We return to the Cengio map in this week's Isonzo Intel. Don't forget that Isonzo has been released and you can join the battle yourself right now! Thank you for your support so far! It's been very fun seeing you all enjoy the game!
But before we get into the detailed dev blog, here's a video with Robin Nielsen, our level designer, who tells you a bit about Monte Cengio.
As we prepare to attack the second line, it's worth noting that Fort Corbin, the capture objective of the first line, maintains some value as a spotting position for Officers and Mountaineers or a sniping nest for Marksmen. This said, never forget the value of being near the frontline - be ready to move on and join the assault ASAP if you don't find juicy targets.
There are two objectives for the Austro-Hungarians in the second line: sabotaging a gun position in a forest clearing and taking a capture point in a forested cliffside camp. The route to these leads from the fortress complex through a rural mountain settlement plus a shell cratered fields and forest. There is little in the way of chokepoints in this area, meaning you’ll need to maintain good situational awareness in case enemies are trying to sneak around your flanks. Recon flights and spotting can both help here. It also poses challenges for the Engineers of both teams, since there aren’t obvious locations for barbed wire and sandbags - lonely strips of wire out in the forest will be easily cut, so it makes sense to either plan to stand watch over your impromptu defenses, or build close to the objectives where you can be sure other players will always be present.
When approaching the gun pit both sides will need to be wary of heavy machine guns positioned on banks of earth that can easily hide more enemies behind them. Visibility is often interrupted by trees or sunken lanes, so you need to keep your wits about you. The gun pit itself has plentiful stores of ammunition and other supplies, giving plenty of opportunity for people to hide. Bring close combat weapons or clear the place out with an artillery barrage before going in.
The tent encampment on the forest slopes is more open, running almost to the edge of the cliffs. Defenders should watch out for people shooting from Fort Corbin, and would probably be advised to keep the tents between themselves and the fortress complex. The Austro-Hungarians can try a frontal assault along the main road, or they can flank around from near the gun position objective.
If the Austro-Hungarians succeed, they are on to their penultimate objective: an Italian base on Monte Cengio itself. After crossing a picturesque mountain stream the route leads upwards to a series of winding cliffside paths reinforced with wood and wire.
The goal is a single capture point in a cluster of wooden shacks. Even after establishing forward spawn points there is still quite a way to go for the attackers to reach the capture point, and there are only so many routes up there. The Austro-Hungarians will need to make good use of grenades, officer call-ins, and a mortar at one the forward spawns if they hope to take this Sardinian command post. Assault classes with light machine guns can also be invaluable to suppress Italian reinforcements.
Assuming they manage it, the final objective is a single capture point at the peak of Monte Cengio. The terrain for this final push is similarly rocky, but has less of a height difference, allowing longer range engagements. Without the brutal uphill assault and better sight lines from the forward spawn points to the objective, the Austro-Hungarians may well find this last push easier than the previous one.
That said… watch out for the tunnels running below this sector and the capture point! Enemies can and will emerge from unexpected places. Learning the layout of the underground passageways will give you an edge. It won't be an easy battle, but overall the landscape is less unusual than the previous sector - except for the tunnels. We’ll close out with the complete flyover video!
Fight for Monte Cengio today!
Isonzo has been released and you can join the fighting yourself on the Cengio map and others!
Steam: Store.steampowered.com
Xbox: Xbox.com
PlayStation: Store.playstation.com
Epic Games: Store.epicgames.com
We thank you for your support and patience! Since release we had several hotfixes and big patches and we'll keep monitoring your reports! Here's a small info sheet about how things are going for the devs.
The work for a dev never ends ;)
Avanti!
