Nearly all the utilized trenches have now had natural terrain added to them which greatly increases the accuracy of the mission! If you played the mission early on then dropped it, now is the best time to try it again - it is I think my pinnacle mission over all of my previous creations.

Instead of adding more detail to roads - I have stumbled into a method of making the trenches appear more accurate to the region and period of combat. Using 'cliffrock7' I am beginning to create rock/clay walls to back the trenches. This allows for more efficient defensive AI and also greatly increases the historical accuracy of the mission. Google "1914 Champagne" and you will find a lot of dirt! I am greatly influenced by the pictures of Hotchkisses perched up ontop of piles of earth instead of behind enclosed defensive works.

@人才 Thank you so much my friend! You proved to me that this game's engine can handle anything that we desire to create, detail & passion is the key to Easy Red 2!

For all, I have massively updated the beginning of the mission in order to bring it up to par with my other works and similar from my favorite WS authors! Now the Germans start the battle within a harsh defense and must fight for every inch of ground. The frontline has been increased massively in segments, but still offers the same attack/defense gameplay for both sides! I believe this is what truly makes the mission one of the most immersive WW1 scenarios currently on the ER2 workshop. It scratches that PtF itch without having frustrating AI. More detail will be added to the roads tonight, enjoy!

i like this

Great! Yeah it was a pleasure, and the engine is so cool to create such different scenarios.
Very nice! The chasseurs are my favorite in blue with beret or kepi

@Sir Charly, thank you very much! Love hearing that you replayed - I try to design all of these WW1 missions in a way that is almost addicting! I'd love to do the First Battle of the Marne as it can totally be done in ER2 (Ardennes: La Morte de Reutlinger is essentially the same combat but more defenses). I'll ask with Ivan and see if he'd like to add some Chasseurs!

very cool map and setup i replayed it like 5 times!!
Hope for a 1914 campaign in the marne with maybe late 14- mid 1915 Bois le Prêtre?
I didn't see if the creator of verdun assets added the chasseurs too. Would be nice if he do so, Jaegers and chasseurs

There may have been a map update that has expanded the trench lines... I would warn to avoid the mission until I can update it. I am very busy nowadays so this may take an undefined amount of time. To make up for this, a 1918 mission on the same map is on it's way!

The final expansions to the barbed wire defenses will be finished by tonight, the final hold-out phase will also be getting more detail in the Scottish/British defenses! I've started pairing the barbed fences with the bundles - openings in the wire have had hasty patches built using bundles. These patches range from hasty to dastardly, a few openings now include designs that will either push you into the enemy muzzle, or further alienate you from safety as you follow the wire the opposite direction. I'm becoming a bit addicted to this mission, I see opportunity to expand the counterattacks and use designs to increase the ferocity of the entente attack without massively changing the balance of the mission.

@jaybee , apologies friend for abandoning the discord! I may be rethinking/transitioning the mission to a more fitting map... These new K.U.K uniforms from Ivan have lit a spark under me! The problem I have found is that so many wonderful mountainous maps are filled with German trucks that I have to somehow hide or avoid.

How is the Italian front mission coming along?

Looking forward to the new factions! We really need one comprehensive one with all of the various factions represented, rather than the constellation of various mods we have to rely on now.

Small Update: Using the new Highlanders uniforms and a godsend of a faction mod - the 51st are finally back in the thick of it at Champagne! Phase-0 has had more attention put towards detail and now plays even deadlier. More barbed wire,sandbags, machineguns, debris, ect. has all been placed!

@Delta_ I have some treats in the making especially for WW1 makers that is influenced by Ivan's work. Simple SDK stuff has been done to start a massive faction pack that I am designing for my own use, but also to share with others! I am even doing the 'majors' like France, Britain, Germany, ect. because I want full creative control (All faction names+surnames come from 1890s records or popular names, patches will be hidden in order to work in conjunction with Ivan's Uniforms). I have found that most faction mods seem to be made in extreme haste and are either repetitive/filled with errors or have weird creative choices - this one should make most old WW1 faction mods redundant.

No doubt you'll 100% nail the next scenario you cover Beren you've already given us some fantastic missions so far and this one really tops them all in terms of immersion and realistic portraying of early war battles! Ivan's a chad and also has made massive contributions i'm actually blown away by his latest WW1 uniform mod it's perfect!

@Delta_ , I am very lucky to be in this community we have! Covering actions of 1914 has been a blast, and has been made even more immersive with help from our favorite modders. If I need anything I honestly just go to Ivan and within 2-3 days it's in. I warn that there may end up being a long pause between the next mission release from me as my dream 1915-1918 scenarios require a completely home-baked maps/factions.

Another mission! i'm super impressed can't give you enough credit for these

*I have expanded the 2 counter-attack phases which has taken quite a lot of balancing. Important note: The Lewis gun mod is only counted as I am testing late war squads using this mission... These late squads are not available, but somehow are still included within the mission as a whole? In other words; DO NOT EXPECT A LEWIS GUN IN THIS MISSION!

@TheWarriors51 Thanks a ton! I have decided that it is probably now the time to start on mid-late war missions. With the current lack of WW1 maps the next may end up being similar to this mission, but in 1918. More Eastern Front is to come aswell!

Keeping with the essence of ER2 with showcasing historic combatants as dogtags: I have 2-3 more historic figures that I would like to cover for missions which range from 1914 Belgium (Rupert Brooke)- 1915 Battle of Warsaw (or The Great Retreat, depicting Conrad Veidt)

This mission is top tier. Also the new Uniforms are beautiful. This is how to do WWI in Easy red. Can't wait to see what comes next!

this mission = chef's kiss

*More massive changes: New German uniforms courtesy of Ivan! There is now a beautiful variety of Landsers:Soldats, Gefreiters, even NCOs and that sort are visible with notable distinction between a Corporal leading his group vs. a Leutnant.

There is now a German Jäger section that shows up in small numbers (AI once/Player non stop). My new screenshots are outdated again:( I'll take new ones soon. If any balancing needs to be tweaked please comment! These Vickers guns do a lot more damage then the previous 3 weapon system's combined. I have slightly increased German tickets which should allow the AI to battle it out with about 5-10 minutes worth of human waves left at the last objective

@Hexagoros It means a lot to me that these two missions are so impactful! The real kudos is to the mappers who make the blank canvases for these missions. Out of this entire workshop - there are maybe only a handful of mappers who really know their stuff. It's their work that allows me to make these missions that flow completely different than what can be expected from the regular Vanilla/DLC.

This dude knows how to make missions. This and La Morte Reutlinger are my absolute favorite maps in Easy Red 2.

Seriously, if Easy Red 2 was 'just' the Champagne and La Morte Reutlinger, I'd still recommend Easy Red 2 as being worth the price tag.

Now with the addition of the Vickers MG from 'Animated Weapons PT2' Shanghai and Stalingrad are no longer necessary! This will remain a one DLC only mission!

*Massive changes* French Uniforms have been completely updated and are brand new courtesy of @ivanfreitas777 !!! French Fusiliers and Sénégalais Tirailleurs both now have beautiful 1914 uniforms!

@jaybee & @ Nutella the Hun / Igora , Thanks a ton, I wouldn't be making these if it wasn't for both of y'all's missions! I will be updating the "music" tonight and may go with the FX route like you mention.

Great work! I'd love for the "music" to be replaced by some more distant battle sounds, just to add another layer of intensity while keeping the player firmly rooted in the intensity of the moment. Barbed wire structures look good - I've been using a similar pattern for an upcoming mission I'm working on using this same base map.

Every mission is a must-play