taking place at the start of the strategic Soviet Jassy-Kichinev operation in late August 1944. Let’s talk history for a bit.
While the Third Reich was pulling out formations all along the Eastern Front to reinforce its forces primed for battle near the Vistula river (one of the last, yet short-lived, local Axis victories at the gates of Warsaw) the Soviet Stavka was already planning its next move.
The new strategic offensive would take advantage of the weakened southern Romanian front, where once-powerful armored reserves had been steadily siphoned off to join the fight up north. Here, poised on the borders of one of Hitler’s remaining Axis allies, the Soviets were plotting a rerun of the Stalingrad campaign.
Using a two-pronged attack against Romanian troops on each flank of the German 6th Army, the Soviets planned to trap the reformed Wehrmacht formation between the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front. To achieve this, the Red Army needs to push through mainly Romanian divisions near the defensive strongpoints in the Jassy and Tiraspol sectors.
Stalin had an overarching aim to this strategic offensive as well: to knock Romania out of the war. This Eastern European country had been an Axis ally since 1941, and with popular support crumbling after many years of hard fighting on the Eastern Front, it was now on the cusp of switching sides to the Allies.
The date is August 20th, 1944, and the summer has been hot and long. Black Sunday, the worst day in terms of Wehrmacht casualties, is about to occur.
Double Campaigns, Double the Fun!
We promised the proud owners of Steel Division 2 General Deluxe and Total Conflict Edition’s three Army General campaigns, but we decided to go crazy and give you four instead!
Steel Division 2: Black Sunday will feature two Army General campaigns, one for each of the Soviet pincers of the Jassy-Kichinev offensive. As a matter of fact, the whole theatre would not fit on a single Army General map - not even our largest one. Instead of Historical Battles, we put more emphasis on Army General mode, splitting up the historical operation into two separate campaigns, which will show both strategic “arms” in northwestern Romania with the highest amount of detail.
The Jassy campaign will pit the 2nd Ukrainian Front against the Romanian 4th Army and part of the German 8th Army. This operation features some major formations such as the Soviet 5th Guards, the 18th and 23rd Tank Corps, the 5th Mechanized Corps and 5th Guards Cavalry Corps, versus the Romanian 1st Armored Division, 5th Motorized Cavalry Division, and remnants of the 20. Panzerdivision. Yes, the same one already featured and nearly destroyed in Bobruisk, was afterward sent to Romania for rest and refit.
The Tiraspol campaign features the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front versus the Romanian-German Armeegruppe Dumitrescu. The Soviet 4th Guards and 7th Mechanized Corps, a special-purpose Naval Group Bakhtin, square up against Romanian infantry and mountain divisions, supported by the Romanian 1st Motorized Cavalry Division and German 13. Panzerdivision.
New Divisions
The “Black Sunday” DLC will feature six new divisions in total: three on the Axis side, all of which will be Romanian, and three on the Allied side. This means that the promised total of 12 divisions will actually reach 16 with the new DLC’s divisions!
As mentioned, the new History DLC will bring over 150 new units, including 21 brand-new models and 22 major variants. Not only that, there will be 15 new alternative camouflage skins to select for a number of Steel Division 2, as well as two new Aces. Of course, you’ll also find new Romanian infantry models, new weapon models, with all soldiers fully voiced.
While the new Tribute to D-Day reintroduced airborne divisions to Steel Division 2, “Black Sunday” will also give you a taste of true Eastern Front paratroopers with the introduction of Soviet VDV (now you realize how much you missed this song!).
The Axis
- 1 Blindata "România Mare" - Destroyed and reconstituted many times over, the 1st Romanian Armored division was the only one of its kind in the Romanian Armed Forces.
- 4 Munte - Elite soldiers, the 4th Mountain Division had been bloodied many times in the vicious fighting on the Eastern Front. The formation’s veteran infantry carries the “Raider” trait.
- 5 Cavalerie Mot. - halfway mechanized, this formation features a variety of light armored recon vehicles.
The Allies
- Morsk. Gruppa Bakhtina - Formed out of Black Sea naval brigades and infantry troops from the 46th Army.
- 7-y Mekh. Korpus - A formation made up of a mix of green recruits and Stalingrad veterans.
- 3-ya VDV - This elite division is formed of battle-hardened paratroopers with the “Raider” trait, supported by assault pioneers and a tank brigade.
What’s next?
We are still hard at work on Steel Division 2: Black Sunday, so we are not ready (yet) to give you an exact launch date. Keep your ear to the ground!
As you might know, getting Steel Division 2’s History Pass grants you access to all three History DLCs for the game. The History Pass includes today’s “Black Sunday” expansion, as well as the The Fate of Finland expansion and The Death on the Vistula expansion.
Let us know what you think! You can do this on our
Steam forums and Eugen forums, or our social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord server or Reddit page. Discord especially is a great place to find other Steel Division 2 players to kick off an online or coop match!
We will look at some exciting new features of Steel Division 2: Black Sunday in more detail in the near future.
Until then, see you on the battlefield, commander!