Global War 2.0 release date, future of the mod, new factions preview news

Dear Global War community,

The next version of the mod is almost ready. I am currently adding and improving some maps, and reworking the tutorials that were not working anymore due to the major changes coming with this release. Due to some real life tasks I am unable to release the mod this month, but I have a final date:

Global War 2.0 will be released on 25 November. NO MORE DELAYS.

Thanks for your patience and your neverending support.

Below you find the final change list of this new version:

Change log version 2.0:

- Added Axis Foreign Army (AFA) faction.
- Fixed HEAT anti armour property not working.
- Increased amount of ammo for 20mm gun based vehicles.
- Fixed artillery modernization 2 not working properly after reactivation.
- Moved all tank destroyers (except stug) to the infantry support command for Germany.
- Increased the tech requirement for PaK40 to 15 artillery points.
- Increased the tech requirements for the Nebelwerfer 42 to 15 artillery points.
- Enabled the Sherman 76(W) for all support commands except the Marines.
- Changed the panzerjager support ability to always spawn a Nashorn.
- Increased the armoured infantry ability cost from 600 to 750.
- The artillery reserve ability will now spawn either a Sturmpanzer I or a StuH42.
- Reworked the dig in ability in the fortification support: all infantry units will randomly get 500% health bonus and some tanks will be immune to enemy fire.
- Heavy engineers can now build 93mm Vickers emplacements.
- Replaced the APDS rounds ability with Archer call in.
- Replaced the Defensive support ability with the Lancaster bombing run.
- Replaced the Medic ability of the USA Infantry support command with M10 Wolverine call-in.
- Added several new maps to Battlefield Mode.
- Fixed Jagdpanzer IV vision.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Jagdpanzer IV from firing when used by AI.
- Replaced Defectors ability with Air Superiority ability for Soviet Union.
- Replaced Medical Supplies support ability with the 320mm Type98 Heavy mortar for the Japanese Empire.
- Replaced Zeal support ability with the Elite Assault Infantry support ability for the Japanese Empire. This ability spawns once a Chi-Ri heavy tank and Elite Assault infantry is able
to call in artillery strikes on the enemy.
- Chi-Nu medium tank moved from the tank reserve support operation to standard reinforcements. It costs 475 command points and requires 25 tech points to be unlocked.
- The Tank Reserve support operation from the Fortress support command now deploys a Chi-To medium tank instead of a Chi-Nu medium tank. The Chi-To is armed with a 75mm Type 5 AT gun which is
even more powerful than the German PaK 40.
- Reduced tech requirement for US antitank squad to 5 tech points.
- Improved moving accuracy of the US antitank jeep.
- Light howitzers now shoot in the fashion of heavy artillery.
- Increased tech requirement of Crusader, Matilda, and Valentine to 20 points. Increased tech requirements of Sherman and Cromwell to 30 points.
Incresed tech requirement of Achilles to 35 points, of Firefly to 40 points, of Churchill Crocodile and Comet to 45 points.
- Artillery Spotter cost increased from 375 to 650 command points and increased its tech requirement to 30 points.
- Decreased cost of sFH 18 from 600 to 500 command points.
- Decreased cost of Hummel from 800 to 650 command points.
- Decreased cost of M36 Jackson from 1000 to 850 command points.
- Reworked weapon penetration of most of the Allied tanks.
- T-34/76 mod. 1943 penetration increased (thanks Green$mo0ker for the stats).
- Given the modernization level 1 requirement for ZiS-3, the gun has been given the stats of the L/51.2 model.
- 57mm ZiS-2 and ZiS-4 penetration adjusted to APCBC stats, for better performance given the modernization level 2 requirement (this affects also the T-34/57 of the Tank Guard Support).
- Increased tech requirement for Russian heavy tanks to 35 tech points.
- Vickers machine gun cannot penetrate armor anymore, due to historical reasons, since the .50 cal variant was not issued to infantry. For this reason its price has been lowered to 150 points.
- Artillery flares now do not collide with building walls anymore, allowing to bomb the interior.
- Fixed bug where the AI-controlled NKVD commissars' ability spawned replacements for the player instead of the AI.
- Decreased cost of 76mm M5 AT gun to 400 CPs.
- Changed middle resource point to give only 100 command points per minute to promote more diverse strategies and allow comebacks.
- Reworked the cost of several German tanks and assault guns:
- Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J 300 CPs.
- Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F 350 CPS.
- StuG III Ausf. F 400 CPs.
- Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G 475 CPs.
- StuG III Ausf. G 500 CPs.
- Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H 550 CPs.

Future of the mod:

This version was a huge challenge to implement due to the massive size of the scripts involved. This has made the game quite unstable, to the point that Men of War is starting to exhibit memory allocation problems since the engine was built for 32-bit systems. In this moment the engine is at its maximum stress level. In September I had decided to make you a surprise and release an additional faction together with the planned Axis Foreign Army: The Partisans. Unfortunately I had to give up because the mission size became so big that the only option to play certain maps was to lower the details of texture to medium and disable water reflection, because the game was unable to allocate the necessary memory. Although the faction was actually fully working, I have decided not to include it in this version to favour game stability and avoiding too many irritating crashes. My final plan for this mod is thus the following:

1. I will port the mod to Assault Squad 2. AS2 has memory allocation built for 64-bit systems and I hope the game won't have memory allocation problems anymore. This means that this will be the last supported version for Men of War vanilla. There will be of course bug fixing patches coming in the future if necessary, but all major changes won't happen for this game anymore, only in AS2.
2. I have currently designed two more factions for this mod: this means that the game will contain a total of 8 new faction. The new factions are Partisans and Waffen SS. Below you will find a preview presenting them.

Partisan forces:

Partisans are a versatile faction made of irregular troops that can be supported by the other nations. Partisans do not use tech points to unlock new units: they have a unique way of accessing more advanced stuff. Partisans can send Intel to other factions. They can choose to send intel to other partisan groups, unlocking more advanced partisan units, or they can choose to send intel to USA, USSR, or UK. When they do so, they will inform their troops on enemy position and defenses thus unlocking unique units from each nation. This comes at a cost though: each time they send intel they will consume tech points, so each strategic intelligence choice matters a lot. Moreover, there is a limit to the total amount of intel the partisans can send, which is 5. This means that Partisans can never access the full roster of units, and they have to choose where to focus.

Partisan forces:

The partisan sub-faction consists mainly of infantry, and infantry support units. At the beginning of the game, partisans can deploy Partisan Riflemen that are equipped with kar98k rifles and can build barbed wire and minefields. This is especially useful since partisans suffer vehicle rushes before they unlock antitank weaponry. As support vehicle they can deploy a bike armed with an MG-34. Finally, they can infiltrate a sniper squad, made of two spotters with MP-40 and binoculars and a sniper armed with a PTRS sniper rifle. This weapon is dual-purpose: it can kill infantry but also disable light vehicles.

Sending intel for the first time to Partisans will unlock Veteran Partisan squads. This infantry is equipped with G-43 rifles and MG-42 and is generally better than standard partisans. The AT infantry roster is extended with the ability of infiltrating AT infantry, armed with Panzershreck and to request vz-37 light AT guns. Finally partisans gain the ability to deploy the M3A1 scout car armed with a .50cal M2 machineguns that makes it capable of dealing with light vehicles.

Sending intel for the second time unlocks elite Partisan infantry units. A command squad is availabe, which can refund command points for each fallen soldier that is near it. A squad of infiltrators can be deployed instantly anywhere on the battlefield. As soon as they enter the map, enemy vehicles will be damaged. Finally, a PaK 40 AT gun will become available.

USSR forces:

The soviet sub-faction focuses around armored vehicles and support infantry. Sending intel for the first time unlocks OT-34/76, which is a T-34 variant armed with a hull flamethrower instead of the regular MG, the SU-152 which is an assault gun armed with a devastating 152mm howitzer for both anti-infantry and anti-tank role, and combat engineers.

Sending intel for the second time unlocks the OT-34/85, which has again a hull flamethrower and a 85mm tank gun, the ISU-122 which is a heavy tank destroyer armed with a variant of the same gun mounted on the IS-2 heavy tank, and Motorized Guards, elite infantry that gains a health bonus when fighting in the vicinity of tanks.

USA forces:

The USA sub-faction is centered around airborne units and vehicles. Sending intel to them for the first time unlocks the airborne recon team. These soliders can automatically call a strafing run on enemy infantry close to them. A M3 halfatrack armed with a .50 cal machinegun can be called in, and finally a strafing run and P-51 with smoke bomb can cover advancing infantry: the smoke bomb can negate line of sights, and a P-51 will automatically target enemy infantry units.

Sending intel for the second time to USA unlocks the Airborne Heavy infantry, that contains, among elite units, a soldier equipped with a flaregun capable of designating bombing target. Enemy units near the yellow flare it shoots will be bombed by a P-51. A M4A3E8 Easy Eight Sherman can be deployed as armoured support. Finally, if you call tank buster planes, they will periodically attack any enemy vehicles on the map.

UK forces:

The UK sub-faction is centered around artillery units and AT guns. Sending intel to them for the first time unlocks the 6pdr AT gun, the Crusader AA II armed with a fast-firing Orelikon AA gun, and a the Sexton SPG.

Sending intel to them for the second time unlocks the powerful 17pdr AT gun, the Cromwell cruiser tank, and the mighty Churchill MK VII AVRE armed with a 290mm petard mortar.

Support commands:

Radio interception: This ability will grant intel being sent to a random faction with no tech cost. It still counts for the intel cap.
Relief force 5 random units from the faction with the highest intel will be called in, depending on the current intel level.

Soviet Reserve Army:

Reserve conscripts: Armed with rifles and AT rifles
War effort: Every conscript squad deployed will be completely refunded while the ability is active.
Tank riders reserve: Reserve Conscripts are replaced by 2 T-34 mod. 1940 carrying the normal conscript squad.
Shock Reserves: All units from the Soviet faction are temporarily unlocked while the ability is active.

Soviet Shock Army:

Shock Infantry: Elite infantry armed with SVT-40, PPSH-43, and DP machineguns.
SU-76M: SU-76 configured in artillery support role and capable to fire 76mm HE shells in indirect mode.
203-B4: 203mm heavy howitzer capable of firing devastating 203mm shells.
Antitank coordinated fire: All 203-B4 howitzers will automtically shoot at enemy tanks for 60 seconds at a higher fire rate.

Hit and Run Tactics:

Sd.Kfz. 251/6 Command vehicle: A stolen Sd.Kfz. 251 with radio equipment will be deployed to the battlefield. This unit can be used as retreat point and can call artillery strikes on infantry near it
Emergency retreat: All units within 50m from the designated position will instantly be moved to the closest Sd.Kfz. 251/6.
Commando recon squad: Enemy vehicles and guns spotted by the squad will be targeted with heavy artillery every 30 seconds.
Partisan raid party: Partisans armed with PPSH-41, SVT-40, Panzershreck, will be infiltrated. Every squad member that is killed is evacuated and replaced at the Sd.Kfz. 251/6 if one is present. Replaced units cannot be replaced.

Scavenge tactics:

Scavenge: If a friendly infanty unit gets near a disabled enemy vehicle while the ability is active, you will earn 50cp and 1 random tech point.
Autoblindo 41: A stolen Italian Autoblindo 41 will enter the battlefield to support your troops.
85mm 52k AT gun: A salvaged Russian heavy AT gun will be deployed to fight enemy tanks.
Corpse Scavengers: Every time you kill an enemy infantry unit you will earn 30cp.

Waffen SS

Waffen SS can deploy a number of elite infantry units that are generally better than their counterpart in other armies. They are, although, in smaller numbers and their cost is higher. Waffen SS are focused around mobility, for this reason they cannot deploy static weapons like heavy machineguns, mortars, or artillery. Their uniqueness comes from the fact that they can unlock support packages for units that change or modify their role on the battlefield. Unlocking a combat package costs tech points, so one should carefully choose what support package to unlock.

INFANTRY:
Schutzengrup (200CP):
4x soldiers, HP:200, weapons level 2
Weapons: 4x G-43, 2x handgrenades, 1x AT grenade, 1x smoke grenade, sandbags, 100 rifle rounds

Combat packages:
- G43 scopes (100CP, 5TP, -2TP): Exchange 2 G-43 with 2 scoped G-43. Fast sniper aim, but lower range than standard sniper rifles.
- Panzerfaust (100CP, 5TP, -2TP): All soldiers will be equipped with 2 panzerfaust 60 each.

Scout squad (150CP)
3x soldiers, HP: 150, weapons level 2
Weapons: 3x kar98k, binoculars, 1x handgrenade, 50 rifle rounds

Combat packages:
- Light antitank package (100CP, 5TP, -2TP): 1 scout will be re-equipped with a Pzb39 AT rifle.
- Artillery flares (250CP, 10TP, -5TP): 1 soldier will be re-equipped with a flare gun for a single precision artillery strike. 10 smoke rounds.

Sturmgrup (300CP, 5TP):
5x soldiers, HP:200, weapons level 2
Weapons: 5x MP-40, 4x handgrenades, 1x AT grenade, 2x smoke grenade, 500 smg rounds

Combat packages:
- Assault package (200CP, 5TP, -2TP): All soldiers will be re-equipped with StG-44 assault rifles.
- Rifle grenades (150CP, 5TP, -2TP): 2 soldiers will be re-equipped with Kar98k with rifle grenades

Fire Support Squad (250CP, 10TP):
4x soldiers, HP:200, weapons level 3
Weapons: 4x Kar98k, 1x MG-34, 4x handgrenades, sandbags, 50 rifle rounds, 800 mg rounds

Combat packages:
- MG-42 (150CP, 10TP, -2TP): The machinegunner will be re-equipped with a MG-42
- Antitank equipment (150CP, 10TP, -5TP): The machinegunner will be replaced by a Panzerschreck soldier.

Oberschutzen (400CP, 20TP):
5x soldiers, HP:250, weapons level 3
Weapons: 5x StG-44, 4x handgrenades, 4x AT grenades, 600 smg rounds

Combat package:
- Zielgerät 1229 (200CP, 20TP, -5TP): All soldiers will be re-equipped with scoped StG-44. Single shot rapid fire, but more accuracy and range.
- FG-42 zweibein (200CP, 20TP, -5TP): 2 soldiers will be re-equipped with FG-42 with bipods. They have higher rate of fire and accuracy

LIGHT VEHICLES AND SPGS:

Grille (500CP, 15TP):
Combat packages:
- Heavy SPG (200CP, 30TP, -5TP): Grille is replaced by a Sturmpanzer IV.
- Incendiary rounds (150CP, 20TP, -5TP): Grille SPG's are re-equipped with 150mm incendiary rounds. Big fire spread

Marder III Ausf. M (350CP, 15TP)
Combat packages:
- Sturmgeschutz regiment (150CP, 25TP, -5TP): Marder III Ausf. M is replaced by StuG IV
- Schwere Panzerjäger (350CP, 40TP, -10TP): Marder III Ausf. M is replaced by Jagdpanzer IV/70(A) Alkett Version

Kubelwagen (125CP)
Combat packages:
- Panzerschreck mount (150CP, 10TP, -5TP): The MG-34 is replaced by a Panzerschreck.
- Radio equipment (200CP, 20TP, -5TP): Units within 50m from the vehicle will be targeted with artillery shells.

Sd.Kfz.251/1 (4 mgs) (200CP, 2TP)
Combat packages:
- MG-42 package (100CP, 5TP, -2TP): The MG-34's are replaced by MG-42's.
- PaK 40 (150CP, 10TP, -2TP): The Sd.kfz. 251/1 is replaced by a Sd.Kfz. 251/22 armed with a 75mm PaK 40.

Sd.Kfz.7/2 (250CP, 10TP)
Combat packages:
- FlaK 18 turret (200CP, 15TP, -5TP): The 37mm FlaK 36 is replaced by a 88mm FlaK 18.

TANKS:

Panther Ausf. A (900CP, 35TP)
Combat packages:
- Panther modernization: (100CP, 40TP, -5TP): The tank is replaced by a Panther Ausf. G
- Escort (300CP, 35TP, -5TP): The panther will be deployed together with a Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H tank.

Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. E (1100CP, 45TP)
Combat packages:
- Tiger modernization (500CP, 50TP, -10TP): The tank is replaced by a Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B
- Platoon commander (300CP, 45TP, -10TP): All tanks within 100m from Tiger tanks will survive a penetrating round with a chance of 20%. The Tiger itself is still fully vulnerable.

SUPPORT COMMANDS:

GENERAL:
- Resupply (800CP, 30TP): A random combat package for each unit category will be automatically unlocked.
- Relief infantry (500CP, 15TP): Infantry casualties will be replaced by a random infantry unit including those from combat packages.

PROPAGANDA SUPPORT COMMAND:
- Propaganda halftrack (300CP, 10TP): A Sd.kfz. 251 with a loudspeaker will be dispatched to the battlefield. Enemy units within 100m from the halftrack will receive -100% HP and Stamina.
- Production Propaganda (500CP, 10TP): Each newly built unit will grant 50, 100, 150 CP refund respectively for infantry, light vehicles/artillery/support weapons, and tanks.
- Einsatzgruppe (600CP, 10TP): 5x soldiers, armed with MP-40, 4x handgrenades, 4x AT grenades. Enemy units within 50m from the squad have a 40% chance of being killed every 30 seconds
- V2 rocket (1000CP, 30TP): A devastating V2 rocket will be dropped on the designated target.

ELITE DIVISION SUPPORT COMMAND:
- Artillery observation squad (600MP, 10TP): 3x soldiers armed with flare guns to call in artillery strikes. They can call in 10 mortar barrages and 5 artillery barrages.
- Rapid deployment (1000MP, 10TP): All units and combat packages are temporarily unlocked independently of the current tech level while the ability is active.
- Elite tanks: (800MP, 5TP): All tanks will be granted the elite bonus: they have 35% of chance of surviving a successful enemy penetrating shot with no damage.
- Tiger Ace: (1500MP, 40TP) (limit 1): This Tiger crew can shoot targets with extreme accuracy at maximum 250m of range. The Ace comes with the ace bonus: it has 50% of chance
of surviving a successful enemy penetrating shot with no damage. The ace gain experience with its presence on the battlefield, unlocking further abilities.
- VETERANCY 1 (5 tank kills or 25 infantry kills): All enemy units within 100m from the ace are targeted with artillery.
- VETERANCY 2 (10 tank kills or 50 infantry kills): The Ace has an additional 25% of chance of surviving a penetrating shot, for a total of 75%.
- VETERANCY 3 (20 tank kills or 75 infantry kills): If the Ace is destroyed, the crew manages to survive and receives another Tiger tank. Their veterancy bonus is reset.

RESERVE DIVISION SUPPORT COMMAND:
- Foreign tank division (600MP, 10TP): Two random tanks among Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E, Pz.Kpfw.38(t), and Pz.Kpfw.35(H) will enter the battlefield to provide support.
- Landser (350MP, 10TP): A squad of troops relocated from the Eastern Front will enter the battlefield. 4x lvl2 riflemen with Kar98k, 1x MG-34, 1x rifle grenadier.
- Stuka zu fuss (600MP, 20TP): A Halftrack armed with 300mm rockets will provide indirect fire to your troops.
- Heavy Antitank battery (650MP, 25TP): A PaK 43 heavy antitank gun will be deployed to provide defensive fire.

LUFTWAFFE GROUND TROOPS SUPPORT COMMAND:
- Sd.Kfz. 251/20 Uhu (150MP, 5TP): This halftrack is equipped with an infrared search light which grants it a huge field of view. Can reveal most of the enemy units at long range.
- Luftwaffe Engineers (350MP, 10TP): Engineers equipped with barbed wire, sandbags, mines, and 1 kit to build the static Flakvierling 38.
- Luftwaffe pathfinders (600MP, 15TP): Squad of 3 men equipped with scoped FG-42. They fire in single shots at distant range with great accuracy.
- HS-129 B-3 overwatch (1000MP, 30TP): A Henschel bomber armed with a 75mm Bordkanone will attack any enemy tank on the map every 30 seconds.