Axis Operations 1941 is announced

[Edmon]

The world watches as “blitzkrieg” truly begins…

2 years have passed since the start of a war that would see nearly all of Europe in ruins. German ambitions have grown dangerously. High on victory and with only the Balkans to secure, Germany plans to violate its pact with Russia and launch the largest and fastest tank assault in history. Though Russia was tipped off that such an assault was coming, this intel was not acted on. Her armies find themselves caught by surprise and scrambling to defend themselves from the coming onslaught…

Take command of Germany during this time in Axis Operations: 1941. First, secure your flank from Italian failure and take command in the Balkans. Germany took serious losses here and in Crete, which would later be known as “the graveyard of Fallschirmjäger”. Your steady hand could prevent losses here that would hurt German efforts in the future.

Once your flank is secured, launch your assault on Russia. Your mission: Inflict as much damage as possible. Running against the clock, strike hard at grounded aircraft and stranded armed forces. Russia can be given no time to consolidate and strike back, so plan your attacks accordingly…



New features:

• Construct airports in hostile territory and take command of the skies in situations where traditional airbases are not available.
• Improved Soviet infantry models for Guards, Paratroopers, Mountain, and Conscripts.
• New British Cruiser MKII CS artillery tank.
• Bf-109Z and He-111Z make their debut into the Axis Operations.
• 20 new missions with scale never before seen in Panzer Corps 2.

Play it your way:
You can carry your veteran core army through the Spanish Civil War, 1939, 1940 and now into Axis Operations: 1941 to create an epic “Grand Campaign”. But, you don’t have to, as you can skip any of the DLC’s or dive into Axis Operations: 1941 directly if you wish. No matter how you choose to enjoy Axis Operations: 1941, the balance will account for your choices.


Beta and Preview:
Want to help us test and polish Axis Operations: 1941? You can join our Beta here.

Fancy sneaking an early peek at Axis Operations: 1941? We’ll have a world first preview of the Axis Operations: 1941 DLC on the 4th of February at 18:30 GMT on twitch.

Be sure to follow our Twitch channel if you need a reminder.

[GUNDOBALDO08]

I really hope we can experiment correct weight of non german axis units in this dlc (italians, romanians, humgarians and... my big hope Finnish). I hope we can meet also correct yugoslavian and greek units, infantry 3d models more than all.
I will be very disappointed if one more time Brits 3d model will be used for all minor nation!

[milliethedog]

Hi just applied, looking forward to this if given the okay.
Martin

[sebb81]

Great, also applied a few seconds ago

[jeannot le lapin]

Big DLC

[Tassadar]

Lot of good news here.

First, secure your flank from Italian failure and take command in the Balkans. Germany took serious losses here and in Crete, which would later be known as “the graveyard of Fallschirmjäger”. Your steady hand could prevent losses here that would hurt German efforts in the future.

Once your flank is secured, launch your assault on Russia.

This seems to suggest that Africa will be left for a separate DLC as it was done in PzC1 OR a separate branch of AO - hopefully that's indeed the case, it would make for fun variance and allow to explore more fronts in detail rather than just skim through some missions.

New British Cruiser MKII CS artillery tank.

Yay for the Panzermon run, BT-7A will have a friend.

Bf-109Z and He-111Z make their debut into the Axis Operations.

I've been actually curious about them ever since these were first spoiled and did not appear in AO 1940 yet - was about to write a post to check if I was missing anything.

20 new missions with scale never before seen in Panzer Corps 2.

That's nice, but hopefully with further optimization of the engine. Things are now fine for me compared to the state from a few patches ago (AO 1940 time patch made the biggest difference for performance), but if the scale is to go up, further tweaks would be important.

[Kerensky]

20 new missions with scale never before seen in Panzer Corps 2.

That's nice, but hopefully with further optimization of the engine. Things are now fine for me compared to the state from a few patches ago (AO 1940 time patch made the biggest difference for performance), but if the scale is to go up, further tweaks would be important.

I'm pretty certain their mention of scenario scale has more to do with the historical operation being explored than scenario physical size. Although there are some big maps too, as we should see as they reveal more information.

[GUNDOBALDO08]

I started a random scenario with Soviet and I’m surprise seeing yet improved Soviet infantry 3D models for Guards, Paratroopers, Mountain, and Conscripts.
I really love them, only i’m little disappointed about Guards helmet, because it’s the same cloth cap of conscripts... maybe the models are only in beta version, so I hope Guards get a more suitable helmet

[Kerensky]

I started a random scenario with Soviet and I’m surprise seeing yet improved Soviet infantry 3D models for Guards, Paratroopers, Mountain, and Conscripts.
I really love them, only i’m little disappointed about Guards helmet, because it’s the same cloth cap of conscripts... maybe the models are only in beta version, so I hope Guards get a more suitable helmet

Well this is part of the promise and the value we are working really hard to continue to inject into Panzer Corps 2. Not everything 'new' is locked behind the DLC paywall. So many new mechanics, new unit models, new LUA script... it is available for everyone who owns the base version of the game. This is why some of those Soviet infantry are already integrated into the game, and why the 109z and 111z were showcased before they appeared in DLC. Because they aren't being added to the paid package... they are being added to the base game for everyone to enjoy.

Now of course, that paid DLC is a full campaign that makes priority use of these assets in a very specialized and focused way that puts a gigantic spotlight on them. But these improvements are not locked within the DLC itself. You don't need to own Spanish Civil War or 1939 DLC to make use of new Commendation Point or AI reinforcement scripts, but referencing them is a fast track to apply these new mechanics to even custom content.
viewtopic.php?f=597&p=903472#p903301

[faos333]

good news

[faos333]

good news

[wecker]

Wow - this is soooo great news.

I am totally excited

Will we See Yougoslavia? Maybe the raid on Belgrade like in PC1?

And I take Crete is assured.

Can`t wait for more information.

Keep on rocking guys!

[adiekmann]

Yes, there are several Yugoslavia and Greece maps. If you look at the Slitherine store page (under "Coming Soon") you will find a lot more details about AO41 than what has been posted so far here, including a list of scenarios and lots of screen shots. On Steam, you can open the screenshots on a browser and see them in more detail.

20 Scenario List

- Zagreb

- Yugoslavia

- Thessaloniki

- Thermopylae 1941

- Operation Mercury

- Undisclosed Location PO

- Raseiniai

- Stalin Line

- Tallinn

- Approach to Leningrad

- Minsk 1941

- Smolensk 1941

- Yelnya Offensive

- Gomel

- Lokhvitsa

- Kiev 1941

- Bryansk

- Mozhaisk Line

- Battle of Moscow

- Klin

From the screenshots it is clear that there is a fork/choice in the campaign path when you begin Barbarossa: North or centre. My best guess is therefore the longest campaign path is 16 scenarios.

[Kerensky]

From the screenshots it is clear that there is a fork/choice in the campaign path when you begin Barbarossa: North or centre. My best guess is therefore the longest campaign path is 16 scenarios.

It's not exactly a fork this time. You do not have to commit to a path once and stick to it.

[adiekmann]

From the screenshots it is clear that there is a fork/choice in the campaign path when you begin Barbarossa: North or centre. My best guess is therefore the longest campaign path is 16 scenarios.

It's not exactly a fork this time. You do not have to commit to a path once and stick to it.

Hmm...so what is the longest path/# of scenarios that you can do in a single playthrough (if you are allowed to disclose that)?

[colberki]

I wonder if the South will be covered by another DLC, Perhaps a 1941 through 1942 Case Blau?

[adiekmann]

I wonder if the South will be covered by another DLC, Perhaps a 1941 through 1942 Case Blau?

When Barbarossa was initially launched, I recall it did not immediately include a "southern" front. That came a little later (though still summer 1941). I suspect that historical fact may be the reason for the "centre or northern" only campaign choice that you see in the screen shot. The 1942 campaign took place primarily in the south when Hitler shifted his objectives from Moscow to the Caucasus so there is no doubt that it will also be included. There is no way you can have an Eastern Front campaign and not include Stalingrad in some form.

[George_Parr]

I wouldn't really say that there was no southern front. Army Group South consisted of multiple armies, and faced the strongest units the Soviet had available, including much of the armor. The attacks from Romania only launched about ten days later, and Hungary joined in even later, but operations in general started right away, and AG South was quite a bit stronger than AG North.

[adiekmann]

The attacks from Romania only launched about ten days later...

Yes, that's what I meant. I just didn't remember exactly how much later, but it didn't begin on day (or week) one as you have pointed out. Nonetheless, it is still doubtful that had anything to do with a southern front choice not being included. It probably had more to do with restricting the number of paths/scenarios and still offer the same depth/length for a single playthrough.

[Ballacraine]

Definitely up for this.

Also hoping to see an Afrika Korps DLC in similar vein to PC1.