Squad 44

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Release Date:	August 9, 2018
Developer:	Offworld Industries Mercury Arts Periscope Games
Publisher:	Offworld Industries
Platforms:	PC
Genre:	First-Person Shooter

Squad 44: Letters From The Front (formerly known as Post Scriptum) is a large scale, WWII-set first person tactical shooter developed by UK-based Periscope Games as an offshoot of Squad and is published and later developed by Squad's developer, Offworld Industries. The project began in March 2016 and officially released on Steam Early Access on August 9th, 2018. It initially released as Post Scriptum: The Bloody Seventh as first released chapter of the game focused on the engagement of the British 1st Airborne Division against German Wehrmacht and SS units during Operation Market Garden in 1944. It was further expanded to include engagements that involved American airborne units. Later chapters, Plan Juane (depicting the Manstein Plan (Fall Gelb) battle between the French Army and Wehrmacht in 1940), Day of Days (the landings of Allied forces in Normandy during Operation Overlord), Mercury (the Invasion of Crete in 1941 with defending ANZAC forces), and Watch On The Rhine (the Ardennes Offensive in 1944) expanded the fronts throughout WWII. With the rebranding to Squad 44, the game also depicts the battle of Rethymno, the second part of the Invasion of Crete.

As with its parent game, Squad 44 is a multiplayer-only game focused on teamwork and cooperation, featuring combined arms gameplay and highly realistic, detailed weaponry. It has numerous factions depending on the setting of a match, and asymmetrical gameplay and classes between the Allied units and Axis forces.

The following weapons appear in the video game Squad 44:

Overview

Squad 44 portrays historical engagements of Allies and German forces across mainland Europe in 1940 to 1944. The early era of the game's second chapter depicts the French Army's 21 Regiment d'Infanterie engagement of the Wehrmacht during the Fall Gelb operation. The later '44-set levels are from the first and third chapters and portray the Allied Operations of Market Garden and Overlord, respectively. Operation Market Garden features the British 1st Airborne Division, the Polish Brigade, and the American 82nd Airborne infantry forces supported by Britain's XXX Corps armor against a more developed Wehrmacht and 9.SS-Panzer Division. The Normandy battles of Operation Overlord include American 4th Infantry Division, the 101st Airborne, and the 70th Tank Battalion versus the Wehrmacht's 91st Infantry Division and the 6 Fallschirmjägerregiment.

The Squad system from the parent game has been developed for a faction to have three separate sections for its units - the Infantry Section encompasses most of the regular classes. The Logistics Section takes over the FOB/Construction roles from Squad and has regular riflemen, an NCO, medic, and Combat Engineers. The last section is the Armored Section and incorporates tank commanders and tankers into their various fighting vehicles.

The general classes of Squad 44 are:

Officer - technically its own "Platoon Commander" section, the Officer role assumes the top of the team's chain of command. The class is meant to be paired with the Infantry Section's Radioman to call in air and artillery support. Officers can opt for a standard rifle or SMG; the latter is the sole option for the Germans.
NCO - The head class of each Infantry and Logistic squad, and the intermediary between them and the Platoon Commander. NCOs have either the standard rifle or SMG for their faction, and in the case of the 1944 Germans, the Gruppenführer has exclusive use of the StG 44.
Radioman - An Infantry class meant to directly follow the Officer and allow the use of indirect fire support. The latewar kits have the Gewehr 41 for the Funker, and the M1/M1A1 Carbine for Allied units. The early war variants use standard Kar98ks and MAS-36s.
Rifleman - Bog-standard Infantry and Logistics personnel that use each faction's standard service rifle, in addition to frag and smoke grenades. Latewar Allied units have sidearms and the French Fusiliers and Recrues only use their older WWI-era rifles. Infantry also bear sandbags, while the Logistics have repair tools.
Machine Gunner - the specialized automatic rifleman Infantry kit. Depending on the faction and era, some have Light Machine Guns that offer more mobility and unsupported aiming, while the Medium Machine Guns have to be deployed on bipods to be aimed effectively but have increased ammunition counts. Sidearms, frag, and smoke grenades are included.
Marksman - Low-count Infantry kit that is issued a scoped bolt-action rifle, a pistol, grenades, and binoculars.
Medic - Generally given a standard rifle, sidearm, grenades, and a Morphine injector as its main tool to resuscitate fallen allies. Available to both Infantry and Logistics, the latter has the repair tool.
Grenadier - Infantry-exclusive kit equipped with Rifle Grenade Launchers and regular hand grenades. Available to all factions except the French; the German Schiessbecher is not available in that era as a balance measure.
Sapper - Infantry class given SMGs and pistols, and explosives for dealing with enemy vehicles and emplacements.
Anti-Tank - Generally dived into Light (LAT) and Heavy (HAT) variations. All bear rifles; the Germans use the Panzerfaust and the Panzerschreck respectively. The British only have a LAT role equipped with the PIAT; the Americans' Bazooka role is a HAT. The latewar Allies have pistol sidearms. A subvariation is also present in the early 1940 era with Fusilier antichar and Panzerabwehrschütze AT Rifle kits, as these battles predate the widespread use of handheld rocket launchers
Light Mortar - Equipped with a regular rifle, pistol, and a Light Mortar that can be used in the prone position. The class is in all Infantry Sections except the US Forces.
Combat Engineer - The principal kit of Logistics Sections for constructing emplacements. Generally has three variations - HE that uses an explosive similar to Sappers, AT carries antivehicle mines, and AP has antipersonnel mines. Issued with regular rifles, pistols, grenades, sandbags, E-tools, and repair wrenches.
Tank Commander - Head kit of Armored Sections, equipped with both a SMG and sidearm. Both this and its subordinate kit have repair tools.
Tank Crew - Armored vehicle operator, only given a sidearm and grenades, and also has the building tool.

The high degree of weapon functionality is shared from Squad. The game tracks reserve ammunition by individual magazines, fire selectors have an animation where applicable, and many long arms have sights that can be zeroed or dialed in with correspondingly accurate adjustments made to the actual rear sights. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, all weapons zero by meters (British and American systems typically used imperial yards in reality during WWII).

Pistols

Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873

Most classes for the French 21 Regiment d'Infanterie have the archaic Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873 revolver as an issued sidearm. It is referred to as the MAS Mle. 1873 in game.

Squad 44

Overview

Pistols

Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873

Enfield No. 2

M1911A1

Mauser C96

Luger P.08

SACM M1935A

Walther P38

Submachine Guns

M1928 Thompson

M1A1 Thompson

M3 Grease Gun

MAS-38

MP 40

Sten Mk V

Steyr MP34

Rifles

Berthier Mle. 1892 M16

Boys Anti-Tank Rifle

Gewehr 41(W)

Gewehr 43

Karabiner 98k

Lebel Mle. 1886 M93

Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk III*

Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk 1

Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk 1 (T)

M1 Garand

M1 Carbine

M1A1 Carbine

M1903A3 Springfield

M1903A4 Springfield

MAS-36

Panzerbüchse 39

StG 44

Machine Guns

Bren Mk III

Chauchat Mle. 1915

Chatellerault FM24/29

FG 42

Lewis Gun

M1918A2 BAR

M1919A6 Browning

MG 34

MG 42

ZB-26

Launchers

Enfield Cup Grenade Launcher

Gewehrgranatengerät

M7 Rifle Grenade Launcher

M1A1 Bazooka

M9A1 Bazooka

Panzerfaust 60

Panzerschreck

PIAT

Grenades and Explosives

F1 Grenade

Hafthohlladung Anti Tank Mine

Hawkins Grenade/Mine

M1A1 Mine

M2A1 Mine

M8 Smoke Grenade

Mills Bomb

Mle 1935 Mine

Mle 1936 Mine

Mle 1939 AP Mine

Mk. 2 Hand Grenade

Mk. 2 AP Mine

Model 24 Stielhandgranate

Model 39 Eihandgranate

Nebelhandgranate 39

No. 77 WP

No. 82 Gammon Grenade

S-Mine

Tellermine 35

Mortars

Brandt Mle 1937

Granatwerfer 34

Granatwerfer 36