Locarnus Addon 2025-08, for Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps and Grand Campaign East

[VPaulus]

@guamokolatokint

We don't tolerate abuse of staff and moderators.
You are now banned.

[goose_2]

perfect added the hot fix Looking forward to the presentation today

[JanD]

Thank you very much for the hotfix

[PeteMitchell]

The link did not work...not sure the hot fix is set up right

Hm, I double checked and everything is set up exactly the same as for all the older downloads.
Probably some algorithm malfunction on the bitly side. I asked them for the reason of this blocking, but so far no answer. Not sure I'll get one.

Until they resolve their issue, this is the direct link to the dropbox download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9ko01ufligbcnc/Battlefield Europe v2.3 Locarnus 2022-04a.zip?dl=0

Code: Select all

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9ko01ufligbcnc/Battlefield%20Europe%20v2.3%20Locarnus%202022-04a.zip?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9ko01ufligbc ... a.zip?dl=0

[Locarnus]

Sorry for the bitly issues and thank you for the help, unfortunately they still have not answered or corrected their issue.

So below I'll publish another bugfix and AK rebalancing patch, based on the feedback by JanD and goose_2. I do not know when I will have more time, for a larger content patch (expanding the AK compatibility to some of the "fictional winning path" scenarios).


2022-04b Bugfix Download: https://bit.ly/3MFTEBx
- JanD (AAR replays in the AAR forum) provided another invaluably detailed list of inconsistencies and bugs, which are fixed with this patch
- From inconsistencies between switchable/tropical units (some even involving movement discrepancies) to missing links and upgrade groups
Based on that list by JanD and his AAR replays, as well as the youtube playthrough by goose_2, additional changes were made:
- German and Italian recon rebalancing (especially regarding rate of fire), including Kradschützen and Sahariana (less ground defense, now is a soft target)
- Semovente 75/** have more ammo
- Italian MC.205 Veltro fighter is split into an early version without 20mm armament and a later version with 20mm (instead of the 7.7mm MGs)
- Several smaller changes
- AK "Dash to the Wire" scenario only provides StuG III and Panzer IV reward units, only one of them depends on destroying all hangars (positions are now marked)
- AK campaign provides earlier (non-tropical) version of Bf 109 at "Brevity" turn 3?, to compensate for not getting one at Dash
- AK "Ras el Mdauuar" scenario provides the player with additional Italian artillery units (100/17 and 75/18)
- The 100/17 can be upgraded to "Lancia da 100/17" later on and the 149/19 is available earlier (eg as an out of family upgrade for the 75/18)
- AK "Recon in Force" Italian starting arty was changed (to 105/28)
- AK "Kasserine Pass" Valentine capture unit is now core instead of aux
- AK several prestige adjustments to compensate for the additional core unit gifts above

And just in case bitly messes up again, the direct link to dropbox for the 2022-04b patch above:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0o7r98q5usdtg ... b.zip?dl=0

[guille1434]

Hello Locarnus: Thanks again for continuing de development of your project! Your ideas add a lot of "fun factor" to an already masterpiece of a mod...

Having said that, I would like to express some ideas, suggestions (feedback, if you like), that may be you find useful.

The 8,8 cm Bunkerflak: I like the way you implemented the integration of the unit, with one switch for AT class and the other for the Tank class. When I tested it with an artillery switch, it felt almost like cheating. So, I find it more appropiate the use you implemented for this unit.

I like VERY much the idea of implementing a late variant for the He-111 bomber (H-16 sub-variant)! It adds a nice "family upgrade" option for the early war He-111H-2. The family upgrade from the He-111 to the He-177 was just completely illogical as both aircraft had not a single nut and bolt in common, so to speak. I made different icon for both variants (He-111H-2 and the late H-16) in case you want to differentiate them. The two variants were very much similar looking, but I found some differences: the H-16 variant has a dorsal circular defensive turret which looked snaller that the earlier variant defensive post with the elongated, non-rotating canopy. I also added all of the fuselage windows (four of them) to the earlier variant, while in the later one, the two central windows were faired over with sheet metal. I hope you like them.

Another good idea, similar in concept, was to add the early machine gun armed variant for the M.C.205V (serie I) and the later, cannon armed variant for this aircraft (serie III). May be as you increased the Air Attack value for the cannon armed variant (which is logical), you can increase the ammo value for the machine gun armed variant. I could not find hard data about the ammo capacity of both variants, but I would think that the machine gun armed could have more rounds on board as the machine gun bullets were much smaller than the cannon shells. If you like it, it would be not a problem to add cannon to the wings of the MC.205V late variant icons.

Italian medium trucks: I saw that you implemented the Fiat 626 which is historically correct, but the icon used is still the odd "Italian Opel Blitz" one. I have a nice, vanilla looking Fiat 626 icon to replace the Opel one, which I think will increase the "eye candy" value to the mod...

[goose_2]

Sorry for the bitly issues and thank you for the help, unfortunately they still have not answered or corrected their issue.

So below I'll publish another bugfix and AK rebalancing patch, based on the feedback by JanD and goose_2. I do not know when I will have more time, for a larger content patch (expanding the AK compatibility to some of the "fictional winning path" scenarios).


2022-04b Bugfix Download: https://bit.ly/3MFTEBx
- JanD (AAR replays in the AAR forum) provided another invaluably detailed list of inconsistencies and bugs, which are fixed with this patch
- From inconsistencies between switchable/tropical units (some even involving movement discrepancies) to missing links and upgrade groups
Based on that list by JanD and his AAR replays, as well as the youtube playthrough by goose_2, additional changes were made:
- German and Italian recon rebalancing (especially regarding rate of fire), including Kradschützen and Sahariana (less ground defense, now is a soft target)
- Semovente 75/** have more ammo
- Italian MC.205 Veltro fighter is split into an early version without 20mm armament and a later version with 20mm (instead of the 7.7mm MGs)
- Several smaller changes
- AK "Dash to the Wire" scenario only provides StuG III and Panzer IV reward units, only one of them depends on destroying all hangars (positions are now marked)
- AK campaign provides earlier (non-tropical) version of Bf 109 at "Brevity" turn 3?, to compensate for not getting one at Dash
- AK "Ras el Mdauuar" scenario provides the player with additional Italian artillery units (100/17 and 75/18)
- The 100/17 can be upgraded to "Lancia da 100/17" later on and the 149/19 is available earlier (eg as an out of family upgrade for the 75/18)
- AK "Recon in Force" Italian starting arty was changed (to 105/28)
- AK "Kasserine Pass" Valentine capture unit is now core instead of aux
- AK several prestige adjustments to compensate for the additional core unit gifts above

And just in case bitly messes up again, the direct link to dropbox for the 2022-04b patch above:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0o7r98q5usdtg ... b.zip?dl=0

I applied this fix / upgrade....I am hoping this is ready for me to try Gazala? Hoping to get time soon to flesh that amazing scenario out. Let me know. Thanks

[Locarnus]

The 8,8 cm Bunkerflak: I like the way you implemented the integration of the unit, with one switch for AT class and the other for the Tank class. When I tested it with an artillery switch, it felt almost like cheating. So, I find it more appropiate the use you implemented for this unit.

Thank you for the icons, it adds a lot to the great unit variety which is so typical for the German army at that time!

I like VERY much the idea of implementing a late variant for the He-111 bomber (H-16 sub-variant)! It adds a nice "family upgrade" option for the early war He-111H-2. The family upgrade from the He-111 to the He-177 was just completely illogical as both aircraft had not a single nut and bolt in common, so to speak. I made different icon for both variants (He-111H-2 and the late H-16) in case you want to differentiate them. The two variants were very much similar looking, but I found some differences: the H-16 variant has a dorsal circular defensive turret which looked snaller that the earlier variant defensive post with the elongated, non-rotating canopy. I also added all of the fuselage windows (four of them) to the earlier variant, while in the later one, the two central windows were faired over with sheet metal. I hope you like them.

Great icons as always, I'll add them in the next patch. The idea for the He-111 differentiation came when watching the Afrika Korps with Addon playthrough by goose_2. He bought a He-111 while not yet being aware that the He-177 was not any longer in the same upgrade group. So the He-111 H16 is imho a worthy update and also offers the choice of a more defensible strat bomber, compared to the switchable and thus more versatile Ju-88 lineup.

Another good idea, similar in concept, was to add the early machine gun armed variant for the M.C.205V (serie I) and the later, cannon armed variant for this aircraft (serie III). May be as you increased the Air Attack value for the cannon armed variant (which is logical), you can increase the ammo value for the machine gun armed variant. I could not find hard data about the ammo capacity of both variants, but I would think that the machine gun armed could have more rounds on board as the machine gun bullets were much smaller than the cannon shells. If you like it, it would be not a problem to add cannon to the wings of the MC.205V late variant icons.

Ah, good idea with the different ammo capacity. High ammo is one of the general advantages of MG armed aircraft in Warthunder as well. If you find the time for the Wings with cannons, I'd gladly include those icons. Though I will have to check with the animations as well, so not sure when I can do that given the already long to-do for the next patch and the limited time at the moment.

Italian medium trucks: I saw that you implemented the Fiat 626 which is historically correct, but the icon used is still the odd "Italian Opel Blitz" one. I have a nice, vanilla looking Fiat 626 icon to replace the Opel one, which I think will increase the "eye candy" value to the mod...

Great, will include it in next patch!

I applied this fix / upgrade....I am hoping this is ready for me to try Gazala? Hoping to get time soon to flesh that amazing scenario out. Let me know. Thanks

Yes, should work out well for Gazala, if you apply the patch and then load the savegame at the end of the previous scenario (end of Second Offensive)!
Looking forward to the youtube video about end of Second Offensive as well!

[guille1434]

Hello Locarnus:

Thanks for your comments and answers to all the members postings... About the icons I mentioned:

- The Fiat 626 icons are attached here. I will try to make a similar animation of a soldier firing from the truck side window (like the original Panzer General animation) just like the one I made for the German Opel truck, in case you want to give the trucks a negative soft attack value, to defend themselves when attacked

- M.C. 205V: I will make the icons for the cannon armed variant, together with its animation.

Thanks and keep the great improvements coming!

[Locarnus]

Hello Locarnus:

Thanks for your comments and answers to all the members postings... About the icons I mentioned:

- The Fiat 626 icons are attached here. I will try to make a similar animation of a soldier firing from the truck side window (like the original Panzer General animation) just like the one I made for the German Opel truck, in case you want to give the trucks a negative soft attack value, to defend themselves when attacked

- M.C. 205V: I will make the icons for the cannon armed variant, together with its animation.

Thanks and keep the great improvements coming!

Thank you very much, I'm looking forward to all the new icons you create!
The negative soft attack value is a very interesting concept I had totally forgotten about, I'll see what I can do to implement that!

[Locarnus]

Watching the "Gazala start" youtube video by goose_2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKG2IPcqlLo) as well as the replays by JanD in the AAR forum, the increased british arty range seems to be a problem.

I looked at some historical and in-game arty ranges and was wondering what the player opinion is about them.

Some towed artillery stats for reference (from current version 2022-04b):
ingame range - max range according to wikipedia - artillery name

2 range - 4550 m - 30 cm Nebelwerfer 42
2 range - 6900 m - 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41
2 range - 8800 m - Obice 149/13
2 range - 9564 m - Obice da 75/18 modello 34

3 range - 10675 m - 10.5 cm leFH 18
3 range - 11800 m - 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)
3 range - 12253 m - QF 25-pounder
3 range - 13290 m - 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3)
3 range - 13325 m - 15 cm sFH 18 (without rocket assisted grenades)
3 range - 14250 m - Obice da 149/19

4 range - 14813 m - BL 5.5-inch medium gun (with 100 lb shell)
4 range - 16550 m - BL 5.5-inch medium gun (with late war 82 lb shell, no seperate entry so far)
3 range - 16725 m - 21 cm Mörser 18
4 range - 17230 m - 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20)
4 range - 19000 m - 10.5 cm sK 18

5 range - 29600 m - 17 cm K 18
6 range - 38-47km - schwerer Gustav
6 range - 64km - 28 cm K 5

Aside from the obvious issue of the 21 cm Mörser 18 having 3 instead of 4 range, what about the general range and balancing?

Is it fair to give the "Obice da 75/18 modello 34" range 2, when the "10.5 cm leFH 18" has range 3?
While the Obice da 149/19 also has range 3, and the "BL 5.5 inch" has range 4?

I feel like the Italian guns got the short end of the stick, just because they were beneath some arbitrary cutoff. But if so, what would be more appropriate?

Perhaps splitting the BL 5.5 inch into an earlier and a later model could be a start, based on available shells (100 vs 82lb).
But that would only deal with one issue.
Maybe a general increase in range to differentiate between the divisional and higher level guns?

I'm open to suggestions! Including balancing out some range compromises with eg rate of fire or other stats.

[guille1434]

Hello Locarnus:

Here are some bits of info about the artillery range and other pending matters, that may be you find useful...

About artillery units range, I designed the attached table, which seems to work reasonable well, bearing in mind that Pz Corps maps are not made in a fixed scale, so the range of the different units, I think, are not "absolute", but "relative". I know that seems illogical that a gun with 9500 m range has an in-game range of two hexes, and one with 10200 has a three hex range, but the boundary has to be placed at some value... I think that the important objective is that the player finds the difference between a gun that has a 9 or 10 km range and another (generally more expensive unit) which can fire up to, say, 15/16 km...

Artillery Range.jpg (27.78 KiB) Viewed 2064 times

- About the MC.205V fighter: I found info about the ammo loads of the machine gun and cannon armed variants of said fighter, it is in italian but it is pretty easy to figure out the information:

From: https://svppbellum.blogspot.com/2019/01 ... eltro.html

"Le mitragliatrici calibro 12,7 mm erano disposte appaiate in caccia con tiro sincronizzato attraverso il disco dell'elica con 370 proiettili per arma e due Breda-SAFAT calibro 7,7 mm alari con 500 munizioni per arma. A partire dalla Serie III, le mitragliatici alari furono sostituite da due cannoni Mauser MG 151/20A da 20 mm con 250 colpi per arma."

In plain English: both variants had the nose mounted 12,7 mm machine guns with 370 rounds per weapon, and additionally the Serie I machines had a pair of wing mounted 7,7 mg with 500 rounds each, and the late serie III variant had those two wing mounted rifle caliber machine guns replaced by two 20 mm MG 151 cannon with 250 rounds per weapon. So, I think the ammo values of those two variants would be 9 for the machine gun variant and 6 for the cannon armed one, or a set of values keeping that proportion.

The icons for both variants (which are, basically, the same, except for the cannon barrels protruding from their wings leading edge), will be ready very soon.

- Autocannone Lancia 3ro da 100/17: the icon posted by Birgeria in his thread looked very familiar to me... Casually, I found that I made that unit, and I have the base icon and mask for it, so I can paint it with any color you like... But, as you correctly pointed out, it does not blends well with the rest of the "vanilla"" looking icons, so I will make a little re-work on it. I found some good internet images to start with.

Keep it up!
Best wishes!

[goose_2]

In looking at the list the only unit that stands out as odd from the rest is the following:
3 range - 16725 m - 21 cm Mörser 18
Should be 4 Range

The thing I found most surprising in my playthrough is the devastating effect of those well placed artillery. They make frontal assaults pointless and as such require overhaul of your playstyle. It was something unexpected in my playthrough or at least the first half. Based on our discussion during my broadcast I am going to restart the battle and try it again with a better plan of attack. I think the hings we discussed along with a few other minor tweaks and I think we may have something really going on this battle.

Thanks by the way for your feedback and discussion with Jan. It has given me so much insight on ideas to play differently and I hope will be more successful.

I think the way the battle of Gazala is now set up with the greater range artillery is actually probably more in line with what the developers were going for in the deployment and distribution of the assets on the allied side, but for some reason the developers limited the range of artillery to anemic levels.

Afrika Korps continues to be my favorite of all of the original campaigns, and your tweaks with the basic structure have added so much new life to this classic I really hope more people check it out.

I that for most players Rommel alone is difficulty enough. I am finding the Field Marshall + Rommel combo extremely difficult in my playthrough. But I am a bit of a sadist so I will trudge on.

[eskuche]

Just hopped into this after seeing it advertised by goose. Surprisingly (to me) it feels better than strategic command or Warplan in this scope of warfare. Can't quite place why but here we are.

[Locarnus]

About artillery units range, I designed the attached table, which seems to work reasonable well, bearing in mind that Pz Corps maps are not made in a fixed scale, so the range of the different units, I think, are not "absolute", but "relative". I know that seems illogical that a gun with 9500 m range has an in-game range of two hexes, and one with 10200 has a three hex range, but the boundary has to be placed at some value... I think that the important objective is that the player finds the difference between a gun that has a 9 or 10 km range and another (generally more expensive unit) which can fire up to, say, 15/16 km...

The thing I found most surprising in my playthrough is the devastating effect of those well placed artillery. They make frontal assaults pointless and as such require overhaul of your playstyle. It was something unexpected in my playthrough or at least the first half. Based on our discussion during my broadcast I am going to restart the battle and try it again with a better plan of attack. I think the hings we discussed along with a few other minor tweaks and I think we may have something really going on this battle.

Hm, I think that there is an interesting option for rebalancing artillery. Unfortunately it would require extensive testing as well as some other modifications (including movement). Though at the moment I simply do not have the time to do that properly.
Perhaps another addition to the ever growing pile of potential future considerations.

Due to time constraints I have to stick with the established BE/Addon ranges and correct accordingly. That includes splitting the British 5.5 inch between an earlier range 3 and a later range 4 variant, so that not only the Italians suffer from the strict cut-offs:
4500+ m = range 2
10000+ m = range 3
15000+ m = range 4
20000+ m = range 5

- About the MC.205V fighter: I found info about the ammo loads of the machine gun and cannon armed variants of said fighter, it is in italian but it is pretty easy to figure out the information:

From: https://svppbellum.blogspot.com/2019/01 ... eltro.html

"Le mitragliatrici calibro 12,7 mm erano disposte appaiate in caccia con tiro sincronizzato attraverso il disco dell'elica con 370 proiettili per arma e due Breda-SAFAT calibro 7,7 mm alari con 500 munizioni per arma. A partire dalla Serie III, le mitragliatici alari furono sostituite da due cannoni Mauser MG 151/20A da 20 mm con 250 colpi per arma."

In plain English: both variants had the nose mounted 12,7 mm machine guns with 370 rounds per weapon, and additionally the Serie I machines had a pair of wing mounted 7,7 mg with 500 rounds each, and the late serie III variant had those two wing mounted rifle caliber machine guns replaced by two 20 mm MG 151 cannon with 250 rounds per weapon. So, I think the ammo values of those two variants would be 9 for the machine gun variant and 6 for the cannon armed one, or a set of values keeping that proportion.

The icons for both variants (which are, basically, the same, except for the cannon barrels protruding from their wings leading edge), will be ready very soon.

Hm, interesting.
However since I played Warthunder some time ago, I came to appreciate the number of potentially leathal "firing bursts" more than the absolute number of bullets.
Given the anemic 7.7 MGs (and the Warthunder damage models), I place very little value on those 7.7 MGs alone (end of 12.7 would be end of effective fighting for me).

So imho the main difference is how long (ie often) they can use
A) 12.7 + 7.7 versus
B) 12.7 + 20 and then 12.7 alone
All having to be represented by single ammo and damage stats.
Again from Warthunder experience, I would give B) the much better damage stats, and A) eg 1 more ammo as compensation. Really don't like those 2x 7.7 on italian fighters

- Autocannone Lancia 3ro da 100/17: the icon posted by Birgeria in his thread looked very familiar to me... Casually, I found that I made that unit, and I have the base icon and mask for it, so I can paint it with any color you like... But, as you correctly pointed out, it does not blends well with the rest of the "vanilla"" looking icons, so I will make a little re-work on it. I found some good internet images to start with.

Thank you but no worries, it fits a bit more with the 8.8 cm Bunkerflak when watching goose_2 videos.
So I'd happily use it with a bit more browning color scheme like the towed Italian guns.
No priority for that rework (especially if it takes dev time away from that Jagd Sturmtiger 8.8cm assault gun variant you proposed).

Jagd Sturmtiger (foto3).png (76.24 KiB) Viewed 2026 times

Thanks by the way for your feedback and discussion with Jan. It has given me so much insight on ideas to play differently and I hope will be more successful.

I think the way the battle of Gazala is now set up with the greater range artillery is actually probably more in line with what the developers were going for in the deployment and distribution of the assets on the allied side, but for some reason the developers limited the range of artillery to anemic levels.

Afrika Korps continues to be my favorite of all of the original campaigns, and your tweaks with the basic structure have added so much new life to this classic I really hope more people check it out.

I that for most players Rommel alone is difficulty enough. I am finding the Field Marshall + Rommel combo extremely difficult in my playthrough. But I am a bit of a sadist so I will trudge on.

FM Rommel certainly turned out harder than expected, also due to the fact that overstrength is more expensive with BE (which was not designed for elite replacements between scenarios). I lowered that a bit for the next version.
For the time being I'll also have to reduce the early British 5.5 inch arty range, to be in line with the current cut-offs. Might revisit that in the future when I have more time for proper balance testing.

Learning from JanDs replay playthroughs, I'm also considering gifting the player a Tiger unit at Kasserine. To simulate the arrival of the 501st heavy Panzer in late 1942. And also to compensate for the higher costs of many German vehicles (and overstrength), compared to the prices Africa Corps was designed for. Kasserine is a traffic jam anyway and Mareth will be brutal with or without Tiger (which is also expensive to maintain and the initial version is strength limited to 7 anyway).

Looking forward your next video on Gazala and your thoughts about it!

Just hopped into this after seeing it advertised by goose. Surprisingly (to me) it feels better than strategic command or Warplan in this scope of warfare. Can't quite place why but here we are.

It is an amazing game, even for its age!
I also started to read your Deducter AAR in the AAR subforum.
After all most equipment file changes are more or less based on Deducter's great work and reasoning, this one included!

[Locarnus]

Thank you but no worries, it fits a bit more with the 8.8 cm Bunkerflak when watching goose_2 videos.
So I'd happily use it with a bit more browning color scheme like the towed Italian guns.
No priority for that rework (especially if it takes dev time away from that Jagd Sturmtiger 8.8cm assault gun variant you proposed).

I guess the main reason is, that towed units and infantry (and planes) are displayed from another angle than most vehicles in PzC.
Resulting in a different angle when the artillery/flak piece is the basis for a vehicle with that artillery/flak piece on top, compared to vehicles that start from eg a Panzer chassis.

With so many existing units, changing that might be a hopeless fight against windmills.
Also considering that many vanilla Panzer Corps tanks do use different perspectives for their chassis and their turret (Maus!).
Imho making new units like the Jagd-Sturmtiger adding differentiation to existing units (like the gun pods on the MC.205) offers more than fighting those long existing gamedesign inconsistencies.

[guille1434]

Dear Locarnus:

I have not forgotten about the Jagd Sturmtiger... The problem was that I had dedicated so many time and effort (for a single unit) making the original Sturmtiger, that I got a little burnt-out about seeing those vehicles, but don't worry, that unit icon is already started, and I will finish it soon.

My priorities at present are the Jagd Sturmtiger, the two MC.205V variants, and also some models of Italian aircraft as asked by Uhu for his mod's upcoming new version. He posted a brief list that includes the SM.81 bomber/transport, which I think could be used also in your add-on to "italianize" the air transport icon for the Italians, in the same way as was replacing the "Italian Opel Blitz" with a more suitable Fiat 626 truck icon. I plan to make a flying and a "landed" icon variant for that plane, making it possible to be included by you in your work, if you choose to.

As you can see, I am not in a shortage of projects...

Greetings!

[eskuche]

Two "issues" (or working as designed, or an issue for the main mod, not you): you can farm the Italian cities in the interlude missions for prestige, intended? Also, it is said that overstrength doesn't carry over to the main scenario from the tutorial missions, but in fact it does.

Edit: realized I misplayed and redid the whole setup from scratch! Playing Rommel FM, XPd up two Ju88s that I doubled converted to BF110s on the last interlude, for a final core of 3 x 2.5-star Bf109 F-4 (initiative, 2 defense, and 2 attack heroes) and 2 x 2.5-star Bf110, and the starting tank hero as a StuG. Final prestige of 2 after the free cities during interludes. This is after maximizing experience by taking every single turn (I looked and decisive victory doesn't net you much). There is too little experience to try to get from 5 fighters, and the Ju88s leveled up much faster as indirect fire. Looking back, you could also nab some Condors or even another K5 instead...hmm...

[Locarnus]

Two "issues" (or working as designed, or an issue for the main mod, not you): you can farm the Italian cities in the interlude missions for prestige, intended? Also, it is said that overstrength doesn't carry over to the main scenario from the tutorial missions, but in fact it does.

Whoops, Italy and Slovakia should not be farmable. Will correct that.
Not sure how to fix the overstrength issue. Worked better when there were no "interludes". But now there is little incentive to deploy units and I do not know how to influence the reserve units (I guess forcing the player to deploy is an option, but that is not an elegant solution either). I can at least fix the issue in case the player deploys his units, but waits out the turns (instead of "capturing" Hannover).

Edit: realized I misplayed and redid the whole setup from scratch! Playing Rommel FM, XPd up two Ju88s that I doubled converted to BF110s on the last interlude, for a final core of 3 x 2.5-star Bf109 F-4 (initiative, 2 defense, and 2 attack heroes) and 2 x 2.5-star Bf110, and the starting tank hero as a StuG. Final prestige of 2 after the free cities during interludes. This is after maximizing experience by taking every single turn (I looked and decisive victory doesn't net you much). There is too little experience to try to get from 5 fighters, and the Ju88s leveled up much faster as indirect fire. Looking back, you could also nab some Condors or even another K5 instead...hmm...

Wow, FM Rommel for BE?
Seems like you need all the overstrength you can get! Please report back how it went!

The Condor is an interesting option to help the u-boats. Even if it was not intentional, I think I leave the option in for now.
Hm, the K5 has enormous range and it is worth a lot of prestige, but the 4 rate of fire and the low ammo count provide limited payoff. Like with the Condor, I'll leave the option available until someone proves it to be too overpowered.
Might be a fun experiment to take some of those special units into Barbarossa.

I have not forgotten about the Jagd Sturmtiger... The problem was that I had dedicated so many time and effort (for a single unit) making the original Sturmtiger, that I got a little burnt-out about seeing those vehicles, but don't worry, that unit icon is already started, and I will finish it soon.

Totally understandable. I took something of a break from BE as well, with Africa Corps.
The replay AAR by JanD just reminded me of the Tiger upgrade dilemma, since he did not purchase one for the last 3 AK scenarios (losing path).

During the recent goose_2 Gazala part 2 premiere, JanD also mentioned that a gifted Tiger at Kasserine might be worth more in resale value than as an actual unit on the battlefield.

Perhaps I could make such a "gift" Tiger a "bonus/SE" unit, while reducing the available slots at Kasserine, Mareth and Tunisian Bridgehead by one. Thus selling that Tiger would also cost a deployment slot.
And perhaps lowering the experience of the other ground forces, if that Tiger is not deployed (ie sold) at Mareth and Tunisian Bridgehead. Simulating a loss of morale due to the loss of such an expensive unit.
However those options would also punish players who lose the Tiger in battle. But since it is the end of the losing path anyway, that might be ok.

Not sure how to handle it for the winning path. The Tiger is an expensive dead-end there as well. Although at least it would be useful for many scenarios, compared to the later Panther (and the first Panther has its issues as well). I might leave that decision to the player, instead of going the gifted bonus Tiger route.

[eskuche]

Whoops, Italy and Slovakia should not be farmable. Will correct that.
Not sure how to fix the overstrength issue. Worked better when there were no "interludes". But now there is little incentive to deploy units and I do not know how to influence the reserve units (I guess forcing the player to deploy is an option, but that is not an elegant solution either). I can at least fix the issue in case the player deploys his units, but waits out the turns (instead of "capturing" Hannover).

Not QUITE sure I'm understanding you, but I was under the impression that the reserves were cleared after every deploy and that money wasn't taken into the main scenario from the preludes (Goose_2's Youtube video showed him carrying over 2900, though).

Also the multiplayer map has one glaring mismatch with just the new equipment file. The Karl Gerat you changed to 10 strength r3 from 3 strength r10. It is now 3 strength r3.