Soviet Grand Campaign (DLC 42 v1.1)(03/07/25)

[nikivdd]

Started playing this great game again...just wanted to say thank you 'nikivdd' for your outstanding work.

Thank you

[nikivdd]

When this message appears during the deployment phase, no aircraft has yet been transferred. The aircraft will be transferred during the first turn but after the deployment phase. This leads to confusion the first time...

Thank you for the catch. You are right, it is confusing the first time. Therefore the ingame message will be more specific where and when the level bomber will be at the player's disposal.

[terminator]

Barbarossa: Brody 41 (vs Germany)

There are four Victory Hex (Luck, Brody, Dubno & Rowne) but only two count for victory (Brody & Rowne) ?

Barbarossa Brody 41 (vs Germany) (2).jpg (212.16 KiB) Viewed 3088 times

Barbarossa Brody 41 (vs Germany) (1).jpg (854.05 KiB) Viewed 3088 times

[nikivdd]

Barbarossa: Brody 41 (vs Germany)

There are four Victory Hex (Luck, Brody, Dubno & Rowne) but only two count for victory (Brody & Rowne) ?

That is correct.

[HHT1]

Hello nikivdd (or NIco)
very nice mod. I have downloaded the German text from maho at Streitmacht. Works great.
For DLC ' 42 I have found only 1 mission (demjansk ' 42) and there I also made a German translation for '42 and uploaded it. My name there is Wladimir Pjerwui.
Are there plans to mod more missions for DLC ' 42? Then I would also translate further.
Greetings Hans or Wladimir
(sorry für my deepl - English )

[HHT1]

Sorry.
I forgot:
Is it OK if I don't do the translations for myself, but upload them to STM?
I have nothing against it either, if you use them directly...

[nikivdd]

Hello nikivdd (or NIco)
very nice mod. I have downloaded the German text from maho at Streitmacht. Works great.
For DLC ' 42 I have found only 1 mission (demjansk ' 42) and there I also made a German translation for '42 and uploaded it. My name there is Wladimir Pjerwui.
Are there plans to mod more missions for DLC ' 42? Then I would also translate further.
Greetings Hans or Wladimir
(sorry für my deepl - English )

I will continue with the Soviet campaign after i finish the Italy Corps-Afrika Korps campaign.
The first Soviet DLC will be updated with two more scenarios, what-ifs in fact.
Then i will create the DLC 42.
I welcome the posting of the German translations on Streitmacht forum.

[imp44791]

I will continue with the Soviet campaign after i finish the Italy Corps-Afrika Korps campaign.
The first Soviet DLC will be updated with two more scenarios, what-ifs in fact.
Then i will create the DLC 42.
I welcome the posting of the German translations on Streitmacht forum.

If you are updating the 41 campaign with scenarios, might I recommend considering a Battle of Moscow look from the southern flank (2nd Pz Group) side? Soviet Storm looks at the Klin-Krasnaya Polyana northern side, which is more glamorous as it is the closest the Germans got to the outskirts. And stock Soviet Corps looks at the 4th Army push up the central road (rather well, might I add, for a stock scenario). But the southern prong is historically very exciting. There is a defensive part, trying to keep Tula from being isolated (indeed, it temporarily GOT isolated but then the Germans were cleared from the north side) and blocking the thrust over the Oka at Kashira. Then there is the counterattack by Belov's 2nd Cavalry Corps to relieve Kashira, then the larger counterattack and pursuit of the retiring Germans. Erickson's book has a lot of detail on all that if you want details. You can have one scenario with separate phases (perhaps trying to save Tula and Kashira with your core, then get timed reinforcements from Belov's mixed cavalry-tank force) or two joint scenarios a la DLC US Corps Anzio. It should be fun and no current mod has it.

For DLC 42 I have been doing some thinking, having recently played stock SC and Soviet Storm (along with the Italians, playing the Soviets is always my favourite: they both have a very interesting unit mix plus heavy challenges all the way). I am also currently listening in audiobook to Buttar's books and re-read Erickson reasonably recently to have it on my mind fresh. I also considered your excellent point that shifting cores up and down the front is unrealistic. To recap, what we all seem to want is:

(a) A look at parts of the war that are either not covered at all by existing stock/mod scenarios. E.g. Tula-Kashira as above.

AND/OR

(b) A detailed, DLC-level, historical look at battles that DO exist in stock, but are covered in very macro/sweeping terms (e.g. Stalingrad, Uranus, Saturn). Think Case Yellow in the Grand Campaign vs the series of scenarios in DLC 40.

AND

(c) Move between scenarios in a way that can suspend disbelief even a little. So, no rushing a massive core of KV tanks from Karelia to the Caucasus and back.

Furthermore, the war in 1942 is divided fairly neatly in two halves. Pre-23rd of June, with most of the effort on the Volkhov and around Rzhev-Vyazma plus the Kharkov battles, and then Case Blue shifting emphasis to the South.

I'll start with the second, being a backwards type of guy .

1. Voronezh. This is a containment/part counterattack scenario.

2. The 6th Army push to Stalingrad. Historically this has several interesting aspects that can make for several scenarios. You can have a frantic "pulling back over the Don while being pursued" chase scenario like your excellent Pursuit to Tunisia. Then there is the 16th Panzer Div breakthrough to the Volga to the north of the City (a containment scenario for the Soviet player).

3. I don't personally enjoy street fighting scenarios, but if you want to go down that route then the Stalingrad-proper part of the battle has several famous phases (drive to the station/grain elevator; shift to the factory district; dividing the Soviet perimeter; final German push pre-Uranus) that can lead to separate defensive scenarios. There were also continuous Soviet relief efforts from the north (pre-Uranus and close to Stalingrad), which can lead to limited offensive battles against a strong and entrenched 16th Pz. You can also put a reinforcement scenario where you are directly rushing your core to Stalingrad in boats over the Volga (perhaps a "reach the hexes marked in A with at least N ground units" type of objective like with your Beda Fomm) with auxiliary artillery at your back and with the Luftwaffe going for a turkey shoot as you're crossing. Perhaps restrict the player from deploying all his fighters at the start by giving him only 1 or 2 spawn points, thus forcing him to deploy piecemeal. That would be cruel, but fun

4. Uranus. This should be looked at with the DLC, close-up scenario look since stock has the macro sweep from both sides already. I would see two types of scenario: An approach march/enlarge bridgeheads over the Don at Serafimovich and Kremenskaya. You can put a "shoot down German recce planes" clause for DV since historically the Soviets hid their intentions well. Then there is the breakthrough: an initial blast through the Romanian positions, then deal with the reinforcing mixed Romanian-German 48th Pz Corps. Then, there is the "get to Kalach" phase. I see this working best as a single scenario, but you are the modder, not I

5. Winter Storm-Little Saturn. OK, this could be fun. First there is a defensive fight to keep the 57th Panzer Corps from establishing themselves over the Myshkova. This is a classic "reinforcement rush by the core to save the poor auxiliaries getting pasted" type of battle, e.g. Kasserine in US Corps. Then there is Little Saturn with the Tatsinskaya airfield rush the obvious centrepiece. That would justify putting plane capturables - even I wouldn't mind being rewarded with a FW-190A in late 1942

Now, for the first half of the year I don't have strong opinions. The obvious place to start is the Centre. This is where the core was at the end of DLC 41. Most of the interesting winter battles were there (I don't think that the paradrop-partisan linkup behind Vyazma has been done actually). And Soviet Storm has done the Volkhov battles already very well. In the spring there is Kharkov obviously. The stock scenario is ok, but I guess it could be improved with more focused looks.

So, a DLC core that starts at Rzhev, then crawls south to Kharkov, then Voronezh, then Stalingrad, then Serafimovich, then Tatsinskaya is definitely covering long distances, but does so in a crawling rather than jumping sort of way.

I hope this provided food for thought. As ever, thanks for your great work.

[nikivdd]

@imp44791

Thank you very much for your insights!
If i remember well, considering that most scenarios for the first DLC were made quite some time ago, the final scenario Winteroffensive 41 is more concentrated at the center of the frontline around Moscow.
In Bryansk41, the part of "Tula" has been included as well. It is one of the objectives that must be held at all cost.
But as i said before, the scenarios that will be added are two what-ifs, both before the start of operation Barbarossa. This will raise the number of scenarios to 18 for this DLC.
In creator terms, everything before Barbarossa should be rather easy and must get a bit harder from Barbarossa onwards.
Also, quite some time ago, the first scenario of the second DLC is ready. The main reason was to test the core transfer from the first DLC to the second. The first scenario is and will be Demyansk pocket. Possibly followed by Izium salient.
I admit from Soviet perspective, i do have to read up some stuff and the input you posted here is therefore very inspiring.

[terminator]

13. Barbarossa: Mogilev 41 (vs Germany)


The Voroshilovets tractors (machine parts) were surrounded and destroyed near Mogilev. Farewell the triumphant victory

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The KV-2 allowed to defend effectively the last objective Roslavi :

13. Barbarossa Mogilev 41 (vs Germany) (2).jpg (707.57 KiB) Viewed 2842 times

The Germans were driven back to the Sozh River at the end of the battle

13. Barbarossa Mogilev 41 (vs Germany) (3).jpg (716.07 KiB) Viewed 2842 times

[HHT1]

Also, quite some time ago, the first scenario of the second DLC is ready. The main reason was to test the core transfer from the first DLC to the second. The first scenario is and will be Demyansk pocket. Possibly followed by Izium salient.
I admit from Soviet perspective, i do have to read up some stuff and the input you posted here is therefore very inspiring.

Hi nikivdd.
If it makes you feel any better, I had no problems taking over the core units as recently as '42.
Many greetings
Hans

[terminator]

14. Barbarossa: Yelnya (vs Germany)

Yelnya has been taken over, it’s a TRIUMPH !

14. Barbarossa Yelnya (vs Germany).jpg (864.64 KiB) Viewed 2739 times

2 units were decorated with the Red Banner :

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Red Banner(2).jpg (217.12 KiB) Viewed 2739 times

[imp44791]

@imp44791

Thank you very much for your insights!
If i remember well, considering that most scenarios for the first DLC were made quite some time ago, the final scenario Winteroffensive 41 is more concentrated at the center of the frontline around Moscow.
In Bryansk41, the part of "Tula" has been included as well. It is one of the objectives that must be held at all cost.
But as i said before, the scenarios that will be added are two what-ifs, both before the start of operation Barbarossa. This will raise the number of scenarios to 18 for this DLC.
In creator terms, everything before Barbarossa should be rather easy and must get a bit harder from Barbarossa onwards.
Also, quite some time ago, the first scenario of the second DLC is ready. The main reason was to test the core transfer from the first DLC to the second. The first scenario is and will be Demyansk pocket. Possibly followed by Izium salient.
I admit from Soviet perspective, i do have to read up some stuff and the input you posted here is therefore very inspiring.

I am now playing Soviet Storm again, it's been a while and finished stock Soviet Corps recently. So I have quite a fresh view of the holes there are in the existing scenarios vs history.

As I said above, it is a bit of a shame nobody looks on a close-up scenario of Tula-Kashira in December 1941. It's a more exciting setup than Krasnaya Polyana even if it doesn't have the glamour of "closest point to Moscow the Germans ever reached". I wish I were a modder to do it myself, but I am not much help in these things.

It's nice that Demyansk 42 is already done. That keeps the player occupied in the winter.

Before Blue, the main battles were Volkhov Front (ending with 2nd Shock Army's surrounding), Kerch, Kharkov (ending the encirclement there), Rzhev/Vyazma pocket (paras + partisans), Sebastopol. Stock and Soviet Storm have done all these to some extent. So you'll have to revisit one of these after Demyansk. I suggest Kharkov, but more closeup than the stock scenario.

For Blue I mentioned above what I would think work well. Always a more focused view than the very macro scale scenarios of stock:

Voronezh (containment). Breakthrough to the Volga (fighting retreat). 1 (or more) street fighting scenario within Stalingrad. Reinforcement rush across the Volga. 4-5 scenarios.

Uranus: local counterattack just north of Stalingrad (where the Germans reached the Volga). Approach march to Serafimovich (*). Breakthrough from Serafimovich and defeat of the the local Panzer Corps rushing to reinforce. Rush to Kalach. 3-4 scenarios total

Winter Storm - Little Saturn: Contain on the Myshkova line. Rush the Tatsinskaya airfields and then withstand the German counterattack (which encircled the Soviets for a little time). 2 scenarios.

(*) A scenario of approaching the jumping off positions for Uranus could be fun. Put the starting positions far away so that the player MUST use rail to get to the "hexes marked A" in time and doesn't just march. Put heavy air for the enemy, both to interdict the player's trains and to move reconnaissance planes around. Meanwhile the German ground units are putting pressure on the auxiliaries holding the jumping off points so that the player has an additional incentive to get a move on. For DV must put x number of ground units on the hexes marked A, PLUS kill a minimum of enemy recce planes.

For 1943 (I know this is in the future but still) the gaps in existing scenarios seem to be:

Ostrogozhk (destruction of the 2nd Hungarian Army plus what little remained from the Italian 8th). It's in fact a pair with Tatsinskaya as part of Little Saturn, so you could put it in DLC42.

Voronezh (recapture).

Operation Star (recapture of Kursk and Kharkov).

Kharkov-Belgorod (Manstein's counterattack).

For Kursk I suggest you work the northern side of the salient rather than the more famous Oboyan-Prokhorovka sector. I thought stock Prokhorovka was poorly done and you could do a better job, but why not do something completely new?

Ponyri (defend in depth).

Operation Kutuzov (Orel couterattack). This could be quite interesting, as the Germans historically had put massive minefields which the Soviets tried to clear partly with their artillery barrage. And the Germans pretty much threw all the air reserves to stop it. As I recall from my reading, the Normandie Squadron was active here, so there could be an interesting auxiliary unit.

Smolensk. Here there is a very broad front, from Demyansk all the way down to Gomel. I'd say the most interesting area is the central Smolensk-Bryansk sector. Stock SC looks at the Lower Dniepr.

After this most of the more famous battles shifted to the flanks again. Stock goes the Moldova-Romania path, Soviet Storm is more focused in the north. Not much happened in the centre until Bagration (tell that to all those who got killed there, I know!). You'd have to pick.

I hope this is interesting and perhaps useful food for thought. I am going to play your conclusion of the Italian campaign after I'm done with my Soviet Storm replay - it's been some time since I played it and have forgotten bits of it.

[nikivdd]

Input is always valued. I will keep suggestions in mind but also understand that not all suggestions will be included.
So, i will add two what-ifs missions and one "historical" mission to finalize the DLC 37-41. Obviously, this is currently a work in progress.

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[imp44791]

Input is always valued. I will keep suggestions in mind but also understand that not all suggestions will be included.
So, i will add two what-ifs missions and one "historical" mission to finalize the DLC 37-41. Obviously, this is currently a work in progress.

tk1.png

tk2.png

Of course, and I'm sure that all of us players will be grateful to enjoy what you decide to make. Going on long experience with your work, it will be fun. I'm tossing ideas around, and being no modder myself I have no idea what can be done anyway. Use what you fancy from the above, or none at all.

[Thunderhog]

I hope that at the end of the GC there will be a chance to invade the rest of Europe in a reverse operation unthinkable. But that's kind of far off. Really enjoying so far

[nikivdd]

New vid with nervous speech and grammatical mistakes
Some info about new scenario Kashira and a sneek peak at the two what-if scenarios.

https://youtu.be/ZSVEI3lZ6mw

[imp44791]

New vid with nervous speech and grammatical mistakes
Some info about new scenario Kashira and a sneek peak at the two what-if scenarios.

https://youtu.be/ZSVEI3lZ6mw

Very nice! Don't worry about the speech, you are a modder not an entertainer. What you are saying is very clear.

And thanks for considering to make this scenario!

[terminator]

Thanks for this interesting making-of video of the next scenario

[nikivdd]

First of all, it encourages me to post more vids in the future. If time and family allows, i will make one with some comments while playtesting Kashira.
Now time for a head's up about the DLC 37-41.
I successfully integrated the three new scenarios into the campaign file. Then i had to test if these new scenarios don't break savegames of the scenarios already available in v1.0.
I also had to test the new end splash screens of the scenarios Ivalo and Kemijarvi and that also seems to work as intended; check the screenshots of those screens at the bottom of this post.
There was a new choice created after said scenarios: a choice between the "hard" Viipuri scenario and the fictitious "easy" Avon Head. Whatever is chosen, there will also be another relative easy (and perhaps welcome reprieve) scenario Bessarabia. Then it starts as it already was with operation Barbarossa scenarios. Between Bryansk41 and Winteroffensive41, you will find the new scenario Kashira.
A rudimentary flowchart:
Yangasala
&
Lake Khasan
&
Khalkhin-Gol
&
Bastion Polesie
&
Szack
&
Wytyczno
& Choice
Petsamo Or Salla
& &
Ivalo Kemijarvi
& Choice &
Viipuri Or Avon Head
& &
Bessarabia40
&
Brody
&
Mogilev41
&
Yelnya
&
Bryansk41
&
Kashira
&
Winteroffensive41
&
SAVECORE

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