Order of Battle - Interview with the developer!

Hello everyone! We have interviewed Lukas Nijsten, one of the members of the Artistocrats studio and author of the Order of Battle series. He speaks at length of the upcoming expansion, Winter War, as well as the saga in general, and gives us a hint on what we can expect next. And with Lukas' interesting information we're also publishing a new set of screenshots on the Continuation war - click on them for a better resolution! We hope that you’ll enjoy it! Also, feel free to contribute with your own questions. 1) The Winter War and the Continuation War are wars which haven’t been touched by many other games - not at this level of detail, and not as the main focus. What’s the reason behind your choice of setting for the new DLC for Order of Battle? The idea first came up after we completed the Morning Sun campaign pack, which covers the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Winter War turned out to be an ideal step toward the European theatre of WW2. Because the Chinese forces in Morning Sun use a lot of Soviet aircraft and vehicles from the 1930's, a substantial number of required unit models were already available. In addition, it allowed us to create a small subset of German and Soviet WW2 units, as well as the new winter climate, as a stepping stone toward future Eastern and Western Front campaigns. Aside from these production-related advantages, the Winter War is a very exciting conflict which had a significant impact on WW2 in general. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged the Germans to launch their Operation Barbarossa, while it also brought valuable lessons and reforms for the Soviets. And with Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the Finns took up arms again in the Continuation War - also covered by this DLC - which tied up a substantial amount of Soviet forces and posed a constant pressure on Leningrad and the Murmansk railroad line. From a creative point of view we really enjoy covering some of the more unique conflicts in military history - as demonstrated with Morning Sun - which made the struggle of the Finnish Army in 1939-1945 an outstanding candidate. 2) The other campaigns for Order of Battle: World War II focus on the Pacific theater and have an emphasis on amphibious and naval warfare. In this new campaign things will be different, as it is land based, with different tactics employed on a completely different terrain. How does the gameplay differ? What are the main differences from the other campaigns? One of the unique aspects in this campaign is that the Finns are not capable of purchasing any tanks or armoured vehicles during the Winter War and most of the Continuation War. The only way to obtain such units is by capturing Soviet vehicles, which is generally achieved through completing secondary objectives. This constant shortage of armoured units makes even the lighter enemy tanks a significant threat, as they can only be effectively destroyed through clever use of anti-tank guns and ambush tactics. After adding the winter climate, the gameplay mechanics of the original Pacific game have proven quite solid to represent this new conflict. In particular the supply system allows the player to effectively use Finnish "motti" tactics to surround, isolate and destroy pockets of Soviet troops. Another new and interesting aspect is the frozen lakes and rivers during the winter climate. River combat and movement penalties will no longer exist,