Germany at War v.1.0.55 Update

[Philkian]

We are releasing the v.1.0.55 patch for the game. It fixes a minor crash, adjusts the equipment for some of the divisions and adds a new cursors for different dpi settings.

For the complete list of changes, look below:

v.1.0.55 July 25th, 2013
Release Update

• Fixes
o Crash when attacker and defender were both destroyed in a battle (spillblood)
o Name of reserve pool was not displayed if units were removed from an army group and not added.

• Added
o New cursors for different dpi settings

• A-A campaign
• *Riga* (all) (ComradeP)
o 6.PzDiv. now equipped with 35(t)
o 8.PzDiv. now equipped with 38(t)

• *Minsk* (all) (ComradeP)
o 7.PzDiv. now equipped with 38(t)
o 19.PzDiv. now equipped with 38(t)
o 20.PzDiv. now equipped with 38(t)
o Grossdeutschland is now Inf.Reg.(mot.)

• Single maps

• *Zhitomir 1943* (all) (ComradeP)
o Added 25.PzDiv. and LAH
o 19. PzDiv. set as reinforcement on 18.November

• *Tikhvin* (all)
o Removed twins of 233. and 18. ID (ComradeP)
o 18. ID (mot.) -> brigade


To download the update, players can run “Check for Update” via the game menu or download it directly from the game’s download page.

[Stechkin]

The game looks pretty good, but I ran into a couple of odd things. Am I doing something wrong?
1. GaW crashes if I try to load a map into editor.
2. In Minsk pocket the only deployment area for engineer units is Minsk which puts the new unit right in the Russian controlled area.
3. The aeroplanes seem to be able to fly forever as they do not show any jerrycans
4. The precision of Finnish artillery is far too low. Our legendary mathematician artillery general Nenonen created totally new fire control calculus. Subsequently the precision was at least the same if not better than that of German artillery.
5. I am still missing minefields and salvaging of enemy equipment. The Germans captured lots of T-34's and artillery which they used themselves and also sold to their allies like Finland.
Anyway, GaW shows a lot of promise. It looks good and is easy to run.

[RonaldWendt]

Hello,

The game looks pretty good,

thanks for the compliment.

1. GaW crashes if I try to load a map into editor.

Do you mean maps you saved with the editor crash when you load them again ?

2. In Minsk pocket the only deployment area for engineer units is Minsk which puts the new unit right in the Russian controlled area.

This is an error, will be resolved in the next version.

3. The aeroplanes seem to be able to fly forever as they do not show any jerrycans

Yes, air units have not limit concerning fuel.

4. The precision of Finnish artillery is far too low. Our legendary mathematician artillery general Nenonen created totally new fire control calculus. Subsequently the precision was at least the same if not better than that of German artillery.

We did not know this so far. When was this introduced and was it available as a standard to Finnish artillery units ? The sources we used to create the game did not mention this.

5. I am still missing minefields and salvaging of enemy equipment. The Germans captured lots of T-34's and artillery which they used themselves and also sold to their allies like Finland.

Both are interesting aspects. There are minefields in the game, but they currently only slow down units.
There is no concept as to enemy equipment in the game, but its an intriguing topic and we will give it some thought.

Anyway, GaW shows a lot of promise. It looks good and is easy to run.

Thanks, good to hear you have not run into problems. If there are any suggestion that come to your mind just let us know.

Regards,

[Stechkin]

The father of Finnish field artillery was general Vilho Petter Nenonen. He was also a mathematician and started revising artillery fire control in 1925. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilho_Petter_Nenonen . I assume that the German artillery used his methods too.

About loading the map. I opened the editor ( empty map ) and pressed "load" in order to load an existing scenario. I tried to see if I could mod the Minsk pocket to fix the deployment bug.

GaW is a good step towards realistic simulation. In addition to playing a game it could be used for "what if" playing. If the user could in the beginning of the scenario change the types of core units it would increase replayability. It would also be nice to incorporate the PzC database of units.

Now, about salvaging equipment. If the enemy tank or artillery piece surrenders or its battle readiness goes lower than some limit and it is flanked by at least two opponent units, it can be considered abandoned. An abandoned unit must, however, go to the nearest city or maintenance truck to be refitted. Obviously we then need different colour schemes for the same unit.

Is modding manual coming up?

[RonaldWendt]

Hello,

The father of Finnish field artillery was general Vilho Petter Nenonen. He was also a mathematician and started revising artillery fire control in 1925. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilho_Petter_Nenonen . I assume that the German artillery used his methods too.

Thanks a lot, i never came across this even though i have books specialized on the Finnish Army. Finnish value will be increased in next version.

About loading the map. I opened the editor ( empty map ) and pressed "load" in order to load an existing scenario. I tried to see if I could mod the Minsk pocket to fix the deployment bug.

If you used savegames for this its advisable to

- remove the signature and autosave tag in the header
- remove all <messages> at the end

If you still cannot load them in the editor, let me know.

GaW is a good step towards realistic simulation. In addition to playing a game it could be used for "what if" playing. If the user could in the beginning of the scenario change the types of core units it would increase replayability. It would also be nice to incorporate the PzC database of units.

I do not know the PzC database - is it the units + their values of the game Panzer Corps ?

Now, about salvaging equipment. If the enemy tank or artillery piece surrenders or its battle readiness goes lower than some limit and it is flanked by at least two opponent units, it can be considered abandoned. An abandoned unit must, however, go to the nearest city or maintenance truck to be refitted. Obviously we then need different colour schemes for the same unit.

Thanks for your idea - will give the topic of conquered equipment some thought.

Is modding manual coming up?

We are working on it - as soon as its done we will give it to the users. It will describe the XML commands and deliver examples what can be done with it.

Regards,

[Stechkin]

Dear Ronald,
I simply loaded the game and started editor. It loaded ok and an empty map opened up. Then I hit the load button, but instead of coming to ask me what to load the game simply crashed. I did not have any saved games either.

Yep, I mean the PzC units database. What surprises me is that PzC and GaW are like twins. Are the two going to be merged?

P.S. the weather effects are beautiful

[RonaldWendt]

Hello,

Dear Ronald,
I simply loaded the game and started editor. It loaded ok and an empty map opened up. Then I hit the load button, but instead of coming to ask me what to load the game simply crashed. I did not have any saved games either.

it could be reproduced - this is a bug, thanks for reporting.

Yep, I mean the PzC units database. What surprises me is that PzC and GaW are like twins. Are the two going to be merged?

There are more differences than you might see now, besides the games are from different developers and we never met.

P.S. the weather effects are beautiful

Thanks.

Regards,

[Stechkin]

Dear Ronald,
I'll keep testing and will report back. There's one thing I miss. The engineers cannot build bridges. That was an essential task during Barbarossa because Russia is full of rivers. Without a bridge there is no way of moving heavy equipment to the other side.

Best regards
Jorma Jussila

[Stechkin]

Ach, Ronald moi drug. U nas yescho nemnogo problema.

AGN-Tallinn does not show any deployment areas and there are deployment problems with other scenarios too. It seems that I cannot deploy all air units. Maybe it is caused by the scenario having no airfields. Please add also Stukas. They were one key equipment. Ju87G's for Hans-Ulrich Rudel's honour. He was one amazing aviator. The stukas often used improvised airfields. Can an engineer unit build one?

[RonaldWendt]

Dear Jorma,

Dear Ronald,
I'll keep testing and will report back. There's one thing I miss. The engineers cannot build bridges. That was an essential task during Barbarossa because Russia is full of rivers. Without a bridge there is no way of moving heavy equipment to the other side.

Best regards
Jorma Jussila

agreed - the abiltiy to build bridges is missing for the engineers. We will put it on the list for future version.

Ach, Ronald moi drug. U nas yescho nemnogo problema.

we will also solve this one. Sorry i don't reply in Russian, but my ablities in that field are more than limited.

AGN-Tallinn does not show any deployment areas and there are deployment problems with other scenarios too. It seems that I cannot deploy all air units. Maybe it is caused by the scenario having no airfields. Please add also Stukas. They were one key equipment. Ju87G's for Hans-Ulrich Rudel's honour. He was one amazing aviator. The stukas often used improvised airfields. Can an engineer unit build one?

In AGN there is no deployment possible. It is a special campaign only with historical units and no additions allowed. The next version will block all options for the player to deploy, if the maps are not designed for this to reduce confusion. It will also have tooltips that explain why the buttons cannot be used.

Rudel was an astonishing pilot - no doubt about that - though his political attitude is a very different matter and less admirable.
As Fliegerkorps VIII had two Stuka Geschwader at that time, we could make this change in favour of the more famous machines. Actually it was the predominant equipment around here. Is on the list.

Regards,

[Stechkin]

Cheers Ronald,
I loved storming of Leningrad. Beautiful! One thing though. What does one do with airplanes without ammo and airfield? It does not make much sense to have them flying pointlessly around like castrated seagulls. So, please, allow engineer corps to build airfields too.

Yep, I was referring to Rudel's professional skills, not to his political views. I neither take sides nor criticize another man's views. Same thing with warfare. Wehrmacht was a superb war machine. Except in the Finnish forest in winter - haw, haw. The Red Army and especially its weapon designers were also brilliant and dedicated. It was a major supplier of the Finnish Army - haw, haw again. So, playing this game one must forget the politics run at that time by psychpaths and simply look at it as historical entertainment and perhaps a way to learn about the mechanics of war.

One more thing. The 88 mm cannon was used against both aircrafts and land targets. The latter with devastating efficiency. How do I shoot at tanks with it?

Grüssi
Jorma

[RonaldWendt]

Hello Mr. language,

Cheers Ronald,
I loved storming of Leningrad. Beautiful! One thing though. What does one do with airplanes without ammo and airfield? It does not make much sense to have them flying pointlessly around like castrated seagulls. So, please, allow engineer corps to build airfields too.

Nice you liked the scenario. The restiction in ammo/supply of it should simulate the limited air strikes in some operations.
Anyway the engineers are a different matter. We will introduce more historic engineers in the future. This was also suggested during the beta, but time was against this back then. So there will be egnineers specialized in combat and those for building.

One more thing. The 88 mm cannon was used against both aircrafts and land targets. The latter with devastating efficiency. How do I shoot at tanks with it?

The 8.8 can't activly attack tanks. The distance for serious damage is too far in our game (about 5km) and the FlaKs would not be able to e.g. drive towards a Soviet tank corps to attack.
Its different in defence were the attacker has to seek the positions of the FlaK.

Regrads,

[Stechkin]

Dear Ronald,
yep, 88's cannot actively attack tanks (unless mounted on Tigers, of course), but can be towed to different places to wait for approaching tanks or airplanes.

I discovered one more enjoyable thing. In the attack to Moscow one of my Stug's got badly battered. I drove it into the nearby woods for cover. The Soviet fighters were then circling around and over the woods trying desperately to find it and clearly wondering where the heck did it go. They did not find it. AI is quite an opponent, I must say.

I have played the Vyazma-scenario. In my mind the unit configuration is not optimal. I'd like to try the scenario with troops of my own choosing. The scenario may reflect what happened in history, but I'd love to try an approach of my own and replace some units with different ones. Being able to experiment adds replayability quite a lot.

When I select one unit on the map and hit HQ, could this unit be highlighted also on the HQ window and vice versa? It would make it easier to check for example if I can upgrade an infantry unit with a truck or half-track. By the way, the black colour used for highlighting is not very good. Could you use yellow or neon green instead?

One more question. Where do I find Finnish army troops the manual speaks about?

Cheers
Jorma

[RonaldWendt]

Hello,

I discovered one more enjoyable thing. In the attack to Moscow one of my Stug's got badly battered. I drove it into the nearby woods for cover. The Soviet fighters were then circling around and over the woods trying desperately to find it and clearly wondering where the heck did it go. They did not find it. AI is quite an opponent, I must say.

Good to hear - with all rules applied we also had some though battles against the AI.

I have played the Vyazma-scenario. In my mind the unit configuration is not optimal. I'd like to try the scenario with troops of my own choosing. The scenario may reflect what happened in history, but I'd love to try an approach of my own and replace some units with different ones. Being able to experiment adds replayability quite a lot.

Indeed a good point we were thinking about, too. Maybe we add a mode were you can trade in your units for the value they have without loss, so you can reform existing settings at the start and the player can choose between a historical default or his own set of units.

When I select one unit on the map and hit HQ, could this unit be highlighted also on the HQ window and vice versa? It would make it easier to check for example if I can upgrade an infantry unit with a truck or half-track.

Yes, thats a good idea, atm. we only have HQ->map in the game. To add the other way around has advantages.

By the way, the black colour used for highlighting is not very good. Could you use yellow or neon green instead?

We will try better contrast, thanks for the hint.

One more question. Where do I find Finnish army troops the manual speaks about?

If you cannot find them in the woods, they are in the editor.
Also in the A-A campaing they will support your attack on Archangelsk if you perform very well.
Then they trust in your ability to beat the Soviets. For this you need to capture Leningrad.

Regards,