Greetings and welcome back to another news update for Forgotten Hope. Just a small one this week, but first we have some more news of further laurels for Forgotten Hope and Forgotten Hope 2, this time from ModDB.com. They have completed their end-of-the-year awards calculations, and awarded us two distinctions. First, Forgotten Hope 0.7 for Battlefield 1942 placed a respectable fourteenth out of all the mods considered for Mod of the Year for 2005. Even better, Forgotten Hope 2 for BF2 came in second in the competition for the Top Unreleased Mod for 2005!

Of course, Number One is more fun, but considering the tough competition, we feel pretty good about this news. Congratulations as well to the actual winners, and to all the other mods who got listed!

OK, enough with the self-congratulation. This week we are featuring some work that is mainly by Lobo, our Fearless Leader. Ever since Lobo foolishly accepted the thankless job of guiding the mod, much of his time has been taken up endless little details of coordinating the work of the other devs, communicating with potential recruits, helping other members of the team solve problems and so on. Fortunately, he still manages to find time to get actual modding done, and here are some of the results.

First up is the Fairey Swordfish Mk. I. The Swordfish was a torpedo bomber, used by the Royal Navy during World War II. Entering service in 1936, its served throughout the war, despite its old-fashioned biplane design. The Swordfish, or "Stringbag" as it came to be known by its crews, was slow and vulnerable to enemy fighters and flak. Even so, Swordfish scored many remarkable successes, taking part in the successful strike against the Italian fleet at Taranto, in 1940, participating in the sinking of the Bismarck in 1941, and playing an important role in the Battle for the Atlantic, as well as the struggle to control the Mediterranean supply lanes to North Africa.

The FH2 Fairey swordfish is based partly on the original FH swordfish, which was modeled and skinned by Lobo. He remodeled and reskinned it to bring it up to FH2 standards of detail and quality, and ctz contributed an all-new normal map.

Next up is a defensive bunker, of German design. The original model was by Lobo and is also of FH for BF1942 vintage. He remodeled it for FH2, and created an entirely new skin, based on textures provided by Rad.

That's all for today folks. We hope you enjoyed this update and we would like to invite you to visit our public forums to discuss this and other Forgotten Hope news. Hope to see you at the next update!

Hello and welcome back another news update of Forgotten Hope 2. This week, we would like to start by welcoming a new member, mapper Lili Marlene. Lili has a long carreer as a fan mapper, and in the past released maps like "Battle For Ortona", "Kiew", and "Invasion of Sicily." His attention to detail and inventiveness make him a valuable addition to the team. Lets give Lili Marlene a warm welcome!

The first new model for today's update is the 6x30 Dienstglas, the standard issue German service binoculars (6 power, with a 30 degree field of view). These were issued to officers and some noncoms, as well as artillery spotters and others tasked with the job of observing at a distance, that did not require more specialized equipment. This model weas adopted in the mid 1930s, and manufactured by several different optical firms, according to a common design. The 6x30 Dienstglas was modeled by ctz and skinned by ctz and McGibs.

Artillery spotters tend to be hard on their surroundings, and in recognition of this Malsa has created shattered and wrecked versions of his fine North African-style buildings. Keep an eye out for snipers, as these tangled ruins provide many excellent hiding spots.

That's all for today, but be sure to come back next week for our next update. Until then, feel free to visit our public forums to discuss this update and other news.

Greetings and welcome back to the latest news update for Forgotten Hope. We have some new things to show you this week, but first we have some exciting news. Macologist.org has named Forgotten Hope 0.7 for Battlefield 1942 as the Macologist Mod of the Year for 2005! We are very honoured to receive this distinction, and also very happy that Mac gamers are able to play Forgotten Hope, as well as many other fine mods, thanks to the efforts of the good people at Macologist.org. Thank you Macologists! You can read more about it here.

Now for the the FH2 news. Our first item is the Karabiner 98 Kurz, or Kar 98k bolt-action rifle, which was the standard infantry rifle of the German Army during World War II. This rifle was the latest in a series of adaptations based on the original 1898 Mauser rifle that was used by the German Army in WWI. The Kar98 was reliable and accurate, but, in common with other bolt action military rifles of WWII, was heavy and had a slow rate of fire. Large numbers of Kar 98ks were used right up to the end of the war, and many continued to be used in the many post-war conflicts that developed after the end of WWII. The new FH2 Kar 98k was modeled and skinned by McGibs.

For larger targets, we have the Pak 38 antitank gun. We actually showed a "BF2 compatible" version of this gun in a news render some time ago, but Lobo's new FH2 style news render looked so tasty, I thought you would enjoy seeing it anyway. In addition to the updated news render, we have or first ingame screens of the Pak 38.

Although planning for this gun began in 1938, the Pak 38 did not reach the troops until 1940. Its 50mm gun was not powerful enough to easily penetrate the armor of the heavier Soviet tanks it would face on the Eastern front, without the use of hard-to-get special ammunition, but despite this, it was used throughout the war. At short ranges, and against the more lightly armored tanks of the Western Allies, it continued to be a credible threat. The FH2 Pak 38 was modeled by Malsa, skinned by Malsa and Rad, and coded by ctz.

That's all for today folks. We hope you enjoyed this update and we would like to invite you to visit our public forums to discuss this and other Forgotten Hope news. Hope to see you at the next update!