Good day to you!

We are very happy to announce that our next History DLC for Steel Division 2, The Fate of Finland, will officially release on Tuesday, March 3rd. We are still considering the exact timing of the launch, but rest assured, we’ll let you know first thing when we get closer to the actual release date.

What can you expect?

Steel Division 2 - The Fate of Finland brings a ton of new content, available in solo, coop and multiplayer, including 6 new Divisions, 200+ new units, 2 new Aces, 2 new Historical Battles, and a gigantic new Army General turn-based strategic campaign centered on the Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944.

This 3rd of March, The Fate of Finland will launch with:

6 New Divisions

• Panssaridivisioona
  
• Ryhmä Raappana
  
• 122. Infanterie-Division
  
• 126-y L. Gornostrelkovy Korpus
  
• Podv. Gruppa Vyborg
  
• 358-ya Strelkovy Div.

Read all about the new divisions in this blog post here.



New Units and Aces

• Eino “Illu” Juutilainen and his Me-109 G-2/R1
  
• Alexander Bilyukin and his P-39N Airacobra
  
• BT-42
  
• T-26E
  
• VL Myrsky
  
• T-28
  
• BT-7
  
• P-40N Kittyhawk

Read all about the new units and 2 new Aces in this blog post here.



Massive Army General Campaign and 2 Historical Battles

• Massive new Army General Campaign focused on the Karelian Isthmus
  
• Fate of a Nation - a 3v3 scenario
  
• The Last Battle - a 2v2 scenario

More details about the Army General campaign and the Historical Battles here.



History Pass

https://store.steampowered.com/app/988171/Steel_Division_2__History_Pass/

If you haven’t, be sure to grab yourself the History Pass for Steel Division 2. With it, you’ll get access to all the three History DLC’s planned for our game, including the new “The Fate of Finland” DLC and the “Death on the Vistula” DLC.

What’s Next?

We’ve been hard at work on getting The Fate of Finland DLC in a shape that will be truly appreciated by you, our biggest fans. As always, we are more than happy to hear what you think. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on our next History DLC.

So, this coming 3rd of March, join us in celebrating the launch of The Fate of Finland expansion and kick some ass in single player or online!

Until then, check the Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord channel or Reddit page.

See you soon!

Hello commander!

We are back again, this time with a smaller, but hopefully warmly welcomed new Steel Division 2 feature, specifically created for the Army General strategic campaign mode. Let’s welcome the new Auto Deployment tool to the stage. What does it do? It will speed up your deployment phase by automatically placing your units (and put down those critical but time-consuming defenses) in your deployment area at the beginning of a tactical battle.

How does it work? Read on!

The New Auto Deployment Tool



We noticed that when entering a battle in one of our Army General campaigns, the deployment of your troops and units could get repetitive. This repetition would get boring pretty quick, and as game designers that’s an experience we don’t like! That’s why, behind the scenes, the team has been working on a new Auto Deployment tool. This new feature should speed up the clock and ease the strain of any repeated mouse-clickety finger action experienced by a player during the deployment phase.

We had two objectives in mind with the new tool: on the one hand, we wanted to decrease the amount of time you spend in the deployment phase, on the other hand, we looked for a way to limit or remove the repetition of placing your units at the start of a game.

As with all our new features, we are set at opening up Steel Division 2, making the game more accessible for newcomers while still giving veterans the option to ignore a new feature if they wish to do so.

How does it work?



The principle of the Auto Deployment feature is simple: the AI takes over placing your units, vehicles and defenses, putting them down in the best and most tactically-sound location. Under the hood, the new tool uses exactly the same algorithms an AI opponent does when placing its units.

Now players can hit a button, and voilà, deployment complete.

If you are not happy with the initial automatic placement of your troops or structures, you can right-click on a unit. This will allow you to manually move it, which you can reposition or replace with another unit if you so wish.

An alternative way is to place your most important units yourself, say your Tiger tanks or your bunkers, and then click auto-deploy to allow the AI to finish the deployment of the rest of your battlegroup for you.

Not only that, but we have also redesigned the interface shown at the beginning of a battle. Now it should be much easier to see which players and divisions are being present at the start of an Army General game.

That’s it for this week

As always, keep an eye out on Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord channel or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commanders!

We are always happy to see new player initiatives come out of the Steel Division 2 community, especially when they concern tournaments or similar activities.

As you know, we recently posted about a 1v1 Steel Division 2 Championship, and this time we are wholeheartedly supporting the latest endeavor: the beginning of the Second Season of the Steel Division 2 League this coming Saturday, the 15th of February.

A disclaimer

Please note that the following tournament is not organized by Eugen. We support it by sharing the message and the tournament details, and putting Eugen’s stamp of approval for guaranteed fun - but that’s it! We try to do our best by supporting community activities we deem worthwhile, but we are only a small team and we don’t have the manpower or the time to actively organize competitions or other contests.

What’s it all about?

With 48 participants, the Second Season of the Steel Division 2 League is one of the biggest tournaments yet. The organizers would like to thank the community for crowdfunding the prize pool of $150.

You can find more information about the Steel Division 2 League here.
The tournament will be covered by multiple Twitch and Youtube Channels, including Rangroo and KhanUlric on YT, AngrybirdLive and SD_League on Twitch.
If you are a streamer or caster and would like to cover the league, please contact the SD League Team via the [https://discord.gg/P7224QC]SD League discord[/url].

Conclusion

Keep an eye out on Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord channel or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

We are back again!

The Fate of Finland DLC will bring a host of new content to Steel Division 2, including 200+ new units and 2 brand-new Aces. In today’s blog post, we are going to be taking a good look at these heroic Aces and their vehicles, as well as highlighting several of the new units featured in our new expansion.

Keep on reading to find out more!

The Aces
First off, two new Aces will ship with The Fate of Finland DLC. As you know, Aces are unique units that play exactly the same as their base version, adding no statistical or gameplay benefit whatsoever. You can find them in your Armory or battlegroup by looking for the golden-trim around the unit portrait. An Ace’s vehicle features a special personalized paint job to set it apart.

Eino “Illu” Juutilainen
The new Axis Ace is no other than the Finnish fighter pilot Eino “Illu” Juutilainen who during the war became the top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force. After a long and illustrious career, with 94 confirmed kills, “Illu” shot down his last plane over the Karelian Isthmus in September 1944. In Steel Division 2, he will be flying the Me-109 G-2/R1, the same type in which the Finnish pilot scored 58 of his real-life air victories. Let’s see which one of you can match that record in-game!





Alexander Bilyukin
On the Allied side, we have another Ace fighter pilot: Alexander Bilyukin, officially decorated with the highest distinction possible, the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. Based in Leningrad for most of the war, the experienced Russian managed to shoot down 23 enemy planes during his career. Bilyukin too survived to see the end of the war. In Steel Division 2, he flies the lend-lease P-39N Airacobra.





Over 200+ new units
Finland proved to be a unique battleground in World War 2: sparsely populated, densely forested and far to the north on the flank of the Eastern Front. Being a minor theatre meant that quite a few of the vehicle types found here were unusual, outdated, or did not see much action elsewhere due to their low production numbers. Not only that, many captured tanks found a new lease on life thanks to their new owners. The Fate of Finland brings over 200 new units to Steel Division 2, with some pre-existing vehicles becoming available to a different nation for the first time.

BT-42
Throughout the Continuation War, the Finnish Army lacked sufficient tanks to make a strong armored fist. Having only minor production facilities, the Finns needed to scratch-build their way through the conflict. One of the results was the BT-42 assault gun, available in Steel Division 2 courtesy of the Panssaridivisioona battlegroup. Only a handful were built by combining captured Soviet material, namely BT-7 fast tanks, with a consignment of outdated British QF 4.5 Mk. II Howitzers. The BT-42 was not particularly successful as a tank, especially having trouble penetrating the armor of enemy tanks such as the T-34 but very effective when used as an infantry support vehicle. However, with only limited resources available to the Finnish Army, they were nonetheless pressed into action during the heavy fighting around Vyborg in the summer of 1944.



T-26E
An interesting design, the T-26E is actually the Vickers 6 ton, a British light tank design passed on by the United Kingdom when first offered to them. Instead, it was not only adopted by the Soviet Union (which led to one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s, the T-26) but a small number were also bought by Finland. Those examples that survived the Winter War of 1939 were retrofitted with captured Soviet 45mm guns, creating in effect the Finnish T-26E. This model was almost identical to its Red Army’s counterpart, save for several minor differences (shorter engine deck, turret mounted right-hand side, etc.).



VL Myrsky
The VL Myrsky series of fighter planes was the only Finnish true homegrown design. Events on the ground outpaced development, though, and only by 1941 did a prototype take to the air. The first tests were far from satisfactory, with crashes killing two test pilots, and revealing structural issues which delayed the introduction of the Myrsky. Only around the time of the Soviet offensive into Karelia did the first production examples make their way to the Finnish Air Force, where they performed well in their assigned reconnaissance regiment. In Steel Division 2, the VL Myrsky will be available as a dedicated fighter plane.



T-28
The multi-turreted T-28 was one of the first true medium tanks when built in the early part of the 1930s. It featured multiple turrets - smaller machine gun turrets flanked by the main turret carrying a 76.2 mm gun - and had a reasonable amount of mobility and armor when introduced. However, by the start of World War 2, the T-28 was no longer effective with large numbers lost in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. By 1944, only a scattering of T-28 tanks had survived, in some cases captured by Finnish forces and being put against their original owners.



BT-7
The BT-7 was the last of a short but influential line of Red Army fast tanks, mass produced at the start of World War 2. Favoring speed and maneuverability over armor protection, the BT-7 could still pack a punch thanks to its 45mm tank gun and was used to great effect in the first years of the war. This fast tank is also the direct ancestor to the iconic T-34. By the time the Leningrad Front went on the offensive against Finland, plenty of BT-7 tanks were still around to be used in active combat. In Steel Division 2, the Axis already had access to captured BT-7s, but for the first time the light tank will become available to the Red Army with 126-y L. Gornostrelkovy Korpus battlegroup.



P-40N Kittyhawk
The lend-lease P40 Kittyhawk has the distinction of being the third most-produced American single-seat fighter during the war (behind the P-51 and P-47). Lacking certain combat characteristics, the Curtiss P40N Kittyhawk (also known as the Warhawk) was rarely used on the Western Front but saw extensive action with Allied air forces in the North African, Pacific and China theatres. Not only that, the Kittyhawk was the first aircraft to be lend-leased to the USSR. With over 13,000 produced in total, including variants, the P40N was the final production model, and well liked by the Soviet pilots who flew them.



What to look out for next?

That’s it for this week’s post. Keep a close eye out on our Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord channel or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Welcome back!

We are going to be taking another good look at the upcoming “The Fate of Finland” DLC, scheduled to release sometime in the next couple of weeks.

We briefed you already on the six divisions that are going to be part of the DLC - the juicy details you can read here.

Today, we are going to be talking about the strategic Army General campaign, as well as the two Historical Battles which will be featured in “The Fate of Finland” expansion.

One of the most crucial confrontations of the Continuation War plays a central role in the new campaign: the Battle of Tali-Ihantala.

Keep on reading to find out more!

The History



The date is the 10th of June, 1944. In roughly two weeks, Operation Bagration will commence in the south. Up north, on the heavily defended but quiet Finnish front, the local Soviet forces have carefully prepared their own devastating offensive. The aim is to smash through the Karelian Isthmus and knock out Germany’s Nordic ally, Finland, with overwhelming firepower.

At first, progress is quick, the Red Army breaking through line after defensive line. However, when the Soviets pause to reorganize and celebrate the capture of the strategic town of Vyborg, in front of the dilapidated VKT defenses, the Finnish Army has just enough time to rush critical reinforcements to the sector.

This is the moment when the new Army General campaign begins. We are ten days into the offensive and Finland’s heartland is under direct threat, its army pushed all the way back to the 1941 borders. It only takes one final push for the Soviet forces to break out of the Karelian Isthmus.

You either take control of the hard-pressed Finnish defenders with some German units in support, or the Red Army troops riding a wave of high morale, on the verge of success.

The Army General Campaign



On the brink of collapse, the Finnish forces have hurriedly reoccupied the neglected VKT defensive line which bisects the isthmus. Reinforcements have been brought in from other parts of Finland, including the 11th and 6th Division from the east. The Germans have sent the 122. Infanterie-Division with a Luftwaffe detachment bringing vital air support thanks to its complement of fighters and fighter bombers.

Stavka is set to advance from the recently captured strongpoint of Vyborg, attempt to gain access to the Finnish road network. Once reached, breaking through to Finland proper will become a much easier task for the Red Army. Fresh troops, coming as the newly activated 59th Army, are being brought up from the rear.

The direct axis of advance for the Soviets is to the north, but this is also where the heaviest fortifications are located. To the east, the Vuoksi river provides the Finns with a natural barrier, but the defenses lack depth, so the Soviet player might want to use this to their advantage if a direct assault out of Vyborg does not make any headway.

In comparison to the Death on the Vistula campaign, which featured a lot of tank-on-tank combat, the Karelia campaign will be far more infantry-focused. The new Army General campaign will be roughly the same size, containing a similar number of battalions.



Historical Battles

The Fate of Finland DLC will also feature two brand-new Historical Battles: Fate of a Nation, a 3v3 scenario, and The Last Battle, a 2v2 scenario.

Fate of a Nation
This Historical Battle will see the Soviet armored vanguard begin its assault in the last phase of the Karelian offensive. Seeing the advance towards the important Portinhoikka crossroads, the Finnish High Command throws every available soldier, gun, and plane at the Red Army. A closely-contested fight ensues, as this Historical Battle will depict one of the few head-on mechanized engagements of the war on this part of the front.



The Last Battle
The Leningrad Front’s attempt at continuing their offensive has petered out thanks to the Finnish victory at Ihantala. In response, Stavka looks towards the rural and weakly defended Ilomantsi sector for their next assault. Making good progress at first, the advancing Red Army units find themselves up against the able general Rääppana who has brought fresh reinforcements with him. Defeating the opposing Soviet troops in detail, the Finnish encircle two whole divisions. To save the friendly units from assured destruction, Stavka decides to send in elite naval infantry to break their comrades out of the Finnish trap.



Conclusion

Once again, if you haven’t, be sure to grab Steel Division 2’s History Pass. With it, you’ll get access to all three planned DLC!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/988171/Steel_Division_2__History_Pass/

That’s it for this week’s post. Keep a close eye on our Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our [https://discord.gg/TEeBArm]Discord channel[/url] or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Good day to you!

In today’s blog post we will take a closer look at the six new divisions which are going to ship with our new Steel Division 2 History DLC: “The Fate of Finland.”

You can read the first details about this recently revealed expansion in this announcement here.

As you might know, in the upcoming DLC, both Axis and Allies will gain access to three brand-new divisions!

The Axis

• Panssaridivisioona
  
  First off, we have Finland’s sole armored division, the aptly named Panssaridivisioona. This formation was created in 1942 by bringing together all the Finnish tanks. This means that the division can count on a wide array of different models, from pre-war versions, captured Soviet tanks, and the latest German self-propelled guns.
  
  With the Panssaridivisioona you get to play with the ubiquitous but outdated Soviet light tank, the T-26, as well as more exotic equipment. What about the multi-turreted T-28, the T-50 light tank, the T-38 amphibious tank, or the BT-42 assault guns? British Vickers E tanks can also be deployed. German StuG III and Panzer IV J round out your armored options.
  
  Weak in reconnaissance and artillery support, the Panssaridivisioona has an actual fighting strength closer to a typical German mechanized division.
  
  
• Ryhmä Raappana
  
  An ad-hoc formation commanded by general Raappana, this battlegroup (literally Group Raappana) is an infantry-centric force. So much so that it lacks a strong armored punch.
  
  It makes up for this with aggressive recon troops, formidable artillery and air support, and a wide variety of different infantry. From regular riflemen squads to cavalry units, assault Jääkäri, engineers, close-quarters specialists, Sissi special forces and even penal formations, the fighting power of its soldiers means that Group Raappana excels in defensive fights.
  
  
• 122. Infanterie-Division
  
  The German 122. Infanterie-Division was sent north as urgent reinforcements. Its timely arrival contributed greatly to the Finnish efforts to contain the Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. This regular German infantry division is reinforced with Finnish elements including Estonian volunteers but also reconnaissance troops, infantry, AT units and more. The battlegroup can also count on some hard-hitting assets such as PaK 43 anti-tank guns and Stug IV assault guns. Furthermore, Luftwaffe support is provided by the Detachment Kuhlmey, which features a potent mix of fighters and fighter bombers.

The Allies

• 126-y L. Gornostrelkovy Korpus
  
  Not an actual corps but rather a downsized Soviet rifle division, the 126th Light Rifle Corps could count on a cadre of very experienced troops. This battlegroup can deploy Soviet Gornostrelki mountain troops, lightly armed but well-equipped with radios. These veteran soldiers also feature the new “Raider” unit characteristic, meaning that they won’t suffer any moral or combat penalties when engaged in a fight behind enemy lines.
  The division also fields Morskaya Pekhota naval assault troops, which are larger than usual rifle squads carrying a substantial amount of SMGs. Pretty cool, but especially if you know these guns are Chicago-style old-school M1928 Thompsons. Not only that, but fast and iconic BT-7 tank can also be found in this battlegroup as one of the last remaining Soviet ones being used in a combat capacity. Lend-lease units round out this battlegroup, from M3 Lee tanks to P-40 Kittyhawk fighters.
  
  
• Podv. Gruppa Vyborg
  
  One of the most powerful combat groups of the Leningrad Front, the Podv. Gruppa Vyborg was destined to exploit any breakthrough made in the Karelia sector. As such, this battlegroup focuses heavily on its armored role, featuring everything from T-26 tanks (including assault gun and flamethrower variant) to the T-34/76, KV-1, the IS-2 and even lend-lease Churchill tanks. Its infantry and artillery units are highly specialized but few and far between.
  
  
• 358-ya Strelkovy Div
  
  The 358th Rifle Division earned their stripes in one of the other locations already present in Steel Division 2: the hotly-contested battlegrounds of Vitebsk. Part of the first, failed Soviet offensive in 1943, the division was rebuilt and sent north to support the assault on the Finnish lines a year later. A veteran formation, its soldiers are experts in close combat attacks, including its specialized Gruppa Zachistki (“trench cleaners”). The battlegroup can choose T-26, T-60 and T-70 light tanks, a few T-34/76, and even ISU-122 and brand-new ISU-122S tank destroyers to serve as armored support.

What’s up next?

If you haven’t, make sure to grab your History Pass. With this History Pass you’ll get access to all three planned DLC’s for Steel Division 2. You can play number one, “Death on the Vistula”, as we speak. Number two, “The Fate of Finland”, has now been revealed and will release in the next two months. Number three: well, you need to hold on tight for that one as it is still some ways off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/988171/Steel_Division_2__History_Pass/

That’s it for this week’s post. Keep a close eye out on our Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our [https://discord.gg/TEeBArm]Discord channel[/url] or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello everyone.

We have some exciting news to share with you. Are you ready? Drumroll, please…



We are ready to reveal the next upcoming History DLC for Steel Division 2 “The Fate of Finland”. The expansion should launch within the next two months. We are hard at work, but we can’t tell you the exact date just yet.

Some of you internet sleuths already figured out that the next battlefield would be Finland. Very astute.

The new History DLC is set on the heavily defended Karelian Isthmus in the south-east of the country during the summer of 1944. The “Fate of Finland” DLC will bring six new divisions (three for both the Axis and Allies), as well as 200 new units, new camouflage skins, new aces, a new unit trait, a brand-new Army General Campaign, two new Historical Battles, and much more.

Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect.

The Finnish Front 1944

Chronologically, the new DLC stays close to the general timeline found in the Steel Division games: the summer of 1944. With the new expansion, we will transport the player to the far north of the Eastern Front, where the Finns, their German allies and the Soviets have been locked in a stalemate for a number of years - also known as the Continuation War.

Finland, having allied itself with Nazi-Germany to reclaim what it lost in the Winter War of 1939, has governed over a mostly static front. However, by June 1944, things were heating up as the Leningrad siege had been lifted and Stavka was planning a large offensive to knock the Finns out of the war.

The “Fate of Finland” DLC deals with the massive Red Army assault, which began on June 10th, 1944 and resulted in the breakthrough of several defensive lines on the fortified Karelian Isthmus, the subsequent fall of Vyborg, and near-collapse of the Finnish Army. The centerpiece is the crucial battle of Tali-Ihantala, where the resilient Finns finally managed to stop the Soviet advance - but at great cost.



The Divisions

We will take a closer look at each division and their new units in a blog post closer to launch, but for now, we’ll give you a sneak peek at some of the battlegroups you’ll be able to form in the new DLC. You’ll find three new divisions on each side.



The Axis

• Panssaridivisioona - As the sole armored division of the Finnish Army, this military formation can count on a wide array of different vehicles and tanks, from T-38 and T-50 to the BT-42 assault gun.
  
• Ryhmä Raappana - Meaning “Group Raappana” is an infantry force made up of regular riflemen, cavalry troops, assault Jääkäri and more. Excellent on the defense and in close-combat situations.
  
• 122. Infanterie-Division - German reinforcements rushed north to stem the Soviet tide. This division also fields Estonian volunteers and the powerful Luftwaffe air group “Detachment Kuhlmey”.

The Allies

• 126-y L. Gornostrelkovy Korpus - This Soviet division features elite infantry, including mountain troops, as well as a powerful airforce consisting of lend-lease A-20, P-40 Kittyhawk, and Hurricanes.
  
• Podv. Gruppa Vyborg - One of the ad-hoc military formations of the Leningrad Front, this mobile group is heavily armored, and includes various T-26 tank variants to the mighty IS-2 and even Churchill tanks.
  
• 358-ya Strelkovy Div. - The veterans of Vitebsk, this rebuilt division was redeployed north to spearhead the assault on the Finnish defensive lines. Very experienced, this battlegroup features brand-new ISU-122S tank destroyers.

One new unit trait is the “Raider” unit type. A Raider unit can operate behind enemy lines and doesn’t suffer any moral or combat efficiency penalties doing so. In our first game, this was a common trait found with paratroopers, but in Steel Division 2 the Raider trait can be found with Soviet mountain troops.

The Army General Campaign and Historical Battles



The Army General campaign puts you in the shoes of either the Soviet commander ready to break out of the Karelian front or the Finnish general desperate to hold the line.

One new feature will be the so-called Fortified Region unit, a new type of Soviet battalion. The role of this largely static military formation was to hold extended stretches of the frontline. As an infantry battalion in Army General, they are very weak, but once entrenched, are much more difficult to defeat, being able to call upon more bunkers and defenses compared to a normal infantry battalion.

The two Historical Battles, which we will detail in the future, will cover some of the most important engagements that occurred during the Red Army’s push across the isthmus. This includes the armored clash at Portinhoikka, one of the rare tank-on-tank battles on this part of the front. A second scenario deals with the attack and brutal counter-offensive in the Ilomantsi sector, which saw the Finns use their famous Mötti encirclement tactics, as well as the deployment of elite Soviet navy infantry.



What’s Next?

As we mentioned before, we’ll take a much closer look at some of the new features, aces, divisions, scenarios, and units at a later date.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/988171/Steel_Division_2__History_Pass/

If you haven’t, be sure to grab yourself the History Pass for Steel Division 2. With it, you’ll get access to all the three History DLC’s planned for our game, including the new “The Fate of Finland” DLC and the “Death on the Vistula” DLC.

So, keep an eye out on our Steam and Eugen forums and social channels (Facebook and Twitter).

You’ll hear from us soon!

Hello there!

We’ll be releasing a patch for Steel Division 2 today which should significantly decrease the online waiting times with some of the server formats that we use.

Right now, players can wait a long time for a 10v10 server to fill up. We worked on an update that should alleviate some of the waiting times.

What this new patch does is to automatically assign virtual players depending on the total waiting time of a server, thus reducing it.

Not only that, but we have also opened up a number of new 3v3 and 4v4 servers. Previously, this server format could only be custom created by the players themselves. Now, there should be several ready-made in the server list.



PATCHLOG :

SMART ORDERS:

• Counter-Battery order's reactivity has been toned down.
  
  GENERIC:
  
• Forgotten transports (SdKfz. 251/9, GMC .50, Kangaroo, WC 52 .50, M4 HST) from the last patch now have the new standard prices.
  
  ALLIES:
  
• Increased the 4,2-inch Mortar's supply cost.
  
• Increased the M1 Carbine x8's damages (they dealt the same damag as x6).
  
• Increased the French & US Sherman OP's 155mm salvos from 2 to 3, as other off-map observers.
  
  AXIS:
  
• Increased Axis pionners' explosives' aim time from 3 to 4s, on par with the Allies'.
  
• Increased Ersatztruppen HG’s availability from 12 to 18 (forgotten in previous patch).
  
• Decreased Schuma from 15 to 10
  
• Decreased Landesschutzen Ost from 20 to 15
  
• Decreased Rona Schutzen from 25 to 20
  
• Decreased LVF's price Gren from 25 to 20
  
  Let us know if everything works well (or not) or if you have any questions. We’d love to hear from you! You can always drop us a line on our Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our [https://discord.gg/TEeBArm]Discord channel

[/url] or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

The “1st Steel Division 2 Championship” will be a 1v1 tournament that starts on the 11th of January at 15 CET(Central European Time) and it will be played until the Semi-Finals. Semi-Finals and Finals shall be played on the 12th of January 2020 (The Bronze Match and the Finals can be delayed if needed)

To Participate you have to join the Official Steel Division Discord
Invite: https://discord.gg/UxF3j88



Format:
The tournament will be a Single Elimination BO1 event until the Semi-Finals. Once the Semi-Finals phase is reached all games will be a BO3(Best of 3 games).

The players defeated in the Semi-Finals will play a Bronze Match to decide who is the 3rd and 4th place.

Prizes are yet to be announced(but there will be prizes.)
The winner of the Tournament will gain a prize for him as well as the discord he comes from. (If someone from the Official Discord wins we will giveaway the extra prize.) See: Sign up link for more informations on what that means

Rules:

To decide a map the allies player bans 3 map using the $banmap (map name) command, if you are unsure what a map is called use the $maps command to have the exact name list of all maps available.
Once the map bans from the allied side is done the axis player bans another 3 maps and then the command $rmap 1v1 is used to decide the map played.
Each players has a total of THREE division bans. Allies ban 3 divisions first and then the axis bans 3.

Each match UNTIL THE SEMI-FINALS consists of 1 game. After the

Semi-Finals each match is a Best of 3 (whoever wins 2 games wins the match)

Mirrors aren't allowed.

To decide the sides players should flip a coin using the $flip command in the #SODROOM-Championship room(You will have access to this room when you sign up.)

Games will be played with:
750 Start Points
Medium income
Medium game speed
Eastern front mode (conquest)

Any exploits and cheats are forbidden, if we find out any kind of advantage was gained due to an exploit or cheat the player accused will be banned from any future tournaments organized in the Discord.

Offending another player is also not accepted and will be met with similar consequences.

Reporting results:
To post a result make sure you are registered by using the command $register
Results will be posted using the #SODBOT-Results channel in the Steel Division Discord(Access will be given to this room when you sign up.), you will need to drop the replay file into this channel and the bot shall do the rest.

If anything is unclear feel free to ask a moderator.

Have fun !

Happy New Year, commander!

The whole Eugen team wishes you all the best for 2020. May you win many battles and be ever-victorious in Steel Division 2!

We wanted to kick off the new year with a bit of a recap of 2019, which was quite momentous for us as we released Steel Division 2.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate what has come to pass, so we can focus fully on all the exciting new things that are just around the corner.

New players and veterans alike: gather around. Let’s see what 2019 meant for Eugen, Steel Division 2, and you, the community.

New Steel Division 2 Features - January to March

Around this time last year, we were knee-deep building up Steel Division 2 to the version you would see at release. This means that the Eugen team was hard at work getting all the new bits in - functional in the beginning, fun at the end. Compared to Steel Division: Normandy 44 we had a slew of new features we were aching to use, most of which we revealed in our dev diaries in the early months of 2019.



Army General
The biggest new feature of Steel Division 2: our dynamic strategic campaigns, the turn-based Army General mode. Making all the individual parts of the Army General to work took its time, from the way the information was displayed, the art style of the map, to the intricate interplay between different types of battalions, and much, much more.

Between January and the launch of Steel Division 2 in June, quite a bit changed within Army General.

In this dev diary, you can read how we envisaged combat to work in Army General. Can you spot the differences?

One thing left behind on the cutting room floor was full multiplayer integration. It wasn’t easy to exclude player-vs-player action, but in the end we made a choice to spend more time to give this functionality all the love and attention it required. And, lo and behold, in the very near future, you should be able to play an Army General campaign with or against your friend.



Defensive Structures
The new defenses (barbed wire, trenches, the bunkers ready-equipped with machine guns or AT pieces) are another new feature in Steel Division 2. We had been toying with the idea for a long time, and with our new game, we made an effort to implement defensive structures in a smart and fun way. We settled on creating a new game mode (Breakthrough) to accommodate the defensive structures, and to not allow them in a Conquest game. Also, we wanted to give our in-game divisions some additional power, especially if they lacked the latest tank models or elite infantry. That’s why Rating C Divisions (184th Rifle Division, Armia Krajowa, Korück 559, and 12. Tartalék) have eight open defensive slots and have access to the best bunker with a 75mm AT gun.

Read more about the Defensive Structures in this dev diary right here.



Deck Builder
A couple of neat things can be found in another new feature we brought to Steel Division 2: the revamped Deck Builder. While recognizable for any Steel Division: Normandy 44 player, the version seen in our new game carried some improvements. One of the biggest was the flexible economy rate you could set for each of your battlegroups. Another was giving the player the option to set the veterancy and allowing them to decide how many copies of a particular unit they wanted to bring.

Read more about the new Deck Builder in this dev diary.



Steel Division 2 Beta - March 27th

At the end of March, players who pre-order Steel Division 2 could play the game for the very first time in an exclusive time-limited closed beta. At this point, we already had to push back the launch of the game a number of times, but we really wanted our fans to sample the game ahead of the full launch. It would not only give us critical feedback but also see how the backend and all of our support infrastructure and machinery would hold up.

Luckily, it was a great success! We ran a number of additional betas, with the last phase running uninterrupted before the full launch of Steel Division 2.



Launch - 20 June

This was a big day for us: the launch of Steel Division 2. By this time, we had been working on the game for many months, and we were finally able to release it into the wild. Steel Division 2 came with a solid foundation (the first Steel Division) but was plenty different, not only thanks to the awesome feedback from you, the community. We also took the chance to introduce some features we always wanted while exploring a setting and timeline (Operation Bagration) we felt was frequently overlooked in the history books.

Steel Division 2 had arrived, and everything, from the initial positive reception to later reviews and healthy player numbers, was much more than we could have asked for!



Death on the Vistula DLC Launch - 17 Oct

Our first History DLC, “The Death on the Vistula”, launched on the 17th of October. As part of our efforts to widen the scope of the military history we try to depict in Steel Division 2, shifting the battlefield further west, but still within the historical context of the game’s Operation Bagration, made a lot of sense. Not only that, it allowed us to play with cool new units such as the Sturmtiger or, for instance, the heroic soldiers of the Polish Home Army.

We are planning to release two more History DLC’s. If you want to get access to all three expansions, don’t hesitate to get the History Pass by following the link below!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/988171/Steel_Division_2__History_Pass/

In case you have forgotten, the reveal of the next History DLC is almost upon us. Keep a close eye out on our Steam and Eugen forums, or social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our [https://discord.gg/TEeBArm]Discord channel[/url] or Reddit page.



Smart Orders - 17 Oct

The Smart Orders was one of the first Reinforcement Pack updates we pushed out for Steel Division 2. These are free updates available to all our players! We know that our games can be a challenge to get into, with a steep learning curve and lots of things happening at the same time during a tactical battle. To lessen the micromanagement load, we opted to develop a new feature: Smart Orders. This new information panel and unit order mechanic was released at the same time as our first History DLC, and made commanding your troops and vehicles on the battlefield much easier by automating some of their behaviour!

We will continue down the line to make Steel Division 2 more accessible by the upcoming Rules of Engagement mechanic. Read more about this upcoming feature in this blog post here.



Modding Tools - 15 Nov

The last date we want to look at was when we released the Modding Tools at the tail-end of 2019. The modding tools are something that we have wanted to release to our community for a long time, but it takes effort, manpower, and resources to get it done properly. In the end, we managed, and we have already started seeing the first player-created mods hit the game. We can’t wait for more!

Conclusion

That’s it for today’s post. You’ll hear from us soon.

See you on the battlefield, commander!