The basic capture mechanic in Battleground Europe has remained unchanged since 2001. While there have been additions and changes to rules surrounding captures such as timers and orders, the basic "table humping" action is the same since the game began. That will change with the 1.31 update currently in Beta testing.

Beginning with v1.31, the action which will trigger a capture event is the presence of enemy infantry inside a capturable building. This method of triggering the event eliminates the need to make physical contact with a capture object such as the crate/radio found in v1.30 but there are no changes to the rules which govern when a building is capturable. Radios will continue to exist in the game world as cultural objects, not capture objects.

A new HUD element has been added to the game which will provide more information about your location and status of any facility.

Within the new element there are icons which represent your location in the world;

1. Terrain: this icon indicates you are not in proximity of a CP
2. Flag: this icon indicates you are in proximity of a CP
3. Building: this icon indicates you are inside a building

Also displayed is information associated with different icons;

• Terrain
  • "No Towns Near" message
• Flag
  • Name of CP
  • Ownership status display bar (indicates what percentage of the CP is owned by your side versus the enemy)
• Building
  • Name of facility associated with the building you are in
  • Ownership (ownership progress bar indicates the percentage towards ownership of the facility)
  • Capture status (eg: "capturable", "not capturable", "enemy capturing" messages)

The colors of the ownership/capture bar are the same as your friendly and enemy icon colors as modified on your Settings tab. The default is blue for friendly and red for enemy.

New HUD element displays "terrain" icon. Note the re-location of your LAT/LONG to this new element.

The "flag" icon indicating you are nearby a CP. The bar in this example tells you that the CP is 100% owned by your side.

This example indicates that ownership of Givet is now split between you and the enemy forces.

The HUD element indicates you are inside a building by displaying the "building" icon. It also indicates the status of the building with the message and status bar.

The HUD is now displaying the capture status of the Givet-Beauraing Depot. It indicates that a capture by the enemy is underway with the red bar and that the capture is progressing based on the direction of the arrow. To stop the capture, you must enure there are no enemy infantry in this building.

Liberation of the Givet Armybase is underway. Note the direction of the arrow.

Example Scenario #1

You are inside a capturable building owned by your own forces. The new HUD element will indicate you are inside a building with the building icon. The ownership of the facility associated with the building will be indicated by seeing the bar filled completely with green. The capture status will indicate that the building is capturable as dictated by the game's rules.

An enemy infantry enters the building. Immediately, the ownership progress bar begins to fill with red. This indicates to you that the enemy has begun a capture of this building. The meter will increase the amount of red and decrease the amount of green as the capture continues. If the meter fills completely with red, a capture by the enemy is complete.

To stop the capture before it is complete, no enemy infantry can be alive in the building. Once all enemy infantry have been killed or forced out of the building, a reversal of the meter's capture progress begins until completely filled with green again.

Example Scenario #2

You enter an enemy capturable building. Your new HUD element indicates that your presence has begun a capture event by filling the red ownership progress bar with green. You take up a defensive position inside the building as the capture progresses. During the capture process, an enemy infantry shoots and kills you. The capture progress made during your time inside the building begins to degrade. A friendly infantry enters the building, and the capture event continues from the current capture progress. It does not start again from the beginning. If the capture event was 50% complete when you were killed but was degraded to 40% between the time you were killed and a friendly entered the building, the capture event would progress from the 40% point.

Capture progress is degraded when there are no capturing infantry present in the building. The rate at which the capture degrades in approximately twice as fast as the rate of capture but this may be modified in testing.

This new mechanic means that to ensure a capture continues without interruption, you must keep at least one friendly alive in the building. As a defender, clearing out and keep building clear of enemies will ensure the capture progress is degraded as soon as possible.

At this time, the number of infantry present will not act as a modifier to the capture or degrade rate. This is something that we may move towards in the future.

This feature is going to require significant play testing and possible adjustments before it is ready for campaign play. We ask for your feedback and questions.

Front view of new AB capture building. The white flag is a state displayed in offline mode.

Back view of new AB capture building.

Rear view of the new large, rural capture facility. This replaces the old bunker with the camo netting.

Front view of new rural capture facility. Note the guardhouse style entrance.

Courtyard and out-buildings of the new facility. Note the actual capture building in the background with the white flag.

Rear/side view of new castle.

Front view of castle and entrance.

Courtyard of new castle with capture building in the middle.

New capturable small train station.

Rear view of new train station.

Rear view of new airfield bunker.

Front view of new airfield bunker.

New large train station.

Capture areas include front hallways/foyers and the two hallways on the sides.

New large train station.

Front view of new AB capture building. The white flag is a state displayed in offline mode.

Back view of new AB capture building.

Rear view of the new large, rural capture facility. This replaces the old bunker with the camo netting.

Front view of new rural capture facility. Note the guardhouse style entrance.

Courtyard and out-buildings of the new facility. Note the actual capture building in the background with the white flag.

Rear/side view of new castle.

Front view of castle and entrance.

Courtyard of new castle with capture building in the middle.

New capturable small train station.

Rear view of new train station.

Rear view of new airfield bunker.

Front view of new airfield bunker.

New large train station.

Capture areas include front hallways/foyers and the two hallways on the sides.

New large train station.

Capture FAQ

Q. Are there any changes to the capture rules?
A. No, the only adjustments that are being made with the new capture feature are the timers for how long a capture takes and how quickly it degrades when a capture event is interrupted.

Q. In the current capture mechanics, you aren't able to fire your weapon during a capture. Any change?
A. Yes. During a capture event you can fire your weapons as you can any other time.

Q. Will radio tables have any function?
A. The tables were replaced with a radio/crate object in 1.30. These will no longer be used for capture. Radios will continue to be placed in the world as cultural objects.

Q. Is the mini-map still going to display our LAT/LONG?
A. No, there are some changes coming to the mini-map. LAT/LONG is now displayed on the new HUD element as seen in the preview screenshots.

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