Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today our news is all about Normandy again. We have two new skins to show, that will make two of our existing artillery guns ready for the new theater and we also have a completely new model - the German Panzerschreck.

The two guns we have updated are the German 88mm Flak 18/36 and the British Ordenance QF 25-Pounder. Both guns have received new skins, but the 25-Pounder has also been updated to a newer model, the Mark IV. You can tell the difference between this version and the earlier version in FH2 by the addition of a muzzle break. All the changes to both guns were made by Toddel.

The last item on display this week is the Raketenpanzerbüchse 54, better known as the Panzerschreck ("Tank Terror" in English). This new anti-tank weapon was made by Seth Soldier.

The German army quickly realised the potential of the new HEAT shaped charge weapons. Their own development eventually led to the panzerfaust weapons, but when they encountered the American M1 Bazooka in North Africa and later in Russia, they quickly took the weapon's design and improved it. The result was the 88mm Raketenpanzerbüchse 43. Although this weapon was incredibly powerful, it created a large backblast, forcing the operator to wear protective clothing. In October of 1943, the weapon was improved by adding a blast shield to protect the operator and it received the name Raketenpanzerbüchse 54. Although based on the American ones, the German rockets were much larger and as a result were able to penetrate nearly twice as much armour as their American counterparts.

We also have an advertisement this week for a new Forgotten Hope 2 Tournament, check it out.

***130th Panzer Lehr Invites YOU to their 4th Anniversary FH2 Community Tournament!***

The 130th has decided it's about time we gave something back to the community that has cradled us for four long years, and here it is! A chance for all of us FH'ers around the World to meet and greet and get to know eachother by doing the one thing we all do best, beat the tar out of each other!Every clan currently active for FH2 is welcome to join our Double-Elimination Tournament.

*NOTE*- This is not a Campaign Tourney like WAW, this is a straight up Tourney. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!!

* We have two servers to dedicate to this event, both holding 48 playersat maximum.
* We have two Ventrilo servers currently at our disposal (we hope perhaps another participating clan might lend us the use of theirs as well.)
* Stop by and register on ourforums.
* Tournament Registration and Rules can be found at the 130th Panzer LehrWebsite in the Tournament Signup section.

We hope that our enthusiasm for this event is matched, and exceeded, by the greatest mod community on the Planet! So sign up now!

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

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. Today we will be showing you what we have in store for the Italian army in our upcoming 2.15 patch. As you may know, we already had some Italian equipment in previous versions, but in 2.15 we hope to give the Italian army a more complete arsenal of small arms.

In the first render we have the two Carcano rifles, ported for FH 0.7, which were made by Mc Gibs - The bayonets for the Carcano rifles and the M39 combat knife, made by Seth Soldier and - The Bomba a Mano 35 O.T.O, made by Knoffhoff. In the second render we have the Breda 30 light machinegun, made by Seth Soldier.

The main rifle of the Italian army in the Second World War was the Carcano rifle. There were many variations on this rifle, but the most common were the old M91 (from 1891) and the newer M91/38 (from 1938). Interestingly these rifles use different calibers. The old 6.5mm caliber as used in the M91 was considered to be too weak and was to be replaced with the larger 7.35mm caliber. When the war started though, the adoption of the new caliber was not complete, in fact, even during the war it proved impossible to completely replace the old 6.5mm caliber, so both were used. The M91/38 Carcano is perhaps better known for another role it played in history, as it was the rifle used to assassinate US president John F Kennedy in 1963.

The Breda 30 was the standard light machinegun of the Italian army in World War 2, although production of the weapon had already ceased in 1937. It is widely regarded as an extremely poor machinegun. Its magazine capacity was only 20 rounds (of the weak 6.5mm type) and it fired at a low 500 rounds per minute. Its design was complex, leading to high production costs and due to the blowback system it used it was highly prone to jamming, especially in the African desert.

The Bomba a Mano (hand grenade) 35 O.T.O. is an Italian offensive grenade that exploded on impact. To use the grenade, you would have to pull out the safety strip by the leather handle, unlocking the black safety lever (the cap). When thrown, the safety lever would catch air and be separated from the body, thus unlocking the safety bar between the firing pin and the primer. This mechanism had a tendency not to work however and the grenades were extremely dangerous in their unexploded state, leading to the British giving them the nickname "Red Devils".

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

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope. This week we would like to show you the second map in the upcoming 2.15 patch. This map, about the Battle of Tunis in 1943, was made by Otolikos.

With the Mareth Line now firmly in British hands and the Americans having reorganised after the losses at Kasserine the allied advance in Tunisia slows down. At the very last moment the Germans had send massive reinforcements to Tunisia in order to keep the Axis bridgehead in Africa open. Allied superiority in air and sea slowly however begin to take their toll on the Axis forces and it is only a matter of time before the allies can organise their next big offensive.

On April 22nd 1943 the big attack begins as in the South British forces and in the West US force attack the German lines. Although the British are clearly advancing, their progress is slow, having only captured ten kilometres in a week and the decision is made to shift the focus of the attack to the south-west.

With all the preparations made the new attack begins in the early hours of May 6th, as the British and Indian 4th Divisions break their way through the axis lines. On the very next day the first British tanks roll into the Tunisian capital Tunis and to the north-west the Americans enter the city of Bizerte.

Only 6 days later, on May 13th 1943, the 230,000 Axis forces in North Africa surrender, making it the second biggest disaster for the Axis in the war so far. The first being of course the surrender at Stalingrad just 3 months earlier.

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