Battlefield: Europe MOD v2.4

[Intenso82]

Maybe already was...

It would be excellent if it turn out to add naval inf. unit for the USSR.
It will be more interesting.
Estimates besides different but to 200-300 thousand were seamen who were at war as infantry.
In October-November 1941 forming 25 naval brigades, then 30 more were created. It were also as line divisions consist of seamen, ship crews.
They were at war in Odessa, Sevastopol, Leningrad, Novorossiysk, counterstroke near Moscow.

Nazi called them - "Black death".
Maybe they should add soft attack and to reduce defence in comparison in usual infantry.
They had a black uniform and a blue stripped vest.


If to turn out to make a new icon it will be remarkable.

PS. As it is known Odessa didn't capitulate.
And the troops of 86 thousand people defending her have been evacuated to the Crimea. It is possible to reflect it in mod? How evacuation of one unit by the ship to Sevastopol?

[StefanDK]

Just an update on my multiplayer game with this mod.

As the Allies and in turn 32, I conquered Berlin from the East and are now headed towards France and enclosing with naval troops towards Italy. I do not know the exact win/lose conditions, but I should be there fairly soon.

My opponent has given up completely and have no good units left - it's all minimum infantry and some air units that may be experienced, but also not worth a dime fighting the vast army of the Soviets.

All in all I must say that the scenario is not balanced enough in multiplayer, and neither should it be, probably. My opponent is usually very good, but he was totally overwhelmed by the force I hit him with. I won in every region ranging from Africa to the Black Sea, and I have even invaded the north of France with two units from a small naval campaign (event in the game).

[McGuba]

Maybe already was...

It would be excellent if it turn out to add naval inf. unit for the USSR.
It will be more interesting.

If to turn out to make a new icon it will be remarkable.

I already made it and they are prominent the currently released v1.6 of this mod:

Soviet_Marines.png (25.75 KiB) Viewed 8093 times

Soviet marines currently help to defend Odessa, Sevastopol and Novorossiysk. They have somewhat better attack stats than regular infantry and usually more experience (=better training/moral). They even make naval landings in the Black Sea area on a random basis, which might be behind enemy lines.

v17marine.jpg (176.21 KiB) Viewed 8093 times

PS. As it is known Odessa didn't capitulate.
And the troops of 86 thousand people defending her have been evacuated to the Crimea. It is possible to reflect it in mod? How evacuation of one unit by the ship to Sevastopol?

Yes, I know that Odessa did not capitulate, but was evacuated in front of the attacking Romanians overnight. Still the Romanians regard it a considerable victory, though they suffered heavy losses during its siege in 1941.

As far as I know currently the AI cannot load units into ships and move them somehwere else to unload them again. Once I tried to scrip it but could not do it. Maybe it was changed (improved) in the meantime, I do not know.

But the main problem is to do so I would need to designate an AI zone for Odessa and another for Sevastopol. And there are only 32 AI zones in the game and they are used for more important battles like the Battle of Kursk or Moscow or the strategic bombing campain against Germany. Although the siege of Odessa was a relatively big battle and was heroically defended, compared to those others it was only a sideshow.

Just an update on my multiplayer game with this mod.

All in all I must say that the scenario is not balanced enough in multiplayer, and neither should it be, probably.

Thanks for you update. Actually I tought that you already gave it up. Yes, I was aware that it is not balanced for multi.

After the release of the next v1.7 I might attempt to port it for multiplayer as well, but no promises. I thought something like deleting every second Allied unit to start with. And some other changes like giving some of the messages to the Allied side as well. And restricting the free use of some Allied units for some time, like the ones in the Kiev pocket. Then the other player might attempt to encircle and thus destroy them as historically. In general it should be more restrictive to play the Allies, at least in the beginning, to compensate for the more units. On the other hand the Allied side should also get access to rail transports as I am aware of the fact that it is quite boring to move all those units from the east. Currently it does not have as the AI is unable to use rail transport anyway. But then the time of appearance of most Soviet units should be reviewed as it was calculated that they would reach the frontline without trains. Whether air and naval transports should be given to the Allied side as well, or not, is a big question, though. It would make the life of the Axis player even harder.

But it will take some time and I have to carefully think about all the possible consequencies and then we will need some serious play testing and stuff. So it will be a long process, if it happens at all. And even then the Allies should have an overall advantage.

[Intenso82]

I already made it and they are prominent the currently released v1.6 of this mod:

Ops. its good.

But the main problem is to do so I would need to designate an AI zone for Odessa and another for Sevastopol. And there are only 32 AI zones in the game and they are used for more important battles like the Battle of Kursk or Moscow or the strategic bombing campain against Germany. Although the siege of Odessa was a relatively big battle and was heroically defended, compared to those others it was only a sideshow.

Annoyingly. And why they can't expand to AI zones to 64?

Two more ideas.

What do you think about a few to expand the map in the next versions?
Maybe on 10 hex in width.
And add 2 points:
Murmansk - a good strategic point.
Which is able to afford to simulate Polar convoys such as PQ17.
What is able to afford to involve the Norwegian bases, for aircraft, submarines and the Tirpits ship.
It can be interesting to players.
But it is important that through Murmansk a large number of resources arrived on a Lend-lease.
If somehow to reflect that destruction of convoys leads to reduction of resources and reduction of the western arms.

Deliveries across Lend-lease through through 3 points. Northern convoys. Iran and Pacific Ocean.
Weapons and war technics it is only 15% of the war industry of the USSR. The most part is resources.

And second point. What do you think to add Iran (Tehran)?
Battle for the Caucasus it not only the Baku oil, but also the channel of supply with resources of the USSR from Allies.

Even if to capture Baku, resources from Allies still somehow can be transported through the Caspian Sea.

In Iran there is a lot of oil, but I haven't found data on the number of development oil and on that where it went then.
But I have found data that after battle for the Caucasus production of the Baku oil has strongly fallen twice.
Not really it is clear from where took so much oil on fuel for tank and planes. But on a Lend-lease there were deliveries of fuels and lubricants too.

[McGuba]

And why they can't expand to AI zones to 64?

I guess because PzC was not designed for such big maps which last for 99 turns (actually it is a miracle that it can still run this complex mod). And 32 AI zones are more than enough for the small maps of the official campaigns. The hardest part of the making of this mod was the allocation of the limited number of AI zones. I had to make some hard decisions and leave out several important events and battles so that the most imprtant ones can work properly. With more AI zones I could also make the AI behave more "intelligent" and I could make the mod even more challenging and interesting.

What do you think about a few to expand the map in the next versions?
Maybe on 10 hex in width.
And add 2 points:
Murmansk - a good strategic point.

Yeah, someone already came up with this earlier, and while I would love to add the northern theatre I cannot for the same reason: lack of AI zones. Although I could easily increase the size of the map, without more AI zones I am unable to fill it with meaningful content. The northern convoy routes and Murmansk would require at least 3-4 additional AI zones which I do not have.

If somehow to reflect that destruction of convoys leads to reduction of resources and reduction of the western arms.

Deliveries across Lend-lease through through 3 points. Northern convoys. Iran and Pacific Ocean.
Weapons and war technics it is only 15% of the war industry of the USSR. The most part is resources.

Yes, I know about these, but I think even if the northern route was closed to ships the Allies would have simply used the other two instead. Actually they did so: after the heavy losses of PQ 17 Arctic convoys were suspended for two months, but it did not affect the flow of equipment through the eastern routes. Germany could not threaten the main routes in the east through Siberia and Iran. And most of the resources came through these as only about 25% of Allied aid came with the Arctic convoys.

And second point. What do you think to add Iran (Tehran)?

Actually I have already added Tehran to the map of the next version, but only as a cosmetic touch: it is unaccessible as it is on the edge of the map. Again, for the same reason, it should have an AI zone so that if taken it can reduce the number of Land Lease units.

However, I did add the rest of present day Iraq so players now have to go as far as Basra and the Arab Gulf coast to get all the oil fields and the map does not end in the middle of the desert. To do so I did not need additional AI zones, I just moved the current ones to the east a bit.

Even if to capture Baku, resources from Allies still somehow can be transported through the Caspian Sea.

That's true, but as I know there were no major sea ports like Murmansk or Vladivostok to load and unload large amounts of equipment to ships on the Caspian so I am not sure it could have been efficient enough. Probably it could have been easier to use the Siberian route instead.

[grombit]

@ INTENSO82
i think i should step in here' to confirm & back up what mcguba has told you in his last post.
it was me who originaly wanted Murmansk added to the mod.
i made an extended map to see what it would be like to include Murmansk & the arctic convoys.
then i made a bad mistake,in challenging mcguba on this point.
before i had checked my facts.i made the mistake in thinking that there would be some AI ZONES left over.
but when i checked the mod,with the map editor. i.e going through every single script that mcguba had created.
i found that not only had he used all the A.I zones,but several zones are in double use to fufill more than one purpose.
i did apoligize to mcguba in private about this mistake.
to get this mod to work properly,not only has mcguba pushed the envelope as far as it will go.
he has stretched it even further.
clearly there has to be a balance struck here,between what people want & what mcguba can provide.
mcguba is a first class script master,but he can only use the tools that are available.
in this case the tools being the number of A.I zones. so he is restricted by that.
intenso82, if you like the soviet marines,i can provide you with a more glossy unit icon if you want it.
just paste it into the units folder of the mod,to overwrite the old icon.
in fact i have made up a complete replacement infantry set for BFE 1.6
also i have infantry crews for all artillery,anti aircraft & field guns.
so no more robot guns wandering about the map,firing themselves.
i always thought guns without crews,looked a bit odd.
now there is an alternative to the maze of problems,murmansk would create.
intenso82, if you wish to play a large map mod that covers all of the war in the east from 41to45.
then you need to play AKKULA"S Great patriotic War Mod.
this comes as part of his package of the soviet lost campaigns mod 1.7
not only is Murmansk on the map,but so is all of Finland.the arctic convoys are covered as well.
regards
Grombit.

[Intenso82]

lack of AI zones.

And tried to ask developers to increase quantity of AI zones?
I think for them it not really difficult to make for moder request in the next PzC version.
it is just the array on 32 values.

intenso82, if you like the soviet marines,i can provide you with a more glossy unit icon if you want it.
just paste it into the units folder of the mod,to overwrite the old icon.
in fact i have made up a complete replacement infantry set for BFE 1.6
also i have infantry crews for all artillery,anti aircraft & field guns.

Yes I want.
Give the link.

if you wish to play a large map mod that covers all of the war in the east from 41to45.
then you need to play AKKULA"S Great patriotic War Mod.

Yes, I know this mod. It is good mod.
But more I like BFE mod because of bigger historical reliability.
Especially I like historical events..

[McGuba]

i made an extended map to see what it would be like to include Murmansk & the arctic convoys.
then i made a bad mistake,in challenging mcguba on this point.

You did not make any mistakes and I did not take it as challenging me. I am open to any sensible suggestions which aim to improve this mod and consider them very seriously. Many suggestions have been added in the last two years, for example in the next version light AA guns will be made multipurpose, even though initially I did not want to do it for a number of reasons. But in the end it turned out to be another nice little touch which makes the mod even better and more fun. And also historically accurate as the Germans indeed used their light AA guns against ground targets extensively and not just the big 88 was used like that. However I cannot add each and every player's suggestion partly for technical reasons and also to preserve the existing balance and playability of the mod.

And tried to ask developers to increase quantity of AI zones?

Yes, of course I did so in "The Mod Community wishes, suggestions and opinons" topic two years ago when this mod was in an early stage and a few more guys backed me there as well, but no answere came:

viewtopic.php?f=147&t=34459&start=40#p461182

I was thinking about writing to them directly, but in the end I managed to make the mod as it is with the limited AI zones. However any other major changes in this field would require some more AI zones, and also some more work. So in the meantime I just concentrated on other changes and improvements which did not require more AI zones. Even then, I had plenty to do as many players had excellent ideas and the next 1.7 version differs significantly from the first 1.0 version of this mod.

I think for them it not really difficult to make for moder request in the next PzC version.
it is just the array on 32 values.

Basically yes, however it could cause other problems, e.g. AI turns might last even longer. Whenever you click the "end turn" button the AI starts to check all the scripts if any of them requires some action to be made. It also has to constantly check those scripts which are set to take effect immediately. For instance it has to keep in mind that if an Italian auxiliary tank unit with the name "Guiseppe" enters AI zone 27 it has to trigger an event like showing a message box and giving 100 prestige points to the player. Then the more scripts and AI zones there are the more zones and possibilities it has to check which lasts longer and requires more system resources and computing time. At some point the game might even become unplayable or just crash so there has to be a sensible limitation.

[Ceek]

At the risk of impertinence, how much longer will we have to wait for the latest installment of this all-time great mod?

[McGuba]

That's all right. Earlier I ran into some unexpected problems, but now play testing is on the way again at full speed. However, since I have a job and a life and other things to do as well it takes some time. The biggest advantage of making free mods is there are not frustrating deadlines to keep and I will only release the next version when I believe it is good enough and when it contains enough new content which justifies a new version number.


Some of the more important changes


Winter is coming. And the first one will be colder than ever:

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The long and destructive siege of Leningrad is added. As historically, Army Group North is potentially not strong enough to storm and capture the city on its own without additional support, but strong enough to encircle and blockade it for prolonged time. During which the defenders get weaker and weaker losing one strength point after every 6-10 turns of the siege as long as it is not being lifted. If the Soviets can lift the siege for just one turn the defenders of the city do not lose strenght in the actual 6-10 turn period. However, if the Axis can reestablish the blockade the defenders will continue to lose strength from the next period:

v17a.jpg (215.57 KiB) Viewed 7716 times

Finally the Wehrmacht gets some eyes in the sky. Recon planes can spot enemy troop concentrations or naval fleets from a relatively safe distance. More on this a bit later:

v17r8.jpg (203.45 KiB) Viewed 7716 times

[Magic1111]

Ingame Messages with nice photos are looking very good! I like those ingame Messages!

[Akkula]

I used the same idea to reduce the German units strength on winter for The Great Patriotic War . Even the exception for the Finnish, but just for the units deep into Russian territory (near Moscow).

[Ceek]

Glad to hear progress is being made apace. The new additions--particularly the intensifying of strategy around Leningrad and with the onset of winter of '41--should make the capture of those two cities more challenging. For me at this point, even on Rommel, I can capture both of those cities by early '42. (It's of course a benefit to know when and how reinforcements arrive on the 12th or 20th playthrough.)

I do think the war in the desert is much more challenging than before, particularly in terms of the reinforcements. Now with objectives being moved further east it will be even more of a challenge. Exciting!

Finally, a suggestion (maybe for 1.8 or beyond): One aspect of post-'43 play on the eastern front that I've noticed is how stupid the AI is about using motorized transport correctly. One of the easiest things to do is to blow up trucks that insist on driving right up to defensive lines--and to make your defenses always one step outside the enemy's spotting range. One way this human exploit could be mitigated would be through a "gamey" simulation of the Lucy Ring from '43 onwards. It could entail having indestructible AI observation "planes" begin hovering over the eastern front progressively. You'd know you're being seen, but there's nothing you can do about it (save inclement weather) and the effect would be that the AI would no longer quite so frequently blunder into you. As AI is the major hindrance to challenge in this scenario, it might be something worth considering to increase the strategic difficulty from '43 onward without simply spamming tons of units.

[McGuba]

Ingame Messages with nice photos are looking very good! I like those ingame Messages!

Thanks, me too! I wonder why it was not used more extensively in the official campaigns.

I used the same idea to reduce the German units strength on winter for The Great Patriotic War . Even the exception for the Finnish, but just for the units deep into Russian territory (near Moscow).

Haha, so I just reinvented the wheel! Unfortunately I did not have the time to play your Patriotic War scenario, but as soon as I release v1.7 of this mod I certainly will.

Glad to hear progress is being made apace. The new additions--particularly the intensifying of strategy around Leningrad and with the onset of winter of '41--should make the capture of those two cities more challenging. For me at this point, even on Rommel, I can capture both of those cities by early '42. (It's of course a benefit to know when and how reinforcements arrive on the 12th or 20th playthrough.)

Actually, I think the Wehrmacht had a good chance to capture at least one of those cities in that timeframe so it is not a big problem if players can do it in this mod. Especially with the added benefit of replaying. I am pretty sure that if they had another chance the Germans would have done many things differently, too.

I do think the war in the desert is much more challenging than before, particularly in terms of the reinforcements. Now with objectives being moved further east it will be even more of a challenge. Exciting!

Yeah, but the map is not that much bigger it is just a few hexes, really. Still, I think it is important both visually and strategically.

Finally, a suggestion (maybe for 1.8 or beyond): One aspect of post-'43 play on the eastern front that I've noticed is how stupid the AI is about using motorized transport correctly. One of the easiest things to do is to blow up trucks that insist on driving right up to defensive lines--and to make your defenses always one step outside the enemy's spotting range.

Yes, sure, but it is not a problem with this mod, but with the game engine itself. This tactic, which I just call "forced ambush", as if on offensive, the AI really has no other choice but to rush forward and get slaugthered by well placed units, works very well in the official campaigns as well. It is very hard to address it, but I did try to reduce it in this mod by increasing the spotting range of all AT units to 2 (for some reason in vanilla PzC they have only 1) to make them less likely to attack units with supporting artillery behind. I also increased the spotting range of most naval units for the same reason. In general, the more it can see, the more effective the AI is as it can pick the best targets and avoid ambushes.

Your idea to give the AI an all seeing eye of Mordor is very interesting and I will consider it. However, my experience is the AI is more affected by these ambushes during snowing when there is little spotting range anyway. And in some cases it is beneficial: for example in good weather the AI can see behind the first line of defense and would not attack if there is a supporting artillery unit behind and it gets bad prediction for the result of the battle. But as soon as visibility reduces to one hex it will attack as it "forgets" that same supporting artillery and since it cannot see it it will get a better outcome prediction and will risk the attack. Which, in some cases will be successful, especially if played on normal dice roll.

So for now I will only rely on the increased number of AI air units in the east to hopefully provide more spotting range in general for the AI. Which takes us to our next topic: recon planes.

I wanted to add these earlier, but for some reason I just did not. They had an important role and they made up about 20% of the total Luftwaffe strength at most times so they should be in the mod anyhow. Also, PzC 1.25 added the Soviet U-2/Po-2, and the previous Allied Corps the British recon planes so I thought the Axis should get something as well. After some thinking I decided to not give them the recon move trait partly because the AI cannot use it, but also because in that case they could fly in and out to get the recon data unmolested as a kind of stealth bomber which they were not as they indeed suffered heavy casualties.

I just had to get the icons somehow.

For now I picked the three most produced types the Ju 88D, the Fw 189 and the Hs 126. It did not take long to edit the Ju 88A a bit to get a slightly different looking Ju 88D recon and bebro already made a nice icon for the Fw 189 Uhu. But for the Hs 126 I could not find a good enough one, so I just made it using parts of other icons by bebro to preserve consistency with the other air units in the mod:

v17r1.jpg (166.45 KiB) Viewed 7313 times

So these recon planes will have no recon move, but 3-4 spotting and no active attack. Even then they are quite useful in spotting enemy units (or their lack of) from a distance and help players to make the correct tactical and strategic decisions. They should be relatively safe without escort up until late 1942, after that fighter escort is recommended. The Hs 126 will be the standard short range recon plane early on, but it will be withdrawn from active frontline service (removed from the map) in 1942 only to be replaced by an Fw 189. The Ju 88D will be there as well to serve as a long range recon. Obviously I gave them the noupgrade trait, so that tricky players cannot upgrade them to a more capable bomber for example a Stuka as it would break the balance of the mod.

And I also made an icon for the Romanian IAR 39, which was produced in significant numbers:

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As for the Soviet U-2/Po-2: although I was worried how the AI would use it in the end it works in the mod just as in intended: it is that annoying little biplane which is always there, somtimes just providing some recon data to the AI (and thereby hopefully reducing the number of those forward rushing AI units in transports and ambushes), sometimes just blocking, sometimes just reducing the resupplying of an Axis unit by hovering over it. Then the player has to decide wheter if it worth attacking it or it is better to use the fighters against more important targets. Which gives another nice layer of decisions to the mod.

[Akkula]

I used the same idea to reduce the German units strength on winter for The Great Patriotic War . Even the exception for the Finnish, but just for the units deep into Russian territory (near Moscow).

Haha, so I just reinvented the wheel! Unfortunately I did not have the time to play your Patriotic War scenario, but as soon as I release v1.7 of this mod I certainly will.

It would be an honor to me to receive your feedback .
Looking forward to your new release also.

[Ceek]

Actually, I think the Wehrmacht had a good chance to capture at least one of those cities in that timeframe so it is not a big problem if players can do it in this mod. Especially with the added benefit of replaying. I am pretty sure that if they had another chance the Germans would have done many things differently, too.

OK, I yield to your interpretation of events. One further question, though, on the topic: Does Leningrad have a "free the city" event similar to what seems to happen when Moscow is taken? I like that you have to not merely take the city with a few scraps of units, but actually be prepared to hold it against a determined counterattack. I am pretty sure you have created a trigger for this in the even Moscow is taken, but I am less sure about Leningrad. I imagine Leningrad and Stalingrad falling would merit the same last-ditch responses from the Red Army as Moscow would.

Yes, sure, but it is not a problem with this mod, but with the game engine itself.

Oh, I know. One of the more ingenious aspects of this mod is how you have generally been able to overcome many of the limitations of the weak AI through cagey planning of events and reinforcements. It says something for your design that there's still some element of surprise for me after innumerable playthroughs and the AI always seems to catch me unawares on multiple occasions.

Your idea to give the AI an all seeing eye of Mordor is very interesting and I will consider it.

Glad to hear you're considering it, and it sounds like you already have a good handle on the potential ramifications of a modification to spotting. You're right about the issue being a bigger concern during inclement weather. But after '43, if playing a historical fighting retreat, it's still quite easy to use the vast map as your ally and to keep units just out of spotting range and take full advantage of the AI's insistence on using motorized transports to rush you as much as possible. I know this may, in a way, simulate the kind of elastic defense the German generals famously advocated for, but it's still kind of silly to be demolishing so many units so easily. This is also an issue, to some extent, in-and-around Tunis, where, with a few alpine troops popping in an out of sighting range, you can really give the U.S. hell in Operation Torch. Maybe more recon units all around... in addition to the light tanks? They make a minimal difference in combat, but really make a difference with the AI avoiding stupid ambushes.

So for now I will only rely on the increased number of AI air units in the east to hopefully provide more spotting range in general for the AI. Which takes us to our next topic: recon planes.

This is, of course, a great idea, and may resolve all the issues I raised above. It was a little unclear whether you give the Western Allies some, too. If not, I definitely would--particularly to coincide with their invasions and planned counterattacks.

...sometimes just blocking, sometimes just reducing the resupplying of an Axis unit by hovering over it. Then the player has to decide wheter if it worth attacking it or it is better to use the fighters against more important targets. Which gives another nice layer of decisions to the mod.

Yes! This is really going to add another layer of strategic decision-making for the player. This mod is really for the masochist in us, isn't it? And I can't wait for the next installment.

[McGuba]

Does Leningrad have a "free the city" event similar to what seems to happen when Moscow is taken?

Yes, it does, but not as powerful as with Moscow. There are some units who try to take it back, but since they might be coming from the east via Moscow and get destroyed there you do not even notice that their final destination would have been Leningrad. And in the next version it will be somewhat different, anyway.

Oh, I know. One of the more ingenious aspects of this mod is how you have generally been able to overcome many of the limitations of the weak AI through cagey planning of events and reinforcements. It says something for your design that there's still some element of surprise for me after innumerable playthroughs and the AI always seems to catch me unawares on multiple occasions.

Yes, I made it in a way that the AI seems to respond to the player's actions, which in fact is partly true, thanks to scripting and the careful distribution of the objective cities. I also added some randomness to some units to increase replay value.

Maybe more recon units all around... in addition to the light tanks? They make a minimal difference in combat, but really make a difference with the AI avoiding stupid ambushes.

Actually I prefer this way than to add the "Eye", I would like to stick to the normal game world instead of providing unfair help to the AI. And I already started to move in this direction by adding more light tanks and the U-2 recon planes to the Soviets. But these have limited effectiveness during winter, which is a problem. And I did not really change the Western Allies in this so far. So some more recon units to the Western Allies is a good idea and probably there will be a few more. On the other hand the player's recon units are also useless during snowing or even overcast so I think it is mostly well balanced. During my testplays I usually stopped my advance during these turns as I could not see what lies ahead. And when on defense there is no way to tell what type of units are approaching at a given sector, even if you know from your previous games the general directions.

This is, of course, a great idea, and may resolve all the issues I raised above. It was a little unclear whether you give the Western Allies some, too. If not, I definitely would--particularly to coincide with their invasions and planned counterattacks.

To be honest I did not really feel that recon planes would make a real difference to the Western Allies as they usually enjoy air superiority anyway, which means their planes are there all over providing enough spotting. But I see your point here, so probably a few recon planes for them would not hurt.

This mod is really for the masochist in us, isn't it?

Probably, yeah. But in fact I just try to recreate the ultimate WW2 experience as much as it is possible in this game engine, which happens to be my favourite for some years. But I am aware that the real thing had to be a hundred times more ugly, so it is still just a fairy tale compared to it...


A few more changes:

If we are at masochism, after some more fiddling with the existing limited AI zones I managed to add Operation Tidalwave and the successive air raids so that players have one more thing to worry about. Now the Romanian oil fields are added to the list of possible targets of the USAAF:

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Ski infantry of PzC v.1.25 added to Soviets, Finns and Germans. However, Germany only gets it later as historically the 1st Ski Division was only formed late 1943:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Ski_D ... Wehrmacht)

These are all multipurpose units with the same attack/defense stats in the two modes, but with two different movement so that they can always move faster on frozen or on dry ground. Luckily the AI uses this new feature quite well, too, by switching its ski units on offensive accordingly to the actual season.

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I am quite happy with the Fw 190 being in the same upgrade family with the Stuka and Hs 129. Now it is possible to upgrade all of them even on the losing path, which is accurate historically. When on the winning path in the East it might not be neccessary as the player should enjoy air superiority.

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[Magic1111]

Thanks, me too! I wonder why it was not used more extensively in the official campaigns.

Yes, I wonder this too!

And I hoped that we become this with the upgrade campaigns from nikivdd (http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 47&t=69744), but unfortunately he don´t create those Ingame Messages with pictures....

[Ceek]

Would love to see an update with any other new features or changes from 1.6!

[oladelmar]

Hi McGuba,

First off; this mod is FANTASTIC. It has cost me back pain, sore eyes, sleep deprivations and has had a severe impact on my social life

Here's a few opinions from an old hand, after my first playthrough. I've read your ideas for v1.7 and I see you're planning on increasing the number of AI units - probably a good thing, but I'd like to offer some additional ideas for increasing difficulty. I'm currently on my second playthrough, and have resorted to a few 'rules' to limit AI exploits

Overall:
- To compensate for the AI 's inability to cope with the FOW, giving most AI units a 4 hex line of sight would go a long way. While it's fun to catch the occasional AI truck and blow it to pieces, it's a bit sad to be able to deal with an entire winter offensive's worh of inf and arty that way.
- IMHO, a simple and realistic way of increasing difficulty would be to simply disable a lot of upgrade compatibilities. New tanks and aircraft are expensive, and it would force the player to choose more between maxing out number of units or upgrading experienced ones with new gear.
- I'd love some diplomatic actions, if that's possible; early occupation of Vichy France, invasion of Spain/Turkey, intervention in Syria...

Naval:
- The single most unrealistic feature of the game engine is sea transport and supply. It took until 1944 for the allies to be able to land 6 divisions(the rest was airborne) over a beach, and with massive resources. To at least partially reflect this, the number of available sea transports should be reduced, as they act as landing craft AND troop transports. As I'm sure you know, supply was Rommel's problem, more so than the number of tanks/troops he could field.
- If you're able to script patrolling(as with the Atlantic destroyers), all AI fleets would benefit from this. As it is, the player can decimate fleets with impunity using out-of-sight tactics. Being able to sink the Home Fleet with the Admiral Scheer and a sub flotilla is fun, but not good for game balance.

Air:
- Quite a few strat bomber types should have a very low naval attack, IMHO adding dedicated naval attack types would make sense and make it harder to deal with all those AI battleships. A Condor should NOT be able to kill a battleship with two hits, but a torpedo-armed Ju88 or He111 is another matter, a late-war Fritz X armed bomber should be devastating.

Ground:
- More Russian infantry! There should be staggering amounts of basic russian inf everywhere, all the time.

For my personal game, I'm adding severe limitations on beach landings, and simulating supplying units overseas - I'm forcing myself to have 1 unit afloat per 5 units supplied overseas(unit must be with 3 hexes of nearest port receiving supplies). Doubt this is moddable in any way.... Should make Tunis interesting!