This update is absolutely huge. One of the largest this year, in fact. :)
There's so many fixes and quality of life improvements, I'll have a second blog with the changelog!
One of the major changes in this update is the addition of the French Assault class. This is a major boost for France, who is now nearly as fleshed out as some of the core nations.
This not only means the MAS-38 is released for everyone, but also another weapon that may come as a surprise - the Erma EMP! After the Spanish civil war, refugees fled to France and were disarmed, with France acquiring over 3,000 Erma EMP submachineguns.
This means it was by far the most numerous SMG available during the battle of France, although mag shortages meant not all were issued. I've also remodeled it:
Kit Overhaul!
There's some major kit improvements in this update. First I'd like to mention another weapon replacement, the AVS-36 is now released for everyone, something I planned to do ever since reworking Finland's classes. It's replaced with the Korovin M1941, modeled by Fehrdyy as part of the bounty program:
As you can see, he did a great job!! If you have any interest in making models, contact me. The bounty system is a way to get rewarded for helping complete the current plans for Call to Battle! :)
Onto the improvements, which will likely be exciting for anyone who has the Shadow Soldiers kit pack. It got a new bonus kit last update, the Polish BCh. And now the U.S. and German Shadow Soldiers are finally getting unique weapons!
I recently discovered that the T3 Carbine was a major missed opportunity. It has so many differences from the base M1 Carbine, and was not just an attachment.
The stock was modified to mount the infrared equipment, it had a modified receiver for the scope attachment, and was often equipped with a flash hider. So now it's a new weapon of it's it own, rather than an attachment.
With it, I've of course remodeled the T3 Scope, which in reality could only be attached to the T3 Carbine, not any of the others:
Here's a daytime picture to give you a better look, it's just so cool! I'm very happy with how it turned out:
I also found a unique piece of history that will make this kit full of content for any time of day!
Before they finished developing the T3 scope, first they tested the mount with a weaver scope. So now the weaver scope in game will be mountable on to the new T3 Carbine item! Owners of the kit can also select this version in the U.S. Marksman.
Now onto the German... which is getting the Gerät 06h!
Like the American, the German Shadow Soldier weapon is also now far more than just an night vision attachment. And while nothing is stopping you from using those scopes during the day, these new weapons feel great in any situation.
The Gerät 06h has a unique roller-delayed blowback system with low recoil and a rate of fire that is very easy to manage. I find it very satisfying to use.
Of course, this wouldn't be complete without a fresh Vampir Scope!
I hope you enjoy these new weapons as the Shadow Soldiers pack finally reaches a feeling of completeness.
Those aren't the only kits that are getting major improvements, the Eriksen M/25 is finally getting a remodel, courtesy of Angryloyer:
New Pack(s)
In addition, two new kit packs are being released. Wait, why two?
Well, one of the packs, "Auxiliary Troops" was completed last year. It was going to be to fund another expansion, but I decided it'd be more responsible to focus on main CtB development and finish up the Dark Troopers pack to move forward with tracked vehicles. Plus, there was already a fund goal for a different expansion, Franco-Prussian war, which is now released!
Anyways, Maciex discovered that I was working on this pack and asked me to release it because he was excited about it's contents. It's based around powerful single shot weapons, including one of his favorite historical weapons.
So at his request, I am finally releasing it! The other pack is the "Mountaineers", which was also a well thought out suggestion by Maciex!
As far as what these will go towards, it works out perfectly, because there are two different areas I am planning to move forward with in CtB.
Next Plans
One of the plans is to move forward with adding turreted vehicles to CtB, which would bring tankettes to more nations in CtB. It'd also bring other lightly armored vehicles with turrets, such as armored cars!
The other plan will likely be an even bigger surprise.... it's time to finally add new nations!!! The current focus will be adding the much desired nation of Hungary, further balancing out the ratio of Axis and Allied powers.
Mountaineers
As mentioned before, the Mountaineers pack was a suggestion by Maciex! It's based around mountain troops:
This epic looking soldier is a Soviet Mountain Troop. The epic uniform was modelled by Fehrdyy, who has been making models as part of the new bounty system.
The uniform texture and the gun are by me, the gun being the prototype bullpup AP-44! This weapon was designed as part of the Soviet assault rifle program that eventually led to the AK-47.
This next one is the Gerbsjager, a German mountain troop. This uniform is also made by Fehrdyy, with texture and some modifications by me.
The gun is the Cönders submachine gun, a prototype belt-fed submachinegun. This remarkable invention has a look that feels ahead of it's time! The base model was modelled by Freon, however most of the details were done by me, as well as some major parts like the stock.
This French one is a Chasseur Alpin! Except for the textures, both the uniform and weapon were modelled by Fehrdyy. The weapon is the Delacre-Vanophem, a drum-fed prototype designed in 1939.
I've also included a version with the uniform colored blue, which was mostly phased out by WW2 but looks super cool. You can also find references where they wore the blue with a standard french coat over it, which I also think is a great looking combination!
And now on to the last one... the Gordon Highlander!
I had already planned the Blackwatch kit for Dark Troopers before Maciex's suggestion of something Scottish for the Mountaineers. But being Scottish myself, I certainly don't mind extra Scottish content. :)
Introducing the Gordon Highlander! I went with the Gordon Highlander because it's so unique and has a special feel of it's own. That way though it's still Scottish, both uniform sets feel almost nothing alike!
The gun is the prototype Norm Gun, developed by BSA alongside the Welgun. It was intended for use by the SOE.
Auxiliary Troops
Now, on to the "Auxiliary Troops" Kit Pack, which is filled with powerful single-shot black powder weapons:
The first kit is the Finnish Civil Guard! This soldier is equipped with a Berdan II Rifle, which is the predecessor to the Mosin-Nagant! The similarities are easy to see. There are a lot of differences though, especially in the bolt area. Like all the rifles in this pack this is a single-shot black powder rifle, so when you shoot it there will be a big puff of smoke!
Denim in WW2? This a U.S. Auxiliary Soldier with the M1940 Work Uniform! This uniform is blue denim and comes with the M1937 "Daisy Mae" work hat. I loosely based this screenshot off this picture of soldiers with the M1940 work uniform:
This kit also comes with the Remington Rolling Block Rifle, which was once popular in the U.S. for hunting buffalo. It was also exported to many nations, Sweden and Norway even adopted it as their standard military rifle in 1867.
The next kit is a German Flak Helper! Many of these were conscripted as young boys. The kit includes the Mauser M1871, a black powder single-shot bolt action! Over 3 million of these were made and adopted by various nations. It was the standard issue rifle of the German Empire until it was replaced by the Gewehr 1888.
The final kit is the Welsh Guard, with the weapon being the Martini-Henry rifle! The excellent model is by AngryLoyer. Though the Martini-Henry was replaced by the Lee-Metford in 1888, around a million were produced and it was still a common weapon during the first world war. Like all the weapons in this pack, it has fresh reload animations. This one is my favorite animation with it's unique falling-block action.
All of these are black powder and create a large puff of smoke when fired! However for now to keep things simple for survival, I made it so they use their nation's primary rifle ammunition. (For example, .303 British for the Martini-Henry, .30-06 for the Remington Rolling Block)
This is also rooted in reality; these rifles were converted to use said calibers. (Of course, modern smokeless ammo wouldn't have the big puff of smoke...)
Anyways, I hope you enjoy these new kits as well as the new update! Here's the full changelog, which is so huge that it's another blogpost:
/blog/french-assault-update-changelog