Royal Hungarian Army - Turan Campaign v1.2 (Mar 23, 2016)

[McGuba]

I'm a bit confused why sendspace does not work for me, I can dl other files from there, but still not this one.

? Strange indeed.
Anyway, happy that everyone can get it now. I remove the rapidshare link as it still does not seem to work.

[bebro]

Played the 1st scn vs. Slovakia 1939 (started on General).

The campaign looks well made, with lots of nice material that adds to the game atmo (pics, library, start screen etc.). Some of the music may not be everyones taste, but oh well, you can never please all tastes equally anyway. Very nice work also on those custom units, esp. the different transports.

I found no problem or "bug" so far.

The scn itself was pretty fun to play, not too big for the start, which I like. A quick advance in the first part without much opposition was followed by a hard-to-stop counterattack after a couple of turns. I lost one core inf unit because it took some time to set up arty backup, but I made the DV in the end after retaking one VH that had been lost temporarily.

I went out with some 800+ prestige, because I had to reinforce some of my core units that were close to destruction and still needed to repluse the enemy attack. Got a medal and look forward to play on

[McGuba]

Thanks, for your feedback

Some of the music may not be everyones taste

Believe me, this is not my favourite music, either. I prefer Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Oasis, and the like (however, these may not be everyone's taste, either...). Most of the early war music of the campaign is pure propaganda and military marches, later, as the war becomes more bleak there will be some more nice and intimate music. All songs are from the apropriate year and usually they are connected with the appropriate scenario somehow.

I went out with some 800+ prestige

I think it is all right, I just checked my savegame and I finished with 851... Prestige will be usually scarce, just like in the first half of your IJA campaign. It is easy to lose a core unit here, happened to me as well during testing. Slovak and Hungarian units are approximately at the same level.

In the next, Yugoslav scenario the player has to look out for Partisans. They can make a lot of trouble behind the frontline. In the next release I will probably make them even more weaker.

[bebro]

Believe me, this is not my favourite music, either.

HeHe

In the next, Yugoslav scenario the player has to look out for Partisans. They can make a lot of trouble behind the frontline. In the next release I will probably make them even more weaker.

Played the scn. Got a MV at 23/24, but found it quite difficult, and probably could not have won without a bit of luck (RNGs in my favour). So I would welcome making life for the player a little easier.

The prob for me was that I was cautious to not get surprised by partisan attacks, and mostly managed to keep them at bay. But this also meant I had to drop off constantly forces for guarding my back, and they suffered quite some losses. At the same time this meant my attacks became less and less powerful because I could not commit as much units anymore to get the last objectives.

Still, a good idea in general with spawning those partisans IMO, and I liked the scenario overall a lot. Probably also because it makes excellent use of Massi's tiles to depict those fortified defense lines.

One thing I'm wondering about is road bridges: it seemed to me river crossing needed always full movement, whether there were bridges or not? ONly when I used bridge engineers over river my fast units could cross directly. Just curious.

Core at the end (12):

2 tanks (Toldi)
3 inf (2 mot, 1 vanilla)
2 arty 105mm
1 recon (free Csaba AC)
1 AT, 1 AA
1 Fgt (CR 42)
1 Tac (WM 21)

1000+ prestige available after proceeding to the next scn, but before reinforcing or buying anything. I noticed the core rises to 15, but I just saved and haven't played further yet.

[McGuba]

I would welcome making life for the player a little easier

I will further reduce the stats of the partisan units in the next release. They will be more than an annoyance than a serious threat. Still they can cause some damage, especially to land transports. Also increased the number of turns to 28, and for a DV the player will need 24. The first scenarios are not intended to be hard. Their purpose is to introduce the new nation specific units.

I had to drop off constantly forces for guarding my back

It is indeed a good idea to leave the less mobile units behind to guard the captured primary objectives. But then, obviously, the player can commit less and less forces to the advance.

One thing I'm wondering about is road bridges

The retreating Yugoslav forces destroyed most bridges. The attacking Hungarians could only take the one at Szenttamas (24,27) intact. Massi's mod includes destroyed brige tiles, and I used these, so apparently it is possible to tell them apart from the intact ones. However, it may not be obvious at a first glance, so I will give them the new string "destroyed bridge" and maybe some graphical enhacement is needed here as well.

1000 presige should be ok. Your core is ok as well, but, as it is hinted in the briefing, the player can make good use of a core bridging unit in this scenario. The player will definately need one in the later 1941 scenarios. The Soviets also destroy everything they can when they are retreating.

[Uhu]

Partisans are, modified to the same stats as conscripts, still extreme good - not only against transport or artillery targets. Maybe to make their doings more historical even the max. strenght of 10 should be reduced, but in my version they will stay on 10 to for giving enough challenge.

I would welcome making life for the player a little easier

I will further reduce the stats of the partisan units in the next release. They will be more than an annoyance than a serious threat. Still they can cause some damage, especially to land transports. Also increased the number of turns to 28, and for a DV the player will need 24. The first scenarios are not intended to be hard. Their purpose is to introduce the new nation specific units.

I had to drop off constantly forces for guarding my back

It is indeed a good idea to leave the less mobile units behind to guard the captured primary objectives. But then, obviously, the player can commit less and less forces to the advance.

One thing I'm wondering about is road bridges

The retreating Yugoslav forces destroyed most bridges. The attacking Hungarians could only take the one at Szenttamas (24,27) intact. Massi's mod includes destroyed brige tiles, and I used these, so apparently it is possible to tell them apart from the intact ones. However, it may not be obvious at a first glance, so I will give them the new string "destroyed bridge" and maybe some graphical enhacement is needed here as well.

1000 presige should be ok. Your core is ok as well, but, as it is hinted in the briefing, the player can make good use of a core bridging unit in this scenario. The player will definately need one in the later 1941 scenarios. The Soviets also destroy everything they can when they are retreating.

[bebro]

The retreating Yugoslav forces destroyed most bridges. The attacking Hungarians could only take the one at Szenttamas (24,27) intact. Massi's mod includes destroyed brige tiles, and I used these, so apparently it is possible to tell them apart from the intact ones. However, it may not be obvious at a first glance, so I will give them the new string "destroyed bridge" and maybe some graphical enhacement is needed here as well.

I see. Now that I checked it again, they actually differ visually, and look like destroyed bridges indeed. Should have paid more attention to them...

A "destroyed bridge" string over them would IMO be enough.

[bebro]

I played two scns today:

Barbarossa MV 29/30

Adding a bridge eng to my core was a good hint, still I wasn't able to come anywhere close to the DV at 25 turns. I lost time already before enemy contact as it was difficult to get forces tthrough the narrow mountain range, and over the rivers in time.

I was surprised about the "separation" from Romanian forces, but it works well the way it's set up, and adds an interesting aspect to the game - esp. that I cannot just use other axis forces that I do not command. So overall I like it.

Combat was difficult and tedious at times, often because it takes ages to kill the last str 1 unit in the way (one time I had four attacks on Sov inf producing absolutely no result in a row, a big arrrgh ). However, difficult progress is expected somehow, and overall I enjoyed the scn.

Uman DV 24/32

The core bridge eng served me well again, but I would ask to add an aux one from the start, or at least with the first wave of Hun reinforcements, as they are absolutly crucial here, and not everyone might have bought one already. Or maybe add a note to the briefings, or a message saying they are needed. Another option would be to give less prestige before, but add a free core bridge eng at the start.

There is a lot to say about this scn: I absolutely enjoyed playing it, but IMO there are also some points I did not like that much.

First it was impressive to see how those Sov units were retreating and regrouping around a certain place. Also the river crossing, and reducing of the Uman pocket needed both good planning and concentrated effort, so were a lot of fun.

Although I made a DV here I found the 24 turn limit for a DV a bit too tight. This way it felt often like the "race" scenarios in vanilla, where you need to hurry all the time. But my main complaint is that after the glorious DV with several of my units pretty beaten up I do get next to nothing for it.

It looks like prestige awarded after the scn is far below 100, which is really quite a disappointment IMO. I certainly do not expect to get to swim in prestige all the time, but this doesn't even remotely match losses taken and destroys the sense of achievement (after the briefing tells you that entire Soviet armies surrendered) somewhat.

Sure I can use green replacements (did so before occasionally to save points) but if it is made to force a certain style on the player I'd find it a bit too restrictive. If it's to avoid getting to five star units too fast maybe a slow down of exp gain could be worth considering instead (only a suggestion of course).

So all in all gameplay was great, but I'm wondering if the way how those other things are set is rewarding/enjoyable for the player.

[bebro]

Played two more:

Dnieper MV 27/34

Very nice defensive first, without the German reinforcements I'd have been unable to advance at all probably. Nothing to complain, very good scn

Don DV 7/16

Suddenly I have loads of prestige (3000+) which may relativate my comments above somewhat. Personally, I would still prefer a more balanced distribution of prestige, although of course at some points it make sense to hand out more or less for specific purposes. Here a number of new unit types became available so more is nice for upgrades. Even got a free PzIV :

Scn-wise this came somewhat as a surprise since it turned out to be very easy, and so was over quickly. After the sometimes harsh scns before it was kinda welcome to have an easier life for a change. I'm just wondering if this is WAD, as it differs so much from anything before.

The new unit types are great so far, I upgraded my AA to Nimrod, which did well as AT too. Two Fgt are now Re2000, two Toldis got "promoted" to Pz38G. Some of the new gfx are very nice, and I've never seen them before (aside from those I knew from previews seen here), like Ca135, He46 most of those Hun guns and vehicles etc. Good job on those whoever did them

[McGuba]

A "destroyed bridge" string over them would IMO be enough.

Done.

I wasn't able to come anywhere close to the DV at 25 turns.

Uhu reported the same. Now I see that I was a bit harsh regarding the DV limits in the 1941 scenarios. Same goes for the prestige. I will revise these things in the next release. Players should not loose their motivation early on.

On the other hand, I would really like to avoid throwing thounsands of unspendable prestige at the player as it happens in the stock campaigns. Finding the "golden path" is quite difficult. Probably I will make DC winable here and give a few more prestige like 2-3-4 hundred more.

I lost time already before enemy contact as it was difficult to get forces through the narrow mountain range, and over the rivers in time.

Historically, they faced the same problem, the retreating Russians destroyed all the bridges and created road blocks in the mountain passes. Moreover, the commanding generals wanted to use not just one, but at least two passes to cross the Carpathian Mountains, but for some reason, high command had decided to squeeze the whole 40.000-men-strong Mobile Corps through the Tatar (Jablonica) Pass, which led to some chaos and disorder. (By the way this part of the sceanrio bears a little resemlance to the Kokoda-track scenario of the IJA campaign.)

]
Traffic jam in the Tatar Pass in 1941.

[McGuba]

Uman

The core bridge eng served me well again, but I would ask to add an aux one from the start

I think this is the best solution as there is an aux bridger in the previous scenario as well and that would help to create a feeling of continuity. Will do.

Although I made a DV here I found the 24 turn limit for a DV a bit too tight.

Same as above. Maybe 2 more turns for DV. However, it is not the end of the world if a player cannot make DV in each and every scenario. Now THAT would be ahistorical.

This way it felt often like the "race" scenarios in vanilla, where you need to hurry all the time.

I do not like these types of scenarios, either. I like to defeat the (A.I. ?!) enemy and not the clock. But then again, historically, this phase of the war was indeed a race against time, German and minor axis mobilised armies rushed forward to encircle more and more Soviet armies in the the so-called "Kesselschlacht" tactic or cauldron battles.

a slow down of exp gain could be worth considering

It is already in place. Please check gamerules.pzdat.


The original motive for giving little prestige between the 1941 scenarios was again histrical: as the Mobile Corps went further and further to the East it lost nearly all of its horses and tanks and there was no replacement at all. Not to mention any kind of equipment upgrade whatsoever. The distance from home was just too great and the troops hardly got any of the basic neccessities like food and ammo. After the capture of Nikolayev they had to stop the advance for a while as they ran out of fuel. The campaign itself was a logistical nightmare. At same time, I understand that gameplaywise the simulation of it can be frustrating. Soldiers and civilians alike suffer during wartime, but nowadays "wheelchair generals" do not neccesarily want to experience the same suffering. So I have to think over the reward system.

[McGuba]

1942 Don river

My intention is to divide the campaign to four "chapters" or mini campaigns as they appear in the campaign start screen: the 1939-41 boarder revisions, participation in the Barbarossa campaign in 1941, the defense of the Don river in 1942-43, and finally the endgame in 1944-45. Just like in vanilla PzC, the player can start the campaign game from any of these, and thus they are stand alone campaigns, or obviously they can be played in "grand campaign" mode from the beginning, as probably most people would do. It also makes re-plays and trials easier, e.g. if the player is doomed in 1944 he does not have to restart the whole campaign, just revert to the 1942 or 1944 campaign start.

Scn-wise this came somewhat as a surprise since it turned out to be very easy, and so was over quickly. After the sometimes harsh scns before it was kinda welcome to have an easier life for a change.

Being the first scenario of the 1942 chapter, it is intentionally fairly easy, but difficulty in the next scenarios will gradually increase. The 1942-43 scenarios take place in the same map as there was not much movement at, all so these battles indeed differed so much from anything before. It is really like a new chapter, a new year, "counter to zero", with several new units which need some introduction and testing. It can be seen as a testing ground or military exercise, bit like the tutorial. The player will need the full knowledge of the map and the new units to be successfull in the next fateful scenarios.

Some of the new gfx are very nice...Good job on those whoever did them

I made the unit icons for the He-46 and Ca.135. Also for the new Hungarian guns and transports. Praise has to go to you in the first place, though, as you re-created the vanilla aircraft in excellent quality and I made good use of them. I tried to make the new additional planes in the same style and quality to preserve uniformity. In the next release there will be more "Hungarianized" versions of your German aircraft.

[bebro]

Thanks for the answers. I think overall you're right with making this a challenging campaign without prestige going overboard or DVs too easy to achieve. I'm just writing down everything I find that might concern players, but I certainly do not expect a change in my favour on every bit. Esp. when there are historic or other (gameplay) reasons supporting a certain approach

[bebro]

Continued with...

Uryv MV 10/10

Very intense fighting, esp. in the north VHs changed their flags several times. The decision whether to get an MV or a loss came at the very last turn, I have to admit I repeated that turn several times to see if I would be able to receive a better result. In one try I got loss, in two more MVs.

Part of the challenge here was to get your core units to the hot spots in time. Found no problem overall, very enjoyable scn.

Korotoyak DV 26/26

Another good scn, albeit maybe a tad too long. It was basically decided around turn 18, when the main Soviet counter-attack petered out. After turn 20 there was not happening much anymore, I could have advanced more, but had left my bridge engs behind too much to cross the river in the north, so it was mainly an arty duel and some air attacks for the last turns.

Still, might have developed differently so maybe the turns are needed then. Otherwise might be worth to consider shortening the scn a bit. Noticed a little typo in the de-briefing (So_iet lacking "v"), but no probs otherwise.


I saw the next battle is the last scn for this version. For now I'll stop, I'll rather continue if there is a new version out including later scns. As a general observation, during the first scns prestige was more of a problem than now in those later battles post 42. Of course, this might be different on other levels or with different core compositions. I also did everything to avoid core losses, rather took units back and went for MVs if needed. This also saved prestige.

Overall it is a very nicely made mod which I can only recommend for players who like historic campaigns, esp. with other than the major combattants as lead nation.

[McGuba]

Uryv

Very intense fighting, esp. in the north VHs changed their flags several times.

Historical record says the village of Uryv changed ownership more than a dozen times in 1942, so it works as intended.

Korotoyak

It was basically decided around turn 18, when the main Soviet counter-attack petered out.

It means that in this case you did better than historically, which is excellent, but I might have to make this scen a bit harder. Historically, German-Hungarian forces could only achieved MV. A DV here means better defenses in the next scen, which is slightly ahistorical, while MV leads to the historical outcome. At some key points it is possible to slightly depart from the historical path. Otherwise there would be no motivation.

I'll rather continue if there is a new version out including later scns.

This will take some time, however, there will be a new release soon with minor fixes. The final scenario of the current release is the conclusion of the 1942-43 "chapter", so a bit sad that you stopped now, but there is no urge, of course.

As a general observation, during the first scns prestige was more of a problem than now in those later battles post 42.

I will re-set the presitge allocation a bit. However, the further the player gets in a campaign, the harder it is to estimate his prestige. The ultimate solution for this problem is not to make too long campaigns, I guess...

Many thanks for your feedback, it proved quite useful to make the campaign better. Also thank you again for making the vanilla aircraft replacements, and the other unit icons. Your contribution has been crucial.

[McGuba]

Hmmmmm, bebro, I know you did not want to play the last "Alexeyevka" scenario, but could you just start it, and see if it crashes during the AI move? Uhu has reported a CTD there, even if he used the /nocache switch. I could not replicate the CTD, even though I tried on two different computers.

Currently the total number of units in this scenario is 217. It should not cause a problem, should it?

Or maybe anyone else who has downloaded the latest release... Please give feedback if you experience the same problem.

[VPaulus]

It didn't crash with me. It's a heavy scenario, but after finishing it, the system still had more 50/100Mb free before entering the crash zone. With the /nocache switch on, Uhu, shouldn't have any issue.
However, I remember also a case, during one of the betas, that the player would also crash before entering the usual danger zone which is around 1GB.

[Uhu]

I "bugfixed" it in the meantime. The reason was very misterious - at least for me. Somehow an entry was gone from the eqp file (Sdkfz. 7) - which was my version not the original from McGuba - and therefore the scenario crashed. When I put the missing entry there were no more crashes. Still good to know when such things happen the reason can be also such a cause.

Hmmmmm, bebro, I know you did not want to play the last "Alexeyevka" scenario, but could you just start it, and see if it crashes during the AI move? Uhu has reported a CTD there, even if he used the /nocache switch. I could not replicate the CTD, even though I tried on two different computers.

Currently the total number of units in this scenario is 217. It should not cause a problem, should it?

Or maybe anyone else who has downloaded the latest release... Please give feedback if you experience the same problem.

[McGuba]

A new version is available for download. No groundbreaking new features this time, though. Mainly minor changes in the campaign following testers' feedback, such as re-balanced prestige allocation, even weaker partisans, etc. I added historical unit names to all axis units. I also added a long list naming the authors of each new / modified unit icons of the mod. Other mod makers using any of these in the future are required to give credit to the creator of the specific unit.

I wanted to release it earlier, but I wanted to check it with the new v1.3 patch. It seems to work with no problem.

[McGuba]

While there were no new units in the last release, I continue to work on the next, hopefully final version, which will conclude the campaign in March 1945, with the last major Axis offensive of the war, to retake Budapest.

Royal Hungarian Air Force is finished:

1939-41
Fiat CR.32 by zombiehunter1977
Fiat CR.42 modified from vanilla icon by me
Weiss Manfred WM-21 by me
Junkers Ju-86 K by rezaf (modified by Uhu)
Caproni Ca.135 by me




1942-43
Reggiane Re.2000 by bebro
Messerschmitt Bf 109 F by bebro (converted by me)
Heinkel He-46 by me
Caproni Ca.135 by me





1944-45
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-14
Focke-Wulf FW 190 F
Messerschmitt Me 210 Ca-1
Junkers Ju 87 D
Junkers Ju 88 A
~all these by bebro (converted by me)