BrucErik CSD Studio

[Erik2]

I peeked ahead at the last two scenarios in this campaign, and I was reminded that it is Winter War 1939.

So, this campaign does not end with the usual mega-battle, as the Winter War lasted until March 1940. I believe there will be a Winter War 1940 campaign (and if so, I imagine Erik will provide for importing core units) but even then, there might not be a climactic ending.

The last two scenarios in Winter War 1939 are much the same as before; more fighting in heavy forests and on frozen lakes. This doesn't mean they will not be fun to play. For example, I think the just-completed scenario, Patoniemi, is quite unique. Let me try my hand with these last two now, always constrained by credibility of course.

Yes, there is a Winter War 1940 (ending at Viipuri) waiting to get the Bru-treatment.
But I also have another campaign in a much warmer climate ready if you'd like a change of scene.
After a well-deserved R&R of course

[Mascarenhas]

I think it´is high time to you guys put this Finnish nightmare on beta test play trial, if |I may.
Regards

[bru888]

I think it´is high time to you guys put this Finnish nightmare on beta test play trial, if |I may.
Regards

I just finished the 19th of 20 scenarios, Kelja Revisited - The God of War. As soon as I finish the last one, I would imagine that Erik will make a beta thread in the General Topics forum like we did for Normandy UK & Canada.

[bru888]

Kelja Revisited - The God of War

For continuity, I matched this map to the corresponding portion of the Kelja1 map, down to the placement of decorations, mines, and destroyed Finnish fuel depots and supply dumps.

I beefed up the strength of both sides and I introduced air units, just as I did in Kelja1. I rearranged objectives, enemy units, and foxholes.

Several new objectives. First primary is to take all four formerly Finnish fuel depots and supply dumps that appear on this map, now in ruins. (Note that only Supply Dumps 2 and 3 are shown; Supply Dump 1 is off the map to the west. Again for continuity, I retained the supply dump names from the Kelja1 map.)

Halfway through the first primary objective (two VPs captured), two more primary objectives are introduced: "Rebuild fuel depots" and "Restock supply dumps." The scenario thus will not end when "Capture all 4 objectives" is completed.

Your secondary objective to "Remove all minefields" is still in there (the mines also were moved) but the "Get 1 specialisation point" is deleted. Instead, I say "The mines must be removed so as to not impede the westward advance of the rest of our division. We are not familiar with these Soviet mines, so take extreme care when removing them." At the time, I was thinking of doing something fancy with the mines, like stumbling on them removes the offending unit, but that might not be fair to the player and would be complicated to program. Still, I left the sentence in as a tease; let the player wonder and tremble as he approaches mines!

Another secondary objective is "Destroy at least 16 MG nests" for which the description is "They are like mushrooms! Thin them out so that we don't leave a large number of enemy soldiers in our rear . . . and waiting to slay our compatriots who will be following us soon." You had 26 on the map; I removed two because I like roundly divisible fractions (16/24 = 2/3rds). The reference to the "compatriots who will be following us soon" is explained in the briefing.

Lastly, volunteers appear in this scenario, of three nationalities! Including this fellow (I changed my mind about making him core, though; it would have caused problems down the line, both in the last scenario and the following campaign, unless we remembered to include Sweden as an alliance forever more):

Screenshot 1.jpg (248.76 KiB) Viewed 3424 times

This scenario has been uploaded to the "Back to Erik" folder.

[Erik2]

Love it

I gave von Rosen a Scandinavian treatment, a Norwegian Gladiator (and remembered to link this unit to the event popup...).

rosen.jpg (21.59 KiB) Viewed 3413 times

[bru888]

Good. Not historical (link and link), but understandable.

Also remember to swap out "Swedish Gloster Gladiator" for "Norwegian Gloster Gladiator" in the message text. Better see if the message still fits in the window; believe it or not, those 2 extra characters may make a difference, causing the general's last name to be truncated. If so, consider removing "Gloster" and going with how you have it: "Norwegian Gladiator."

Edit: Another thought. I gave Sweden some initial resources and +1 income to cover that plane. You need to move those resources over to Norway. Note that I don't usually provide resources for volunteers but in this case, the player needs some help repairing that plane.

Edit 2: Although, I may be confused as to what you did? I just noticed that the plane has Norwegian markings but is still on the map as Swedish? Anyway, I pointed you in the right directions for possible additional changes; please use your judgment.

Edit 3: You may find the other Norwegian representative somewhat interesting as well.

[Erik2]

...
Edit 3: You may find the other Norwegian representative somewhat interesting as well.

I actually missed that
I hope everybody playing this campaign will take really good care of that guy and feed him lots of sausages and Koskenkorva Viina

[bru888]

...
Edit 3: You may find the other Norwegian representative somewhat interesting as well.

I actually missed that
I hope everybody playing this campaign will take really good care of that guy and feed him lots of sausages and Koskenkorva Viina

Heh, the only non-historical name among those volunteers. My tribute to your genius!

[bru888]

Lake Kiantajärvi - The Last Agony

I started out disliking this scenario - I guess I was sympathizing with the suffering Soviets and for once, the Finns are the bullies - but it grew on me.

First of all, I downplayed/talked past the brutal mop up aspect in the briefing. Secondly, I think I have this very nicely balanced and it's no cakewalk, believe me!

The first time I played, I almost lost outright:

Screenshot 1.jpg (332.31 KiB) Viewed 3345 times

And bagging all the Soviets while ensuring that none of your units is killed is not easy, as these two results indicate:

Screenshot 3.jpg (315.72 KiB) Viewed 3345 times

Screenshot 4.jpg (374.96 KiB) Viewed 3345 times

Finally, after several tries, I managed a Major Victory. You have to be quick on your feet, moving units to counter the enemy trying to outflank you, shifting units in and out of the line, taking full advantage of resources (the Soviets have none, just like you left it and it makes sense), and making sure that no unit gets so weak as to be in danger of being destroyed:

Screenshot 6.jpg (392.28 KiB) Viewed 3345 times

I went with all auxiliary units, for two reasons:
1) The original scenario description describes the composition of Finnish forces; therefore,
2) I couldn't see the player being able to bring in core tanks, artillery, and other heavy weapons that he has accumulated.

The sweet spot is 14 turns, as you had it, and 10 Finnish aux units versus 16 slightly weakened (and not reinforceable) Soviet units. Actually, 8 1/2 Finnish units because the AA gun is useless (it does serve as a trap if the player allows it to fall in harm's way) and the AT gun is only good for eliminating very weak units (that's a good strategy to follow - it saves time, effort, and resources for your infantry - but don't allow it to be caught by strong enemy units). The Bristol Bulldogs are also useless, or next to useless, but they do provide some eye candy and flying time; they may be more effective with air commanders attached, though.

I included an "Early scenario ending" trigger - it came into play for my Major Victory - because, if all Soviet units are eliminated before Turn 15 (EOS), there is no reason to play out the rest of the scenario.

No goodies in this one, of course. Only some interesting comments for mission descriptions.

An interesting thought, perhaps: I wish there was a way to lock commanders up again. This campaign has gone up and down the scale, from division down to company as in this scenario. When I say this scenario is finely balanced, it's without assigning generals to machine gun teams. I'd be tempted to put in a notice/challenge to the player, advising him not to play with commanders in this one, but it's up to the player to follow his own house rules. I'm thinking, though, in my copy of this campaign, of going back and removing all Finnish land commanders (air aces can remain). After all, there are no Soviet commanders. Your choice from here on.

So, remarkably, Lake Kiantajärvi - The Last Agony is one of my favorites, despite the subject matter. Who knew?

This scenario has been uploaded to the "Back to Erik" folder.

This concludes my work on this campaign, aside from following up on technical matters. When you are ready, I would recommend a beta threat in the General Topics forum for more visibility and feedback.

As far as what's next, this campaign concludes only with the end of the year 1939. The war continues into 1940 and it would be a natural follow-up to have that campaign ready soon for folks who wish to continue this story (and presumably being able to import their core into Winter War 1940). So if that one is ready for work, let me get started on it while I'm on a roll. After that's done, then I will take a short break to work on something of my own.

[Erik2]

Excellent work above and beyond duty as usual. Thank you.

I've put Winter War 1940 in our dropbox.

Erik

[CoolDTA]

You guys are doing a magnificent work! Looking at these posts there are issues though, but isn't it good as it is?

So, one more mouse wheel zoom-in and there they were; the three village names needed, Laherma, Hietakylä, and Karvola:

Well, yeah, but they are wrong because you are in a wrong place. I try to find a more useful map if you like.

2) There aren't that many locations to begin with! Here is a map of Suoyarvi (Finnish: Suojärvi). It is approximately 34km from Suoyarvi to Loymola and there is only one village, Piytsiyeki, along the way. Suovarvi is in Wikipedia (hence my being able to find the Finnish version of the name) but the other two don't even show up in Google searches.

Correct names: Suojärvi, Piitsjoki, Loimola.

Krylämäki? Should be Kylänmäki.

[bru888]

Excellent work above and beyond duty as usual. Thank you.

I've put Winter War 1940 in our dropbox.

Erik

Thanks! I'll get started.

You guys are doing a magnificent work! Looking at these posts there are issues though, but isn't it good as it is?

So, one more mouse wheel zoom-in and there they were; the three village names needed, Laherma, Hietakylä, and Karvola:

Well, yeah, but they are wrong because you are in a wrong place. I try to find a more useful map if you like.

2) There aren't that many locations to begin with! Here is a map of Suoyarvi (Finnish: Suojärvi). It is approximately 34km from Suoyarvi to Loymola and there is only one village, Piytsiyeki, along the way. Suovarvi is in Wikipedia (hence my being able to find the Finnish version of the name) but the other two don't even show up in Google searches.

Correct names: Suojärvi, Piitsjoki, Loimola.

Krylämäki? Should be Kylänmäki.

Some of that is Google, I think. As I said earlier, too, either the Finns love certain place names, using them repeatedly, or Google is inaccurate. This was the first OOB work in which I actually had trouble finding locations. Also, on some maps, locations are "approximate" and are just intended to give a hint of historical flavor.

[bru888]

Erik, quick question. You intend Winter War 1940 to be a continuation of Winter War 1939, yes? Importable core? And doesn't importing a core also import unlocked commanders?

Those weren't the question. Here's the question.

By your handy worksheet, I see that you reward commanders in the first five scenarios; will that not be anti-climactic and unnecessary? Especially since we released (pending any further changes) all possible commanders toward the end of Winter War 1939, whether they had been earned or not.

Possible answer to my question: It is of course possible that a player may choose to play Winter War 1940 first, or on its own, and so should gain access to commanders in this campaign for that reason.

Something for you to ponder and advise me about if you want to make any changes.

[GabeKnight]

It's quite some work to do, but if you're willing, you could solve the commander-problem as it's been done in the Panzerkrieg DLC, for example. You could do "duplicate" secondary objectives that award the missing commanders instead of RP/spec points.

(Isn't that even the reason why the "Check Commander" condition has been added to the triggers? )

[bru888]

It's quite some work to do, but if you're willing, you could solve the commander-problem as it's been done in the Panzerkrieg DLC, for example. You could do "duplicate" secondary objectives that award the missing commanders instead of RP/spec points.

(Isn't that even the reason why the "Check Commander" condition has been added to the triggers? )

Great idea, Gabe! Yes, I will use the "Check Commander" condition and if the commander is already unlocked, will award something else. By the way, you should find this campaign more to your liking - smaller maps, less units - so if you are of a mind to, you can download it from the beta thread in the General Forum.

[CoolDTA]

Correct names: Suojärvi, Piitsjoki, Loimola.

Krylämäki? Should be Kylänmäki.

Some of that is Google, I think. As I said earlier, too, either the Finns love certain place names, using them repeatedly, or Google is inaccurate. This was the first OOB work in which I actually had trouble finding locations. Also, on some maps, locations are "approximate" and are just intended to give a hint of historical flavor.

Well, I don't think they love certain place names more than any other nation (88 Washingtons...). The problem is how you interpret the information found with Google. To make it more difficult you are forced to use modern maps to find locations from 80 years ago. Add to that transliterated Russian names for Finnish locations and anyone can understand the troubles you have had.

The names I gave are 100% accurate.

-> Some russian paratroopers involved!

We have two scenarios left; I'll see if I can work in a small contingent of them in recognition of your contribution.

201st and 204th Airborne Brigades were used but as rifle infantry only.

-> Some "small" contingents of Norweigns and Swedes are believed to have joined the Finns to fight against Russia...

Swedish volunteers have made one appearance already; I'd like to use them again. Norwegian volunteers? Sorry to you (and to Erik), but I would need to see some verification of that first. I will look around a bit.

The Norwegians were part of the Svenska Frivilligkåren (Swedish volunteers) but there were not that many of them. Note that SFK was used from Feb 28th 1940 onwards - not earlier.

-> The Soviets are supposed to have bombed Helsinki , although they've always denied it...

That was mentioned in the very beginning; I think there is a photo and text on the subject to start the campaign. None of these 18 scenarios so far have been anywhere near Helsinki, but if the city appears on the last two maps, the bombing will be portrayed (stretching the truth about timing a bit, perhaps).

On the first day of Winter War (30th of Nov) Soviets bombed Helsinki. 91 people lost their lives. She was among them:


Armi Metsäpelto, 7 yrs old first grader

-> It's Stalin who could have ordered the Shots of Mainila to be shot, not the Finns...

I will have to research this as I am not familiar with your reference.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Quick recap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelling_of_Mainila.

[Mascarenhas]

Normandy, still

Epson Counterattack, from Sword. Objectives are not quite well: in spite of achieving every 16 secondary objs, I still got a minor victory. Pls, check the code on this.

I will only go to the frozen war after finishing this, which includes Juno path, of course.

[bru888]

Well, I don't think they love certain place names more than any other nation (88 Washingtons...)

Touché! Not so much cities, but certainly Washington counties, towns, villages, roads, monuments, all sorts of place names. I stand chastened.

The names I gave are 100% accurate.

At this point, I will let Erik follow up on the names in post-production if he wishes. French and Spanish are one thing, but I would venture to guess that 99 out of 100 of us will not know the difference when it comes to Finnish. No offense intended.

The Norwegians were part of the Svenska Frivilligkåren (Swedish volunteers) but there were not that many of them. Note that SFK was used from Feb 28th 1940 onwards - not earlier.

We got the number correctly; 1 out of 8 volunteers was Norwegian and another was Hungarian; the rest were Swedes. As for the timing; let's call that a bit of "designer's license" unless Erik is concerned about it. Volunteers were my idea; I did want to feature them in this campaign, and probably the next, at some point because I admire those men who came to help.

Quick recap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelling_of_Mainila.

Interesting. I might be able to work that in as a campaign event, between a couple of episodes. Erik, please check back here; I may have an update of the campaign folder. [Update: Nah. That incident happened before the war started and was somewhat murky as to the culprits. We already have a campaign starting event which deals with the bombing of Helsinki.]

Thanks for your suggestions, Cool!

[bru888]

Normandy, still

Epson Counterattack, from Sword. Objectives are not quite well: in spite of achieving every 16 secondary objs, I still got a minor victory. Pls, check the code on this.

I will only go to the frozen war after finishing this, which includes Juno path, of course.

Verified. My apologies.

I scooted my way around the map in a test run (no Germans on the map) and completed both objectives halfway through:

Screenshot 1.jpg (461.09 KiB) Viewed 3221 times

No secondary objective completed then or at the end of the scenario:

Screenshot 2.jpg (422.33 KiB) Viewed 3221 times

Here's the problem. The secondary objective trigger is waiting until the end of the scenario to evaluate, but also when a "Capture VP Event" occurs. This does not happen when the scenario reaches the "Scenario turn limit":

Screenshot 3.jpg (207.77 KiB) Viewed 3221 times

The thing is, it does not have to wait until "Scenario turn limit" so the easiest fix is to merely delete this "Check Turn" condition:

Screenshot 4.jpg (201.09 KiB) Viewed 3221 times

It looks like the original design intention was that the player needed to play out all 30 turns and be holding the 20 primary VPs at the end, so I left that alone. There is no reason, however, why the secondary objective needs to wait until the end to be completed.

A minor victory should allow you to advance in the campaign, Mascarenhas. If not, then call up the last campaign save and use the cheat code #igotnukes to get past Operation Epsom - Counterattack.

Erik, I placed a revised copy of this scenario in the "Back to Erik" folder, with this one change.

[ColonelY]

Want some challenge?

Actually, there is a great campaign that has yet to be created: a Free France campaign, which could contain at least eleven or twelve main historical scenarios...

This includes: the (failed) operation in front of Dakar, the Gabon campaign, the Eritrea campaign, the Syrian campaign, some hard desert fightings (the heroic actions at Bir Hakeim in Libya, then El Alamein in Egypt), the Tunisian campaign, the Italian campaign, a landing in Provence, the siege of La Rochelle (where the Allies were commanded by a Free France general), the Battle of Alsace, the Battle of the Authion...

So naval operations, landings, battles in the desert, many "factions" involved, etc. In short: many ingredients for an epic saga!