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ARCHIVES >>> 6/2008
The Final Battle by: Lightning 25.06.2008 19:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. This week we would like to show you the second map in the upcoming 2.15 patch. This map, about the Battle of Tunis in 1943, was made by Otolikos. With the Mareth Line now firmly in British hands and the Americans having reorganised after the losses at Kasserine the allied advance in Tunisia slows down. At the very last moment the Germans had send massive reinforcements to Tunisia in order to keep the Axis bridgehead in Africa open. Allied superiority in air and sea slowly however begin to take their toll on the Axis forces and it is only a matter of time before the allies can organise their next big offensive.
On April 22nd 1943 the big attack begins as in the South British forces and in the West US force attack the German lines. Although the British are clearly advancing, their progress is slow, having only captured ten kilometres in a week and the decision is made to shift the focus of the attack to the south-west.
With all the preparations made the new attack begins in the early hours of May 6th, as the British and Indian 4th Divisions break their way through the axis lines. On the very next day the first British tanks roll into the Tunisian capital Tunis and to the north-west the Americans enter the city of Bizerte.
Only 6 days later, on May 13th 1943, the 230,000 Axis forces in North Africa surrender, making it the second biggest disaster for the Axis in the war so far. The first being of course the surrender at Stalingrad just 3 months earlier.
That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.
18.06.2008 19:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we have renders of two new pieces of German weaponry; the PaK40 and the infamous MG42. The PanzerabwehrKanone 40 (PaK40) was designed to replace the older PaK38. The design of the PaK40 started in 1939, but it didn't receive a high priority until the invasion of the Soviet Union. Only then did it become apparent that guns with a higher caliber were urgently required to fight off the heavier Soviet tanks like the T34 and KV1. In November of 1941 the first of the new 75mm PaK 40s were sent off to the Eastern front and by 1943 they formed the majority of Germany's Anti-tank guns until the end of the war. The PaK40 was also used in Africa, but it did not see action there until late 1942, during the battles of El Alamein. About 23,500 PaK40s were produced during the war, but the design of the gun was also used in many tanks, such as the late Panzer IV and tank destroyers, like the later versions of the StuG. This PaK40 was modeled and skinned by K96.
The Maschinengewehr 42 (MG42) was designed to replace the older MG34. The main reason the MG34 needed improvement was not because of its performance on the battlefield, but rather the resources it required in production. The MG42 succeeded greatly in this goal, as it was not only cheaper to produce than its predecessor, it only took half the man hours. On the battlefield it was also a great success; it was lighter than the MG34, it had an easier way to change barrels, it was less prone to jamming and to top it all off it had a 33% increase in rate of fire. Although the MG42 never really replaced the MG34 over 400,000 MG42s were made during the war and they saw action on all fronts from the summer of 1942. This MG42 was modeled and skinned by Seth Soldier.
That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.
11.06.2008 19:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. This week we're introducing two vehicles for Normandy - a brand new tank destroyer and an old tank you might remember from Forgotten Hope 0.7. That's not all though, we're also showing the first of the three new maps that will make their appearance in the 2.15 patch. As usual, we'll start with the Normandy news. First, we have the Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf. G Late, made by Toddel.
This tank destroyer is the very latest edition of the StuG III series. The later StuG III versions, which used the 75mm StuK 40 guns were named StuG 40s. This name change coincided with a change in role on the battlefield, as the new StuGs were no longer assault guns, but tank destroyers. The original StuG 40 Ausf.G went in production in December 1942, but over the years many additions have been made to this successful design. This particular model comes standard equipped with 5mm sideskirts, a remote controlled MG34 and an 80mm thick cast gunmantlet which includes an MG34 coaxial machinegun. The StuG 40 Ausf. G was by far the most produced German armoured fighting vehicle, with nearly 8000 of them leaving the factories. The second item we have to show for Normandy is the British Cromwell tank. Since the model and skin from Forgotten Hope 0.7 were already of such great quality, we decided to port this tank instead of making a new model. The original model was made by Malsa and the skin by Montoya. The normal map was done by Toddel and the tank was exported and coded by Ctz.
The development of the Cromwell dates back to 1940, when it became apparent that the cruiser would need to be replaced by a more capable tank. The first design to be accepted was the Cavalier, which proved to have too many problems to be considered for use in combat. The second design was the Centaur. This tank turned out to be a whole lot better, but it still suffered from a poor engine. This problem was solved with the new Rolls Royce Meteor engine, which was based on the famous Merlin engine, used in the Spitfire. The new tank equipped with the Meteor engines was named the Cromwell. Originally the Cromwell was armed with an OQF 57mm 6-Pounder, but in late 1943 these were replaced by new 75mm guns, based on the 6-Pounder, but capable of firing the same rounds as the US 75mm M3 gun used in the Sherman. Although the Cromwell didn't have as much armour as the Sherman, it did have a lower profile and a much greater speed. Over 3000 Cromwells were produced during the war. The last thing we have for this week's news is the first of the three new maps. This map is about the Siege of Giarabub in 1941 and is made by Lobo. Giarabub is an oasis in Libya, near the Egyptian border and about 200 kilometres from the coast. It was the southernmost Italian outpost in Cyrenaica and it lay dangerously close to the Egyptian oasis of Siwa. When Operation Compass swept along the coast, defeating the Italians in every engagement, the Oasis of Giarabub held out and became a shelter for all Italian soldiers in nearby positions.
In December Giarabub was surrounded by British forces and besieged. About 1500 Italians were held up inside the town and while all other Italian held towns in Cyrenaica surrendered to the British in the next months, the Giarabub garrison would not surrender.
With only the bare minimum of supplies from the occasional airdrop the Italians managed to keep going throughout January and February of 1941 and when the garrison received a letter from Rommel on March 17th, there was hope that they might still be rescued. With the Germans preparing their invasion of Cyrenaica they would only have to hold out for a few more weeks. However, the British and Australian forces surrounding the town had not been idle either. More and more troops arrived until on March 21st 1941, after a 45 minute artillery bombardment, they attacked Giarabub...
That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.
The Cat and the Dog by: Lightning 04.06.2008 18:00 GMT
Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we've got renders of 2 new armoured cars for Normandy and a render of a new rifle for our African maps. Before we show those though, we'd like to start by welcoming the latest addition to our development team, Agus. The first render we have in store today is that of M8 Greyhound. This dog was both modeled and skinned by our new dev Agus.
The M8 Greyhound was originally designed to be a tank destroyer, but when the design was ready it was already clear that its 37mm gun would do little to harm the German tanks. So, when the M8 entered serial production in early 1943 it was classified as a Light Armoured Car. The nickname Greyhound was given to the M8 by the British (who received many of them through the lend-lease program) because of the M8's high speed and thin armour. Although the M8 was retired from service in the US army shortly after the Korean War, it remains in use in several third world countries to this day. The second render is that of another armoured car, namely the German Sd.Kfz. 234/2 "Puma". This cat was modeled and skinned by Toddel.
The Puma was a whole different class of armoured car than the M8. It weighed nearly 12 tons and came equipped with the 50mm KwK39/1 L/60 gun, the same as in the late PzKpfw III J, but with a muzzle break attached. Even then, it was still capable of reaching speeds as high as 85 km/h, which is only 5 km/h slower than the M8. Despite of these qualities the production of the Puma stopped in mid 1944 in favour of the other turretless Sd.Kfz. 234s. At this time only 101 Pumas were made. The last item we have for today is the Lee Enfield No1 MkIII* rifle. This weapon was modeled by Seth Soldier and skinned by betatester FatJoe.
The SMLE MkIII* entered service with the British army in 1915, during the First World War, but it was still the main British rifle at the start of the Second World War (although renamed to 'No1 MkIII*'). Other commonwealth nations like Australia and India used the MkIII* during the whole of World War 2, while Britain replaced them by the new No4 MkI. The mass production of the No4 rifle didn't start until 1941 however, so the No1 MkIII* was by far the most common rifle in Africa. You can expect to see this new rifle replace most of the No4s in the upcoming 2.15 patch.
That's all for this week, but be sure to come back next time for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.
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