Erik's Multiplayer scenarios

[Erik2]

1v1 Coral Sea 1942 v7.3
Link updated in first post

Added more commanders to both sides.
Pruned specialisations.
Changed US oilers sec obj.
One single Allied faction.

Found no issues with Port Moresby airfields.

[KarisFraMauro]

I just noticed Chema set up a game for version 7.3, time to download. Played a couple turns of 7.2 and yeah whatever was causing the airfield issue appears to have resolved itself at some point between now and version 6.2. Doubt I'll be able to join any games because of that lame glitch (I wonder... It couldn't be related to my not having bought the soviet dlc?) but I'll probably set up one, thanks again for all the hard work.

[Chema_cagi]

1v1 Coral Sea 1942 v7.3
Link updated in first post

Added more commanders to both sides.
Pruned specialisations.
Changed US oilers sec obj.
One single Allied faction.

Found no issues with Port Moresby airfields.

Thank you for all your work, Erik.

In the Market Garden 2vAI latest version I've seen you changed the flag of british planes from the airborne 'faction' to the main force faction, that's great, thank you.

Unfortunately, the AP gun of the Lowland Airborne keeps falling to the ground (=enters on foot), making it difficult to that battery to be decisive in the outcome of the battle

[Erik2]

The problem with some low-calibre artillery types is that they have really low movement rates.
Two prime Market Garden examples are the US 75mm and the UK 3.7 (?) mountain guns. Both should have movement similar to lighter AA.
Adding trucks (or horses ) to glider-carried art doesn't look too well.
One solution would add transport capabilities to the Willy Jeep. It was used as (airborne) art/AA/AT transport

[Chema_cagi]

The problem with some low-calibre artillery types is that they have really low movement rates.
Two prime Market Garden examples are the US 75mm and the UK 3.7 (?) mountain guns. Both should have movement similar to lighter AA.
Adding trucks (or horses ) to glider-carried art doesn't look too well.
One solution would add transport capabilities to the Willy Jeep. It was used as (airborne) art/AA/AT transport

I though the AP gun should have come airborne as do the rest of the division. Didn't know it was intended to enter the map grounded, sorry

[Dwightd]

Erik, My comments from our Eindhoven rounds

Though I always felt like the US troopers have the advantage, the end results surprised me that it was so close.

As the US troopers (Minor victory) I did not really feel threatened that the Germans were going to take two victory locations. Since we both exited the Brits as the US, that objective was probably a bit too easy. The arty that dropped in was a welcome surprise. My capture and hold the left anchor objective was not checked as completed, even though I had possession at the end. I did not have a garrison there though. I had a ton of RP left at the end.

As the German (Draw) I felt like I was always scrambling to achieve anything. One thing was that I did not know what to expect in regard to reinforcement type, location, and appearance turn. The unsupported arty in the top left of the map was nothing more than a moving target for the US troopers. The one just below that one was helpful but became overrun quickly. This one I was out of RP about 3 turns away from the end.

It would be nice to know something about the reinforcements that will arrive, if nothing more than what turn they arrive. I think the balance could be moved in favor of the Germans just a touch.

As usual, it is up to you to make the hard choices on what to modify.

I enjoyed the scenario and had fun playing it. Well done!

[KarisFraMauro]

I think that pesky "map not found" glitch has gone away Anyway one thing I'll single out as really liking in the coral sea map is how important subs are. Ever since discovering Silent Service on the PC I've been fond of them, but they're so slow and do so little damage it's extremely rare for them to play a noteworthy role. However whichever side you play here (especially Japan but not exclusively) they have the potential to be pivotal. Soooo satisfying to have four or five laying in ambush and then ruin the day for some cruiser, heh.

[Erik2]

DwightD

Thanks for the feedback. I've PM'd you a link to the next para scenario, Nijmegen.

[Dwightd]

I forgot one little tidbit also All of my German commanders were on the sideline wounded by the end.

[Chema_cagi]

I just noticed Chema set up a game for version 7.3

In fact this game was created for rth (that's the player's name), since we were deploying in the 6.2 version when 7.3 was uploaded, but Karis is fast as lightning . It has been a great occasion to get kicked again by him, what is always a welcome situation .


@Rth doesn't seem to reply to my PMs, so I post this in the hope he sees it: I set another game to play with you, rth!

PS: can playernames be tagged in messages, i.e. @name or #name ??

[KarisFraMauro]

When I play as the allies in coral sea 7.3 I place the best fleet I can south of the port and have them deal with both land and see foes from beyond the range of retaliation. The down side is I'm vulnerable to a late-game full scale naval assault as Japan makes its way around the island, to say nothing of the threat posed by subs Japan is well-suited to a long term strategy in this map I think, provided there aren't any obvious vulnerabilities to exploid manifesting themselves.

I have less cause to boast in the new Stalingrad scenario by Parreigo. Playing as Germany and getting completely annihilated, sigh... May have to surrender soon. As near as I can tell Russia has a massive advantage in firepower from the start, but even going to total defensive mode wouldn't really help since in certain areas German forces are hopelessly thin and the Russian air superiority is overwhelming.

[Chema_cagi]

Regarding Coral Sea 7.3:

KarisFraMauro effectively kicked my american ass thoroughly, as usual
I did a more or less "historical" deployment from what I remembered of the old SSI's Carrier Force and aussie SSG Carrier Battles, and Port Moresby fell long before I was even near...

I would make some suggestions to the scenario setup:

1. Dunno if it is possible to set some core units to deploy in fixed positions. In that case, I would suggest to place both american carriers near his historical position, south of the Solomon Islands. And perhaps fixing the 2 big japanese CV south of Truk, giving freedom to the light Shoho ( or was it Ryujo?)

2. The Tulagi secondary objective (destroy the engineer unit) can be negated by embarking the unit and leaving the island. Being a strategic objective (to delay the airstrip construction), I think it should be either fixed in the island (by elimination of the dock), or setting the objective to destroy supply points of the island (increasing them in that case to 10, for example).
About the Tulagit engineers, if the dock is eliminated, the japanese player could still spend a support ship just to embark them...but that's a decision

3. With the 30 turns duration, the japanese invasion has plenty of time to walk past the mountains and jungle of New Guinea. IIRC, I think some or many of those hexes are set as impassable terrain in some operational and strategic wargames on this subject (even in Europa Universalis ). I would suggest to add some (or many) of those annoying impassable hexsides and/or fully impassable terrain hexes, to make it a little difficult to the japanese player to overrun the small and weak Port Moresby defenses. Some impassable coast could be reasonable too


If not, the only american setup possible is a somewhat ahistorical massing of forces (air and naval) near the Australia coast and around Port Moresby

These are my two cents

[KarisFraMauro]

Hmm. When I would play as the allies in the 6.2 version I'd definitely rely heavily on airpower to starve invading Japanese forces. I still think that's possible in this scenario. Say the changes you suggest get implemented. Nerfing Japan, but retaining the possibility of a strong allied navy adjacent to the port would make things unbalanced. It's best to play games as both sides before drawing conclusions I think, I'm playing as the allies in my other games and winning there as well so seems pretty fair as it is

Although as I said earlier I dread the upcoming turn for Stalingrad. Parreigo said he was busy with work except weekends so maybe I'll have time to try and devise a counter strategy. Unlikely as that may be.

Back to Erik scenarios, I like the updated invasion of Italy game. I was afraid weakening Germany would present problems for me but after suffering minor aerial miscalculations (I was wrecked!) I've come back. While Germany doesn't exactly have anti-aircraft guns in the forces for deployment there's nothing stopping me from buying some. Setting up a couple cheapo turrets can make life surprisingly difficult for the allies with proper placement, well worth the investment.

[Chema_cagi]

Hmm. When I would play as the allies in the 6.2 version I'd definitely rely heavily on airpower to starve invading Japanese forces. I still think that's possible in this scenario. Say the changes you suggest get implemented. Nerfing Japan, but retaining the possibility of a strong allied navy adjacent to the port would make things unbalanced. It's best to play games as both sides before drawing conclusions I think, I'm playing as the allies in my other games and winning there as well so seems pretty fair as it is

Hmm I have not said anything about nerfing Japan or empowering the USN, just a few suggestions to make the scenario setup a little more historical even with the mostly free setup

[Erik2]

Coral Sea

"3. With the 30 turns duration, the japanese invasion has plenty of time to walk past the mountains and jungle of New Guinea. IIRC, I think some or many of those hexes are set as impassable terrain in some operational and strategic wargames on this subject (even in Europa Universalis ). I would suggest to add some (or many) of those annoying impassable hexsides and/or fully impassable terrain hexes, to make it a little difficult to the japanese player to overrun the small and weak Port Moresby defenses. Some impassable coast could be reasonable too"

There are already impassable hexes between Japanese Lae and Port Moresby.

I've added your other comments to my list.

Carrier scenarios often swing either way depending on both players' strategies. Much more so than land battles.
So I try to implement changes baby-step like.

Borkospas and I both got a failed 'sink carrier' sec obj from start. Did you guys also see that (v5.3)?

[Erik2]

Both Avalanche (Salerno) and Shingle (Anzio) are battles where the Germans definately should use spare resources and CPs to buy the cheapest flak units. Then deploy them for max protection. IAlthough it is tempting to play an aggressive German I think it is better to hold back and preserve the forces for the end-play.

[Chema_cagi]

Coral Sea



Borkospas and I both got a failed 'sink carrier' sec obj from start. Did you guys also see that (v5.3)?

Yep, I got it playing the USN. I though Karis had not deployed the IJN carriers

[Chema_cagi]

Both Avalanche (Salerno) and Shingle (Anzio) are battles where the Germans definately should use spare resources and CPs to buy the cheapest flak units. Then deploy them for max protection. IAlthough it is tempting to play an aggressive German I think it is better to hold back and preserve the forces for the end-play.

Talking of Avalanche: What is the meaning of all the villages being set as neutral? After the italian surrender, did the allies get intelligence reports from italian civils?. If that was the intended effect, it's well implemented: the allied player can see whenever any german unit passes through a village


PS: And you can see Erik why I have said in some occasions that I owe you half my leisure time

[Erik2]

Both Avalanche (Salerno) and Shingle (Anzio) are battles where the Germans definately should use spare resources and CPs to buy the cheapest flak units. Then deploy them for max protection. IAlthough it is tempting to play an aggressive German I think it is better to hold back and preserve the forces for the end-play.

Talking of Avalanche: What is the meaning of all the villages being set as neutral? After the italian surrender, did the allies get intelligence reports from italian civils?. If that was the intended effect, it's well implemented: the allied player can see whenever any german unit passes through a village

All the nuetral villages is simply to prevent the Germans from deploying their core units close to the invasion beaches.
The Germans have some deployment hexes along map edges and they need to 'capture' neutral villages to allow later deployments closer to the frontline. Works quite well I think. I've used this technique in a few other scenarios as well.

[stan23]

Hi Erik
Have you ever considered a "Operation Pedastal" scenario, either 1v1 or againt AI?