AK: Tunisian Bridgehead

[VPaulus]

Please post here your comments about this scenario.

[nikivdd]

Beta2
Colonel.
Some upgrades. The last PzIIIL to Tiger I, i didn't upgrade any of the PzIVG. Both StuGIIIB to Brummbar. The Brummbar doesn't show correct fire animation.

This is a real action packed scenario. A worthy finale to the "loss" path of the campaign. I had a hell of a time to saveguard the victory hexes. The allies just keep coming...what i missed in the Mareth scenario.
The reinforcements by glider is an excellent idea and is in the least something different to add flavor to a scenario. I lost quite some units, especially the italian auxiliaries, lost a PzIVG core tank and a StuGIIIG.
In my opinion nothing should be changed but i think the american tanks could use an extra strength point. The mission did create the feeling of literally to be cornered and nowhere to retreat.

DV 16/16, 2856PP.

Superb job guys! Congrats

[Erik2]

There are two Allied air units outside the play area, hexes (24,0) and (28,0).

The (unescorted) Axis convoy in the NE is cornered by Allied subs and surface vessels on all sides. There is no way out and the hapless transports are immediately attacked from all sides.
This is really frustrating, is there a way to avoid thier total destruction within 1-2 turns?

[uran21]

Try to continue playing and scenario will offer you an alternative. There is no salvation to those naval transports, it is by design.

[Erik2]

Try to continue playing and scenario will offer you an alternative. There is no salvation to those naval transports, it is by design.

I did play the rest of the scenario, and liked it.
I just think the transports should either have a realistic way to at least have a few of them survive, or they can just be skipped altogether.
You could give them a few Italian vessels and/or some air units as escorts. Nothing much, just make that part a bit interesting.

[uran21]

They are the part of initial shock and developing a plot that leads to introducing Gigant.

[Kamerer]

Tunisian Bridgehead, Beta 2~3 (switched 1/2 way through)

FM level played
Start Prestige: 5,725 End: 7,950. Net: +2,225
Result: DV with map cleared 16/16
Much prestige spent to elite-up units, a Tiger bought in-scenario to bolster defense.

I started with 8 units undeployed to wait for the weight of their assault. I filled in a unit or two here and there to plug the line, and it worked well. I ended up not deploying 2 core slots. Enough armour and open terrain made holding the ground fairly manageable without much scrambling. The scenario played well. I spent a fair amount of prestige repairing losses, but still finished up quite a bit – seems a bit generous for “prestige” given its an evacuation?

The AI goes straight at the objectives, making them easier to defend. I the opponent tried infiltrating seams between units, like Russians in '44, '45, it would make the defense much more difficult.

I upgraded to beta 3 midway through. The message button was a nice addition – and came in handy as I set the game aside a few hours and then came back to realize, “oh, where was I supposed to land that glider that’s still airborne?” Bingo. Very convenient and removed a long-standing annoyance. With the increased use of messages in AK, it is very good to have this. It only displayed messages after the upgrade installation (~turn 9), so I’m not sure if it will display the scenario briefing, too? I know most people were asking for that ability, too. I had no problems with html tags in mine, but the timestamp was the actual local time/date down to the second (“7/20/2012 9:43:57 AM”). Perhaps just have the game date (“5/5/1943”), or game date and 24-hour stamp to nearest ½ hour in 24-hour format (“5/5/1943 13:30”)?

A (very) small point. I’d rather that the message button be on the left side of the of button row. The F8/toggle reserve is the most frequently used button, so having it on the far right end makes it much quicker to scroll to and activate. Small point

[billmv44]

Beta 3. General level. Starting prestige 7389, ending 3205. Elite replacements for all units. Including AUX units during the scenario. Prestige was never an issue, so it may need to be dialed back a bit. The message button worked well and was a welcome addition to the game. Some in game messages did appear during the AI turn and would not click away, hiding some action. I thought this was resolved in this release.

Game play was fine. Lots of interesting things to do. The allies only briefly took 2 of the outer victory hexes. The AI was never able to break through my lines. An all out mad dash by all units at the same time would have flooded by me, but that didn't happen. I did try to save the naval transports, but the allied naval power is overwhelming. I was able to escort all of the air transports without loss. I tried to upgrade the first reinforcement unit with a halftrack but it wouldn't allow it. Is this intentional?

Cleared the map and got the DV.

[monkspider]

Tunisian Bridgehead
Ending prestige 7200
General level
DV on 16/16
Losses: 1xM14 tank

Now THIS was a defensive scenario! This was a very intense battle that does a great job of making you feel cornered as Nikkivd said. The enemy forces just keep coming and you have to frequently try to cobble together some kind of defense that will hold them back a little bit longer. I managed to hold all the objective hexes but several of them changed hands a few times. This was my favorite scenario of the Axis defeated path and a very worthy conclusion.

My only suggestion would be to apply this level of intensity to Mareth Line and El Alamein!

-Edit Oh, and the pop-up messages could use some editing on this one. They weren't horrible but they could be better.