Hello and welcome back to another Forgotten Hope 2 update.

Today we have a render of one of the most produced aircraft of all time, the Polikarpov Po-2.

Originally known as the U-2, the aircraft was designed in the late 1920s by Nikolai Polikarpov as a replacement for the U-1. It saw extensive use by civilians and the military. Its application as a crop duster gave it the nickname Kukuruznik, derived from the word for maize. At the start of the war, the Soviet Air Force was using the Po-2 for all kinds of work, including liaison, medivac, reconnaissance and general supply.

Its most famous use was as a night bomber. With a machinegun added to the observer's cockpit and space for up to 350 kg of bombs or RS-82 rockets beneath the wings, it was used in daring low level attacks. The distinctive engine sound, and the near silence of the gliding bombing runs in the dead of night gave these missions a psychological effect in excess of any material damage caused. Perhaps the most notorious pilots were the all female 588th Night Bomber Regiment - the so called Night Witches.

The Po-2 was hard to detect, and a challenging target for fighters to shoot down. Its simple construction could absorb many hits with little effect, the pilots flew incredibly low to the ground, and it was so slow compared to Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters that keeping on target for any decent length of time was nearly impossible. Between 30 and 40 thousand Po-2 were assembled between 1928 and 1959, and our one was made by Herc.

Our winners for this week's screenshot competition is pizzzaman12. You can view the winning submission here.

We are now accepting entries for the week of June 17th. If you think you have the best FH2 screenshot, post them here.

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, our public forums, and/or our Twitter and Facebook pages to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another Forgotten Hope 2 update.

Today we are showing off a render of the most well know Soviet artillery piece: the BM-13 "Katyusha".

In mid 1938, the Jet Propulsion Research Institute of Leningrad was ordered to develop a mobile mount for the launching of multiple RS-132 aircraft rockets. The eventual winning design consisted of 16 launch rails attached to a simple frame that could be moved to aim at the target. The nickname "Katyusha" came from a popular wartime song of the same title.

Initially shunned by the artillery branch because of their long reload time and low sustained fire rate, they were ordered into mass production following successful combat trials. While not as accurate as normal artillery, the launchers had several advantages. The noise and effect caused fear amongst the German's, who knew the weapon as "Stalin's Organ". They were also cheaper to make and required less complex machinery than howitzers.

The BM-13, and its derivatives the smaller BM-8 and larger BM-30 were mounted on a wide variety of trucks and in a wide variety sizes. Initially, ZiS-5 and ZiS-6 trucks were favoured, but the BM-13 design was soon standardised onto the newly available Lend-Lease Studebaker US6. Our Katyusha and Studebaker were made by Toddel.

Our winners for this week's screenshot competition is 15Roughbeak15. You can view the winning submission here.

We are now accepting entries for the week of May 13th. If you think you have the best FH2 screenshot, post them here.

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, our public forums, and/or our Twitter and Facebook pages to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another Forgotten Hope 2 update.

Today we have a render of the Finnish Suomi KP/-31 submachinegun, as well as a quick announcement from the World at War tournament.

In 1921 Aimo Lahti had taken it upon himself to design a cheaper alternative to the Bergmann M/20. The Army showed some interest in the designs and placed orders for a small number. What would later be called the KP/-26 had several problems, and the KP/-31 was Lahti's answer to these faults.

The KP/-31 was a reliable and accurate, if somewhat heavy weapon. The long barrel and low recoil gave it a longer effective range than other submachineguns of the time. Somewhat unusually, the barrel and shroud were easy to remove and switch with a spare, useful for a weapon with such a high rate of fire. The original magazines were somewhat problematic: the 20 round box was too small and the 40 round drum was heavy and hard to fill. These were gradually replaced by a larger capacity 70 round drum and the rarer 50 round "coffin" box magazines.

After February 1943, the KP/-31 was fitted with a large muzzle brake to counteract muzzle climb, and this can be seen on our model. Approximately 50,000 KP/-31s were manufactured for Finland, of which about half had the SJR muzzle brake. There were also 2 variants: 500 weapons modified for use in bunkers, and 40 for use as hull guns in Vickers 6-ton tanks. Our KP/-31 was made by Seth Soldier.

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Our winners for this week's screenshot competition is =Capten=Cymro=. You can view the winning submission here.

We are now accepting entries for the week of April 22nd. If you think you have the best FH2 screenshot, post them here.

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, our public forums, and/or our Twitter and Facebook pages to discuss this update and other news.

Hello and welcome back to another Forgotten Hope 2 update.

Today we have another render of another Finnish weapon, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26.

The M/26 started life when Aimo Lahti was looking for things to do following his design of the Suomi KP/31 prototype. When the Finnish Army put out a request for designs for a new light machinegun, Lahti's design was one of those that was considered. Since Lahti had no formal engineering experience, Lieutenant Arvo Saloranta was appointed to assist him.

After acceptance, there were almost constant issues surrounding the weapon. Saloranta had made unauthorised modifications to the accepted designs, causing production delays and his removal from the project. The weapon itself would jam constantly due to weak extractors and low quality magazine springs. It was also very heavy and had a very strong recoil, and the 20 round magazines were too small.

These issues meant that it received the nickname "Kootut virheet" meaning "assorted mistakes" from the soldiers who used it. Its only redeeming feature over the captured Degtyarevs was that it was more accurate. About 5000 were produced between 1927 and 1942, and by 1944, there were nearly three times as many captured Degtyarevs in use at the front than Lahti-Salorantas. The M/26 was made by Kraetzer.

Our winners for this week's screenshot competition is pizzzaman12. You can view the winning submission here.

We are now accepting entries for the week of January 28th. If you think you have the best FH2 screenshot, post them here.

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, our public forums, and/or our Twitter and Facebook pages to discuss this update and other news.