Maelstrom - US Campaign (2023)

[El_Condoro]

I had not played Panzer Corps for years and decided recently to have a look at it and my old campaigns. I was surprised by how much fun the game still is and that even this US campaign was a challenge. That is why I decided to re-release it with a few (surprisingly few!) changes to make sure everything works.

The Maelstrom US Campaign follows the US army in Europe from its landings during Operation Torch, to Italy, France and into Germany. It branches to allow players to choose whether to continue up the boot of Italy, participate in Operation Overlord or choose the underbelly in Operation Dragoon. Units that combine the US tank and infantry formation make formidable anti-infantry attacks. Captured German equipment, both jets and tanks, give the US player the chance to use them against the Germans and perhaps the Soviets, too.

Setup
There are two components to the US Campaign - the campaign files and the data files. Each should be copied to these locations, retaining their folder structure:
Campaign files - Maelstrom - US Campaign - Europe 1.14 Mb - go in the [User folder]\My Documents\My Games\Panzer Corps\Mods folder.
Data files - (Maelstrom) Europe 258 Mb- go in the [SteamLibrary]\steamapps\common\Panzer Corps\Mods folder.
Use the Generic Mod Enabler (jsgme_setup.exe included in campaign download) to swap in and out the relevant data files for Maelstrom (Europe). See here for more GME help.

To play
Open Panzer Corps and you should see a new screen with Allied Corps as its title.
Click New Game, then the More campaigns folder on the right and finally, MAELSTROM - US Campaign 1943-45.

Difficulty settings
Of course, these are up to you but I tested the campaign with the following settings:
Colonel, all Game Settings ON
Advanced - standard diffculty settings, AI level 1, New (1.20) game rules, Limited randomness, and Reform Units ON.

Library
The game library has a full description of the campaign, including the campaign tree and branches, historical overviews of each scenario and equipment descriptions for units new to Maelstrom.

I have opened a new thread rather than add to the (very) old campaign thread and will do my best to answer any questions here.

My main hope is that you enjoy the US Campaign. Cheers.

[bondjamesbond]

Setup
There are two components to the US Campaign - the campaign files and the data files. Each should be copied to these locations, retaining their folder structure:
Campaign files - Maelstrom - US Campaign - Europe 1.14 Mb - go in the [User folder]\My Documents\My Games\Panzer Corps\Mods folder.
Data files - (Maelstrom) Europe 258 Mb- go in the [SteamLibrary]\steamapps\common\Panzer Corps\Mods folder.
Use the Generic Mod Enabler (jsgme_setup.exe included in campaign download) to swap in and out the relevant data files for Maelstrom (Europe). See here for more GME help.

I always download only one file 1.14 Mb ! How do I download the one that's bigger Europe 258 Mb !?


Judging this is not your first topic every three years the alliance tries to overcome the forces of the Soviet army)))
https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewto ... &start=120

[jeffoot77]

thxs for the update and all your work on it.

But not the good file in the upload, the second file is the same than the first one.

[El_Condoro]

I have changed the file links in the OP. Please let me know if there are any more issues.

[bondjamesbond]

Your mod looks beautiful on the basis of the mod pack, although there is no continuation beyond the first map)))

[El_Condoro]

Check your setup - there seems to be another mod running with the Maelstrom mod. I just played the first scenario through with only Maelstrom loaded and it went as it should have - on to Kasserine.

[bondjamesbond]

Check your setup - there seems to be another mod running with the Maelstrom mod. I just played the first scenario through with only Maelstrom loaded and it went as it should have - on to Kasserine.

Yes I downloaded your mod ) Before that I played it on this base )
https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewto ... 47&t=92787













Your add-on was not possible to download at that moment, now everything is fine )

[El_Condoro]

Glad to hear it's working for you.

[terminator]

You explain how to install your mod with Steam but I never install a mod with Steam version, I always install the mods with Slitherine version and I play the original version of the game with Steam.

[El_Condoro]

Yes, I have a Steam setup but it will work with any PC installation.

[eskuche]

Interesting campaign. I had always skipped over these in the compendium due to age, but there are definitely a lot of good ideas here, ranging from the combined arms unit groups, elite units with lower max strength, etc. It is well-polished too. Too many campaigns have the default encyclopedia entries mixed in with the custom entries. Not that I expect any changes, but I believe the unit name text boxes have a much higher max length now and can accommodate things such as a full "9 Infantry Division" vs. 9ID. In terms of map design (on Sicily now), perhaps a little too much credence was given to exact TOE (and compromising gameplay somewhat), but it has worked okay up till now. No tigers in Kasserine like in the official DLC (!).

[El_Condoro]

Thanks for your feedback for the campaign so far. I originally had the historical data in the briefings but decided to move them to the encyclopedia to save space. If players want to read them, they can, or just play the game. I haven't checked the longer names but will. Thanks for the tip.

[fgiannet]

I just tried your mod. Excellent job naming the units and having good organizations for enemy units (instead of just throwing 10 tanks, 5 infantry, 5 sp artillery, etc.). It is great to see organization in the units with their names. Such attention to detail is very rare and should be highly respected. Your maps are excellent. They have great terrain features and are, somehow, seemingly more refreshing to look at then normal maps. The idea to have a tank battalion with one infantry regiment (or split into battalion combat groups for the later Armored Divisions) is an excellent idea as well. Your briefings are the best I have ever read. An astounding mix of history, important military information that directly pertains to the mission ahead, and some personal banter. Your messages updating the battlefield situation (“the 10th Panzer Div is attacking II Corps”) are excellent as well. It helps with immersion and integrates the player with the overall situation.

Questions:
I like to play with historical orders of battle but units that are already in my reserve, such as the 3rd ID from Torch, are already auxiliary units in future maps. Am I supposed to be creating my own unique force (will there be auxiliary 1st and 9th IDs in future maps as well)?

Is it possible to play with a historical order of battle? The 15th PzG Div, with a 10 strength Tiger Tank, just setup a strong defensive position opposite a river. They are just camped there, not moving, and I do not see how to move them with Shermans, naval support, artillery, and under strength bombers (I would have to have very lucky rolls but would need to attack from a river hex as well).

The Axis forces are fighting to the death for western Sicily (rather than withdrawing) and the British have very little opposition in front of themselves. Does the campaign contain much more of this type of alternative history? Alternative history is fine/challenging but I thought the campaign would be very historical based on the amount of effort put into naming/organizing units.

Why not use the special “gold star” hex in the editor so units can build up an impressive combat history (to go with all the other great history included with this mod)? Are players not interested in a units battle logs/history?

You have created an excellent mod that is very immersive. It is very colorful and tells a story very well.

Thank you for all your hard work.

[El_Condoro]

Thank you, fgiannet, for your kind words and feedback. I made this campaign a long time ago but I remember the fun of doing the historical research and designing the scenarios from that. I certainly didn't delve deeply into the battles and the campaigns but I'm glad enough history is coming through for you.

When it comes to the inevitable clash between historical accuracy and gameplay, the latter will always win in my games. You'll see that the Germans put up a much better fight in many scenarios than they did historically so that the scenario is interesting and a challenge. Op Husky, for example, will have the Germans and Italians fighting back in the centre and south while they retreat from Messina even if they really retreated. At Falaise, the refitting SS divisions will fight harder so that chasing decimated German units across the pocket isn't the slaughter it was in RL.

For your questions:
- In all my testing, I had never considered the core unit names! You can call them whatever you like by pressing Alt-N on the keyboard when the unit is selected.
- That Tiger in Husky has 10 strength that can only be refitted to 5. It should attack at some point and will need to be 'guided' into hill hexes where it can be taken out by infantry. It might not be historically accurate but it makes for a real challenge.
- The British start with very little opposition but it increases as they move north towards Messina.
- I knew nothing of the gold star but have researched it now and agree it could be used more. If I do a review of the scenarios, I'll add it in more often.

I hope you will continue to enjoy the campaign and that the historical inaccuracies won't be too annoying. Cheers.

[fgiannet]

I hope you will continue to enjoy the campaign and that the historical inaccuracies won't be too annoying. Cheers.

Thank you for the reply. I will enjoy the campaign much more now that I understand your intentions (and will stop limiting myself in terms of historical order of battles).

One final note
You seem to make the a.i. respond/act more intelligently. The 10th Pz Div actually swept around my infantry (which were in the hills and supported by artillery) and headed for the II Corps HQ in the Tunisia scenario. It was really a brilliant thing to see. Even the 15th PzG Div advancing to hold the river (and not crossing over, even when baited, for what was at least a couple of turns) was something I have never seen before. It felt like playing an intelligent opponent rather than the usual senseless a.i. It is fascinating to contemplate how interactive the game could be with such well thought out scripts (reactive a.i. Kampfgruppes responding to a Soviet players probing attacks on the Eastern Front for instance). Intelligent work in both the stance of the units and the scripting.

You most certainly have a deep understanding of strategy and situational awareness.

[eskuche]

On this note, it might be interesting for future campaigns to assign recommended TOEs for players to build. I know that the PAK mod has taken this to the extreme by having individual graphics for each division/regiment, etc.