The Winter War 1915 campaign is starting soon - battle will be joined this Thursday 28th! All fallen soldiers will be tracked throughout the event, except for fights only involving bots. Kills will only be counted when a player is involved. It is not required to serve one side during the entire campaign. But surely you'll still be inclined to pick a side?

The amount of kills earned by each faction can be seen on the main menu. You can earn special medals during this event. All you have to do is to participate in the battles of Verdun to earn one! You can upgrade your medal by fighting battles in Tannenberg as well - if you fight 5 battles in both games, you'll earn the gold medal! You have until February 4th to do so...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/633460/Tannenberg/
On the Western Front, January 1915 also saw mountain warfare centered on the Hartmanswillerkopf peak in the Vosges mountains. German and French troops fought intermittently from 1914-1916 to control the heights, which offered both sides potential observation of strategic railways. The operations were costly (though nowhere near as brutally harsh as in the Carpathians) and troops were often pulled from the Hartmanswillerkopf conflict to reinforce other areas of the front. Ultimately both sides would go on to accept a stalemate in early 1916, and the situation became stable until 1918.


Photograph from the summit of Hartmanswillerkopf in 1915.

On Christmas Eve 1914, soldiers of both the British and German empires decided to lay down their arms and sing Christmas carols across the trenches. What followed was a rare occurrence during World War I, where troops of opposing sides would meet each other, shake hands, share drinks & food and play games like football.

A truly historical moment where humanity won over conflict.



From today until January 2nd 2021, you can join the Christmas Truce and even win a special medal for doing so! Jump into a special map where all players have the same loadout. Stories to tell, snowballs to pick up and a football to kick. Celebrate Christmas in a unique way with your fellow soldiers and earn the Christmas Truce medal by participating in the festivities.


This year’s Christmas will be very different for a lot of people due to everything that has happened. It can be hard to come up with something original. How about something similar to the Princess Mary Christmas gift box? The British member of the royal family set up a fund to send every soldier of the British soldiers a gift. It became a tin box with small presents. Most of them contained cigarettes, a Christmas card, a photograph of Princess Mary and some of them also contained sweets and chocolate. It is perhaps one of the most well known Christmas gifts to have ever existed.



If you are looking to enlist on the battlefields of World War I, now is the perfect time! Verdun is -70% off and could be gifted to a fellow soldier. Looking to head over to the Eastern Front? Tannenberg is -60% off as well!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/633460/Tannenberg/

Just a quick note today to let any console fans among you know that we have released an update allowing Xbox and PlayStation gamers to play Verdun and Tannenberg together!

Sadly we couldn’t add cross-play for PC users due to differences in their game versions, such as 64 player matches rather than the 40 player games on console, and other cross-platform balance issues like controller auto-aim.

It's also a free weekend on consoles from December 11-13, meaning Verdun and Tannenberg are open to everyone to try out!



Even if you don’t own a console, you might be interested in the giveaways running on our Twitter – you’ve got a chance to win some tasty mints!

With temperatures and snowflakes that are starting to fall, we do not only remember those who have fallen or the conflict they were involved in, we also remember the rare moments of humanity during the war. But more on that later...

As you would expect, US soldiers fighting abroad in 1917 had a very different Thanksgiving than they would be used to, even though efforts were made to at least have something a little fancier than usual on the menu for soldiers in France or getting ready to cross the Atlantic.


A photo of Camp Lewis in the US on Thanksgiving Day in 1917. It was still finishing construction.

But things weren't 'normal' for the civilian population either. The US did have rationing in effect in 1917, albeit mostly in a voluntary form. Wheat flour and sugar was regulated, but otherwise it was merely encouraged for people to try and minimize their food usage, with ideas like “Meatless Tuesdays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays”. Local food boards were formed around the country to offer advice and recipes that avoided use of foods that were most suitable for sending abroad - whether to feed US soldiers in France, or simply to support the allies of the United States.


The United States Food Administration encouraged Americans to save food to aid European soldiers and civilians.

Winter is drawing near, and on the Eastern Front, hungry packs of wolves are looking for some fresh meat and the only tasty things around are you, your squadmates, and your enemies!

When you hear the wolves howl on the battlefields of Tannenberg, a massive pack of wolves will approach. At this moment, both sides have the opportunity to uphold the truce and fight together against the hungry beasts... or just try to take advantage of the chaos. The event started yesterday, running from November 25 to December 2!



The Wolf Truce is based on accounts of Russians and Germans on the Eastern Front holding this unique truce in 1917 to fight off ravenous wolves, which appeared in American newspapers such as the New York Times. There are also more sober accounts in Russian history books noting that hungry wolves certainly were a threat, though they generally suggest it was to civilians or isolated soldiers.

Discount time!
If you don't own Tannenberg but fancy some wolf hunting, now's a great time to join in because there's a 70% discount! But the entire WW1 Game Series is part of the Steam Autumn Sale, so Verdun is also 50% off.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/633460/Tannenberg/
Finally, for enthusiasts of physical video game releases, we also have some great news! Both Tannenberg and Verdun have a limited boxed release on PlayStation 4. For now, we have a release in selected German and Austrian retail stores. However, you can get international shipments from Amazon DE, with extra postage costs:
https://amzn.to/3lGEX4j

We are looking at having a international physical release, but we require your feedback. Would you be interested in a PlayStation 4 boxed release of the WW1 Game Series titles? Vote here to let us know:
https://forms.gle/8h67ftBCJEU3u2CQ7

At 11 am on November 11th 1918, the Armistice of Compiègne went into effect and, for many, marked the end of World War I. A good moment to remember those who have fallen during this long and bloody worldwide conflict.

In Verdun (and Tannenberg, our Eastern Front World War I game), you have the optional to commemorate the Armistice in-game. Watch the poppy flower turn red in two minutes of silence and earn a special remembrance medal. There is also a filter overlay for your Facebook profile picture to show your compassion. You can simply add the filter on you Facebook profile image by clicking here: {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/3iCMVcq

The Armistice was a strange event for the soldiers still fighting. The last soldier to officially be declared KIA in the war, a minute before the Armistice came in effect was US Sergeant Henry Gunther. He was demoted from the rank of Sergeant to private. Seeking to reclaim his rank, he rushed into battle and fell, just a minute before the fighting stopped. It teaches us that life is more important than ambition.

Henry Gunther certainly wasn’t the only one to fall on November 11th, 1918. In fact, the day had over 11000 casualties. A part of which was because of continued artillery fire, because the soldiers did not want to bother loading up all the remaining ammunition once the fighting would stop, since rumors of an Armistice would have reached several trenches already.

You might think that after the Armistice went into effect, the whole world would burst into song and cheers. This didn’t happen everywhere though, as apparently on the front, the soldiers felt empty and there was a lot of silence among them. A British corporal said: “…the Germans came from the trenches, bowed to us and went away. There was nothing with which we could celebrate, except cookies.”

What it must have been like to be a part of World War I is something that generations born after the conflict ended have been wondering. We have records, diary entries and other accounts to remember what it was like to fight in the trenches or forts. Something we try to share with all of you on a daily basis.
More information on the Armistice can be found on our social media channels.

The Bloody Autumn event has come to an end in Verdun. This seasonal event was based on The Battle of Ypres 1914, which was one of the most violent battles of World War I. While historically, that battle ended in a stalemate, the results during this event do have a winner!

The Entente suffered 1.537.161 casualties while the Central Powers lost even more with 1.604.116 fallen soldiers, which makes the Entente faction the winner of the Bloody Autumn 1914!
Considering the Battle of Ypres 1914 had around 295.000 casualties in total, it’s pretty clear that the digital Battlefields have seen a lot more blood spilling than in real life, thankfully!

The number of casualties includes the struggles on the Western Front as well as the Siege of Przemyśl on the Eastern Front of Tannenberg. For this event we only counted the kills that involved a player, so bots vs bots fights have not been counted.

Look out for more Seasonal events coming soon where you can earn more special medals across Verdun & Tannenberg!

A tense screenshot by Verdun player ‘Jon Pettet’ on Steam!

On the 5th of November 1918, allies agreed to take up negotiations for a truce. French general Ferdinand Foch would be writing up one of the most important documents in human history soon after. The Armistice of Compiègne was signed on November 11th 1918 and went into effect a couple of hours later. A day to be remembered, but we will have more on that next week…

The autumn can be very harsh to soldiers on the front. Not only do wind and rain make for less visibility, the circumstances were abysmal. Just imagine having to spend the night in a muddy trench with no shower, clean clothes and having to fight for your life the entire day.

The First Battle of Ypres was an attempt from both the Central Powers and the Allies to outflank each other from reaching the Belgian border. It is also referred to as ‘the Race to the Sea’. This quickly turned into a battle of attrition, with both factions deciding to dig into trenches, thus setting the stage for much of the Western Front of World War I!

© IWM
As with our previous seasonal events, all fallen soldiers from each faction will be tracked throughout this campaign event! However, we made a big change that will affect the number of kills. This time, whenever a fight only involves bots, this will not count towards the faction total of the campaign. Only when a player is involved with a kill or is being killed, it will count. It is not required to serve one side during the entire campaign. But that still remains the question, are you Team Central Powers or Team Entente?

The amount of kills earned to each faction can be seen on the main menu. You can earn a special medal during this event. All you have to do is to participate in the battles of Verdun to earn one! You have until November 2nd to do so!

There is a way to upgrade your special medal as well, but more on that in a bit...

Along with the campaign, the latest update for Verdun also fixed a few minor issues. These changes are applicable to version 314.22671

• Changed artilley arc calculation to include target height – artillery may be slightly more precise as a result
  
• Fixed collision on haystacks in the maps Aisne and Champagne
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause Campaigns to appear without them being active
  
• Fixed campaign medals potentially being awarded during 'coming soon' time
  
• Fixed a bug that let LMG players teleport across the map
  
• Fixed jitters on MLE1892
  
• Added truncation on very long player names, although this shouldn't be very noticeable on PC
  
• Campaigns After-Action Report now displays separate casualty stats for match and campaign totals
  
• Fixed clipping and floating bullets on RSC 1917 & 1918
  
• Fixed motion impacting bullet impact effects

If you have any feedback, be sure to let us know through the Steam community discussion boards!

The Bloody Autumn seasonal event is also active on the Eastern Front! The campaign in Tannenberg is based on the Siege of Przemysl. Participating on both fronts will earn you upgraded special medals, so make sure you are equipped for both the Siege of Przemysl ánd the Battle of Ypres!

Last but not least, we wanted to share this amazing screenshot ‘ReallyRiles55’ on the WW1 Game Series subreddit, who found something that might remind you of a spooky event…

The battle is over, so who won? Well, we tracked the casualties of both sides to see who was taking fewer losses. At some points in the war, commanders were reduced to this kind of attritional combat, simply trying to drain the enemy of soldiers and will to fight. The Entente quickly gained a lead in the casualty advantage (meaning they had this many less casualties), and held onto it throughout the campaign. Between days 6-8 there was a pause as the Central Powers rallied a little, but it didn't last and by the end the Central Powers had suffered 69,817 more losses than the Entente.



However, in the overall context of the campaign, this number is tiny. With both sides combined there were more than 11 million casualties. In our previous campaign, there were less than 9 million casualties over a similar length of time, suggesting the battlefields were more active than previously.

If you want to read more about how these numbers stack up against historical figures (TL:DR they're enormously higher) you can take a look at the post when the last campaign ended. These losses would have been devastating for both sides, and the difference is so small as to give neither side a meaningful advantage. Tragically this sort of battle was far from rare during the First World War.



We'll be announcing winners from the Facebook giveaway very soon! Tins of mints and game keys will be finding their way to lucky winners. Keep an eye on our Facebook page to be the first to hear who won!

The campaign is over. Take a well deserved rest... or head straight back out to the trenches!

At the time of writing, Central Powers casualties are 2,437,263 while Entente casualties are at 2,403,869. That's a difference of 33,000 in favor of the Entente. But there are more than six days to go, and things can change quickly.

At this time in 1916, much of the focus was on the village of Guillemont. General Ferdinand Foch and Field Marshal Douglas Haig had planned to capture the village on this day in 1916, but it didn't come off. Haig considered the attack had been inadequately supervised by his subordinate Henry Rawlinson, and hadn't had enough manpower assigned.

A follow-up attack was planned for the following day, on the 25th, but bad weather and a need to replace exhausted divisions caused a delay until September 3rd. When it happened, this attack would finally result in the capture of Guillemont from the Germans, but the cost of fighting in the area had been very high for the Allied forces. Despite air superiority and increasingly accurate artillery fire because of it, the Germans put up a strong, capable defense.



The First World War was, as the name suggests, a truly global war. One nation far from Europe who joined the conflict were the Japanese, who declared war on the Central Powers on August 23rd in 1914, and moved against German territories in their sphere of influence. They also sent teams of nurses to France, Russia and Britain. As the war continued, Japan would export large quantities of war material to Entente nations. They also exported a number of rifles - one of which you can use in Verdun's sister game Tannenberg.

The first Arisaka Type 30s were built in 1899, and were the standard issue Japanese rifle until 1905 when they were replaced by the Type 38 - however, a lack of supply meant that some units kept using Type 30s until into the Second World War. Desperate for weapons, Russia bought around 300,000 Type 30s from Japan, and they received more from the British who had ordered them from Japan to arm troops until production of the Lee-Enfield could ramp up. It's possible that a number of these rifles would have been present in some capacity during the Brusilov Offensive.



The battle continues... since this post was begun, casualties have risen to 2,450,007 Central Powers and 2,416,463 Entente. There are six days remaining.

Our campaign begins part way through the real offensives that inspired it. The Battle of the Somme had been raging for 51 days already by this date in 1916, and would continue for more than three months. While there were of course pauses and recovery periods during the battle, it's still a long time to sustain offensive operations.

On the Western Front, the fighting was brought to an end by weather rather than a decision by high command. November 18th saw the last real action of the Battle of the Somme before the rain and snow became too much. Until January the following year the real enemy of soldiers on both sides would be the atrocious weather conditions.



Get 60% off Verdun and Tannenberg until August 24. If you know someone who hasn't played either game yet but might love both, you can point them to the WW1 Game Series bundle, which is 15% off - taking the total discount on everything in there to 75% off normal price!

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

As the campaign runs we'll be posting updates along with some history facts, but in Verdun and Tannenberg you can see current casualty rates in the main menu and after each battle ends.

Good luck!