Locarnus Addon 2025-08a, for Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps and Grand Campaign East

[Locarnus]

Made the upgrade, and Somua is not in the Panzer 3 upgrade family

While Somua should not be purchasable itself, it should cost the reduced prestige amount (price difference only) to upgrade FROM the Somua to a Panzer III chassis based unit?

edit: Nope, you are right, found the error, damn it.


Potential discussion about the experience boni:

In unmodded Panzer Corps, the units receive boni based on their class.
Eg for tank class, per experience level:
0.5 ini, 1 soft attack, 1 hard attack, 1 ground defense, 0 close defense
for AT class, per experience level:
0.5 ini, 0 soft attack, 2 hard attack, 1 ground defense, 0 soft defense

Imho this significantly unbalances the units, the more experience they get.
An AT unit does much better against an infantry at 0 experience for both units, than if the exact same units had 5 stars of experience.
The unit stats itself lose importance when the units gain experience, while the sometimes arbitrary class distinction becomes much more important.
Thus for the Addon, all units get the same experience boni, regardless of class. Except for the fighters, those still get +2 air attack, but only 0.5 soft and hard attack per level. Simply because I did not manage to find the time yet to rebalance them.

[goose_2]

In my opinion, the different classes need differentiators. That is why you use the different classes. So if the tanks gain bonuses at the same rate as AT's I do not see an advantage between using the different classes.

I think it makes sense to have the AT's gain less in soft attack than in hard attack. That is why the stars of exp are important. AT's were not primarily used against soft units.

Just my two cents.

[Locarnus]

In my opinion, the different classes need differentiators. That is why you use the different classes. So if the tanks gain bonuses at the same rate as AT's I do not see an advantage between using the different classes.

I think it makes sense to have the AT's gain less in soft attack than in hard attack. That is why the stars of exp are important. AT's were not primarily used against soft units.

Just my two cents.

AT gets a 3 initiative bonus, when defending against recon or tank class
Inf gets a 2 defense bonus, both when attacking and defending against AT class

Additionally, the units can be balanced to have different stats, when in different classes.
Eg in the Addon, a Marder tank destroyer has 1 lower initiative, only 1 movement (with different move type) and camo trait, when switched to AT class (compared to its stats in tank class).
And even when the Marder tank destroyer is in tank class, its stats are differently balanced compared to eg a "normal" tank with rotating turret.
So in the Addon, the base unit is already somewhat balanced for its role (not great, but imho good enough within game engine limitations).


Unbalanced stat boni due to experience levels are imho one of the main reasons why the gameplay changes so much in the later years of the war. Every combat just becomes more deadly, because attack experience boni are higher than defense boni. And heroes add on top of that.
It is imho also one of the main issues PzC 2 has. Stacking boni combined with the overrun mechanic results in very unbalanced gameplay. An early war "combined" arms tactical dilemma usually devolves into 2-3 "main character" uber units with a bit of a "support cast" and lots of "filler units" towards the mid and late game.

[Locarnus]

I think that I have a new option for your planned switcheroo between 3.7cm Pak with spotting hero and SdKfz 232 with movement hero. (In response to the chat of this playthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBqktuB ... UP&index=8)

I'll reactivate the UE(f) with mounted 3.7cm Pak as a purchasable core unit for GC and AK (currently only BE, and a bonus SE unit in Grand Campaign).
This "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" is in the "pak" upgrade family, same as the towed "3.7cm Pak" (regardless of transport).
The "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" can be switched from camo AT mode to normal tank mode (same as Panzerjäger I).

Then I'll add a new unit, simply called "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" in the tank class, which is in the same upgrade family as the "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" from above.
That "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" can then be switched to recon class ("Renault UE(f) (>Pz)"), like those Panzer II recon variants at the moment.
Up until this point, you would thus only pay the price differences to transition the original "3.7cm Pak with spotting hero" to the recon class.

Then you would only have to pay full price once, to upgrade from "Renault UE(f) (>Pz)" to SdKfz 232.
And then you would have to do it the other way around to make your SdKfz 232 with movement hero into a 3.7cm Pak.

Total prestige cost for the switcheroo would be roughly ~420 prestige.
And it would be available from the next Addon update onwards (in case I do not make some typo, like with the Somua).

[...]
4) In thinking about the West Campaign I really think it is silly for me to sell the Super Heroes once I transfer to that way. I really need to discuss this with Richard, because I can see not needing to finish the East Path but the necessity to finish the West path. (With that in mind, the 2 Panzer Grenadiers special units are the same transport at Anzio, could you make them 2 different transports.) (Same for the 2 Conscripts and 2 T-34/H's in Bayone) Same for the 2 Fw-190A's and 2 7.5cm PaK's in Dieppe. Same for 2 Gotha Go-229 fighters in Liege.
I know this is a lot, but you have some time and gives me some serious surprise factor to see what you come up with.

In addition to what I wrote in an earlier reply to this point, I'm now firmly of the opinion that I do not want Super Heroes to be necessary for GC West with Addon.

Wild thoughts on rebalancing GC West for the Addon (where the player can also purchase Italian units directly since GC 41):
How about letting the players take their whole core force with them, instead of cutting them off after the 9? units deployed in the first scenario of GC 42-43 West?
And then in turn changing all those scenario given German 0 experience core units into aux units?

While I liked GC West for being different, I never liked that I essentially would have had to train up a totally different core from 39 to 41 for it to be optimal.
While GC East relied on a large number of trained core units (sharing kills and experience among all the core), the preparation for GC West profited from giving all the kills and experience to the 9 super hero units only.

There would still be some excess of core units, since the last GC West scenario has fewer core slots than the final GC East scenario. But it would be much closer and thus less wasteful to diverge from a single GC 39 to 41 run.

[goose_2]

I think that I have a new option for your planned switcheroo between 3.7cm Pak with spotting hero and SdKfz 232 with movement hero. (In response to the chat of this playthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBqktuB ... UP&index=8)

I'll reactivate the UE(f) with mounted 3.7cm Pak as a purchasable core unit for GC and AK (currently only BE, and a bonus SE unit in Grand Campaign).
This "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" is in the "pak" upgrade family, same as the towed "3.7cm Pak" (regardless of transport).
The "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" can be switched from camo AT mode to normal tank mode (same as Panzerjäger I).

Then I'll add a new unit, simply called "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" in the tank class, which is in the same upgrade family as the "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" from above.
That "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" can then be switched to recon class ("Renault UE(f) (>Pz)"), like those Panzer II recon variants at the moment.
Up until this point, you would thus only pay the price differences to transition the original "3.7cm Pak with spotting hero" to the recon class.

Then you would only have to pay full price once, to upgrade from "Renault UE(f) (>Pz)" to SdKfz 232.
And then you would have to do it the other way around to make your SdKfz 232 with movement hero into a 3.7cm Pak.

Total prestige cost for the switcheroo would be roughly ~420 prestige.
And it would be available from the next Addon update onwards (in case I do not make some typo, like with the Somua).

So this will be something I will be able to do at the deployment phase? What mode will the at need to be in? The recon will have to be in what mode? The only mode it has available is the recon, so I am not sure how it can in one mode transfer into another mode, we might need to discuss this in the Sunday broadcast. I have fallen behind in my posts as been busy and not able to upload at normal pace.

Blessings,

[Locarnus]

I think that I have a new option for your planned switcheroo between 3.7cm Pak with spotting hero and SdKfz 232 with movement hero. (In response to the chat of this playthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBqktuB ... UP&index=8)

I'll reactivate the UE(f) with mounted 3.7cm Pak as a purchasable core unit for GC and AK (currently only BE, and a bonus SE unit in Grand Campaign).
This "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" is in the "pak" upgrade family, same as the towed "3.7cm Pak" (regardless of transport).
The "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" can be switched from camo AT mode to normal tank mode (same as Panzerjäger I).

Then I'll add a new unit, simply called "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" in the tank class, which is in the same upgrade family as the "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)" from above.
That "Renault UE(f) (>Aufkl)" can then be switched to recon class ("Renault UE(f) (>Pz)"), like those Panzer II recon variants at the moment.
Up until this point, you would thus only pay the price differences to transition the original "3.7cm Pak with spotting hero" to the recon class.

Then you would only have to pay full price once, to upgrade from "Renault UE(f) (>Pz)" to SdKfz 232.
And then you would have to do it the other way around to make your SdKfz 232 with movement hero into a 3.7cm Pak.

Total prestige cost for the switcheroo would be roughly ~420 prestige.
And it would be available from the next Addon update onwards (in case I do not make some typo, like with the Somua).

So this will be something I will be able to do at the deployment phase? What mode will the at need to be in? The recon will have to be in what mode? The only mode it has available is the recon, so I am not sure how it can in one mode transfer into another mode, we might need to discuss this in the Sunday broadcast. I have fallen behind in my posts as been busy and not able to upload at normal pace.

Blessings,

Since Panzer Corps engine does not allow unit switching in the deployment phase, this unfortunately would have to take place over several scenarios. With each of the two intermediate steps needing to be deployed for a scenario in order to be switched to the right class for the next step, before the scenario ends.

"3.7cm towed Pak" would need to start out in AT mode, so it can do the first upgrade in the AT class (to the then available "3.7cm Pak on UE(f)").
"SdKfz 232" would need to start out in its normal recon mode, so it can do the first upgrade in the recon class (to the new unit type "Renault UE(f) (>Pz)").


I'm also trying to create an easier to follow cross class upgrade path (though at a higher prestige cost), but I'm not sure the Panzer Corps engine can handle that.

[goose_2]

So is there no way to do it in one step, or no matter what it will take a 2 scenario deployment in order to take effect?

If I wait until the later 1942 switch would that be able to be deployed in a single scenario deployment?

I am sorry this is making it so complicated. It is crazy that a hero can radically change the desire for it to be in a different class more than in the class that earned it.

Ugh!

[Locarnus]

So is there no way to do it in one step, or no matter what it will take a 2 scenario deployment in order to take effect?

If I wait until the later 1942 switch would that be able to be deployed in a single scenario deployment?

I am sorry this is making it so complicated. It is crazy that a hero can radically change the desire for it to be in a different class more than in the class that earned it.

Ugh!

I guess the 1942 switcheroo path would take one step less, but only in one direction.
So instead of 3 steps in each direction it would be 3 steps in one direction and 2 steps in the other direction...

Thats just the issue with PzC hero mechanics and class upgrade restrictions.
I can only build workarounds for that, but there is no elegant solution within the PzC engine.

The 3.7cm Pak and the SdKfz 232 simply do not have an easy crossover.
At least they don't, if I do not find some example of an early Pak mounted on a SdKfz 23x (the first one that comes to mind would be only in 1943 or so...).

[Barsbay]

Hello, I wanted to try your mod, it looks really cool. Just installed it, but I am getting black map screen and game freeze, when I start a campaign.

* BE 2.4 works perfectly
* I added locarnus add-on using GME
* Main game menu as well as campaign menu working normally
* I can load a save from BE 2.4 and it loads the game without a problem and I can play
* The issue is when I start a new campaign.. any of them.. I get the UI of the game with a black map and the game freezes, so none of the UI buttoms work, and I have to alt-tab/ctrl-alt-del out of the game.

Any idea how to resolve this?
Thanks.

[Locarnus]

edit: corrected link to step-by-step modding preparation guide

Hello, I wanted to try your mod, it looks really cool. Just installed it, but I am getting black map screen and game freeze, when I start a campaign.

* BE 2.4 works perfectly
* I added locarnus add-on using GME
* Main game menu as well as campaign menu working normally
* I can load a save from BE 2.4 and it loads the game without a problem and I can play
* The issue is when I start a new campaign.. any of them.. I get the UI of the game with a black map and the game freezes, so none of the UI buttoms work, and I have to alt-tab/ctrl-alt-del out of the game.

Any idea how to resolve this?
Thanks.

Hello, thanks for the interest in the mod.

Unfortunately there is some preparation required to get everything to work properly.
The first post of this thread has a 5 step Addon specific install instructions guide.
In the first of those 5 steps, a separate, detailed step-by-step modding preparation guide is linked: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewto ... 7&t=106604
edit: corrected link

1) One issue could be, that Locarnus Addon requires the bug fixed v1.32 Panzer Corps patch (follow modding preparation guide linked above), while BE 2.4 only requires v1.31 of Panzer Corps.
2) Another issue could be the language setting (step 5 of 5 from Addon specific install instructions guide in first post).

If those two options fail, the two guides are really detailed, and most of it has to be done only once (and then the preparation guide works for every other mod as well).



Core composition discussion for the great Grand Campaign playthrough by goose_2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVHmr6I ... P&index=10


@goose_2:
You definitely want a second Fw 190.
The Soviets will catch up to your Bf 109s (those were better at higher altitude), and your two Fw 190s will need to hold the line against the increasing numbers of Soviet aircraft. Though your two great Bf 109 with heroes and fighter bomber support will be useful and necessary as well.

I also looked at this older Braccada playthrough at Zhitomir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fARsFX2 ... 8&index=30
He stayed pretty much west of the Teteriv river until crossing only for those two objectives east of the river.
Probably key not to overreach and try to go for too much fancy stuff (surrenders! )


goose_2 core composition at the start of Zhitomir (GC 41, scenario 6),
with expected future captured units (SU-122) and purchases (2nd Fw 190):

45 projected Ground units (currently 40)

8 projected non-hero bonus SE units, 6 assumed to be infantry (currently 4)
BridgeEngineer (a3, Brodrick)
Cavalry (d1 PatrickLee)
Panzerjäger 35R tank destroyer (m1 Makorin)
Italian Inf (Dimitri)
+ 4 projected non-hero bonus-SE additions in the future

6 normal Infantry (+6 projected bonus SE infantry, see above)
Pioniere (m1 Soljaism)
Grenadiere (d2 RichardMartin)
Jäger/Gebirgsjäger (d2 Artemis)
Fallschirmjäger (i1 NathanielPullig)
Kradschützen (a1 PeteMitchell)
Alpini/Bersaglieri (Kostia)

1 Towed AT (plus the 1 bonus SE towed AT gun)
3.7cm Pak (s1 DanielS) => planned switcheroo with Gigiduru to SdKfz 232

2 Recon
SdKfz 222 (d2 Goose)
SdKfz 232 (m1 Gigiduru) => planned switcheroo with DanielS to towed AT

12 Tanks (plus the 1 bonus SE tank destroyer)
Panzerjäger I (m1 GooseBoy)
Flammpanzer II (i1 Blast) => likely upgrade to recon Panzer II version
Panzer 38(t) E/F (recon move) (m1 PanzerVorwärts)
Panzer III J (DoktorG, formerly StuG III)
Panzer IV (s1 Soren)
Panzer IV (s1 Rimski)
Somua (RayCaster) => likely near future upgrade within Panzer III upgrade family
Char B (Pierre)
Matilda (Singer)
Italian M 13/40 (RightSide)
T-34/40 (7Bowls)
KV-1B (new from previous Smolensk scenario)

3 Mobile Arty
Bison I (d1 Festival)
StuG III (a2 NightPhoenix, formerly Panzer III)
+ SU-122 (expected capture in 1942)

8 Towed Arty
7.5cm GebG (Temis)
10.5cm leG (Dneos, formerly 7.5cm leFH and 7.5cm leG)
10.5cm captured Polish arty (MichalGolaszewski)
10.5cm leFH (Raunosavolainen)
10.5cm sK 18 (Raducu)
15cm sFH (ForestLaw)
21cm Mrs (m1 Kei)
15cm Nebelwerfer (Dracho)

5 Anti-Air
Flakpanzer I (Locarnus)
SdKfz 10/4 (Sabaton)
SdKfz 7/1 (MalcolmRichardson)
8.8cm Flak (m1 JemHadarr)
Italian 75mm Flak (Locutus)


15 projected Airforce (currently 12)

8 dedicated Fighters
Bf 109 (d3 CouchOffiziell)
Bf 109 (d3 VonThüringen)
Re.200x (Noxus)
MC.20x (BlackVulture)
Fw 190 (newly purchased for Zhitomir)
+ Fw 190 (expected purchase in one of the coming GC 41 scenarios)
+ 2x bonus-SE hero fighters expected in 1945

3 Fighter bomber
Bf 110 (d1 FighterAce)
Bf 110 (AratoBela)
Ju 88 C-2 (i1 Slender1870)

1 dedicated Tac bomber
Ju 87 B-2 (a1 cmmbfan-Uhu)

1 Tac/Strat bomber
Ju 88 A (AmericanIdiot)

2 dedicated Strat bomber
Do 217 E-1 (Richard)
He 111 H-6 (RMA 901)

[Barsbay]

Thank you.. followed detailed installation instructions, it is working now.

[goose_2]

Thanks so much for the breakdown of my core priorities. It is very detailed and helps me get an overall picture.

so 60 units will be what I need for final battle in Germany and in Invasion of Britain?

I have changed a few names for some units in Zhitomir to honor some of my newest subscribers.

321 as of today, which blows me away how they continue to tic up like this.

I spent much of yesterday tweaking with the start of Zhitmoir after our discussion yesterday, thanks again by the by, I always enjoy that discussion stuff. It helps us both so much and feel others would enjoy it if they could jump on too.

I have a pretty consistent start to the battle and should be ready to record sometime this week so I can showcase on Sunday.

They key is the rng on that 1st day. So much random crap that can throw a real monkey into the works on that first day.

Most of it is recoverable but there are 2 must kill units to make the whole thing pay off, but I am hoping for 4.

We shall see.

Thanks again for the great game and the fun exciting units I am working with. 2 new fighters on top of the 2 Italian ones I am already working to develop was a tough pill to swallow, but think I can make it happen. The key for the start to Zhitomir was for me to add 2 os on JemHadarr. I know it
ind of goes against the parameters of Napoleon Difficulty, but with the nerfing that the AA takes in the BE Mod and the overall difficulty RNG can give me it makes sense to me to operate with a 12 strength 8.8 gun that has some real potential kick.

Amazingly, I still sometimes get a 1 or 2 shot hit with the gun in Sunny weather. Sheesh!
Hopefully not for the liveplay though as I have seen it do 5 damage too. I need to take out the 15 strength fighter to pull off the first day along with the T-34/40 near it.

Those are the 2 must have deaths.

Blessings,
Dave aka the goosemank

[Locarnus]

Thank you.. followed detailed installation instructions, it is working now.

You are very welcome!

[...]
so 60 units will be what I need for final battle in Germany and in Invasion of Britain?

Berlin Redux has 50 core slots (non bonus-SE units).
End on the Elbe has 38 core slots,
Sealion 45 has 42 core slots.

So the projected unit list from my previous post should work out for Berlin Redux.
45 projected ground units - 8 projected bonus-SE ground units = 37 projected normal core ground units
15 projected air units - 2 projected bonus-SE air units = 13 projected normal core air units
=> 37 + 13 = 50 projected non bonus-SE core units

I still don't know about GC West rebalancing.
While I really try to avoid it, I'm not ruling out adjusting the number of core slots in order to compensate for the lack of super heroes.

[...]
I spent much of yesterday tweaking with the start of Zhitmoir after our discussion yesterday, thanks again by the by, I always enjoy that discussion stuff. It helps us both so much and feel others would enjoy it if they could jump on too.

I have a pretty consistent start to the battle and should be ready to record sometime this week so I can showcase on Sunday.

Yep, I really like the chat!
And agreed, it would be great if more people would participate in the discussion, whether chat or comments!
I guess the whole PzC community has dwindled too much. The AAR sub forum is basically deserted as well.

[...]
Thanks again for the great game and the fun exciting units I am working with. 2 new fighters on top of the 2 Italian ones I am already working to develop was a tough pill to swallow, but think I can make it happen. The key for the start to Zhitomir was for me to add 2 os on JemHadarr. I know it
ind of goes against the parameters of Napoleon Difficulty, but with the nerfing that the AA takes in the BE Mod and the overall difficulty RNG can give me it makes sense to me to operate with a 12 strength 8.8 gun that has some real potential kick.
[...]

Yeah, BE compatible balancing for AA guns makes the air war much more difficult.
I also nerfed the ground attack of the 8.8cm a bit in the 2024-06 patch (along with all the big guns, including Soviet 122mm).

Oh and about the 8.8cm Flak, did you upgrade it to the 36 mount? Compared to the 18 one, it has a shield for some added defense value.
Perhaps also worth doing an aircraft upgrade check.
Eg Ju-88 C-4 instead of C-2 and revisiting your Bf 110 lineup.
Only Bf 109 E-7 with d3 hero is probably more useful than F-2 at the moment (because of higher attack value).
Otherwise those cheap unit version upgrades are the most efficient way to save on expensive reinforcements due to damage taken.

The overstrength ban may be worth a revision.
With all the small damage points you take due to the "rule of one", plus prestige being so hard to come by and needed to even sustain the experience level itself, overstrength is really costly now.
Might be costly enough to not even need the outright ban for balancing?

[goose_2]

So Happy!!!!

I got to record an awesome start to the battle. Despite first day RNG nonsense, I still pulled off some great kills and 2 awesome heroes. I will be splitting the playthrough into 6 day recordings with trying to maximize as many kills as I can get as I need more kills and more heroes.

The experience gaining is steady, but so hard as there are so many that still have 1 or even no stars of exp. I am hoping to have no units with less than 2 stars into Vyazma. I know that is a high order but Vyazma is going to require my best units I believe to pull it off. But maybe I am doubting my overall skill.

Looking forward to showing you what happened on Sunday.

[Locarnus]

So Happy!!!!

I got to record an awesome start to the battle. Despite first day RNG nonsense, I still pulled off some great kills and 2 awesome heroes. I will be splitting the playthrough into 6 day recordings with trying to maximize as many kills as I can get as I need more kills and more heroes.

Great! Looking forward to it.
No need to overoptimize kills and experience gain though, imho rolling with the punches makes it more interesting (and perhaps more reprensentative for Napoleon difficulty and Addon balancing ).

The experience gaining is steady, but so hard as there are so many that still have 1 or even no stars of exp. I am hoping to have no units with less than 2 stars into Vyazma. I know that is a high order but Vyazma is going to require my best units I believe to pull it off. But maybe I am doubting my overall skill.

Looking forward to showing you what happened on Sunday.

I just checked the Soren playthrough. At the start of his 6th scenario of 41 he only had 42 non bonus-SE units, while you already have 48 (including the new Fw 190)!
So you have been training up significantly more core units already, despite far fewer experience and kill gain opportunities (no enemy unit spam, no Manstein) and the 25% instead of 50% experience gain difficulty settings.
I think you are doing really well against those odds!

Speaking about experience gain, it might be better to focus training on only one Fw 190 for a few scenarios.
So that you will soon have one experienced Fw 190 for Vyazma, and also have a bit more prestige reserved for tactical emergencies.
Eg when you really need some expensive reinforcements within a difficult scenario, or when you decide to mechanize more of your core units to deal with the mud (horses and trucks are really underwhelming in those circumstances).
And then only buy the second Fw 190 after the A-2 version becomes available (Streets of Moscow), while leaving your then experienced first Fw 190 as the A-1 model (until the A-3 is available). So you can deploy both Fw 190 if you need them.


Oh, and make sure to have your DanielS 3.7cm Pak in AT mode at the end of Zhitomir and make a save there.
So that you can update your game with the 2024-07 Addon patch coming in the next few days, before you start Zhurivka.
This gives you just enough time (2 intermediate scenarios) to pull off the full switcheroo for the start of Vyazma.
Thus you could have Gigiduru with his movement hero as a 5cm Pak and SdKfz 10 halftrack transport for Vyazma.

Looking forward to the battle and discussion!

[goose_2]

So Happy!!!!

I got to record an awesome start to the battle. Despite first day RNG nonsense, I still pulled off some great kills and 2 awesome heroes. I will be splitting the playthrough into 6 day recordings with trying to maximize as many kills as I can get as I need more kills and more heroes.

Great! Looking forward to it.
No need to overoptimize kills and experience gain though, imho rolling with the punches makes it more interesting (and perhaps more reprensentative for Napoleon difficulty and Addon balancing ).

The experience gaining is steady, but so hard as there are so many that still have 1 or even no stars of exp. I am hoping to have no units with less than 2 stars into Vyazma. I know that is a high order but Vyazma is going to require my best units I believe to pull it off. But maybe I am doubting my overall skill.

Looking forward to showing you what happened on Sunday.

I just checked the Soren playthrough. At the start of his 6th scenario of 41 he only had 42 non bonus-SE units, while you already have 48 (including the new Fw 190)!
So you have been training up significantly more core units already, despite far fewer experience and kill gain opportunities (no enemy unit spam, no Manstein) and the 25% instead of 50% experience gain difficulty settings.
I think you are doing really well against those odds!

Speaking about experience gain, it might be better to focus training on only one Fw 190 for a few scenarios.
So that you will soon have one experienced Fw 190 for Vyazma, and also have a bit more prestige reserved for tactical emergencies.
Eg when you really need some expensive reinforcements within a difficult scenario, or when you decide to mechanize more of your core units to deal with the mud (horses and trucks are really underwhelming in those circumstances).
And then only buy the second Fw 190 after the A-2 version becomes available (Streets of Moscow), while leaving your then experienced first Fw 190 as the A-1 model (until the A-3 is available). So you can deploy both Fw 190 if you need them.


Oh, and make sure to have your DanielS 3.7cm Pak in AT mode at the end of Zhitomir and make a save there.
So that you can update your game with the 2024-07 Addon patch coming in the next few days, before you start Zhurivka.
This gives you just enough time (2 intermediate scenarios) to pull off the full switcheroo for the start of Vyazma.
Thus you could have Gigiduru with his movement hero as a 5cm Pak and SdKfz 10 halftrack transport for Vyazma.

Looking forward to the battle and discussion!

I got permission to work from home this Friday. Do you want me to do the first broadcast tomorrow, or stick to Sunday?

[Locarnus]

I got permission to work from home this Friday. Do you want me to do the first broadcast tomorrow, or stick to Sunday?

Friday/tomorrow would be great!

I revisited some videos about Vyazma after you mentioned it.
That might become a particular test for this playthrough, with regards to Addon enhanced rain/mud issues combined with Napoleon difficulty. Each challenge on its own would be quite possible (with ok rng), but I did not test them together!
I also forgot that a decisive victory is necessary at Vyazma to get the option for "Streets of Moscow", which raises the stakes.

I'm trying to think of a potential core for Vyazma with at least some bad weather turns in mind, and whether that challenge might warrant special training for that specific core (in the two coming Kiev scenarios). The Fw 190 remarks from the previous post went in that direction, but it occured to me that this will be even more relevant for ground forces (especially those suited for a time critical battle in bad weather).

[Locarnus]

The new Kübelwagen unit can switch between ALL classes of ground units.
This provides an upgrade path to reassign units with troublesome heroes to classes where those heroes will be less wasteful.
Eg you could upgrade your arty with spotting hero to a Kübelwagen (while in arty class), then during the next scenario switch your deployed Kübelwagen to recon class, and then at the next opportunity upgrade it to a recon unit of your choice.
The Kübelwagen can only fire when attacked and counts as a soft unit (though with some decent ground defense stat).

Like the whole Addon mod, this was created with self-restraint and house rules in mind.
Specifically for the Grand Campaign youtube playthrough of goose_2, where the super hero units like Oleh Dir and Uber Rudel are not allowed anyway. Exploit usage is a deliberate choice for experienced players, especially for singleplayer. Use your own judgement.

There were also some more unit ID switcheroos to make the grand campaign more viable.
Eg all the grand campaign Pe-8 (less than a 100 built) will now be Tu-2 (far more numerous despite being absent without the change).

The changes to the movement table will only affect new campaigns (game engine limitation), while unit changes (including movement points for a specific unit) will affect the next scenario.
Each Grand Campaign "chapter" counts as such a new campaign.

The experience gaining is steady, but so hard as there are so many that still have 1 or even no stars of exp. I am hoping to have no units with less than 2 stars into Vyazma. I know that is a high order but Vyazma is going to require my best units I believe to pull it off. But maybe I am doubting my overall skill.

First steps to complete the "3.7 Pak 36 with spotting hero" and "SdKfz 232 with movement hero" switcheroo until Vyazma:
At Zhurivka deployment:
M-1) Upgrade "SdKfz 232 with movement hero" to "Renault UE(f) r9" (it is probably at the end of the unit list due to being new). That should cost 108 prestige.
S-1) Upgrade "3.7 Pak 36 with spotting hero" to "3.7 Pak 36 in UE" (which is the integrated self-propelled version, NOT "3.7 Pak 36 /UE", which is the towed version). That should be for free, since same upgrade family and the latter one is not more expensive.

After both units take part of Zhurivka scenario battle, at the END of Zhurivka scenario:
M-2) "Renault UE(f) r9 with movement hero" has to be switched to tank class.
S-2) "3.7 Pak 36 in UE with spotting hero" has to be switched to tank class.

The real switcheroo will then happen in the tank class, during the deployment phase of the following Zolotonosha scenario. Where both of them are upgraded to "trade places".



2024-07 Complete "Locarnus Addon" Download: https://bit.ly/3xNFlJC

The bugfixed version of Panzer Corps 1.32 is required, see install instructions in "Locarnus Addon" forum thread

Do not install this patch during an ongoing older Battlefield Europe campaign (Poland to BE scenario).
(Only ongoing BE campaigns started with version 2024-06 can be upgraded to 2024-07)

Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps, GC & original PzC campaign compatibility
- Original PzC Wehrmacht campaign basic compatibility established until end of 1943
- Tsimlyansk Reservoir between Stalingrad and Rostov removed, thank you Finz
- GC Somua now really in the Panzer III upgrade family (fixed typo, thank you goose_2)
- Some GC bonus SE units availability extended to end of war (eg captured towed 4.7cm Pak)

Unit Changes:
- Kübelwagen introduced, as a switchable cross class upgrade path for ground units
- Movement table adjustments, mainly regarding frozen, mud for wheel & all terrain
- US Fighter ID switcheroo based on availability dates (like for Soviets in 2024-03)
- Soviet Bomber ID switcheroo based on availability dates (eg Tu-2 instead of Pe-8 in GC)
- Renault UE(f) tankette available as a crossover between tank and recon class
- 3.7cm Pak on UE(f) unit type reactivated (can switch between tank and AT class)
- German Pak & transports rebalanced, pak towing Sd10 & 11 movement buffed
- Opel Blitz buffed move, RSO from Sd10 to Sd11 transport category
- German T-34/40 one less initiative, SdKfz 233 nerfed considerably
- Italian 75/46 AA back down to range 2
- Some buffs to several earlier Fw 190 versions, as well as Bf 109 G-6 and G-6+
- Some stat changes to later Soviet Yak fighters (eg Yak-3 and Yak-9s)
- KV-85 captured upgrade version available months earlier
- SdKfz 250 recon vehicles rebalanced, now in "mobile" upgrade family
- Hs 129 unit ID switcheroo, new in-between version and rebalancing (rof, fuel, etc)

[goose_2]

Hey Buddy

I checked and the 3.7 cm ue does not have the capability to switch to the tank class.

Please check this and tell me if something is wrong.

Blessings

[Locarnus]

Hey Buddy

I checked and the 3.7 cm ue does not have the capability to switch to the tank class.

Please check this and tell me if something is wrong.

Blessings

I guess you looked at the "3.7 Pak 36 /UE" (the AT gun towed by a UE),
instead of the "3.7 Pak 36 in UE" (the AT gun integrated with UE chassis - making it a self-propelled AT gun).

I just checked again, and the "3.7 Pak 36 in UE" can definitely switch to tank class with Addon version 2024-07.