Feel the Wheel of Steel: Red Steel Review and Discuss

[bebro]

Thx folks, it's great to read the feedback

As for the earlier question about other battles considered:

Earlier I started work on another op at Leningrad: Sinyavino Offensive mid-42, which failed. I put in the 1st Rzhev Offensive instead in summer. The map for Sinyavino then was used to make Op. Iskra on the alternative path, which in the same area, but successful.

Another candidate was to have the Battle of Kalach before Stalingrad, as in Panzerkrieg. But it makes more sense from the German side IMO and it didn't feel great just to reverse it.

[rafdobrowolski]

Was there a campaign tree posted somewhere that I missed?

[bebro]

Here you go:

viewtopic.php?f=264&t=98576

[Boarspear]

This is the pinnacle of the series for me. I've really been enjoying it, albeit I'm a feeble player so I cheat in order to survive. I've noticed quite a few minor bugs. I looked on the technical support forum, but couldn't locate the Report bugs thread, if there is one. One thing I've noticed is that sometimes when I select the Soviet 85 mm AA gun the target will remain on the screen for a while. In terms of the cheat bar, it used to be you could press enter after your cheat code and it would confirm it -- now you have to manually "confirm." The most annoying thing to me, though, is when you try to "upgrade" a unit the screen will choose the stats for the first unit in the upgrade path, so it's hard to compare.

Outside of that, I love the upgraded artillery performance, although those Nebelwerfers have become quite vicious, as have the Stukas. I also find it kind of odd that after losing most of their strength from being attacked, and sometimes when totally surrounded, artillery and nebelwerfers are able to snap off a shot that does serious damage to units. This is really a great game, though, and the scenarios are really well designed.

[Andy2012]

Alright, sorry for the delay. Bill Gates kept me in his secret underground bunker because I have discovered the truth about his plans. But now I am back, protected by my mighty tinfoil hat and in constant telepathic communication with bebro and Shards to hold off the mindcontrol waves. Rub those temples. Yeah.
Anyways, next mission is a classic OoB fighting retreat move everybody familiar with the series should know from other DLCs. You start out with exposed aux units and a heavy Wehrmacht attack. You have to set up your defensive line in a favorable position, pull back the aux units towards it and then hold. As you see below, I do not deploy any core tanks at all. Basically, the best position is behind the river, making occasional forays with the two aux T34 tanks and letting the Wehrmacht tanks run into your ambush positions with hidden AT units in forests or villages. Also important are (as always) your heavy mortar units to support your defenders. Pull back one or two AA towards the harbour to protect the ships and repair your fighters regularly. Some mines in the south and maybe blowing up a bridge or two will not do any harm either. As soon as ten turns are up, fall back towards the harbour. Your best friends are the paved roads allowing for a quick escape. By then, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe will have exhausted themselves. On to Kharkov!

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[bebro]

Haha re Bill Gates. If you're well-equipped with a self-made tinfoil hat you may be even immune to mind-control vaccines sponsored by him ...

[Andy2012]

Well, another bruising defeat for the Red Army. My guess is they will keep on coming for a while.
This mission is once again a fighting retreat which means you have to take a look at the map layout and determine where to best make your stand. There is an added twist though with taking out enemy tanks (not assault guns!).
For these, bring your trusty T-34s and dont forget the upgrade to the latest version. If possible, also upgrade your elite infantry units (3 star or more) to Guards infantry, if you have the spec.
South of Izyum, an engineer unit blows up the bridges. You can also seal off some gaps with mines, the AI always struggles with those.
Speaking of struggling, inside the pocket, you cannot do much. Resupply your units (no elite for aux) and slowly pull back towards the south. Use conscripts in woods as roadblocks, keep the tanks alive and pull back the IL 2 towards Izyum. That goes basically for all aux units outside the pocket: As in the last mission, fall back behind the nearest river line. Your trusty heavy mortars should form the backbone. Taking out those five tank units is best done by cutting them off. The AI likes to send them in unprotected by infantry on lone assaults. Izyum itself will hardly see any battle, just a few stray inf from the south. Wait out the 15 turns, rotate shell-shocked defenders to the rear and dont overspend on resupplying the pocket.

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[best75]

1st Rzhev Offensive, 4th difficulty

A attack on fortified lines here. The enemy has placed many mines and fortifications. I didn't have much engineers to clear the mines so I used regular infantry to clear the mines. I deployed a single tactical bomber and with the auxiliary bomber was easily able to achieve the objective to deal 15 damage by tactical bombers. The partisans were unable to deal 10 total damage. They have weak strength and can only damage the german truck units. Most of the damage came from the northern most partisan unit dealing damage to the truck near its starting point. The few other points of damage came when the german trucks were retreating. When the partisans units I died, I take my 2nd primary objective and end the scenario.

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[Andy2012]

Well, Voronezh is the next city the Red Army will lose. Lucky for us, we can play the short counteroffensive in the north and enjoy a brief, elating victory before the city falls to the Wehrmacht.
This is just 15 turns, so play it aggressively. At least the tank battle. As usual in OoB defensive missions, consolidate your forces in advantageous positions. Which is mostly a river line. Voronezh will not face a major assault too soon, so maybe blow up a bridge or two and add a minefield. The Night Witches stationed there are rather useless to do any damage at all. So getting those measly two damage out of them is a challenge. I recommend clearing out the skies of fighters first and keeping them on the ground in the first few turns. Then hit a recon car on a river, twice. Done. It is a bit tricky, though.
In the north is where the action is and the major tank engagements will take place. Even though the Wehrmacht tanks are superior in number and firepower, you have your trusty heavy mortars to soften them up and maybe, just maybe, hide an AT gun in the forests behind them. Beware of the Stugs providing AT support for tanks, use once again the river to your advantage. The Luftwaffe's air superiority is mostly negated when you bring your trusty Bofors to the front with you. Rotate your tanks, repair and flank enemy panzers.

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[GabeKnight]

RedSteel, sov2_08_Rzhev

I'm not sure if this is a "bug" or not, but as this thread is called "Review and discuss", I'm doing just that: It looks like there should be a road bridge (but ain't).

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And I'm enjoying RedSteel so far; good action, thanks! Playing at level IV difficulty, and the RPs might be a bit tight in this one, but it's always enough to buy me whatever toys I'd like; and always enough for elite repairin' even my engineers...

[best75]

Stalingrad, 4th difficulty
Stalingrad is quite big and I leave the northern and southern areas of Stalingrad to focus on a more concentrated defence. I brought engineers to blow a few bridges and deploy mines. There is a campaign split here and I aim to get a major victory to go down the path to Operation Uranus. The Germans have brought a great amount of air support to crush our resistance. We have little fighters but with the help of anti air units I was able to destroy 3 german air units early in the scenario. Much of the german air strikes were focussed on my forces in the south. I was aggressive in destroying the german units to be sure I complete the secondary objective of destroying 20 german units. I am unable to deploy any of my core tank units, the germans have many of their own tanks. I use my anti tank units and artillery to deal with the german tanks. It did not look like any german units were coming in the middle mid way through the scenario so I shift units south. After the heavy fighting, we still hold parts of Stalingrad and the major victory lets us go to Operation Uranus.

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[GabeKnight]

This is how it looked for me in Stalingrad...
You just have to love the possibility of different approaches in this game...

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[LandMarine47]

Hell I don't think there's a 6th Army left to encircle with a map like that! In my first play through I fought hard in southern Stalingrad and slowly gave up the north to the Germans. Ended the scenario with the southern city under Soviet control but lost most of the northern factory VPs.

[bebro]

RedSteel, sov2_08_Rzhev

I'm not sure if this is a "bug" or not, but as this thread is called "Review and discuss", I'm doing just that: It looks like there should be a road bridge (but ain't).

There's a destroyed road bridge on that hex by trigger from the start.

[best75]

Operation Uranus, 4th difficulty completed on turn 20
This is the pincer strike to encircle the 6th army at Stalingrad. I distribute my forces between the 2 pincers and deal great damage to the initial romanian units holding the flanks. The german units do counter attack. At this difficulty the ai controlled soviet units held their positions at Stalingrad without assistance from my force. Once the german forces are pocketed on turn 19. I then only need to take the single german objective to end the scenario.

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[icemo@comcast.net]

Red Steel is fabulous. Graphics are great, scenarios are challenging, and the overall effect is the best combination of "game" and "simulation" on the market. If you want indestructible units that cruise the map in God-mode slaughtering enemy units with one hit, stick to Panzer Corps 2. The Order of Battle system is about wearing down the opponent. It takes multiple attacks with combined arms to actually eliminate enemy units. If you push too hard, the AI will quickly punish reckless, overly aggressive play. You also have to make choices on which branch you want to train - just not enough specialization points to do it all. Well placed supporting AT guns are the meat of the game. It's really satisfying to bait the enemy tanks in and watch them take a beating. Laying mines (if you can afford them) is also very effective, and Red Steel is the game that puts all those aspect together. Late 1941 and most of 42, the Russians had a solid superiority over Jerry in tank quality. That comes across very well in Red Steel when a Panzer III meets a KV-1.
Red Steel was really well thought out.

Complaints - none.
Bugs - the upgrade units and purchase units constantly fails to work, but restarting the game restores it.
Suggestions - SS units should start with at least 2 experience stars, not as green units. Fighters should gain experience a little faster. There should be specialization trees for AT and Arty.

Cheat codes - To really appreciate the game, you have to play it a few times from start to finish without the codes. By the end of most scenarios, every unit on the map is banged up. You have to keep a reserve of healthy units and purchase points.
Using the cheat codes as a designers tool to experiment with units is much fun. Extra purchase points allow you try out those units that you could never afford, and you find out that they aren't always worth the cost, and they are very expensive to maintain. You can also try the specialization branches to full effect, to see where the points spent relate to battlefield success.

A big thank you to all the people who developed Order of Battle. You guys hit it out of the park with Red Steel.

[GabeKnight]

Agree. It was fun. Thanks.

[Andy2012]

Alright, I guess I am running a bit behind you guys. But I'll let you be the vanguard taking the terrible losses while I stay in rear with the gear. Yeah, supply chain donkey for life, baby.
Anyways, Rhzev is surprisingly easy here. Note that I bought two T-34 flametanks as an upgrade to the flimsy T26 flamers. They take fewer damage and thus save credits over the long run.
The two twists in this mission is do 10 damage with partisans and 20 with fighter bombers. Both mean that you have to pick easy targets to achieve them fast. Which means trucks. The Partisans are rather flimsy and dont stand any chance against any unit whatsoever. So move them from forest to forest, searching for Wehrmacht trucks that wont fight back. Quicksave if necessary. After seizing two objectives, it's off to Stalingrad...

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[best75]

Operation Winterstorm, 4th difficulty completed on turn 13
We got to take the positions on the Chir River and stop the German relief effort. The germans have a lot of tanks for their relief effort. I deployed my anti tank guns and much of my armoured force to stop the German advance and destroy their tanks for the secondary. The air transports were easily destroyed by my fighters.
Through my allies at Stalingrad did lose their VP early on, they did retake it and I gave them support from my bombers. The scenario ended once the enemy VP on the Chir River were taken.

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[fuzzayd]

Just want to say I finally finished the campaign and it's just excellent all around. I don't think I've enjoyed a OoB campaign that much since Winter War. Can't wait for the next one! Feels like the pendulum is swinging...