World War 2: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Men of War 2, the sequel to the acclaimed Men of War RTS franchise, is scheduled to release soon, featuring all new units, locations, campaigns, and game modes, with a focus on historical accuracy and action-packed gameplay.

The game will have three primary campaigns, including the Allies, the Soviets, and the Third Reich, as well as the biggest multiplayer and Co-op modes in franchise history.

Players can choose their side, plan their battles, and prepare to fight against other players or side by side with them against an advanced AI in a vast selection of realistic skirmishes across 22 maps.

The game features the most extensive and highly detailed Second World War locations, vehicles, and character roster in the series to date, with three sides, 45 battalions, and over 300 vehicles.

Men of War 2 also features full mod support, allowing players to create and share their own scenarios using a special level design and modding tool.

The game's open beta begins on May 11th and runs through the 15th, allowing players to try it out before its release.

Nazi Germany's 1939 invasion of Poland demonstrated the speed and effectiveness of their new war machine, with the goal of destroying the Polish Army as rapidly as possible before turning their attention to France.

German planners relied on the Prussian strategy of decisive maneuver, which aimed for rapid surprise attacks followed by encirclements of retreating enemies.

The concept of the Panzer Division was developed during the interwar period, with the Vermont concentrating their armored units into separate divisions and placing them front and center in their operations.

The Polish military was weakened by diplomatic meddling and false promises from their Western allies, which interfered with their mobilization and left them deployed in a thin line too close to their long border with Germany and Slovakia.

The German invasion of Poland was over in less than a month, with the Polish military crushed between the armies of Germany and the Soviet Union, and the government forced into exile.

In April 1940, Germany set its sights on Denmark and Norway, invading Denmark with almost no resistance and conquering Norway through an amphibious assault utilizing naval, air, airborne, and ground forces.

The German invasion of Norway did not involve any armored units, instead relying on a coordinated, well-timed surprise attack to minimize their disadvantages against the Royal Navy.

The Kriegsmarina played a crucial role in the invasion of Norway, holding off the Royal Navy at sea while infantry units captured several key ports and paratroopers were deployed to secure key airfields.

The invasion of Norway was not the only important role that the Kriegsmarina played during the first two years of the war, as they also began their convoy raiding campaign, sinking millions of tons of shipping and earning the nickname "The Happy Time" among German sailors.

In May 1940, Germany launched their Western offensive into the Benelux and France, relying heavily on fast-moving armored and motorized units to exploit weaknesses in the Allied defenses.

The German plan involved surprise attacks on the neutral countries of the Benelux, quickly breaking the back of the Dutch Army and encircling the British Expeditionary Forces around Dunkirk.

The Germans avoided attacking the enemy head-on, instead using fast-moving units to outmaneuver their Allied counterparts and disrupt their supply lines.

The Luftwaffe played a crucial role in supporting the German invasion, wreaking havoc on Allied logistics with devastating results.

The French deployed their tanks evenly across the front line, allowing the Germans to concentrate their Panzers into powerful attacks and ultimately leading to the rapid destruction of the French army.

German Logistics functioned smoothly, with a report from Panzer Group Kleist asserting that there was not a single supply crisis that his group was unable to resolve.

The stable supply lines enjoyed by the Germans during the Western offensive were critical for continuing their fast-paced armored maneuvers.

After capturing Dunkirk, it only took the Germans three more weeks to conquer the rest of France, providing them with Atlantic naval bases that contributed to the success of their U-Boat fleets.

The fall of France also led to the establishment of the Vichy French government in the South, cementing the popular image of the German military as an unstoppable machine capable of rolling over its enemies with overwhelming speed and strength.• Italy's invasion of Greece turned into a disaster, with the Greeks not only pushing the Italians out of their country but also following them into Italian-occupied Albania. • The British allied with the Greeks, and the Italians found themselves fighting on two fronts, against the British and the Greeks. • Italy's attempts at conquest had turned into a disaster, and Hitler feared that the situation would spread to other parts of Europe. • Yugoslavia reluctantly joined the Axis powers, but an anti-fascist coup led to Germany's invasion of the country, which was subjugated in less than a month. • Germany also invaded Greece, bailing out the Italians and conquering the entire country, with the British expeditionary force unable to stand up to the Nazi counter-attack. • The Allies withdrew to Crete, but the German falshirmjaegers cracked the defense on May 20, 1941, in a historic victory. • The German triumph at Crete was a costly affair, with General Kurt Student dubbing Crete the graveyard of the German paratroopers. • Germany's support of Italy hindered Operation Barbarossa, resulting in the first of many defeats for the Third Reich. • Operation Barbarossa initially lived up to its promise, with the Axis making quick gains and seizing much territory, but the invasion hit a major stumbling block at the first battle of Smolensk. • The Axis spent the ensuing months fighting their way to victory across the USSR, except for the grinding sieges at Leningrad and Sevastopol. • The Axis made a rush for Moscow, but grinding to a halt just outside the capital's suburbs, burned out from their rapid advance and bloodied by dogged Soviet resistance. • The Germans licked their wounds, while a new foe was brought into the war with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, leading to the United States declaring war on the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany declaring war on the U.S. • Germany's logistical issues, mostly a lack of oil, forced them to focus on one army group for their 1942 offensive, aiming south towards seizing the Reds' oil fields. • The Nazi summer offensive, including the Battle of Stalingrad, represented a desperate Hail Mary, with the Germans desperate to capture the Soviet oil fields to retain the initiative. • The failure of Operation Barbarossa led to finger-pointing, with General Franz Halder blaming the diversion of troops to the Ukraine for the inability to capture Moscow. • Hitler's decision to throw his men against a cornered animal with unbelievable reserves of manpower and industrial capacity led to a war of annihilation. • The cracks began to show on the Eastern Front, with the Battle of Stalingrad ending with both the Soviets and Nazis battered, but the Soviets able to weather the beating. • The retreat was draining Germany's oil, the Soviets were draining Germany's manpower, and the privations of war were draining Germany's hope. • Yosef Goebbels' infamous minister of propaganda took to the podium to sell the German people on total war, but it wouldn't save the Third Reich. • The failure of Operation Fallblau (Case Blue) was a major contributor to the eventual Axis defeat on the Eastern Front. • Case Blue was an attempt to simultaneously cut off Soviet access to resupply from the Black Sea and capture the oil fields located in the Caucasus. • The operation designed to address Germany's oil shortage only exacerbated it, as the marathon drive towards Caucasia and the scorched earth defense by Soviet forces stretched already fragile fuel lines. • The Battle of Stalingrad marked the deepest penetration of Nazi troops into the Soviet Union, but although they inflicted grievous losses on the Red Army, the offensive was ultimately turned back. • Germany went into the Caucasus for oil and triumph but left with empty tanks and full graveyards. • Nazi officials had reason for some confidence, with the Allied raid at Dieppe, France in August 1942 being an embarrassing failure, and the Luftwaffe regularly inflicting heavy casualties on Allied bomber sorties. • The creation of evermore complex wunderwaffe (Wonder Weapons) that created more of the same challenges was Germany's answer to its logistical challenges. • Fuel was a constant concern, with the Vermacht juggling supplies of petrol and synthetic gas to power its desperate operations. • The Germans relied on slave labor from concentration camp inmates who suffered both from the malice of their oppressors as well as industrial accidents. • Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister, played an increasingly challenging game of economic floor is lava, with Fritz Reinhardt, state secretary in the German finance ministry, reportedly saying that the contributions allocated to paying off the interest and principle on the national debt must henceforth be covered by current revenues earned from the economic exploitation of the Eastern territories.- The Germans were aware of an imminent Allied invasion, with the highest echelons of German command confident that the Atlantic Wall would repulse the Allies and cause heavy casualties.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was tasked with shoring up defenses along the English Channel, using French laborers and Italian POWs to improve fortifications, including minefields, turrets, and Rommel's Asparagus (metal wire webs to shred gliders).

Rommel's strategy involved defensive action on the beaches, meeting the Allies as they landed and denying them ground, but static defenses were only part of his plan.

The Normandy beaches were defended by the Seventh Army, whose units were of mixed quality, with many soldiers unfit or unremarkable, and some even convalescing from combat wounds.

The Germans had fallen for the Allied deception operation, Operation Fortitude, and believed the main landing would be at the Pas-de-Calais.

Rommel, however, began to suspect that the Allies might land at Normandy, given the similarities to the Italian Shore and the Allies' desire to maximize their chances of success.

As June 5th turned into June 6th, German meteorologists declared the weather unsuitable for an invasion, and Rommel took the opportunity to go on leave, returning to Germany to celebrate his wife's birthday.

Meanwhile, Allied bombs began falling, and as German commanders were caught off guard, paratroopers began descending onto the battlefield, and gliders made silent landings.

Lieutenant General Joseph Reichert, commander of the 711th Infantry Division, recalled a night of drinking, ending in combat, as British paratroopers rained down on his command post.

In the American landing zones, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Foley, commander of the 91st Luftlande Division, was ambushed and killed by the 82nd Airborne.

As dawn broke on the Normandy Coast, the Germans were shocked to see an Allied armada steaming toward them, with no naval forces to challenge them.

The Allies launched a massive bombardment of Omaha Beach, catching German shore batteries off guard, and the 716th Static Infantry Division, a unit of low quality, was denied the usual allotment of artillery and heavy vehicles.

Machine gunner Heinrich Zavalo of the 352nd Infantry Division could see the water spouts where his machine gun bursts were hitting, and when the little fountains got close to the GIs, they threw themselves down.

The 716th Division at Sword Beach was in disarray, with overstretched Germans lacking air support or completed fortifications, and failing to coordinate with coastal artillery in their sector.

Lieutenant Carl Haida bemoaned the condition of his division's officers, many of whom were severely wounded previously, and some became unpleasant or socially inept due to their early harsh war experiences.

The Germans at Utah Beach were compromised by Airborne operations, which cut phone lines, crippling their ability to exchange information, and the spread-out landing zones made mounting a large-scale defense difficult.

Lieutenant General Carl Wilhelm Graf Von Schlieben, overall commander of the 709th Infantry Division, would order an actual organized counter-attack in the face of the Airborne assault, arranging for the 100th Panzer Battalion to drive forward to meet the 82nd Airborne.

As the day dragged on, and the Allies began to gain ground, the Frontline Commanders flooded High Command with requests for support, but Hitler remained convinced that the Atlantic Wall would throw the Allies back.

The Fuhrer eagerly anticipated following up the inevitable failure of the Normandy Landings by raining V-1 bombs on London, and the Western armies would be ground into the sands of France.

As the Allies continued to gain ground, the Germans began to yield, and Friedrich Verster, who helped crew a battery of four captured Czech cannons at Marie Fonten near the beach, quietly surrendered along with his fellows.

Behind the lines, the Germans were hard at work, trying to corral the French civilian population, with propaganda vans driving through Kong, ordering the population to remain indoors, while the German authorities arranged for the evacuation of key parts of the city.