Isonzo is coming September 13th!
Following Isonzo's release date announcement yesterday (the battle begins on September 13th!) we wanted to share more about the map featured in the trailer: the Dolomites! Here's the trailer again if you missed it...
Enlist to fight on the Italian Front!
Before we start our recon of the new map, we wanted to share a new competition to celebrate the announcement! You can win a game key and other Isonzo goodies by entering our raffle - all you have to do is sign up for the WW1 Game Series newsletter on our website to enter the raffle and get all the latest news from the development frontlines! Who knows... maybe one of you’ll be the lucky soldier who’ll be receiving an Isonzo goodie pack, including one of the first Isonzo game keys and a special Isonzo poppy grenade!
It'll look something like this...
Propaganda Posters
We've also created some WW1 style propaganda posters if you'd like to help us spread the word about Isonzo! Some of you might’ve seen them at our expo visits in April this year - we’ve created some amazing looking propaganda posters! Feel free to share these images, online and offline. We can always use more soldiers at the front!
The Dolomites
We’ve seen some literal uphill battles in previous dev blogs (see the hill outside the city of Gorizia and the first few defensive lines on Sabotino) but the Dolomites are on a whole different level. Historically the Italians attacked early in the war during August 1915 aiming to take control of Torre di Toblin: a rocky tower dominating the area. They got as far as capturing the Sasso di Sesto, where they established a base which would remain until the end of the war despite Austro-Hungarian assaults - particularly one in 1917 where tunnels and a night time raid led to the recapture of the Sasso di Sesto… for a short time. The Italians counterattacked in the morning and retook the peak. In Isonzo it’s the initial Italian capture of the Sasso di Sesto in 1915 which you will experience.
Comparison images, with photo on the left and in-game on the right! In both the Sasso di Sesto is in the foreground on the left, with the Torre di Toblin looming over it.
Italian troops advancing under fire.
Although the Sasso di Sesto is not that high (for a mountain) the paths leading up to it are very steep. This mountaintop battlefield also has some incredible scenery - in the background are the stunning Tre Cime di Lavaredo, also called the Drei Zinnen, known in English as the Three Peaks of Lavaredo. As you climb higher the views only get more impressive!
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo as seen in real life and in-game.
In-game there are two defensive lines, each line with a single capture objective. First up is the Dreizinne Hutte refuge, and after that is the Sasso di Sesto itself. Don’t be fooled into thinking that makes things simple though! The attackers have an extremely steep mountainside to climb that poses some unique challenges.
One of the routes up the mountain.
Italian officers will need to be bold if they want to get flares past the very frontlines of the battlefield - because while you can normally use a shallow angle on your flare gun to cover a large distance, here the mountain is so steep that you’ll need to be quite far forward or your flares will hit the mountainside rather than getting up above the enemy positions! Naturally the Austro-Hungarians will have no such trouble, and their commanding height advantage will enable them to easily place flare markers anywhere they choose from relative safety.
When attacking you’ll need to be careful with grenades since they could end up sliding back down the hill at you - this influences the defenders too though since they’ll need to cook off their grenades or risk them sliding down past their targets.
Close quarters action assaulting a trench line.
We’ll return to the Dolomites to cover each objective in more detail. Don't forget you can already wishlist Isonzo ahead of the September 13 release!
Until next time soldiers!
I am at a loss for words... This is my favorite front of the war and to see it represented so brilliantly and accurately is remarkable. I've been a fan of this franchise since Verdun beta testing, and I remain one of your biggest supporters