Infanterie Greift An!

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we have more amazing things, as we are showing the renders of the new German player models. In our next release, we will have as many as 14 new German player models; one model for each class, both regular and camouflaged.

First, we will take a look at the Heer player models. The Heer is the German name for the army. It is often confused with the Wehrmacht, which is the armed forces as a whole (the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine together). All these models were made by Zero.

The state of the German Heer in Normandy differed greatly per division. Many divisions, especially the ones occupying the bunkers on the beaches, were static divisions. Their strength was often only two-thirds that of regular divisions and would not have any means of transport. They were first raised in 1942 and in the two years that followed, its 'best' troops were sent to the eastern front and replaced by so-called 'Osttruppen'. These were former Soviet or Polish prisoners of war who chose to enter the German army, rather than being sent to concentration camps. Most of the German troops in these divisions were either quite old or really young.

Other, regular divisions, such as the 21st Panzer Division, also had to cope with the needs of the Eastern Front. It was formed mainly of troops returning from Russia, who had already been turned down once or twice by other divisions who were in need of more soldiers. Most of its tanks were Panzer IVs, but it also fielded many converted French tanks.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have the Panzer Lehr Division. It was especially formed in anticipation of the allied invasion and it was made up of the best units in Germany. All of its infantry regiments were fully mechanised (equipped with half-tracks) and most of its tanks were Panthers. It also had some 8 Tiger tanks and 5 Tiger II tanks.

Up next we have the camouflaged player models. These models were also made by Zero.

The use of camouflage in the German army began with the introduction of the Zeltbahn 31 - a sheet of canvas that could be used both as a tent and as a poncho. Much later, in 1937, the Waffen-SS started experimenting with camouflaged uniforms. These few uniforms would be used up to 1942, which saw the introduction of camouflaged field caps and helmet-covers. In 1943, the first of the new full camouflaged uniforms appeared, which were produced with many different patterns. The dotted pattern you see on most of the player models is called the 'Erbsenmuster' or 'pea-pattern'.

That's all for now, but be sure to come back next week for another update. Until then, feel free to visit our IRC channel and our public forums to discuss this update and other news.