We are back again, commanders!

In this week’s second DevBlog installment, we look at the final NORTHAG Operation to be included in our new expansion.

Let’s go behind enemy lines with Operation #4 - Survivors.

NORTHAG’s Historical Context

For more info on NORTHAG’s historical context, check out this DevBlog for extra insights into the military situation on the northern front in West Germany.

In brief, NATO is being threatened by two different Warsaw Pact offensive thrusts, a northern one aimed at Bremen and a southern one with Hanover as its objective. The Survivors Operation is set even further south, on the frontier between NORTHAG and CENTAG.

As you might remember, the hammer-blow “Left Hook” attack (as depicted in the base game’s Army General campaign) by the Soviet 1st Guards Army smashes through NATO’s defenses after the initial surprise attack at Kassel. Quite a few allied units, including British, West German, and Belgian combat groups, find themselves behind enemy lines as the Soviet armor surges ahead. Close behind are second-tier communist formations, including East German reserve units, tasked with securing the Warsaw Pact’s rear.

Among the NATO units behind enemy lines are remnants of the 16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers. For the British troops, (relative) safety lies behind the Weser River, which means a perilous life-or-death journey through enemy territory.

Survivors

Interestingly, this Operation is one of the few that didn’t see its name change from initial conception to the final testing round. The mission’s objective is straightforward: the troops under your command must survive! Survivors is a rather demanding mission in which your units are isolated and cut off from friendly lines. We have played with these concepts in other scenarios (including Running the Gauntlet and Marauders), but not on this scale and intensity.

The isolated elements of the 16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers comprise a handful of FV432-transported infantry squads and anti-air teams, plus several ATGM-equipped Striker vehicles. You’ll also get Spartan and Scimitar recon units. Opposing you will be the East German Res. Mot.-Schützenbataillon operating T-34s and T-54Bs. No big deal, right? WRONG! The closer you get to friendly lines, the stronger the communist forces will get (you know, moving up to the actual frontline). These will include numerous T-80 tanks.

The Operation Itself

In this Operation, the British NATO forces are under-equipped and outnumbered, with a scattering of equally dispersed allied units on the battlefield. The choices you make matter; if you might run solo, beeline toward friendly lines, and abandon your allies. However, this might not be a surefire way to make it out alive, as linking up with other encircled units might give you a boost in firepower and increase your chances of success making it out in one piece.

These include recapturing (you read that right) West German Leopard 2A3s, getting together with the SAS, refueling and using a Belgian recon chopper, and more. The last push across the Weser River will be done under the cover of a massive allied airstrike. In Survivors, you need to use your recon carefully, check engagement ranges, and, step by step, make it out of the forward battle zone.

The new WARNO - NORTHAG expansion

WARNO - NORTHAG is the first major expansion coming to WARNO. World War III hits the North German Plain where the attacking Warsaw Pact needs to overcome the staunch defenses of NATO’s NORTHAG. Under British command, Belgian, Dutch, West German, and American forces battle against the powerful northern formations of the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, including East German and reinforcing Polish armies. The expansion is planned for later in 2024.

https://steamproxy.com/steamstore/app/2978620/WARNO__NORTHAG/

WARNO - NORTHAG will feature:

• 2 new Army General campaigns.
  
• 4 new Operations.
  
• 10 new Divisions, including NATO’s Belgian 16e Pantserdivisie, Dutch 4e Divisie, the British 4th Armoured Division and MultiNational Airborne Division, and the American 9th Infantry (Motorized) Division, while the Warsaw Pact deploys the Soviet 25-ya Tank. Diviziya, the East German 9. Panzerdivision, and the Polish 4 Dywizja Zmechanizowan, 20 Dywizja Pancerna and Grupa Desantowa.
  
• 3 new playable nations: NATO’s Belgium and the Netherlands, and Warsaw Pact’s Poland.
  
• New voice acting.
  
• New units and models.

The new WARNO- NORTHAG detailed

Check the dedicated forum post for all the detailed previews for WARNO - NORTHAG!

[url=https://steamproxy.com/app/1611600/discussions/0/4700161359562121615/
]NORTHAG ... what to expect?[/url]

Until Next Time

That’s it. We’ll return with another WARNO - NORTHAG’s expansion preview next week! Note from next week onwards that we’ll go back to the regular schedule of 1 WARNO DevBlog per week.

Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server[discord.gg], Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram[www.instagram.com].

See you on the battlefield, commander.

Hello, hello, hello!

We return with yet another NORTHAG Operation preview. This week, it's time to tackle the last two scenarios to be featured in our upcoming WARNO - NORTHAG expansion.

First will be Operation #3 - Marauders, in which the British (and other paratroopers of the) MNAD (MultiNational Airborne Division) wreak havoc in Warsaw Pact’s rear.

Onwards and upwards!

NORTHAG’s Historical Context

For more info on NORTHAG’s historical context, check out this DevBlog for extra insights into the military situation on the northern front in West Germany. In brief: NATO is being threatened by two different Warsaw Pact offensive thrusts, a northern one aimed at Bremen, and a southern one with Hanover as its objective.

WARNO - NORTHAG’s Army General and Operations all take place on or near these two attacks, albeit at different times and focusing on different fighting forces. With Marauders, we focus on the north to the front around Hamburg. It is here that defending NATO units have been fixed in place by combined Soviet and Polish formations supporting the East German 5. Armee’s offensive on Bremen.

Marauders

Once again (see the Winged Hussars Operation and the Armored Fury Army General campaign), NATO sees a fleeting opportunity to strike the communists hard, if one is daring enough to take some risks. Next to the major offensive thrusts aimed at NORTHAG, the Warsaw Pact is also attacking even further north, with an assault on Denmark. However, with substantial reinforcements being diverted to the flagging southern axis at Hanover, and the logistical train in East Germany being hammered by plentiful NATO air attacks and artillery bombardments, there is quite a bit of chaos and confusion for the communists in the rear.

This results in significant delays in deployments and maneuvers, including leaving key targets close to the edge of the forward combat zone temporarily undefended. Such is the case at Kasseburg, 30km east of Hamburg, a newly set-up logistical hub for the Polish 30th Mechanized Reserve Division. Momentarily, it is only left with a token defense force.

Cue NATO. In Marauders, a flying column of the British-led MNAD attacks in a daring night-time operation, managing to wrestle control of the forward-deployed ammo depot centered on a railway junction. However, come the dawn of the next day, the dispersed British, Belgian, and West German paratroopers and light airmobile forces are being threatened by a hasty but powerful Polish counter-attack.

The Operation Itself

With Marauders, we have a selection of NATO’s finest light airborne troops fighting off several waves of Polish mechanized infantry. The mission is multi-fold. You have to move quickly to consolidate your forces, coordinate the British and West German recon troops, and establish (and maintain) your defensive lines. You guessed it, the available NATO contingent are all nimble and flexible but primarily light units, from Scimitar and Scorpion armored vehicles to experienced paratrooper squads and light helicopter squadrons (which will prove key in attacking and disrupting enemy waves).

The various MNAD forces are positioned across the battlefield. When you link up, you’ll receive some additional reinforcements, including British paratroopers armed with LAW-80 anti-tank weapons and Milan ATMG teams. Furthermore, if you secure the Bravo sector, located in the southeast, you’ll enable the West German to deploy their Fallschirmjäger platoons, strengthen your hold on Kasseburg (and give you even more infantry and supply units). Their support is vital in holding on for long enough, as the Polish tanks and mechanized infantry will do their damnest to kick you off the battlefield.

The new WARNO - NORTHAG expansion

WARNO - NORTHAG is the first major expansion coming to WARNO. World War III hits the North German Plain where the attacking Warsaw Pact needs to overcome the staunch defenses of NATO’s NORTHAG. Under British command, Belgian, Dutch, West German, and American forces battle against the powerful northern formations of the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, including East German and reinforcing Polish armies. The expansion is planned for later in 2024.

https://steamproxy.com/steamstore/app/2978620/WARNO__NORTHAG/

WARNO - NORTHAG will feature:

• 2 new Army General campaigns.
  
• 4 new Operations.
  
• 10 new Divisions, including NATO’s Belgian 16e Pantserdivisie, Dutch 4e Divisie, the British 4th Armoured Division and MultiNational Airborne Division, and the American 9th Infantry (Motorized) Division, while the Warsaw Pact deploys the Soviet 25-ya Tank. Diviziya, the East German 9. Panzerdivision, and the Polish 4 Dywizja Zmechanizowan, 20 Dywizja Pancerna and Grupa Desantowa.
  
• 3 new playable nations: NATO’s Belgium and the Netherlands, and Warsaw Pact’s Poland.
  
• New voice acting.
  
• New units and models.

The new WARNO- NORTHAG detailed

Check the dedicated forum post for all the detailed previews for WARNO - NORTHAG!

[url=https://steamproxy.com/app/1611600/discussions/0/4700161359562121615/
]NORTHAG ... what to expect?[/url]

Until Next Time

We’ll be back later this week to detail Operation #4 - Survivors.

Join the WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server[discord.gg], Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram[www.instagram.com].

See you on the battlefield, commander.