CSI Sweep: Germany West 1939-40

[bru888]

Wassigny v. 1.7

A total of five orphans in these screenshots:

Screenshot 2.jpg (98.68 KiB) Viewed 1446 times

Screenshot 3.jpg (228.71 KiB) Viewed 1446 times

"Occupy Wassigny" Mission: This says "A captured French recon unit will spawn. Move this to the South-East map edge and exit." Yet, I see no such spawn mechanism nor do I see an exit hex in the southeast (please don't place it on a deployment hex! ). Were this project in the studio, I would offer to design it for you but since this is just a sweep, I will leave it to you as to whether you delete this vestigial reference to the recon unit or you do indeed design it and work it into the victory conditions.

Briefing: "To ensure that your prize can be properly… questioned, you must then escort the General back to your deployment area, specifically the Exit location in the South-East." (Drop the duplicate "S" from "SSouth-East." However, please note: Depending on what you decide above, perhaps just delete this statement instead.)

No image associated with this Event Popup message:

Screenshot 4.jpg (229.54 KiB) Viewed 1446 times

Perhaps you will find this one appropriate:

renault_r35_tanks.png (168.16 KiB) Viewed 1446 times

[bru888]

Amiens v. 1.7

One of the deployment hexes is on an exit hex.

A total of five orphans are clustered in this screenshot:

Screenshot 5.jpg (309.24 KiB) Viewed 1444 times

[bru888]

Dunkerque v. 1.7

Nice solution for the Evacuations module to merely spawn transport ships rather than embark units. I remember that was an issue for the "Sea transports" trigger. This is a neat little scenario. I mean, they all are in this campaign but if there was one on which I would blow my warm breath and shine with my sleeve, this is it.

But it's not without a few blemishes.

One of the deployment hexes is on an exit hex.

Wrong objective to be failed by this trigger:

Screenshot 6.jpg (221.19 KiB) Viewed 1436 times

What is the meaning of "Note that you may deploy what-if Waffen SS units" in the briefing? I detect no triggers that would deal with this situation.

Did you mean to spawn this Cruiser tank for the Kriegsmarine faction?

Screenshot 9.jpg (220.7 KiB) Viewed 1436 times

The briefing says, "Any available naval and air units have been diverted to assist your forces to this end, but they will not arrive for at least several hours" but there is provision only for additional naval command points in the "KM" trigger in Turn 10. Though perhaps 30 air command points to begin with are sufficient. Even so, having read the briefing, the player may be looking for more air CP's at some point in time. Perhaps remove this reference from the briefing.

Speaking of the "KM" trigger, I always appreciate a notification of such changes which could be easily overlooked during game play. I offer these materials should you choose to use them:

Title: Naval Support
Image: kriegsmarine_arrives
Text: Additional naval units may now be deployed.

Here is the image that I had in mind:

kriegsmarine_arrives.png (177.41 KiB) Viewed 1436 times

[bru888]

Dunkerque v. 1.7 (continued)

One last thing. The "KM" trigger provides for additional naval command points but there is no way to deploy any additional units except in friendly ports at that time.

You have at-sea naval deployment hexes but these disappear after the Deployment Phase:

Screenshot 10.jpg (71.54 KiB) Viewed 1432 times

So when additional navy units are allowed, deployment is possible only if the Germans already own Nieuport or Dunkerque:

Screenshot 11.jpg (403.8 KiB) Viewed 1432 times

That seems a little late in the scenario for this to happen and besides, it's not realistic. Additional naval support would be arriving at sea, from the northeast, and not suddenly appear in a port.

I suggest making the naval (and air?) deployment hexes last throughout the scenario rather than just during the Deployment Phase.

[bru888]

Reims v. 1.7

One of the deployment hexes is on an exit hex.

There is a land supply shortage in this one. I would bump this up to at least 85 to cover the -7 shortfall, plus another 8 to cover the supply needs that come with additional land CP's given by the Female Factory Labor and War Economy specialisations; two each = 4, times two factions = 8:

Screenshot 12.jpg (285.64 KiB) Viewed 1424 times

(I've been forgetting those specialisations but it seems to me that so far, supply has been more than adequate with the exception of the -1 air supply that I noted in Den Haag. I would make that airfield 25 air supply to cover the additional air CP's provided by the specialisations.)

[bru888]

Dijon v. 1.7

One of the deployment hexes is on an exit hex.

Four orphans in this screen shot (The French are on their last legs. Will you not afford them the dignity of fighting back before they succumb? ):

Screenshot 1.jpg (379.9 KiB) Viewed 1419 times

You usually post an Event Popup message when a captured unit is awarded. I offer these materials in conjunction with the "Char B1" trigger, should you care to use them:

Title: Spoils of War
Image: char_b1_tank
Text: A French Char B1 tank has been captured, and it's in very good shape. The Ordnance Department has retrofitted it and designated it as Panzerkampfwagen B-2 740 (f).

Here is that image:

char_b1_tank.png (238.08 KiB) Viewed 1419 times

(I used singular nouns because the mission reads as "Capture a French Char B1 heavy tank near Dion.")

In this trigger, the Target Hex for the second "Check Unit(s) Near Hex" condition is pointing to a nearby crossroads instead of the bridge:

Screenshot 2.jpg (347.15 KiB) Viewed 1419 times

(Heh, you thought I had stopped looking at these bridge triggers, eh? Not at all, except for the one time when I discovered that I did have an attention span limit and that it was somewhat less than 73 bridges in one scenario! )

[bru888]

Maginot Line v. 1.7

One of the deployment hexes is on an exit hex. (The one in the south. You narrowly missed the one in the north. )

Well, I hate to be a nitpicker, but that is what you are paying me for. With the "Capture Sarrebourg" objective that states, as does the others, "Use the captured fortress guns against their former owners," what the player is capturing is a concrete bunker, unlike the others. It doesn't seem right to spawn a fortress in the place of it.

Therefore, I advocate switching these two structures:

Screenshot 3.jpg (109.09 KiB) Viewed 1412 times

According to this description, I consider the four fortresses to be "Gros Ouvrages" and the concrete bunkers to be "Petits Ouvrages":

Image0115.jpg (177.5 KiB) Viewed 1412 times

and the primary objectives should be "Gros Ouvrages" in my opinion.

Actually, the real fortresses of the Maginot Line were in places like Verdun, Toul, Épinal, and Belfort as well as Metz according to this source. However, your placing fortresses at Meta, Longyon (Is that spelled "Longuyon," by the way? If so, please correct the map and the mission), Falquemont, and Sarrebourg gets the point across nicely - this is supposed to be a simulation after all.

As I was researching that information, I ran across a great photo and I feel compelled to offer it to you to add a bit of flavor in this last scenario of the campaign:

Title: The Maginot Line
Image: french_troops_manning_maginot_line
Text: The French are now manning the fortifications of their now useless Maginot Line in a last ditch effort to save their country from defeat. These are brave men. It is unfortunate that their stubbornness must end in extermination. However, this is war and we have tasks to accomplish that will bring an end to it. Proceed with your mission.

Here is the image:

french_troops_manning_maginot_line.png (167.4 KiB) Viewed 1412 times

I think this looks rather good, but you be the judge and if you agree, then use the materials above. I have it set for Turn 1:

Screenshot 4.jpg (322.6 KiB) Viewed 1412 times

[bru888]

Maginot Line v. 1.7 (continued)

The briefing mentions the armored trains "along with several formations of infantry auxiliaries." There are no such other aux units in the scenario.

Regarding the "Supply" and "Supply broken" triggers that support the "Connect the west/east map edges" objective, I think you should start the scenario with "Supply broken" being turned off and include in each trigger "Set Trigger State" effects to turn itself off and turn the other on (similar to what you did for the supply connection objective triggers in Jylland). You may want to elaborate in the mission description that it is a supply connection that must be maintained to win the objective.

The trigger "Structures" could be set to "Combat Event" (instead of "Any Event") to save computer processing time.

And instead of using "Class: Structure" for Unit Definition in that trigger, I would define the fortresses and concrete bunkers. The usual reason: There could be other structures on the map. For example, when a plane lands, it creates a temporary hangar. I seem to recall a similar problem somewhere else that had to be rectified with exact unit definition in this manner.

I would deactivate the "Bridge-5" trigger because that bridge is directly underneath the fortress at Metz. It won't affect anything crucial but it will look silly to have an explosion underneath the fortress when the Germans get within two hexes of it.

Well, that's a wrap for this CSI Sweep. As always, it's been enjoyable but I must admit that I am looking forward to getting back to the studio where I have even more fun. Thanks for letting me sweep around the edges of Germany West 1939-40 for you. It's great.

[Erik2]

Thank you for another comprehensive sweep.

All errors hopefully fixed and almost all recommendations followed

[GabeKnight]

You guys rock! Thanks for all the work and effort, much appreciated!

[bru888]

Thanks for the kind words, Gabe. Stay tuned. I believe Erik has more in the works.