Slitherine

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2025 2:33 pm**

Hi again,

By Icon, I meant the white plates you put on switchable units : recon becoming Luchs, Arty vs AT, AT vs Tank, AD vs AT, ...
We can notice this ability instantly on units, a great advantage!

I thought your e-file was by default compatible with vanilla e-file (same original slots), and I think this is the case so the original campaign should be playable with your mod.

I am not a great tester since I always start a campaign with 90.000 prestige, so that elite replacements is never a problem.
And even so I do not always win a DV. But I could replay the original campign with your mod, for sure.
GTPG Grand campaign and original PG campaign modified for Panzer Corps remain masterpieces, classics for all times (Sea Lion 40, Washington, Moscow 43, ...).

In your DLC (1944 East), the player cannot deploy all his units (we have 34 units where globally 24 are deployable) so that I cannot buy any unit of my choice, but this is not a problem since units in the roster have already experience.

I'm eager to discover your new add-on.

Anyway I like playing your mod and yes, let's also thank Mc Guba of course (Battlefield Europe is a great mod for sure) and all other modders (icons, sounds, ...).

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2025 5:20 pm**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 2:33 pm Hi again,

By Icon, I meant the white plates you put on switchable units : recon becoming Luchs, Arty vs AT, AT vs Tank, AD vs AT, ...
We can notice this ability instantly on units, a great advantage!

I thought your e-file was by default compatible with vanilla e-file (same original slots), and I think this is the case so the original campaign should be playable with your mod.

I am not a great tester since I always start a campaign with 90.000 prestige, so that elite replacements is never a problem.
And even so I do not always win a DV. But I could replay the original campign with your mod, for sure.
GTPG Grand campaign and original PG campaign modified for Panzer Corps remain masterpieces, classics for all times (Sea Lion 40, Washington, Moscow 43, ...).

In your DLC (1944 East), the player cannot deploy all his units (we have 34 units where globally 24 are deployable) so that I cannot buy any unit of my choice, but this is not a problem since units in the roster have already experience.

I'm eager to discover your new add-on.

Anyway I like playing your mod and yes, let's also thank Mc Guba of course (Battlefield Europe is a great mod for sure) and all other modders (icons, sounds, ...).

Oh, those switch indicator icons, thank you very much!
I grew so accustomed to them, I forgot how different it is without those. Especially for units with either short or thin guns.

E-file is downward compatible with unmodded PzC for normal units, but I'm not 100% sure about bonus SE units.
Since the bonus SE units role was inverted compared to normal Panzer Corps, where they are better than the normal units. While with Addon, the bonus SE selection is now intended to be the weakest part of your force.
I just failed to adjust the starting cores of the GC chapters until now, so with 2025-04 you still get bonus SE Tiger tanks and Grenadiere and so on when starting from a Grand Campaign chapter after 1939.

Bonus SE unit balancing background:
Originally I abolished bonus SE units all together when working on Africa Corps compatibility. For the simple reason that normal unit selection was increased so much that I could not mirror that variety for bonus SE units as well.
But when I made the Grand Campaign compatible (so far only East), I liked the idea of always bringing some basic infantry without specialization. And then after feedback from goose_2 youtube playthrough, I built up the bonus SE selection beyond basic infantry again, and after feedback afrom thejf and eskuche I expanded the library to show those bonus SE upgrade options.
This inverted bonus SE approach also works well because the Addon can not use the soft cap prestige reduction mechanic, to stay compatible with Battlefield Europe (where expensive ships would make that mechanic impossible).

Feedback is always welcome!
No need to be a top competitive player, I'm very curious about your opinion.

My recommendation is using "rule of one" and "reform units", thats what I tried to balance for.
Those recommendations should also show up at the starting points of AK, GC and original campaign.
From the first post in this thread:

1. I highly recommend a house rule of "1 unit per unit version" (except for basic infantry). This "rule of one" provides far more historical gameplay variety and interesting choices. Especially in combination with limited player prestige (eg Rommel difficulty) and the chassis based upgrade families unique to this Addon. Eg try to only have one "Panzer III J" unit. If you want another tank you could choose eg a "Panzer III H" (previous version) or a "StuG III B" (same chassis) or even a "Panzer IV F" (different chassis).

and

4. Activating the game option to "reform units" keeps unit losses expensive (in terms of lost experience), but not devastating (in terms of kills/heroes and prestige, which is important for FM, Rommel or combined difficulties).

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2025 10:49 pm**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 2:33 pm In your DLC (1944 East), the player cannot deploy all his units (we have 34 units where globally 24 are deployable) so that I cannot buy any unit of my choice, but this is not a problem since units in the roster have already experience.

I'm eager to discover your new add-on.

Ah, I see, the units that were formally designated as bonus SE are not even bonus units anymore, but regular units instead.
Thus starting the Grand Campaign at any point after GC 39 did not provide the player with any bonus units at all!
I adjusted the starting cores for all the Grand Campaign (Axis ones) to fix this. The starting cores also adhere now to the "rule of one", which makes them weaker but more varied. To somewhat compensate, there are now more bonus SE units to start out with (bonus SE limit for that GC chapter minus 1, so you can get one more random unit, except for GC 45 East). And some units in the later campaign starts have now more experience.

The Addon Advice message from the start of GC 39 is now also displayed when starting a later GC chapter, if no units are detected in the reserve (indicator of imported core).

Nearly all changes of this Addon update are based on player feedback.
Thank you for all those reports eskuche, thejf, goose_2 and RobertCL!

2025-05 Update "Locarnus Addon" Download: https://bit.ly/4jCKXsy

This is only an update to the Addon and requires the 2025 base version of the Locarnus Addon to be installed already on top of BE 2.4 and the bugfixed PzC patch 1.32 first. All previous updates to the 2025 base version are included in this one.

Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps, GC & original PzC campaign compatibility
- GC Non-imported starting core compositions for 40-45 adjusted
- GC Chapters 40-45 show Addon advice message if no reserve units imported
- GC Addon advice message adjusted, mainly regarding bonus SE units (library!)
- GC All normal bonus SE units now have the "Standard" or "Std" in their name
- GC Replaced Kharkov 43 "Rough Field" functionally mountain tiles with bocage

Unit Changes:
- Late Bf 110, Me410, Ju 88 fighter bomber and Do 335 nerfed air defense or ini
- Fw 190 lineup rebalanced again, usually more ini, less defense
- Fw 190 A & D several versions have a bit better ground attack stats
- Italian G.55 fighter has one more ini
- Recon and transport planes have unified desert non-desert air movement type
- Hs 126 and Fw 189 recon planes have recon move in AK and GC (in recon mode)
- 10.5 and 12.8cm Flak guns (no AT mode) rebalanced and available in AK and GC
- Wespe arty now has wide track movement type
- Long barrel Panzer IVs a bit cheaper, Jagdpanzer IV/70 slightly more expensive
- Panzer IV J available 10 days later, Panther G available a month later
- Jagdtiger full strength available a month earlier
- Tiger I big unit picture fixed, Char B arty conversion picture added (not great)
- Fw 190 G-8 corrected long unit name

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2025 11:33 pm**

Hello,

I removed 2025-04 update via GSME (since you mention that the last version includes all previous ones).
I installed 2025-05 update.

In "scenario" section Barbarossa alone (the easier + the normal version) and Italy are missing.
Instead I have many AK scenarios and three test unused scenari (aTest, aTest 02, aTest 03(broken).

Is there a way to get back Barbarossa and Italy ?

By the way, are the saved games given by Mc Guba in Battlefield Europe 1.4 (Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Moscow) playable with your mod without issue ?

Thx

Robert

Posted: **Sun May 04, 2025 12:09 am**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 11:33 pm Hello,

I removed 2025-04 update via GSME (since you mention that the last version includes all previous ones).
I installed 2025-05 update.

In "scenario" section Barbarossa alone (the easier + the normal version) and Italy are missing.
Instead I have many AK scenarios and three test unused scenari (aTest, aTest 02, aTest 03(broken).

Is there a way to get back Barbarossa and Italy ?

By the way, are the saved games given by Mc Guba in Battlefield Europe 1.4 (Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Moscow) playable with your mod without issue ?

Thx

Robert

Yep, you only need those 4 steps, 2025-05 replaces the previous 2025-04:
PzC 1.32 bugfixed version of that patch number
Battlefield Europe v2.4
Battlefield Europe v2.4 Locarnus 2025
Battlefield Europe v2.4 Locarnus 2025-05

That scenario list looks as it should.
For the Addon, only one version of the main Battlefield Europe scenario is supported (which was based on the realistic+ version from BE 2.3 when the Addon started). It is called "BE Battlefield Europe" in the scenario section, though I highly recommend starting that from the lower right picture of the campaign section instead. This technical campaign start has some game engine ramifications compared to the start from the scenario section, eg regarding experience difficulty settings. And there is also a very short eg 1 turn pre-scenario when doing so, allowing you to customize your 6 core units a bit.

With "Italy" do you mean what is now listed as "BE Mediterranean"?
The original PzC campaign scenarios are currently not listed, I would have to adjust their cores to the Addon as well before doing so.

Unfortunately none of the BE savegames are compatible with the Addon (or newer versions of BE itself for that matter). That is a game engine limitation, since most data is only loaded or updated at scenario start (eg the equipment file) and some only at campaign start (eg movement file).
So McGuba practically has to make new savegames for every BE version he releases, which is already a lot of work if done every 1-2 years, but impossible for the still roughly monthly Addon updates.

Posted: **Sun May 04, 2025 6:36 am**

Hi Locarnus,

Yep, you only need those 4 steps, 2025-05 replaces the previous 2025-04:
PzC 1.32 bugfixed version of that patch number
Battlefield Europe v2.4
Battlefield Europe v2.4 Locarnus 2025
Battlefield Europe v2.4 Locarnus 2025-05

OK, that's what I did.

For the Addon, only one version of the main Battlefield Europe scenario is supported (which was based on the realistic+ version from BE 2.3 when the Addon started). It is called "BE Battlefield Europe" in the scenario section, though I highly recommend starting that from the lower right picture of the campaign section instead

In this case I suggest you remove this option, you would only keep France, Poland, Norway and Mediterranean + all AK scenari. Then you are sure the player uses only the picture to play the standalone scenario.

With "Italy" do you mean what is now listed as "BE Mediterranean"?

My mistake.
When I installed the game putting 1.32 exe file at the end of the process, my game was different, Mediterranean did not exit and I had Italy (post-1943) instead. I also had Barbarossa only.
So no problem I have well Mediterranean and "absence" of Barbarossa is not a big deal (although I like to have it in Battlefield Europe 1.4).
So everything is fine. It is crazy to think that the game is so heavily modified if you change the exe file only at the end of the process...
I know you highlighted the right order here on the forum but if I were you, I would write it again in the small txt file to Battlefield Europe 2.4 Locarnus 2025 package.

Unfortunately none of the BE savegames are compatible with the Addon. McGuba practically has to make new savegames for every BE version he releases, which is already a lot of work if done every 1-2 years.

FYI, such saved games are loading without issue. But OK let's not use them since they are not compatible with your add-on. This also deserves to be mentionned in your txt file for Battlefield Europe 2.4 Locarnus 2025 package.

FYI I started the DLC 1939 to see your warning messages. OK they are instructive. Why not putting the same message at the opening of each DLC (East 1941, 1942, 1943, 1943, 1945) just in case a player does not start in 1939 ?

The original PzC campaign scenarios are currently not listed, I would have to adjust their cores to the Addon as well before doing so

I understand, there is something named "life" outside Panzer Corps

But it would be in the future a nice addition since not everyone is fan of big maps.
You could tell me DLC's are there but they are different (they dig in "details of WW2") than the original campaign (more "global view of WW2").

Then there is also Allied Corps with my utmost interest : a standalone scenario named "Operation unthinkable" with US and UK vs USSR. There are two mods in Panzer General Forever where the player is either Amercan or Soviet in 1945... There is also a dedicated campaign in, Panzer Corps.
Then imagine the big map in 1945 (in Battlefield Europe with your mod) where Soviets attack US, British and French troops, attempting "Red Lion" the assault of Great-Britain itself and the player has to prevent this (or playing on Soviet side)!
But I think your mod is firstly based on modification of Wehrmacht units. This being said you also changed Allied and Soviet units for sure.

In short, if you want to be complete you have work for your whole life

Anyway, thx!

Posted: **Sun May 04, 2025 2:05 pm**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 6:36 am
For the Addon, only one version of the main Battlefield Europe scenario is supported (which was based on the realistic+ version from BE 2.3 when the Addon started). It is called "BE Battlefield Europe" in the scenario section, though I highly recommend starting that from the lower right picture of the campaign section instead
In this case I suggest you remove this option, you would only keep France, Poland, Norway and Mediterranean + all AK scenari. Then you are sure the player uses only the picture to play the standalone scenario.

Unfortunately the hotseat option is only available from the scenario start.
Which is a great tool for getting a feel for the other side. Or simply forwarding the turns to read/find the messages and event descriptions again.

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 6:36 am
With "Italy" do you mean what is now listed as "BE Mediterranean"?
My mistake.
When I installed the game putting 1.32 exe file at the end of the process, my game was different, Mediterranean did not exit and I had Italy (post-1943) instead. I also had Barbarossa only.
So no problem I have well Mediterranean and "absence" of Barbarossa is not a big deal (although I like to have it in Battlefield Europe 1.4).
So everything is fine. It is crazy to think that the game is so heavily modified if you change the exe file only at the end of the process...
I know you highlighted the right order here on the forum but if I were you, I would write it again in the small txt file to Battlefield Europe 2.4 Locarnus 2025 package.

That is indeed very unexpected. I honestly do not even have an idea how that actually happens within the game engine.
I'll expand the txt file that is distributed with the mod, thank you for the feedback!

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 6:36 am
Unfortunately none of the BE savegames are compatible with the Addon. McGuba practically has to make new savegames for every BE version he releases, which is already a lot of work if done every 1-2 years.
FYI, such saved games are loading without issue. But OK let's not use them since they are not compatible with your add-on. This also deserves to be mentionned in your txt file for Battlefield Europe 2.4 Locarnus 2025 package.

FYI I started the DLC 1939 to see your warning messages. OK they are instructive. Why not putting the same message at the opening of each DLC (East 1941, 1942, 1943, 1943, 1945) just in case a player does not start in 1939 ?

Ah, yep, thats one of the problems with PanzerCorps modding, all the savegames are in the same folder and do not have a flag for PzC versions or mod use.
It loads the old savegame, but also with old equipment and efx? file data (which seems to be contained within each savegame?). Problems arise for example when the old equipment or efx? data references graphics that do not exist under that name now. Those graphics are loaded freshly at every game start. Then the savegame loading could look ok at first, but actually have units without graphics and so on.
I'll expand the txt like you suggested.

The main Addon Advice message should now pop up when starting a new GC game from a later chapter as well, added that in the 2025-05 update. As well as adjusting all the starting cores for GC 40-45.

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 6:36 am
The original PzC campaign scenarios are currently not listed, I would have to adjust their cores to the Addon as well before doing so
I understand, there is something named "life" outside Panzer Corps
But it would be in the future a nice addition since not everyone is fan of big maps.
You could tell me DLC's are there but they are different (they dig in "details of WW2") than the original campaign (more "global view of WW2").

Then there is also Allied Corps with my utmost interest : a standalone scenario named "Operation unthinkable" with US and UK vs USSR. There are two mods in Panzer General Forever where the player is either Amercan or Soviet in 1945... There is also a dedicated campaign in, Panzer Corps.
Then imagine the big map in 1945 (in Battlefield Europe with your mod) where Soviets attack US, British and French troops, attempting "Red Lion" the assault of Great-Britain itself and the player has to prevent this (or playing on Soviet side)!
But I think your mod is firstly based on modification of Wehrmacht units. This being said you also changed Allied and Soviet units for sure.

In short, if you want to be complete you have work for your whole life

Anyway, thx!

Step-by-step.

The Addon mod started out in mid 2021 just as a different flavor with some experimental changes to BE itself and its unit roster. I basically published my personally used modifications and experiments for BE. With a rapidly expanding unit roster with lots of graphics from guille1434 and rezaf (DCS) camo paints for years to come.
In early 2022 the first non-BE campaign compatibility project started, Afrika Korps. I even put in the effort to adjust and often rebalance the individual scenarios including tiles, scripts and deployed units (thats why those maps are available from the scenario screen). Lots of that rebalancing was based on detailed feedback by JanD, eskuche and the youtube playthrough by goose_2, in which my house "rule of one" was first used publically.
Late 2022 returned some focus on the BE scenario, with BE 2.4 having been released by McGuba and Duedman showing his BE + Addon playthrough on youtube.
In late 2023, the long Grand Campaign compatiblity project was started, based on feedback by RichardMartin (discontinued) and goose_2 (ongoing) youtube series.
Mid 2024 the original PzC campaign was technically made compatible.
Late 2024 once again returned some focus on BE, with Duedman and HerzogSieg showing their youtube matches of BE 2.4 (without Addon, but still lots of feedback that can be applied to the Addon as well).
Early 2025 seems to have a focus on player accessible information and polish, based on the feedback and core force reports by eskuche, thejf and RobertCL!

Two "compatibility projects" are still in an unsatisfactory or unknown/untested state at the moment, the Grand Campaign West chapters (unsatisfactory) and the Original Campaign (untested).

Posted: **Sun May 04, 2025 3:37 pm**

Hi Locarnus,

Thx for those detailed explanations.

I understand the "rule of one" but it does not prevent AI to use hordes of T34 against the player in Eastern Front 1944 DLC (I am in Narva). To be fair, AI should also use the same rule...(I guess/hope Soviet equipment file follows the same logic as German one).

Feedback about DLC. Due to my original mistake, I reached Narva (and I managed to contain the Soviet hordes) but I had to uninstall your mod and to reinstall it (this time with 1.32 applied right from the start). This means that all saved games were instantly useless.
So I used CTRL SHIFT C Endscen 0 to come back at light speed to Narva.
But when you move this way without playing, your units do not have the experience you get when playing.
I lost the scenario and the campaign very fast also.
So it is always better to install a mod properly right from the start and to effectively play the scenari. The "fast track" idea is not a good one --> I shall restart the campaign completely (other option is to cheat with experience and strengh, but this is something I avoid to do).

If I have time during my holidays in mid-June I could test the standard campaign with your mod (but with my rule of 90.000 credits, I only use elite reinforcements).

Problems with big maps is the nr of units to move, the time needed for just one turn (a no-go for a casul player) and the PC power itself.
On an Nvidia 1060 GTX, big maps are playable in 2560*1440 but not anymore in 5120*1440).
This being said using your Mod or Mc Guba one for just France or Poland is extremely fun since nr of units is limited.
With 1.32 exe file on your mod (same for PaK mod and Modern Corps mod), the whole computer screen is used.

Posted: **Sun May 04, 2025 5:10 pm**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 3:37 pm Hi Locarnus,

Thx for those detailed explanations.

I understand the "rule of one" but it does not prevent AI to use hordes of T34 against the player in Eastern Front 1944 DLC (I am in Narva). To be fair, AI should also use the same rule...(I guess/hope Soviet equipment file follows the same logic as German one).

Fewer historical unit variants for Soviets (better for winning the war, not so interesting for gameplay variety). And the PzC singleplayer scenarios and AI behaviour are drastically balanced for elite player force vs AI hordes. Since AI is not moddable in PzC, the AI using hordes is an unfortunate necessity.

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 3:37 pm Feedback about DLC. Due to my original mistake, I reached Narva (and I managed to contain the Soviet hordes) but I had to uninstall your mod and to reinstall it (this time with 1.32 applied right from the start). This means that all saved games were instantly useless.
So I used CTRL SHIFT C Endscen 0 to come back at light speed to Narva.
But when you move this way without playing, your units do not have the experience you get when playing.
I lost the scenario and the campaign very fast also.
So it is always better to install a mod properly right from the start and to effectively play the scenari. The "fast track" idea is not a good one --> I shall restart the campaign completely (other option is to cheat with experience and strengh, but this is something I avoid to do).

Experience and kills are really different when starting the GC not from 39. Kills especially can not be set by the scenario editor. So for a later start it becomes impossible to gain the kills for 3rd heroes and so on, since the thresholds for heroes can not be adjusted either.
I also was surprised about the experience levels on the starting core units for 44 and 45. They seemed very low compared to what you would have with an imported core. Same for prestige and so on. Makes it imho much more interesting to start in 44.
Speaking of the GC 44 starting core, I would love to hear your feedback on my changes.
It is considerably lighter now, with 2 Panthers instead of 4?, 1 Tiger I instead of 2 and so on. Your GC 44 starting force is worth about 90% of the prestige compared to the previous one.
On the plus side, many of your units have more experience, are more varied and use the up to date versions, which is particularly helpful for the airforce. The units are also slightly differently deployed, allowing two of your best fighters to get some great hits on the attackers in their first turn. Hope the airforce can compensate the lighter ground unit core to some extent.
And you start with more bonus units, which should allow you to deploy more units for the next scenarios (Korsun Breakout, Narva).

Good luck against the hordes and really interested in feedback on that different starting core!

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 3:37 pm If I have time during my holidays in mid-June I could test the standard campaign with your mod (but with my rule of 90.000 credits, I only use elite reinforcements).

Looking forward to it.
Also note that with Addon the regular replacements cost some prestige (even in deployment phase), while retaining more unit experience. Elite replacements during a scenario are cheaper. So regular and elite replacements are closer together. Making each of them more viable when not playing on Field Marshal.

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 3:37 pm Problems with big maps is the nr of units to move, the time needed for just one turn (a no-go for a casul player) and the PC power itself.
On an Nvidia 1060 GTX, big maps are playable in 2560*1440 but not anymore in 5120*1440).
This being said using your Mod or Mc Guba one for just France or Poland is extremely fun since nr of units is limited.
With 1.32 exe file on your mod (same for PaK mod and Modern Corps mod), the whole computer screen is used.

Oh yeah, turn times for BE are quite different.
The PC is helped by using the "/nocache" argument when starting the PanzerCorps.exe.
See the BE 2.4 first post, or step 6. in this guide: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewto ... 7&t=106604

Though most people probably only use either 1280x720 or 1920x1080 (or similar like 1280x800, 1920x1200), because the user interface and especially the text is so small on higher settings anyway.
No idea about ultra widescreen options for those older games.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2025 6:52 pm**

Hi Locarnus,

DLC East 1944 restarted.
1st scenario
Victory without need of extra prestige
Leutnant level
I cannot purchase any new core unit when I lose one, is it intended ?

It was fun, it seems you reworked this scenario, no Stuka anymore but HS 129-B2 instead.

Posted: **Sat May 10, 2025 9:22 pm**

RobertCL wrote: ↑Sat May 10, 2025 6:52 pm Hi Locarnus,

DLC East 1944 restarted.
1st scenario
Victory without need of extra prestige
Leutnant level
I cannot purchase any new core unit when I lose one, is it intended ?

It was fun, it seems you reworked this scenario, no Stuka anymore but HS 129-B2 instead.

Great!
Not being able to purchase units is working as originally designed.
Even without my Addon adjustments the player has several more core units than slots, if no core force was imported from 1943.

I mainly changed the core composition, so that you have more bonus SE units.
Which hopefully helps a bit for the next two scenarios, by allowing you to deploy more units in total (compensating that the bonus SE units are weaker now).

How was the war in the air compared to before?
I was a bit hesitant to fully remove the Ju 87, since those were still around in 1944.
But opted to be cautious and go with fewer vulnerable aircraft (more fighters, fighter bomber and strat bomber).

Though I do really like the Hs 129 a lot.

Especially for that monster gun upgrade option in mid 1944 (which unfortunately is near the end of the 1944 campaign, but crucial for the final Budapest 1944).

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 2:30 am**

Locarnus wrote: ↑Sat May 10, 2025 9:22 pm broadcast 1 hour early
Hope you are able to get lay out done before then

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 1:20 pm**

goose_2 wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 2:30 am broadcast 1 hour early
Hope you are able to get lay out done before then

You brought many units over the 300 experience threshold and many more are now very close to it.
That should make a significant difference, especially in terms of initiative advantage.

43e5 probably has enough targets for NightPhoenix with Flammpanzer III, but not so sure about 43e6 Kursk Armory. Might then be time to convert him into the StuH 42+?

ForestLaw to Nashorn, so that Soren can get the Hummel for training. Not sure if Nashorn is necessary for 43e5, perhaps wait for its deployment until 43e6 with those tank hordes?

While Locarnus is probably very effective as a Brummbär in arty mode, the +4 attack limits the experience gain with such high base attack values. Not sure what to do. In the meantime the Brummbär might be very powerful in the direct fire role. The +4 attack would help the alread high attack values (pushing soft attack to 13!) and it already has good defense and even ini values, only the rof is lacking. Fortkiller trait as well, against bunkers.

Panzerwerfer I can recommend using only against soft targets, but for max experience gain not against conscripts.
Towed arty, AT and AA are perfect for that, as well as non-conscript inf.

See you at the earlier youtube stream.

GC 1943e5 start upgrade recommendations
5175 prestige, after elite replacements to full strength for all understrength units and selling excess captured units.

red marker for a) no heroes, b) <500 kills, c) <300 experience
blue marker for a) r1 or 2nd heroes, b) >=1000 kills, c) >= 400 experience

UnitType ....... transport ... Hero ... SubscriberName ... KillCounter ... Experience with elite replacements

45 Ground units

8 non-hero bonus SE units
42M Toldi IIa .................... a3s1 ... Brodrick ............ 1157 ... 322
Standard Inf 42 ................... d1 ... PatrickLee ........... 777 ... 319
Marder III H ........................ i1 ... Dimitri ................ 640 ... 329
7.5 Pak 40 /RSO ................. m1 ... PaulWilde ............ 474 ... 289
Flakpanzer I r12 .............. m1a3 ... Makorin ............... 943 ... 377
7.5 FK 16 nA r11 ... Horse ....... ?? ... Eskuche ............... 66 .... 150
plus 2 non-hero bonus SE units for the current 43 and the later 44 &45 grand campaign years

6 Infantry
Pioniere 42 .......... L3000 ..... m1 ... Soljaism .............. 719 ... 292
Grenadiere 42 ...... Sd250/1 ... d2 ... RichardMartin ....... 685 ... 303
Jäger 42 ............................ d2 ... Artemis ............... 570 ... 296
Fallschirmjäger 42 .............. i1a2 ... Pullig ................. 815 ... 304
Kradschützen 42 ................... a1 ... PeteMitchell ......... 637 ... 311
Bersaglieri 42 ...................... a2 ... Kostia ................. 568 ... 279 ... ==> Sahariana ?

0 Towed AT

2 Recon
Panzer II L 5cm r9 ............. m1d2 ... Goose .................. 790 ... 335
SdKfz 233+ r9 .................... s1s1 ... DanielS ................ 651 ... 340

10 Tanks
Panther D ........................... d1 ... Festival ............... 691 ... 387
Tiger I E ............................. d2 ... Temis .................. 628 ... 414
Tiger P+ s8 ......................... m1 ... ElBaron ................ 562 ... 391
Ferdinand s8 ....................... m1 ... Gooseboy ............. 728 ... 337
Flammpz III 43 r12 ................ a2 ... NightPhoenix .......... 811 ... 346 ... ==> StuH 42+ in 43e6 ?
StuG III G+ ......................... m1 ... DoktorG ................ 891 ... 353
Panzer IV H ...................... s1a2 ... Rimski .................. 859 ... 290
Panzer IV G ......................... s1 ... Soren ................... 587 ... 235 ... ==> Hummel r8 ?
T-34/43(r) r9 ....................... a3 ... 7Bowls ................. 747 ... 274
KV-1C(r) ............................. d2 ... Paramecium .......... 738 ... 285

11 Mobile Arty
Hummel r8 ......................... a1 ... ForestLaw ............. 674 ... 415 ... ==> Nashorn ?
Grille r8 ........................... m1 ... PanzerVorwärts ....... 671 ... 322
Wespe ............................... i1 ... Blast .................... 656 ... 341
Lorraine GW r8 ................... m1 ... Reoguru ................ 457 ... 321
Brummbär r8 .................... a2a2 ... Locarnus .............. 579 ... 347
StuIG 33B r8 ........................ r1 ... RayCaster ............. 556 ... 432
10.5 leFH auf B2(f) ............ m1a2 ... Pierre .................. 663 ... 404
Semovente 75/34 .................. d2 ... RightSide ............. 518 ... 371
Panzerwerfer r12 .................. a3 ... Singer .................. 540 ... 309
Wurfrahmen 43 r8 .................. r1 ... Dneos ................. 776 ... 436
SU-122(r) r8 .......................... ?? ... Kapl ................... 159 ... 260

5 Towed Arty
7.62 FK 288(r) r11 . Sd251/1 . m1a2 ... Gigiduru ............... 627 ... 328
10.5cm Polish arty . Blitz ......... a3 ... MichalGolaszewski ... 816 ... 444
10.5cm leFH 18M .. Horse ........ m1 ... Raunosavolainen ..... 671 ... 443
15 sFH range3 r8 ... Sd7 ........... r1 ... Raduku ................ 431 ... 407
17cm K 18 r6 ........ Sd8 .......... m1 ... Kei ..................... 688 ... 376

3 Anti-Air
8.8cm Flak 41 ........ Sd7 ....... m1 ... Jemhadar .............. 753 ... 319
Cannone 90/53 r8 ... TP40 ....... a2 ... Zyavoo ................. 522 ... 291
SdKfz 7/1+ r13................... a3a1 ... MalcolmRichardson ... 636 ... 334

15 Airforce

8 Single engine Fighters & Fighter Bomber
Bf 109 G-6 .......................... d3 ... vonThüringen ........ 478 ... 330
Bf 109 F-4+ ......................... d3 ... CouchOffiziell ....... 478 ... 325
Fw 190 A-5 ......................... a2 ... MafujKhan ............ 445 ... 315
Fw 190 F-3 ......................... d2 ... Alvarez ................ 321 ... 299
Re.2005 ............................. a3 ... Noxush ................ 530 ... 366
MC.205+ ............................. a2 ... BlackVulture ......... 391 ... 336
+ 2x bonus SE hero fighters in 1945

2 Multi engine Fighter Bomber
Bf 110 G-2 .......................... d1 ... FighterAce ............ 632 ... 317
Ju 88 A-4 ............................ i1 ... Slender1870 ........... 600 ... 363

2 Dedicated Tac Bomber
Hs 129 B-2 BK ...................... a3 ... AratoBela .............. 771 ... 352
Ju 87 D-5 ............................ a1 ... cmbbfan ............... 717 ... 336

1 Tac/Strat Bomber
Ju 188 E-1 .......................... a1 ... AI181 ................... 485 ... 456

2 Dedicated Strat Bomber
Do 217 K ............................ d1 ... Richard ................. 330 ... 441
He 111 H-16 ........................ a1 ... RMA901 ................. 409 ... 440

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 10:11 pm**

Locarnus wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 1:20 pm

GC 1943e5 start upgrade recommendations
5175 prestige, after elite replacements to full strength for all understrength units and selling excess captured units.

red marker for a) no heroes, b) <500 kills, c) <300 experience
blue marker for a) r1 or 2nd heroes, b) >=1000 kills, c) >= 400 experience

UnitType ....... transport ... Hero ... SubscriberName ... KillCounter ... Experience with elite replacements

45 Ground units

8 non-hero bonus SE units
42M Toldi IIa .................... a3s1 ... Brodrick ............ 1157 ... 322
Standard Inf 42 ................... d1 ... PatrickLee ........... 777 ... 319
Marder III H ........................ i1 ... Dimitri ................ 640 ... 329
7.5 Pak 40 /RSO ................. m1 ... PaulWilde ............ 474 ... 289
Flakpanzer I r12 .............. m1a3 ... Makorin ............... 943 ... 377
7.5 FK 16 nA r11 ... Horse ....... ?? ... Eskuche ............... 66 .... 150
plus 2 non-hero bonus SE units for the current 43 and the later 44 &45 grand campaign years

Ok I am ging to take this piece by piece.

I am extremely pleased with the progress of my SE units.

I think I can finish 43 with all units with 3 stars, even Eskuche, I hope to have Makorin with 4 stars and over 1000 kills.

Brodrick may actually get a 3rd Hero with the way I am sweeping him across the map to hit super vulnerable units. I was afraid of overusing my SE units and them out pacing the rest of my army as this usually happens in my playthroughs, but because they are such weak units and I purposefully try and use the se units last I feel their progress is absolutely perfect not over using but not the tag alongs they could have been with their weaker unit base. The SE Unit composition has turned into a source of true joy. Thanks for changing the game for SE Unit composition.

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 10:21 pm**

Locarnus wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 1:20 pm
15 Airforce

8 Single engine Fighters & Fighter Bomber
Bf 109 G-6 .......................... d3 ... vonThüringen ........ 478 ... 330
Bf 109 F-4+ ......................... d3 ... CouchOffiziell ....... 478 ... 325
Fw 190 A-5 ......................... a2 ... MafujKhan ............ 445 ... 315
Fw 190 F-3 ......................... d2 ... Alvarez ................ 321 ... 299
Re.2005 ............................. a3 ... Noxush ................ 530 ... 366
MC.205+ ............................. a2 ... BlackVulture ......... 391 ... 336
+ 2x bonus SE hero fighters in 1945

2 Multi engine Fighter Bomber
Bf 110 G-2 .......................... d1 ... FighterAce ............ 632 ... 317
Ju 88 A-4 ............................ i1 ... Slender1870 ........... 600 ... 363

2 Dedicated Tac Bomber
Hs 129 B-2 BK ...................... a3 ... AratoBela .............. 771 ... 352
Ju 87 D-5 ............................ a1 ... cmbbfan ............... 717 ... 336

1 Tac/Strat Bomber
Ju 188 E-1 .......................... a1 ... AI181 ................... 485 ... 456

2 Dedicated Strat Bomber
Do 217 K ............................ d1 ... Richard ................. 330 ... 441
He 111 H-16 ........................ a1 ... RMA901 ................. 409 ... 440

Next will be the air force.

I want to use my Bf's in the next scenarios before the next update since I have been informed there will be a nerf coming.

Hopefully I can get 2nd heroes to mitigate the nerf on their performance. All y Fighters need exercise, but I do not want to overload their deployment, so I am not sure how the final air army I will take in the next 3 scenarios.

Other than the Fighter number of kills I feel the overall development of the air is pretty good. I am surprised by the lack of 2nd heroes, but they will pop before the end of 43, I am predicting 5 air units with 2nd heroes by the time the 43 Campaign is done.

The development of Slender I find absolutely intriguing as he has an exciting number of kills, quickly approaching the 4th star, maybe in 2 more scenarios. Perfect timing for Slender to do some amazing stuff in Prok. The fact that a unit I never expected to see as a Fighter become my strongest most effective fighter is quite exciting.

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 10:29 pm**

Locarnus wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 1:20 pm
10 Tanks
Panther D ........................... d1 ... Festival ............... 691 ... 387
Tiger I E ............................. d2 ... Temis .................. 628 ... 414
Tiger P+ s8 ......................... m1 ... ElBaron ................ 562 ... 391
Ferdinand s8 ....................... m1 ... Gooseboy ............. 728 ... 337
Flammpz III 43 r12 ................ a2 ... NightPhoenix .......... 811 ... 346 ... ==> StuH 42+ in 43e6 ?
StuG III G+ ......................... m1 ... DoktorG ................ 891 ... 353
Panzer IV H ...................... s1a2 ... Rimski .................. 859 ... 290
Panzer IV G ......................... s1 ... Soren ................... 587 ... 235 ... ==> Hummel r8 ?
T-34/43(r) r9 ....................... a3 ... 7Bowls ................. 747 ... 274
KV-1C(r) ............................. d2 ... Paramecium .......... 738 ... 285

Tanks have been my biggest surprise. They have struggled in keeping up with the Soviets. Their number of kills and overall growth has been absolutely anemic, but watching them come into their own the past 2 scenariso gets me extremely excited to see them all reach their 2nd hero status, All at least 3 star status, while a few reach that elusive 4 star status. I may even see some get to 1000 kills by the end of 43, I do not want to over use them but maybe it is time for them to shine. Some of them seem like I cannot do my effective play without.

Especially the Big Dogs and surprisingly Doctor G. Doctor G is a lynch pin unit with his ambush capability and astonishing ability to hold a corner. He is a BA I am super pleased with.

The Soviet tanks have been extremely difficult to get to 3 stars, but hopefully once they are their can become better than they are currently.

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 10:36 pm**

Locarnus wrote: ↑Fri May 16, 2025 1:20 pm

11 Mobile Arty
Hummel r8 ......................... a1 ... ForestLaw ............. 674 ... 415 ... ==> Nashorn ?
Grille r8 ........................... m1 ... PanzerVorwärts ....... 671 ... 322
Wespe ............................... i1 ... Blast .................... 656 ... 341
Lorraine GW r8 ................... m1 ... Reoguru ................ 457 ... 321
Brummbär r8 .................... a2a2 ... Locarnus .............. 579 ... 347
StuIG 33B r8 ........................ r1 ... RayCaster ............. 556 ... 432
10.5 leFH auf B2(f) ............ m1a2 ... Pierre .................. 663 ... 404
Semovente 75/34 .................. d2 ... RightSide ............. 518 ... 371
Panzerwerfer r12 .................. a3 ... Singer .................. 540 ... 309
Wurfrahmen 43 r8 .................. r1 ... Dneos ................. 776 ... 436
SU-122(r) r8 .......................... ?? ... Kapl ................... 159 ... 260

5 Towed Arty
7.62 FK 288(r) r11 . Sd251/1 . m1a2 ... Gigiduru ............... 627 ... 328
10.5cm Polish arty . Blitz ......... a3 ... MichalGolaszewski ... 816 ... 444
10.5cm leFH 18M .. Horse ........ m1 ... Raunosavolainen ..... 671 ... 443
15 sFH range3 r8 ... Sd7 ........... r1 ... Raduku ................ 431 ... 407
17cm K 18 r6 ........ Sd8 .......... m1 ... Kei ..................... 688 ... 376

Last thing to comment on is the arty.

I am struggling as so many of my arty are so so good, but there are so few with 2nd heroes. I need to hold back my stand by's and give other units a chance to shine.

I am thinking leaving behind Dneos, Michal, and Pierre which hurts my soul, but I think I need to utilize other units to get more up to 4 stars and possible 2nd heroes.

That is all my thoughts that I have time for now.
Thanks for the discussion on Friday, I will see you on Sunday and hopefully by that point I have some ideas on how Olkhovatka is looking.

2 stars exp may be quite different from Ponyri.

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 9:20 am**

Some quick comments regarding your thoughts, alhough my situation is a bit different because I have more XP:

- I found SE AT units very useful in '43 for providing flank cover and guarding bridge crossings with ambushes
- Your bombers might get some second hero's in '43, but your fighters would need to be very lucky. Most of them will have to wait for '44. But by then the lack of XP will start hurting them, I'm facing mostly 3 star Soviet fighters at this point
- I found mid '43 to be the toughest point for tanks and AT's. From that point forward the Soviets only get a few new units (IS-2, T34/85 and the ISU's), of which only the T34/85 is encountered in significant quantities. Meanwhile you'll get more Panthers, good TD's and good all round upgrades to the rest. The StugG is indeed awesome and will remain so until you'll start encountering a lot of T34/85, at which point the Hetzer and Jagdpanzer IV can take over (Hetzer has 19 GD!).

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 9:37 am**

I'm about to start Budapest so expect to be able to complete '44 in the next few days. Will post my core then, for now some observations of '44:

- XP is hovering around 55k, so very comfortable still
- Got MV's in Minsk and Return to Kishinev, in both cases I was 1-2 turns away from a DV. DV is definitely possible if not playing blind. DV'd everything else quite comfortably.
- My ground force is able to stand its ground against the Soviet hordes quite comfortably. I have everything at max OS except recons, tanks and AT's, who tends to take some damage due to air attacks. My Cats never get attacked at base strenght except by the odd IS-2, the Soviets tanks and weaker AT's take hits occasionally but are never in danger of getting killed. Even the T34/85's of the Soviet are usually just sitting around doing nothing. I feel that some of the TD's need to have their GD reduced, especially the Hetzer.
- Because my ground force is so comfortable I've been able to focus my air game on getting air superiority. Usual deployment has been 4-5 fighters, 2-3 fighter-bombers and 1-2 tac/strat bombers. This has been sufficient to wipe the VVS from the skies with moderate losses every time. But full OS is absolutely necessary for my fighters for this.

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 9:58 am**

thejf wrote: ↑Sat May 17, 2025 9:37 am I'm about to start Budapest so expect to be able to complete '44 in the next few days. Will post my core then, for now some observations of '44:

- XP is hovering around 55k, so very comfortable still
- Got MV's in Minsk and Return to Kishinev, in both cases I was 1-2 turns away from a DV. DV is definitely possible if not playing blind. DV'd everything else quite comfortably.
- My ground force is able to stand its ground against the Soviet hordes quite comfortably. I have everything at max OS except recons, tanks and AT's, who tends to take some damage due to air attacks. My Cats never get attacked at base strenght except by the odd IS-2, the Soviets tanks and weaker AT's take hits occasionally but are never in danger of getting killed. Even the T34/85's of the Soviet are usually just sitting around doing nothing. I feel that some of the TD's need to have their GD reduced, especially the Hetzer.
- Because my ground force is so comfortable I've been able to focus my air game on getting air superiority. Usual deployment has been 4-5 fighters, 2-3 fighter-bombers and 1-2 tac/strat bombers. This has been sufficient to wipe the VVS from the skies with moderate losses every time. But full OS is absolutely necessary for my fighters for this.

Thanks for the heads up and warning. I will definitely do a deep dive on Minsk an Kishinev before I get there so I can try and pull off the DV.

I am curious if Prokhorovka proved difficult for you? When I look at that map it intimidates me seeing all of those tanks and trying to wrap my mind around deployment. With the rule of one did you find it difficult pushing everywhere like you need to do or did you focus on pushing up the center solely? I usually push the 2 corners while simultaneously pushing up the center but nt sure how I can do that on the Rule of one difficulty.

Slitherine

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