Longasc 1941 DLC Report

[Longasc]

Just like last time I play at Fieldmarshal with all options enabled.
Default core, no imported core troops.


Belgrade: DV 14/18

Starting Prestige: 3000
End Prestige: 2276

Bought: Do217E (always wanted one), Sturmpanzer I
Losses: Nebelwerfer, Grenadier, PzIIIG (thanks to Col. Mihailovic for killing the tank in the supposedly last turn. This got him killed in revenge!)
+one Romanian Officer and the Romanian Pak. I actually mistreated them as kill bait.
Replacements: Sturmpanzer I, Panzer IVE

Summary:
A very good and easy starter scenario. Starting Prestige is plentiful, let's see how much I will have at the end of the 40 campaign. No idea how much you get after the Maginot Line scenario. Also nice to start with a SE tank! That's what people probably will have at this point.

Romanian Airforce: The Polikarpov was one nasty bugger. It took ages to shoot it down, particularly to me spreading out my airforce but it was a tough little plane, and while never really dangerous it annoyed the hell out of my Stukas. Nice!

In general this scenario is likely to cause people to lose focus and go for diversions that might prove costly rather than bringing Prestige.
Quite a good starter scenario and a very good special victory condition. Luckily I lost one officer as two seem to cause a bug when entering the city hex.


Text errors:
Map: Zero, OK
Briefing: "I, your Generalfeldmarschall, ..." just say "As your Generalfeldmarshall"
Debriefing: "poised" to "are poised" - but hey, don't always say "poised". This word is poisoned, just say "will". It sounds much more confident and worthy of a German GFM.

Next scenario: Metaxas Line


Edit: Especially funny: Wanted to shoot down escaping biplanes at suspected airfields. But they were so slow that my Bf109's were there one turn before them.

[Longasc]

Metaxas Line: DV 9/14

Start: 3326 (+1050)
End: 1690

Lots of unit upgrades, recon to 8-rad, all Bf109 to "F" for range, same for Stukas for "R", 15cm artillery upgrade and overstrengthening
Panzer IV to "E". Removed the halftrack from Gebirgsjäger to cross a mountain range.

Bought: Bf109F, Pioniere/Halftrack
Losses: 8.8, Recon, Gebirgsjäger or Pioniere unit lost near a city
Replacements: 2x Stuka, 1x Recon


Summary:
Very nice blockade of the Strymonas Potamos river, but my artillery units were there. The StuGIIIB was very good in helping the Bulgarians advance. I didn't mess with the British Paras there (they were not triggered, but it seems believable that they don't engage). Believed a Pak to be a Flak and nearly lost a tank to it.
The three Bf109 are not overkill, they are needed to deal with dangerous Blenheims and Whitleys quickly, the third really paid off.
This scenario made me appreciate the thick armor of the StuGIIIB. An excellent companion for infantry and tanks, at least at this stage.

I like this scenario, it captures the rocky nature of Greece very well.


Text errors:
Briefing: -
Map: Serrai - Serres? Thessalonika could be Thessaloniki, don't know what English speakers prefer.
Debriefing: -


The next scenario is CRETE!
You have the choice between...

1.) naval and
2.) airborne invasion

What will I do... I know that Crete was the grave of the German Fallschirmjäger units, but hey, I guess they get provided as aux units so I will probably go airborne. Don't like sea transport at all. You may also suggest me what to do, I am always open for suggestions.

[Longasc]

Crete (Air): DV 7/15

Start Prestige: 2540 (+850)
End Prestige: 2307

Bought: -
Upgrades: All Infantry except Pioniere/Gebirgsjäger to Grenadiere + overstrength, actually... I had tons of Prestige to overstrengthen ALL units.
Losses: Panzerjäger IB. Lost mainly due to being shot down to 2 by a Destroyer at sea before disembarking to land.
Replacement: A second StuG IIIB. Fucking amazing unit. I think it was the key land unit to win the eastern part of Crete.

Summary:
I very much liked this scenario as it is basically three-four hotspots you have to fight here in constricted terrain surrounded by enemies.
Holding the airfields and keeping your units alive is an interesting challenge.

But it's too easy. I didn't need reinforcements from the center which fell first.
- I think at this point of the Campaign that Prestige is too plentiful, rather keep it lower in Metaxas and here and instead give a proper boost for Barbarossa.

Nevertheless this scenario is highly difficult to balance. At Manstein and due to the nature of getting dropped right in the middle of the enemy formation this might turn into a disaster. Still it could be a little more difficult. Why?

- We know we get dropped into crap. We will most likely have the Prestige to overstrengthen selected units. That's key to survival and victory here.
- Too much Axis armor and artillery on Crete wins this scenario easily. Panzer IV supported by StuG IIIB and a Sturmpanzer behind are perfect roadblocks and make this scenario much easier as they trump everything the British have.

I wonder how to solve this. Maybe with more Aux Infantry on Crete and less land deployment slots.

The naval battle was a disaster for the Italians but not unexpected if you know a little about Operation Mercury. My Do217E one-shotted two enemy warships in the first two turns! Two level bombers make this scenario decidedly easier. When a Destroyer attacked my Panzerjäger IB transport it failed with a -2 attack and the Italian DD only killed one more. A pity. What I really liked was how determined the British attacked any transport getting close to the shore. EVERY transport except one got attacked and I had to withdraw them or chose to disembark them at low strength. I am not talking about naval attacks here, a Cruiser tank shot a transport near the west end of the Island (where General Freyberg is, this peninsula like extension of the island) so badly that I could only dare to disembark it after enemy the tank got a double Stuka & Destroyer treatment.

In hindsight I think that the WEST theatre was balanced about right, while the CENTER and EAST are a little too easy. My suggestion above would be to restrict land slots and place aux Infantry. Getting the troops ashore from the sea is highly difficult.
In fact I wonder if taking the NAVAL choice is not foolish as disembarking will take several turns and leave the troops vulnerable and clustered at the shore, while the Paratroopers on Crete won't likely be strong enough to block all cities from buying units and not strong enough to attack either.

It's a very interesting scenario and I am really torn how to make it a little harder.


First, too much Prestige this time. The starter core is very good and I could replace lost units easily, and I wasn't exactly lucky or careful and lost quite some by now.

The other thing is we can drop an entire heavy armor division plus artillery on Crete. Players who want to stay "historical" can restrict themselves to lighter units, it's just not possible to ship so many tanks on a heavily contested Island where you still don't control the ports, and you can't fly in a Panzer IV either IIRC.


Text errors:
Didn't spot any on the map or during briefing/debriefing.

[Longasc]

P.S. I checked Crete "Naval" in the scenario editor.

As I suspected it seems to be a lot more difficult than the airborne operation. Which kinda contradicts the (de)briefing that warned of the airborne operation to be highly risky.

The allied navy is still there and you have many transports, you will need several turns to land, disembark and then have a tough time to move your units out to make place for new units to get ashore.

Could someone please test Crete as NAVAL scenario? I am sorry I intended to but I usually keep only one savegame (never go back - even if you lost a unit. Makes it easier to resist the temptation when things go awfully wrong.) and I am already at Barbarossa.


Sidenote: Got a SE Panzer III "F" in Crete. Dunno if it is totally random, but there are Panzer IIIH and IVE already. I upgraded it immediately for 72 Prestige to H.

[Longasc]

Minsk 41 ("Barbarossa Part 1"): DV 13/20

Start: 3807 (+1500)
End: 3204
Losses: 1 Recon, was lucky twice

I had 2547 Prestige after repairs, overstrengthening and went down to 2030 after buying: 1x Panzer IVF, 1x 8-Rad Recon
Recon is quite important on such a huge map.

My core at this point:
6 Infantry (3 Grenadier, 1 Gebirgsjäger, 1 Pionier, 1 SE Grenadier)
8 Tanks (5 Panzer IVF, 3 Panzer IIIH. 2 of the IIIH SE, 1 PzIVF SE)
6 Artillery (2x Sturmpanzer, 2x 15cm towed, 2x StuG IIIB)
1 Recon unit. Sometimes 2. They usually die.

Air Force:
3 Bf109F
4 Ju87R
1 Me110
1 He111, 1 Do217E


Summary:
The invasion has begun! The fortress of Brest-Litovsk is the first tought cookie to crack. I recalled the "Recon Do217" and armed them for use as level bombers after 2 turns and no airforce in sight. You catch quite a lot of enemy units without ammo unaware.

I was hesitant to race ahead too much with halftracks and lose them to counter-attacks. In the final turns T-34 showed up at the fringes of the map near Minsk and killed one of the Recon units, who easily captured more Prestige than they cost.
Beware of the fortress at Brest, it packs quite a punch. But the Honey Badger of the Wehrmacht, the StuG IIIB, gives a shit! It is an incredibly useful unit and does exactly what I expect a Sturmgeschütz to do. This stat rework really worked! It also reduced and absorbed the attacks of the KV defending Brest.

The danger in this scenario is to lose focus. I spent quite some time on an unimportant village which was reconquered by a Cavalry I didn't kill. There were also Conscripts near Brest that were about to start a counter-attack around turn 13 but that was when the scenario ended!
I could have ended it at turn 12, but wanted to shoot the tanks near Minsk first. This could have backfired...

Take a look, this is what would have hit me one-two turns later:
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/2072 ... rprise.jpg


Also nice: You capture a special Russian unit once you take Minsk!
Take a look (SPOILER). Also note, the unit screen image of this unit is bugged as shown on the screenshot:
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2549 ... dminsk.jpg

At the same time the "Karl Gerät" arrived to finish of the fortress at Brest.
Also note, it's GERÄT, not GERAT. Please correct that, it's also wrong in Panzer Corps Barbarossa scenario.

Important note for all Generals: Use the RAILROAD. I used it to send the Karl and a 15cm Artillery straight to Minsk. The huge distances make trains very good transporters.


I was intimidated by the size of the map, but it was nevertheless a very easy scenario:

+ Very good feeling of the map. Size etc., feels very historically correct.
- Too much Prestige
- Not enough enemy resistance
- How about some Russian fighters? Only one showed up.

On the other hand this is the first scenario and resistance in this phase was not really given, as the Russians got caught by surprise.


Text Errors:
Briefing/Debriefing: OK
Map: OK

[Kerensky]

You are a victim of your own success.
There are something like 12 Russian fighters on the Minsk map.
The more airfields you capture though, the less of these units you have to deal with.

It's an interesting twist on the 'surprise attack' concept.
Instead of bombing and destroying aircraft on the ground, you overrun their airfields with ground troops before they ever 'launch'.

[monkspider]

"But the Honey Badger of the Wehrmacht, the StuG IIIB, gives a shit!"

This made me LOL.

I can't believe I didn't think about using the railroad! I will note that for future playthroughs, great tip.

[Longasc]

Smolensk 41: DV 16/21

Start: 4454 (+1250)
End: 3745
Losses: 1 Grenadier, replaced with Wurfrahmen 40.

After repairing and overstrengthening units I started with 3330 Prestige.


Summary:
This is my favorite scenario so far. At first you race east, cross a river and fight back some enemy tanks. My Recon and the 8 speed halftrack SE Grenadier went north, a decision that paid off greatly. You have a Bridge Engineer, this unit will be a lot of fun and offer you a ton of strategic options. Beware that without it you can't get out of the pocket created by the Dniepr.

This pocket is also full of surprises! Captain Obvious reported there is a city with 20 Conscripts and a Thick Forest hex, plus a nice airfield for your bombers to launch attacks against Smolensk nearby.

But beware of an armored counterattack against the victory hex city Mogilev. This almost made me say "ignore this part of the map, focus on Smolensk".
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4786 ... ogilev.jpg

My thoroughly frightened SE tank repaired out of sight and later fell the attackers in the back. The Panzer IIIH are very good here to deal with the many BT-7 and T-34s. You will also encounter tons of Katyushas, they will not only be deadly against Infantry but also cause massive suppression to armor, making them vulnerable even to Infantry attacks. Got lucky but also thanks to StuG IIIB support the Panzer IV held their ground. I have two of this new kind of StuG and despite my constant scepticism they always surprise me positively. They take tank attacks their force by providing defensive fire and damn I guess I already said it, I like them.

Take a look how they neatly provide cover for nearby tanks:
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4083 ... tugkv1.jpg
(spoiler alert: You will see the captured unit of this scenario)

The Russian Airforce is much more present in this scenario and will keep you on your toes.


While I liked this scenario very much, it is very fun to play, the Prestige problems accumulate by now:

- too much Prestige. +1250? How about +700. This might also depend on your results in Crete and Minks, but I think the 1941 Campaign gives too much Prestige so far.
- suggest replacing some BTs with T-34 and maybe even a KV.
- I don't know how Smolensk was defended historically, but it could some more entrenched units/strong AT guns
(which wouldn't help that much against the StuG supported tank attack... hmm)


Text errors:
Briefing/Debriefing: OK
Map: It was difficult to check, many transcribed Russian city names look like typos to me but apparently they are all correct.


Onward to the next scenario!

To LENINGRAD or KIEV?
(I made a save, the first fork of this campaign)

[Longasc]

Ostrov (Leningrad path): DV 12/18

Start: 5495 (+1750)
End: 2546
Losses: Sturmpanzer I, replaced by the same

I upgraded my towed artillery to 17K18 but forgot to buy them halftracks. Every infantry unit got halftracks. The He111 got upgraded to a Do217E.
All units were overstrengthened to the max.
The StuG IIIB and the former He111 already have 3 stars.

3237 Prestige after all upgrades.


Summary:
This is all about fending off two armored counter-attacks.

A very early armored counter-attack exploited my column formation with overzealous artillery leading the charge. Ahem...
Yeah, those speedy light tanks can appear out of nowhere, and so can T-34.
My captured KV was very useful to drive enemy infantry out of their fortifications. The T-34 and my Nebelwerfer were less lucky and took quite some damage in this scenario.
The shocking early loss made me cautious and my Grenadiers had a real problem advancing while needing an armor screen, they took quite long to be deployed for city fights which I consider to do in future with StuG IIIB's, another artillery like a Nebelwerfer and Panzer IVs plus maybe some air support.
No chance to advance in Russia with infantry alone, too many enemy infantry units and tanks, not even artillery backup could save them.

The Russian Airforce was no real problem, but the small Polikarpov fighters are very resilient and you never know when bombers or fighters appear. But they are not enough to pose a serious threat.
The StuG IIIB continues to be excellent, maybe this unit is even too good. As artillery it never takes damage on the attack and can suppress enemy attackers, so it also rarely takes damage when attacked.

The majority of enemy forces already deployed was beaten around turn 6, later on some hastily produced lighter tanks caused no major problems.


Suggestions:
- Stronger enemy armored forces. Some light tanks to T-34 might do it.
- back to Panzer General roots this time! Reduce the number of turns and make a major victory depending on the turn you take the final objective
That would be quite fitting this time, as the briefing states "time is of the essence".
- plus 1750 Prestige at the start of this scenario might be a bit too generous.

Text errors:
Map: OK
Briefing/Debriefing: Debriefing OK

Maybe dshaw can rephrase the Briefings somewhat.
This is my suggestion. Ostrov was quite okay, but "greetings once again" is a bit... boring... not once again again.

[Longasc]

Novgorod: DV 13/19

Start: 4046 (+1500)
End: 1566
Losses: Zero!

I repaired and overstrengthened every unit to the max. I had some 2300 Prestige left after that but can't decipher my own handwritten notes anymore.


Summary:
This was the first scenario where I noticed the weather getting worse, overclouded and one turn was even rainy.
A fight against tougher Russian resistance and the terrain itself, that's the concept of this scenario. I think the Panzer IIIH and IVF the player will field by now call for some better tanks than BT-7 or T-60, the T34/40 are not really a danger to these tanks either, especially if they are backed up by Artillery and StuGs.
Advancing in Russia without armored spearheads is nigh impossible, I therefore have only 5 infantry units left. I might have to buy some more for Leningrad, but thankfully they are cheap Prestige-wise.

Around turn 7 an armored counter-attack occurred, but at turn 9 the scenario was basically won, all objectives got surrounded. I delayed victory to capture another T-34 somewhere... there is one city with paratroopers, this should be hint enough.
I fear I might regret being wasteful with elite replacements. The fighting gets more intense and more losses have to be replaced than ever before.

This scenario is foreshadowing what is to come: Even worse weather, even worse terrain, winter and even more and stronger Russian units.


Verdict: Very nice scenario!
Could still use some more T34/41, too many T34/40 who really don't pose a serious threat to the PzIIIH/IVF of the player. Lone KV's and KV2 are about right, but some more medium T-34 tanks would make things for sure more interesting and challenging.

I think Prestige is about right, I am still living from excess Prestige of earlier scenarios of this campaign. +1000 instead of +1500 at the start should be enough though.


Text errors:
None, I also fail to recognize spelling errors in Russian city names to be honest. I think the native English speakers among the beta testers are much better suited to take a look at the briefings and I would like to encourage them to post improved versions. Don't be shy.

[Longasc]

Leningrad 41: DV 17/21

Start: 3066
End: 542
Losses: Panzer IVF, replaced with the same

After repairs and overstrengthening all units I had 1205 Prestige left.


Summary:
This is a very interesting scenario. While resistance is stiff, you should be able to break it easily. Two counter-attacks from the West and the East and a third from the South will keep you on your toes! Around turn 6/7 your armies will be funneled to Leningrad through the swamps along the road. They give the defender a nice advantage and really lure you into advancing in this direction.

Even if you have tons of units and lots of super strong Siege Artillery units, you will have barely enough units to destroy all enemy units thrown at you. I found Leningrad's city defenses not very impressive, I actually conquered the city except for two hexes across the Neva:
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9554/leningrad41.jpg


But I also took damage and replaced too much with Elite replacements. I have the feeling I will regret this. My units on the other hand gain experience at a rapid pace given the numerous fights they have. I lost a Panzer IVF who was not backed up by artillery to Soviet Engineers – 9 gone. Boom. Doh.


I very much liked the counter-attacks! This was almost too predictable, smelled like Kerensky to do something like that. Nevertheless I was really lured into a situation that could have been awkward with a weaker force.

My suggestion to make this scenario even better? Bad weather! That would have made it far more difficult to deal with the numerous counter-attacks who were smashed mainly by Stukas.

Map/Briefing/Debriefing:
No typos on the map. I guess Kerensky's Russian is way better than mine for some reason.
Some minor issues, I would rephrase the briefing for Leningrad somewhat. It's very lengthy.
But again, a NATIVE speaker could do that so much better than me.

[Longasc]

Vyazma: DV 19/20

Start: 2192 (+1650)
End: 998
Losses: T-34, replaced with PzIIIJ

After repairs and adding some extra to the Stukas I started with 1040 Prestige.
I forgot to upgrade my K17s and the PzIIIH as I saved the scenario yesterday.


Summary:
BAD WEATHER! MUD!
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8417/vyazma.jpg

I should have used less airforce and more ground troops.
Rain - mud - mud, but no rain, mud - no mud, clear, sunny - mud... well, a lot of mud!
I forgot the exact order but my airforce could not support my army as usual.

The enemy was strong, crossing the river took time and several times I had to turtle around StuG and artillery. The StuG saved my Infantry from Russian counter-attacks. In general I was fighting very defensively for the first 10 turns before I could finally conquer Vyazma. In the south the AI almost re-captured an airfield which would have destroyed several units of my airforce... ugh!

I was pressed very hard and no longer had the Prestige for Elite repairs. I regret being that wasteful in Leningrad now. My general unit experience dropped back to rather low levels.

I could not deviate too much and had to leave several cities unconquered and feared counter-attacks. But mud slows most units to 2 hexes speed and was a major problem. Overstrength (12) tanks and fighters were a problem.


All in all a wonderful map, I quite liked how weather and stronger tanks and better prepared (~9 entrenchment) positions caused me major problems.


Text errors:
Map seems okay, the debriefing has some errors.

[Longasc]

I just wondered how Soviet Guards can ever shoot first vs a Panzer IVF in open terrain. (Winter)

Edit: I just encountered a KV-5. Will have to write the report tomorrow, will have to sleep over this. Streets of Moscow isn't for the faint of heart.

[Longasc]

Moscow 41: DV 21/24

Start: 2748 (+1750)
End: 1453
After Elite Reinforcements/Overstrengthening/Buying Units: 1011
Losses: 1xRecon, 3x PzIIIJ. 2 of them SE units.


Deployment for this scenario is done on a "green" summer tiles map. Then you start the scenario and it's winter and the rivers are frozen.
- Please fix this, the same also happens in Narvik and the Ardennes and it is somewhat irritating. The mini map should also change to a white winter tile set.


Summary:
A very well balanced scenario. Even harder than Vyazma. It's frozen, not muddy, which makes things a bit easier.
I was running low on Prestige at times and could not use elite reinforcements, also lost units who had to be replaced.
Nevertheless Prestige was sufficient, well done.

This scenario has occasional snowstorms but the major problem are the overstrengthened modern Soviet tanks, a T34/41 managed to stop three of my tanks West of Moscow and it took ages without a Stuka to defeat it. Most of my artillery was fighting in the middle and the StuG IIIB was a major asset to protect units from otherwise easily lethal close quarter attacks. I lost a Panzer III to Engineers this way. The other two were interestingly lost to Guards after tanks weakened them already. They have 4 SA but 6 HA coupled with high ground defense. They really tore the weak SA and rather low GD Panzer III apart. If they get them in restricted terrain you can imagine what happens. Kerensky said the Guards will get toned down, I think just switching SA and HA values would do the trick, as the SA is surprisingly low for elite Infantry, while the HA is 1943 level in 1941.

I found the trains in Moscow somewhat irritating. They are supposedly there to show that reinforcements from the Far East are incoming or something like that. As they were labelled Bridge Engineers I destroyed them, as I feared they would disembark and attack my units. But they never did!

The map is a wonderful example of urban warfare, kudos to Kerensky. That's a good template for a future Stalingrad.


There is an experimental KV tank, a KV-5 (you can google it) which was a nice bonus to encounter. While I don't know how and when (must have happened in the final turn) I suddenly had a captured T-34/40 and a KV-1B in the next scenario.


Map: No text errors.
Briefing/Debriefing: See below.



Edit: I want to add that I got several heroes in this scenario and before in Vyazma. The Hero and XP acquisition rate is fine, due to the intense fighting units lose tons of strength points but also gain tons of XP due to the constant fighting.

[Longasc]

Demyansk: DV 19/22

Start: 3453
End: 845
After repairs, turn 1: 1520
No losses, could make generous elite reinforcement repairs during the scenario.

I really wish there would be an indicator how much Prestige you gain per turn in a defensive scenario.
It's 40 for Demyansk, but you have to wait a turn to figure that out. This really cries for an UI improvement.


Summary:
This is a very nice, albeit too easy scenario.
It prepares the player for upcoming "pockets" and future defensive scenarios. But it also shows that the AI needs massive superiority to have any chance
while launching an offensive against the player.

I escorted my Ju-52 always up North over the frozen lake. They were never ever spotted and attacked. Later I noticed how many AA batteries were between the pocket and the West and it was apparently a very good decision to do so. I also noticed a tank force in the SE that never attacked.

This is an exercise in reading the scenario description (the main attacks are indeed from the East) and placing artillery and units in a defensive pattern.
The weather was mostly excellent so I could bomb and nuke the enemy units.

I didn't suffer serious losses and Prestige was plentiful. I think it is okay that way.


While there was a nice attempt from the SW to break into the pocket, I would wish for some more pressure from the WEST and the weather could be worse to make things more interesting!
Some more unit shuffling of Artillery, tanks and infantry should not be demanded too much. As it is Demyansk is too easy.


I also think the Flak should be placed outside the airfield initially. I placed my Ju-52 over an airfield occupied by a flak and well... I unloaded three turns later after moving the Flak out of the airfield as I wondered why no further Supply Carrier / Ju-52 arrived.


I will now continue an older save and take the KIEV path unless something else needs testing first?


Regarding the briefing, here is my suggestion. As this is a huge image and a lot of text this time only as link:
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3506 ... myansk.jpg

[Longasc]

Addendum:

Bug?
I could not save the game in the "View Battlefield" screen after Demyansk. This usually works but in some scenarios it doesn't, Demyansk is one of them.



I will save blabla about the 41 campaign for other threads and do that after I completed the Kiev path as well.

[deducter]

Just out of curiosity, how did you feel about the stats of the German tanks vs the Soviet tanks? I think the German tanks are too good relative to the T34s. I'd be fining with nerfing the German tanks and buffing the Soviet tanks, even if the total number of T34s are reduced for the scenarios.

[Longasc]

I think the T-34 isn't good enough and especially the IVF too good.

I'll post about this in its own thread.

[Longasc]

Is there an updated 41 campaign? Was there already an update to the initial release of the 41 DLC Beta?

04 Nov 2011 in this thread viewtopic.php?t=28241 seems to be the latest version.


I will go for Zhitomir around 16.00 GMT+1, prepare your defenses accordingly.

[Longasc]

(This scenario was started BEFORE the 41-DLC2 patch and completed AFTER applying it)


Zhitomir (Kiev path): DV 10/19

Start: 5495
End: 4444
After repairs/upgrades: 3731
No losses

Summary:
This was a very nice example of terrain helping the defender immensely. I was unable to secure and capture a foothold at the Dnieper-side of the Teteriv-River till the battle ended. But I could drive South without major problems and capture all objectives easily. I didn't get close to Kiev.

Stronger than expected enemy Fighters and AD shot my BF 110 down to 3, now that's something new! Russian resistance was stiff but the rather open nature of the terrain almost drove me exactly towards my objectives and while it was an intense mass battle it was never ever dangerous.

-> A tad too easy and too much prestige. I suggest adding increased fortifications to the final objectives especially near the Teteriv River bridges/crossing to make things a bit more interesting and maybe reduce the number of turns to 15.

A better DECISIVE victory condition could be to capture one or two cities (forgot their names!) before Kiev right behind the Teteriv River, i.e. secure the bridges and creating a forward staging area for an assault on Kiev.


I fought this with the same core as Ostrov and found Ostrov MUCH more difficult.



Briefing/Map:

Ah well, Habermann... now I know why Kerensky named the GFM Habermann.
History freaks will shoot Kerensky for taking the Hollywood license by basically making a hot saucy secretary do the briefing for our General.
Also, "Helferinnen der Wehrmacht" usually did other things. She is more like his secretary but she would never give orders to a General.

But that is up to Kerensky and the team to decide and I personally found it quite funny and entertaining, but see above.

Ah well it doesn't help that I just saw Sonya Kraus on TV... http://www.cineastentreff.de/teleschau/ ... _2_024.jpg

Anyways, here is the briefing inspired by the images of Eva Habermann and Sonya Kraus.