Inferno: A Red Army Campaign - full release v 0.85

[bebro]

Good to hear it's running well now. Have fun!

[Razz1]

Kiev 41 was a tough map. Lost all my prestige.

Successful delay on last turn.

[McGuba]

So, finally I had the time to try it as well

I have played the first two scenarios so far, difficulty: general, outcome: MV and MV.

So far the difficulty seems to be OK for me. A bit frustrating, of course, given the historical context, but not too much, which is great, I guess. Having played only the first two scens, I already feel the pain and frustration of the contemporary Soviet soldiers: I really want to strike back the unstoppable invaders, and I just cannot wait to upgrade to better equipment, especially aircraft. I really want to write a letter to Comrade Lavochkin and Yakovlev and urge them to make better fighters which I badly need. Until then, I place all my hopes in the mighty Kliment Voroshilov tanks, these steel beasts wreck havoc on the enemy forces. Too bad that I can afford only two of them in my core, even though I know that probably these were even less common historically.

I have noticed that there might be a problem with the representation two bridges in the Uman map:




While in the first pic the bridge seems to be destroyed (custom tile by Massi), as in my original Uman map (and as it was historically), the scenario editor reveals that it is actually a normal, unharmed bridge. I do not know if it was intentional, but for me it was a bit confusing. Anyway, it might also explain valhain's problem two pages earlier with the representation of these bridges.

Also, here is the replay of the first two scens if they help:
http://rapidshare.com/files/446156990/Replay1.zip

I will try to continue, but my time for PzC is very limited these days...

Congrats for the release of yet another mod and keep up the good work!

[bebro]

Thx for your feedback guys

Razz, sounds like a helluva fight for Kiev. Did you try to save the city itself, or was the prestige needed to fight off the pincer movements? Just curious how people approach this


McGuba, thx for the report, I'm glad you like it. Don't worry about time, I fully understand and I'm rather in the same situation. And then it's also summer...

Re bridges, I wanted to have them destroyed first, but then wondered if the AI can deal wih it and put back real bridges. Should be no prob to correct the appearance. I use two KVs myself at this point, they're really gold. Air power needs to be used carefully for quite a while, until you get your fighters XP up, and can use later models. And even then one needs to approach stronger enemy fighters with "respect". Using AA fo a while to wear down strong enemy air units is really imperative here IMO.

[Wildthing]

Hey Bebro: Any news about the progress of your long awaited campaign? Will it be possible to unleash operation Uranus on NOv. 19th ?

Greets, Wild

[bebro]

I'm afraid I have to give one of those good news/bad news answers:

Good news: Op. Uranus is already finished and included in the 10 scn demo that is available here.

Bad news: the mod was basically on hold during the last two months and will remain so for a while. I'd like to complete it, but I can't give any ETA yet. I'm not even sure if I can do it this year.

[VPaulus]

Bad news: the mod was basically on hold during the last two months and will remain so for a while. I'd like to complete it, but I can't give any ETA yet. I'm not even sure if I can do it this year.

And I was beginning to wonder, how do you have time for all that... considering all the other projects.

[bebro]

I cloned myself to have someone doing all the work....nah

Just had to put a stop on this mod for a while, but it's not forgotten

[bebro]

More good news/bad news:

I resumed work on this (good) on a low level, but still can't say when it's done (oh well).

Maybe more interestingly, to offer an easier entry into the campaign I added the option to start with two scns vs. Japan (Lake Khasan/Khalkyn Gol).

The player can either choose to play like now from 1941, getting thrown right away into the German onslaught. Or he starts vs. Jap 1938, but then will join the fight vs. Ger only with the battle of Moscow (as part of forces redeployed from Siberia). Players choosing this path skip the harsh defensive scns of summer/autumn 1941, so don't get overall a longer campaign. After Moscow both paths are identical.

[bebro]

Some real update after a while, with pics and all

Screenshots below are from scns playing 1944 and 45. Over 25 scns are done and fully playable. One is still lacking - the last. Some need still briefings etc.

Finally added big UI pics - this time I don't have 3d views for everything. Instead I use b/w pics for all units, took most from McGuba's excellent Hungarian mod (thanks!), and added a couple more myself.

In the aftermath of Op. Bagration - fighting in the Baltics 1944:



Last-ditch German armored offensive - Op. Solstice near Stettin, Jan 1945:

[bebro]

Final campaign path as it stands now:



No ETA yet, but let's say the end is in sight

[Sleezly]

Looking real nice,Dude!

[Shrike]

Indeed, looking forward to playing this. Have you considered adding a hero or two on the opponent's side for the later scenario's? Can't remember if I ever encountered such in any campaign I've played so far, but it may be an interesting alternative/addition to over-strengthening as it could provide a different game experience.

[bebro]

Thx for the comments. guys

About heroes, right now I don't have any for the AI. I'm not even sure if you can assign them to AI units, or just to those of the player. Could be worth a try indeed tho...

[McGuba]

So I have played through the 10 scenarios of the first release up until Operation Winter Storm defeating the German relief effort at Stalingrad in Dec 1942.
Here I encountered a possible bug: I managed to hold all Soviet owned objectives and to take one of the axis owned objectives (Nizhne-Chirskaye) fulfilling the requirements for a Marginal Victory and still it became a Defeat.

Thus I checked the victory conditions of the scenario with the editor and found that for a Marginal Victory:
"... Number of axis flags in zone 1 is no more than 1 AND Number of axis flags in zone 1 is equal to 0"
which is a bit contradicting, and seems to explain my defeat.

Here is savegame file: http://www.sendspace.com/file/8b7a58

If I am right it should be:
"...Number of axis flags in zone 1 is no more than 1 AND Number of axis flags in zone 5 is equal to 0"
(zone 1: the two axis owned objectives in turn 1)
(zone 5: Soviet owned objectives in turn 1)

Because of my "defeat" the campaign ends here and unfortunately I did not make a savegame before this scenario so I will have to hack the campaign path when the final version comes out so that I can continue the campaign from the next scenario adding my core from this map.

Other than that I have been really enjoying the campaign, it is quite challenging and enemy is very unforgiving.
In some sceanrios I had real difficulties to get a Marginal Victory at least (playing at General) and the presige budget is tight. It might be a bit frustrating to some players though, as in most cases a defeat means the end of the campaign. Uncle Stalin does not seem to accept anything but victory.

I like that my fighters are catching up with the Luftwaffe very slowly. I like the new unique equipment types. I like the geographically correct maps and city/river names. Obviously I like the Minor-Axis armies present in the campaign.

The only thing that I did not really like is it that Soviet infantry stats are even lower than in vanilla game, making them pretty much useless thus I have only 2-3 of them in my core to hold the key cities. (Now I am speaking of the regular and guards units, not the ill-equipped conscripts which are ok.) The pre-placed regular infantry units are only used as cannon fodders to slow down the enemy advance. So I mostly rely on the undefeatable KV-1 tanks supported by the cheaper and faster T-34s. I might be wrong, but as I know Soviet infantry was not that bad, having equipped with large numbers of SMGs and LMGs and mortars stating from mid-late 1942. Hopefully, from 1943-44 they will perform better.

About heroes, right now I don't have any for the AI. I'm not even sure if you can assign them to AI units, or just to those of the player. Could be worth a try indeed tho...

You can assing heroes to AI units in the same way as you do to player units with bonus stats, name and picture. I assigned a few to the AI in my campaign without a problem.

[bebro]

Thx for the feedback

I'll fix those victory conditions, that shouldn't happen of course.

Re the other points, yes, some 41er inf is weaker. My thought was to support the Ai a bit, but if that's regarded as too much working against the player I could change it back (I guess mainly the regular 41 defense stat). 43 inf has minor changes too, but esp. Guards should perform well with some XP and OV. It will be really needed once you go into the offensive on a grand scale...

I also got the hero thing sorted out meanwhile with Nico's help, and did implement some of them. I'll use those mainly late-war here and there, to give German units more 'bang' at a point when they're facing otherwise overwhelming odds.

Progress-wise I have the last scn in the works now. Needs some balancing and testing, then there is only polishing work left. Still, weekdays I hardly do anything about modding, so it might take a while, but hopefully I can release it before the end of the year.

[valhain]

Final campaign path as it stands now:



No ETA yet, but let's say the end is in sight

Oooooooh, can't wait.

Are the max 4 bonus units part of those included in that chart, or there are, for example, 42+4 for the last 2 scenarios?

Thanks!

[bebro]

Yes, bonus units are additional, so its 42+4, allowing you to field max. 46 units in the end...

[timek28]

Hey bebro

I started playing your mod. It is pretty challenging from the beginning, but it is also fine tuned so it's not frustrating. It illustrates Soviet struggle and big losses quite well

I just wanted to ask right now there are 10 playable scenarios right? I won't ask when is rest due, but can savegames be used (is core saved) for the moment when the whole campaign is finished?

[bebro]

Glad you like it Yes, it's 10 scns currently.

I didn't implement a savecore function like in those DLCs, but you could just save at the end of #10 "Winterstorm" (before proceeding to the de-briefing) and dig this save out later to continue once you got the full version installed. Maybe should have thought of adding this feature, but oh well...