Locarnus Addon 2025-06a, for Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps and Grand Campaign East

[faos333]

Hello there,
today after re downloading the original PzC game.
I finally found some time and decided to give it another go, in order to install this Mod.
And yes, it was a success.
Good job Locarnus

locarnus notes.JPG (114.35 KiB) Viewed 2810 times

[faos333]

First impressions on units’ changes Afrika Korps add-on

I always liked the Battlefield equipment and this mod expands on it, after play testing the first two scenarios, I definitely like the Afrika Korps add-on.

Units feel and play different and better than the original Slitherine game, adding variety and interest during play. In particular liked the variety of the many units offered, the BF 110 fighter/bomber role, the switchable mobile AA.

Question are any individual scenarios edited? in terms of AI units dispositions?

[goose_2]

First impressions on units’ changes Afrika Korps add-on

I always liked the Battlefield equipment and this mod expands on it, after play testing the first two scenarios, I definitely like the Afrika Korps add-on.

Units feel and play different and better than the original Slitherine game, adding variety and interest during play. In particular liked the variety of the many units offered, the BF 110 fighter/bomber role, the switchable mobile AA.

Question are any individual scenarios edited? in terms of AI units dispositions?

There are some modifications on a few scenarios, not much in terms of extra units or difference in their deployment. But sometimes a few more aircraft, and more ai experience than in the normal game. That does not happen until later though so it will be a whil. Be careful of enemy AT's they pop up when you least expect it and they are camo'ed.


I am chompin at the bit awaiting the 2024 update Locarnus has promised. I playtested Eben Emael this morning and am ready to try it out, but want the upgrades first and really hoping for a new SE unit available besides the standard inf and SE Bruckenpioniere.

Love this new mod and Napoleon Difficulty.

[Locarnus]

Hello there,
today after re downloading the original PzC game.
I finally found some time and decided to give it another go, in order to install this Mod.
And yes, it was a success.
Good job Locarnus

Oh, glad it worked out and you are able to test out the Addon!

Unfortunately the coming 2024-01 patch will be incompatible with ongoing campaigns.
The coming update can be installed, but it seriously messes up the movement speed of many units (since some of those information are only loaded on campaign start and not reloaded for a new scenario like most other data).

Each Grand Campaign chapter (eg 1940, 1941, 1942East) is effectively a new campaign (just loading in a saved core unit roster). But Afrika Korps counts as one continuous campaign.

If you have not played far in Afrika (first few small scenarios), I recommend a new campaign once the 2024-01 patch is out and installed.
If you already went quite a bit, I recommend just staying on 2023-12 version of the Addon, since ~90% of the changes from recent and forthcoming patches are and will be focused on the Grand Campaign balancing anyway. With some spillover to Battlefield Europe and rather small impact on Afrika Korps.

First impressions on units’ changes Afrika Korps add-on

I always liked the Battlefield equipment and this mod expands on it, after play testing the first two scenarios, I definitely like the Afrika Korps add-on.

Units feel and play different and better than the original Slitherine game, adding variety and interest during play. In particular liked the variety of the many units offered, the BF 110 fighter/bomber role, the switchable mobile AA.

Question are any individual scenarios edited? in terms of AI units dispositions?

There are some modifications on a few scenarios, not much in terms of extra units or difference in their deployment. But sometimes a few more aircraft, and more ai experience than in the normal game. That does not happen until later though so it will be a whil. Be careful of enemy AT's they pop up when you least expect it and they are camo'ed.

Yep, the first few scenarios have mainly changes to the player units (core and aux additions) as well as addon advice messages and prestige adjustments.
There are no SE units in Africa, except for a Tiger SE unit from Kasserine? until the end. And some later aux units are changed as well.
Throughout the campaign, AI unit types are adjusted for the increased number of in-between versions (ie improved shermans, some later british variants and so on).
Allied nations had to be reduced for BE nation selection (fewer distinctions for British Empire dominions) and hex tiles had to conform to BE hex tiles (forest instead of jungle, countryside instead of clear terrain due to movement file).

All AK scenarios are edited for compatibility and balancing and many have various smaller changes.

3 scenarios/clusters got major geography and deployment reworks so far:
- Caucasus scenario got an all around overhaul. Originally the area south of the Caucasus imho looked too much like open fields in Ukraine. And flying Tiger tanks across the Caucasus for an airborne invasion of Russia just felt a bit too far fetched, even for the ahistorical path. Persia before that has some smaller deployment changes.
- British India and other final ahistorical scenarios got fewer changes (mainly AI experience), but I still had to remove the Indus river from the Thar desert and put it back into the Indus river valley...
- Tunisian Bridgehead and other final historical scenarios got several AI deployment changes to make the end harder.

I am chompin at the bit awaiting the 2024 update Locarnus has promised. I playtested Eben Emael this morning and am ready to try it out, but want the upgrades first and really hoping for a new SE unit available besides the standard inf and SE Bruckenpioniere.

Love this new mod and Napoleon Difficulty.

With all the necessary testing of the new movement file, I unfortunately have very limited time for more additions and sweeping Bridge Engineer changes for this update.

As a compromise, I could give the Bridge Engineer +1 ini and +1 ground defense to directly increase usefulness.
And then reduce movement cost on river from -100 (takes all movement points) to 2 (takes exactly 2 movement points). So with the 2 base movement it does not change anything in that regard, but it now would allow a movement hero to have an effect, when moving onto normal river hexes.

For more SE selection on short notice, I could just make cavalry an SE unit. You only using it in 1940 would even be somewhat historical, since Germany actually expanded the use of cavalry during WW2.

[goose_2]

With all the necessary testing of the new movement file, I unfortunately have very limited time for more additions and sweeping Bridge Engineer changes for this update.

As a compromise, I could give the Bridge Engineer +1 ini and +1 ground defense to directly increase usefulness.
And then reduce movement cost on river from -100 (takes all movement points) to 2 (takes exactly 2 movement points). So with the 2 base movement it does not change anything in that regard, but it now would allow a movement hero to have an effect, when moving onto normal river hexes.

For more SE selection on short notice, I could just make cavalry an SE unit. You only using it in 1940 would even be somewhat historical, since Germany actually expanded the use of cavalry during WW2.

Pleas SE Cavalry and any improvements to the Bridge Engineer would be much appreciated.

Just eager to start 1940 and a new SE cavalry would be most joyous, especially since I do not have a Cavalry yet. Blessings!

[goose_2]

Ack! I was so hoping to get a chance to bust out Eben Emael today. Been chomping at the bit all day. Oh well I will need to wait until this weekend.

Blessings

[Locarnus]

Ack! I was so hoping to get a chance to bust out Eben Emael today. Been chomping at the bit all day. Oh well I will need to wait until this weekend.

Blessings

Sorry, just found an inconsistency just before I wanted to publish the update yesterday.
Not game breaking, but something i could not unsee after noticing it.
The intended changes are significant and "experimental" enough for an ongoing youtube playthrough .

Will go through the changes one more time and release the update before the coming weekend!

[tactical22]

Hi Locarnus!!! Are you planning any major changes in the Battlefield Europe map? It would be nice some new changes to play again for Christmas!!!
Cheers mate and happy new year!!

[Locarnus]

Hi Locarnus!!! Are you planning any major changes in the Battlefield Europe map? It would be nice some new changes to play again for Christmas!!!
Cheers mate and happy new year!!

There were few direct changes to the Battlefield Europe map in the last Addon updates and my focus is on the Grand Campaign for the next updates as well.

Of course many changes to the equipment file also impact the BE scenario and the coming changes to the movement file will have a serious impact on that as well.
Especially concerning movement through the mud, which is very important for the BE map (and irrelevant for Afrika Korps)!

It will probably take some time to iron out the movement changes themselves and only then I'll be able to adjust the Battlefield Europe map for them, dealing with all the side effects and so on.
There are also some things still on my longer term todo list for the Battlefield Europe map, for which I currently do not have the time either. Probably not until the Grand Campaign compatibility is a bit further along.

For Battlefield Europe, the current, rather mature 2023-12 Addon version might even be better than the more experimental, coming 2024-01 Addon version!

Best regards and happy new year to you too!

[Locarnus]

Well, the 2024-01 Addon version is now available. With major changes to the movement table!
But beware, this new 2024-01 Addon version breaks existing campaigns, which were started with any previous Addon versions!


Grand Campaign
Fortunately, each new grand campaign chapter (40, 41, 42East and so on) is functionally a new campaign, just with an imported unit roster.
So if you are already playing the grand campaign with an older Addon version, simply finish the chapter (eg GC 39) and save the core with the old Addon version (2023-12 Addon version still available in thirst post of this forum thread).
Then update your install to the new 2024-01 Addon version.
Only after completing that update, start the next grand campaign chapter (eg GC 40) and import your core unit roster from the previous chapter (eg GC 39).


Afrika Korps DLC campaign
If you are at the very beginning of an Afrika Korps DLC campaign with Addon, you might consider discarding your current playthrough and completely starting over after installing the new Addon version.
If you are further along in your AK playthrough, stay on Addon version 2023-12. The new Addon version is focused on Grand Campaign compatibility anyway, with some nice to have but not really necessary spillover to Afrika Korps.


Battlefield Europe
Battlefield Europe was balanced around the old movement stats up to Addon version 2023-12.
Until the new movement table is more mature and the Battlefield Europe scenario can be rebalanced to the new values, the older 2023-12 Addon version (download from third post in this forum thread) offers a more reliable experience.
Of course I would really appreciate feedback on BE with the new values, so if you are a BE veteran and fancy an experiment, go for BE with the new 2024-01 Addon version!




Updated GC 39 & 40 unit stats & availability spreadsheet (dropbox.com with preview): https://bit.ly/3TK3U2B
Screenshots from 2024-01 version of that spreadsheet:











2024-01 Complete "Locarnus Addon" Download: https://bit.ly/3RJJqo5

The bugfixed version of Panzer Corps 1.32 is required, see install instructions in slitherine forum.

This 2024 Addon version only works for new campaigns, it is incompatible with campaigns started with earlier Addon versions!
(But each Grand Campaign chapter like 40, 41, 42East counts as a new campaign, just with imported core unit roster. See transitioning instructions above in this post)

Savegame breaking movement table changes
- Movement stat normalized to 1 movement value = 1 tile on clear and/or desert terrain (especially wheeled units adjusted)
- Major rebalancing of movement table, especially tracked, half-tracked and wheeled units for road usage and mud & snow conditions
- Dismounted, towed movement type 4 provides no movement hero benefits in difficult terrain & muddy conditions (away from roads)

Grand Campaign DLC compatibility
- No tracked transport options for SE bonus infantry anymore
- Cavalry available as SE bonus unit from the start
- 3.7cm Pak 36 towed by captured UE and mounted on UE available from 1.6.1940 onwards as SE bonus units
- German 7.5cm Pak available later as towed SE bonus unit, captured 7.5cm Pak fills the gap until then
- Marder I available as SE bonus unit for 1943, switchable between tank and AT class, thanks to unit graphic found by Birgeria!
- Non-SE Captured Soviet 7.62cm USV arty available for purchase and upgrade in GC 1942 (in-family with 7.5cm FK 16 nA arty)

Unit Changes:
- Bridge engineers better ini and ground defense, only needs 2 movement for river (so now benefits from movement hero)
- Axis towed AT units are now in the infantry class, when switched to transport mode
- Axis lightly armored tank destroyers are now in the AT class, when switched to camo/AT mode
- Nopurchase trait removed from the above two categories, as well as cavalry in recon mode
- Panzer 38(t) E/F version gets recon move trait for 1941 already, like G version has for 1942
- Buffed german and polish 3.7cm pak and flak guns
- Pak with RSO transport available a bit later
- German half-tracks buffed
- Panzer II C less soft attack, C+ version earlier (Norway instead of France)

[faos333]

..... release the update before the coming weekend!

Hi there Locarnus,
I could not resist to start over Locarnus Afrika Korps Mod during free time in holidays.
And here I am, playing map 8, on General difficulty.
Below my comments, +/- sign symbolizes better/worse than the original Afrika Korps campaign.

Comments from play through so far:

On maps:
+ Noticed and liked the fact that are maps are to be played little different than the original Afrika Korps, due to equipment changes. For example lower fuel values for air units, result in airfields been a top priority while playing.
- Less prestige acquired. Although it does not bother me, I am reporting that currently on map 8, I am about 50% less prestige, than I was from a previous attempt with the original AK. Both played on General difficulty and following similar path for new units’ acquisitions.

On units:
+ Liked the assortment of named units being offered on first scenario.
+ The much richer historical variety of units’ types offered for buy or upgrades.
+ The unit icons – graphics are looking great. There is no comparison with the original AK, in which in some cases, units look awful.

On infantry:
+ Infantry ’42 versions

Tanks:
+ The much richer variety of armor units offered, makes the play exp more interesting.

Recon:
+ The Kradschutzen being able to switch.

AT:
+ The camouflage ability of towed Anti Tanks, which I consider a must characteristic for AT.
+ The two hexes movement of AT gun.

Artillery:
? Nebelwerfer ’41 liked two movement, however, its attack value vs inf is lower than expected
-The low ammo on Wurfrahmen, which in my opinion makes it, rather obsolete.

AA:
+ Units being able to switch to attack ground targets

Fighter:
+ The greater historical variety.

Tactical:
+ Stukas being able to shot an enemy aircraft, quite true historical.
+ BF 110 being able to switch from fighter to bomber roles.

Recon planes:
+ Like the BE mod, really liked the option to be able to buy recon types.

Level:
+ New types offered like the Condor, although not planning to buy it.

[Locarnus]

Hi there Locarnus,
I could not resist to start over Locarnus Afrika Korps Mod during free time in holidays.
And here I am, playing map 8, on General difficulty.
Below my comments, +/- sign symbolizes better/worse than the original Afrika Korps campaign.

Comments from play through so far:

On maps:
+ Noticed and liked the fact that are maps are to be played little different than the original Afrika Korps, due to equipment changes. For example lower fuel values for air units, result in airfields been a top priority while playing.
- Less prestige acquired. Although it does not bother me, I am reporting that currently on map 8, I am about 50% less prestige, than I was from a previous attempt with the original AK. Both played on General difficulty and following similar path for new units’ acquisitions.

Happy to see you continue your Addon playthrough of AK!
Thank you for your comments and feedback.

Air unit fuel values were a tricky thing to balance, between BE and AK. Especially early on I occasionally added airfields for AK scenarios, but then I learned to embrace that new restriction as a fun challenge.
Yep, prestige is limited. I was not sure if the then new house "rule of 1" would be enough of a challenge on its own and I desperately wanted to get away from the best unit types only spam of normal Panzer Corps.

[...]
Artillery:
? Nebelwerfer ’41 liked two movement, however, its attack value vs inf is lower than expected
-The low ammo on Wurfrahmen, which in my opinion makes it, rather obsolete.
[...]

Oh, yeah. The german rocket artillery rebalancing was mostly driven by Katyusha rebalancing.
I wanted to give the Katyusha more alpha strike than they had in Battlefield Europe at the time (and compared to gun arty) and then used the ammo stat to prevent them from becoming too strong overall (and compared to gun arty).
And then I tried to fit the german rocket arty into that scheme as well, maybe I went a bit too hard on some of the soft attack of the german ones.
So the 3 ammo stat was imho ok for european climates, but in Africa the "low supply" terrain trait (desert and dune hexes) is far more prevalent. That terrain trait limits resupply action to half of the max ammo (and fuel) stat, though crucially it is rounded down. Which makes 3 and 5 max ammo stats more problematic in the desert.
I can justify keeping it that way, due to rocket arty being historically supply restricted compared to gun arty and Africa not seeing much historical rocket action. But I agree that it is not ideal.
The Wurfrahmen becomes more useful when it has the improved rockets (range 2). I named that Wurfrahmen 40 with 1943 rockets as "Wurfrahmen 43", unfortunately it comes too late for the historical Afrika Korps. Though the Panzerwerfer is quite interesting as well and available for Tunisian Bridgehead (rof 12 with 15cm rockets, plus better armor).

Thank you for your comments and feedback, hope you enjoy the rest of AK!

[faos333]

More comments on Units

Question regarding Fw 190 and Bf 109 fuel capacity
I examined the equipment file and read the differences in fuel between them.
In general, in the mod all variants of Bf 109 have more fuel than Fw 190.

I can understand that the main reason is to balance the game play and make it more challenging, but reality seems quite different.

I may be wrong, but according to a quick research Focke-Wulf 190 internal fuel capacity (no extra tanks) was one of its advantages over the Bf 109. Pilots such as Hartmann loved the Bf 109 but they had to fly with one eye on the fuel gauge.
In general the Bf-109 had 106 gallons and the Fw-190A had 140 gallons, with no extra drop tanks, which means 32% advantage.

The combat radius for the early versions Bf-109 had a radius of 410 miles (about 660 kilometers). While the later models, such as the Bf 109G, had a slightly longer combat radius, approximately 500 miles (about 805 kilometers). This means that in the early versions the Fw 190 being much better in radius than equivalent BF types, of about 22% advantage.

My point is that the early versions of Fw fuel capacity could be raised a little?, so to reflect this situation. Of course this is easier said than done, since this might break other types of balances. In any case I thought to point it out.
..

Fw 190 side.JPG (38.32 KiB) Viewed 1802 times

[faos333]

Being in map 11 (Palestine) Afrika Korps,
I see now, that the mod can be played, with the one type house rule, they are so many variants of units, to choose from. Excellent job!

To improve the map Palestine an airfield should be added at 26,42, since there are no airfields in this area.
Also, the para forces in the north should use two leg artillery, instead of conventional ones and a paratrooper infantry.

Captured Churchill should be with 200 exp.

Finally, turns duration from 18 original AK -> 20, to avoid over strengthening units and rushing forward, which was a prominent feature of the original AK campaign map designers.

[Locarnus]

More comments on Units

Question regarding Fw 190 and Bf 109 fuel capacity
I examined the equipment file and read the differences in fuel between them.
In general, in the mod all variants of Bf 109 have more fuel than Fw 190.

I can understand that the main reason is to balance the game play and make it more challenging, but reality seems quite different.

[...]

Hm, it indeed looks a bit strange.
I'll have to check that, thank you for bringing it up!

Being in map 11 (Palestine) Afrika Korps,
I see now, that the mod can be played, with the one type house rule, they are so many variants of units, to choose from. Excellent job!

To improve the map Palestine an airfield should be added at 26,42, since there are no airfields in this area.
Also, the para forces in the north should use two leg artillery, instead of conventional ones and a paratrooper infantry.

Captured Churchill should be with 200 exp.

Finally, turns duration from 18 original AK -> 20, to avoid over strengthening units and rushing forward, which was a prominent feature of the original AK campaign map designers.

Thank you, the Italian unit variety was greatly increased in response to the Afrika Korps playthrough and feedback by @goose_2!

Agreed, Palestine scenario (and Suez Canal before that) could use another balancing pass.
I'll add you notes to my todo list!

Detailed work on AK could be a while though, @goose_2 is rather quickly going through GC 40 at the moment and I still would like to check on some stuff for GC 41.
Especially since NightPhoenix also does a Napoleon difficulty GC playthrough, but with deducter mod.

[laubbaum13]

Hi,
thank you very much for all your great work.
We have 3 little questions

1: the Infantry (Mot) unit don't have vehicles like Pioneers and Bridge construction units, why? We experienced this from 2.3 on.
2: also the upgrade from panzer 3 to panther doesn't work.
3: how to start the african campain, do it really start on balkan?

BR

[Locarnus]

Hi,
thank you very much for all your great work.
We have 3 little questions

1: the Infantry (Mot) unit don't have vehicles like Pioneers and Bridge construction units, why? We experienced this from 2.3 on.
2: also the upgrade from panzer 3 to panther doesn't work.
3: how to start the african campain, do it really start on balkan?

BR

Hello!
ad 1: I'm not quite sure which unit and version you mean. The Hungarian motorized infantry or the normal Wehrmacht infantry? Or the Standard infantry bonus unit for the Grand Campaign with Addon? I'm guessing with 2.3 you mean Battlefield Europe mod 2.3.

ad 2: Panzer 3 and Panther are not in the same upgrade family when playing with my "Locarnus Addon". Having those two in the same upgrade family is exclusive to Battlefield Europe without Addon. With Addon you instead have the in-family upgrade options from Panzer III to Flammpanzer III, all StuG III versions, StuH 42 and StuIG 33B.

ad 3: Afrika Korps is started from the bottom left picture on that screen with the 5 photos (see "How to start the campaigns" section in the first post of this thread). Clicking on that picture should also display "Afrika Korps" where it says "1941 - Barbarossa" in the following screenshot.




First scenario for "Afrika Korps" campaign is called "LocAK Recon in Force" when trying to save it and is set in Africa, mostly west of Tobruk.
If that is not the case and it brings you to some Balkan scenario instead, then there must be some issue with the "Locarnus Addon" installation.

The current main menu screen with the "Locarnus Addon version 2024-01" installed should look like this:

[Locarnus]

Prompted by @goose_2, I took another look at the Napoleon rules set forth by Richard Martin, with special respect to their compatibility with my Locarnus Addon.

Up for discussion, of course.

The first section A is easy to follow and gives a new experience with hard but manageable difficulty for experienced players.
The second section B on top of that makes the ruleset more complex and harder, for additional challenge.
Third section C is imho personal preference, i commented on some of them individually.
Fourth section D contains particular rules when playing with Deducter mod instead of Locarnus Addon mod.
Fifth section E lists extra rules if the player is willing to put in some manual modding work.



Napoleon Difficulty
Adjusted for Locarnus Addon compatibility, original by Richard Martin mainly for Deducter mod.
It's okay if you don’t get a DV. Battles are insane now so roll with it.

A) Common Core of Napoleon Difficulty:
1. No more than 1 of same unit version (Rule of 1, except for the standard infantry without transport, you can have mutliple of those).
2. Double Rommel: Player gets 25% prestige & AI gets 200% prestige.
3. Double Field Marshall. Player gets 25% experience.
4. "Reform units" advanced option activated.
5. No use of special campaign hero units (eg Rudel). Special campaign hero units can be sold for prestige.
6. Must accept first assigned random heroes. No save scumming perfect heroes.

B) Harder Rules for Napoleon Difficulty:
1. No overstrength allowed on any regular corps units. SE units you can over strengthen unlimited amounts.
2. No more than half of the artillery corps can be mechanized.
3. During the battles of 1939 no elite replacements are ever required.
4. During 1940 battles starting at Albert Canal: If the unit is below 1 star after regular replacement cost you must use elite replacements. If you are unable to do this, the unit must be kept in reserve until you can afford the elite replacement costs.
5. 1941 this rule applies to units below 2 stars.
6. 1942 this rule applies to units below 3 stars.
7. 1943 this rule applies to units below 3 stars.
8. 1944-45 this rule applies to units below 4 stars.
9. First time a unit is used, next deployment you do not have to use elite replacements.
10. Weather must be accepted and not reloaded.
11. AI gets bonus experience (eg 20%).

C) Optional, personal preference rules:
1. Only use German units. No capturable units can be added to the corps (Locarnus opinion: This could make the campaign easier).
2. Dice chess reduced rng. Makes the battles more predictable (Locarnus opinion: I like it, though it makes the game easier).
3. No lost units can be restored, instead of "reform units option" from rule A6 in the paragraph above (Locarnus opinion: I have grown to dislike this playstyle. It is imho a major reason for frustration and consequently save scumming).
4. Bonus insanity; Try to show off every unit type over the campaign. You can exclude one class upgrade path or one particular upgrade in each grouped military category (tanks, infantry…etc). No purchase tags items like JagdTiger and any extremely rare units you do not have to buy.
(5. Must show a Live play to earn the title of Napoleon. This does not mean literally show 6 consecutive hours of live play. Each map can be broken into as many parts as needed.)

D) Deducter mod additional rules for Napoleon difficulty (omit this section with Locarnus Addon):
1. 3 SE infantry units must be in core. One must be a SE mountaineer. One SE regular that cannot become a grenadier and one that is SE Grenadier. No reloading for SE units. You can’t sell unless the second SE matches the first. This is to make it harder to ride SE tanks to victory.
2. Must keep transports of SE units. As soon as possible, those transports need to be different from each other. One SE unit without a truck is required.
3. Non SE Infantry can’t use truck transports. (rail, sea, and air allowed).

E) Extra, optional rules requiring scenario modding:
1. Airfields can be used to transport troops in Poland. One plane for each scenario. You must activate this in the map editor.
2. Exit hexes available for each map. Which means one unit exits and another can come in. You must add this in the map editor.

[goose_2]

So glad you did this so I am going to take it piece by piece as I take one of my breaks here at work:

A) Common Core of Napoleon Difficulty:
1. No more than 1 of same unit version (Rule of 1, except for the standard infantry without transport, you can have mutliple of those).
I say this goes to 1 even standard infantry unit once you build up enough units to utlilize enough of the variety of infantry units already available.
2. Double Rommel: Player gets 25% prestige & AI gets 200% prestige.
3. Double Field Marshall. Player gets 25% experience.
(I think ai is supposed to be set at 125% which will make a huge problem as we get later in the campaigns.)
4. "Reform units" advanced option activated.
5. No use of special campaign hero units (eg Rudel). Special campaign hero units can be sold for prestige.
6. Must accept first assigned random heroes. No save scumming perfect heroes.
(This is frustrating as it takes forever for me to even get a single hero, and 2 of the first 3 have been, meh.)

B) Harder Rules for Napoleon Difficulty:
1. No overstrength allowed on any regular corps units. SE units you can over strengthen unlimited amounts.
(I do not follow this rule. I always overstrengthen my units before I upgrade, it is a tactic I have always played with, but do not overstrengthen otherwise.)
2. No more than half of the artillery corps can be mechanized.
(Most of mine are horse drawn.)
3. During the battles of 1939 no elite replacements are ever required.
4. During 1940 battles starting at Albert Canal: If the unit is below 1 star after regular replacement cost you must use elite replacements. If you are unable to do this, the unit must be kept in reserve until you can afford the elite replacement costs.
5. 1941 this rule applies to units below 2 stars.
6. 1942 this rule applies to units below 3 stars.
7. 1943 this rule applies to units below 3 stars.
8. 1944-45 this rule applies to units below 4 stars.
9. First time a unit is used, next deployment you do not have to use elite replacements.
10. Weather must be accepted and not reloaded.
11. AI gets bonus experience (eg 20%).

C) Optional, personal preference rules:
1. Only use German units. No capturable units can be added to the corps (Locarnus opinion: This could make the campaign easier).
I use the Polish artillery, and Locarnus has convinced me to keep my extra units, for now. I may use the Somua in Stonne, or may just keep it back, I have not made a decision, yet.
2. Dice chess reduced rng. Makes the battles more predictable (Locarnus opinion: I like it, though it makes the game easier).
I will never use Dice Chess. I hate it. It removes the randomness that is found in war. Sometimes you can create all of the best plans in the world only to have it all come crashing down around you. This makes the game and each playthrough fun to play. To play it any other way would take away the fun for me, so no go on this ever.

3. No lost units can be restored, instead of "reform units option" from rule A6 in the paragraph above (Locarnus opinion: I have grown to dislike this playstyle. It is imho a major reason for frustration and consequently save scumming).
I am not sure I understand this rule. You mean you cannot give replacements while playing a scenario? If that is the case I have already broke this rule that I did not even know existed.)
4. Bonus insanity; Try to show off every unit type over the campaign. You can exclude one class upgrade path or one particular upgrade in each grouped military category (tanks, infantry…etc). No purchase tags items like JagdTiger and any extremely rare units you do not have to buy.
This sounds nice, but with such huge limits on kills and prestige itself I do not see how I can afford to play with this. Plus Locarnus's mod has an insane amount of units. I plan on showcasing about everyone he requests to be seen, but do not see how I can do all.
(5. Must show a Live play to earn the title of Napoleon. This does not mean literally show 6 consecutive hours of live play. Each map can be broken into as many parts as needed.)
Already do this. 3 for Albert Canal, but I will try to limit to 3 per most maps.

D) Deducter mod additional rules for Napoleon difficulty (omit this section with Locarnus Addon):
1. 3 SE infantry units must be in core. One must be a SE mountaineer. One SE regular that cannot become a grenadier and one that is SE Grenadier. No reloading for SE units. You can’t sell unless the second SE matches the first. This is to make it harder to ride SE tanks to victory.
All my SE Units will be some form of inferior equipment which will make my playthrough significantly harder than Night Phoenix's.
2. Must keep transports of SE units. As soon as possible, those transports need to be different from each other. One SE unit without a truck is required.
SE Bruckenpioniere is only unit with a truck available, and SE Pak has it as the option that makes it an inf.

3. Non SE Infantry can’t use truck transports. (rail, sea, and air allowed).

E) Extra, optional rules requiring scenario modding:
1. Airfields can be used to transport troops in Poland. One plane for each scenario. You must activate this in the map editor.
2. Exit hexes available for each map. Which means one unit exits and another can come in. You must add this in the map editor.
I do not know how to do this in editor, so leaving maps as set up.

Thanks again Locarnus for this super fun mod that I am looking forward to utilizing the Italians in 1941, and thanks Richard for coming up with this complex and challenging new difficulty.

Blessings,.

[laubbaum13]

Hi,
thank you very much for all your great work.
We have 3 little questions

1: the Infantry (Mot) unit don't have vehicles like Pioneers and Bridge construction units, why? We experienced this from 2.3 on.
2: also the upgrade from panzer 3 to panther doesn't work.
3: how to start the african campain, do it really start on balkan?

BR

Hello!
ad 1: I'm not quite sure which unit and version you mean. The Hungarian motorized infantry or the normal Wehrmacht infantry? Or the Standard infantry bonus unit for the Grand Campaign with Addon? I'm guessing with 2.3 you mean Battlefield Europe mod 2.3.

ad 2: Panzer 3 and Panther are not in the same upgrade family when playing with my "Locarnus Addon". Having those two in the same upgrade family is exclusive to Battlefield Europe without Addon. With Addon you instead have the in-family upgrade options from Panzer III to Flammpanzer III, all StuG III versions, StuH 42 and StuIG 33B.

ad 3: Afrika Korps is started from the bottom left picture on that screen with the 5 photos (see "How to start the campaigns" section in the first post of this thread). Clicking on that picture should also display "Afrika Korps" where it says "1941 - Barbarossa" in the following screenshot.




First scenario for "Afrika Korps" campaign is called "LocAK Recon in Force" when trying to save it and is set in Africa, mostly west of Tobruk.
If that is not the case and it brings you to some Balkan scenario instead, then there must be some issue with the "Locarnus Addon" installation.

The current main menu screen with the "Locarnus Addon version 2024-01" installed should look like this:

Hi,
thank you for your answer, 2 and 3 are now clear
ad 1: I mean this units have no vehicle but historical they have vehicles which is indicated with (mot) I think:
"5. Inf. (mot) SE Infantrie" or "3. Inf. (mot) Schützen" and all similar units indicated with (mot).
With Battlefield Europe mod 2.3 it works and with Battlefield Europe mod 2.4 it dosn't work. Like Pioneers or Bridge Units which automatically have vehicles.