McGuba wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2026 12:15 am BE 2.5 is out now:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2u2vboxm ... 753h8&dl=0
Also updated the first page of this topic accordingly. Those who are using RumpNissen's wavy flags submod have to update that submod as well. Link is in the first page.
BE 2.5 Changes
Scenario changes
(for both single and multiplayer games - however, some of these do not affect the easier single player version of the main scenario)
- Several changes to the pre-Barbarossa scenarios e.g. no more free prestige per turn in France and Mediterranean Sea scenarios but the reward for major victory in France is 750 instead of 250 and there are more cities and airfields to capture, some Allied units have different starting placement, Bulgarian army does not take part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, etc.
- Difficulty screen revised for single player games, not recommended difficulties (Guderian and Manstein) are removed and replaced with ones that actually make sense for the mod and provide even more challenge for experienced players. More information is given in the pop-up boxes to help players to choose the right difficulty.
- Rate of fire value is now displayed (if other than 100%) in the unit information screen, next to the back and white unit image
- Most German artillery units have more ammunition while most Soviet artillery units have less
- Most Soviet heavy 76 and 85mm AA guns are now in static defense near industrial cities, the basic Soviet frontline AA is the lighter 37mm autocannon, as historically. The Soviets also get a few similar American 40mm M1 autocannons and now also have some improvised SPAA units (truck mounted 25mm autocannons).
- Major revise of railway lines in Russia, some historical railway lines are added in Russia, North Africa and the Middle East and elsewhere, some railway lines are now constructed/extended during the course of the scenario
- Some other map changes, several more cities added, terrain graphics, railways, etc. etc. improved here and there
- Escarpment is now a close terrain.
- Semi-arid terrain type added: it is like clear terrain but with low supply meaning ground units can only get half the normal supply on this, same as in desert, but their movement is not affected as in desert. Mud have less negative effect on the ground speed of units due to less precipitation in these areas. Semi-arid terrain also does not affect air units, both tropicalised and non-tropicalised air units can fly over it as if it was like open sea. (It has a neutral effect on air units.)
- Some of the French Atlantic ports now become impossible to capture by the Western Allies after D-day. Historically these were bypassed by the Allies and continued to resist until May 1945 as German pockets far behind the frontline. However, it also means that these lose their port functionality for the Axis as well.
- The Hungarian fortified lines in the Carpathian Mountains and the Finnish defenses in Karelia are also stronger now. These can significantly slow down Soviet advance or may even force them to bypass these defenses.
- Tobruk is better defended by British bottom mines. However, these mines start to weaken and then fully disappear after a few turns after Malta or Tobruk is captured by the Axis. (It is to reduce the usefulness of the Italian fleet in the siege of Tobruk as historically it did not assist in it due to a combination of British air and naval threat and a lack of fuel oil.)
- If the Axis is too passive in North Africa in 1941-42 by not capturing Tobruk or by retreating to Tripoli or outright evacuating all forces to Europe then the Soviets will receive more Western Allied units since those are not needed by the British in Africa in that case. Precisely: 2 extra Soviet Lend-Lease tanks and 2 fighter and 1 tactical bomber unit will spawn in the east for not capturing (by turn 27) and then not holding Tobruk until November 1942 (turn 36) + 1 additional tank unit for each of the three other Italian objective cities in North Africa if they are captured by the British earlier than historically (before turns 36-40) + 2 more fighters in this worst case. This may compel the Axis player to tie down some British units in North Africa as Rommel did.
- The German U-boat unit "29. Flottilla" appears later in the Mediterranean Sea (in turn 10), but now it has another hero and it will be reformed once as an understrength replacement unit if lost (between turn 32 and 65)
- The Allied side gets twice the prestige penalty (50 instead of 25 per turn, up to a maximum of 200) for every Axis naval unit on the North Atlantic convoy routes (as a kind of compensation for U-boats now being a little weaker in periscope depth and Western Allied destroyers having their naval attack increased in two steps in 1943 and 1944).
- Two more Italian battleships are added (Duilio and Andrea Doria), however, these have very low fuel confining them to their home port until at least two oilfields are captured and repaired
- Italian naval mines no longer disappear from the map in case of Italy's surrender
- June-July 1941 Syria-Lebanon campaign added
- South Africa nation added
- A few new units added, including South African/British Marmon-Herrington armoured cars (with many thanks to Birgeria for his excellent unit icons), these were the mainstay of British recons in North Africa from 1941 to mid 1942 when Humber and Daimler armoured cars started to appear in numbers
- V1 and V2 attacks against London give 50 prestige to the Axis (instead of 100 earlier) - the "easier" (or moderate) version of the mod remains unchanged in this regard. As a compensation, on the losing path the Axis side gets even more extra reinforcement units in 1944-45.
- Allied bombing raids now result in a 150 prestige points penalty per city per turn (instead of 100), but the "easier" (or moderate) version remains unchanged
- An additional German Ju 88C bomber destroyer unit will appear in early 1942
- Tactical and Strategic bombers now get a bonus air attack for every experience star (earlier they only got it for two stars)
- Anti-air units get only one bonus air attack for each experience star instead of two, but now get a bonus ground attack (soft and hard) for each star
- Infantry units now get one extra bonus hard attack and air attack for each star, land transports get the same bonuses as infantry units
- Soviets get less Valentine tanks but they get an understrength Churchill and a SU-76i (these are new units in the mod). They also get less heavy IS tanks and ISU self propelled guns, but more 120 mm mortars and a few more T-34 tanks.
- Several more new units added to both Axis and Allies, many unit icons, graphics improved
- The Italian submarine unit with the switchable Decima Flottiglia "frogman" mode starting at Crete is now replaced by a "normal" Italian submarine, but:
- The British battleships Valiant and Queen Elizabeth will be heavily damaged (effectively disappear from the map) in turn 13, following a scripted Italian frogman attack, as historically
- JG 27 in North Africa now starts the scenario in turn 1, but initially understrength (strength 7), and its max strength will only be increased to 10 in turn 6
- JG 1 in Germany now also starts the scenario understrength (strength 5), and its max strength will only be increased to 10 in turn 16
- The unfinished German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin now appears as a captial ship, unable to refuel or resupply air units, and in order to complete her construction (turning it into a functional aircraft carrier unit) she has to spend some time in a German port city and it will also cost 400 prestige points over a period of 8 turns (50 per turn).
- Starting Axis unit experience is increased from 50 to 65 (only if played in single scenario or multiplayer mode, in campaign mode it is always 0 by default as a hard coded vanilla game feature)
- There are less late war Soviet heavy tanks and self-propelled guns
- Soviet air units have less starting experience
- Units no longer lose overstrength points when upgraded to another unit type
- 50 less Axis prestige points per turn from turn 20 in real and real+ single player versions (due to getting a few extra units for free + several Axis units being somewhat better, which means fewer losses + convoy routes being less well protected, meaning potentially more lucrative)
+ a lot of other small changes and fixes "under the hood" to improve overall stability and there are some more "quality of life" improvements here and there
Multiplayer changes
- Western Lend-lease tanks in Soviet service now have the "noupgrade" trait so these cannot be upgraded to a better T-34 right after they appear, they have to be used until the end of the war or until they are destroyed, as in reality. As a compensation, few more (like 3-4) T-34/76 tanks will spawn, including two at Stalingrad.
- British Desert Force is a bit weaker, at least early on (as a compensation for the stronger British naval mines at Tobruk)
- Axis side gets more German reinforcement units on the losing path
- Several messages improved, more information added to players on the various scenario mechanics
- Convoy units that reach Liverpool now generate 150 prestige points to the Allied player (instead of 200)
- A few more Soviet reinforcement units will appear in Iran instead of Russia, but only as long as the Allied side controls at least 4 victory objectives in the Middle East and the Soviets have at least one ground unit on the oil fields.
- As a compensation for the potential early loss of the tank unit with Rommel in North Africa, the tank unit would be reformed in Germany (until turn 36), however, without Rommel and with less experience.
- Soviet units between Leningrad and Moscow remain "frozen" (out of fuel) for longer than in the previous version. These will only activate in turn 31 so that it is somewhat easier for the Axis to successfully blockade Leningrad in 1941-42. On the other hand, now there are more passive Soviet units defending this area. Likewise, 3 Soviet units near Stalingrad now also activate in turn 31 instead of 13.
- Several new Soviet units appear a bit further behind Moscow in 1941, to avoid appearing behind Axis lines in case if the Axis is very successful early on
- There are a couple more "frozen" Soviet units appearing in turn 1-2 (a garrison infantry at Rzhev, and a couple more tank units close to the border)
- P-47C no longer available for upgrade (in reality it was produced in relatively small numbers)
- A few more early war Soviet light tanks will appear in 1941 but now these cannot be upgraded to better T-34 tanks
- Italian coastline is better defended by bottom mines to reduce the effectiveness of Allied naval bombardment
Unit stats and else (incomplete)
- Strongpoint units now have a range of 1, meaning they can attack nearby enemy units without risking return fire from them
- All artillery units have 2 spotting
- M3 Stuart has a bit lower ground defense also more expensive but a bit higher soft attack
- Soviet SU- and ISU- types have 1 less ground defense
- Pz.IIIJ available for upgrade earlier (turn 3 instead of turn 7)
- 5cm Pak 38 and units equipped with the long L/60 5cm tank gun (Pz.IIIJ-1, Pz.IIIL Pz.IIIM etc.) Hard Attack increased from 11 to 12
- Panzerwehrfer 42 SA increased to 14
- Early T-34 types and T-70 have 1 less initiative
- Speed of certain tanks revised (e.g. Valentines, Churchill, KV-1/42 are a little faster, but some heavy tanks no longer have wide tracked movement)
- Soviet 122mm tank gun 1 higher HA
- Me 410 is no longer in the Bf 110 family upgrade tree
- Ju 88C bomber destroyer added
- Bf 110F, Bf 110G, Ju 88G available later
- Ini/AA/AD stats of most Italian, German fighters are slightly changed, new subtypes Bf 109 G-6 (late model) and Fw 190A-8/R2, also late war Italian G.56 and Re.2006 added
- Ju 88 and He 111 subtypes added and also late war versions of Italian air units
- Most Axis bombers have less fuel
- Most Soviet mid/late war fighter types and Spitfire types have 1 less air attack
- Italian early fighters, Stukas, Romanian tactical bombers, air transports have a little higher air defense
- Most late war German infantry are a bit cheaper
- Soviet heavy self-propelled artillery have 1 less ammo
- Most Soviet towed artillery units have 2 less ammo
- SdKfz 232 (early version) not available for purchase
- Soviet Il-2 Sturmoviks have lower hard attack
- Soviet early LaGG-3 have 1 less air attack
- Valentine and Matilda II tanks have 1 more ground defense
- Matilda II tanks are now always normally understrength (max 8 strength), unless manual override in the editor for starting strength
- British strategic bombers have 1-2 extra air and ground defense to better represent that these were mainly used for night bombing
- 2 cm Flak 30/38 now costs 20% more
- AA autocannons have higher close defense
- Submarines have 1 less ground (naval) defense at periscope depth
- The naval attack of Western Allied destroyers is increased in two steps: in 1943 (turn 47) and 1944 (turn 73) as a result of the introduction of better anti-submarine tactics, sonars and weapon systems (like the Hedgehog and the Squid).
- Spotting range of UK and US destroyers reduced to 2
- Nashorn (late version of Hornesse) added, Hornisse/Nashorn are no longer in the same unit upgrade family with the StuG IV and Jagdpanzer IV
- German 28 cm K5 railway artillery added but early war Karl-Gerat heavy mortar now has only 2 range (max shooting range was only 6.4 km) and 1 max ammo, but much cheaper to replace its losses. Also the shooting range of some Soviet fortress defense artillery have been reduced so that it can get closer (even though the AI normally does not shoot at it with its artillery).
- Not really a stat change, but I changed the colour of the mid-war US air units to look more like olive green, made new or modified icons for P-38J, P-51C, late war Italian fighters and some others I forgot
- All together 390 unit icons were modified more or less (including several new additions)
+ several more that I forgot to write down, sorry
I’d like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to the creator of this mod on the release of the new version! We’ve been waiting, hoping and believing, and finally it’s happened! I assume we can now delete the old version?
due to underestimating Operation Dragoon (they advanced all the way into southern Germany where i had not put any defenses. I was doing well on all other fronts too and had the Normandy troops boxed in, plus was holding out in the East. The quick rush of the Dragoon forces really took me by surprise!