A map of the Verdun area.
The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun began on this day 108 years ago, on February 21st 1916. It was the longest battle of the war and one of the longest in history. The German plan was to capture strategic defensive positions from the French and then destroy their reserves when they tried to counter-attack. It began well for the Germans with the stunning capture of Fort Douaumont without a shot being fired. French commanders had ordered the fortress almost entirely emptied of men after Belgian forts were destroyed early in the war, and small German patrols were able to climb inside through (unoccupied) firing slots intended for machine gunners. Once in German hands the extent of the mistake by French command became clear – Douaumont was a more modern fortress, and proved entirely capable of withstanding the kind of heavy artillery that had devastated the Belgian positions.
Fort Douaumont in Verdun.
However the attack soon bogged down, and French reinforcements organized a strong defense. French General Nivelle gave the famous ‘On ne passe pas’! declaration which can be translated as ‘they shall not pass.’ In the event of German advances immediate counter-attacks were to be organized. This might seem to be exactly what the Germans had hoped for, but they had not established the impenetrable defensive positions they hoped for. Instead, by late March French artillery was pounding their positions and causing heavy losses.
Fierce fighting continued even as both sides pulled troops away from Verdun in July to support the Battle of the Somme. The Germans gradually reduced their commitment further, until in September and December the French were able to recapture most of the ground lost earlier in the battle. It officially ended on December 18th, almost four months after it began.
Change history, win a teaser in our new campaign event
For those who haven’t fought before, our campaign events are special multi-game battles where every kill is tallied up, and the side which manages to lose the least troops wins. You can earn a medal for participating in the campaign, with a shinier medal for fighting on multiple fronts. The Battle of Verdun Weekend Campaign will run from Friday February 23 through (surprise!) the weekend, and end on Monday. Did you know that the Central Powers haven’t been able to secure a win so far? To give them a bit of a boost, let’s up the stakes a little this time around: if the Central Powers manage to come out on top, we’ll give you the first big teaser for the upcoming new game mode in Isonzo!
We’ve been working on a grand map showing every battlefield in the series – here’s the Western Front part, with a bit of the Italian Front.
Can you change history and see the Central Powers win the battle for attrition as planned for Verdun? Or will they once again be unable to pass?
Guns Across the Fronts
Every game in the WW1 Game Series so far features rifles, bayonets, pistols and grenades. But if you want a shotgun, you’ll need Verdun. Sabre? Tannenberg. Rifle grenades are only in Isonzo. Why the differences?Verdun
Our first game has quite the variety of weapons, and this is a function both of gameplay design choices and the setting: the Western Front saw some of the greatest weapon variety in the war. With some of the largest and most heavily industrialized countries gradually moving to a total war footing, all kinds of weapons were tested, improved, and invented. Unique weapons to Verdun include the Winchester Model 1897 ‘trench gun’, the MP 18 submachine gun, flamethrowers, and even an anti-tank rifle, albeit only in the Attrition and Team Deathmatch game modes.
One notable omission is the heavy machine gun. On the sometimes narrow maps of Verdun there can be a fine line between places where an HMG would be overpowered and places where they would just be useless. In any case, the LMGs available to specific squads can provide weight of fire when needed. Heavy machine guns would become part of the WW1 Game Series though, with the release of...
Tannenberg
Yes, heavy machine guns made their debut in Tannenberg, where more open maps and freedom of movement for players allowed for both better fields of fire and more flanking routes. They were part of a number of new map features alongside things like command posts for calling in support, and ammunition crates. Also new to the series were swords, used by specific members of specific squads and offering unrivalled close combat power.
A number of the more advanced or unusual weapons were not present in Tannenberg, like the flamethrower and light machine guns. While these did see use on the Eastern Front historically, they were less common than in the west. It was also an intentional design choice to increase the importance of maneuver and positioning rather than having special weapons breaking gaps in defensive lines as you sometimes saw in Verdun.
Isonzo
Which brings us to the present day and Isonzo, which in many ways is the best of both worlds. Light machine guns and sniper rifles share the battlefield with heavy machine guns and the newly added mortars and field guns. One major factor was the new class / loadout system in Isonzo, where instead of players choosing squads and each squad having different roles each with different loadouts, you simply pick a class and a suitable loadout. The key difference is that class limits can be set as part of the map design – in Verdun there was nothing to stop every German squad going Landser and having their MG-Schütze take an LMG. In Isonzo the number of potential LMGs and snipers can be limited to prevent them getting out of hand.
There were also new utility weapons and equipment added, from the flare guns used by officers to target support call-ins to the canteens and instruments used for buffing yourself or others. Of course the bulk of the fighting is still done with trusty rifles, pistols, grenades and bayonets – but the more specialist weapons and map based heavy weapons can make all the difference if used right.
The Warming Continues
We’ll round off with a few more teasers from the upcoming cosmetic DLC, full of extreme cold weather clothing. You enjoyed last week’s [strike]Sgt. Chungus[/strike] Italian engineer, and we hope you’ll be as enthusiastic for this pair of Austro-Hungarian assault troops and their impeccable mustaches.
Both men have goggles ready in case of blinding sunlight off the snow, and the man on the left is wearing a ski suit and shoes.
