Battlefield: Europe MOD v2.5.1

[Intenso82]

Probably with random dice and less/far less reloads it would be a different picture.
(I made thoughts to play it with random but I know I would be super frustrated. I'm more an analytical guy.).

That’s why I’m playing a limited chess and not using reloads.
Complete randomness has too much of an impact.

5., Continue the advances in Britain. It looks relative relaxing. On the other hand it should be hastened to avoid the bomber streams...

It seems that in the Sea Lion version you don’t use ‘Convoy Hunt’?
I had quite a bit of fun and sank quite a few convoys and destroyers by the end of 1943, which gave a decent boost to my prestige.
Of course, by 1944, almost the entire submarine force had been destroyed.
A significant portion was lost whilst en route to French ports at the start of D-Day.

4., What is left in the east try to grind through to the Don and establish blocking positions until the winter than pull back for better defense positions at the Oka - Donets line. I do not care about the Kursk situation as now I do not have any additional resources to hold the Don line in the winter but hoping to have more resources in 1943-44 to destroy the Kursk concentration.

1., Holding Moscow
...and not aiming to capture the Volga - Oka river region as in the winter I would have anyway to pull back to better defensible positions

- I have a tons of 1-2 str units, mostly inf, but also several obsolete tanks. In a whole new game it would be a good and realistic feature to have the option to merge weakened units (of course with restrictions and some penalties). I simply do not have the prestige for reinforcing them. I could delete the tanks and get the free, modern tank reinforcement but I find it to do so gamey... On the other hand, I will probably use them in the brutal winter of 1942 as cannon fodders to slow down enemy advances so, maybe still I will get those free units...maybe I will delete the replacement ones to avoid that unrealistic event?
- I just wonder how I can survive with this weakened, meager resource state from the winter of 1942 and onward...

It looks as though you’ve got time until the winter of 1943 (February)
It really does seem possible to ‘exploit’ the AI’s inconsistencies.
As it won’t be equally strong on all fronts and will concentrate its forces in the Kursk area, rather than retaking Moscow.
In any case, perhaps this will be changed in the next version
It’s also possible that the rear of the troops in the Caucasus will be cut off by the Soviets.

Have you considered the possibility of retreating to the border to save all your damaged units and then returning later with Panthers?

[McGuba]

If we want to buy trains, we should also make the Europe–Soviet rail gauge transfer a thing

In the time frame of the mod (1 turn = 2 weeks) it would not make too much sense to delay the trains at the border even just for 1 turn in order to change the gauge. As far as I know this could be done in just a few hours or perhaps max 1-2 days.

Hi, may somebody explain please what are the reasons for selecting quantity of 5 and particular units as core? I mean why not 10 for example and no infantry/artillery present in core roster?

Any more than that would make the June 1941 starting core way too unhistorical since players would opt to have more fighters or more tanks or whatever.

If there was infantry in that starting core, players would surely change it to a tank or fighter or whatever thereby altering the historical OOB of Barbarossa.

From opposite PoV will it make much difference if simply mark all units as auxiliary (no core ones)?

It would indeed make more sense, however, many players would hate that, given that carrying over core units from one scenario to the next is a major part of the Panzer General/Panzer Corps series. Therefore I think it is good to have a few at least, and it also gives another reason to actually play the pre-Barbarossa scenarios, since these units will start it with more kills, meaning they will get the first hero earlier.

Despite receiving a message stating that the western ports on the French coast would be turned into fortresses, this didn’t happen.
I don’t know what the reason is.

Maybe the message wasn't clear enough. These ports were indeed turned to fortresses in the sense that no one can enter them after that. Originally, I intended to surround these port cities with very strong fortress units (same as the Finnish Salpa line units), but the silly AI focused on attacking these fortresses, instead of moving on to Paris and Germany, even though it could hardly even scratch them. And so I got rid of these fortress units and just turned the port cities inaccessible to ground and naval units instead.

I also wrote more about this earlier:
viewtopic.php?p=1071812#p1071812

Now for a gameplay moment: I hadn’t previously used the Graf Zeppelin as an aircraft carrier, but this time I deployed it in an operation.
But just as the aircraft carrier was preparing to take on air units,
I realised it was a capital ship
Perhaps I missed the notification that it was no longer an aircraft carrier.

Yes, there was such an updated message that you might have missed. Now the player has to spend some extra time and prestige (400?) to make this aircraft carrier operational by moving it to a German port first and keep it there for some time.

It is also included in the 2.5 changes list:
viewtopic.php?p=1074529#p1074529

But yeah, there have been a lot of changes...

While I did not finish my last Italian campaign and also a few dozens turn away of ending BE 2.4 - Kursk save for Total victory, I could not resist and started playing the 2.5.1 from the little scenarios onward!

Great!
There is so much to do and so little time!

I started the game with my latest settings:
- Dice chess
- I constantly look of my earlier replay to see what strategies worked
- Double Rommel (25% prestige)
- Field Marshall (50% xp)
- Tons of reloads but only for different decisions, not different dice outcomes

Ah, so that's almost like the new "Impossible(?)" difficulty!
Which is 25% percent for both.
However, dice chess and constant save game reloads make it somewhat easier.
On the other hand, going for a Total Victory with these settings is still very-very difficult.

That’s why I’m playing a limited chess and not using reloads.
Complete randomness has too much of an impact.

Yeah, but I still prefer full random in both single and multiplayer. Also playing with limited dice chess makes the mod somewhat easier for the Axis. About 20-30 percent easier, perhaps. Since with limited dice chess there are hardly any unexpected Axis losses which would be difficult to replace.

It seems that in the Sea Lion version you don’t use ‘Convoy Hunt’?
I had quite a bit of fun and sank quite a few convoys and destroyers by the end of 1943, which gave a decent boost to my prestige.
Of course, by 1944, almost the entire submarine force had been destroyed.
A significant portion was lost whilst en route to French ports at the start of D-Day.

That's good to know. So it looks like the Battle of Atlantic tweaks seem to work as intended.

[Locarnus]

If I’d been able to buy trains, I’d have bought a few, even for 500 prestige.

As far as I understand it wasn't really just the number of available trains that restricted unit transfers (and supplies in general) but more like the overall capacity of the railway system. The number of railway lines, stations, personnel, logistics, water towers, coal etc. etc. all had limitations. It was (is) a complex system and couldn't have been improved so simply and quickly by just spending some more money (or other resources) and have an almost immediate result in like 2 weeks time (1 turn). Thus I do not really think it is a good idea to make trains (and other transports) purchasable. I think it is more interesting if their losses are permanent, which also makes them more valuable in both single and multiplayer games. In this case players have to value and look after them more, or if not, face the consequence.

I reduced the initially available number of trains from 11 to 6 and then made 6 trains purchasable (3 sets of about 520 prestige for 2).
With 11 starting trains the first 1-2 losses have very little effect. But with 6 starting trains, even one loss hurts a lot.
It also adds transports to the decision dilemma, where to focus prestige spending.
Elite airforce replacements or fleet repair or logistics investment.
Imho 2 weeks issue is just a general PzC engine problem, same for purchasing new units or teleporting unit reinforcement tanks to Africa.

[PeteMitchell]

In my playthrough these ports were blocked. I had a unit in the port at the time and it remained there. But as soon as i moved it out of the port, it couldnt go back in. There is no animation showing it blocked (it looks as usual), but you cannot move units there.

Obviously,
I expected the ports to be surrounded by a line of fortifications.
But they haven’t changed the flag in my game either; it’s probably not visible.
Anyway, I’m planning to go back to France soon and have a closer look)

The harsher penalties make it more important to defend the Reich from bombing raids.

With 4 squadrons of Fw's, 2 squadrons of JU88G bomber destroyers and a squadron of Bf110G bomber destroyers, I thought i had enough defenses. How wrong i was...

I’ve recounted my air defences.
At the final stage, I have 10 units of 8.8cm+ heavy anti-aircraft guns,
and 13 mobile units of various types.
I’ve upgraded all possible small-calibre AA to mobile versions.

I never did that during my previous playthroughs)

90206.jpg

From the screenshot, you are in very good shape...

[Intenso82]

From the screenshot, you are in very good shape...

I suppose this is a result of my focus.
I also earned prestige through convoys and recapturing flags.
But it’s also because I wasn’t planning on a total victory.
I upgraded all the equipment I wanted to and even more besides;
there were lots of upgrades, not just to mobile air defence but also to mobile artillery.
I had two Me 262s.

Yes, there was such an updated message that you might have missed. Now the player has to spend some extra time and prestige (400?) to make this aircraft carrier operational by moving it to a German port first and keep it there for some time.

It is also included in the 2.5 changes list:
viewtopic.php?p=1074529#p1074529

But yeah, there have been a lot of changes...

Yes, it looks like I missed that when I was reading.
Well then, 400 prestige – I’ll have to think about whether an upgrade is necessary)
Although it’s quite historically accurate, as it was never used as an aircraft carrier, so it’s fair that it costs prestige.

Well then, the game is finished. A brilliant mod, as always.

768.jpg (917.95 KiB) Viewed 1692 times

Post-game screen.

It seems the Allies have exhausted their last reserves,
and if there’d been another 2–3 turns, France would have made a comeback)
Despite the fact that some units were stuck in the north...

La Rochelle was practically unblocked, although on his counter-move, the AI sent an anti-tank unit.

There are four convoys left on the Atlantic convoy routes – a good result)

68767.jpg (51.52 KiB) Viewed 1692 times

In the final turns, I lost 10–12 units, which wasn’t critical by then.
And I finally had the chance to buy some units)
I even bought a second Arado, but didn’t get a chance to use it.

[bondjamesbond]

From the screenshot, you are in very good shape...

I suppose this is a result of my focus.
I also earned prestige through convoys and recapturing flags.
But it’s also because I wasn’t planning on a total victory.
I upgraded all the equipment I wanted to and even more besides;
there were lots of upgrades, not just to mobile air defence but also to mobile artillery.
I had two Me 262s.

Yes, there was such an updated message that you might have missed. Now the player has to spend some extra time and prestige (400?) to make this aircraft carrier operational by moving it to a German port first and keep it there for some time.

It is also included in the 2.5 changes list:
viewtopic.php?p=1074529#p1074529

But yeah, there have been a lot of changes...

Yes, it looks like I missed that when I was reading.
Well then, 400 prestige – I’ll have to think about whether an upgrade is necessary)
Although it’s quite historically accurate, as it was never used as an aircraft carrier, so it’s fair that it costs prestige.

Well then, the game is finished. A brilliant mod, as always.

768.jpg
Post-game screen.

It seems the Allies have exhausted their last reserves,
and if there’d been another 2–3 turns, France would have made a comeback)
Despite the fact that some units were stuck in the north...

La Rochelle was practically unblocked, although on his counter-move, the AI sent an anti-tank unit.

There are four convoys left on the Atlantic convoy routes – a good result)


68767.jpg

In the final turns, I lost 10–12 units, which wasn’t critical by then.
And I finally had the chance to buy some units)
I even bought a second Arado, but didn’t get a chance to use it.

My heartfelt congratulations, but where’s the replay file!?

It’s usually at this address C:\Users\*******\Documents\My Games\Panzer Corps\Replay

[Kas Narayda]

I translated version 2.4 and then played, but in 2.51 the interface is in English. How can I fix this?

I just released a highly experimental machine translation for BE with my Addon mod.
It is incomplete (none of the library texts are translated) and there are issues with pictures and formatting.
I also can't guarantee that it does not mess up the game at some point, since I have not tried any of it (not even in my native language).
So I still highly recommend english language.
But you are of course welcome to try
=> viewtopic.php?t=106547

Thanks! Everything is working - turn 17.

[Kas Narayda]

I will look into this as well. I might have changed some more of the game files to English as well. Since other languages are not supported by the mod and in that case it would be like a mess of some things being in English while others in the chosen language. I think that would be more confusing.

But how did you translate 2.4 then?

Using Google Translate and Excel. Open it in Excel, temporarily delete the columns that do not need to be translated, translate to a new file, then take the translated column and paste it into the original file.
So I translated the files Kursk1.pzloc, Kursk2.pzloc, Kursk3.pzloc

[Intenso82]

My heartfelt congratulations, but where’s the replay file!?

It’s usually at this address C:\Users\*******\Documents\My Games\Panzer Corps\Replay

That’s an interesting idea,
I’ve checked the replay, but unfortunately something’s not working properly in PanzerCorps.
Everything’s fine for the first two turns, but then some strange movements start happening.
Of course, you can have a look at the first few turns

(05.07.2026) BE - Realistic+, Turn 99.zip

(958.24 KiB) Downloaded 37 times

[bondjamesbond]

My heartfelt congratulations, but where’s the replay file!?

It’s usually at this address C:\Users\*******\Documents\My Games\Panzer Corps\Replay

That’s an interesting idea,
I’ve checked the replay, but unfortunately something’s not working properly in PanzerCorps.
Everything’s fine for the first two turns, but then some strange movements start happening.
Of course, you can have a look at the first few turns


(05.07.2026) BE - Realistic+, Turn 99.zip

Thanks, mate – it’s always interesting to see how others play! Especially as you can edit the videos; the replay shows exactly how it really happened.

[Intenso82]

Thanks, mate – it’s always interesting to see how others play! Especially as you can edit the videos; the replay shows exactly how it really happened.

I agree. I’d like to watch the replays from JimmyC and Uhu. It’s also interesting for the mod creators to see how players play their mods.
What’s more, a single turn in a replay takes 10–15 minutes and includes the opposing side’s moves.
Whereas one turn in a screen recording takes about an hour.
But it seems PZC isn’t designed to handle that many units and the issue with replays probably stems from the same root cause as the problem with displaying the opponent’s moves in multiplayer games.

[Uhu]

I can share my replays when I finished - or at least one big part is ready.
For me, my replays work, I also use them as I earlier said.

Thanks, mate – it’s always interesting to see how others play! Especially as you can edit the videos; the replay shows exactly how it really happened.

I agree. I’d like to watch the replays from JimmyC and Uhu. It’s also interesting for the mod creators to see how players play their mods.
What’s more, a single turn in a replay takes 10–15 minutes and includes the opposing side’s moves.
Whereas one turn in a screen recording takes about an hour.
But it seems PZC isn’t designed to handle that many units and the issue with replays probably stems from the same root cause as the problem with displaying the opponent’s moves in multiplayer games.

[Uhu]

I want to speak about the most painful part of the massive save-reload play style. There are several intensity of pain:
1., Reload in the same turn as it is played. Least painful.
2., Reload 1-5 turns. That is the most painful as the "wounds are fresh". I feel still the hours which are gone making these turns - and now I have to replay / redo them.
3., Reload 5-15+ turns. The pain is mediocre. Why? The "fresh wound" feeling is not there as I can have the hope that this time I not just repair minor faults but bigger one too and so I can change the campaign more in positive way. Also it feels almost as a new campaign.

I'm now at point 3. While I was already at turn 33, I will go back to turn 18. Why?
The earlier mentioned strategies did not work well enough:

- I could only partly clear the region west of the Don and seal the "doors" - while suffering significant casualties on the way. So it had almost no sense, except I could destroy some Soviet units in the Belgorod - Kursk - Voronezh triangle and take Orel.
- I understood that capturing Leningrad is the 2nd highest priority after the Caucasus oil wells, so after recapturing the lost part of Moscow, I will concentrate all of my arty which are not in defense mode, on Leningrad and Caucasus.
- Some minor faults: I let the two motorized 88 AA's sustain high casualties and for replacement there were no prestige left so this rendered them not useful (str 2 and 3). This time I will try to avoid this.

Turn 17 - Moscow.JPG (580.59 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

Turn 17 - Rostov.JPG (543.19 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

Turn 17 - Odessa.JPG (522.65 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

[Uhu]

Turn 17 - Kursk.JPG (564.76 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

Turn 17 - England.JPG (548.09 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

Turn 17 - Mersha Matruh.JPG (406.42 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

[bondjamesbond]

I can share my replays when I finished - or at least one big part is ready.
For me, my replays work, I also use them as I earlier said.

Thanks, mate – it’s always interesting to see how others play! Especially as you can edit the videos; the replay shows exactly how it really happened.

I agree. I’d like to watch the replays from JimmyC and Uhu. It’s also interesting for the mod creators to see how players play their mods.
What’s more, a single turn in a replay takes 10–15 minutes and includes the opposing side’s moves.
Whereas one turn in a screen recording takes about an hour.
But it seems PZC isn’t designed to handle that many units and the issue with replays probably stems from the same root cause as the problem with displaying the opponent’s moves in multiplayer games.

We look forward to your reply!

[PeteMitchell]

Yes, I feel with you on the reload. So Moscow, oil, Leningrad?

[Uhu]

Yes, I feel with you on the reload. So Moscow, oil, Leningrad?

Thanks!
Parallel Moscow and Caucasus (and England + El-Alamein) and after Moscow (recapture), Leningrad.

[Uhu]

Hi, Field Marshalls, another status update.
This time I made until turn 46 - but I will back to turn 17.
Why, why why?? Again the question arises.

Well, I could survive the horrors of the winter of 1942-43. But I paid a high price. A lot of casualties, only inf, but still.

And while the Rostov thrust of the Soviets were mostly defeated and the whole Caucasus were either captured or recaptured, for a long time the oil field at Grozny was in hostile hand which will be a huge income loss later because the +10 prestige/turn will only later turn on.

The Kursk direction I could not hold the masses of Soviet armor AND Siberian Inf and one by one the entrenched city defenders were destroyed. Now the tank armies are trying to advance further west...

The England direction is slowly advancing, bomber waves were defeated until now and the Kriegsmarine (capital ships) is in good condition, almost all ships at full strength now with mostly with 2 star. But the advance is a crawl and I fear in 1943 bigger bomber streams will appear and I do not have the strength to counter all of them... And with 25% prestige even one 150 prestige penalty would be a disaster (I think, the game would also give just 25%, as with the panzer-AT conversions, but I would play fair and manually calculate the additional penalty).

The El-Alamein line and Alexandria was taken, but my forces - except the 4 arty - are weak and the counteroffensive has began. Until now it could be halted and at least, finally Rommel's corps could be upgraded to Pz IIIL so it will be a huge boost...

...But things are not really looking good at Tunis. Until now the hostile forces could be halted west of the town and the naval battle had until now a great outcome but I know that stronger forces will appear soon and I simply do not have the strength to counter them. So, while the other theaters are while not in good, but in OK shape this has definitely a looming defeat future.

Moscow and the line to Orel could be held for what I was really happy. But Leningrad could be not taken: the mop-up operations lasted far longer than excepted and while my troops see the outskirts of the city they are also shocked at the strength of the defenders (str 12-17). Maybe I siege would have been good? But who would pay the price for the attrition of the besieging troops? On the other hand maybe it still would worth the price of this decision because when Leningrad is taken, the Finns would also take part fully in the war (Archangelsk!) and also with Moscow, Caucasus, Leningrad taken, the Reds would be much weaker.

Still because I sustained to much casualties and the battle at Tunis and Kursk is surely not in my favor I have to reload. And why from turn 17? I see, that upgrading both 10,5 cm arty from horse to tracked is an extreme lot of prestige for me (2x100, while my turn income is below 100) - and actually the front do not moves anyway as fast because of the sieges of Tobruk, El-Alamein line, Cairo. So, horses are still good. And later when they are needed to advance faster in the desert to Baghdad and Abadan, I can transport them back to Tobruk and make the tracked move update. But I made my first upgrade already at probably turn 2-3, so I will NOT load back until that!! But the second one was at turn 17.

One last cause while I loading back: the support line to Baku was very long time severed in the winter of 1942-43 and PzC simply to not model that. Still, for realistic gameplay I would take this part also into account. So, I do not must to let this line severed. Leningrad can wait.

Turn 46 - Baku.JPG (468.77 KiB) Viewed 395 times

Turn 46 - Cairo.JPG (455.57 KiB) Viewed 395 times

Turn 46 - England.JPG (481.07 KiB) Viewed 395 times

[Uhu]

Turn 46 - Grozny.JPG (534.14 KiB) Viewed 393 times

Turn 46 - Kursk.JPG (573.22 KiB) Viewed 393 times

Turn 46 - Leningrad.JPG (569.92 KiB) Viewed 393 times

[Uhu]

Turn 46 - Moscow.JPG (577.11 KiB) Viewed 392 times

Turn 46 - Rostov.JPG (537.58 KiB) Viewed 392 times

Turn 46 - Tunis.JPG (453.77 KiB) Viewed 392 times