Slitherine

Suomossalmi Village - Tightening the Noose

I always feel on firmer ground when I can find a reference to a battle. In this case, I found two: Battle of Raate Road and Battle of Suomussalmi. These both confirmed and clarified the original scenario description.

This battle was a division-level affair, as indicated by the scenario description, but Colonel Siilasvuo headed the Finnish 9th Division, not the 27th Regiment, which the description had wrong. As such, it was implying that the Finnish 27th Regiment would be destroying the Soviet 163rd Division, which did not make sense.

Hence I bumped this one up to the division level, adding strength to both sides while leaving the Finns with a slight edge which seems historical. It's a small map but big enough to encapsulate the battle. It should be a fierce one, with 20 or more units on each side fighting it out within the confines of the village and its outskirts.

I also added a bunch of goodies and eye candy. All of these scenarios will be fun to play but this one, I think, will be special.

This scenario has been uploaded to the "Back to Erik" folder.

Mascarenhas wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:41 am Still Normandy

Hi Erik, mission Bois du Homme (Gold, crossroads 1, first option); two added air exits are not working properly. Exit function is not working. Pls take a look.
Congrats,

Thanks for reporting (I think someone else also did).

Hi Guys,

though I have very much enjoyed your British Normandy campaign, the end Scenario - Falaise fails on multiple levels. Here is why.

1. It is far too easy in the early going. I was able to wipe out most of the depleted German units before the counter attack commenced.
2. As to the above I was able to control most of the map before the counter attack commenced.
3. When to counter attack commenced I was suddenly confronted with units magically teleporting into the middle of my controlled area and way behind my lines. This was frustrating as HOW did they just magically appear?
4. The German units that magically teleported in started out out of supply so were pretty easily crushed. The eastern units all started out behind my lines and also out of supply so made little sense and were crushed.
5. There are no Air Command points allocated for the US Air units so when they leave they are gone. So why not just fly then until they die, they can't come back and you don't get any penalty for throwing them away.
6. Any my biggest peeve of all in the whole campaign. THE NUMBER OF AIR EXIT POINTS NEEDS TO EQUAL THE NUMBER OF AIR ENTRY POINTS!!!!!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough. Allowing 8 air units to be deployed and only allowing 3 per turn to be removed is just plain a lack of scenario design!!!!!!!!!! The game mechanics do not track the ability of units to exit. You could have 100 air units on the board but as long as there is a single exit hex for 1 unit it will say that the remaining 99 are aok fuel wise. If you allow 20 Air CP of units to start, you need to account for 20 air units to exit PERIOD. Trying to calculate how to exit 8 units on 3 exit hexes is pretty much impossible with the way things are designed. Please! Please! Please! account for this in future designs! IT IN NO WAY MAKES ANY SENSE. Ok, have I made my point clear

kverdon wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:27 am 6. Any my biggest peeve of all in the whole campaign. THE NUMBER OF AIR EXIT POINTS NEEDS TO EQUAL THE NUMBER OF AIR ENTRY POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!
[...]
Please! Please! Please! account for this in future designs! IT IN NO WAY MAKES ANY SENSE. Ok, have I made my point clear

Yeah, well, although I completely understand you, and the frustration you're feeling, that's exactly what "beta" tests are for.

For a designer it's hard to play a scen like a "beginner". To notice such gameplay "nuances" you have to be an outsider and play the scen (for the first time) and report the issue. You just did. Thanks...

PS: You know, the whole 3-exit-hex concept might have worked in tests with a diversified airforce. Different planes have different fuel values/ranges.

Buying Time on the Salla-Kemijarvi Road

I got my bearings using this map. I used the boxed locations to "triangulate" and for some village names in between:


If you look at the scenario map, you will see what I mean. The Soviets can exit three ways, so I identified where they would be going.

I cut it down to three primary objectives because three key crossroads stood out. These were labeled as "Roadblock A, B, and C" and fortified with a bunker. The primary objectives are to hold these three objectives (i.e., the hexes; the bunkers can be destroyed but when they are, that activates the exit orders) and prevent any Soviet unit from leaving the map.

This sequence will give you a better idea, perhaps:


Swedish volunteers made it into this scenario! It's quite historical, mentioned in this article and that article:


I rearranged your Soviet column and broke it into six AI Teams; three sets of scouts and forces, one for each destination. They go after the roadblocks first and when the bunker at each roadblock is destroyed, then the corresponding teams head for their exits.

This scenario has been uploaded to the "Back to Erik" folder.

One further note: In scenarios where there are no flagged village hexes, we had better provide a game-length (that is, for Turn 1 through end of scenario) deployment hex or two on the map edges.

Reason: I know you sometimes like to control initial deployment hexes (Turn 0) and flagged village hexes interfere with that. The trouble is, players may want to purchase replacement units or revive dead units during the scenario if they have enough resource points.

In a scenario like this last one - there are no flagged village hexes - players will not be able to deploy restocked or resuscitated units unless we provide them with game-length deployment hexes available only after initial deployment, as in "Available 1-24 (turns)." I did that in this scenario; each of the Soviet exit hexes is also a game-length deployment hex for the Finnish side, just in case.

I know you are altering scenarios after I have finished with them, so I will let you ponder this suggestion and if you agree, edit the official versions accordingly. I am going to go back over my copies and do this where necessary.

Field marshal Mannerheim greeting members of the Swedish Volunteer Battalion, Hanko, Finland 1941 :

Normandy UK & Canada 1944 2.0
Link updated in first post.

General:
Air exit locations now match the number of air units assigned (good idea, kverdon).

26Bois:
Fixed art sec obj

34Falaise:
Doubled depleted German unit strengths
German reinforcements arrive along map edges
German exits start earlier
Some German reinforcements arrive (much) earlier

Normandy UK & Canada 1944 1.9

Eric/Bru,
My experience at Falaise was much the same as kverdon. I had mastery of the map very early, and some of the polish units never moved. It was a little frustrating to have German troops pop up out of the blue in the middle of the controlled territory. I tried to rotate my planes to feed them through the exits, which worked somewhat but was an added complexity that is not needed.

I think the changes you made to the scenario will make it more enjoyable

Keep up the good work guys

Dwightd wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:31 pm ... I had mastery of the map very early, and some of the polish units never moved. ....

FYI, the Poles are controlled by the player

Erik2 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:40 pm
FYI, the Poles are controlled by the player

WHAT! No you tell me

What I meant to say is that there were so many Polish units and not enough action near them, the the I never moved them. But I am also lazy with unit movement sometimes.

Dwightd wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 6:50 pm What I meant to say is that there were so many Polish units and not enough action near them, the the I never moved them. But I am also lazy with unit movement sometimes.

I would follow you into battle in a heartbeat. Yes, yes I would. Truly.

Thanks Guys, your changes should help make it a much better scenario. I think where it fell apart was there was not enough resistance in the early going which allowed the Allied player to cover way too much ground. This then creates the crazy scenario where you have SS Panzers beaming into the middle of your units.(I mean am I playing against the Germans or the Romulans" "My Herr, the elite SS Brigade will be decloaking in the middle of the Allied formation shortly, that should give them a nasty surprise!" .

Another thing I would advocate for with the Air Exit hexes that they be grouped close together. Not only does this fall in line with the idea of an "air corridor" but it makes air unit management much easier. If they are too far apart it causes a problem in that the game only calculates the fuel needed to the nearest exit hex. If you have 3 planes close together they will all show AOK on fuel but then you will hit a snag when only one can reach the exit and the other 2 exits are 5-10 hexes out of range for the other 2 planes.

Looking forward to having a go with the new version.

kverdon wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:27 pm This then creates the crazy scenario where you have SS Panzers beaming into the middle of your units.

That's why I always advocate spawning on the map edges unless it's an instance of "emerging from hiding."

kverdon wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:27 pmI mean am I playing against the Germans or the Romulans" "My Herr, the elite SS Brigade will be decloaking in the middle of the Allied formation shortly, that should give them a nasty surprise!" .

Heh, good one.

Sigh. I am becoming convinced that the Finns are a very unimaginative people when it comes to place names!


But thank goodness for Wikipedia. Wiki, Wiki, Wiki, yeah!

I finally devised a way to have the AI "redeploy" an air unit. The quotes indicate that the real process is "spawn" because the "Deploy Unit" effect simply does not work for AI units.

You will see this in the upcoming scenario:


I used it in conjunction with one Soviet fighter but I imagine you could do this for more than one plane by changing the "Destroyed" condition to, say, "< 4" if four fighters were involved. Once all 4 fighters are destroyed, the trigger will no longer fire.

The second condition, "Deployed," would be managed similarly. In my simple example, the trigger is asking "Has the one fighter not been destroyed yet? If yes, is there no fighter deployed at this time? Then spawn a fighter." A game-length air deployment hex is not needed but a usual air exit hex allowing redeployment is required.

Note the "-1" frequency setting. I tested this trigger and it works.

White Death at Petsamo

A simple but interesting scenario. Both sides are looking to exit the map! The player must prevent any Soviet unit from leaving but at the same time needs to exit 7 of his own units before scenario end. As the briefing says, "This will be a delicate operation, much depending on timing."

This scenario has been uploaded to the "Back to Erik" folder.

bru888 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:15 am One further note: In scenarios where there are no flagged village hexes, we had better provide a game-length (that is, for Turn 1 through end of scenario) deployment hex or two on the map edges.

Reason: I know you sometimes like to control initial deployment hexes (Turn 0) and flagged village hexes interfere with that. The trouble is, players may want to purchase replacement units or revive dead units during the scenario if they have enough resource points.

In a scenario like this last one - there are no flagged village hexes - players will not be able to deploy restocked or resuscitated units unless we provide them with game-length deployment hexes available only after initial deployment, as in "Available 1-24 (turns)." I did that in this scenario; each of the Soviet exit hexes is also a game-length deployment hex for the Finnish side, just in case.

I know you are altering scenarios after I have finished with them, so I will let you ponder this suggestion and if you agree, edit the official versions accordingly. I am going to go back over my copies and do this where necessary.

I do edit your versions removing most of the villages etc replacing them with decorations, then I add rentry hexes for reinforcements and reformed units.
But a second quality control is not a bad idea...

UK and Canada 1944 Normandy

I decided to run through the campaign again mostly because it was a lot of fun the first time I have a few notes as I am working through it.

Version 2.0

In Villiers, there is 6 Canadian air CP but no Canadian aircraft. Not a big deal because there is plenty of air power in that scenario. Might just be a little confusing though

In Caumont, the air exists don't work. So the aircraft run out of fuel and die. Maybe you are just teasing us I do like the extra air deployment and exits on this one, nice touch.

Now back to saving my troops at Caumont

Here's a nod to your "Sausage War":


I will finish the scenario tomorrow.