Slitherine

Kerensky wrote:I went with an air heavy force, 3 bombers and 2 fighters attached to the stock CORE, and even with ridiculous 8 turns of rain (had to double check to see it was only 10% chance I was pretty dumbfounded) I still managed a decisive victory, granted on the very last turn.

That was what held me back - weather. I had "rasputitsa" style mud also one or two turns? I was very surprised and thought that was part of the plan?

Kerensky wrote:even with ridiculous 8 turns of rain (had to double check to see it was only 10% chance I was pretty dumbfounded)

I had a reverse experience, very often a rain prediction for the next turn, but each time no rain? Only cloudy weather for one turn. So if the forecast is indeed 80% accurate it must have been a very small chance of it staying dry each time.

And you said you used some bombers, were they tactical or strategic? Using some air power would work well, but with a single Bf110 I wasn't able to do much damage to the heavy tanks or entrenched infantry.

This iteration doesn't seem to be any better.

Either look at the prestige available, MV / DV conditions or tone down the amount of allied forces.

I find it just a frustrating PITA TBH.

Balla. :0/

Preserving a level of difficulty for our players is quite important. If your prestige levels are low, have you been disbanding your excess units for boosts in the previous scenarios? The last scenario of Dieppe practically rained these extra units, between the reinforcements and also captured enemy units. It's a very important theme of this campaign. Prestige is always low, but the player is constantly fed extra equipment. Use the few you want, disband the rest for prestige. That should help address your issues.

I'll not attempt further debate on accessibility & balance with this.

I have stated the way I find it, as an experienced player. A casual player is likely to suffer even more frustration with it.

Ideally the player should have some flexibility in approach to win a scenario. This allows for very little.

One of the most telling facts is that every allied unit starts out overstrength.

IMO this is not a well balanced scenario.

Balla.

Gironde, beta 3 – imported core

FM, DV 13/18
Begin pp: 2,150 End: 2650. Net: +500

So this went opposite of the ones before; I never managed a DV prior.

The clear weather meant I found the sub early. I figured I’d let a green stuka earn some exp on it; it was down to 1 strength on turn 3! I stopped attacking the sub so the commandos could land.

A turn after the “commandos spotted” notice, I sunk the sub. Never did get any commandos. The sub had been on the west bank one turn (I estimate in the appellation of Margaux/Bordeaux Superieur - ), and the east bank at least one turn (Cotes de Bourg ). I figured that would have given me commandos? Anyway, to make things realistic, I turned forces that way as if the commandos were present anyway and left them south until the end to simulate it. Despite leaving four units (2 artillery, 2 tank) south to “simulate” addressing the commandos, I still cleared/reached northern objectives by 13.

However this was with a strong imported core – but it’s my supposition that’s what most people will have. With the weather clear so for tac air to work, it’s hard to mask the sub and a number of times it will not land commandos I think. Also the lighter initial waves and clear weather make the scenario go much faster.

Here’s another thought – maybe put a ferry port on each side of the estuary. I deployed equally each play and it worked well, but that might help someone who gets in trouble, and be realistic.

Kamerer wrote: Here’s another thought – maybe put a ferry port on each side of the estuary. I deployed equally each play and it worked well, but that might help someone who gets in trouble, and be realistic.

I was thinking that myself actually.

It would certainly enable some flexibility in approach.

Balla.

This scenario has been consideribly improved, and after two tries, I had a DV 17/18, finally.

First try failed because I used a wrong strategy, second attempt was thwarted by the weather (2 muddy turns near the end didn't help)

Third try: Upgraded a lot, but nothing overstrenght except artillery, did not deploy any recon but more tanks instead. Only left two conscripts guarding the ships, and with a little air assistance they (just) managed to pull it off. I dropped the fallschirmjager behind the artilllery protecting the western (airfield) victory hex. I took quite a beating, but no losses, but I ran out of prestige so I had virtually no units left with more than 5 strenght, except the artillery and the airplanes. At both objectives, it took me a long time to get rid of the Chuchills:

East objective: Churchill on the airfield, strenght 8, out of ammo, I had a Grenadier on the victory hex, and two artillery, 2 KV's, and a SE Panzer IIIN shooting at it (all damaged/nearly empty), and even some bombing runs, but it stood there for four turns before it was destroyed.

West objective: Churchill, strength 4, out of ammo, SE PanzerIV and T-34, StuH42 artillery, three turns of shooting. These things are very tough, but I use the stock core, so I think it's acceptable.

Kerensky wrote:This is most likely the final version of DLC 42/43 West, baring some sort of serious problem.

Changelog:

Added gironde german air transport
Slightly less rain
+2 turns
Added extra victory condition, marginal victory if all cargo ships are safe but not all vh are captured

A small note: the victory conditions on the turn splash screen are unchanged, but this means that the player is not informed about the new additional MV condition.

The two extra turns are very nice, especially if the weather turns bad.

Beta3 - imported core - Colonel level.
At this time I got a DV but did not managed to destroy the sub before it reached Bordeaux. I got the message that commandos have landed but they did not appear. Destroyed the sub (strength: 2) immediately after the message and waited for the commandos but there were none.
Also I waited for allied aircraft but they also did not came. Next time I can save the fighters and the PP to upgrade them.

Beta 3
stock core
4 turns of rain and 3 mud deprived me of a DV
lost one ship
MV

General level with imported core

Thing I really dislike about this one is that the commandos pop out behind my units, specifically my artillery and can move/shoot the turn they appear. Not having much issue with rain, but I killed all the commandos, they never touched a single ship, and I took every objective on the right hand side of the map and I still got a minor victory Not sure if I missed something here as I had noticed a post about a secondary objective or something like that. I have never managed to sink the sub but I have damaged it in a couple of games so far. I also took out about 3 aircraft, with no RAF they ruled and it did help to blunt the allied armour force for sure.