PzC Series - Ashes of Empire v1.0 / Das Reich demo (08/05/26)

[srb644]

Finished Charlemagne. Good fun. Thank you. Trying to play Ashes of Empire. Can't remember how to update Equipment file. Can you please direct me (again) to the instructions on this. Thanks.

[nikivdd]

Finished Charlemagne. Good fun. Thank you. Trying to play Ashes of Empire. Can't remember how to update Equipment file. Can you please direct me (again) to the instructions on this. Thanks.

viewtopic.php?p=1061409#p1061409

[nikivdd]

Chett, bro Nico, you’ve gone a bit overboard with the Greek hordes and the air force, backed up by artillery ))) I reckon the Greek hordes need to be scaled back a bit. As usual, I’ve attached some screenshots and replays to back up my point!

Not unimportant: in this scenario, I had two fighters, two bombers, and two AA units. I used the same tactics as in the Battle of Bzura in GC 1939. When not scripted, AI units always move toward the closest victory hex; you can really drive the AI crazy by occasionally recapturing a victory hex.

Что немаловажно: в этом сценарии у меня было два истребителя, два бомбардировщика и две зенитные установки. Я использовал ту же тактику, что и в битве на Бзуре в GC 1939. Когда поведение ИИ не заскриптовано, его юниты всегда движутся к ближайшему победному гексу; можно здорово свести ИИ с ума, время от времени отбивая победный гекс обратно.

[srb644]

Finished Charlemagne. Good fun. Thank you. Trying to play Ashes of Empire. Can't remember how to update Equipment file. Can you please direct me (again) to the instructions on this. Thanks.

viewtopic.php?p=1061409#p1061409

Thank you. That worked. I bookmarked it so I don't need to bother you again and again. Appreciate the fine work keeping PzC alive and fun.

[imp44791]

Upfront disclaimer. The following are not complaints, just suggestions. Please don't think I am lecturing here.

I got to Turn 10 of Gates of Moscow. This really doesn't feel "right" for a Moscow scenario. Perhaps I am unlucky with the rolls, but there have only been two snow turns and 7 sunshine ones. There are also at least 3 VVS fighters and possibly 4 bombers, so we're back to numerous. And I am literally at the gates on what corresponds to Nov 23, so 10 days earlier that were the Wehrmacht was stopped IRL miles behind these lines.

My suggestions for what they're worth. Basically it's what I would do if I weren't lazy and ignorant and made my own mods. Which I can't, because I am both ignorant and too lazy to learn.

a. Make the turn limit irrelevant. Put it to 30 if needed. This was a "final" battle as far as both sides were concerned, so the time limit has little meaning as an abstraction. Unless you want to imply that "if the Germans haven't taken Moscow by 5 December, then the Soviet reserves on the flanks have arrived and it makes the attack pointless after that point". The problem I have with this is twofold (1) I always disliked this Pz Corps scenario device "You won, but someone else off map collapsed, so back you go". OK, it's necessary for say, the Italians at Sidi Barrani, and I would have still liked to have hordes of British troops convince me of that rather than be told by the scenario briefing. But for the Soviet front it feels a little of a cop out. This is the ultimate war to the death. Let it be fought on the map. (2) The map scale is so large it almost contains the areas where the RL counterattack developed. So it's better to simply script it. If the German wins before Dec 5, then he's saved having to fend off the Siberians. If he goes slow, then deal with the actual attack.

b. Reduce the VVS. Actually don't add more German planes, the LW was getting attrited by then. But the VVS had been hammered in the 41 campaign. Where are all those Il-2s and fighters coming from? This is a winter scenario anyway, airforces should have a reduced impact.

c. Get more snow. Or all snow, if it's not possible to fine tune the variation. 100% chance. I don't know what is possible under the PzC engine but RNGs being so terrible, might as well get the weather out of the equation. Make it like those "100% overcast" Normandy and Bulge scenarios in the vanilla DLC West. 100% snow. This is the 41 winter we're talking about after all.

d. Absolutely add tons, and tons, of more Soviet ground troops defending. Pretty much every entrenchment hex should be populated, and not just with obstacles like barbed wire and dragon's teeth. These are obnoxious to the attacker, but I'd rather have people who can shoot back instead. Where is the Soviet cavalry, of which there were loads in these winter campaigns? OK, Belov was in Kashira at that time, but his was not the only cavalry unit. There should be more Soviet AT rifle units (if your armoury has them), the Soviets totally loved those in the early war. And I don't think I saw a single KV-1 or T-34 in the first 10 rounds. I won a KV as capturable, but haven't seen one. There should be obnoxious light tanks playing the mosquito rolw - I think the T60 was around by then, but even BTs and T26s would do. The Germans should have to swim through honey to get to Moscow, not rush to the gates in 10 turns.

e. If you haven't already, have the Damocles sword of Siberian T34s and ski troops scripted to appear on the flanks on Dec 5 hanging over the player's head. Convince us to hurry this way.

Again apologies for sounding too demanding. Well, I AM demanding, but that's because we're talking about the best modder here. We've been spoilt all these years

[bondjamesbond]

Chett, bro Nico, you’ve gone a bit overboard with the Greek hordes and the air force, backed up by artillery ))) I reckon the Greek hordes need to be scaled back a bit. As usual, I’ve attached some screenshots and replays to back up my point!

Not unimportant: in this scenario, I had two fighters, two bombers, and two AA units. I used the same tactics as in the Battle of Bzura in GC 1939. When not scripted, AI units always move toward the closest victory hex; you can really drive the AI crazy by occasionally recapturing a victory hex.

Что немаловажно: в этом сценарии у меня было два истребителя, два бомбардировщика и две зенитные установки. Я использовал ту же тактику, что и в битве на Бзуре в GC 1939. Когда поведение ИИ не заскриптовано, его юниты всегда движутся к ближайшему победному гексу; можно здорово свести ИИ с ума, время от времени отбивая победный гекс обратно.

That’s exactly what I do: as soon as I capture a point, I retreat straight away. It actually gives me a bit of extra prestige when I recapture it, which I use if my troops are wounded ) But where do you get the money to buy planes? ))) I don’t know what difficulty level other players are on, but at Colonel level, the Greek cavalry attacks with a reinforced force of 12 units. I’m constantly short of prestige and troops to plug the gaps in my defences against these endless hordes! But we’ll keep looking for tactics and strategies to win on this map too.

[nikivdd]

@Bond Thanks for the information, i make some changes.
I was too generous with AI prestige so i reduced that, the 12 strength cavalry is overkill, some new player auxiliaries.
If you feel like it and you want to replay the scenario, the updated files are here underneath.
.

The_Sakarya_Line.rar

(5.64 KiB) Downloaded 7 times

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@Imp. Thanks for the feedback. This will allow to make necessary adjustments.
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@srb644. Great it worked out. Have fun.

[bondjamesbond]

@Bond Thanks for the information, i make some changes.
I was too generous with AI prestige so i reduced that, the 12 strength cavalry is overkill, some new player auxiliaries.
If you feel like it and you want to replay the scenario, the updated files are here underneath.
.
The_Sakarya_Line.rar
.
@Imp. Thanks for the feedback. This will allow to make necessary adjustments.
.
@srb644. Great it worked out. Have fun.

No problem, I’ll swap it out and play through again. I’ve just replayed this level so I’d have more survivors left. The Greeks really don’t care about casualties, and they’ve got a veritable cornucopia of air power, artillery, infantry and cavalry.

You really need to replace the old files with your new ones, because this Greek stream is just unbelievable! After all, they’re not the Chinese, so they wouldn’t be coming at us in such droves!

[imp44791]

Especially since the Greek Army was almost certainly outnumbered at that point and badly ground down from almost 10 years of war by that time (not to mention advancing through the inner Anatolian plains in the summer!).

I am a bit reluctant to play this for personal reasons (part of my family is of Anatolian refugee extraction!). Of course the Turks were defending their homeland and more power to them for winning this vital to them fight (not to mention that I personally find Kemal to be a very great man), but a lot of civilians got on the wrong end of this vicious war. On both sides incidentally - about 350,000 (and possibly as many as half a million Muslims) went the other way of the possibly up to 1.5 million Christians in 1923.

I know all war is a tragedy, and that e.g. the Soviet front I find so fascinating was the graveyard of over 30 million people on both sides, but this one in particular hits too close to home so I will pass.