World War One More Time news

After two weeks without an official update there are a great deal of
news items to share today. We would like to begin with community news. Battle for Europe - World at War has started a new campaign lately. Here is what they offer:

Before starting the showcase we have the honor to introduce 3 new Forgotten Hope 2 developers. We would like to welcome Arisaka joining the modeling department, Mr. Cheese responsible for mapping and zapfcreations who will give our coders a hand.

We hope that our new developers will have stuff ready for showcase
soon. But until then, we have an especially rich update for you today.
The first item in today's news is the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG)
Chevrolet 30cwt truck by Rad. The LRDG was an unorthodox
British unit first created in 1940 to perform reconnaissance far behind
enemy lines. Formed initially by a few relatively junior officers, and
a small group of mainly New Zealander volunteers, the LRDG had to
scrounge much of its equipment from the leavings of the rest of the Army

The distinctive LRDG Chevy’s became emblematic of the LRDG’s ability
to adopt any useful equipment were into their unusual arsenal. The very
first of these were actually bought from a local Chevrolet dealer, some
were borrowed from the Egyptian Army, and relatively few were acquired
through regular army channels. All of these (like all later Chevys) had
their cabs removed and were equipped with large sand tires. The version
we present today is armed with Vickers and Lewis machine guns which
will surely make Axis infantrymen go diving for cover.

Of course the truck itself is not the only new item. The LRDG’s
transports were also fighting vehicles, which sported a variety of the
best weapons available. First we have the water-cooled .303 inch (7.7
mm) machine gun produced by the Vickers company, originally for the
British Army of WWI. The machine gun typically required a six to
eight-man team to operate: one to fire, one to feed the ammunition, and
the rest to help carry the weapon, its ammunition and spare parts.
Although heavy it was extremely reliable, so long as there was enough
water to cool it. The Vickers was modeled by The Jackal and Rad. and skinned by Rad.

Also visible on the Chevy Second is the Lewis .303 Mk. I, Model
1915. Although semi obsolete by the second world war, it was too heavy
(although far lighter then the Vickers), to be useful as a light
machine gun, and had been largely replaced in that role by the Bren. It
was mainly used mounted on vehicles, especially aircraft, but found a
new home with the LRDG who respected its ruggedness and reliability.
The Lewis was modeled and skinned by Rad.

Last but not least we present the Webley Mk VI revolver made by McGibs.
This 6 round .455 revolver is yet another weapon of World War 1
vintage. By World War II, it had been officially replaced by the
Enfield No 2 Mk I revolver, but due to shortages, many Webleys
continued in service. The hard-hitting Webleys were especially popular
with the New Zealand troops that formed the nucleus of the early LRDG.
It was also manufactured by RSAF Enfield under the designation Pistol,
Revolver, Webley, No 1 Mk VI.

As a final treat, we have a cinematically themed wallpaper created by Lobo.

Webley Revolver

That's all for today, but be sure to come back next week for another Forgotten Hope update. And don't forget to join us on IRC. Feel free to visit our public forums to discuss this update or other news.