Slitherine

I wanted to test the conversion of a Panzercorps 2 scenario.
The wording of the text is not yet too good sometimes.


File: http://www.mediafire.com/file/4o3b595os ... 9.zip/file

Interesting project, terminator. So your long-term plan is to convert the whole PzC2-package ?
I bought PzC-2, but have not actually opened it yet

It's a good scenario. I think the player should have a bit more income and resources.

Mascarenhas wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 2:00 am It's a good scenario. I think the player should have a bit more income and resources.

It will be done but just a little.

Poland North:

An excellent scenario. Well-balanced, no issue found, a good amount of events to add flavor...

Indeed, a little more RPs would be welcome (especially if you intend to insert this scenario within a campaign ).


Congratulations! Keep up the good work

Tunis(1.07):
Part 1

A superb scenario, in which you’ve created a really great atmosphere, with nice music, new German skin, etc. Congrats!

Major Victory achieved on turn 28 (level 3, as usual): on T26, the last enemy land units on map has been disintegrated, and on T27, the last enemy sub has been sunk…

Nice and well-balanced.

There are many submarines, compared to the land units, aren’t there? But that’s perfectly fine like this.
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For a huge part of this feedback, let’s dive a little into History, shall we?

Scen descr:
“Tunis, May 4, 1943, Tunisia.||The conclusion of the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa.” -> Well, maybe add a little something: “Tunis, May 4, 1943, Tunisia.||Operation Strike: The conclusion of the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa.”

Yes, it was, BUT the French component of the Allies, in no way anecdotal, must not be forgotten!

I know there was some Frenchies (“some”? , naah, a lot, actually!) involved within the Tunisian campaign, therefore I’ve taken a deeper look at the historical order of battle…


N.B.: By the way, if anyone doesn’t want to bother too much about reading on History, then he can directly “jump” to my next post!



In (very) short, during the Tunisian campaign, the allied forces consisted of 130,000 British soldiers, 95,000 American soldiers and approximately 75,000 French and colonial soldiers from the Army of Africa and the Free French Forces. And the Free French paid a heavy price in these battles...

But it’s true that it may not always be easy to find historical info and that content from various sources may differ a little from time to time, which complicates all.

In the briefing, you talk about the US II Corps and about the British V Corps, with the player’s main focus on the Americans because the British are mentioned to be (just) about to help them…
It seems that actually it was rather the British who have taken Tunis whereas the Americans have more acted to cover them , to clean the northern part before continuing to push North towards Bizerte: “The 4th British and 4th Indian Divisions, concentrated on a narrow front and supported by heavy artillery concentrations, broke a hole in the defences for the 6th and 7th Armoured divisions to pass through. On 7 May, British armour entered Tunis and American infantry from II Corps, which had continued its advance in the north, entered Bizerte.” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_ ... lied_plans )

So, this briefing is clearly from an American point of view. Okay, why not, anyway? On the map, the US forces start deployed in the N and NW, the Brits in the SW, that’s historically accurate!

This British V Corps was indeed assigned to British First Army for the Tunisian Campaign (and to the British Eight Army from the Italian Campaign and until the end of the war)…

It seems that there was at least the (Free) French “7ème Régiment de Tirailleurs Algériens” (which can be named shortly as “7e RTA”) assigned to this British V Corps from the 4th May 1943, i.e. precisely from the start of this scenario… (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_Corps_(United_Kingdom) )

So, a further look at the British First Army order of battle (source here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_F ... 4_May_1943 ) tells us that there was:

-> (British) V Corps including 1 Free French Regiment (“7e RTA”)
-> (British) IX Corps with those 2 Infantry Divisions and those 2 Armored Divisions already mentioned… what is worth noticing is that this IX Corps seems to contain more armored detachments than the V Corps about which you talk in the briefing…
-> XIX French Corps including 1 tank battalion and 3 infantry divisions (!)…
This (French) Corps fought as an Allied formation within the British 1st Army until the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Army_Corps_(France) )
-> US II Corps who seemed to have been in a somewhat complex position ( as being co-ordinated by British First Army but under direct control of 18th Army Group)… But this US II Corps itself contained about 2 French Regiments: the “Corps francs d’Afrique” and one "Moroccan Goums" unit (an unit specialized in mountain combat)…

Moroccan Goums? You can get a rough idea looking at these (it’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, isn’t it? ): https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 2668274573 or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 2668243818 or as well https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 2668246715

One word about the “Corps francs d’Afrique”? Okay, here it is:
Their motto: Honour and homeland;
Type of unit: Commando (yope, it was!);
Equipment: British uniforms, Lee Enfield rifles and American rifles;
Ultra-short story: Their rather ephemeral existence - whether it was an experimental unit or a mistake by the military and political authorities - should not obscure the fact that these men fought bravely and have been decorated…

To represent these units in OoB, then ‘could possibly use for the…
-> "Moroccan Goums": the British model of Gurkhas would be the best alternative and they don’t need to be mechanized (see one of the pictures and you’ll understand why!)
-> “Corps francs d’Afrique”: the British (‘cause uniforms) model of a SAS will do the trick (and SAS ‘cause commando)…

Tunis(1.07):
Part 2

So, having seen all these historical points, time for some suggestions of mine.

But we shouldn’t forget that there is another “concern”, as this scenario is now (really) well balanced in the game: adding too much units may unbalance all…

I would say there are mainly two big options: either adding the Free French faction (under the player’s command of course) with many units involved or rather simply adding some French units (and no longer really all of them) directly under the US and British flags.

I would vote for the second option, much easier to implement I think, and coherent as well because these units were anyway more considered at that time and location as “Allied formation” instead of fully autonomous…


How to consider these Frenchies, then? I think the easiest way is the following:

-> Starting on the (northern) US side, we had 2 French special units… but adding 2 units to represent 2 regiments “only” may unfortunately be a little too much in this scenario, I think… So, perhaps a single unit, under the US flag, called “French Special Forces”, with either the British 3D model of Gurkhas (to enhance the “exotic” side of these units) or SAS (it’s up to you!)?

-> On the British side, I think it may be enough to add let’s say 1 regular French Infantry and 1 French Heavy Infantry directly under the British flag would be good enough…
(Two regular Infantry units would proportionally imply a lack of heavies on this side, as there is right now a single British Heavy Infantry unit. And three regular French Infantry could be a little too much, for the point here is balancing added units with historical number of regiments and divisions, all this without unbalancing completely the scenario doing so! )
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Just in case, remember this trick: First select the unit from some faction's list (unlocked from the Scenario Settings within the Scenario Editor), then change the flag to any faction (like the US or Britain factions for us here) prior to placing it on the map. (Thanks bru and Zekedia! )
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Once we’re there, in order to not forget neither the Indians (one division was there as well!), so for this I suggest that you add:
-> Simply one British Colonial Infantry… (of course under the British flag and on the British side)

Once we’re talking about adding units, what about adding as well:
-> Some US AT unit? For right now the Americans start with not any single AT capability, which may look a little weird (and it would be a pity to have to build an entirely customized force just to have some ATs )… So, what about adding in the North either 1 Hellcat or 1 57mm Gun M1?
-> Another British heavy arty unit (same model than the one already on map)? Why? Well, because they should be able to do some “concentrated” fire from a historical point of view and TWO of the British Corps had some Royal arty with them…
-> And finally, maybe a last unit: another British tank, because they had many (even the Frenchies had few!) and they seem to have done the main blow historically…
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In total, I suggest adding up to 4 Infantry (including 1 “US”), 1 AT (US), 1 arty and 1 Tank units…

So, in order to avoid unbalancing the scenario, several German and/or Italian units (mainly infantry as well ) shall be added in Tunis or its surroundings. But, where to put them? Furthermore, it would then be better, if we can, to avoid a traffic jam with all these units starting on the British side to follow the main road eastward...

To combine these two last points, here’s another idea: put the town of Fouchana as primary objective as well! (Without forgetting to add a "Red Arrow" at it, then. )

This will force the player to send troops on that side (and to avoid or at least limit the traffic jam in doing so), which allows to make later an interesting flank move against the city of Tunis and also offers a new sector where the Germans will easily be able to concentrate more defenders (including maybe another Concrete Bunker)... and to use more efficiently the nearby minefields as cover!

Like this, a group of units can be in charge to take Fouchana, then move North towards Cité Avicenne (and Ben Arous) before being able to carry on towards both TUNIS and El Mallaha... I think that's a good tactical move if we've enough units.

By the way, as it is possible anyway, the Germans and Italians should anyway have a stronger defense it the (far) South of Tunis, "just in case"...

And putting Fouchana as a primary objective may give a hint to the player about doing so... so, well, why not?
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Then, add of course few words (not much but well immersive) in the briefing about the presence, the “help” or the contribution of these Frenchies and Indians…


I mean, you’ve already done a great job and it’s perfectly fine to focus mainly on the US side, but the (Free) French component shouldn’t be missing otherwise the historical accuracy of this scenario will suffer…

Tunis(1.07):
Part 3 (and last part; Phew! )

Various:

-> What about adding some recon planes? Especially because there are many enemy AA defenses… Maybe even one US recon plane, above the US starting areas, and one British recon plane as well, above the British starting zone?

-> Sec obj “Complete the mission in 28 turns” -> reward is 2 spec pts… a little strange considering that this is now a scenario without a whole campaign… some RPs as reward won’t make much sense either for the same reason (and furthermore with a standalone scenario finished, no more meaningful replenishment anyway)… so maybe back in this case to simply some text, but instead of a classical “Enables Major Victory”, maybe something more immersive like “Time to show the world what a great commander you are!” or “Show everyone your skills as a great general!”.

-> The British start with not any single RP in reserve (whereas the US have several hundreds from commencement)? This should definitely be changed, especially with them having more units (Frenchies, Indians) to manage, replenished, etc. So, what about maybe around 200 RPs from start? Then, their income should directly be increased as well…

-> An important part of the scenario will be to handle our air elements so, what about unlocking some useful specs as “Drop Tank”, “Scramble”, “Pilot Rotation” (less RPs to be used in order to repair/replenish our many planes)… and maybe even some basic “Radar” spec (the enemy has its own Radar Station)...

-> Better modifying the titles of the two events when the transport ships and submarines have been sunk… from the text file, same thing if one of these is failed.
(Right now, it’s just written three times something as “event_trigger_21_56_title = event_trigger_21_56_title” or “event_trigger_22_48_title = event_trigger_21_46_title”… )

-> No special text right now in case of “Draw”? (Is it possible, with a sec obj about finishing sooner, to have a “Draw” anyway? )

-> By the way, I suggest changing this part of the texts for the Major/Minor Victories/Defeats:
“[…] has been a tremendous success. While your [US!] troops entered Tunis, British armor entered Bizerte.”
Why? Well, because it seems it was indeed exactly the opposite (see the historical part of the feedback! )… So maybe replace this by an anyway less polemical:
“[…] has been a tremendous success, and the Allies have successfully managed to enter both Tunis and Bizerte.”

-> No reward now for the sec obj “Sink the Transport Ships in the port of Tunis by Turn 20”? What about adding some RPs as reward , maybe about 50 for the US and 50 for the Brits, to make it on one hand more interesting and on another hand because both sides have contributed into the naval battle…


Thanks, keep up the good work!

By the way, I’ve put the scenario Tunis(1.07) inside your mod before playing it…

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Dniepper(1.05):

An awesome, well balanced, and immersive scenario, with music, new units as the “Soviet Mountaineers”, events such “Za Rodinu!” and so on! Just great

So, no big issue found. I do have several suggestions, some of them also to answer your questions!

So, it’s now time for another feedback, isn’t it?
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Let’s begin with a very little detail:

Scen descr: “??? - August 1943,||Red Army is attempting to establish a bridgehead across the Dnieper in haste.”

Well, considering that it’s “in haste” and that the brief begin on the 24th August 1943, what about simply removing the “??? –” of the description?
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Then, let’s talk a little about the German Panther–Wotan line:

1. Write about it only in the present tense , otherwise it may “kill” a part of the immersion, for when the scenario is played it’s “right now” in front of us… (And the Germans have built this line during the same year anyway, so it’s not that old at all.)
-> 3rd part of the brief: “The Panther–Wotan line (also known as the East Wall or Ostwall) is a defensive line partially built by the German Wehrmacht in 1943 on the Eastern Front. |It is stretched all the way south towards the Black Sea along the Dnieper.”
-> Exact same consideration for the text of “The East Wall” event, for its text corresponds exactly to the first sentence of this part of the brief…

2. By the way, it would be nice to add at the end of this “The East Wall” event something like: “|New objective added.”

3. Then you ask about the idea of rewarding the player with specialization point(s), both in the obj descr and in the event “East Wall end”… Well, as long as it is a “standalone” scenario, i.e. out of any campaign, I don’t see the point to grant spec pts to the player, for he (or she) can’t use them anyway. Instead, I suggest in this case offering to the player some new unit maybe together with some extra RPs (but just a handful of RPs)…
Which unit? As in our roster there are some good “Soviet Marines” available to “Purchase”, one could imagine a “Marine Scout” unit (taken from the US roster, yes! – don’t forget the trick I’ve written "just in case")… so, one “Marine Scout” unit spawning directly on the other side of the River, ready to give us “an eye” there to help us preparing the crossing… it could have been infiltrated thanks to boats or dropped there, there are several possibilities…
So, once the “East Wall end” event is triggered, this unit may directly be spawned and our cam moving over it (i.e. “highlighting” this new unit)… And, as text, instead of the actual “|Reward: specialization point ?”, something well-immersive about this great achievement (destroying these German fortresses!) and this new unit… Perhaps something like: “In the excitement of the announcement of this important and symbolic success, our High Command has decided to launch a special operation to offer us an Eye on the other side of the Dnieper river: ||During last night, a single unit of Soviet Marine Scouts has just been parachuted in there OR has succeeded in crossing the river in small boats before infiltrating through the German lines until there.”

And finally, about this obj, I suggest a small modification of its descr “Destroy the Fortresses of the Panther-Wotan line” (as there are indeed TWO fortresses ). Then, of course, the obj award should then be modified accordingly… so no more “Reward: specialization point ?”! There, in order to avoid directly spoiling everything , I would suggest something like: “The Soviet HQ could be very happy about this achievement and perhaps even give us an interesting reward.”
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Various:

-> What about adding from start 1 ACP to allow the player to purchase some recon plane?

-> The Germans begin directly a little short in supply… but I think it should be on purpose and based on History, so it should be perfectly fine like this.

-> Nice City Centers… I assume those are from the Battle of Britain mod, right?

-> Watch out, right now 2 event have neither title nor text (the numbers 22_37 and 7_12 according to the txt file)…

-> Some immersive texts must be added as well for the different kind of Victories/Defeats…
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Another idea -> a new event may be added simply when the town of Stalino (in the SE of the map) is captured… Stalino, Staline… it’s not an obj, but this initiative should please Soviet HQ, shouldn’t it?

As text, maybe something like: “The Soviet flag once again flies proudly over this industrial city, whose name should leave none of our soldiers indifferent. ||The Soviet HQ should be really pleased by your initiative sending some troops dealing about it. A bunch of decorations are certainly now on their way towards you and your guys!”
As picture, maybe using this one: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 2823155124
So, as title, maybe based on the name of this decoration, i.e.: “Patriotic War!”

It doesn’t need to become an obj and it would even be better if nothing warns the player about it… therefore the talking about “your initiative” will make highly sense and be immersive!

'Sounds good?
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I think there is a last point to mention right now:

About the event “KV-85”, with its text now reading: “The KV-85 is now available to purchase:|- Requisition Points: 240|- Command Points: 7|Secondary Objective with this unit ?”

Well, another question, so another possible answer, right?

It’s perfectly correct that this tank will become available to purchase just after the start of this scenario… but if the player wants info related to this, the “purchase” button will lead to some, so I wouldn’t bother about writing here about RPs and LCPs… and hell yeah, there should be another sec obj related to this!

Here is what I suggest:
As text: “In the series of dreaded Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks, a new huge warbeast has just become available: the KV-85! ||Soviet HQ has started to send you their very first KV-85 tanks; make good use of them, because if they do really prove their efficiency then our HQ may send us more of these! ||New objective added.”
As (new) obj name: “Inflict at least XYZ damages with your KV-85.” (maybe XYZ = 15?; not too few for it would make no sense; not too much for the reward may then come too late to be of any use!)
As (new) obj descry: “Prove the efficiency of this new unit as soon as possible, for the Soviet HQ may reward you with another KV-85 unit, a new one fresh from the factory!”
As real effect in case of achievement, spawn indeed a new KV-85 (full-strengthened this one) maybe at the very same place where the first one spawn…



This scenario is awesome, thanks!
Keep up the good work



By the way, maybe a last very little detail: on your mod descry, better write “Operation Saturn” (with the uppercase )…

Just played your scenario and was impressed! Good job and I'll be waiting for more.

Which scenario? Poland North?


Oh yes, I totally agree that these scenarios are good quality.

I am currently testing several of them in order to put forward all the ideas/suggestions that come to my mind in order to make my contribution, to help a little.

But I do hope as well that we'll see more new scenarios (relatively) soon, because these are great!

Just a thought that will help us all out here: How about putting the latest versions of your scenarios in one post on the first page? I think Erik has the easiest-to-navigate post for his scenarios, with download links all neatly organized and easily accessible for would-be users. Of course, your choice, but mine is just a point of view from the user's side...

I second rafdobrowolski on this. Indeed, this is a much better organization and help us to locate and try your great scenarios.

Thanks for the feedback, guys
I’ll see what I can do...

I’m having a hard time focusing on the game right now because I’m gonna have an asshole lawyer who might piss me off for bullshit in my professional practice

Ugh, lawyers... Without getting into specifics I'll just say I feel your pain. But yeah, it can be surprisingly difficult to find particular scenarios sometimes. You're far from the worst offender in this regards! I notice someone in multiplayer offering a "dmz" game, but I can't for the life of me discover where to download it. Might have been taken down or replaced or something.

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:26 am Tunis(1.07):
Part 1
There are many submarines, compared to the land units, aren’t there? But that’s perfectly fine like this.

Yes, there are a "little" too many submarines but that’s because the AI doesn’t do very well with the submarines so to compensate for the weakness of the AI, I increased the number of submarines...
Another solution would be to add specializations, experience and commanders to the submarines, thereby reducing the number of submarines?

Yes, it could be a nice idea too.

Or maybe a mix of the two: a little less submarines, but with a little experience (varied from one unit to another) with a German commander here and there.

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:46 am Tunis(1.07):
Part 3 (and last part; Phew! )

Various:
-> Sec obj “Complete the mission in 28 turns” -> reward is 2 spec pts… a little strange considering that this is now a scenario without a whole campaign… some RPs as reward won’t make much sense either for the same reason (and furthermore with a standalone scenario finished, no more meaningful replenishment anyway)… so maybe back in this case to simply some text, but instead of a classical “Enables Major Victory”, maybe something more immersive like “Time to show the world what a great commander you are!” or “Show everyone your skills as a great general!”.

Next scenario is "Battle of Agrigento"(done)

Ah? Well, okay but they aren't put together in a campaign, are they? (Or not right now, at least...)

Hi, Terminator,

Where is this new version of Tunis scenario?
Thx