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!
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!