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Gameplay #4 – Single-player campaign


If you haven’t done it yet, remember that the pre-order beta is still going on: you can still pre-order the game at any time and receive your rewards at the release!


Since the beginning of Steel Division: Normandy 44’s development, we have decided to create a meticulous single player campaign. Indeed, setting the game within the context of the Normandy invasion gave us the opportunity to put the player at the heart of some incredible, heroic or tragic stories. And if you play right, you may rewrite History itself…

Adding hours of content, the single player campaigns, divided into three independent storylines, provide players with another way of enjoying the game, in addition to the more competitive skirmish battles.

(Re)make History

In the single player campaigns, you will be able to take command of battlegroups from three divisions during unique and complex storylines:

  • The 82nd Airborne Division, fighting its way through the Cotentin Peninsula (medium difficulty)
  • The 21. Panzerdivision, which could have turned the tide of the battle had it advanced against the beachhead in the first hours of the battle (hard difficulty)
  • The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, which faced terrible hardships in its advance across the Odon river and toward Hill 112 (very hard difficulty, yeah we know it sounds scary).

Each campaign is divided into missions. Every mission has its own flavour, with different objectives and an increasing difficulty. Solo campaigns are challenging but take into account player’s experience and progression.

Steel Division Campaign MapThe deployment zone in the “Scottish Corridor” mission

Allied campaigns are built around a historical postulate, and they follow in details events which have since made History. On the other hand, the German campaign, although based on a historical setting too, will propose a hypothetical scenario familiar to wargamers: “what if” the 21. Panzerdivision had been unleashed against the British & Canadians from the first hours of the invasion?

Persistence

One of the most important factors in the single-player campaign is persistence. All your actions on the battlefield will have consequences on the next mission, and basically on the full campaign. You only have access to a limited pool of units, and they will all matter in the campaign. Persistence can be positive or negative: fallen soldiers will not come back in the next fight, but you may be granted additional support after a major success, or even use some captured units to your advantage. Hence, if you don’t care about the men under your command or if you rush too quickly the mission, you may not be able to finish the following one. In Steel Division: Normandy 44, a good player is always rewarded, while reckless decisions only lead to disaster.

flakThe 82nd Airborne Division using a captured 8.8cm Flak 41.

In all three campaigns, you’ll feel a sense of urgency. Managing your battlegroup will be very different from multiplayer or skirmish. Only the first mission of every campaign will have a default deck, and mission after mission you’ll have to deal with a new, unique situation.

SteelDivision_Campaign_BattlegroupIn this (failed) attempt, most of the infantry and recon units were killed in action. The player could only use 21 spots on 30 with his units left.

In Steel Division: Normandy 44’s solo campaign, you also be given the opportunity to complete secondary objectives. Can you afford to lose some troops in order to accomplish it, or will you focus on your primary goal? Your mission will always be different: capture a city, help your allies, or ambushing an enemy column … when it’s not to annihilate your enemy (like in Conquest or Domination modes).

Replayability is the key word here. By completing a mission in a more efficient manner than your last attempt, you may rely on a more balanced battlegroup and therefore succeed with your division in a different way. You can create your own challenge:  do you want to win with only infantry? Secure all the objectives? It’s your choice.

“New orders from division HQ, Sir.”

At Eugen, we learned a lot about single player campaigns from our previous games’ experience. Having a great solo campaign in Steel Division: Normandy 44 was always essential.

We have looked into many documents and archives. Every battlefield ingame is built from authentic places, as pictured by RAF reconnaissance planes. Every campaign is based on a real story. Some maps overlap on each other, and you can literally see where you fought on the previous mission. Advancing is a relentless struggle.

Nevertheless, you won’t start a storyline out of the blue, and we really wanted to immerse the player in a WW2 atmosphere. “We wanted to add a new vision of WW2, both a more modern and a more realistic one“, says Thierry Dunter, art director at Eugen Systems. Every storyline opens on a video narrating you the context of the battle you are about to enter, but always from your side’s particular point of view, as in contemporary newsreels.

Steel Division Normandy 44 Briefing

From there, you will be briefed by a staff officer, like in an old war room. We wanted to remain true to the atmosphere of the time with the use of tactical maps, pawns, markers and so forth. Each briefing will, of course, give you useful gameplay tips about the mission, even if unforeseen events are always possible during the battle. That’s why briefings are a good compromise between historical accuracy and gameplay.

Steel Division: Normandy 44 briefing Campaign

Steel Division: Normandy 44 Briefing

As Vincent Cambedouzou, game designer at Eugen Systems puts it:  “Achieving your current objectives is one thing, but making sure your battlegroup will be able to fight the battles to come is another. The success of an operation will require an effective support and loss management.” In addition to offering content and a renewed game experience, the solo campaigns will challenge your skills and your strategic thinking.

 

Sorel

25 Comments

  • Matt
    April 26, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    Very interesting read! I wonder if it is a hint about tomorrow’s announcement and then we will get 82nd AB and 21st PzD added… :O Btw, this is not a Flak 41 that you’re showing :p

    • [EUG]MadMat
      April 26, 2017 at 9:08 pm

      The 18 divisions featured in the game at realease are known already, and none is the 82nd Airborne.
      The 101st is, though, and since they are identical, TO&E-wise, you can use one for the other …

      • Chris
        April 28, 2017 at 4:21 am

        If the 82nd is not in the game can you please correct the above description telling everybody that it is in the game. It’s all very confusing.

        • [EUG]MadMat
          April 28, 2017 at 9:16 am

          The 82nd is playable in the US solo campaign, while the 101st is in multi.

  • Matt
    April 26, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    To correct myself, 101st AB, instead of 82nd AB, for skirmish.

  • Fabio iacchetti
    April 26, 2017 at 10:37 pm

    Dear all
    many congratulation for the great job… pls go on in this way.

    For the campaign … do you you think to add other German divisions afterwards.

  • AJ
    April 27, 2017 at 3:07 am

    Will there be campaign dlc releases like war game

  • Glen
    April 27, 2017 at 6:23 am

    Hey MadMat, is this campaign style kinda like the campaign style of Wargame Red Dragon?
    And is there going to be amphibious invasions like Red Dragon??? Please say yes. :))

    • [EUG]MadMat
      April 27, 2017 at 9:49 am

      More like the ones from European Escalation.

      • CROSS of House GBNATO :)
        April 27, 2017 at 6:45 pm

        Oh good.

  • Niels van de Wetering
    April 27, 2017 at 9:22 am

    Awesome!!

  • jurriaan nitters
    April 27, 2017 at 11:30 am

    to compare the 101st and the 82nd airborne is a slap in the face of many veterans.
    the 82nd is hailed for their actions in Normandy and especially St. Mere Eglise and the battle of La Fiere Bridge ( known as the biggest small arms fire battle in the history of the us army) where 101st is famous for the battle of the Bulge and market garden.

    • jurriaan nitters
      April 27, 2017 at 11:48 am

      Sorry i just had to step up for many of our friends long and gone.
      me and my wife attend the Dday celebrations almost every year as this year and we always go on staff walks with our good friend Retired Colonel Keith Nightingale and know the stories of those two battles by heart. you are more then welcome to join this year and meet up at the stop bar in St.mere in the big square

  • Caarabina
    April 27, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    There is no Russian Division ?

    • [EUG]MadMat
      April 27, 2017 at 7:18 pm

      It’s the NORMANDY campaign.

  • Julien B
    April 27, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    What are the 18 Divisions?

    • Ostmark
      April 27, 2017 at 11:16 pm

      http://steamcommunity.com/app/572410/discussions/0/133261907131715839/

      Allies-
      101st Airborne (American)
      6th Airborne (British)
      3rd Canadian Infantry
      1st Polish Armored
      2nd French Armored
      15th Infantry (British/Scottish)
      2nd Infantry (American)
      3rd Armoured (American)
      1st Guards Armoured (British)

      Axis-
      12th SS Panzer ‘Hitlerjugend’
      21st Panzer
      Panzer Lehr
      116th Panzer ‘Windhund’
      352nd Infantry
      716th Infantry
      17th SS Panzergrenadier ‘Gotz von Berlichingen’
      3rd Fallschirmjager Division
      91st Luftlande Division

  • Felipe
    April 27, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    Will the campaign missions have a time limit?
    We can take this option

  • Axe99
    April 27, 2017 at 11:21 pm

    Sounds really good :). Would be even better with a proper pause button, but good enough to at least get me to see if I can manage it without :). Whether I can or not (I’m hoping yes, but a bit hard to tell without playing it), best of luck with it, sounds like a top game :).

  • Clément
    May 1, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    Ca donne énormément envie !!

    Peut-être que ça existe déjà (?), mais serait-ce possible d’avoir un article sur les différentes maps, avec des photos d’époque, expliquant un peu le travail de recherches historiques, nommant et désignant les différents lieux/villes que l’on peut traverser sur les maps jouables ? 🙂

    Merci pour ce jeu en tout cas !

  • Alexis
    May 2, 2017 at 11:44 am

    So no global, non-linear Normandy campaign, where a player could play all the allied divisions or all the axis ones ? In the fashion of Close Combat D Day ? 🙁

  • Michael
    May 3, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    Will the campaign have CO-OP?

    • [EUG]MadMat
      May 4, 2017 at 10:30 am

      No, solo campaigns are solo only.

  • Noah
    May 9, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    Odd question, but does anyone know where I could get the map that is shown beneath all the arrows/units in the briefing image? I am on the hunt for a WWII era Normandy map but without the front lines, units, etc.

  • Robert
    December 11, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    Don’t suppose yal can do something about the predetermined difficulty level in single player. Not a fan of such thing in games. Be nice if it be set to easy, medium and hard. or at least be given the choice on what level of difficulty I play it on

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