Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

[Brenmusik]

Also I was shattered at the premature end of the Overlord 2 vs 2 game, even though it was only version 1.4. A 1 vs 1 version of Overlord would be awesome though.

Perhaps some of us should start a "bitter end" test group?

[Erik2]

2v1 Finland 1941 v3.1

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qq8ysm4y ... 4cssu&dl=0

Added Axis minefields outside Leningrad.
Consolidated Finnish and Soviet air units.

[Erik2]

2v2 Yugoslavia 1941 1.1

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ia9fe17r ... jetlf&dl=0

Fixed primary Axis objective.
Fixed faction owner for a few Yugo airfields (wich made them inoperable).
Consolidated Italian air into fewer, stronger units.
Reduced Italian RP income.
Increased Waffen SS RP income.
Removed German Bau-units.
Consolidated Yugoslavian air units.
German and Yugoslavian air units are now core.

[FrancoisPhilidor]

Soviet Navy Seals.

What Soviet? Those are Germans. The text says so. Can't you tell a pure-blooded Aryan lass when you see one? Unbelieavable

it was a joke

Mine was a joke too

[Brenmusik]

Which is which? Same applies to Yugoslavia.

Which one.jpg (10.99 KiB) Viewed 830 times

[stevefprice]

Also I was shattered at the premature end of the Overlord 2 vs 2 game, even though it was only version 1.4. A 1 vs 1 version of Overlord would be awesome though.

Overlord 1.3 and 1.4 were massively in favour of the Axis. Against Bren the Eastern Germans have taken over the British beaches and pushed the British into the US beach areas, only the RN keep the Germans from annihilating the invasion force. In another as the Western Germans the US have had to give up on Cherbourg and now being held up well away from St Lo.

I fear v2 will not help. The Allies need more AT and engineers. The revised RP mean the Germans can very quickly heal AA to 10HP then ship them on train to the front, thus completely negating Allied air superiority. And the train lines are great for the Germans, I load up artillery, tanks and AA get them all lined up and stop the allies in their tracks.

[Brenmusik]

Also I was shattered at the premature end of the Overlord 2 vs 2 game, even though it was only version 1.4. A 1 vs 1 version of Overlord would be awesome though.

Overlord 1.3 and 1.4 were massively in favour of the Axis. Against Bren the Eastern Germans have taken over the British beaches and pushed the British into the US beach areas, only the RN keep the Germans from annihilating the invasion force. In another as the Western Germans the US have had to give up on Cherbourg and now being held up well away from St Lo.

I fear v2 will not help. The Allies need more AT and engineers. The revised RP mean the Germans can very quickly heal AA to 10HP then ship them on train to the front, thus completely negating Allied air superiority. And the train lines are great for the Germans, I load up artillery, tanks and AA get them all lined up and stop the allies in their tracks.

Jeez, I'm fairly speechless but I can just about type. Only two thoughts for now.
Trains - armoured and otherwise. Am I the only one who has seen the gun camera footage of train busting? After the damage done to the French rail network by the Allies - even Arthur Harris had his arm twisted, to lend a hand - the only way to some of that effect in OoB would have every rail bridge destroyed at the start. If that can not be done, leave them off the map.
French tanks - no stars, add them to the turncoat 'Red Army' and give them the 14 RPs the Canadians start the game with, they have to support air and land units - forget about their naval contribution more the moment!
Shiss, I need more than a big mug of tea, after all that. It's as well there is some nice cold Polish Karpackie in the fridge
Forgive any typos, not feeling very well.

[Brenmusik]

PS. If we do not finish earlier versions, how will we know how good or bad they are?

[stevefprice]

PS. If we do not finish earlier versions, how will we know how good or bad they are?

Agreed on the trains, the Allies were able to trash the lines plus anything that move. I'd asl say more construction units for the allies or add the Kent coast with airfields.

The French tanks seem ok, I'd spend the RP on AA rather than them.

We should certainly try to get closer to and end game before another version unless we defo know it's broken.

I know I bitched about China vs Japan and non allied Chinese but in hindsight, as we continued, it sort of worked. We'll see with the latest version.

[Dmoore]

Typhoon 1941-42. You probably haven't thought about this one for a long time, but it is still interesting, except for the fact that scenario 3, Stalino is flawed. German R s do not accumulate at 50/turn and Germans run out of RP in 6-7 turns, rendering it impossible to continue.

[KarisFraMauro]

I think version 1.3 of Overlord wasn't too bad in terms of balance. The axis had hardly any AA and minimal requisition points, but on the other hand they got a crazy amount of reinforcements and if you set up defence lines intelligently (as in far from the coast and at extreme range for aircraft sorties) it would probably work out. I still have a version 1.3 game going playing as the axis and honestly can't say how things will unfold. As versions 1.4 and 2.0 both give the axis a crazy amount of AA on top of extra requisition points, it feels like overcorrecting. I do think it may be possible for the allies to still win, provided there's an edge in terms of play ability. Main thing is to under no circumstances press an advance until coastal areas are fully consolidated. By fully consolidated I mean all units disembarked, supply spots converted, naval units properly positioned to provide support, aircraft giving cover from the skies, and ESPECIALLY giving every single land unit opportunity to rest until reaching both full efficiency and full strength.

The main problem is the absence of a margin of error, especially for the U.K. Their requisition points are microscopic, with things like aircraft for the free french never being able to reach full strength. And once you start actually fighting you won't even be able to repair the primary U.K. forces. For myself I'm having a great time as the U.K. because I live for that tension. Knowing I'm up against utterly mad odds yet still pulling it off (well, until my opponent decides to leave or not do their turn, heh) is an amazing feeling, it truly encapsulates why Order of Battle is the game I play more than anything else.

Two practical and specific reccomendations. Firstly I'd give the U.K. at least four or five concealable AA due to the large number of armour they're confronted by. Additionally I'd increase their requisition points. Maybe a ten percent increase for the primary UK / British forces including aircraft, but a fifty percent increase for the minor allied factions such as Canada, free france, netherlands etc.

Long story short, currently playing as the axis is too easy to be fun, especially in versions 1.4 and 2.0, for the reasons listed above. I'm loving playing as the allies, the U.K. in particular, but unless my partner knows precisely what they're doing it'll swiftly become a disaster.

[Brenmusik]

A masterful report, I entirely agree.
So what were the changes to the Germans, between 1.4 and 2.0?
Are my hopes of seeing the end of the Luftwaffe hovering over serried ranks of flak batteries, dashed?

[KarisFraMauro]

As near as I can tell, the main difference for the Axis between versions 1.4 and 2.0 is a slight reduction in requisition points per turn. Went from around 170 ish to 100 ish, I think. Personally I think this map has more potential than any I've seen from Erik in a long time, perhaps ever. In other words could be his best and that's saying something!

I rather neglected suggestions for making life more pleasant for the U.S. side. Their airbourne units (rangers? paratroopers?) desperately need more rps. As it is they can repair two strength a turn, which is essentially nothing at all considering what they're up against. And maybe have the battleships / cruisers not leave so early or not leave at all. I mean the rationale was they need to resupply but that's surely just as true for the destroyers that don't leave. Plus last time I checked it was possible for naval units to resupply without having to return to port, there are supply ships. Umm, are they called tenders? Or maybe I'm thinking of something else. The big problem with them is how inferior their infantry are in comparison to Axis infantry. Even entrenched on favourable terrain against units with reduced efficiency often as not they're pushed back. When the situation is the reverse and they need to advance, it's suicide. I speak from personal experience on that one, heh. Special forces have that no-retaliation ability (I've put it to excellent use playing as the U.K.) but the U.S. gets so few rps they can't afford to pay for it.

[stevefprice]

Mulberries were the 'portable' ports you might be thinking of. Very useful even if a bit dodgy in a storm.

Consensus does seem to be Axis are over powered. Play right they can be excellent in the beginning but run out of steam, or in cavalry parlance, spent. Then all the Germans reserves rock up and it goes SNAFU.

[KarisFraMauro]

The U.K. starts strong and as you say go downhill from there. The bulk of Axis reinforcements, especially armour, are in the east side of the map. The U.S. is somewhat the reverse in that they get off to a horrible start but provided they aren't entirely wiped out in the first few turns I feel they can make a go of things later on. I've only had one game playing as them, in version 1.4 or 2.0, not sure which. It's still ongoing and it's a mess for sure but I'm far better off than the U.K. who are racing to evacuate in a halfway orderly fashion along the coast. I messed up advancing south too aggressively but all in all not that crazy a mistake on my part. A pity it's so unforgiving. I'm curious how things will unfold and would welcome playing again provided my partner was familiar with the map. That's the shortcoming of 2 vs 2 games, impractical to arrange players ahead of time and if the luck of the draw hands you someone inexperienced you're in trouble. To say nothing of reduced turn frequency.

Here's something. Didn't the U.S. have at least one aircraft carrier (likely a very small one of course) in the Atlantic theatre? My basis for thinking so is some old article I read about the last German submarine to be lost, if I remember correctly it gave away its position after damaging the aforementioned carrier. May have eventually sunk even, but the crew was successfully transferred to other ships prior to that. Was somewhere near Greenland however, not off the coast of Dover. But, liberties can be taken! Allied carrier-based tactical bombers have that precision targeting trait or whatever it's called as well, which would go a way towards balance.

[Erik2]

Which is which? Same applies to Yugoslavia.
Which one.jpg

The folder name is always the correct one. Sometimes I forget the scenario title in the scenario setting.

[Erik2]

I am collecting all Overlord comments. There will be an updated version...

[Brenmusik]

My list, fairly short Thursday morning .. or maybe lunch time!

[Brenmusik]

Here it is.
Overlord.
First off, nice map a very nice map. Looking at the beaches.
Sword, Juno and Gold. A problem for “Monty” in that there is barely enough space to deploy and close to none if “Hube”(Falaise Germans) goes on the offensive from the start. Long range German artillery, out reaching anything Monty has along with Panthers backed by SP a/t guns. Add to that SP artillery, duel purpose 88s and (far too many) nebelwerfers. None of that would be the problem they are, if they were not protected an unbelievable number of flak units. So much for Allied air power, roaming at will over the battlefield. The only “safe place” is on the approaches to the German front lines, train and truck busting .. anywhere flak ain't. Of course doing that is rather pointless if German RPs per turn allow replenishment.
Omaha, certainly not “Bloody” here, that sobriquet can apply to Utah, again if the Guderian - Rommel combo go into attack mode. Germans appear to crawl out of the woodwork and can swamp the Airborne units, that have few commanders and only slightly more RPs.
I'll leave the German aspects of the scenario to those who have played them more than I have.

.. and now, if it was my game. This is based on a lot of guess work, as I have balked at the scenario designer. I did open it, just the once.

Resource points, Stars and Allocation.

Seriously reduce the initial German amount, that would represent command & control issues.

Stars. Increase the Allies to three halve the number of two stars for the Germans – the rest, one star and a few none.

Allocation. Tied in with RPs. Group the “Red Army” and the French tanks into one command, with very few RPs.
The sight of a 10 strength Frenchie with a German commander – had he no shame?
Leading the charge onto Utah, around turn 50 was a little upsetting (you know who you are).
The first thing Osttruppen did was surrender, once the German officers were killed.

As I see it. The per turn allowance, is the the only thing that keeps a scenario based in reality.
Again dealing with the Allies. To be blunt, they need more. They are on the offensive. Convention has it a successful one requires a three to one advantage. Lets see what two to one does.

All the above are my very humble (probably biased) opinions and apologies for typos.

Joe 'BM' Gee

Now for a big mug of tea

[Brenmusik]

.. one more thing, or two.
Airstrips. The Americans had over twenty operating end of July/August. They caused so much dust the Germans shelled the areas. Carpiquet needs to be secured, but make it a double hanger, when the Caen area is cleared. Mean time airstrips, arriving by some kind of trigger?
Allied A/T and A/A guns, hoping for some.
Royal Engineers, some with the move and build bridge trait (if it is still available. The Bailey Bridge was "ours" We need some advantage as the junior partner.