At the time of writing, there have been 1,137,028 Central Powers losses, to 1,143,957 Entente casualties. Almost a 1:1 ratio, with a minor lead for the Central Powers... it could still easily go either way, unlike the Second Battle of Artois, which we'll discuss more in the rest of this post. The Summer Offensive 1915 campaign will continue to run until Monday 22nd of June, when the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive ended. Read more about that operation on the Tannenberg Steam Hub.

On this date in 1915, the Second Battle of Artois was in the final stages, with French attackers encountering increasingly challenging German defenses. In particular German positions on reverse slopes were preventing an advance. As you can see on the diagram below, reverse slopes could not easily be hit by regular artillery guns, requiring high angle howitzers instead. At times the French infantry found themselves forced to attack German positions which were entirely undamaged and without even holes in their barbed wire defenses. These attacks went poorly.



French infantry were already exhausted, even as they were called on to dig forward trenches to serve as jump-off points for new attacks - while under German artillery fire. One successful attack with fresh troops would go on to be hit hard by a German counterattack, while French reinforcements were delayed in support trenches now full of wounded men and prisoners.




The British were still launching smaller attacks to try and divert German attention from the French Tenth Army, but experienced ammunition shortages for both artillery and the troops who did successfully capture German trenches. Bad weather including mist and fog led to some friendly fire from British artillery on advancing soldiers. Ultimately the writing was on the wall for the offensive, and it would be formally ended on June 18th.

You have until the 22nd - the battle rages on!

The First World War saw fighting around the world on a scale previously unimaginable for many people. Gains or losses in any individual battle could ultimately have consequences for entire theaters, no matter how minor they might seem at the time. You can experience this yourself today in the WW1 Game Series, as we begin the Summer Offensive 1915 campaign!


In short, every fallen soldier on the Western and Eastern Fronts will be tracked. If you fight in a public Frontlines or Maneuver match, your actions will contribute to the campaign casualty totals. While the campaign is running, you will be able to see whether the Central Powers or the Entente are currently faring better. The campaign begins today: the Summer Offensive 1915.


The name of this campaign refers to the Second Battle of Artois on the Western Front, and the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive on the Eastern Front. Overall these two operations did not end well for the Entente factions - will things pan out differently this time?




The Second Battle of Artois ran from 9 May to 18 June, 1915. The French aimed to capture Vimy Ridge and cut off German railway supply to a large part of the front. The British Expeditionary Force launched a supporting attack to increase pressure on the Germans. After initial success and capture of Vimy Ridge, French forces were forced back by a German counterattack. The British attacks did divert two German divisions, but were otherwise failures with high casualties despite heavy bombardments.




Meanwhile on the Eastern Front, the German led Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive lasted longer, from 2 May to 22 June, 1915. It was intended to reduce pressure on Austro-Hungarian forces who had taken a beating from the Russians. The Austro-Hungarians even threatened the Germans that they might seek an individual peace agreement if they didn't offer any military assistance! In the event, the German attack was so successful that they kept pushing and it became a major offensive effort, ending in a German victory and forcing the Great Retreat back to Russia by Russian forces.

We’re looking forward to seeing how this campaign turns out! Common questions are answered in this FAQ post.

While the campaign is running, you can earn a unique medal for taking part in battles as well. The most prestigious award being given to those who fight at least five battles on both fronts!

The campaign will run until Monday 22nd of June, when the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive ended. Casualties will be tallied until then - in reality, the Entente suffered about three times as many casualties as the Central Powers.

The battle awaits - how will events compare to history? That’s down to how you fight. Good luck!

Today we released a small update for Verdun. Current and previous changelogs can be found here on the Steam Hub.

In this update:

• Improved the Wex's obstacle detection so it can't fire through walls, sandbags and other objects
  
• Changed Argonne match time limit to 25 minutes, for consistency with other maps
  
• Fixed custom matches acting up while "permanent attacker" chat command is enabled
  
• Disabled the squad menu while spectating
  
• Fixed film memoir issues with motion blur
  
• Various under the hood fixes
  
• Updated engine version

It's been almost two months since we updated the Wex flamethrower - read the news post for more info. So what do you all think?

Discuss on our Steam Hub, or give your opinion in this one question survey!


Answer this question on our Twitter, and you could win Steam keys, mints in a classy tin, or both!



To enter, visit our Twitter and reply to this tweet with your answer: A, B or C. Make sure to follow us so we can DM you if you win to arrange your prize.

There will be three winners chosen at random from those who get the right answer.

1. A game/supporter edition key, plus a can of WW1 Game Series mints
   
2. A can of WW1 Game Series mints
   
3. A game/supporter edition key

Cheers!

Header screenshot by player Kelly's Hero!

The Film Memoir event has come to an end - thanks to everyone who took part and especially those who shared screenshots or footage! If you really enjoyed playing with Film Memoir mode and want to give us some extra support, the aptly named Supporter Edition DLC includes permanent access to Film Memoir, along with some other nice extras from wallpapers and artwork to the game soundtrack.

Now to the competition results! The challenge was to create a short film, a great image, or a short story to accompany a photo. We saw some beautiful scenes captured on film and still image, but the three below were our favorites. Congratulations to...


Tommies in Flanders, a stirring patriotic film of British troops in action.
By Liam.


A rare moment of quiet in Verdun, captioned: 'British soldiers in the trench. Year 1915.'
By Tanya Degurechaff.


The body on the ground suggests this is real combat photography rather than being taken during a training exercise! Captioned: 'German officer leading troops to charge enemy positions during the Battle of Tannenberg, in 1914.'
By Wise Wolfie.

The winners will receive a Supporter Edition, a hefty can of refreshing mints, and one of these delightful roly-polys:



If you won, look out for a Steam friend request from one of our mods so we can get in touch to arrange sending out your prize!

If you live in the Americas and think you have what it takes to play Verdun competitively, the Verdun Competitive League season is open to all players in North and South America. Get general info on the league at their Steam Group, or contact Xyrlxv.

All the best from the WW1 Game Series team!

Experience the First World War as civilian audiences would have done with the new Film Memoir mode in both Verdun and Tannenberg.

Film Memoir mode will set your game to black and white, apply a film grain overlay typical of the 1914-1918 period, and add subtle sound effects for that complete old cinema experience. Don't worry, it isn't April 1st today - the black and white camera mode we joked about before has been made reality!

Partly inspired by the amazing colorization work seen in Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, we wanted to give players a taste of the reverse - turning color into black and white. It can really make you appreciate some of the challenges faced by photographers and filmmakers of the time as they searched for scenes that would translate well to black and white images. Here's a full release trailer:


Everyone will be able to play with Film Memoir mode until April 26th, after which it will become a bonus part of the Supporter Edition. Owners of the Supporter Edition, either Verdun or Tannenberg, will be able to continue using it anytime they like. And there are other ways... read on!



We will be giving away prizes for creating impressive content with Film Memoir mode - merch and a Supporter Edition!
TIP: Don't forget to turn off the UI with the F8 key before making your films or photos!

We will pick one winner for each of these three categories:

• Best short film
  
• Best image
  
• Best story

To enter, post your creations on Twitter using the #WW1Memoir hashtag and @ww1gameseries, OR upload content to the Steam Hub with 'Film Memoir' as part of the description text. Feel free to work together or capture footage on both fronts.
Tannenberg and Verdun are both currently 55% off on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/633460/

The first photograph was produced in 1825, and the technology had gone global by 1850. Military leaders recognized the potential of photography, with the British Army already investigating as early as 1856. The German Kaiser Wilhelm II was a big fan of photography, and he had a sizable collection of court photographers who put out a host of images to glorify him as German leader. This said, before WW1 there were no countries who used photography for military purposes on a large scale.

Military leaders were often hostile to non-official photography in general. British Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener barred all civilian photographers from working near British troops and prohibited personal cameras among those troops - which didn't stop some people from smuggling their cameras to the front.


Folded up, the Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak could fit in a jacket pocket - hence the name. It was even marketed as the 'Soldier's camera' in the US during the war.

One exception in the early days of the war was the Belgian Army. Seeking international support, they allowed unusual freedom to friendly and neutral civilian press photographers - their hope being that showing the world their tough situation would inspire support. It so happened that German photographers were trying to highlight the exact same thing, though to show the superiority and success of the German military. Photos like the one seen below, focusing on outdated Belgian equipment, were popular with both sides.


Photograph of Belgian troops and transport dogs, from the Imperial War Museums.

Many official photographers may have used staged or recreated scenes to take their photos. While this was understandable given the challenge and sheer danger of taking genuine photos in a war zone, it did undermine the authenticity of some official work. Many newspapers put out calls to amateur photographers on the frontlines to submit photos, especially if they were unsatisfied with the quantity or subjects of the official photos they were given by the government.


This photograph of German troops advancing through gas was originally described as part of an attack on German trenches, but it seems likely that it was actually taken during a training exercise.

We can't wait to see what you all come up with using Film Memoir mode!

Earlier this year we read some interesting community discussions about the role of the Wex flamethrower in the game, and since then we spent some time looking into changes to the Wex in order to make it a more worthwhile weapon. With today's update it has been reworked and is out now for you all to try!

Here's what you can expect: in short, the range and power has been increased on the primary attack. Furthermore, a special trait of the Wex is the fire pools that are left behind. These fire pools have also been made more powerful, and a few tricky bugs that could stop them injuring people in certain situations have been squashed. This will make the Wex a capable area denial weapon if used right. Finally, there are some graphical tweaks to make the (now more deadly) fire a little prettier.



The update includes other tweaks and fixes, but it's primarily about the Wex.

Wex Changes

• Improved the Wex's direct fire. Close to its original design, it fires 13 meters, and kills in two hits
  
• Improved the Wex indirect fire pools, which can be used for area control or to 'throw' fire at places you cannot hit directly. Pools last 3 seconds and kill in five 'hits' if a player remains on it.
  
• Fixed direct fire pools only damaging each enemy once.
  
• Removed the limit on enemies that can be damaged by a single direct fire pool.
  
• Reworked the Wex's particles to match its larger fire range.
  
• Added particle collision for the Wex's flames (only on higher Particle Graphics settings).

You can read the full changelog on the Steam forums.



If you read all the way down here, congratulations. We have another update coming tomorrow that will let you see the battlefield in a very different way...

The First World War was one of the first major conflicts where photography and film were highly significant, due among other things to smaller and improved cameras. The nations involved also began to realize the value of photography and film for propaganda purposes. We thought it would be interesting to give players a chance to experience some of the challenges faced by early filmmakers, working with black and white on top of other technical limitations.


Ernest Brooks, one of the relatively few British photographers on the Western Front.

Amateur photographers were able to take cameras with them to the front (sometimes smuggling them against regulations), and press outlets sometimes put out calls for photos from these amateurs when the officially released images didn't satisfy their desire for images from the front.

Soon you'll be able to try recording your own black and white war footage, with our upcoming 'Film Memoir' mode! If they say a picture paints a thousand words, a video must be even more... so check this out:

Update
Verdun has received a number of improvements this March. Among these are floating weapon shadows, setting issues and animation related trickery.
We’ve also increased the AFK (=time to get yourself some drinks and snacks) in private and public matches, ensured certain matchups are more historically accurate in Attrition mode, added a potential fix for game crashes occurring after sound outage and stuttering and that’s not all! For a complete overview of the fixes and improvements, be sure to take a look at our changelog here.

Tannenberg Wolf Truce event!
The Eastern Front needs capable soldiers! Be sure to enlist yourself or a friend and join the fray!


Tannenberg is now 55% off during it's thrilling Wolf Truce event!...

Inspired by several historical reports and newspapers, hungry wolves are roving the Eastern Front forming a frightening new foe both sides have to face.



Players are now faced with a dilemma, do you call a truce to face this new threat together, or do you use the ensuing chaos to press on! A special medal can be earned if the truce holds true, but restraining yourself is harder than it sounds!



We look forward to seeing you on both on the Western and Eastern battlefields!

Of course, this is a holiday which has changed quite a bit since WW1. Originally it was known only as Washington's Birthday, and fell on February the 22nd since that was, well, his birthday.

It wasn't until the thrillingly named Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 that the holiday was officially set to be the third Monday in February. This change might make things more orderly, but it does also mean that (at least since 1971) the holiday is effectively never actually on Washington's birthday anymore. We'll come close in 2022, when it'll be on the 21st!

Here's a couple of cartoons from February 22nd in 1918, taken from the Stars & Stripes, the American military newspaper. There's no mention of the holiday in the paper.



We rounded off last week with a small update on Friday which fixed a few bugs and ironed out a couple more exploits relating to in-game user names, which followed up on an earlier update that fixed a few things, including slower machine gun firing for some players with slower computers.

Read the full changelog here.

We have a couple of more unusual screenshots from players today!


echo1 put together this wide shot of a soldier bearing down through gas.


A bogged down tank catches the eye in this watery scene by Tom Grump.

We've been busy lately, but mostly on secret projects that aren't ready for sharing yet! That doesn't mean we don't have anything interesting for you. Quite the contrary...

There has been some discussion in the community about the Wex - the German flamethrower you might not have seen getting much use in the game. In this thread on the forum people went back and forth on the weaknesses of this unusual weapon. We can say we are looking into ways to make the Wex a powerful, satisfying weapon to use without it being as overpowered as it has been at times in the past. Veteran players will likely remember how the Wex has changed previously - we hope that we can find a happy middle ground for it!



It appears that some people have been able to give their in-game names bright colors by using a Steam formatting trick. This isn't intentional, and we are planning to fix this with an update soon.

We already released an update in January with some fixes. As always, find the latest changelogs here!

Who's seen 1917 in cinemas? It's an incredible experience, filmed in such a way as to give the impression of one continuous shot without obvious cuts.



We had some discussion on Facebook and Twitter, with people recommending a whole host of interesting WW1 films. In particular there were a couple of foreign films which sounded intriguing, put forward after one person said that they found another film from an allied perspective rather dull and uninspired.

One of those films is the Hungarian movie Szürke senkik (Grey Nobodies), recommended by György!

It's not technically WW1 itself, but Meelis also suggested something a bit different with Names in Marble, which is about the Estonian War of Independence shortly after WW1. They do caution that it's perhaps not the most historically accurate film!

Finally, Markus mentioned Westfront 1918, a German film from 1930 that he thought had similar vibes to All Quiet on the Western Front.


A still from Westfront 1918: Vier von der Infanterie.

There are even more recommendations on the Facebook post itself if you're in need of new films to watch!

As a final note, the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Verdun is coming up soon, on February 21st... does anyone have any books or films they'd recommend that cover the Battle of Verdun?

Bartoft posted a screenshot from what must have been an epic squad defence game. In their own words:

"A marathon late night Squad Defence game in Verdun. The game started at 11:15pm on 31.1.20 and ended at 5am on 1. 2 .20. This is my last screen shot before our 4 man squad were finally wiped out by the attacking Germans on wave 70. The total game playing time on this shot shows 339 minutes and 51 seconds at the end of wave 69. The screen shot shows enemy dead in our final trench.



In the foreground I am holding my favourite weapon in the game - a Short Magazine Lee Enfield bolt action rifle with a ten shot magazine. I was also equipped with 3 hand grenades at each load out and a trench club for hand to hand fighting.

My game log showed I achieved 2035 kills in the game. This could only be achieved with the cooperation of the other players in the squad. Together we worked well as a team backing each other up as necessary when the enemy almost broke through on numerous occasions."