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

[nikivdd]

Hello Nico: A small correction that has to be done... In the pop up messages telling the player about the neutralization of Polish KOP units (Bastion Polesie scenario) it should read "Comrade" instead of comrad...

Thank you. Fixed for the update.

[nikivdd]

The Soviet GC DLC 37-41 has been updated to v1.3

https://www.sendspace.com/file/xwshqp

Extract the zip file in documents/my games/panzer corps/mods/
The data folder contains my personal equipment file (equipment.pzeqp) . If you don't want to use it, simply delete it and use your personal favorite equipment file.

Changes:

Scenario Bessarabia: several Romanian tankettes have been replaced by non-armored Romanian units
Scenario Mogilev: German reinforcements from North-Northeast are already placed on the map and will attack by trigger
Scenario Kashira: changes in core army deployment areas, some Soviet cavalry added around Kashira (with Pavel Belov) , chance for cloudy and snow weather increased
Scenario Winteroffensive41: chance for cloudy and snow weather slightly increased
Hero units now have the name of the hero: Sergey Denisov appearing in a I-16 (Lake Khasan), Dmitry Lavrinenko appearing in a T-34/40 (at Wytyczno)

A special thanks goes to Terminator, Guille and imp44791. If i forgot to mention anyone, it is not intentionally. Thank you for improving the campaign!

The development of DLC 42 slowly continues.

[terminator]

Hello Nikivdd and Imp44791...

It is so interesting to learn about the interaction between an experiencied modder and a serious and very thorough tester. Congratulations guys! Your work gives fresh air to this wonderful game...

About Pavel Belov, he was quite a remarkable soldier... You can read about him in the Wikipedia... Here is part of the entry about him, in case you are interested...

"Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans, and personally led the longest successful raid of the war, lasting five months behind the German lines.

At the beginning of the war, Belov commanded the 2nd Cavalry Corps. During the Battle of Moscow on 26 November, it was renamed and given the honor of becoming the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps. The divisions also received 'Guards' designations. The newly established cavalry corps played a pivotal role in stopping Guderian's Panzers in 1941 on the southern outposts of Moscow near the town of Kashira. His unit was among the first to start the counterattack in the Battle of Moscow. Following the winter-counterattack they penetrated deep into the enemy rear being cut off in the process. During Battle of Rzhev Belov would lead a successful five-month raid with the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps behind Army Group Center.

Belov was one of the few generals not affected by Stalin's military purges despite having a Polish wife. From the first days, he demonstrated effective tactics against the onslaught of Blitzkrieg, along with Dovator earning first tactical victories for the Red Army. Due to the constant retreats, the unit played rear guard duties, especially during the Uman disaster. The unit, additionally played a rescue role for the many trapped troops in the Battle of Kyiv, which Belov's forces unsuccessfully tried to save. Stalin called his unit the "Fire Squad" as he was often thrown in the most difficult parts of the front expected to save the situation. Pavel Belov was very respected among his peers as he was a general who truly cared about his soldiers. He often refused to send his units into pointless attacks that his superiors often demanded, this could possibly explain why he was only awarded the Gold star in 1944, considering all of his admiration by the foe along with his incredible accomplishments on the battlefield."

By the way, Pavel Belov would have turned 125 years old tomorrow

Not to put un-appropiate pressure on the architect of this mod ( ) but here is an Hero portrait of that Soviet Commander, and an Elite Cavalry unit icon would be mandatory...

Pavel Belov looks old on your picture, I found a picture where he is younger:

Pavel Belov(3).png (14.4 KiB) Viewed 2848 times

[guille1434]

Hello Guys!

Nico: Thanks again for the new update! Thanks for sharing and keep it up!!

Terminator: Indeed, that picture of Pavel Belov seems more indicated for this campaign, as he was born in 1897, at the time of this campaign (1941-42) he was 44 or 45 years old, so it would be more accurate to show this picture of him.

[terminator]

Another picture of Pavel Belov :

Pavel Belov(4).png (12.11 KiB) Viewed 2614 times

[imp44791]

Working on the alpha version. This will be the DLC42 campaign opener, followed by Gorky. Pavel Belov will join the core army as a SE Guard Cavalry unit.
Rzhev-Vyazma42.png

Cool!

As it happens, all this Belov talk made me go back to the Erickson book to see the relevant passages again. There is a lot of detail in which I can go into if needed, but roughly the battle (which as mentioned in that wikipedia quote above, really did go on for five months) happened in three phases.

1. Mid January: cavalry corps (3 divisions) of 50th army penetrates towards the road behind Vyazma but Germans counter and cut cavalry off from the rest of the troops, including all its artillery and anti-tank. Another force under Yefremov is also encircled to the northwest. Meanwhile, a German force is encircled itself in Sukinichi but also holds out.

2. Mid Feb: Zhukov drops paratroops to help encircled troops, but German air interdiction of the airfields and cover over drop zones interfere. Belov enlists local partisans to swell his ranks. He is also resupplied (badly) by air.

3. April-May: Yefremov's force is mostly destroyed (he commits suicide). Belov breaks out finally after 5 months behind German lines.

In principle, it is possible to put up to two scenarios: The February phase with the paradrop as an "air fight" trying to cover the drops and a parallel ground fight with the auxiliaries to keep the ground zones (marked in A) clear. But I don't think we have a Soviet paratroop in the equipment file, do we? The March-April breakout from inside: a few core units, plus Belov's cavalry, plus the odd paratroop/partisan, plus core on the outside. It is a little like the vanilla scenario this one, but perhaps we can make it a "no-air" one to spice it up.

Of course we don't want to be fully tied to history, but I am wondering how balancing will be to allow the player to place all his T-34s and KVs inside the pocket and waltz out of the pocket.

[imp44791]

I will try to playtest the updated Bessarabia and Kashira this weekend if I find the time.

[nikivdd]

Another picture of Pavel Belov :


Pavel Belov(4).png

If you have no objection, i would like to use this hero picture in DLC 42.

[nikivdd]

Cool!

As it happens, all this Belov talk made me go back to the Erickson book to see the relevant passages again. There is a lot of detail in which I can go into if needed, but roughly the battle (which as mentioned in that wikipedia quote above, really did go on for five months) happened in three phases.

1. Mid January: cavalry corps (3 divisions) of 50th army penetrates towards the road behind Vyazma but Germans counter and cut cavalry off from the rest of the troops, including all its artillery and anti-tank. Another force under Yefremov is also encircled to the northwest. Meanwhile, a German force is encircled itself in Sukinichi but also holds out.

2. Mid Feb: Zhukov drops paratroops to help encircled troops, but German air interdiction of the airfields and cover over drop zones interfere. Belov enlists local partisans to swell his ranks. He is also resupplied (badly) by air.

3. April-May: Yefremov's force is mostly destroyed (he commits suicide). Belov breaks out finally after 5 months behind German lines.

In principle, it is possible to put up to two scenarios: The February phase with the paradrop as an "air fight" trying to cover the drops and a parallel ground fight with the auxiliaries to keep the ground zones (marked in A) clear. But I don't think we have a Soviet paratroop in the equipment file, do we? The March-April breakout from inside: a few core units, plus Belov's cavalry, plus the odd paratroop/partisan, plus core on the outside. It is a little like the vanilla scenario this one, but perhaps we can make it a "no-air" one to spice it up.

Of course we don't want to be fully tied to history, but I am wondering how balancing will be to allow the player to place all his T-34s and KVs inside the pocket and waltz out of the pocket.

I will create one scenario for the Rzhev-Vyazma sector. A part of the core army can be deployed here, and at the opportune moment, break out from the encirclement and head east. Belov will be the first hero in this DLC to join the core army, two more will follow as i originally planned. A quick count learns that the DLC will contain at least 18 scenarios and that is more than enough. It will not be a lineair campaign. Especially in the beginning i have to squeeze some of the scenarios due to a restricted time frame. At a certain time (about now) i have to make a few final decisions, at least for the first scenarios.
So the first scenarios are going to be:
01. Rzhev-Vyazma42 (defensive, break-out scenario, no planes allowed)
02. Gorky (Triumph means a choice between scenario 3 and 4, victory goes to 4) (defensive scenario, fighter planes only)
03. Demyansk42 (offensive scenario)
04. Izium (offensive scenario)
05. Fredericus (offensive-defensive scenario)
06. Pinsk (guerilla war scenario, no planes allowed)
After scenario 6, the campaign will split two ways, each branch has three scenarios. A "Don" branch and a "Caucasus" branch.

[imp44791]

I will create one scenario for the Rzhev-Vyazma sector. A part of the core army can be deployed here, and at the opportune moment, break out from the encirclement and head east. Belov will be the first hero in this DLC to join the core army, two more will follow as i originally planned. A quick count learns that the DLC will contain at least 18 scenarios and that is more than enough. It will not be a lineair campaign. Especially in the beginning i have to squeeze some of the scenarios due to a restricted time frame. At a certain time (about now) i have to make a few final decisions, at least for the first scenarios.
So the first scenarios are going to be:
01. Rzhev-Vyazma42 (defensive, break-out scenario, no planes allowed)
02. Gorky (Triumph means a choice between scenario 3 and 4, victory goes to 4) (defensive scenario, fighter planes only)
03. Demyansk42 (offensive scenario)
04. Izium (offensive scenario)
05. Fredericus (offensive-defensive scenario)
06. Pinsk (guerilla war scenario, no planes allowed)
After scenario 6, the campaign will split two ways, each branch has three scenarios. A "Don" branch and a "Caucasus" branch.

Fair enough. Only suggestion I have then is to time the Rzhev breakout in February or March, with at least a nod to history. Say that the airdrop has already happened (so give Belov's auxiliaries some good infantry to represent this) and that now you need to break out. Erickson puts the final drop Feb 17. Perhaps put this scenario 2nd in the sequence after Gorki - to also justify why the planes are not available.

Just playtested Bessarabia. I think it's actually tougher with more infantry against you in all those forests. I DV'ed (chess, normal) on turn 16, so just about perfect I think.

Will have a crack at new Kashira later.

EDIT: Just noticed you said Gorky gives a choice to either Demyansk or Izium.

[imp44791]

Started placing Kashira. Looks good - it will be a tough mission, which I like .

You have a Soviet Ski unit in Tula. I didn't know that we had these in the equipment file. Do we also have a Soviet para (to give to Belov in Rzhev)? If we don't this ski auxiliary would also work, since they did form part of 1st Guards Cav.

Let's see with this Kashira scenario then. Looks fun.

[imp44791]

Minor map suggestions for Kashira:

The fortification (shiny flag) at 22,21 should be made into a town called "Venev". It was a major focus for both the northwards attack by Guderian after Stalinogorsk fell and on the road to Kashira, and the first target for Belov's counterattack.

Tank next to the airfield can be made a T-26 from BT-7 (historical, also slower which makes it more a challenge to save)

[imp44791]

Let me know if you want me to send you a couple of jpegs from a set of good WW2 maps I have on a book (by Simon Goodenough, old from the 80s) for Rzhev and Kashira. I have no idea if you have better resources, but sometimes these Russian placenames are no longer what they were back in the 1940s (e.g. the famous Krasnaya Polyana no longer has that name!)

[imp44791]

Another picture of Pavel Belov :
Pavel Belov(4).png

Yes, the one in Wikipedia is obviously later (he has the Gold Star which - as correctly pointed out above- he got much later).

[terminator]

Another picture of Pavel Belov :


Pavel Belov(4).png

If you have no objection, i would like to use this hero picture in DLC 42.

No problemo

The original image from which the portrait was extracted :

lieutenant-generat-pavel-belov-commander-red-9641575.png (28.67 KiB) Viewed 2372 times

It can be noted that Pavel Belov wears a strange, very loose coat that can also be found in this image :

Belov.jpg (276.8 KiB) Viewed 2372 times

[terminator]

As a bonus two last portaits of Pavel Belov

Pavel Belov(5).png (11.09 KiB) Viewed 2453 times

Pavel Belov(6).png (12.5 KiB) Viewed 2453 times

[imp44791]

The last portrait ^ is my favourite.

Played the first 4 rounds of Kashira, but I'm afraid this will be it for today as I have other obligations. I may try to resume tomorrow.

A bit unlucky with weather - 3 straight rounds of sunshine, then cloud!

The placing of the units seems to be ok now. The three hexes north of Tula plus the two round the town, plus the mobile AA round the Venev (see above) airfield are enough to save it from the first German onslaught. I put a tough KV plus a 203mm in the town itself, a good cavalry, T-34 and a Katyusha to the north. By turn 4 I should have a good battlegroup there.

The edge of map units + Belov's three come into contact with the northwards German thrust around (guess where) Venev, round Turn 3-4 in a battle of encounter. Perfect! That's what happened in history. The Soviets will be out of fuel if they go hell for leather from Turn 1, if the go conservative the Germans should have enough to take Venev (currently a fort) and continue to the north. I like! There also seems to be a sweep round the East towards Kolomna, but I haven't played enough to see how it develops. I guess it pays to keep some reserves up there.

The date is a little odd: Nov 1 in half days. Any reason why? The battle in real life developed (if I remember) around 3-27 Nov. I think that normal daily turns will be fine. Not that it matters really - as long as actual snow falls! (I know, you can't control the RNG).

Anyway, really nice signs up to now of a fun scenario. I'll try to finish up tomorrow and get some feedback in before I leave for my trip on Monday. Thanks again for the (free!) entertainment and stimulating discussion.

EDIT: Luftwaffe strength looks good, too. Very tough, as should be. The player really has to lure the 109s into an AA trap to attrite them.

[nikivdd]

The last portrait ^ is my favourite.

Played the first 4 rounds of Kashira, but I'm afraid this will be it for today as I have other obligations. I may try to resume tomorrow.

A bit unlucky with weather - 3 straight rounds of sunshine, then cloud!

The placing of the units seems to be ok now. The three hexes north of Tula plus the two round the town, plus the mobile AA round the Venev (see above) airfield are enough to save it from the first German onslaught. I put a tough KV plus a 203mm in the town itself, a good cavalry, T-34 and a Katyusha to the north. By turn 4 I should have a good battlegroup there.

The edge of map units + Belov's three come into contact with the northwards German thrust around (guess where) Venev, round Turn 3-4 in a battle of encounter. Perfect! That's what happened in history. The Soviets will be out of fuel if they go hell for leather from Turn 1, if the go conservative the Germans should have enough to take Venev (currently a fort) and continue to the north. I like! There also seems to be a sweep round the East towards Kolomna, but I haven't played enough to see how it develops. I guess it pays to keep some reserves up there.

The date is a little odd: Nov 1 in half days. Any reason why? The battle in real life developed (if I remember) around 3-27 Nov. I think that normal daily turns will be fine. Not that it matters really - as long as actual snow falls! (I know, you can't control the RNG).

Anyway, really nice signs up to now of a fun scenario. I'll try to finish up tomorrow and get some feedback in before I leave for my trip on Monday. Thanks again for the (free!) entertainment and stimulating discussion.

EDIT: Luftwaffe strength looks good, too. Very tough, as should be. The player really has to lure the 109s into an AA trap to attrite them.

Dates are usually an approximation and sometimes more turns per day are required so that dates between scenarios do not overlap.

[imp44791]

Dates are usually an approximation and sometimes more turns per day are required so that dates between scenarios do not overlap.

Fair enough.

Can I please ask the child who is making stupid edits to desist from quoting my posts in them? I have nothing to do with your stupid grievance, so (and I'll say it in the most polite way I can) leave me out of this.

Thank you.

[terminator]

It can be noted that Pavel Belov wears a strange, very loose coat that can also be found in this image :

Cossack Cavalry Uniform ?

Cossack Cavalry Uniform.png (218.98 KiB) Viewed 2187 times