Commander, make ready!

The latest update for WARNO is coming in hot! The new MURAT milestone is right around the corner. We hoped to deliver it by the end of this week, but there's some last-minute tweaks to bring to it. Therefore, we're delaying it to early next week, but you'll be able to see some streaming of the current version over the week-end.

Apart from all the new goodies you get to play with, including two new divisions, we have also taken the time to address some recurring player feedback and make the necessary changes. Infantry combat, how self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPAAGs) work, and Close Air Support planes have all gotten a little Eugen love.

Read on to find all the good stuff MURAT brings!

Infantry Combat Redux

First up is infantry combat. We hear your comments on this type of combat being too deadly and too fast, especially with the introduction of the über-Germans (the latter, not by design, mind you).

Our intention with the current infantry settings, specifically the unified ranges, was to make infantry combat easier to handle, chiefly for new players. Considering your feedback, we have come to understand a different way forward might be best.

Now, game design is a tricky beast, and the perceived problem by the player might not always benefit from the most obvious solution (how it interacts with other elements, maybe changes might cascade too deep into the rest of the game).

Having discussed infantry combat in-depth within the team, we spotted two main issues: weapon lethality is currently (way) too high; unified ranges make too little difference between weapon categories (assault rifles, medium machine guns, etc.).



We decided to overhaul small arms to increase the “time to kill” factor, making infantry combat more interesting and providing more tactical options. As such, we have reworked the infantry weapons’ suppression and weapon damage values with a collection of new guidelines:

• We are introducing (or if you are a Wargame or SD2 veteran, reintroducing) a more varied set of ranges for infantry weapons. This allows small arms to be better differentiated, in order from longer to shorter ranges: medium machine guns (M60, PKM, MG-3, etc.) , assault rifles (M16, AK, etc.) and SMGs (Uzi, MP-5, etc.).
• Medium Machine Guns will only shoot when immobile and produce a very high volume of fire. Their accuracy won’t be modified by distance, since an MMG’s role is to throw a (very) generous amount of bullets across a large area of effect, not to be accurate. A medium machine gun’s role is more to suppress than kill.
• Assault Rifles will have shorter ranges and slower rates of fire, as well as a minimal area of effect. Their role is to kill, not necessarily to suppress. Their accuracy won’t be very high at maximum range, but an assault rifle’s accuracy will increase when closing in on a target. Weapons under 350m (considered Close Quarter Combat) will have their damage and accuracy greatly improved.
• SMGs will be very effective in Close Quarter Combat ranges and be more accurate than assault rifles. They will barely deal suppression, however, just focusing on damage.
• SAW or Squad Automatic Weapon (M249, RPK, etc.) will be considered “super-assault rifles.”

The upcoming patch with MURAT includes the suppression and kill ratio changes, but not yet the range updates. These will be introduced separately in the very near future.

Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns Updated

SPAAGs, those anti-aircraft vehicles with autocannons or guns (but not those vehicles equipped with missiles), have been commented to be somewhat random in efficiency. The Soviet Shilka/Byryusa over-perform, while others are lackluster, especially the Soviet Tunguska. A separate issue identified was that the SPAAGs rounds “follow” the targets beyond the weapon’s official maximum range.



We have overhauled the anti-aircraft autocannons to ensure their in-game efficiency reflects their real-life caliber and volume of fire. A “puny” Vulcan 20mm gatling wouldn’t be able to match the double wham-bam of the Gepard’s 35mm guns. Based on caliber, ranges were also reevaluated: a Shilka won’t fire as far as a Tunguska, for instance. The Shilka will still be very effective within its range due to its quad 23mm guns, but the range will be less than the previous iteration.

On top of this, the fastest airplane speeds have been decreased by about 20%. This means that the SPAAG will have more time to aim and align on a plane before aircraft exit the combat envelope. On the other hand, AA autocannon round speed has been increased by 15%, meaning they will hit within the vehicle’s max range, not beyond.

Close Air Support Planes Revised

Cheap Close Air Support (CAS) planes have been a hindrance since the release of 5. Panzer, due to the large number it could call in. This led to… ungentlemanly air spam tactics.

The number of cheap CAS, and their availability, was originally made for a specific reason. As you can check, West Germany in-game lacks in terms of gunship helicopters. Its sole armed helicopter is the light (and purely anti-tank) Bo-105 PAH. Therefore, as we are benevolent French, we made more trainer planes (fragile and thus cheap) available to the West German division as compensation. These play the role of gunships. However, the idea was not very thought-out, as unsportsmanlike behavior of German assets (unseen since the football finale of the infamous Night of Seville of 1982 - never forget) reared its ugly head.



Therefore, cheap CAS planes will both see their availability per card reduced and also restricted to no more than one card per type. Further gameplay restrictions on these types of aircraft may come in the future if still required.

Placeholder replacements

Some units currently in-game use placeholder models. In certain cases, these have been replaced by their proper model, like the BTR-60. Several new T-62 and MiG-25 models and variants are almost ready. They are still being polished and will be introduced soon after this patch.

What else is MURAT bringing

Next to the changes highlighted above, a bunch of new stuff is coming WARNO’s way.

• Two new divisions! Get ready to deploy with the new West German 2. Panzergrenadier-Division and the East German 4. Motorisierte Schützendivision (4. MSD)
• Crewed anti-tank teams (both ATGMs and recoilless rifles).
• More updates, improvements, and changes.

See you on the battlefield

Enough for now. Get ready and jump into the game!

Join the awesome (and passionate) growing WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, or our Instagram.

See you on the battlefield, commander!