Hello there!

As you know, we are working on our next Steel Division 2 DLC. We are going to highlight an often overlooked part of the Eastern Front - and two combatants not typically put in the spotlight.

The Battle of Turda was a hard-fought campaign pitting Axis Hungary against freshly Allied Romania, which saw heavy fighting in the Northern Transylvania region in September 1944.

In last week’s blog post, we summarized what you can expect with this new DLC. You won’t only get to play in a massive new Army General strategic campaign, but also several new divisions and two new Aces will be featured.

Today we will take a long look at our first Battle of Turda division. It might not come as a complete surprise, but let’s welcome to the stage the Hungarian 2nd Armored Division.

The Hungarian 2nd Armored Division

The 2. Páncéloshadosztály (or in plain English, the 2nd Armored Division) was Axis Hungary’s best equipped and most powerful division by the summer of 1944. The formation was originally formed in October 1941 as part of the second stage (Huba II) of the Huba Army Expansion and Mobilization Plan. This plan was the main pre-war guideline for Hungary’s force expansion during World War II. The original structure - which was tweaked and influenced by events on the ground and the difficulty of equipping all units with heavy weaponry - foresaw a Hungarian Army in 1943 with 25 light infantry divisions, 2 armored divisions, 1 cavalry division, 2 mountain brigades, and more.

According to this plan, the 2nd Armored Division (or 2. Páncélos) was supposed to be combat-ready by early 1942. In reality, only the close cousin armored formation, the 1. Tábori Páncéloshadosztály (1st Field Armored Division), was deemed fit for the front (with obsolete tanks) by spring 1942. After the 1. Páncélos was shipped to the front, the 2. Páncélos receives its much-needed share of equipment and vehicles.



Even if the tanks arrived slowly, the motorization of its troops remained a serious problem for Hungary. Civilian trucks equipped the Hungarian Army in 1942-43, only to be lost during the Don retreat in 1943. The losses of Hungary’s motor pool during that time were over half of the total the country fielded. As a result, in early 1944, the 2. Páncélos much like other formations, was still missing the vital transports and trucks. Some units were even downgraded back to horses!

A fit fighting force

Interestingly enough, the number of tanks was not the issue in the early war years of 2. Páncélos. This gave its crew plenty of opportunities to train; so much so, that the armor started to break down after too intense training use.

The prospects of Nazi Germany losing became increasingly clearer after 1943. Hungary started to think seriously about war coming to its frontiers. As such, the army kept its best divisions (2. Páncélos and 1. Lovas) close to home. In early 1944, the Hungarian leadership began secret negotiations with the Allies to seek a separate peace. However, Germany got wind, and in Operation Margarethe in March 1944, Hungary was swiftly occupied with the Hungarian government replaced by a puppet regime.

After this bloodless coup, the Hungarian's fresh fighting forces were dispatched to stem the tide of the incoming Red Army. As you know, 1. Lovas ended up in Belarus, during the Baranovichi scenario of Operation Bagration, featured in our Steel Division 2 base Army General campaign.

2. Páncélos’s fate was nearer to home. First, the armored division was assigned to the Hungarian First Army, and ordered into Galicia. It repelled Soviet counter-attacks before being pulled back into reserve, covering the retreat of other Hungarian troops. In a month of fighting, the 2. Páncélos had proven itself well. Its equipment, however, was completely obsolete. The formation received some second-hand German tanks, including a handful of Panthers and Tigers. One (reduced) battalion came to be fully regrouped with German war machines, while another battalion was brought up to full strength with Hungarian vehicles.

End of the war

After the refit, and back in Hungary, the division, much like the rest of the country, prepared to defend their soil against the inevitable Soviet invasion. However, Romania’s change of sides changed the strategic calculation in one fell swoop. The Hungarian II. Corps was ordered into Romania, with 2. Páncélos spearheading the offensive. There were several objectives of the assault, but the offensive was in no small part fueled by Hungarian’s wish to (re)gain control over Romania’s Northern Transylvania region.

The 2. Páncélos division advanced deep into Romanian-held territory, but couldn’t break through the front completely. Failing to secure the Carpathian Mountains’ passes before the Red Army arrived, the Hungarian offensive stalled and turned into a drawn-out battle for the city of Turda on the Arieș river.



The 2. Páncélos battled and managed to stop a number of Romanian-Soviet counter-attacks. After several pauses in combat, the formation was relieved by the German 23. Panzer at the end of September. A mere shadow of its former self, the 2. Páncélos was decimated in the defensive actions near the Ipel River, in Hungary proper, in late December 1944, before ultimately surrendering to Soviet forces in Austria in April 1945.

What to expect in-game?

All right: history lesson over. What can you expect of our 2. Páncélos, aka 2nd Armored Division in Steel Division 2?

- The defining feature of the division will be its large choice of tanks: from Hungarian Toldi II, Turan I and II, but also Panzer IV H. You will also encounter a single card each of Panther A (as well as Ervin Tarczay featured in a single Panther commander tank) and Tiger E. There are going to be plenty of cheap slots and choices, with the pick of the litter being Hungarian armored vehicles (and Germans, but less so).



- The division’s infantry will be Mot. Lovesz infantry, organized much more like a typical German squad. All squads have a machine gun, in many cases an MG-42, while others retain the Solothurn 31M but also field the Hungarian Bazooka, a 44.M rocket launcher. This latter weapon is a crossover between a bazooka and a Panzerschreck; technologically, it's closer to the former, with more armor penetration.



- Anti-tank guns include a mix of 97/38M old pieces, as well as the more modern PaK 40. It will also feature the StuG III G, used in this division as a tank destroyer.



- Another feature of the 2. Páncélos is the huge (unmatched by any other division during the war) number of self-propelled anti-air guns (SPAAGS), amounting to 40x Nimrod vehicles, not including towed Bofors and 80mm AA guns. That’s a serious amount of AA!

More details will come in the future.

A brief summary

In case you missed it, The Battle of Turda DLC will feature:

• One new Army General campaign centered on the Battle of Turda.
  
• Six new divisions.
  
  • Of which three will be Romanian.
    
  • And two will be Hungarian, with one German.
• Many of the above divisions will be mixed, with units from various nations, such as Romanian-Soviet or Hungarian-German.
  
• One or two new maps.
  
• 2 Aces,Hungarian tank commander Lieutenant Ervin Tarczay, and Romanian fighter ace, Captain Dan Vizanti.

Au revoir and until next week!

That’s all! We’ll be back next week with the first look at a new Allied division for the The Battle of Turda.

Until then, keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively Steel Division 2 community!

See you!

Hello commander!

We already shared the first historical tidbits of our new Army General the Battle of Turda. Today we’ll lift the tip of the veil even further - on all the gameplay content you can expect in this new Steel Division 2 DLC, including a highlight on two new Aces.

Keep reading to find out more.

A brief summary

The Battle of Turda pits two nations at a cross-roads: Axis Hungary and Allied Romania. By the time of the events depicted in our Army General campaign, the two had been reluctant allies on the side of Nazi Germany for the duration of World War II. During the massive Red Army offensive into Romania proper, in August 1944, Romania under King Michael I switched teams. This created a period of chaos, with retreating Axis troops, Romanians fighting against former allies, and Soviets hurriedly gaining as much territory as possible.

Hungary and Romania had a complex relationship stemming from grievances over territory exchanges after World War I. In September 1944, Axis Hungary saw an opportunity to deliver a decisive blow, enter northwest Romania, gain valuable land, and establish a forward defensive line away from Hungary’s frontiers. When the armed forces of these two frenemies clashed near Turda, they were supported by their “big brothers,” Germany and the Soviet Union, but most of the fighting was done by the minor nations themselves.

What to expect?

At Eugen, we love to shine a spotlight on the battles, armies, events, and campaigns easily overlooked in the history books. The Battle of Turda is one of those. So what can you expect of our new DLC?

• One new Army General campaign centered on the Battle of Turda.
  
• A whopping 6 new divisions (more details in the future).
  
  
  • Of which, 3 will be Romanian.
    
  • And 2 will be Hungarian, while 1 will be German.
• Note that some of the above divisions will be mixed, with units from various nations, such as Romanian-Soviet or Hungarian-German.
  
• One new map.
  
• 2 Aces (read more about them below).

As you know, Romania is already in the game (listed under the Axis). With the Battle of Turda, we will “double” the Romanians as an Allied nation as well.

The Aces

One thing we can do, is to provide more details on the two new Aces to be featured in the Battle of Turda DLC. Let’s welcome to the stage Hungarian tank commander Lieutenant Ervin Tarczay, and Romanian fighter ace, Captain Dan Vizanti.

Ervin Tarczay

Our Hungarian tank commander was part of the Hungarian 2nd Armored Division, becoming the nation’s most prolific tank ace. During World War II, Ervin Tarczay gained plentiful experience in a Turan II tank, fighting the Red Army in Ukraine and on the frontier of the Carpathian Mountains. After transitioning to Tiger 1 E heavy tanks, his company ended up being equipped with Panter tanks. Using these, Tarczay overcame the first Romanian resistance when advancing from the Hungarian border towards Turda in early September.



During the course of the Battle of Turda, our Ace was fighting against ever-stiffening resistance, including reinforcing Red Army armored formations. Tarczay’s unit claimed a host of tanks and other vehicles before being surrounded at the end of October. Pushing through, he continued to fight in Hungary and near Vienna until being mortally wounded in the middle of March, 1945.
In Steel Division 2, he will be featured in his "231" Panther A command tank (see screenshot above).

Dan Vizanti

The Romanian Dan Vizanti was the nation’s fourth top-scoring ace during World War II. He first distinguished himself on the Eastern Front, with multiple combat missions flown and kills confirmed from the very beginning of Operation Barbarossa. Having completed over 50 missions over the Soviet Union, Vizanti later defended Bucharest and the Ploesti oil fields against Allied strategic bombing attacks.



After the country’s switch, he continued flying, but this time against his former comrades-in-arms. At the end of World War II, he had accumulated 43 personal victories against Soviet, American & German pilots! Mostly ignored by his Romanian compatriots after the war, it took various decades before Vizanti was honored more prominently, including several French awards.
In Steel Division 2, we will feature him in a Romanian-made, Bambi-adorned IAR-81C fighter plane (see screenshot above).

Au revoir and until next week!

That’s it for this week.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively Steel Division 2 community!

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander!

After last week’s dive into history with our upcoming Army General campaign DLC, the Battle of Turda, pitting Axis Hungary versus Allied Romania, today we circle back to the soon-to-launch Nemesis: Raid on Drvar.

One of the final elements coming in hot in our new Nemesis DLC are the dialogue lines, or as we call them, acknows. We wanted to tell you more about how we handle this vital aspect of our sound design.

The first step: writing and translating

The devil is in the detail. The Steel Division 2 experience and authenticity extends beyond graphics or core game mechanics. Such as? The soundscape, including the all-important dialogue.

We take great efforts in having the sound, from music to the explosions and the spoken word, be top-notch, realistic and immersive. That includes acknows. These are the short dialogue lines said by the various units in their original language.

Every unit in Steel Division 2 has a set of dialogue linked to an action, order, or battlefield event. If you click a unit, we hear the acknow. The voice can differ from nation to nation, division to division, and type (armor, infantry, artillery, etc.) and sub-category (anti-tank teams, anti-tank guns, or tank destroyers, for instance).


The vast majority of the lines are similar across languages and unit types. Think of a unit mentioning to the player that they are under attack. However, close to 10% of dialogue for a nation are unique and personal (movie quotes, singing a song, etc.).

The lines are initially written in English and then translated by professional translators into the language required. Before moving to the actual recording step, we have members of our community proofread and double-check the military jargon for accuracy. Yes, a slight disclaimer, we have learned this vital part the hard way (Danish Wargame fans know what we are talking about).

Second step: recording

Now, the second stage: selecting the right actors. Voice acting is a tough job, make no mistake. It involves screaming (a lot), finding the “right” voice, emphasizing words and phrases in the perfect way. It’s one of those situations that when it works, it's the best thing ever and you never think twice, but if it doesn’t… the faults are rather obvious.



After the lines are written and translated, we look for freelance voice actors for our target nations. This involves a lot of “testing” of voice samples. Certain nations are much easier to check, as the pool of actors is larger (say American or British English, German, Russian). The more specialized the language or accent, the smaller the roster of actors, and more of a challenge it is to find the right one. Guess one? That’s right… Maori!

Putting some spirit into it

After finding the right fit, we devise a plan of attack, reach out to the actor, and have them record a couple of sample lines following our precise guidelines. It involves a lot of “I’m under fire” or “I’m hit, arghhh.” We are looking for actors to punch it up and deliver some guts, allowing us to make it even more credible and realistic.



Of course, a key aspect is that the acknows are being said by soldiers and pilots on the frontline, not in a comfy recording studio. It needs to feel and sound natural, not bland and uninspired. Lots of our dialogue lines feature specific directions (“Under fire” can be expressed panicked, cool, distraught, etc.).

Some less-than-inspired recordings:

Give Them Hell
Fire at will

And now some that speak volumes of the kind of voice acting we are looking for:

ITA
BRZ

Nemesis: Raid on Drvar was a new challenge for us, as we worked with no less than three different languages: Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian. There are even some Slovenian lines too!

Chetnik Mars (plain)
Chetnik Ne Pucajte! (plain)

The final step

After the successful cajoling of our voice actors, and having the audio lines in our sound files, we need to spruce them up. The finishing touch is some effect magic. This will make the actors sound like they are in the open, or inside a button-down vehicle, or in a plane speaking through a radio. For instance, some of the Chetnik lines above after the audio treatment:

Chetnik Mars
Chetnik Ne Pucajte!

Nemesis: Raid on Drvar coming soon

We are still chipping away at Nemesis: Raid on Drvar! As mentioned previously, the awesome Strike Team is busy testing and checking all the hard work for bugs, issues, and other technical hazards.

You might have noticed that they are already streaming the new DLC, meaning that after implementing the missing acknowledgments detailed above, and some touch-up brush strokes, we’ll be ready to roll!

Au revoir and until next week!

Once again, we have to leave you be. As always, it won’t be for too long.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively Steel Division 2 community!

See you!

Hello!

As teased in last week’s post, we are ready to lift the veil on our next Steel Division 2 DLC, a brand-spanking-new Army General campaign! This one is almost entirely focused on a series of clashes fought - uniquely - between two former allies: Axis Hungary and (recently turned) Allied Romania.

Let’s swing the camera to the southern flank of the Eastern Front and zoom in on The Battle of Turda, in northwestern Romania, also known as Transylvania. The time is September 1944, and the Romanians have only just changed sides, from Axis to Allies. The country is suffering a chaotic confluence of attacking and retreating forces of four different armies. The western frontier lies open; former “frenemy” Hungary sees a juicy opportunity...

A State of War

War descended chaotically on Romania in August and September 1944. As we already depicted in our major expansion Steel Division 2: Black Sunday, Romania changed sides, from Axis to Allied, in a surprise move after the Red Army began their massive strategic pincer offensive from the north. Soon after, another minor Axis ally, Bulgaria, followed suit and joined the Soviet camp.



In one fell swoop, the whole southeastern flank of the Eastern Front burst open. Germany lost a large quantity of material and manpower. Many troops hurriedly tried to make their way towards Hungary and Axis-controlled territory, pursued by Soviet forces. It was a hot, confused mess, with many Romanian units being captured and marched off to POW camps, while others turned their guns on their former allies.

Further west, Hungary remained in the Axis camp, and they saw a direct opportunity to take advantage and inflict a damaging blow on their old nemesis, Romania. You see, Hungary and Romania had been very (very) reluctant allies under the thumb of Nazi Germany, having seen each other's territory change hands - specifically Transylvania - multiple times in the last few decades. Bad blood festers.

The Hungarians strike first

In the first two weeks of September, Hungarian forces rushed into Romania’s mountainous South Carpathia in order to secure the vital mountain passes leading from the rest of Romania. There was a certain amount of enthusiasm by the Hungarian troops, eager to liberate part of, what they considered, to be Hungarian Transylvania.

The offensive would not only provide a critical lifeline to friendly, retreating Axis troops, but it would also block access to Soviet forces hot on their heels, and safeguard the Hungarian lands - for the time being. Along the way, the objectives were changed, with the Hungarians ultimately settling on establishing a more easily defensive line following the course of the Maros river. The main attacking Hungarian force was the Hungarian Second Army, including the 2nd Armored Division, the nation’s most powerful and best-equipped formation.

What few Romanian territorial and independent mountain battalions were in the region sprung into action in a rushed and desperate attempt to counter the Hungarians. Other Romanian forces, including what armored units left, joined the fight. Later on, Soviet reinforcements from the Second Ukrainian Front managed to provide critical battlefield support.



Unique to this battle is that the offensive was carried out almost completely by the minor allies themselves, at least in the early stages, with the Hungarians on the attack and the outgunned Romanians throwing up a hard-fought defense.

The Army General campaign

The new Battle of Turda Army General campaign will focus on the first stages of the combat as they developed from September 5th to 15th, 1944. This includes the opening Hungarian offensive toward Turda and subsequent capture of the city. We then see the Romanian defensive efforts slow down, then stop the Hungarian attacks. Finally, we also experience the initial combined Romanian-Soviet counter-offensive on Turda.



Historically, this first Allied counter-attack was a failure, which led to a lull in the fighting after September 15th (hence why we’re stopping there). In real-life, afterward, the Romanian-Soviet forces renewed their attacks until the fighting near Turda died down later in the month, with Allied offensive efforts directed in other sectors. Ultimately, the Romanians managed to push out the Axis troops out of their country, and the fight for Hungary itself began in earnest in October 1944.

The Battle of Turda features a campaign with the combat being quite even between both sides, with the Hungarians having the edge at the start, while the Romanians build up their forces until powerful enough to counter-attack and overwhelm their opponent at the end. Both “parent” armies, Soviet and German, will reinforce their minor allies, though mostly in a supporting role.

Nemesis: Raid on Drvar

Of course, we are still busy bees with Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. We are waiting for the last recordings of our voice actors. In the meantime: the new divisions are being tested by the Strike Team. They will be allowed to stream the content of this Steel Division 2 DLC by the end of this week!

Au revoir and until next week!

That’s it for now. We will provide more details on the actual troops, formations, and reinforcements you’ll have at your disposal in the Battle of Turda Army General campaign in the near future!

Until then, keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively community!

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander!

We hope you are well. Busy as we are, today will be a shorter post. Not only is the Nemesis: Raid on Drvar launch getting nearer, but we also have a balance patch being uploaded for Steel Division 2 as we speak!

Keep reading to find out more.

A short Drvar update

First off: Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. We have all the art for the Infantry units done. Check them out below.



One element we aim to complete soon as well is the voice-over acting. Now, our focus is always on authenticity, so in order to have the Yugoslav partisans of the NOV be as realistic as possible, we enlisted the help of Serbian, Bosnian and Croat voice actors. We hope you are going to like the result!

And others!

Apart from Nemesis: Raid on Drvar, a new patch for Steel Division 2 has just been released. This includes:

• Two (!) new recuts from our Tannenberg map. We offer both a new 1v1 variant, and a new 2v2/3v3 variant. Read more about two revisions the blog post here.
  
• We have balanced (read "nerfed") five “overperforming” divisions: 5. Gebirgsdivision, 3. and 4. Fallschirmdivision, 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division and Task Force 45.

• Although we prioritized the above battlegroups, we are also working on addressing other divisions (both over- and underperforming) by looking at the data and overall win rates. We will handle these in the next patch, which we hope to deliver with Nemesis: Raid on Drvar’s release.
  
• Fixing the issues reported after our Steel Division: Tribute to the Liberation of Italy launch.

Oh, and dropping a sweet tease, but we as you know we are also already working on the next next DLC for Steel Division 2. That’s right: a fresh Army General campaign is coming your way. You’ll know more soon!

Nemesis: Raid on Drvar Details

There should be no surprise that after our latest major expansion, Steel Division: Tribute to the Liberation of Italy, it is full steam ahead for Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. Be sure to check out the most recent blog posts detailing the two new battlegroup forces you’ll get to play with:

• A new preview of the Axis battlegroup Unternehmen Rosselsprung in this blog post here.
  
• The Allied partisan army of NOV gets highlighted in a new blog post, which you can read here.
  
• We ran a detailed breakdown of the Air Forces featured in the Nemesis: Raid on Drvar in this dedicated blog post here.

Until next week!

We will be back soon. Until then, take care!

As always, keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively community!

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander !

Today let’s turn an eye toward the Balkans' sky to delight inthe various planes fighting over its control in the upcoming Nemesis: Raid on Drvar DLC.

The program includes the small but colorful and disparate Croatian Air Force, as well as some new allied machines.

Foreword

Before you ask when will Nemesis: Raid on Drvar be released, here’s an update on its progress.

The DLC is finished as far as models & unit balance is concerned: what we still need to produce now are soldiers’ portrait for the infantry unit cards.

Another missing element is the voice-acting, something we can’t do internally. Especially since the new units will be voiced in several Yugoslav languages, all to be translated from English and native-speaking actors to be found and recorded.

Yet, the current version will be in the hand of the Strike Team by the end of this week, in order to speed up the testing before release …

Checkerboard Air Force

Croatian ground troops will be featured among German ones in Unternehmen Rösselsprung, although mostly as infantry with a few obsolete Italian armored vehicles. But its main contribution will be through the disparate & colorful ZDNH (stands for Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske, meaning Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia).



The ZDNH was founded on April 19th, 1941, nine days after the creation of the Axis-controlled Independent State of Croatia. Although it requested Me-109 from Germany, the latter only delivered some 300 old Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) captured planes, most of them damaged and in need of repair. Yet, a fighter and a bomber squadron were detached to the Luftwaffe in late 1941 to fight in the Soviet Union, those pilots being trained and equipped with German planes, respectively Me-109 & Do-17. But by late 1942, all Croatian pilots were back home to fight against the Allied bombers and Yugoslav partisans.
To the end of the war, it will remain their main foes …



From 1942, the NDZH expanded thanks to delivery of more VVKJ salvaged planes, or Italian and German ones. A logistical nightmare, it operated planes of Yugoslav, German, Italian, French, Czech. & French origins! But save for a few German bombers, most of them were leftovers from the main Axis powers.

This situation changed with the capitulation of Italy in September 1943: from an auxiliary force to Italy & Germany, Croatia became Germany’s main, most trusted ... and sole real ally in the Balkans. The NDZH managed to secure some more modern Italian planes, but it was only a momentary improvement: with Italy out of the fight (and thus no parts deliveries), the Croatian Air Force couldn’t expect to maintain those machines for long.

That is the state of the NDZH when Unternehmen Rösselsprung is launched in late May, 1944.
At that time, the Croatian Air Force has the following planes on inventory, all of them featured ingame:

• BH-33E-SHS (Czech.)
  
• BLENHEIM MK. I (British)
  
• C.202 serie XII FOLGORE (Italian)
  
• C.205V serie III VELTRO (Italian)
  
• Ca.310bis LIBECCIO (Italian)
  
• Do 17 E-1 (German)
  
• Do 17 Kb-1 (German)
  
• G.50bis FRECCIA (Italian)
  
• IK-2 (Yugoslav)
  
• M.S.406 C1 (French)

Many planes were only available in a very low number, some only one or two models. Therefore, most Croatian planes ingame will only have one card available, and in many cases not complete over all three phases.

RECON:
Being a search & destroy operation, Unternehmen Rösselsprung relies heavily on recon.
BH-33E-SHS, is a recon biplane armed with both MGs & cluster bomblets, while Ca.310bis LIBECCIO, a recon bomber, is loaded with 4x 100kg bombs.



M.S.406 C1 is a slow but agile, lightly armed recon fighter, whereas the BLENHEIM MK. I is a light bomber converted to reconnaissance and only armed with defensive armament.



FIGHTERS:
NDZH relies on the Italian C.202 serie XII FOLGORE & C.205V serie III VELTRO fighter planes for air superiority, the former being among the planes available in greatest numbers.



They are backed by trainer aircrafts turned fighters such as the, also Italian, G.50bis FRECCIA and the rarer and sole WW2 Yugoslav plane, the IK-2. Lightly armed, lightly armored, they are both very agile.



BOMBERS:
The bomber element was the largest within the NDZH, which operated many German Do 17 E-1, as well as the older Do 17 Kb-1, with various loads of bombs.



FIGHTER-BOMBERS:
The close-support role was provided by Luftwaffe Ju 87D-3 & Ju 87G-1, the sole German contribution to this battlegroup’s air wing.

Balkan Air Force

Although the BAF was only officially formed a mere week or so after Unternehmen Rösselsprung, its squadrons were already operating under the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces’ direct command. It was a motley assortment of British, South African & Greek pilots, with the occasional help of American bombers.
Being regarded as a secondary theater, the BAF wasn’t equipped with the latest equipment, which provides the occasion for the British to fly some planes up to now restricted to minor countries’ air forces.

BRITISH:
The RAF provides most of the fighter force, with BEAUFIGHTER Mk. X heavy fighter, as well as SPITFIRE Mk.Vb/trop and even older MUSTANG Mk.III lighter ones.



It also features the battlegroups most efficient tank busters: BEAUFIGHTER Mk. X with AP rockets and the deadly HURRICANE Mk.IV already featured in Tribute to the Liberation of Italy. It is actually the same last squadron flying that plane, at two different times!

GREEKS:
The Greek contribution to the BAF is the same as already featured in Nemesis: Rimini: BALTIMORE Mk.V bombers & SPITFIRE MK.Vc/trop fighters.

SOUTH AFRICANS:
The South Africans contributed one single bomber squadron, flying a plane so far unseen ingame; the VENTURA G.R. Mk.V light bomber.



AMERICANS:
Although not directly part of the BAF, some USAAF B-26G-25-MA MARAUDER bombers on occasion operated over the Balkans.

Au revoir and until next week!

We’d love to know what you think. Leave your feedback and your comments.
Keep a close watch on our Steam forums to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.
See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander !

Today we’ll be looking at what is currently on our workbench.
The program includes new Nemesis: Raid on Drvar models, of course, but also map variants and upcoming balancing.

Nemesis #5: Raid on Drvar

We are currently in the process of integrating the last new models of Yugoslav, Croatian & German vehicles for the upcoming Nemesis: Raid on Drvar DLC.
Last but not least was the Croatian Air Force, composed of new pre-war Yugoslav fighter (IK-2) or Italian bombers (Ca.310), German new variants (Do-17E-1 & Do-17Kb-1) or even French 1940 leftovers (MS.406 C1). Small by the size, the Croatian air force offers a wide array of original models, and in colorful liveries.




We have also finished all the new infantry models, forming a large part of this Nemesis DLC. Although NOV, being a partisan army, got the lion’s share of new models, some of them revealed in last week’s DevBlog, Axis forces haven’t been forgotten.
Croatian Legionäre, Ustache, Domobrani, Prinz Eugen SS-Gebirgsjäger, … also got some attention. As well as the Chetniks, as you can see below …



Now, we still have to put the finishing touch to Nemesis: Raid on Drvar, that is producing all the new units and weapons’ pictures, especially infantry ones, and reskinning some existing models. Therefore, we should be able to give you a release date soon.

New map variants

As promised some time ago, we’ve been working on new map variants “cut” from the Tannenberg 10v10 map. Those have been recently tested by the Strike Team and are currently back with us to fix some minor issues, but will be delivered very soon.
We’re introducing two new variants:

Tannenberg 1v1:
This variant plays much more like the actual Battle of Tannenberg Line, aka Battle of the Blue Hills, which took place in Estonia on July-August 1944 and inspired this map.
Rotating the current map 90°, the battle is fought with the crop of hills separating each side’s territory, instead of acting as a barrier between the players. With a lot of villages on each side of the hill, this map has a pronounced urban warfare feeling.



Tannenberg 2v2/3v3:
Played in the same direction as the current 10v10 map, the playable zone of this variant has been set in order to clearly divide the battlefield into one half dominated by the “Blue Hills” separating the players, who will have to fight for their control ; and a second half much more open and “tank friendly”.
This map favor combined arms cooperation, best played with one player using an infantry-focused deck to contest the hilly & urban flank, with his ally favoring a heavier deck on the open side.



Just like Kostritza, both variants will be added to the ranked pool after some times ...

What next?

We have been waiting a few weeks since Tribute to the Liberation of Italy’s release before requesting new server stats. Therefore, we will soon be looking at recent divisional win/loss ratio, including the newly added divisions, and make sure to address any new balance issues. We’ll see if the previous nerfs/buffs have had their effect, and if any TribIta divisions needs special attention …

And of course, it will soon be time to reveal the setting of our last planned Army General campaign. But let’s not be too hasty … 😉

Au revoir and until next week!

We’d love to know what you think. Leave your feedback and your comments.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander !

Today, let’s have another look at Steel Division 2’s next planned expansion: Nemesis - Raid on Drvar.
If you don’t remember, this DLC won Nemesis’ Run 5 competition almost a year back.

In last week’s DevBlog, we have been reviewing the Axis battlegroup Unternehmen Rosselsprungs. Today, let’s focus on its Allies counterpart, the Yugoslav partisan NOV (standing for Narodnooslobodilačka vojska, or National Liberation Army).

The rise of Tito

As we have seen last week, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by several Axis powers and capitulated between April 6th & 18th, 1941. The young king was forced to flee in exile, leaving a power vacuum in the country.

Two men rose to prominence on that occasion: the communist Josip Broz, more famous under his nom de guerre Tito, and the royalist Draža Mihailović. The two men joined forces in a large-scale uprising starting in July 1941 in Serbia, soon spreading to most Yugoslavia. Yet, the two groups’ incompatible goals will soon break that national union, ultimately driving them on a collision course.
Mihailović wanted the return of the king, relied on his Serbian-only nationalist Chetnik movement and was politically leaning toward fascism and antisemitism ; while Tito saw the war as an opportunity to get rid of the monarchy and establish a socialist government, welcomed any Yugoslav ethnicity in his ranks, and saved and enlisted Jews.
From October 1941, Mihailović and his Chetniks split from the partisans, and even sought German support to fight the communists. But the Germans refused, only willing to accept their unconditional surrender. Therefore, the Chetniks remained at war, both with the Germans AND Tito’s communists.



Forced to evacuated Serbia, under pressure from both Germans & Chetniks, Tito moved and settled to Bosnia which would become the partisan army’s stronghold.
There, he worked on organizing, arming and expanding his partisans, crating the 1st Proletarian Brigade (December 1941), then a 2nd (March 1942), and so on … By 1943, with Italy’s capitulation and their subsequent disarming by German troops, many Italian soldiers (in one instance almost an entire division) went to the partisans, increasing their numbers. By 1944, Tito had built the largest and most effective partisan movement in occupied Europe.

Foreign support

But to equip & maintain such an army, Tito needed more supplies than what hidden workshops or raids on Axis outposts & depots could provide. He needed foreign recognition and support.
And such support could only come from the Western Allies, and especially Great-Britain through the Mediterranean Sea, since USSR, the fellow communist power, was too far away beyond German occupied territories.

Britain supported both communists & Chetniks, although leaned more in favor of the latter at first. But this changed when British intelligence officers on the ground transmitted reports of Chetnik atrocities against civilians, and that they would let Axis forces move unscathed through their territories to attack communist group, when not even siding with them. From September 1943, Churchill switched support to Tito, “a much more effective, and reliable, ally in the war against Germany”, although maintaining minimal support to Mihailović’s men.



Allied support took various forms, the most tangible for the partisans on the ground being the airdrop of weapons, ammunitions, uniforms, … and other supplies which they lack most. They also evacuated wounded partisans by air or sea toward Italy, to be treated. British SOE & American OSS also sent intelligence officers and sabotage instructors to train the partisans in various new guerilla techniques and weapons, and to act as liaison with both Tito & Mihailović’s HQs. When the German paratroopers jumped over Drvar on May 25th, 1944, both OSS & SOE had a mission in the town, the British one even including Churchill’s own son!

Another form of support was air superiority, contesting Axis use of the Yugoslav airspace and securing Allies airdrops. Yet, Allied fighters remained in high altitude, which they dominated, but rarely got close to the ground. Thus, Germany and it auxiliaries could still provide some air support to their ground troops, as long as they kept flying at low altitude. Allied air forces over Yugoslavia were a mixed bunch of British, South African & Greek squadrons from Mediterranean Allied Air Command, soon (barely ten days after the start of Unternehmen Rosselsprungs) to be regrouped in a dedicated Balkan Air Force.

NOV forces at Drvar

When the Germans managed to pinpoint Tito’s HQ at Drvar, the Bosnian town was protected by elements from two partisan corps, the 5th & 8th, combining elements from five divisions (1st, 4th, 6th, 9th & 39th) et various independent units. “Division” was actually a big word, for none fielded as many men as a mere German infantry regiment, and the comparison was even more at their disadvantage when it comes to support weapons.



Partisan equipment is a motley assortment from many sources: old Yugoslav army weapons (M.24 rifle, ZK-383 SMG & ZB-30J “Zorka” LMG), captured German or Italian ones (Kar. 98 & Carcano rifles, MP-40 & Beretta SMG, Breda 30 & MG-34 LMG, Solothurn ATR), or Allies-supplied ones (Sten & UD-M42 SMG, Bren LMG, Boys ATR & PIAT). But the true “badge of honor” of any Yugoslav partisan was to be entrusted with one of the rare Šarac : a captured MG-42. To be given such prized weapon was akin to an award of bravery, and few gunners would dare lose such trophy before their life. So well-regarded was the MG-42 among Yugoslavs that it was retro-engineered and kept in production with few modifications as the Zastava M53 until the end of the Cold War!

Heavier equipment is either old Yugoslav mountain artillery, or captured light AA, AT or fire support guns. Likewise, the few armors owned by the partisans were all captured ones, either in combat or salvaged from the Italians after the armistice of Cassibile neutralized them.

NOV had no air force of its own at the time of Drvar, although Yugoslav pilots were being trained by the British in Egypt on Spitfires. But they weren’t ready and would play no part in this battle. The British-led Balkan Air Force (only a few days from being created, but already operational and active on May 25th, 1944) provided only high altitude air superiority & supply drop or evacuation, but took no direct part in ground operation. At least until the raid on Drvar …
From then on, the BAF literally “fell from the sky” and engaged German troops everywhere it could, playing a major role in the defeat of the German anti-partisan operation. And would provide strong close air support to the partisans until the end of the war …

The partisans had no real uniforms: some had retained old Yugoslav army fatigues, others captured from enemy depots, civilian clothes or British ones dropped by the RAF. It also included a bigger ratio of women than any other armies. But there was one piece of clothing which unified them all and became the trademark of Yugoslav partisan: the Titovka, a side cap of varying colors (although usually green) but always displaying a red star.

NOV’s main features

What can you expect from NOV in Steel Division 2?

• As a partisan army, almost all NOV units have the Raider trait.
  
• The partisans have eyes everywhere, and as such can count on a generous RECON tab, both in terms of slors, AP costs & choices, although most of them are infantry. The only combat recon vehicles being BLINDA, captured Autoblinda 41.
  
• Being an infantry-centric battlegroup, you can also count on a maximum of slots and choices in this category: the PROLETERI equipped with the best weapons, including MG-34 & PzFaust ; the regular BORCI (with M.24 & Zorka) ; the tank hunter LOVCI TENKOVA (with Boys ATR & AT grenades) ; Fanatical KURSANTI (cadets) from the nearby NCO school who were among the first one to engage and pin down the German paratroopers ; or Disheartened PIONIRI, who were merely construction workers with no combat experience et barely had a few weapons ; …
  While BORCI are the regular partisan squad, a partisan company would usually reorganize its elements into more specialized task-orientated groups when attacking a target: PODRŠKA with two automatic rifles provided fire support, JURIŠNICI with some SMG & Molotov cocktails would be the main assault elements, while Fanatical BOMBAŠI with Italian carbines & “Eksploziv” would storm buildings. The latter are smaller bombs than TNT but being carried in large numbers.
  The category also includes OSS & SOE LDR. as few elite & well-armed American & British command/instructor squads.

• As can be expected, the TANK tab isn’t very prolific, with few and quickly expensive slots of R-35, L6/40 & Somua in small numbers.
  
• While the partisans can’t rely much on heavy equipment in other tabs, SUPPORT is quite open and well-furbished, with a selection of light mortars, infantry support guns, MG (both captured Italian Breda M37 and MG-42, the latter ŠARAC being Fanatical for the reasons explained before) but also a few (four IRL) L3/35 tankettes. One unique unit is the PARTOP, a cut-off 80mm mortar being used to propel a round of roughly 10kg explosive (usually salvaged from unexploded German aerial bombs): with very short range, it can blast any entrenched infantry.
  
• The partisans had some AT weapons, but most of them very light or obsolete: 20mm ATR, DŽONBULISTI (meaning “JohnBullist”, “John Bull” being the PIAT’s nickname), Italian 47mm or German 50mm anti-tank guns, with just a handful of PaK 40.
  
• Most partisan AA weapons were heavy HMGs or various mountain guns. We have unified that great variety of guns into a single card of Itaian Breda 20mm AA gun. By chance, Drvar being Tito’s HQ, it was also protected by the only “heavy” AA guns NOV possessed: four Yugoslav Royal Army M.28 76,5mm guns. But AA is NOV’s weakest spot, with very few slots and very expensive.
  
• NOV didn’t lacked artillery, although over 80% of them were mortars. The rest being M.28 75mm & M.17(i) (captured Italian) 100mm mountain guns.
  
• Thanks to the BAF’s decision to finally “get closer to the fight”, NOV can count on massive and very efficient air cover … but not immediately. In A, only a few fighters are available, representing the high altitude air superiority patrols, while only from phase B do the close air support and heavy pounders arrive. Phase A only includes British BEAUFIGHTER & MUSTANG Mk.III (the latter so far only available to the Poles) fighters, while phase B sees the unlocking of Greek BALTIMORE & SPITFIRE Mk.Vc/trop, tank-busting British HURRICANE Mk.IV (introduced recently with Tribute to the Liberation of Italy, actually the same squadron at two different times) & BEAUFIGHTER with rockets, and the new South African VENTURA bomber.

Au revoir and until next week!

We’d love to know what you think. Leave your feedback and your comments.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

Hello commander !

With Tribute to the Liberation of Italy finally released, let’s take a closer look at Steel Division 2’s next planned expansion: Nemesis - Raid on Drvar.

If you don’t remember, this DLC won Nemesis’ Run 5 competition almost a year back.
Raid on Drvar will feature two new battlegroups from the too often overlooked Balkan theater, introducing two new nations in the process: Yugoslavia for the Allies, and Croatia as a minor Axis one.
Yugoslavia’s battlegroup will be NOV, the National Liberation Army, while Axis one will be the German-Croatian Unternehmen Rösselsprung (meaning Operation Knight’s Move) hunting the partisan leader, Tito.
Today, let’s focus on the latter.

A bit of context …

To understand the reasons for Operation Knight’s Move, let’s rewind a bit the History of Yugoslavia in WW2.
Before the outbreak of the war, Yugoslavia was a kingdom under the regency of Prince Regent Paul of Yugoslavia. On the inside, the country was torn by tensions between various ethnic groups making up the kingdom, while on the outside it tried to stay neutral between Axis powers and France & Britain. With France’s defeat in 1940 and Great-Britain standing alone, Yugoslavia had to accommodate with Germany and, especially, Italy which had invaded Albania as early as 1939. Isolated, cut off from any Allied support and surrounded by hostile neighbors, Yugoslavia agreed to join the Tripartite Pact (formed by Germany, Italy & Japan) on March 27th, 1941.



But this adhesion to the Axis was short-lived: two days later, the government was overthrown by a coup led by Air Force & Royal Guard officers! Prince Paul was deposed and his nephew Peter (six months short of its eighteenth birthday) was declared of age and replaced him as King Peter II leading a government of national union (although without the communist party & the Croatian fascist Ustashe movement).

But Peter was not to remain long on his throne either: barely a week after the Belgrade coup, Yugoslavia was invaded from three sides: by Germany, Italy & Hungary. The Royal Yugoslav Army surrendered unconditionally 11 days later & King Peter fled in exile. The country was dismembered, with Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and even Albania (a puppet-state from Italy) all annexing territories ; a new fascist Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was created ; and what remained was occupied by Italy & Germany.



Another example of well put together Blitzkrieg?
Actually, that’s when the problems really started for the Axis powers in the Balkan.

The power vacuum was taken advantage of by the banned communist party, which already had an existing clandestine organization, to take the leading role of the Yugoslav resistance. Its leader, Josip Broz, more famous under his nom de guerre Tito, managed to unify almost all resistance movements, keeping ethnic differences under control. Only the Royalist Serbian Chetniks refused his leadership, fighting both the Axis occupiers AND the communists, and in some cases, even rather siding with the former against the latter.

In under three years, under Tito’s leadership, the Yugoslav National Liberation Army (NOV) became the largest and most effective partisan movement in all Europe, tying down hundreds of thousands of Axis troops in the Balkan. Hitler tried for some times to avoid being too involved in this area, delegating most of the occupation and partisan hunting duties to its Italian & Bulgarian allies. But when Italy surrendered in 1943, and many Italian troops (in some places, an entire division) subsequently switched to NOV with their weapons, Germany had to step in.

Killing Tito

From then on, anti-partisan operations intensified in scope and violence. The Germans were well aware of two facts: first the war wasn’t going well for them, so the sooner they crushed the Yugoslav partisans, the sooner they would be able to redeploy their troops elsewhere ; second, NOV’s organization leaned entirely on Tito’s ability to keep ethnic tensions at bay. Should he be eliminated, the whole partisan army would collapse. NOV’s leader was the key: as Generalfeldmarschal von Weichs, commander of the OB Südost (Greece & Balkan fronts) put it, Tito is our most dangerous enemy.



This led to Unternehmen Rösselsprung (Operation Knight’s Move), the assassination attempt on Tito.
German Intelligence finally managed to pinpoint his secret HQ in the village of Drvar, in Bosnia, in early May 1944. Operation planning had to be kept short to prevent the target from disappearing: the plan was drafted and approved in less than two weeks, and launched four days later, on May 26th, 1944.
It involved dropping an SS parachute battalion right on top of Drvar to locate and eliminate Tito, and gather intelligence. Meanwhile several ground columns would converge on Drvar from separate starting points to prevent Tito and any other key targets to escape.



Just like most airborne operations, the paratroopers were to jump on target, secure it, and link with ground troops within a day. As often, it didn’t go that way.
As it happens, although taken by surprise, the partisans put a stubborn resistance, allowing Tito to escape (within a hair's breadth though), pinning the paratroopers and delaying their ground reinforcements. The raid had failed, but quickly evolved into a major battle …

Unternehmen Rösselsprung’s main features

What can you expect from Unternehmen Rösselsprung in Steel Division 2?

• Unternehmen Rösselsprung isn't an actual "division", but an umbrella name regrouping all the troops involved in the operation, although they were detachments belonging to several different units. This mean that this battlegroups offers a wide array of German infantry units, both new and existing ones, usually not mixed up in a same division: SS-Gebirgsjäger, SS-Fallschirmjäger, Brandenburger (including new paratrooper variants), Grenadier, Kadetten, Chetnik auxiliaries, Croatian allies, …
  Veterancy varies a lot, from elite special forces, paratrooopers, … to Disheartened & inexperienced Croatian home guard.
  
• Unternehmen Rösselsprung was a search-and-destroy operation, with a high emphasis put on recon & intelligence elements to quickly find & identify key enemies. This is represented ingame with the battlegroup having access to a lot of RECON slots & choices, allowing it to supplement its INF or TANK tab with foot or amored scouts from this section.

• SS-Gebirgsjäger represent elements from 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division « Prinz Eugen ». They have the same organization ingame as Heer ones as depicted in 5. Gebirgs-Division, although 7.SS received mostly Czechoslovakian collective weapon at its creation, meaning their LMG are MG-26(t) and HMG mostly MG-37(t) (= ZB-53 as used by the Romanians). As other mountain troops, they are all Raiders, with more sniper rifles but with fewer AT weapons than line infantry.
  
• SS-Fallschirmjäger represent SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500, an SS disciplinary unit. Being SS and not Luftwaffe, the battalion didn’t have access to FG-42 as other Fallschirmjäger. SS-FJ come in three types: SS-Fs-Jäger Füh., a 6-man command unit, SS-Fs-Jäger, a 12-man rifle squad with 2x MG-42, and SS-Fs-Stossjäger, a 8-man SMG squad formed à la Soviet. This battalion is famous for performing near-suicidal missions, with staggering losses each time. As such, all SS-FJ are classified as Fanatical ingame.
  
• Brandenburger (special forces) in this battlegroup have two origins: Jäger-Regiment 1 Brandenburg was part of the ground forces, while a platoon-worth of Fallschirm-Brandenburger jumped with SS-FJ-500. You may remember the “mainstream” Brandenburger from Vert. Toulon, here they also come as Brandenb. Aufkl., Brandenb. Führer, Brandenb. MG-42, Brandenb. Pionier & Fs.Brandenb. Aufkl.. Being special forces, they are all Raider, elite-locked, and come with a wide array of G-43, MP-44, flamethrowers, explosives, sniper rifles, …
  
• other “German” infantry units include the ubiquitous Grenadier, but also Kosaken Pionier (Soviet collaborators equipped with captured weapons & explosives), Kadetten (mixed G-43/MP-40 Fanatical assault squad) or Chetniks auxiliaries (heavy 15-man recon squads with Sten, M.24 Yugoslav rifles & MG-26).
  
• one of this battlegroup’s unique feature is the presence of Croatian troops fighting alongside German ones. They come from three origins: NDH’s own troops, Croatian “legionaries” in German divisions & Ustaše fascist militia. While Kro. Legionäre (Führer, Pionier & “vanilla” variants) are similar in equipment (but with their own uniforms) to their German counterparts, Ustaše are 12-man squads equipped with old Yugoslav & Italian armies leftovers, while Domobrani are 8-man Disheartened militiamen with a similar motley assortment of weapons. Dojavnici are recon militiamen with MP-40 & Beretta, as Disheartened as their INF counterparts. NDH also had some Italian vehicles handed over by the Germans: Autoblinda 41, L6/40 light tank, Semovente 47/32 light tank destroyer, L3 tankettes, Fiat 626NLM trucks, …
  
• the battlegroup’s armor support isn’t its strongest point, made up mostly of French & Italian Beute tanks: R35, Somua S35 & M15/42. Several recon armors complete them: the classic SPW AB 41 (= Autoblinda 41), but also new ones such Aufk. Panzer III F & SPW AB 43 47mm. Beware, the latter isn’t the unicorn sole prototype with a 47mm in the AB 43’s turret, but a sawn-off one, without turret and with a 47mm Italian AT gun fixed in an open-top position.

• Unternehmen Rösselsprung’s artillery include GebG. 36 75mm & GebH. 40 105mm howitzers, as well as the excellent K35(t) “Hruby” 105mm, and a lot of mortars.
  
• AA cover is clearly the battlegroup’s weak point, not expecting much air attacks from NOV, with single & quad 20mm as well as Steyr-borne Drilling. Historically, the British-led Balkan Air Force made them regret their optimism …
  
• AIR support includes a few German Stuka variants, but mostly Croatian air force planes. The latter operated German bombers, various captured French or Italian planes, but also old pre-war Czechoslovakian or Yugoslav designs: Ca.310bis, BH-33E-SHS and M.S. 406 C1 recon planes (all armed), IK-2, C.202 & C.205V fighters, and several Do-17 bomber variants.

Au revoir and until next week!

We’d love to know what you think. Leave your feedback and your comments.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!

It’s been in the works for quite some time, commander!

Today marks the day that we are releasing our latest Steel Division 2 expansion, the Tribute to the Liberation of Italy.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640470/Steel_Division_2__Tribute_to_the_Liberation_of_Italy/

Get it while it’s hot!

Keep reading to find out what you can encounter in our newest expansion.

What does Tribute to Liberation of Italy bring?

Are you ready for a whole slew of new features, units, battlegroups, and other goodies with the latest expansion?

• Command 8 new meticulously researched divisions and access four fully voiced new nations: South Africa, Brazil, and the competing Repubblica Sociale Italiana and the Allied-aligned Kingdom of Italy.
  
• 4 new Axis battegroups: the 5. Gebirgsjäger, the Italian-German mixed 4. Fallschirmjäger, the 26. Panzerdivision or the Mussolini-loyal 4a Divisione Alpini “Monterosa”.
  
• 4 new Allied battlegroups: the 6th South African Armoured Division, the Italian Corpo Italiano di Liberazione, the 8th Indian (Infantry) Division, or the diverse Task Force 45.
  
• Over 300 new units, including infantry squads, with 22 brand-new vehicle models, 4 new plane models, as well as many new variants. This includes a wide variety of Italian equipment, from the P-26/40 tank, to the ubiquitous Semovente 47/32, the rare Semovente M41 90/53 and other versions, AS.42 heavy recon jeep and MotoGuzzi side-cars. Other new units include the uncommon German FAMO 88mm, Indian ACV-IP Mk.2 APCs, South African Bedford QL 6pdr Portee, American M2 90mm AA guns, British BL 4,5-inch howitzer, and many more. Take to the skies with the C.202 serie VIII Folgore, G.55 serie I Centauro, Re.2002 Ariete fighters, or Z. 1007bis serie VI Alcione bomber.
  
• New infantry model sets, such as South African, Brazilian, Indian including Sikh and Gurkhas, German Gebirgsjäger, and many different types of Italian soldiers in both Axis and Allied divisions.

Some background reading

If you are waiting to download or want to catch up on some history, look no further! Follow the links below to access all the Versus posts, detailing each new battlegroup.

• Read more about the Armored battlegroups: the 26. Panzerdivision with its special AA forces and the supersized 6th South African Armoured Division in the first Versus blogpost here.
  
• Check out the two Mountain formations, the German 5. Gebirgs-Division and the specialised 8th (Indian) Infantry Division in the second Versus blogpost here.
  
• Discover more of the two unique Infantry battlegroups, the Axis 4. Fallschirmjäger and the US-led international Task Force 45, in the third Versus post here.
  
• Last but not least, the Italians! You can find more about the opposing Italian battlegroups, the Axis 4a Divisione Alpini “Monterosa” and the Allied Corpo Italiano di Liberazione in the fourth Versus blog post here.
  
• Read all about the Italian Air Forces, both Axis and Allied, and the unique planes they fielded in this in-depth blog post.

What’s next?

Before we let you get to it, commander, just a quick note on the upcoming goodies currently in the pipeline. We are hard at work on the next DLC, Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. You will receive more details and news in next week’s post. Also, we will hopefully be able to reveal more about our new Army General campaign DLC in the not-to-distant future!



We have also made recuts of the 10v10 Tannenbeg maps in order to provide two new 1v1 & 2v2 maps, which are being tested as we speak. It will be released soon.

Au revoir and until next week!

We’d love to know what you think. Leave your feedback and your comments.

Keep a close watch on our Steam forums to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.

See you on the battlefield, commander!