QUESTIONS: Rapid Fire Q&A

[uneducated]

1) The Trinity
The Trinity of Anti-Tank, Anti-Air and Artillery is often found in battles. Each is next to the other and they support each other in defence. What is the most efficient way to deal with this configuration?



2) Artillery Shock Effect
When you use Artillery to attack an enemy unit, do enemy units adjacent to the artillery strike suffer damage or lose morale?



3) Stug III
They are tricky to use, perhaps the most complicated to deploy effectively. They are there to provide defensive artillery fire to adjacent troops and also to reduce entrenchment of enemy units. Do you have any rules of thumb for these sorts of unit?



4) Fly Away
Can your aircraft units keep flying indefinitely every turn or must they rest every once in a while?



5) Fly Boys
How can you tell if the fly boys need a rest for a turn? Do you just keep sending them out till they need reinforcements? Is there no accumulated morale loss?


6) Interceptors
Fighters are best against other Fighters, but are the Fighter Bombers just half-way houses between Fighter and Bomber, or should they be given a bonus when combating Bombers, as though they were interceptors?



7) Churchill
I think these were the toughest British tank, but were they that tough?! I have had one surrounded by 3 Tiger I, and it was still battling along, quite amazing really!



Panther vs Tiger I
It looks like the Panther variants are tougher than the Tiger I, notably in hard attack. What is the rationale for that, as I didn't expect it?



9) Historical Units
I hope that there will be some Mods or further development to represent the glory of some of the famed regiments from all sides. For example can we hope to see the Black Watch or Liebstandarte? Field of Glory have a great bloke for doing beautiful modelling of units from the Ancients.



10) Steam
Thanks to the developers we do not have to use Steam to enjoy this game. If people create Mods for the game, do we have to get them from Steam and then download them or something, or can we get the Mods without Steam. Which are your favourite Mods?



11) Crowd-Funding
How about floating some ideas past the fans and players and see whether we would be prepared to fork out the funding to improve particular aspects of the game?


Thanks for all the enjoyment developers!

[Horseman]

1) The Trinity
The Trinity of Anti-Tank, Anti-Air and Artillery is often found in battles. Each is next to the other and they support each other in defence. What is the most efficient way to deal with this configuration?



2) Artillery Shock Effect
When you use Artillery to attack an enemy unit, do enemy units adjacent to the artillery strike suffer damage or lose morale?



3) Stug III
They are tricky to use, perhaps the most complicated to deploy effectively. They are there to provide defensive artillery fire to adjacent troops and also to reduce entrenchment of enemy units. Do you have any rules of thumb for these sorts of unit?



4) Fly Away
Can your aircraft units keep flying indefinitely every turn or must they rest every once in a while?



5) Fly Boys
How can you tell if the fly boys need a rest for a turn? Do you just keep sending them out till they need reinforcements? Is there no accumulated morale loss?


6) Interceptors
Fighters are best against other Fighters, but are the Fighter Bombers just half-way houses between Fighter and Bomber, or should they be given a bonus when combating Bombers, as though they were interceptors?



7) Churchill
I think these were the toughest British tank, but were they that tough?! I have had one surrounded by 3 Tiger I, and it was still battling along, quite amazing really!



Panther vs Tiger I
It looks like the Panther variants are tougher than the Tiger I, notably in hard attack. What is the rationale for that, as I didn't expect it?



9) Historical Units
I hope that there will be some Mods or further development to represent the glory of some of the famed regiments from all sides. For example can we hope to see the Black Watch or Liebstandarte? Field of Glory have a great bloke for doing beautiful modelling of units from the Ancients.



10) Steam
Thanks to the developers we do not have to use Steam to enjoy this game. If people create Mods for the game, do we have to get them from Steam and then download them or something, or can we get the Mods without Steam. Which are your favourite Mods?



11) Crowd-Funding
How about floating some ideas past the fans and players and see whether we would be prepared to fork out the funding to improve particular aspects of the game?


Thanks for all the enjoyment developers!

I'll answer what i can...

1) With some assumptions your options are - Get infantry in and kill the art 1st, then the AT then anything can swat the AA. Alternative way is use art to suppress AT and/or AA. If AA suppressed bring in the planes. If AT suppressed roll in the armour!

2) No - only targeted unit.

3) I'll leave for someone who's used these units more than me!

4) They can fly every turn except in rain or snow.

5) There is no fatigue - they can keep flying

6) Fighter bombers don't get any bonus for attacking bombers.

7) No the Chruchil wasn't THAT tough!

The Panthers 75mm had better armour penetration that the Tigers 88mm. This was due to (I think) Muzzle velocity. From the front the Panther was also very hard to take out. Though the Tiger had far superior side protection.

Hope that helps!

[SSLConf_pewp3w]

1.) What I usually do is supressing the anti-air with artillery and then use strat and tac bombers to soften it up before going in for the attack. You could also use a hero that does not trigger support.
2.) No
3.) My rule of thumb is to not use it. I have tried it, but it does not seem worthwhile to me, because you have to plan ahead much more than with other units and if you are a bit unlucky the unit ends up exposed. And I think its not worth it for the little suppression they give.
4. and 5.) They can move every turn except if its raining or snowing or if they have been force rebased, because the enemy took the airfield they were stationed at.
6.) I think they should not get a bonus, because they are actually quite useful already. I often use them to finish off enemy planes with one or two strength left in the first few turns and afterwards they can attack ground units much better than fighters. Especially the fw190 variants are quite good. The ME110 is also pretty useful in 1939 and 1940.
7.) Due to the way the damage calculation works, their high hard defense makes it so that your attacks, even with tigers don't do that much damage. This is actually a blessing in disguise imho, since they are also not so strong at attacking. This means you can encircle them quite easily and get quite a load of prestige from surrendering them.
8.) Both have their uses imho. I usually have a ratio of 2 tigers for 1 panther. The extra movement is really nice. I am no expert on how the guns of the tanks really compare, but from what I know, the panther gun was just a little bit more effective vs enemy tanks than the tiger gun.
9.) I think its good that slitherine stuck with their guns and included no SS units. There will surely be mods, but basically what would those units be? Just more experienced versions of standard units. Basically your units in the game become their own famed regiments. I don't care much for them.
10.) I don't know.
11.) I would like to be asked about where expansions could go, but I would not pay extra money for special features.

edit: someone was faster than I was

[Tassadar]

@3) As a huge fan of using StuG/Brummbär/Sturmtiger type units in PzC2 I can indeed confirm thay are more tricky to use, but they have several adavantages over regular artillery (and the obvious range disadvantage):

- Heavy armor protects them from accidental damage and allows to deploy them more freely in the open. This applies both to defensive usage in escort formations (but limited compared to PzC1 as they don't provide support to hard targets with exception of StuH 42) and in some sieges. They can stand in the open close to a close terrain target and provide both an element of encirclement as well as supression. Any counterattack from the enemy will be of limited value and an AT behind them makes this almost invunerable. Towed artillery and other mobile pieces are much less forgiving when it comes to their placement and are extremely tempting targets.
- With Flexible Command trait they make for wonderful tools to force surrenders. They can encircle enemy positions up close freeing up the tanks and recons to move elsewhere, their armor makes them less vunerable when divided into smaller stacks and they still fire for supression without retaliation and without much fear of counter battery fire.
- They have a bonus against structures - nothing too great, but useful in case you don't run prorotype Superguns and need some extra supression on one region of the map
- They take 4 levels of entrenchment away - perfect to shoot first and soften the target up almost in one go. In fact one salvo from a experienced Brummbär or especially Sturmtiger later in the game is usually enough.

That being said, I limit them to 2 stacks most of the time as each type of artillery has it's good tactical usage, so I take them along the big towed guns, regular self-propelled artillery and one rocket launcher for when that extra punch is needed.

[dalfrede]

3) Stug III
They are tricky to use, perhaps the most complicated to deploy effectively. They are there to provide defensive artillery fire to adjacent troops and also to reduce entrenchment of enemy units. Do you have any rules of thumb for these sorts of unit?

1) They are cheap and tough.
2) If you are surrounding a unit they take less punishment than a Recon from attempts to free an encircled unit.
3) Easy to add a R=2 switch mode Mod.

10) Steam
Thanks to the developers we do not have to use Steam to enjoy this game. If people create Mods for the game, do we have to get them from Steam and then download them or something, or can we get the Mods without Steam. Which are your favourite Mods?

Steam is a platform that makes Betas easier, it also 'supplies/supports' a specific/large customer base.
Mods have nothing to do with Steam. The Devs are concentrating on other issues [multiplayer] before dealing Modding issues.

11) Crowd-Funding
How about floating some ideas past the fans and players and see whether we would be prepared to fork out the funding to improve particular aspects of the game?

Pointless at this point, the Devs don't have the resources to address user rabbit holes.
Make all the suggestions you want, they will do the ones they like without crowdsourcing.

[PoorOldSpike]

5) Fly Boys
How can you tell if the fly boys need a rest for a turn? Do you just keep sending them out till they need reinforcements? Is there no accumulated morale loss?

Good point, does anybody know how long turns are in PC2, hours? days?
Hopefully there's always time for pilots to grab a cup of tea-

[adiekmann]

5) Fly Boys
How can you tell if the fly boys need a rest for a turn? Do you just keep sending them out till they need reinforcements? Is there no accumulated morale loss?

Good point, does anybody know how long turns are in PC2, hours? days?
Hopefully there's always time for pilots to grab a cup of tea-

I think it depends on the map. But if you really want to know, F3 brings up the mission objectives. Listed quite small is the date on the top. You can always check/track how many days have elapsed there from turn to turn.

[PoorOldSpike]

Panther vs Tiger I
It looks like the Panther variants are tougher than the Tiger I, notably in hard attack. What is the rationale for that, as I didn't expect it?

I just logged some vital statistics below, and at a guess I'd say the Panth's 75mm gun was easier to handle and reload and therefore had a faster rate of fire than the Tigs big 88, and the Panths turret traverse was faster, so the devs probably reflected it by dropping the Tigs hard attack factor a couple of notches-

GERMAN TANKS (Soft-Hard-Grnd Def)
Kingtiger: 22 - 30 - 29
Panther G: 22 - 25 - 25
Panther A: 22 - 25 - 24
Tiger 1: 22 - 23 - 25
PzIVJ: 20 - 22 - 23
PzIVH: 20 - 21 - 20

Below: 88mm round

[uneducated]

Panther vs Tiger I
It looks like the Panther variants are tougher than the Tiger I, notably in hard attack. What is the rationale for that, as I didn't expect it?

I just logged some vital statistics below, and at a guess I'd say the Panth's 75mm gun was easier to handle and reload and therefore had a faster rate of fire than the Tigs big 88, and the Panths turret traverse was faster, so the devs probably reflected it by dropping the Tigs hard attack factor a couple of notches-

GERMAN TANKS (Soft-Hard-Grnd Def)
Kingtiger: 22 - 30 - 29
Panther G: 22 - 25 - 25
Panther A: 22 - 25 - 24
Tiger 1: 22 - 23 - 25
PzIVJ: 20 - 22 - 23
PzIVH: 20 - 21 - 20

Below: 88mm round

PoorOldSpike, thank you very much for that explanation and the amazing picture. Those rounds were huge! No wonder the 88 was feared.

[gokkel]

Regarding 10, since there does not seem to be Steam Workshop support, mods won't come from there anyway.

[PoorOldSpike]

Uneducated asked- 7) Churchill
I think these were the toughest British tank, but were they that tough?! I have had one surrounded by 3 Tiger I, and it was still battling along, quite amazing really!
---------------------------------------------------

7) No the Chruchil wasn't THAT tough!

Aargh that's blasphemy!
The Churchill VII's ground defence rating in the game (ie armour thickness) is a mighty '28' and only the Kingtiger can better that at '29', so that makes the Ch VII a very tough cookie indeed..
For the record the other 2 members of the Churchill family (VI and IV) have grnd def ratings of 25 and 24, (I haven't included the specialist flamethrowing Crocodile and HE-chucking AVRE)
The VII/ VI/ IV have 75mm guns with Hard attack ratings of 21, 18, 18 respectively, quite capable of hurting the Pz IVJ and Pz IVH which have Hard att ratings of 22 and 21.
And the IVJ and H's grnd def is 23 and 20, less than the Churchills.

[Horseman]

Uneducated asked- 7) Churchill
I think these were the toughest British tank, but were they that tough?! I have had one surrounded by 3 Tiger I, and it was still battling along, quite amazing really!
---------------------------------------------------

7) No the Chruchil wasn't THAT tough!

Aargh that's blasphemy!
The Churchill VII's ground defence rating in the game (ie armour thickness) is a mighty '28' and only the Kingtiger can better that at '29', so that makes the Ch VII a very tough cookie indeed..
For the record the other 2 members of the Churchill family (VI and IV) have grnd def ratings of 25 and 24, (I haven't included the specialist flamethrowing Crocodile and HE-chucking AVRE)
The VII/ VI/ IV have 75mm guns with Hard attack ratings of 21, 18, 18, quite capable of hurting the Pz IVJ and Pz IVH which have Hard att ratings of 22 and 21.
And the IVJ and H's grnd def is 23 and 20, less than the Churchills.

I'm not saying they weren't tough because they clearly were - but 3v1 and surrounded by Tigers....Yeah I'm not sure ANY tank was THAT tough

[PoorOldSpike]

I'm not saying they weren't tough because they clearly were - but 3v1 and surrounded by Tigers....Yeah I'm not sure ANY tank was THAT tough

Perhaps Uneducated's Churchill was sitting in a supply hex which would have meant it was continually getting replacements back up to full strength even while surrounded..

[adiekmann]

I see several stats that I feel were more accurately represented in PC1. Where to start?

The Churchhill tank in its first version only was armed with the 2-pounder (40mm) gun. It never had in regular tank form anything bigger than the 6-pounder (57mm) gun because its turret couldn't accommodate a larger gun. This 6-pounder gun could deal with Mk.IIIs and IVs, but you needed an almost perfect shot to take out Panthers and Tigers. So its HD attack rating I find too high in PC2.

According to your stats above, the Panther G and Tiger I have the same ground defense? No, that's not right. Comparable front armor on the glacial plate, maybe, but definitely not turret overall nor sides. Again, PC1 I think had it closer to reality.

While on this subject, why are comparable infantry units of most armies exactly the same stat-wise? I don't believe all were of equal quality, like reg. Soviet Inf and Wehr Infantry. British regular infantry? Yeah, okay, I can see that. Again, I liked the different quality represented in PC1 better.

Other areas, however, I like how PC2 gets some things better, I think, but overall I felt PC1 was closer to right.

THoughts?

[PoorOldSpike]

The Churchhill tank in its first version only was armed with the 2-pounder (40mm) gun. It never had in regular tank form anything bigger than the 6-pounder (57mm) gun because its turret couldn't accommodate a larger gun. This 6-pounder gun could deal with Mk.IIIs and IVs, but you needed an almost perfect shot to take out Panthers and Tigers. So its HD attack rating I find too high in PC2..

I'm positive that the Churchill VII, VI and IV's in PC2 have rightly got 75mm guns but I'm sure the devs will correct me if I'm wrong..
But you raise a good point about earlier Churchills that had the 6 pdr gun, because there aren't any in PC2 (as far as I can tell), so I've suggested to the longsuffering devs that they might want to include the Churchill III (6 pdr) in the game for 1942-43..

For the record here are all the Brit tanks available in PC2 at the moment (v1.1.0)-

[dalfrede]

BritTanks.jpg (243.31 KiB) Viewed 2643 times

Complete list

[isma]

I wouldn't know how to help you

[adiekmann]

The Churchhill tank in its first version only was armed with the 2-pounder (40mm) gun. It never had in regular tank form anything bigger than the 6-pounder (57mm) gun because its turret couldn't accommodate a larger gun. This 6-pounder gun could deal with Mk.IIIs and IVs, but you needed an almost perfect shot to take out Panthers and Tigers. So its HD attack rating I find too high in PC2..

I'm positive that the Churchill VII, VI and IV's in PC2 have rightly got 75mm guns but I'm sure the devs will correct me if I'm wrong..
But you raise a good point about earlier Churchills that had the 6 pdr gun, because there aren't any in PC2 (as far as I can tell), so I've suggested to the longsuffering devs that they might want to include the Churchill III (6 pdr) in the game for 1942-43..

For the record here are all the Brit tanks available in PC2 at the moment (v1.1.0)-

It appears you are correct. Here's what I found on Wiki that may be of interest:
'
Main
armament
QF 2 pounder (Mark I and II)
QF 6 pounder (Mark III and IV)
QF 75mm (Mark VI and VII)
QF 95mm (Mark V and VIII)


"Another problem was the tank's relatively small turret that prevented the use of powerful weapons; definitive versions of the tank were armed with either the QF 6-pounder or the derivative QF 75 mm gun. The 6-pdr was effective against armoured vehicles, but less so against other targets; the 75 mm was a better all-round weapon, but lacked in effectiveness against armour. Although the Churchills with their 6 pounders could outgun many contemporary German medium tanks (like the Panzer IV with the short-barrel 75 mm gun, and the Panzer III armed with the 50 mm gun) and the thick armour of all Churchill models could usually withstand several hits from any German anti-tank gun, in the later years of the war the German Panther tank had a 75 mm high-velocity cannon as its main armament along with increased protection, against which the Churchills' own guns often lacked sufficient armour penetration to fight back effectively.

The Churchill had many variations, including many specialised modifications. The most significant change to the Churchill was that it was up-gunned from 2 pounder to 6 pounder and then 75 mm guns over the course of the war. By the war's end, the late model Churchill Mk VII had exceptional amounts of armour – considerably more than the German Tiger tank. However, the firepower weakness was never fully addressed. The Mark VII turret that was designed for the 75 mm gun was of composite construction – cast with top and bottom plates welded into position."