Hello everyone!

Now that you have an idea how the Expedition game mode works, it’s time to explore one of the maps of Gallipoli: Ctesiphon! We’ll also be taking a look at two of your standard rifle options. But first, let’s dive into the Battle of Ctesiphon!

British forces landed in Mesopotamia in November 1914 to capture the valuable port of Basra and secure ongoing access to the oil fields. The following year, having been reinforced, Major-General Charles Townshend commanding the 6th (Poona) Indian Division resolved to march inland, following the River Tigris. Having captured the city of Kut Al Amra in September 1915, Baghdad now seemed to lay within reach. However, Townshend’s supply lines were becoming stretched and his single division was a long way into Ottoman territory.

© National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG x81092,

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/use-this-image.php?mkey=mw73623

Despite this, Townshend was determined to push on. It was whilst moving towards Baghdad that his forces encountered a well-prepared Ottoman defensive position in the ruins of the ancient city of Ctesiphon on 21st November 1915. A strong defensive redoubt, known as the Vital Point secured one flank of the Ottoman line. Capturing this became Townshend’s prime objective and he ordered a dawn attack to begin on the 22nd November. However, although attacking forces – heavily composed of Indian and Gurkha soldiers – were able to seize part of the front line, they could not break through. Furthermore, the battlefield was proving to be deceptive – the Ottomans were able to flood various hidden irrigation ditches to make reaching the trenches much more difficult. 

Source[www.qdl.qa]

Casualties at the end of the first day were heavy and after trading attacks and counter-attacks on the 23rd, both the British and Ottoman forces were nearly at breaking point. The Ottoman general in command – Nureddin Pasha – decided to withdraw his forces rather than risk them being overrun. However, upon realising that the British were also retreating, he changed his mind and took up the pursuit. The remnants of Townshend’s forces retreated back to the city of Kut where they were soon besieged.

Ctesiphon is an open map set on the ruins of the ancient city of its namesake. The Arch of Ctesiphon, or Tāq Kasrā, is most of what remains to this day, close to the current course of the river Tigris. It has three sectors to control, with a Headquarters each and an Optional Objective for the first two. Be sure to check out the Game Mode blog if you haven’t already!

The first sector features a small section of the wall that once protected the ancient city of Ctesiphon. It doesn’t stand as tall as it once did, but still provides great cover to whoever’s dug in here. The other objective is the Vital Point and allows you to spot anyone who dares go over the top.

Sector 2 has you battle under the Arch of Ctesiphon itself. It provides great cover to those who control the objective and funnels the engagement into a few chokepoints. The other side of the sector sits on top of the Gurkha Mound, providing a view over most of Ctesiphon.

The third sector sits right by the banks of the Tigris. Sand makes way for more fertile soil and crops as we close in on the final Headquarters objective. This large HQ is a series of supply and artillery pits, split in two by an offshoot of the river.

As the battle progresses, a sandstorm rolls in and changes the battlefield completely. Not only does the sand get everywhere, it also decreases your vision to just a couple meters ahead of you.

It’s not all bad news though, as limited vision also brings new opportunities. No man’s land is now a lot less dangerous than before, so a lot more engagements will take place on and around the objectives. Maybe ditch your sniper rifle for something with a little less magnification.

Now, if you’re heading to the front, you’re going to need something to fight with. Let’s take a look at two staples of the British and Ottoman armies!

Commonly known as the SMLE Mk.III, or “Smelly”, this is the quintessential Lee-Enfield rifle used by forces of the British Empire on the Ottoman Front. Over 5 million SMLE Mk.III rifles and variants thereof were produced during WW1.

The SMLE Mk.III has a 10-round box magazine to be loaded with two 5-round charger clips. It comes equipped with a rear sight arrangement, fixed charger guide, a magazine cut-off system and a handy field cleaning kit stored in the buttstock. Got to keep it in mint condition!

The Mauser 1903, or Ottoman Mauser, is a Gewehr 98 modified for use by the Ottoman Army, produced in Germany. The bolt arm had been curved to block the stripper clip when inserting rounds, the receiver, cocking cam and firing pin were made larger and longer and the rifle could be fitted with older Ottoman bayonets, to name a few of the changes made.

Around 200,000 rifles were received by the Ottomans by 1905 and distributed across the empire, remaining in Turkish service until the 60s. 

That’s it for today! Hope you like this first (proper) look at Ctesiphon and two of the weapons coming to Gallipoli. Stay tuned for more information coming soon, and please double check if Gallipoli is on your wishlist!

Hello everyone!

We know you’ve been eagerly waiting for more information about Gallipoli, and here it is! Today, we’ll walk you through the game mode of Gallipoli: Expedition.

With the war spread over huge distances, combatant nations moved their troops in expeditionary forces by sea and rail to fight on new fronts. These forces were specialized in mobility and self-sustainability, capable of heading deep into enemy territory and taking key positions. 

The Expedition Game Mode seeks to reflect the faster-paced combat, rewarding attackers who adapt on the fly and book results efficiently.

We would like to preface this blog with a disclaimer: everything mentioned and shown is work in progress and subject to change!

A battlefield is split into several sectors, laid out horizontally between the attacker and defender spawn points. Each sector has two objectives to control in order to take it. Sectors need to be taken in order towards the defenders’ spawn area. 

The defenders, of course, need to give everything in order to stop any of this from happening. If the attackers manage to capture every sector with the time and resources they have, they win. Otherwise, the defenders claim victory.

So far, those of you who’ve played Isonzo may think all this sounds a little familiar. Don’t worry: this is where all the differences come in.

While capturing objectives and pushing towards the next sector, the attackers have to manage their Momentum. In essence, this resource represents how well the Expedition is proceeding. The attack starts with 100 Momentum, one of which is lost whenever an attacking soldier perishes. In the simplest terms, 1 Momentum = 1 attacker life.

Of course, you’re not expected to complete every single objective with just 100 men. There’s a multitude of ways to regain your Momentum. 

• Kill Threshold: A portion of Momentum is regained once 50 defenders are taken out. The amount regained depends on how long it took to reach this threshold.

• Capture an objective: A small amount of Momentum is regained when an objective is captured for the first time.

• Secure an objective: A large amount of Momentum is regained when an objective is secured.

Defenders don’t have Momentum. Instead, it’s their goal to either drain the attackers’ Momentum by killing them without taking casualties, or holding on to their Headquarters by any means necessary.

Both teams can capture an objective. Once captured, the objective will be supplied with static weapons to aid the defense. However, that’s not the end: the other team can recapture the objective if not secured!

Each sector has two objectives: the Headquarters and a Support Objective.

The Headquarters is the primary objective you need to secure in order to advance. Securing is something only the attackers can do after capturing the objective. Once secured, it can never be recaptured by the defenders, and the attackers may proceed to the next sector.

The Support Objective is different. This objective isn’t required to advance, but the attackers can target the Support Objective to regain Momentum if running low. Additionally, it acts as a forward spawn point for the team that controls it and it’s equipped with mortars, as well as a field gun, to support the battle for the Headquarters. Since it cannot be secured, the enemy can always try to recapture it.

No two battles are the same; not in history, not in Gallipoli either. The spawn location of the Headquarters is randomly picked between two possible locations per sector. The Support Objective will be at the other of the two locations.

But wait, there’s more! The Headquarters also has two types it will randomly select: Build to secure and Detonate to secure.

Build to secure requires you to build 3 buildable structures on the objective, randomly placed in 5 possible locations. Multiple people can work on a single structure at a time to speed up progress, but you’ll also want some people to deal with the enemy! Build progress is never lost, not even when the objective changes hands. Finish building to secure!

Can't see the gif? Click here![preview.redd.it]

Detonate to secure may be a bit more familiar: plant a bomb on the objective in order to destroy it. Once destroyed, it’s secured. However, the defenders can disarm the bomb at any time!

With 11 different possible layouts per Headquarters, 2 layouts per sector and up to 5 sectors per map, this means that a large map can have up to 5,153,632 different layouts! However, you’ll only get to see what the layout of the next sector is once you secure the preceding sector.

Not overloaded with information yet? Good, because here’s Foothold.

Foothold is an overtime system that triggers upon Momentum reaching 0. Foothold counts down unless the attackers are contesting an objective that can still give them Momentum.

Any actions that would normally give Momentum now extends Foothold instead. However, there’s no way to remove Foothold; once in effect, it will remain until the end of the battle.

As long as they have allies fighting on the Headquarters objective or keep extending the timer, attackers can still defeat the defenders. It is even possible for the attackers to activate Foothold in the first sector and still win the battle – if they lock in.

If Foothold reaches 0 and none of the attackers reach an objective within 3 seconds, the battle ends in favor of the defenders!

That sure is a whole lot of information, so here’s your TL;DR:

• Attackers need to be fast and efficient to maintain their Momentum while securing objectives.

• Defenders need to dig in and stop the attackers in their path by wasting their Momentum.

• Capturing Headquarters is required to proceed, Support Objectives give more Momentum, weapons and a spawn point. Objectives are randomized per sector.

• Foothold is a last ditch effort for the attackers after they run out of Momentum.

Hope you enjoyed that first look into the Expedition game mode! We’re ramping up our communication, so expect a lot more information to follow in the upcoming months. See you next time!