Earlier this year we released version 1.0 of the mod, with the German Imperial Army and British Expeditionary Force as playable factions. This was after a long period of development during which we showcased various units of these two factions, starting with the announcement of the mod’s reactivation back in December 2009.
As back then, this update begins a new period during which we’ll make thematic previews of our new faction while the team keeps developing it. As with the previous factions this will not be finished overnight. We can already promise an interesting and well fleshed-out new faction with lots of new models, including weapons, vehicles, guns and more.
In the meanwhile we will also keep releasing balance updates for version 1.
With the fall of Imperial Russia in 1917, the French Army had become the biggest land force of the Entente and allied powers. Even with the prodigious expansion of the BEF during the war and the steady arrival of American troops, the French were still holding most of the Western Front by themselves, as well as sending expeditionary forces in the Balkans, Italy and the Middle East.
By 1918 the French Army had managed to close the tactical and technological gap with its main opponent, the German Army. New modern models of artillery were being produced en masse, tanks were seen in increasing numbers and the red trousers-clad infantry masses of 1914 had turned into heavily armed and well-trained specialists arrayed in squads and platoons.
It was however a spent and bloodied force that held the field in 1918. The offensives of the earlier years had been very costly in soldier lives, and even though Verdun had successfully been held it hadn’t been without a cost. By 1918 France had already lost about a million soldiers dead or missing and countless others wounded or disabled. The French soldier had remained stoic in his sacrifice until the failure of the Nivelle offensive and the mutinies of 1917. Nevertheless the decisive victory at La Malmaison had shown what the French army was still capable of under the right leadership.
Aimed at the BEF, the German spring offensive had spared the French in February 1918. However in May the German storm breached through their lines on the Chemin des Dames; it required every available reserve, US support and the first engagement of the Renault FT light tanks to plug the gap.
In July the French Army, with the support of British, US and Italians units, decisively halted the German offensive on the Marne for a second time. For the allies the tide of war had finally turned. Under the lead of the allied Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch and its commander Philippe Pétain, the French army would then launch a series of counter-attacks, never stopping until the armistice.
Despite its exhaustion, the French army of 1918 still consented to a further sacrifice of 300’000 lives.
The French Army is a new faction for The Great War 1918, a mod for Company of Heroes 1.
It will feature new units, new vehicles and its own set of doctrines and abilities.
As was historically the case in 1918 this faction will be technologically based, with steel making up for the blood it can no longer spare.
Models by The_Soldier, Cireva and B-Dizl
Textures by don_Durandal
(This is the first preview in a series. It is too early to ask why we didn't include such or such unit.)
AWESOME!
With the amount of units seen here, its a wonder how they lost WW2 little years after this one..
They relied too heavily on the archaic design of static defenses AKA The Maginot Line.
No, they just weren't ready to be outflanked, if they had not surrendered to avoid massive blooshed, the French army (who had way better armour and firepower at the time than the Germans, plus the support of Great Britain) would have been Hitlers first "Eastern Front", where Germany would lose so many man per inch of conquered ground (like in WW1) that the war would have probably lasted 2 less years. But that would wreck France's countryside like in WW1, and the french had their war scars still fresh and bleeding.
Why was I downvoted? My comment seems rather positive, if not pro-french.
Well Maginot line is still the thing that brought France down in a way since the budget allocated to the construction of the line was partly taken on the budget that was supposed to modernise the army itself (radios, guns and such). And since we now know that the Maginot Line was utterly useless... a more advanced army would have been much more efficient at this time.
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Maginot line wasn't the main reason why France lost. It was the outdated tactics - slow preparation for battles, using tanks only as infantry-supporting weapons, reliance on good-old artillery barrages. Germans also got superior strategic plan - they lured Allies into the trap. They thought that Germans would do the same they did in 1914 - attack through Belgium. And they did. But it was not the main attack in 1940! So the Allies rushed into Belgium to help stop the German advance, but then the attack came from the Ardennes, south of the Belgium. Germans quickly broke trough and whole allied army in the Belgium was encircled and forced to retreat over the channel. This left France without the British army on land. It was only a matter of time when the Germans would destroy other half of the Allied army
I have just finished reading Paul Ham's book "1914", which I found to be very informative. Understanding the lead up to WW1, and WW1 itself, sheds much light on WW2 and the experience of the nations who were involved.
Again, I appreciate the work of don_durandal and others here in their incredible research, attention to detail and exposure of history to us today.
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Vive la France,allez les Bleus! ^^
J'adore ! tu dois etre le seul francais !
sois content j'ai jamais vu un jeu de guerre ou ils ont mit mon pays ;p Belgique
L'équipe de Verdun (le FPS) ont ajoté une escouade défensive de belges
Hell, even though I'm a dev with Don, I never knew he's gotten THAT far. :) Bloody good job!
Amazing work, keep it up!
Love the Commander!
absolutely brilliant! As always, you never fail to impress!
Man...that's cool!
why day is coming the french faction???
Awesome. Well done to the developers. Are the French going to have customizable skins like the BEF have with the Highland, ANZAC & Portuguese troops? Having the 1914 uniforms with the kepis, dark blue coats and big baggy red pants would be cool.
Yes, there will be alternative skins. However they will only be 1918 ones. It's the same reason why we have no spiked helmets for the Germans. The mod tries to keep things as chronologically consistent as possible.
Still, a few German units with spiked helms would be cool, just saying. ;)
Yes.
and why day is coming?
Hello, i'm happy to meet you even though i do not know who you are. I am a Vietnamese person and I speak English not good. I do not know if you have a mod or mod, but I still hope you will agree if I've been using something from your mod. Actually my son loves it, I'm a cancer patient. The doctor said I only had one year to live, so I wanted to do something for my son, but my ability was limited. I would be very grateful if I received your consent.
german spiked helms don't have because they are of 1914 the mod is from 1918 and german are advanced tecnology
Fantastic work once more, guys.
Three words: Hoe lee shiet!
Awesome work! Like the Chauchat and Lebel :) But will there also be Berthier rifle or carbine ?
Wondering if it will be a replacement for the US or a Custum Faction, which one will suit more the french speech files.
Hats off. Impressive work.
Also happy holidays.
how do i run game in cheat mode?
on Steam go to library, right click on Company of Heroes (New Steam Version), and click on Properties and then on Set Lauch Options, write -dev and click OK and Close. You can also add -nomovies after -dev to avoid intro
Mein gott the beautiful textures!
Keep up the amazing work!
it would be cool if you add Austro-Hungria,Rusia and Serbia
pd:sorry for my english :P
Like Durendal say it many time is mod aim only on 1918 period of war, so no Russia (Russian revolution) and no Serbia (Fallen in 1915), but he say perhaps they will ad the Austro-Hungarian after the next release .
Hope for the introduction of K.u.K army (Austro-Hungarians) in this mod for the centenary of the World War I. ^^
Serbia was raised in 1916 on the Salonika front(battle at Kaymakchalan) in grand style ;)
oh okey thanx
Will there be a french quotes?
Sorry from my english.
finally i can see them in a 'done' shape ^^ looking forward to them!
Hey dude, how long, approximately how long do you think this will take, i am extremely anxious for my favorite country to be implemented.
As always, when it's done.
When do they come?
Visit the official TGW forums.
Are we to expect 'les Poilus' any time soon or do we heve to battle the Bosche using nothing but those tea-drinking, bedwetting tommies for the months to come?
Is there any idea so far on the french doctrine?
I'd like it if you'd add something similar to the German Material warfare, as to allow players more than 2 howitzers to create an real artillery duel aswell, as now it's easy for the Germans to dominate the british guns, as the leFH 16 has better range and can be spammed.
Just a suggestion.
the frenchs are more defensive doctrines such trenchs and infantry boost