Northern Fronts comes with features not available in the vanilla game.
Some of these are divided into two categories: passive features and active features.
In addition to these there are some editor module driven features as well.

Passive means they are a automatically applied feature of an asset that is out of your control. Such as the backblast of a launcher.

Active means it's a feature that requires input from the player to activate or use.

Tank threads change according to the terrain season. They are either normal or snowy if it's a winter terrain.

Launcher back blast is dangerous.

If you stand too close and too directly behind the launcher tube when it is fired you will die.
If you're lucky and happen to be outside the “kill zone” you will be knocked out and damaged.

You can shield yourself by positioning yourself so that there is a solid object object between you and the blast. But make sure your head is not peeking over the object or it will get mangled.. You may still get knocked out if the cover isn't enough to fully protect you.
Elevation protects you only if there is ground between you and the blast, or if you're in high enough position to be above the “damage/kill zone.”

If the launcher is fired inside a solid structure it becomes more lethal, the smaller the room the more lethal it is. If you fire a launcher inside a too small of a room you will damage yourself, small enough room and you will die. Same goes for anyone occupying the same room.
This is of course simplified so it doesn't take into account possible open windows or anything, the room volume.




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Disposable launchers, such as the Panzerfaust, are single fire only so they can not be reloaded.
This is simulated with the mods launchers.

This feature is sort of passive and active at the same time, depends on which setting you choose to use.
The settings can be found in the Mod Settings

• Auto

  The single use launcher is disposed automatically after it has been fired. Default setting.

• Manual

  You have to drop the launcher manually via the action menu

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While this term is not really WW2 it's kinda the easiest way to name this.

This means partial magazine reload, especially nice on bolt action rifles.
So instead of always reloading a full clip regardless you will insert just the required amount of ammo to fill the magazine, or just one if you're in a hurry.

This happens automatically when you press the reload key (by default R) and your rifle magazine is not completely empty.
The ammo insertion can be disrupted while it's going on either by pressing the firing key/button or “aiming down the sights” key.


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There are a lot of active features.
Some of them can be toggled in the mod settings, toggling includes either on/off toggles or toggling between different types the said feature is to be used.

While passive features deal with things like small details or authenticity aspects of some asset active features are more about game-play enhancements and experiences.

A system that handles the “bolting” action of a bolt action rifle.

Can be toggled between off, manual and auto in the mod settings.
These are named maybe a bit misleading.

• Off

  Means that there is no manual bolting, the soldier will cycle the action automatically after you've fired a shot

• Manual

  Means that in order to cycle the action you need to release and re-press the firing button

• Button Release

  Means that that after firing the action won't be cycled until you release the firing button

Molotov Cocktail was developed as a incendiary Anti-Tank weapon developed early on during the Winter War.
With bravery and a careful aim it is an effective weapon against enemy tanks.

Tanks are vulnerable for a molotov on two positions, the engine grill on top of the rear of the hull and if the tank has a large vent going directly into the engine compartment that is another one.
Otherwise hitting the tank with it does nothing to it, anyone riding on it might get burned alive.

Not all tanks are vulnerable to the molotov, if neither of the above mentioned openings exist then the molotov does nothing to it.

Also, even if you hit at that “kill hit” position it's not guaranteed it will kill the tank.

Same goes for other vehicles, cars/half-tracks are made vulnerable on the engine area as well, the kill hit is at the radiator grill. Not realistic perhaps but more of a game-play feature.
And of course back of a truck is a dangerous place to be sitting in when molotov is thrown there..

For the AI, it is impossible to instruct it to target and hit these specific positions on the model so whenever an AI hits a tank with one there is a random chance that it scores a “kill hit”.

“Blinding Bottle” in english. The smoke grenade version of the molotov.

Has pretty much the same properties as the molotov does but in addition provides a thick smoke screen like a smoke grenade would.

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Pockets filled with partially depleted magazines?

With this you can sit down to repack your magazines. And not only that, you can also repack your empty magazines full again if you're carrying a magazine/magazines or an ammo pack/ammo packs with same caliber ammo as the ones fitting into your magazines.

So, you will for example re-fill your Mosin clips if you're carrying a maxim ammo box.

All this is automatic so you can not choose what to cross/re-pack from where.

Cross pack only works if the caliber can be derived from the ammo class name. So ammo from from vanilla or other mods may or may not work.
Also the type of cartridge is obviously not taken into account so for example rimmed and non-rimmed are treated the same.

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Static weapon magazines can be reloaded from ammo boxes that are placed near the weapon and/or the one(s) in the gunners inventory.

Reloading happens in form of a hold action.
You select the action you want, press and hold space bar until action is finished and the weapon has new magazine in it.
Empty magazine is discarded, partially depleted magazine is re-usable.

The action shows where you will be reloading from so you have some control over it.

This applies also for ammo boxes placed in the editor, or by Zeus.
Both in the editor and in Zeus interface you will see blue arrows going to and fro from the box to the nearest static weapon(s) that can access the ammo box.

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Portable crew served weapon systems work in similar fashion as in other mods/vanilla game, as in you need to have all weapon parts available to assemble one.

But we have designed this a bit differently:

• Assembly/disassembly happens via a hold action
• Two weapon parts, one soldier
  Weapon parts can be carried by one soldier instead of needing two. The parts are available for the launcher slot and as a backpack.
  In this case the soldier also has access to the assemble action without having to drop one part on the ground first.
• Because of this when you disassemble a weapon you can select in which form to pick up the resulting weapon parts: launcher or backpack.

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The Maxim heavy machinegun can be used without it's tripod/base.
You can carry the gun part as you would carry any weapon and deploy it on a surface the vanilla game weapon deploy system allows for, and then use it as a “improvised static weapon”.
For you to be able to fire the weapon you also have to have a ammo box for it in your inventory.

You obviously can not go Ramboing around hip-firing a Maxim. The weapon is unusable unless you deploy it.

You can of course assemble it on the ground if either you carry the tripod/base part as well or one is laying on the ground.

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There are some weapons that are special: the Norwegian Krag bolt action rifle and the Soviet Fedorov Avtomat.
Both feature reloading characteristics that differ from the other weapons.

The weapon has rather peculiar type of magazine: it basically has a metal pocket on the side you open up and drop 5 rounds into.
It also features a magazine cut-off which turns the weapon into single shot rifle where cycling the action doesn't feed a new round into the breech from the magazine but instead you have to insert a new round manually.

Both are simulated in the Krag type rifles available in the mod.
These weapons do not support the tactical reload feature yet.


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In real life Avtomat featured a detachable magazine but due to really bad manufacturing tolerances it was basically impossible to find another magazine that would fit into the weapon so instead it was reloaded using strips like with the Mosin for example.

This is also simulated in the Avtomat available in the mod:

• Using regular magazine reload (default key R) reloads the magazine to full 25 round capacity with 5 round clips.
  This can be interrupted by pressing the firing key/button or the “aim down sights” key/button.
• Using ALT + R (or whatever your reload key/button is) reloads a single 5 round clip

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