Battlefield: Europe MOD v2.5.1

[Locarnus]

Railway changes

When I first created the map of this mod back in early 2014 I did not really pay a lot of attention to the actual layout of the railway lines: in most cases I just connected the cities with railways, wherever it seemed rational. But in reality, planners are not always rational. So for every new release of the mod I made corrections by using WW2-era railway maps as reference, and over time it has become more and more precise.

But, for example, who would have thought that there was (is?) no direct railway connection between Odessa and Nikolayev? Even though these cities are quite close to each other with both having a significant sea port on the northern coast of the Black Sea? But it looks like that was exactly the case: if somebody wanted to travel by railway between these two cities, he had to deviate far to the north, almost all the way to Kremenchuk (purple lines show existing railways in 1941):

railway1.jpg

So yes, this release again comes with some more revision of the railway system, mainly in the east, including the above, but for the first time it also adds railway lines to North Africa and the Middle East.

In fact, there were a lot more railway lines in reality than what is depicted in the mod, but I think the more important ones are now there, with many of the "missing" and half-finished connections also corrected, as in the above mentioned example.

What's more important is for the first time this release comes with several railway lines which are being completed during the scenario. These are of course being completed automatically, no player interaction is needed.

In some cases it was hard to find out the exact date of completion since some of the maps show them being there, while on other, post-war maps some of these are still missing or being shown as under construction. So it required some more research, but that's where fun is.

Ah, that explains the railways in some areas.
I always thought that it was more of a map scale compromise, or eg funneling trains around the Pripyat marches for the partisans mechanic to have more of an impact.

With Uman (in Ukraine) even today being only at the end of a rail stub (direct road from Kiev to Odessa, but railways have to use a kind of diamond shaped detour either east or west):
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/

This wikipedia article as a great map, showing when each rail section was completed. Unfortunately only for Ukraine and surrounding area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_tran ... n_Ukraine
According to that, the railway going North from Odessa got a branch to Nikolaev in 1944 (still quite a detour).

I did not know that Crimea also only had a railway connection from the North-East until the North-West connection in 1944!
But it makes sense, railways were mainly for freight, industry and military in the Soviet Union of that time.

[McGuba]

New or modified units, part 4.


A few Luftwaffe infantry units will appear in turn 31. Later these will be reorganized as standard infantry units.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe_Field_Divisions

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A single ME 323 Gigant heavy air transport unit becomes available for use in turn 31. It may be useful to transfer units to Tunisia, even if the Allied navy manage to set up a blockade, or to evacuate encircled units, or perhaps even to support Sealion.

The use of a home rule is strongly recommended though (same as with the existing Ju 52 air transports): it should not be used to transfer units farther than 24 hexes from the nearest Axis owned airfield or drop paratroopers farther than 12-13 hexes from the nearest Axis airfield (since air transport units sadly do not consume fuel in the game).

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Garrison type (static) infantry units now have a standardized icon: it helps to differentiate them from "normal" infantry units at a glance so that the player knows that these units cannot move.

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[PeteMitchell]

Also, when playing through the pre-scenarios, do people prefer to come out with:

1. 3 tanks and 2 fighters OR
2. 2 tanks and 3 fighters OR
3. any other compositions?

I have always gone with option 1 as you are given 3 tanks in the earlier scenarios, so it feels a waste to disband 1 of them. Note that i always disband the Junker and get an extra fighter after Poland.

But thinking about how punishing the air war will be in this upcoming version i would probably go with 3 fighters, 2 tanks.

plus convert every bomber possible

[Uhu]

If you can conquer England relative early (I think it is possible mid 1943 at the earliest), there will be less problem.

[Uhu]

If I will play some time from the start, I would this time also probably change the core to 3 panzers, 2 fighters (I always used the original setup as intended).
If there would be enough prestige than even go for 3 Pz IV - while the are a little weaker in 1940-0941 than the Pz III's, with the long barelled upgrade it would be a significant plus in 1942-1943. I just don't know if there is enough prestige for it as I always played until now with less prestige. But maybe next time I will play without save + Field Marshall or something similar and then it would be some interesting new choice.

Also, when playing through the pre-scenarios, do people prefer to come out with:

1. 3 tanks and 2 fighters OR
2. 2 tanks and 3 fighters OR
3. any other compositions?

I have always gone with option 1 as you are given 3 tanks in the earlier scenarios, so it feels a waste to disband 1 of them. Note that i always disband the Junker and get an extra fighter after Poland.

But thinking about how punishing the air war will be in this upcoming version i would probably go with 3 fighters, 2 tanks.

[JimmyC]

Also, when playing through the pre-scenarios, do people prefer to come out with:

1. 3 tanks and 2 fighters OR
2. 2 tanks and 3 fighters OR
3. any other compositions?

I have always gone with option 1 as you are given 3 tanks in the earlier scenarios, so it feels a waste to disband 1 of them. Note that i always disband the Junker and get an extra fighter after Poland.

But thinking about how punishing the air war will be in this upcoming version i would probably go with 3 fighters, 2 tanks.

plus convert every bomber possible

Yes, i recommend to convert at least 3 bombers. Also, the game gifts you bombers at various points throughout the war, so i find i am rarely short of strat bombers unless i have been reckless with them. However, i would recommend not to convert the Heinkels, as when upgraded (around mid-'43) they are by far the best strat bomber. Also, a small hack, but when you convert damaged bombers to fighters, they seem to come back at full strength (i think) so there is no need to repair them before converting.

[JimmyC]

In my last playthrough of v2.4 which i am now in turn 95, I went a very heavy AA defence of the Reich (particularly for the D-Day landings). But even with multiple layers of AA, the allied air still causes much grief to my troops as they just suppress the AA and then bomb everything around it. The enemy air is often overstrength too, so i wonder that by nerfing the AA it will make it mostly useless? Even my 2 star 11 strength 3.7cm flak usually takes just 1 strength off enemy strat bombers in clear weather in current v2.4. So v2.5 will make defending France a nightmare (maybe this is true to history).

I think it is just fair that AA alone is not enough to stop the Allied air offensive in 1944. German AA guns were just not effective enough, in my opinion mainly because only using timed fuzes until the last few months (weeks?) of the war: these only exploded when the shell reached a certain pre-set altitude and thus often just went through the frame or wing of a heavy bomber without exploding. Even adding a relatively simple impact fuze would have increased their effectiveness in those cases, but for some reason they did not do so, despite having the technology. The US and the British even used proximity fuzes from 1944 (the shell exploded if it was close to an aircraft), which vastly increased their effectiveness against the Japanese kamikaze bombers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze

We know that historically the Germans produced and fielded large amounts of AA guns with plenty of ammunition but it was not enough on its own and the fighters of the Luftwaffe were largely defeated in the first half of that year. The Mustangs and Thunderbolts outclassed the then best German fighters in much of 1944. Only the later versions of the Bf 109 and Fw 190 could fight these on more or less equal terms, but these appeared too late. So yes, there is (was) indeed a crisis in the first half of 1944. However, if the Soviets are largely or completely defeated by that time than all the AA and fighter units can be transferred to the west to deal with it. Or, if not, some land has to be traded in to gain time, until the better German fighter planes become available.

In my latest playthrough i placed several minefields to help with the defence of France. I noticed that the AI somewhat stupidly preferences attacking the minefields rather than my units (often attacking them with tanks and things that will only do 1 damage and take 1 damage in return). Especially if you place an artillery behind the minefield, you can really slow up the AI and get some very positive trades. Its a bit of a hack, but i recommend it if you are struggling with the Allied landings. It even diverts the Allied air as they also seem to preference attacking the minefields.

[JimmyC]

Just finished my 2nd recent playthrough of v2.4. This time my goal was to try and capture all major objective cities other than the UK. I came pretty close, but failed to capture Abadan and its oilfields. Probably another 3 turns and i would have gotten it.
Some highlights:

• I went for the oilfields and left Moscow/Leningrad mostly alone (although i seiged Leningrad)

• I struggled in North Africa/Middle East - I had too many units (without decent artillery) trying to break through El Alamein, which basically stalemated me until i could get panthers. In Tunisia i underestimated the enemy forces and almost lost it. Although i managed (just) to hold on and finally push them back and retake North Africa, i lost a lot of units totally destroyed in doing so

• I didnt capture all Russian strategic objectives until around turn 90, so it made defending against the Allied invasion of France more challenging

• The Allied landings in France were held back at the line Loire River->Paris->Seine River, with the enemy confined to that area. I had multiple layers of AA, but still got mercilessly attacked by enemy air. My fighters/bomber destroyers held back over Germany and would wipe out most enemy planes over Germany, but I didnt dare to bring them into the battle over France as the Allies had just too many fighters

[Uhu]

How could you get the mines transferred and deployed to the need places?
Once I tried this method but the air superiority of the Allies made it impossible to transfer them without heavy losses.

In my latest playthrough i placed several minefields to help with the defence of France. I noticed that the AI somewhat stupidly preferences attacking the minefields rather than my units (often attacking them with tanks and things that will only do 1 damage and take 1 damage in return). Especially if you place an artillery behind the minefield, you can really slow up the AI and get some very positive trades. Its a bit of a hack, but i recommend it if you are struggling with the Allied landings. It even diverts the Allied air as they also seem to preference attacking the minefields.

[PeteMitchell]

How could you get the mines transferred and deployed to the need places?
Once I tried this method but the air superiority of the Allies made it impossible to transfer them without heavy losses.

In my latest playthrough i placed several minefields to help with the defence of France. I noticed that the AI somewhat stupidly preferences attacking the minefields rather than my units (often attacking them with tanks and things that will only do 1 damage and take 1 damage in return). Especially if you place an artillery behind the minefield, you can really slow up the AI and get some very positive trades. Its a bit of a hack, but i recommend it if you are struggling with the Allied landings. It even diverts the Allied air as they also seem to preference attacking the minefields.

I tried this once on the Normandy save by putting a fighter on top of the truck and AA behind

[JimmyC]

There wasnt so much air activity over Le Mans/Paris around that time for me. As i recall, when minefields became available to purchase there was heavy air activity over where i wanted to move them, so i purchased them, but kept them back in the German cities until there was no air where i wanted to move them. Then i moved them and hoped the air wouldnt come back the next turn. 1 of my minefield units was spotted and bombed and reduced to 4 strength. But i moved it out of spotting range and then next turn reinforced it and then could lay down the mines. I also had an AA next to the city where the minefield unit disembarked, which helps protect them in case they are unlucky to be spotted (make sure you clear partisans as they appear in this area around that time).

Here was my original defensive line in France with my 3 minefields. You can see each minefield has both an artillery and AA protecting it. As I was quite slow to defeat Russia, these helped immensely to slow the enemy (they act like magnets to enemy armour and aircraft). The AI is very dumb in this regard. You just have to be careful of the enemy engineers, but otherwise they form a fantastic defense.

[PeteMitchell]

Or you can put them left and right of Paris but behind the river

[Uhu]

That's a pretty solid defense line!
I think I never bought mines as I earlier only played on Rommel where (at this late stage of war) every prestige point is needed elsewhere.

Here was my original defensive line in France with my 3 minefields. You can see each minefield has both an artillery and AA protecting it. As I was quite slow to defeat Russia, these helped immensely to slow the enemy (they act like magnets to enemy armour and aircraft). The AI is very dumb in this regard. You just have to be careful of the enemy engineers, but otherwise they form a fantastic defense.

[Uhu]

How 'gamey' do you think is to let the enemy units on the mercy of 1 strength point and use them as shields, or place users?
Earlier I did not use this tactics but this time I feel forced to do it in a few occasions.

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[caesar67]

I haven't played 2.4 for a while but now I can't wait for 2.5! My question, because I can't remember: Do the German SE-units have a different colour or camouflage on the map to recognize them better?

[Uhu]

Yes, the SE units have by default camouflaged clothes. (Later in 1944 all German inf units can have camouflaged outfit.)

I haven't played 2.4 for a while but now I can't wait for 2.5! My question, because I can't remember: Do the German SE-units have a different colour or camouflage on the map to recognize them better?

[caesar67]

Yes, the SE units have by default camouflaged clothes. (Later in 1944 all German inf units can have camouflaged outfit.)

I haven't played 2.4 for a while but now I can't wait for 2.5! My question, because I can't remember: Do the German SE-units have a different colour or camouflage on the map to recognize them better?

Oh, thanks! And do the SE-tanks have too camouflage design?

[Uhu]

Yes, but as I know only Allied SE armored units are present.

Yes, the SE units have by default camouflaged clothes. (Later in 1944 all German inf units can have camouflaged outfit.)

I haven't played 2.4 for a while but now I can't wait for 2.5! My question, because I can't remember: Do the German SE-units have a different colour or camouflage on the map to recognize them better?

Oh, thanks! And do the SE-tanks have too camouflage design?

[JimmyC]

That's a pretty solid defense line!
I think I never bought mines as I earlier only played on Rommel where (at this late stage of war) every prestige point is needed elsewhere.

Here was my original defensive line in France with my 3 minefields. You can see each minefield has both an artillery and AA protecting it. As I was quite slow to defeat Russia, these helped immensely to slow the enemy (they act like magnets to enemy armour and aircraft). The AI is very dumb in this regard. You just have to be careful of the enemy engineers, but otherwise they form a fantastic defense.

I always play General, so prestige is more available. Given the actions of the AI, I would think its probably still worth to buy a couple of minefields though even if you are playing on Rommel. The AI just cant resist attacking it with its armour and air and generally prioritizes attacking it over your other units!

[PeteMitchell]

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