Hello, hello, hello!

Advancing ever forward, today’s post will be another deep dive into our upcoming new Army General DLC, The Battle of Turda.

We’ll look at a new Axis Hungary division with today’s spotlight shining brightly on the Hungarian 25. Hadosztály (or in English, the 25th Infantry Division).

But first, some much-needed info on the other Steel Division 2 currently in the works: Nemesis: Raid on Drvar.

Nemesis: Raid on Drvar

We know you have been waiting for an update on Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. We don’t have a definite date yet - but the DLC should come soon! What’s been keeping it so long?

• We divided the Yugoslav partisans’ acknows into three parts: Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian.
  
• Each language was translated separately and then recorded. Serbian and Croatian came back without issue, with some good acting in our opinion for the Serbian partisans and Chetnicks.
  
• With Bosnian, on the other hand, we had difficulties finding good actors. On top of that, we realized when it came to record the lines that our translation wasn’t good… not good at all actually.
  
• So, in short: we are translating everything again, getting it checked, and recorded once more.

A little bit of history

As a young formation of the Hungarian Army, the history of the 25. Hadosztály is closely intertwined with Transylvania. We already mentioned this before, but this region was the prime cause of the hostilities between Romania and Hungary at the tail-end of World War II. The northern part of Transylvania was awarded to Romania in 1920 with the Treaty of Trianon, the result of the dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian empire after World War I. However, Hungary could lay claim on the same land through historical reasons and resented the decision.

In 1940, the dispute took a twist. Early in the war, Axis Hungary was part of Nazi Germany’s “winning team” alliance, while Romania found itself stranded alone. The Romanians had counted on the French and British as guarantors for their proclaimed neutrality, but after the defeat of the Allies in the Battle of France, the situation on the ground changed rapidly. Before the year was over, fascists had taken control of Romania. In the meantime, Hitler saw fit to force Romania to give up coveted Transylvania to Hungary.

Getting the fighting spirit

So what does this have to do with the 25. Hadosztály? Having only been formed in 1943, most of its recruits were from Transylvania, and therefore originally Romanian-born (and Romanian-speaking). Intended to be part of the IX. Corps, also known as the Székler Command, the formation was initially placed on the Romanian frontier, guarding against any hostile incursion from the “frenemy.” However, due to its composition, the 25. Hadosztály was regarded with suspicion by the Hungarian high command. Transferred to the First Army in March 1944, it was ordered into Galicia by the Germans a month later.

During its time on the frontline, the green soldiers of the 25. Hadosztály got ample opportunity to gain combat experience, including beating off multiple Soviet mechanized assaults and performing local counter-attacks. It was also here that the news of Romanian’s switch to the Allies became known. As a result, both the 25th Infantry Division and the 2nd Armored Divison were ordered to advance into Transylvania before the end of August 1944.

Destination: Turda

Arriving piecemeal by train meant that the 25. Hadosztály could only deploy individual detachments at the start of the Hungarian campaign. The formation followed the 2nd Armored Division’s offensive into Romania. The 25. Hadosztály took up defensive positions near Turda and on the Mures river, being aware of Romanian reinforcements and Soviet troops moving through the Carpathian mountain passes. Understrength, the 25. Hadosztály put up a spirited fight when it clashed with the advancing Allied units.



From the first encounters on September 13th, the battles raged ahead against the Soviet armored vanguard, supported by Romanian infantry, which was trying to secure Turda. This took until September 15th, when the outskirts of Turda were reached before further advance was checked by 25. Hadosztály. Heavy fighting erupted across the hills and countryside, with frequent artillery duels and bloody counter-attacks. With fresh reinforcements, the 25. Hadosztály destroyed a large portion of Soviet troops north of the Mures river on September 19th but was unable to wipe out the Red Army’s bridgehead. The Soviets prepared for their own attack and, on September 22nd, after heavy fighting, reached Turda. The 25. Hadosztály repelled attack after attack, either alone or with support of the 10th Assault Gun Battalion or 2nd Armored Division. With a dire situation, the timely arrival of the 23. Panzer at night brought some much-needed reinforcements.



During the Battle of Turda, the 25. Hadosztály was almost wiped out, with several battalions suffering 50% to 80% casualty rates. In a specific battalion, the III/25th, which launched several counter-attacks to stop and repel Soviet assault troops from gaining control of Turda, the survivors were so few and so heroic that, in a rare decision, every single soldier was promoted by one rank in recognition of the formation’s outstanding defense. After the Turda campaign, the division avoided being trapped in the Budapest encirclement and fought alongside the Germans during the counter-offensive on Lake Balaton in March 1945. Fighting to the very end of the war, the Hungarian division surrendered in May 1945 in Croatia.

What can you expect in-game?

It might not come as a surprise, but the 25. Hadosztály is a very infantry-centric division, able in defense, but only with limited means of (armored) counter-attacks.

Although it’s missing two of its battalions during the events of the Battle of Turda, it received some replacement units, including the 10th Assault Guns Battalion, the 2nd Mountain Replacement Brigade, and the late German StuG-Abt. 1179 with its Hetzer light tank destroyer.

• The division’s Recon forces are pretty standard, save for the presence of Disheartened Határrendőrség (Border Police) squads. These are a motley assortment of customs officers or postmen pressed into service with the border guard battalions - supposedly because they knew the area well.
  
• Infantry slots are many and cheap, with the core made up of the usual Lövész troops. This includes a single card of these soldiers with the Fanatical trait, featuring extra machine guns and SMGs, representing the unbreakable III/25th Regiment. Additionally, some Határvadász (Border Guard) can be deployed. They are large squads, well trained and equipped, but even though featuring the Raider trait, they lack experience and are veterancy locked.
  
• There are not many tanks available, but you will be able to deploy the Zrinyi II assault gun, considered one of the best Hungarian armors of the war, comparable to the StuH 42 with a good HEAT round.

• A very standard Support category, but the division fields a large amount of machine-guns.
  
• Anti-Tank forces are considerable, including 40M 40mm and PaK 40 75mm guns. The 25. Hadosztály can also count on a single card of German Jagdpanzer 38(t).
  
• Anti-Air is average with only a few Bofors 40mm and one card of Hungarian 88mm towed guns. We are including the last existing models of a rather unusual unit, which were known to be last used in combat at this period, although at inknown location. As a matter of fact, it was one of the very first models of SPAAGs: the old World War I design of the Raba Vr self-propelled 76,5mm gun truck!
  
• A large variety of artillery pieces can be encountered, including mortars, 75mm, 105mm, and 149mm howitzers, as well as off-map 105mm with the new WM-21 Solyom biplane spotter.
  
• Air support is likewise strong, featuring the Fw-190F-8 and Me-210 CA-1 fighters, as well as several variants of the Ju-87 D-5 Stuka. This includes one with the German WB-81B pod totaling two 20mm guns and twelve(!) 7,62mm machine-guns. Another unique addition is the Hungarian Héja as recon fighter, which is a license-built Italian Re.2000.

A brief summary

The latest DLC for Steel Division 2, The Battle of Turda, will contain:

• One new Army General campaign centered on the Battle of Turda, Transylvania, pitting Axis Hungary versus Allied Romania.
  
• Six new divisions.
  
  • Of which three will be Romanian, including the Divizia 9 Infanterie.
    
  • And two will be Hungarian, with one German. This includes the Hungarian 2. Páncéloshadosztály (2nd Armored Division) and 25. Hadosztály (25th Infantry Division).
• Mixed divisions, with units from various nations, such as Romanian-Soviet or Hungarian-German.
  
• One or two new maps.
  
• 2 Aces: the Hungarian tank commander Lieutenant Ervin Tarczay and Romanian fighter ace, Captain Dan Vizanti.

Until next 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,

Hope you are well! In last week’s Battle of Turda DLC post, we let the Hungarian 2. Páncélos, or the 2nd Armored Division, take center stage. This week, it's high time to preview an Allied formation of our upcoming new DLC: the Romanian Divizia 9 Infanterie (or 9th Infantry Division).

Keep reading to find out more!

The Romanian 9th Infantry Division

The Romanian Divizia 9 Infanterie was an old formation in the Romanian Army, almost as venerable as the modern Romanian state itself. It was formed in 1879, shortly after the independence of the Kingdom of Romania from the Ottoman Empire, as the “Divizia Activă Dobrogea” (or “Dobrogea’s Active Division”). The formation was headquartered in Constanța, where it was renamed the Divizia 9 Infanterie.

The formation experienced an illustrious career in combat, including World War I, where it won the honorific title “Mărășești” for the part it played in the last major battle between Germany and Romania in 1917. The outcome kept north-east Romanian free from Imperial German occupation until the end of the war.

On the Eastern Front

Fast forward to World War II. The Divizia 9 Infanterie took part in Operation Barbarossa fighting with the Romanian Third Army in Ukraine and southern Russia. Advancing toward Odessa and Sevastapol, it was among the formations covering the flanks of the German Sixth Army attempting to capture Stalingrad. As the Red Army sprung its trap with the brilliant counter-stroke in Operation Uranus, encircling the Axis troops in the city, the Soviets punched through the weakly held frontlines manned mostly by Romanian forces.



The Divizia 9 Infanterie was situated in the northern sector. By chance, the Romanian formation was lucky enough not to be in the direct path of the Soviet juggernaut. The neighboring Romanian 7th Cavalry Division was not as fortunate, being cut in two by the offensive, the survivors joining the Divizia 9 Infanterie soldiers in a headlong retreat west in freezing conditions. In brutal weather, the Romanian formation was decimated.

Fighting for home

Sent home to be refitted, the Divizia 9 Infanterie was posted on the Black Sea in 1943, in Dobrogea, as the Romanian military leadership feared a Soviet amphibious landing in the area. This would prove advantageous a year later. Once again, by chance, the formation was spared the same (almost in a rerun of Stalingrad) fate of the neighboring divisions, which were destroyed in the Iasi-Chișinău (Jassy-Kichinev) strategic offensive on the Romanian border.

By the time of the Soviet operation, the Divizia 9 Infanterie had ballooned in size, thanks to the amalgamation of the training battalions into its regiments. Typically, each division left several training battalions at home; they served as bare-boned skeleton formations, training up recruits before sending them off as replacements for field duty. In Divizia 9 Infanterie’s case, these training elements were almost full strength and well-trained. And they were not just raw recruits, with the whole formation retaining a strong cadre of Stalingrad veterans.



A direct result was that during Romanian’s switch from Axis to Allies, the Divizia 9 Infanterie could be considered one of the best and most powerful Romanian infantry divisions able to fight.

Destination Transylvania

After the coup, the Divizia 9 Infanterie disarmed the local German troops. Having done this successfully, the division was entrained to Bucharest and in early September sent, along with the 8th Cavalry and Detasamentul Blindat "Gen. Niculescu" (Niculescu Armored Group), to Transylvania. This group of forces was known as the Corpul Motomecanizat (Motomechanized Corps).

The Detasamentul Blindat was the only armored unit the Romanian High Command could send to Transylvania. The core was made up of the Mechanized Training Center battalion, also known as the Armored Group “Jupiter,” hastily formed on August 24th. It contained recon groups equipped with German armored cars, a company of T-4 (Panzer IV), a company of Tas (StuG III G), and a force of the new TACAM R-2 tank destroyers. The ubiquitous (and excellent) Resita anti-tank guns were also featured. This group would fight the Hungarians until deep into November 1944.



The Corpul Motomecanizat met with the invading Hungarians north of Mediaş, stopping the assault in its tracks. After days of fighting, the Corps established a bridgehead across the Mureș river. Further combat saw the Divizia 9 Infanterie square up against German reinforcements, specifically the 8. SS-Kavalerie-Divison “Florian Geyer”.

Here, one of the bloodiest and most important battles of modern Romania occurred: the battle of Oarba de Mureș. Directed by their new Soviet “friends,” the Romanians were ordered to assault the well-entrenched Germans and Hungarians across clear terrain devoid of cover, up a steep hill in plain sight.



This bloody counter-offensive took over ten days, and despite the odds and lack of artillery or air support, the Romanians set a tentative foot on the crest, only to be repelled by immediate counter-attacks. Ultimately, it became a bloody stalemate, and the Divizia 9 Infanterie suffered the brunt of it. After pulling out the line at the end of September, it was rapidly brought back into the fighting in early October to support the second attempt at capturing Turda. Afterward, combat shifted to Hungary proper, and the Divizia 9 Infanterie was found fighting in Czechoslovakia when the war ended in 1945.

What to expect in-game?

What can you expect of the oversized and well-trained Romanian Divizia 9 Infanterie in Steel Division 2?

• Thanks to the “Jupiter” task force, the 9th Infantry Division has turned almost into a full-blown mechanized infantry division.
  
• Its Recon tab includes a variety of light armored vehicles and cars, including German-made SdKfz. 222 and SdKfz. 250/9, as well as cavalry scouts.
  
• There is a large amount of infantry on offer, with regular Infanterisiti and Vanatori Moto or the more basic Recruti squads.
  
• Although an infantry division, the Tank category can count on several slots of either Panzer IV or StuG III G armor.
  
• The Support tab is pretty standard, though Commanders can tour the battlefield with a classy Ford V8 Sedan, a Romanian license-built Traction-like command car.
  
• The division’s Anti-Tank forces are well-supplied, including the brand-new TACAM R-2 tank destroyer, which is an up-armored and up-gunned cousin of the TACAM R-60 sporting a ZiS-3 instead of an F-22 gun. The Resita towed anti-tank gun can also be found.
  
• A weak point is the formation’s AA, with only a few self-propelled twin Hotchkiss, German 20mm, and French 25mm pieces as its sole defense against enemy planes!
  
• Artillery forces are rather lackluster, with a basic complement of mortars, from 60mm, 81mm to 120mm units. Additionally, 75mm and 100mm howitzers are also available in decent numbers - but nothing heavier.
  
• Airforces are pretty strong and include the Romanian ace Dan Vizanti with his IAR-81C fighter plane.

A brief summary

The latest DLC for Steel Division 2, The Battle of Turda, will contain:

• One new Army General campaign centered on the Battle of Turda, Transylvania, pitting Axis Hungary versus Allied Romania.
  
• Six new divisions.
  
  • Of which three will be Romanian, including the Divizia 9 Infanterie.
    
  • And two will be Hungarian, with one German. This includes the 2. Páncéloshadosztály (Hungarian 2nd Armored Division).
• Mixed divisions, with units from various nations, such as Romanian-Soviet or Hungarian-German.
  
• One or two new maps.
  
• 2 Aces: the Hungarian tank commander Lieutenant Ervin Tarczay and Romanian fighter ace, Captain Dan Vizanti.

Au revoir and until next week!

That’s everything for this week. Next week, we’ll be back with another preview of the The Battle of Turda DLC.

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 on the battlefield.

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!