Hello everyone!

It’s time to dive into V Beach, the second map on the Gallipoli peninsula! Here, British forces attempt to capture the southernmost tip that protects the entrance to the Dardanelles Straits, using the SS River Clyde as a trojan horse.

Before we get started, do check out the first episode of our interview with Jonathan Ferguson! We sat down in the weapons vault of the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds to discuss the weapons used on the Ottoman Fronts, and also got to fire a couple. This first episode: British Rifles!

Having been thwarted in their attempts to force the Dardanelles Straits in March 1915, the Entente allies planned a series of amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula. The intention was for infantry to land onto the beaches and then march and fight their way overland to attack and capture the Ottoman forts and guns that protected the Dardanelles.

Gallipoli: New Perspectives on the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 1915-16[www.helion.co.uk] by Rhys Crawley & Michael Locicero

A series of landings were planned for Cape Helles, with landing sites being assigned an identifying letter. V Beach was located near the village of Seddülbahir and had strong defenses. The beach lay beneath an old castle which protected both a nearby harbor and the village itself. On the left were a series of more modern fortifications whilst, further inland, the ruins of a pre-Byzantine fort lay atop Hill 141. The castle in particular would be heavily shelled by British warships in preparation for a landing.

Sedd el Bahr fort photographed from the SS River Clyde, IWM (Q 50473)[www.iwm.org.uk]

In order to safely deliver soldiers to the beach, the British chose to be inventive. They converted the collier ship, SS River Clyde into a trojan horse. It would, whilst accompanied by smaller steamtugs with row boats in tow, beach itself before releasing the infantry aboard directly onto the beach. However, the River Clyde became beached further out than anticipated and many soldiers drowned or were killed by the Ottoman defenders as they tried to get ashore. Pinned down on the beach, it was only after nightfall and the eventual success of landings and reinforcements on their flank that the attackers were able to move inland, and capture the village itself.

SS River Clyde beached at Cape Helles, The War Illustrated[archive.org] in June, 1915

The battle starts with the landing of the British forces on the beach, consisting of numerous smaller rowboats and the SS River Clyde. Choosing to spawn in a rowboat will get you to shore quicker, provided you can stay alive for the trip. If you opt to board the River Clyde, you have much more cover and a scenic view, but it takes a bit to run aground and come to a complete stop. 

Once the River Clyde is parked, you can walk across the gangways and lighters – flat boats used as a bridge – to make it to shore with mostly dry boots. This is now the quickest way to get ashore, but the rowboats remain available if you’re looking to take another avenue.

At the beach, you’re already close to the objectives of the first sector. On the right side from the British perspective, you have the old castle that provides the defending Ottomans with a lot of cover. The closest tower already took some big hits, but the walls give excellent elevation and cover from arrowslits, while the narrow entryways force the Brits to funnel into potential machine gun fire. The central courtyard serves as the objective!

On the other side, the Ottomans are dug into the grassy incline with a clear shot on the water. It may not be a castle, but this position can still hold its own against a frontal assault. If the British manage to capture the castle first, they could try to use the elevation to help with capturing this objective!

Moving towards the second sector, we’re entering the village of Seddülbahir. The densest part of the village follows on the side of the castle, with two main streets leading you to the next objective. While combat can get close quartered in the side streets and many homes can be entered, these main streets create long sightlines where snipers will feel right at home.

The objective itself is in the remnants of a large building struck by artillery. With half-collapsed walls and debris covering the floor, as well as allies and enemies shooting from across the street, it is sure to be an interesting fight.

This sector’s other objective sits in a more open area of town, right next to the graveyard. How morbid. This position provides low-wall cover and has been prepared with sandbags and a few small trenches. There are also gravestones that work as basic cover, but you wouldn't, right?

For the third sector we move back out of the village, into the farmlands. Following the incline, this open area takes you to the final headquarters of the Ottomans at the top of the hill. With only some bushes to break line of sight from the machine guns and artillery impacts to dive into, this final stretch will be a difficult one to cross for the Brits. 

The Lewis Gun is a gas operated light machine gun invented by the American Isaac Newton Lewis. He established Armes Automatique Lewis in Belgium to produce the Lewis Gun, but the production didn’t kick off until the Birmingham Small Arms Company purchased the license, resulting in its adoption by the British Army a year later.

The US Army never adopted the Lewis Gun, going as far as taking the gun away from US Marines in France and replacing it with the Chauchat. This was allegedly done simply because General Crozier just really disliked Lewis and his gun.

The Lewis Gun struck a healthy balance between ammunition capacity, maneuverability, and versatility. It was well regarded among the troops that used it. 

The MG09 was one of several export models from Germany based on the MG08 and purchased by a multitude of nations including the Ottoman Empire.

Mounted on a tripod (rather than the sled more common for the MG08) its form and function was the same as other Maxim guns from the period. It was, however, chambered in the ottoman 7.65mm cartridge rather than German 7.92mm Mauser.

These weapons are frequently seen with optical sights and would wreak havoc on the large open battlefields seen on the Ottoman fronts.

Jam Tin Grenades were improvised grenades ‘designed’ by Anzac Troops as a response to a lack of equipment on Gallipoli. They were produced by a ‘factory’ set up in Anzac Cove where soldiers could churn out around 200 grenades a day made from used tins. Incidents weren’t unheard of.

The official recipe for Jam Tin Grenades is as follows:

“Take a tin jam pot, fill it with shredded guncotton and tenpenny nails, mixed according to taste. Insert a No. 8 detonator and a short length of Bickford's fuse. Clay up the lid. Light with a match, pipe, cigar, or cigarette and throw for all you are worth.”

Don’t try this at home.

The Turkish Type 2 Grenade is similar in design to the British No.5 Mills Bomb. The grooved design made it easier to grip with muddy hands and its form factor was excellent for long-distance fragmentation.

It has a fuse in an elongated brass cap as opposed to the Mills Bomb’s percussion cap. Its inscription reads “Type 2 Infantry Grenade”.

That's what we got for you today! We're really looking forward to seeing all of you aboard the SS River Clyde. A part of the team is at the Gallipoli booth at PAX East in Boston as this blog goes live. If you're attending, find us at booth 15102 and play some Gallipoli!

Remember to check out the video we did with the Royal Armouries Museum. Part 2 is coming soon, see you there!

Hello everyone!

Today we’re taking a look at how classes work in Gallipoli, as well as the classes you can expect to see!

Gallipoli has a new class system, with each class having a perk and “Kits”, or subclasses, to choose from that give you various advantages and equipment options tailored to a specific role you’re looking to fill.

Each class has two kits to pick from. A kit comes with a perk, equipment, a choice of a primary weapon and sometimes a choice of a secondary weapon as well. Based on everything you’ll be carrying around, each kit also has a set weight and ammo count.

To illustrate the new class system, let’s look at an example: the Ottoman Engineer. Do keep in mind that Gallipoli is a work in progress and everything mentioned in this blog can still be subject to change, especially when it comes to balancing.

In general, your kit options include a more offensive option that provides mobility, better weapon handling or capture weight, as well as a support or defensive option, granting buildables and improved suppressive abilities. You can tell what role each kit fills by the name and the ‘task’ next to it.

Looking back at the example above, the Saboteur Kit with the task “Search and Destroy” is great for a more offensive role, with passive equipment spotting, a water bottle for stamina and a pistol primary weapon to keep you lightweight. Frontline Builder is generally better to “Fortify the line!”, with defensive structures and rifles to choose from.

When you’re in a match or the barracks and wish to select your class and kit, the progress is largely the same as in Isonzo. Once you’ve picked a class, you can select a kit right next to the class button. Here, you’ll see all the same details from the table above. If you select a class, it will default to the last kit you’ve used.

Your weapon selection will be saved within the kit, just like with classes in Isonzo. The same thing goes for cosmetics, so you can dress the part for each kit!

With the explanation out of the way, let’s see what the classes of Gallipoli are! A couple return from Isonzo, but there’s a bunch of new ones we’d like to highlight!

We won’t give you all the details quite yet, we do want to keep some surprises for launch, but we’ll give you a general description of each.

From Isonzo, you’ll also recognise:

• Officer

• Rifleman

• Engineer

• Light Machine Gunner (similar to Assault)

• Spotter (previously Mountaineer)

• Sniper (previously Marksman)

They’ll fill the same or similar roles in Gallipoli, but with new perks, equipment and buildables from their kits that better suit the Ottoman Fronts.

That’s all the classes! The abilities and equipment provided by subclasses are mirrored between the British and Ottomans, except for Light Machine Gunners, which are exclusive to the British Empire. Of course, your weapon options do depend on your faction.

We'll see you again soon with more Gallipoli information!

Hello everyone!

Today is a very exciting day, as we have a brand new trailer in store for you. This brand new look at Gallipoli focuses on the Siege of Kut, where the Ottomans attacked the British Army holed up in the town of Kut Al Amara in lower Mesopotamia.

The Indian Expeditionary Force (IEF) captured the Mesopotamian town of Kut al-Amara in September 1915. Situated in a horseshoe bend of the River Tigris it provided a base of operations for the British to consider a further advance towards Baghdad. However, after a defeat by Ottoman defenders at Ctesiphon in November of the same year, Major General Charles Townshend’s 6th (Poona) Division retreated back to Kut, where the Ottomans laid siege. 

Aerial view of Kut Al Amara, IWM (Q 107237)[www.iwm.org.uk]

The British built trench lines out across the horseshoe and incorporated an old fortification - what the British referred to as the ‘Mud Fort’ - into their defensive lines. The Ottomans, commanded by Khalil Pasha, made numerous attacks on the outer defenses but could not break through. With the town besieged - and enough rations for around 60 days - the only hope for the British was for a relief force to be dispatched from Basra to break through the Ottoman lines. In order to accelerate this intervention, Townshend misrepresented his supply stores in messages back to Basra, claiming he had less food than he did. As a result, an ill-prepared British force was defeated by the Ottomans at El Hanna.

Charles Townshend and Khalil Pasha after the surrender of Kut, IWM (Q 79344)[www.iwm.org.uk]

With no prospect of relief, the supply situation became desperate and some defenders began to eat the animals within Kut. Townshend attempted to negotiate with Enver Pasha - then Minister for War - but he refused any terms. Townshend then surrendered the town after 147 days of siege and was taken to Constantinople. However, his army underwent a series of forced marches to prisoner of war camps where an estimated 70% of the British-Indian rank and file soldiers died during their captivity. The Siege of Kut was one of the worst defeats for the Entente of the entire war.

Kut is a map of two halves. The battle starts out of town in a no man's land of a scorching desert, dominated by the sun and heavy shelling. The other half transitions into full-on urban combat, with alleyways and doorways allowing threats to pop up from around every corner. However, let’s go back to the start of the battle and follow the Ottoman approach.

As the Ottomans begin their charge across the open dunes, their first obstacle is the lovingly nicknamed ‘Mud Fort’ and the fortified redoubt connected to its trench network, both of which make up Sector 1. It has been softened up by prior shelling already, but the British will still be able to put up a fight here; they have cover, the Ottomans have not.

Once past the fort, more opportunities for cover arise. On the left, along the river Tigris, you can ditch the sand and opt for mud instead. As the region’s lifeline, the Tigris allows for vegetation in the shape of palm trees to grow, providing you with some much needed cover to mask your approach to the objective. On the right side, the frontal assault option won’t be as punishing as before. The terrain here has a lot more trenches and prominent dunes, leading you to the kilns that mark the other objective of this sector.

Pushing past the palms & kilns, we dive into Kut proper. Entry into the town is divided into a left and a right approach by a large central building, with some sneakier options in the middle. Once beyond this building, we’re a short jog away from the objectives of Sector 3: the historical British Headquarters on the left and the Mosque on the right. Don’t get too comfortable though, as some of the rooftops are accessible and offer prime ambush opportunities. If you don’t see the enemy in front of you, you may need to look up!

As we approach Sector 4, the final sector, a perpendicular road opens up a whole lot of options. You can pick from any of 5 lanes that will take you through or past the Bazaar (or Souq) straight to the final objective, but all will bring chaos. The streets are cluttered, there are fires all over the place and the British have dug themselves in for their last stand. Some doors take you to the adjacent lanes, others are a dead end, while others still allow you to hide to reload or ambush a foe.

The long sightlines are a prime opportunity for machine gun fire, but if you manage to break through, you’ll find the final Headquarters in the warehouse at the docks of Kut.

The Martini-Henry is a breech-loading lever action rifle from 1871. As it was replaced by the Lee-Metford, all existing Martini-Henry variants were converted to .45 calibre to limit the amount of different calibres in service, creating the Martini-Henry Mk.IV. 

Even though the Lee-Metford had also already been replaced by the Lee-Enfield by WW1, the Martini-Henry Mk.IV saw service during the war, as reserves of the newer rifles started to run out – especially on the Ottoman Fronts.

As the Ottoman Empire was unable to purchase Martini-Henry rifles from the British, they bought rifles identical to the Martini Henry Mk.I from the United States. The main difference between the weapons was the lack of barrel rifling that gave the Martini-Henry the ‘Henry’ part of its name. Instead, it took the name of the Peabody action both rifles have.

Much like the Martini-Henry, the Peabody-Martini was already replaced long before WW1. However, it continued to play a role in Ottoman culture as the every man’s rifle, appearing in tales of outlaws and folk heroes like Hekimoğlu. During WW1, it reappeared on the battlefield as the Ottomans started to run out of Mauser rifles.

As we’ve established, much of Kut Al Amara provides great opportunities to dig in behind some sandbags or a low wall with a machine gun in hand. So let’s take a look at one of the options for the British Empire!

The Hotchkiss Portative is an Austrian design sold to Hotchkiss in 1893. It was improved upon by the American manager of the manufacturer and saw limited production by Springfield and Colt. Production officially began in the Hotchkiss factory in Paris, but the factory was moved to Lyon when the Germans threatened the city. The following year, Hotchkiss was invited to set up a factory in the UK, where 40,000 units were made. Quite the journey.

That’s everything for today! We hope you enjoyed the new look at the game and are excited for Kut Al Amara. If you haven’t already, add Gallipoli to your wishlist! It really helps us out by giving us more opportunities to spread the word about the new game.

We have some exciting collaborations coming up soon as well as some substantial news next month. See you soon!

Hello everyone! Today we’d like to take a look at the movement improvements we’ve made to Gallipoli. Not only have we really improved the animations when switching stance and improved collisions so you don’t run into smaller objects, we’re also making gameplay changes to stamina and sprinting. Let’s get into it!

Can't see the images? Check out the Reddit version!

In Gallipoli, stamina plays a bigger role than before. Many more actions will now drain your stamina: sprinting, meleeing, jumping, vaulting will all tire you out. However, we’ve also changed stamina to be a bit more forgiving. You’ll never be prevented from doing an action if you’re exhausted. Your movement is less rigid, your aim sways more and you’ll sprint slower, but you can still get the job done.

Your maximum amount of stamina depends on your state. As you get hurt more and more, the limit is decreased more and more, until about half if you’re downed. This means that if you’re injured, you won't be able to run as far, or keep your weapon as steady as before.

The speed at which you regenerate your stamina depends on the equipment and weapons you have on you. Heavy weaponry like the Lewis Gun will slow regeneration down quite a bit, while only carrying a humble side arm will get you back on the road in a jiffy.

How fast and far you can sprint varies. If your stamina is nearly full, you’ll sprint faster. As it starts to drain through your actions, like sprinting for a longer time or getting involved in a brawl, you’ll slowly lose speed. Once you’re out of stamina, you’ll still be able to run, but at a slower pace. If you’re not smack dab in the middle of no man's land, it may be better to catch your breath instead of running on.

If you’re in need of a momentary speed boost, be sure to take a sip from your water flask. Hydration is important!

If you start sprinting while crouched, you’ll no longer stand up automatically. Instead, you’ll sprint while remaining crouched, combining speed and a low profile. Very useful if you’d like to keep your head in the safety of a trench while still keeping pace, but you’ll drain stamina quicker than regular sprinting, and you’re not as fast.

You can also “sprint” while prone. I wouldn’t really consider it sprinting per se, but you can get out of a sticky situation while keeping the lowest possible profile a bit quicker, at the cost of much of your stamina. Useful when you’re suppressed!

That’s it! You’ll be doing a lot of running around in Gallipoli, so we hope these improvements and extra features will make movement more grounded and tactical. 

The keen eyed amongst you may have noticed that Gallipoli is listed in the IGN Fest lineup. ‘Tis true! We have a brand new trailer to showcase live during the event, so be sure to tune in.

Hello everyone! We’re here to kick off the new year (halfway through January) with one of the biggest new additions to Gallipoli: the Downed State.

In a previous blog, we briefly talked about health and making damage calculations more granular. While before we distinguished between the head, arms and body, it’s now split into neck, belly, pelvis, upper limbs, lower limbs, hands and feet. This is one of the reasons for this change.

Can't see the images? Try the Reddit version!

Imagine this: you just got shot in the thigh from some distance away. First things first: Ouch! However, the damage is unlikely to be lethal immediately. Instead of you biting the dust immediately, you’ll be downed; you’re lying on the ground, extremely busy bleeding out. If any allies remain close by, they’ll have the opportunity to bandage the wound and get you back into the fight in a severely wounded state.

While downed and shouting for help, you have two options: either lay still and try to slow the bleeding to give your allies more time to pick you back up, or try to crawl to a safer position, hopefully making it easier for your allies to help you. However, crawling around will make you bleed out faster. You can also just give up if you’re done with the war.

You’re unable to pull out your weapon or melee while downed. Your only focus is the fact you’re about to bleed out and need help immediately. Taking any amount of damage or bleeding out will finish you off, giving the person who downed you credit for the kill.
On the other side of the engagement, we’ve made sure this all feels fair. Hitting centermass within a weapon’s intended range, shooting someone at close range, shooting someone in the head or meleeing will kill without downing a target. Your target is more likely to be downed when you use a weapon outside its effective range, or if you hit someone’s arm or leg from medium range onwards. Explosions can down you if you’re outside of their lethal radius, but close enough to take considerable damage.

The Downed State is about giving someone who positions well and works with their squad a second chance if they were grazed by a bullet. If someone is downed in a trench close to their squad, it’s likely they’ll be revived. However, if someone is out in the open with no allies in sight, getting downed will still leave you alone, out in the open, and thus easy to finish off.

The one shot, one kill gameplay we’ve always had is still here. This puts a bit more emphasis on being accurate on the shooter’s side, and teamwork & positioning on the target’s side. Balance-wise, killing targets at long range is a bit more of a challenge now, especially if you try to do so with a pistol.

That's it for today! We hope you're excited for this addition. Be sure to wishlist & follow Gallipoli to be the first to know about the many more details coming soon.

What do you mean you’ve already had way too many recaps this year?

Hello everyone!

We hope you’ve had a great 2025! For the WW1 Game Series, it was a very special year. We’ve been very busy behind the scenes preparing for the release of Gallipoli in 2026, but let’s take a moment to look back on everything that happened in 2025.

Isonzo got its final expansion: Moschin! This map is the only night map in Isonzo, set in the burning woods of the Grappa massif. As the Austro-Hungarians attempted to circumvent the Piave river in June 1918, they commenced a heavy bombardment on the Italian defenses. However, the Italians knew what they were up to, and counterattacked at just the right time.

Along with the map came the Beretta M1918, an Italian semi-automatic carbine with an incredible fire rate and capacity, perfect for aggressive manoeuvers. For the Germans looking for a grenade with a bit more bang for your buck, the M1917 Geballte Ladung 6x is all you need!

The Avanti Savoia Units DLC that came for free with Isonzo for those who got the game in the first week of launch had a huge uplift. It’s now a fully- fletched DLC with over 50 rare and late-war items. The best part: if you already had the original DLC, this upgrade is completely free. Thank you for your continued support!

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/app/1815514/Isonzo__Avanti_Savoia_Units_Pack/

Of course, the highlight of the year is the announcement of Gallipoli! This fourth game is taking the series to the Ottoman Fronts, where the Entente, notably including Anzac and Indian forces, open up the attack on the Ottoman Empire.

For Gallipoli, we put a big focus on the look & feel of the game, taking the immersion and simulation aspects to the next level. It’s set to release in 2026, so be sure to add it to your wishlist if you haven’t already!

We celebrated the 12 Year Anniversary of the WW1 Game Series with a huge sale and a compilation trailer for a trip down memory lane!

In the months following the announcement, we started sharing more info about Gallipoli. 

We first took a look at the game mode of Gallipoli: Expedition. This mode captures combat as it was like on the Ottoman Fronts, revolving around momentum and all-out assaults. Objectives are now also randomized to a degree, so work with your squad to make decisions on the go!

For the full explanation of the Expedition game mode, check out the blog!

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/3065940/view/520851629825590539

Next, we looked at two of the maps coming to Gallipoli! 

Ctesiphon is set on the Mesopotamian front, where British and Indian forces landed to secure Basra and the oil fields further inland. This is an arid region with vegetation along the banks of the river Tigris, but it’s prone to sandstorms. You may want to take shelter by the Arch of Ctesiphon!

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/3065940/view/568141414092767386

Anzac Cove is known for the landings by the British and Anzac forces on the shores of Gallipoli. Their goal was to capture Constantinople and knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war, but they faced much stronger resistance from the Ottomans than expected. The terrain consists of ridged hills and vegetation that can provide both some cover and make you cross wide-open areas.

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/3065940/view/809085268448510010

Then, we shared some of the work-in-progress gameplay changes planned for Gallipoli. From pacing to animations, damage and ballistics, we showed a lot of the improvements coming to the game. Take a look for yourself!

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/3065940/view/631194362656587982https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/3065940/view/507346541639368957

Now with Gallipoli coming together, we’ve taken a close look at the scope of the game. To better reflect the fronts outside of the Middle East that saw Ottoman action, like the Gallipoli campaign itself, we’ve decided to change the subtitle of Gallipoli from “Middle Eastern Front” to “Ottoman Fronts”. 

In the upcoming months, we’ll reveal more maps coming to Gallipoli at launch. Stay tuned!

Back in Isonzo-land, the Movember Handlebar moustache is back! If you’d like to stick this mighty moustache on your upper lip, be sure to get it now. It’s still available until January 5th!

Proceeds are donated to the not-for-profit Movember Organization in support of their cause.

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/app/3253670/Isonzo__Movember_Handlebar/

The Christmas Truce just went live! Be sure to join the festivities, throw some snowballs, write a Christmas card and challenge friend and foe for a little game of football. Find out more here:

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/news/app/242860/view/507347810774941902

Those are the highlights of 2025! We have a lot of Gallipoli news and showcases in the works for early 2026, so please look forward to that. For now, we really hope you have the merriest of Christmases and a great New Year. 

Aside from gun play, we’ve also taken a close look at damage and ballistics for Gallipoli. We’ve taken a more granular approach, which makes firing weapons feel more realistic, as well as different from each other. As an added benefit, having more numbers to tweak will also help us with balancing! 

If you missed our reasoning and gun play changes, be sure to check out our previous blog.

We would like to preface this blog with a little disclaimer that everything in this blog is a balancing matter and so very much subject to change.

Note: If you can't see the images, try the blog on Reddit!

We’ve introduced simulated ballistics in Gallipoli! Bullets should now much more closely behave like you’d expect from the caliber and weapon they’re fired from.

Two of the included changes are bullet travel time and bullet drop. We no longer use hitscan; bullets now take a bit of time to travel over great distances and drop a bit along the way, depending on the weapon and the bullet. The effect will be quite minor in most circumstances if you use a weapon for their intended range, but you’ll really notice it if you try to snipe with a revolver.

One area we looked at is damage fall-off, the amount of damage lost when hitting a target from long range. The amount of damage fall-off depends on the weapon you’re using: damage from small arms like pistols start to drop off after 10 meters, while rifles start to be affected between 50 and 100 meters. Regardless of weapon used and damage lost over range, a headshot will always take out your target in one hit.

On that topic, the body has been split up into more parts, each with their own damage modifiers to make damage more granular. In our previous games we distinguished between the head, arms and body when it came to calculating damage, but we now make use of all the different body parts: neck, belly, pelvis, upper limbs, lower limbs, hands and feet. Each of these has its own damage multiplier based on how much it sucks to get shot there.

Bullet penetration also got some attention! Materials now more accurately affect bullets passing through. Fabrics have little effect, wooden poles a lot more! The harder the material, the more stopping power is lost once the bullet comes out the other end – if any stopping power remains.

It’s generally not recommended to use your squad as a human shield.

Damage, bullet travel time, bullet drop and penetration are all calculated based on the muzzle velocity of the weapon used, bullet weight, bullet diameter and the shape of the bullet nose.

On an individual level, every weapon does have unique characteristics that reflect what they were like in real life. Now, we don’t expect you to learn the ins and outs of every single weapon, so you’ll be able to compare the stats in-game!

These changes both really make firing weapons feel more realistic, but also makes sure weapons aren’t too effective outside of their intended role. Semi-automatic pistols should feel great at close range, but shouldn’t be effective at longer ranges as well. Scoped rifles should be best suited at long range, but hitting your target should still be a fair challenge!

While everything we mentioned here may sound complicated, it all feels natural in practice. Firing and aiming weapons is more realistic, but there’s no need to whip out a calculator to hit a distant shot with a rifle. Gallipoli is not a full-on simulator, but closer to a ‘milsim-lite’ than our previous games!

Thanks for reading! This blog was a bit more technical, but we hope you found it interesting. More blogs are coming your way, so be sure to wishlist and follow Gallipoli on Steam to get everything right in your library.

https://testx-steam.c5game.com/steamstore/app/3065940/Gallipoli/

Some of the biggest changes in Gallipoli compared to the previous games can be found in the gunplay. It has received a major set of improvements and reworks to really improve the realism and pacing of the game, while also making it more satisfying. You’ll feel greater differences between the weapons in the game.

Before we get into the actual changes, let’s discuss our reasoning!

Note: if you can't see the images, try the blog on Reddit!

While we believe our previous games were a good showcase of what fighting in WW1 was like, we really wanted to take it to the next level with Gallipoli. For this, we took a close look at pacing and immersion, how we could more closely capture what combat was like as a soldier on the front. We hope to push teamwork and smart decision making more in Gallipoli and make battles feel more realistic. Every weapon should have their own challenges, yet be fun and rewarding to use.

Now, that’s easier said than done. There’s no ‘immersion slider’ we can tweak a little. So to achieve this, we’ve made some major improvements in all kinds of different areas of the game. A lot of these are related to weapon handling and player status, how a soldier would react in the heat of combat. Let’s take a look at some of the improvements we’ve made!

Reloading got a lot of love in Gallipoli. All of the reloading animations are upgraded massively and are completely unique for each and every single weapon! Reloads and bolting are a bit slower and methodical in Gallipoli to better reflect real life, which also requires you to be more tactical with when and where you reload.

Each weapon in Gallipoli has their reload split into three stages: unloading, reloading and closing the bolt. For single-round reloaded weapons like rifles, every round inserted functions as an extra stage.

Completing a stage essentially functions as a checkpoint in case you need to interrupt the reload. It’s more realistic that way; once you put a round into the weapon, you won’t have to do so again after getting interrupted.

One of the other biggest changes is how suppression works and affects you at the receiving end. In Isonzo, getting suppressed was mostly a visual effect, restricting your vision. In Gallipoli however, it triggers your fight or flight instinct!

Being suppressed initially increases sway and recoil. As you continue to get suppressed, you’ll start to panic and the effects get much more severe. Your vision darkens and you lose color perception. Your hands start shaking, making it very difficult to aim and return fire. Near misses from bullets cause you to flinch and throw off your aim. 

If you’re heavily suppressed, you may also struggle to properly close the bolt, the last stage of a reload. It’s not a gun jamming mechanic that requires manual input. You will always succeed in reloading, but it takes a second longer than usual. Of course, this comes with another unique animation!

Suppression by bullets happens when bullets are whizzing past you. Machine guns have the easiest time suppressing others due to the volume of fire, and doing so should be the main priority. Bullet suppression is stronger at longer ranges, to make sure you don’t get all shaky in one-on-one close-quarters combat.

Explosions also suppress. The strength and range depends on the size of the explosion. Explosives that are designed to stun instead of destroy, like certain types of grenade, cause relatively more suppression. Explosions and stunning are a big topic on their own, so more on that in a later blog!

The best way to combat suppression is to go prone, preferably behind cover. Lying on the ground makes you partially resist the effects of suppression and helps you recover quicker.

Once you spawn in, weapon in hand, you’ll first notice some general changes we made to handling. We’ve built on the systems used in Isonzo to add more layers of depth and realism to the weapons in Gallipoli. 

Drag is a new feature in Gallipoli and determines how quickly your weapon follows your movement, based on its weight. Lightweight weapons like pistols respond only slightly slower to turning around, aiming down sights and the end of a sprint. Heavy weapons like machine guns take a bit longer to do all of that. Overall we balanced it to make it a bit more challenging to snap on target, but not take 3-5 business days to do so either.

Weapon modifications do affect a weapon’s weight, so an SMLE MK.III without bayonet or scope will be snappier than one with.

Weapon sway has gotten a lot of attention and now more closely reacts to your status! The basic ‘breathing sway’ pattern has been completely reworked to match reality more closely, but we’ve also added two new factors: ‘hand wobble’ and ‘arm fatigue’. Both add a bunch of little movements that come with handling a weapon of different weight classes.

Hand wobble is the inaccuracy that comes with handling lighter weapons like pistols, while arm fatigue is the strain on your arms from carrying around a big chunk of metal like a machine gun. Of course, holding your breath to focus on aiming massively reduces all sway for a limited time. 

You can now rest any weapon on any surface! Previously only an option for weapons with bipods, it’s now extended to all weapons in various degrees. 

If you’re aiming from behind cover or are lying prone on the ground, you’ll have an easier time aiming your weapon. Unlike bipods, there’s no setup required to benefit from it. Bipods are still available on some weapons and do still require deployment, but have a way stronger effect on aim than surface resting.

That’s all for now! There are a bunch more improvements that really elevate the immersion, but we’ll show those another day. If you’d like to stay up to date, be sure to wishlist and follow Gallipoli on Steam!

If you’d like to learn more about the history of the Middle Eastern theater of WW1, be sure to check out our new video with Dr Chris Kempshall!