As we explained last week, the Dolomites map officially has two defensive lines, each with a single capture point objective. In reality, however, the attacking Italians will need to break through more than just two lines of defense - they just don’t all have objective points. To illustrate, the first thing attackers will see on leaving their jump-off points is a strip of barbed wire along the length of the rocky hillside ahead of them. They’ll need to cut the wire and climb the slope while under fire from the Austro-Hungarian defenders.
The first line of wire the Italians must breach.
If they make it up there, they’ll find a second line of wire and another steep and rocky hillside to scale. It’s at the top of this slope that the first capture objective lies: the Dreizinne Hutte refuge. The ruins of it, anyway…
Some of the trenches that must be conquered.
There are multiple heavy machine gun positions amidst the remains of the refuge, and enough of the building is still standing to provide a little cover from artillery. It is also used by officers to call in support - first the Austro-Hungarians, then the Italians once they take control. As you can see from the gif above, there are multiple routes up to the objective: you should avoid getting tunnel vision and only attacking or defending one route. The strongest defensive position can crumble when attacked from an unexpected angle.
The Dreizinne Hutte is a capture objective, so the Italians will need to take and then hold it for some time, while taking fire and facing counter attacks from the Austro-Hungarian positions higher up the mountain. The good news is the slope doesn’t offer a lot of cover for such counter attacks. The bad news is, as the attackers you’ll have to be crossing that dangerous slope on your way to…
The Dreizinne Hutte - the capture zone is in the main cluster of ruins.
The Sasso di Sesto
The second and final objective is the command post at the peak of the mountain. To get there, the Italians have to make another uphill assault on a rocky trenchline overlooking the Dreizinne Hutte refuge.
Looking down on the Dreizinne Hutte at advancing Italian infantry.
Both sides can construct forward spawning points in these trenches so they’ll be hotly contested. There’s a lot of scope for engineers to place wire and sandbags to hinder enemy movement, while the Assault class and their grenades will also be able to do a lot of damage. To support their attack, the Italians can build a mountain gun just outside the Dreizinne Hutte, but depending on how organized the Austro-Hungarians are it might be wise to wait for their Officers to prepare intense fire support from creeping barrages, smoke screens, and/or bombing runs (more on those in a future dev blog!) before starting their attack.
The peak of the Sasso di Sesto.
Once they reach the top, the Italians still need to evict the Austro-Hungarians from the collection of wooden lodges serving as barracks and command post. A combination of rocky outcrops, stone walls, and the buildings themselves mean that there aren’t a lot of long sight-lines, so sniper rifles and light machine guns are probably less useful than bayonets and pistols. Enemies can appear from almost all sides so you’ll have to trust your teammates to have your back.
Fighting on the peak.
Some of the hut interiors.
Don't forget to enlist
We called for your help on the Italian Front by enlisting for the war last week. You enlist by signing up for the WW1 Game Series newsletter on our website to enter the raffle and get all the latest news from the development frontlines! You can win a game key and other Isonzo goodies by entering our raffle. 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!
That’s all for today!
Don’t forget that Isonzo will be released on September 13th! There's plenty more dev blogs on the way before the release, so watch this space!
