Slitherine

If you don't know, what is Battlefield Europe, please click here viewtopic.php?f=147&t=47985 first! In short: it's about a whole new game! Probably the game, which has the most type of WW2 unit types (and all have their purposes and disctinctive differences).

I spent about 500-1000 hours of gameplay with the mod, mostly as single player, but also much as multiplayer. So, probably, I collected some experiences. On the other hand, with the continous development of the mod, many were outdated, so, not every tipps in the old topic viewtopic.php?f=121&t=55486 are valid. Therefore I started a new one. There are plans, also from other veterans to make videos too, so stay tuned!

First of all, here is a list of units and events availability updated on v2.2.
(+ tp) - means tropical version is available too
(l) - means late war version of the given unit type
+ - means the player get and extra one from the unit for free
WEATHER - I pointed out the fixed starts and ends of the winter weather
* - means the extra units is only given if some circumstances exists (mostly the player is on the loosing path, or have not yet captured given major objectives/cities).

AXIS:
4., + Italian Arm 1., + Brandenburgers, Bf 110F
5., + FW 190A (hero)
6., + Ju.87D (Africa), + Bf 190F-4 (hero, Africa), + PzIIC, + PzIIIE (both released)
7., -
8.,+ MC.202 (hero), Pz IIIJ (+tp), Pz IVF1 (tp), 50mm AT, Do-217E (no more Do-17 reinforcements)
9., RAIN, + Tirpitz, Stu IIIE, BF 110E (tp), Ju 88A (tp), He 111H (tp), Ju 88D (tp)
10., RAIN, MUD, + Sub (Kiel), Battleships 50 fuel max
11., CLOUDS, MUD,  Fw 190A-2, Ju.87D, It. Lancia 100/17 (Art. on truck)
12., SNOWFALL, SNOW, SiG 33 (+tp), Bf 110F (tp), , Lates time to bring Hun troops home,-1 WINTER Strenghts at the end of the turn
13., SNOWFALL, + parachute mines, + T-34/M41, -1 WINTER Strenghts, (Allied SU counter-attack!)
14., SNOWFALL, 15cm Arty (+transport), 2x Chetnicks Inf, + ... Inf, Battleships 20/15 fuel max,  -1 WINTER Strenghts
15., CLOUDY/SNOWFALL, SNOW, + it. Semovente 75/18
16., CLOUDY/SNOWFALL, SNOW, It. M14/41 (+tp)
17., CLOUDY, SNOW, Pz IIIJ/1 (+tp), Sdkfz 7/2
18., CLEAR, SNOW, + Finnish 122mm Arty
19. RANDOM WEATHER, Nbwf 21cm, +100 prestige/turn, HS 126 - Ends, + FW 189A (recon)
20., + 2x Radar, + 2x Sub, + Axis minor prestige income
21., + Black Sea fleet, + Hungarian army, (Allied: + Soviet train transports)
22., + Romanian army
23., Marder IID, Pz IVF/2, Marder III (+tp), Re.2001 (+tp), It. Lancia da 90/53 (AA on truck), Ju 87D(tp), + armor conversion possibilities
24., + Italian army 2. , Rom IAR-80B
25., Core limit: 225, Sdkfz 222 (late), Pz IVG, StuG IIIF (+tp), It. Cannone 90/53 (AA), It. Fiat CR.42 bomber (tp), Bf 109G-2, Sdkfz 221 (l), + Ju88D (recon), + 4x German Inf, Upgrade possibility 3x Bf 109's to Fw 190's
26., + Roma Battleship, + Fw 190A-5, + 88AA, Pz IIIN (+tp), Rom JRS-79B, Finn T-26/39, Hun 14/31M 149mm Arty, MC.202 (+tp)
27., Marder II, Pz IIIL, 75/38 AT(UE transport), (Allied: Dieppe next turn - only if no major city is captured in England)
28., -
29., It. Semovente 47/32 AT (+tp), Hun 29M 80mm AA, Hun 31M 149mm Art.
30., + 2x Sub(Kiel, France), Rom IAR-81 (tac. bomber), (Allied: sometimes a British Sub approaches at Malta region)
31., -
32., -
33., RSO transport,StuG IIIF/8, 75mm AT (+tp) with truck, sdkfz, RSO transport, + S-Boat (Black Sea), (Allied: Suez counter-attack)
34., + Naval air rec. (Kiel), (Allied: Torch ships)
35., Bf 109G-2 (tp), Hun/Rom 50mm AT, (Allied: + Sov. Sub at Leningrad, Yak-1B)
36., SNOWFALL, DRY, + Parachute mines, Pz IIIM
37., + Tiger, + It. army 3., Rom IAR-81C
38., + StuG IIIG, Sdkfz 233, Marder IIIH (+tp), (Allied: Yak-7b)
39., Pz IVG(late) (+tp), StuG IIIG (+tp), FW 190A-5, (+tp), He 177A, Movable late AA's
40., + 2x Sub (Kiel, France)
41., + Bf110G, Bf 110G, (Allied: T-34/43)
42., + HS 129 (tac. bomber)
43., +100 prestige/turn, + ger destroyer, Pz IIIM (l), Wespe, Bf 109G-6 (+t), It. Semovente 90/53 (AT), StuH 42, Rom/Finn Bf 109G-2), It. 75/39 AT, Hun Turan I (tank),
44., CLEAR, DRY, Axis minor prestige income 2.
45., +3 Radar, + 88AA, Hummel, It. Re 2002 (+tp), It. Semovente 75/34, Panzerwerfer42, Hummel, Marder IIIM (+tp), (Allied: La-5)
46., + Graf Zeppelin (Ger Carrier), Ju.87G
47., + JG 11 (Ger fighter), JG 1 (-75xp), Range-4 Ger Arty, Pz IVH, Rom 75 97/38 AT (horse)
48., Core limit: 250, + Ferdinand (AT), + 3x Ger. Inf, + AA**, + 75/38 AT**, + Ger Mot Inf, T-34/43 automatic upgrade  
49., + Me-410, Sdkfz 250/9 (rec), StuG IIIG (late), Panther D, Hun 75/38 AT
50., + Ger S-Boat, + 3x Sub (Kiel, France), Me-410, MC.205
51., + Fw 190F, 88AT, Turan II, Fw 190F (bomber), Fw 190A-6 (+t), Re 2005, Fw 190A-6
52., G.55 Centauro (It. fighter)
53., Semovente 105/25
54., -
55., + destroyer, It. AB 43, cheaper Sdkfz transports
56., Panther A, Sdkfz 250/11 (rec), Elephant upgrade, Tirpitz -9 strength (random from now on)
57., + 17cm Arty (range-5), + Croat Inf, + Wespe*, + 10.5cm Arty (horse)*, +2x Stug IIIG* (*loosing path), 2x AA, + 88AA, It 75/46 AT, StuH 42 (late), Pz II Luchs (rec), Blue Division OFF, Elephant upgrade, It. 75/46 AT, Ger. 75 AT/horse
58., + 1*-2x Go-145 (tac. bomber)
59., + Cossacks, 234/2 Puma (rec)
60., SNOWFALL, DRY
61., + Ju 88G, + 2 parachute mines, Ju 88G, Pz IVH (late) (+t)
62., CLOUDY/SNOWFALL, + Ger Skijäger Inf,
63., + Subs, 12,8cm AA, Stug IV, Ger. 44 Inf's, Hun Toldi IIa, Hun Zrínyi II (assault art.), Hun 15cm Nebelwerfer, Skijäger, Rom 100, 150mm Art, Rom TAs (Stug), 
64., +2x Ger. Inf (Latvian, if territory occupied)*, Slovak Inf OFF,
65., + JG 300 (Ger fighter), Rom T-4 (PzIVH), Ju 188A, It Semovente 105/25 (Assault Art)
66., + 10,5cm AA, + 88AA, +3 Mines, + 3 Strongpoints, Mine units, Strongpoint units
67., Fw 190A-8 (+t), Jpz IV/48, Rom 75/40 AT (truck), It. P26/40, JpgPz IV/75, It. Inf'44 
68., DRY, Vezuv in Italy erupts
69., + Hun Bf 109G-6 (hero), + Hun Me-210Ca-1 (tac. bomber), + Fw 190G, Rom Bf 109G-6, Finn Bf 109G-6, Hun 75/40 AT (truck), 2nd Allied bomber arriving at Romanian oil fields!
70., + subs, + Huszar Inf (Hun cavalry), + Hummel* (loosing path), + 88AA, + 15cm Arty*, + 10,5cm Arty, +20mm AA, +Jagdpz IV/48, +StuG IIIG, Möbelwagen (AA)
71., Tiger (late), (Allied use SU airfields too)
72., + Fw 190F, Pz IVJ, Hun Pz IVH, (Allied D-day!)
73., + Fall 44 Inf*, + Marder I*, Me 163B*, Fw 190G (+t), Panther G
74., Sdkfz 234/1, + V-1's, 3rd Allied bomber arriving at Romanian oil fields!
75., + Geb Jäger Inf (hero), + Ju 88G, Tiger II
76., + 88AA, + Hetzer (AT), Marder III - Hetzer free upgrade, Bf 109G-14
77., + Bf 109G-8 (rec),Bf 109G-8, + Ger cav inf, + Ger Inf (French Legion),  + 100 prestige/turn (if...), 4th, 5th Allied bomber arriving at Romanian oil fields!, Soviet island invasion SW of Tallin* (96:24)
78., + Fw 190G, (Allied: Operation Anvill - South France invasion*)
79., + Tiger II* (loosing path), Finns surrender (if...), Wirbelwind (AA), Turan III, (Allied: Slovak partisan uprising)
80., + Me 163B, + Ju 88G, + Subs, (Allied: Market-Garden!)
81., + Hetzer* (loosing path), + 88AT, + 10,5cm Arty, Jpz IV/70, Fw 190D (fighter)
82., + StuG's, + Jagdpanther* (loosing path)
83., Bf 190G-10, + V-2's, Hun Bf 109G-14, Hun Fw190F
84., -
85., SNOWFALL, DRY, P 30/43,Ostwind (AA)
86., Bf 109K-4, Dangerius beach hexes no more...
87., Ju88G, Volksturm Inf, + Volksturm Inf units (many), Hun Tas tank, Hun Tas tank destroyer 
88., -
89., + Jagdtiger* (loosing path)
90., + Me 262
91., DRY
92., Ar 234B, Ta 152H, JG 1 - He 162A, KG 76 - Ar 234B
93., + Ar 233B
94., He 162A, Do 335A, + Sub XXI, Tiger II (late)
95., -
96., -
97., -
98., -
99., Uhu
----------------------------------------

ALLIED (only some important ones):
33., T-70
35., Yak-1B
38., Yak-7B
41., T-34/43
45., La-5 (from Lag-3), Sextron (brit tracked Arty)
55., P-47C
66., + 100 prestige
68., Churchill MK VII
70., P-47D, M-24 Chaffee (rec)
77., M4A1(76)W (USA)
81., Sherman Firefly (Brit)
83., Spitfire XIV

1., Most important advise: RTFM (Read The Fucking Manual). Read everything, what is written by McGuba in the introduction comment of topic of the mod, what is written in the readme file and what is written in the game Library.

2., When you are playing it the first time, go for General difficulty, and also in the game choose normal or realistic version. The game is really hard, so you can leave the harder difficulties to avoid frustration to have challenges for later too.

3., I highly advise that you play with Dice Chess (when starting the campaign, open the Advanced tab and click Dice Chess). You will avoid a lot of frustration and also loosing units because of extreme fight results benefits the Allied side as they can replenish their losses much easier. Loosing an experienced Axis unit with a lot of kills (higher chance to get heroes) is definitely a bigger loss.

4., Use some house rules (even in single player) to play more historical and avoid some game weaknesses:
- Don't use the recon units with the Undo option.
- Don't use the Bottom Mines to destroy the Moored Mines (just the hostile naval units).
- Use the recon planes just for recon and protecting your own units. Do not use them for level bombing or supressing landed hostile air units.
- Use the inf air transports/paratrooper transport planes as they would have 52 fuel units. This means, you have a 26-hex radius, where it can operate. Imagine, flying further, without touching a friendly airfield would crash it because the lack of fuel.
- ***Just if you are a hardened veteran and want to play more historically: do not go further as the given limits with the Finns before Leningrad is taken. This means, finnish airforce can operate only in the finnish sea, north of the Svir river, north of Leningrad. Finnish ground units can operate only north of Leningrad, north of the Svir river and do not cross the "line" north of lake Onega. Cause: historically the finns waged their own war and - what if scenario - considers only the go more intense in the war if they see that Axis forces are capable of dealing with the enemy (taking Leningrad).

5., Every unit has it's purpose so do not waste anything!

6., It is highly recommended to play the first four introduction scenarios before playing Barbarossa.
- You will learn a lot of from the different gameplay of the mod
- You can collect a lot of experiences with a few core units
- You can collect a lot of kill with your core units which means earlier potential heros appearing
- You can collect a high amount of extra prestige which you will need badly, later, thrust me! I started so Barbarossa with 8136 prestige.
- While you can change after the first scn the core composition, if you want to play it more historically, I would'nt recommend. But if you intended to do so, I would keep the hero-panzer, sell the two other panzers (keyboard "D" between scenarios) and buy one extra fighter and one Pz IV.

Very good tips!
Probably not many ppl still left on this forum.

It has been so long since i played this mod and last version i played was v1.9 a couple years ago.

One of the things that was so important in the older versions (and i guess still) is the unit upgrade timing for key units. I used to keep a list of the dates and times that important equipment becomes available. This helps you time when to pull troops back from the front to upgrade them. Particularly the upgrade timing for the tanks and some of the SPAT are really important. And if you have the prestige available, remember that you can upgrade towed AT to SPAT. This really helps if you are on the offensive (and i have a particular love of Stugs).

It also helps if you know the timing of key events, which Uhu has kindly posted above.

In my personal opinion and from playthroughs of earlier versions of this mod (havent played v2.2 yet), I feel that a decisive victory (defeating both Soviets and Western Allies) is basically impossible apart from hardcore gamers like Uhu, or else if you have played the scenario a few times already (and even then it is so hard). I find that defeating the Soviet Union is relatively easier than defeating the western allies. Especially Sealion is very difficult and will require many save and reload to accomplish. Not that defeating Soviet Union is easy - it is very hard, just not as hard as western allies IMHO.

Another thing that is important to consider is the use of your different troops. For example, the minor Axis allied infantry are good for holding the hinterland, whilst their fighters and bombers tend to do ok against the Soviets. So its important to move them to where they will be most effective.

And lastly, every troop is important. Dont throw away troops and try to keep even your minor allied infantry and their dinky tanks alive. Due to unit caps, you will not have the chance to buy new units!

Hello Uhu,
It is a great pleasure to read you again.
It's great to explain the new version of battlefiel Europe 2.2 to us.
Thank you
Best regards
Yves

You are welcome!

glaude1955 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:06 am Hello Uhu,
It is a great pleasure to read you again.
It's great to explain the new version of battlefiel Europe 2.2 to us.
Thank you
Best regards
Yves

How to invade England early in 1941-42

While it is quite hard and it got harder with every new version it is still possible to start an early Sealion (it is also possible with the historical Stalingrad save from the north - but it is no more possible with the Kursk save).

You need to move down the 2 Uboats from the eastern region to Dover step by step. Two Uboats can collect prestige until winter in the western region, but than they have to hurry south to take part in the defense. With the Karl Gerät and the 21 cm mortar you can reach the strongpoint at 49:41. Than with the Karl + some tac. bomber assistance you can destroy - or at least first weaken - the Fort-art. at Dover, while putting 3x Uoats and/or S-Boat(s) next to it to do not let it to rebuilt. Also when winter sets in, you can destroy with the S-boats and the full strenghtened unified German surface fleet (from France + Baltic Sea) the radar station at 46:41. Also the sea mines at 47:42, 49:42 has to be destroyed by destroyers in bad eather. Now, even when the fort-art is not yet destroyed you have a undangered hex to take a panzer ashore at 49:41. When the fort-art is destroyed and another shore-art is destroyed at 47:40 with panzer who come to ashore, than there is a wide opening. Of course the first phase will be still very hard and with high losses of panzer-, and airpower strenght, but with a good positioning and with the help of the German surface fleet, finally the invasion can go into swing. Important is, that the area has to be sealed as much as possible from both sides with mines and Uboats. It is really hard, but if you can sacrifice your S-boats and destroyers for the appearing british capital ships, than you can kill the destroyers with you capital ships and weaken the british capital ships with the Uboats. It is hard, because you would use you capital ships to support the invasion army as arty too. And some luck is also good, when your Uboats can evade some destroyer attacks. Overall a very hard scenario, but it worth it.

For air protection, I advise to use JG 26, JG 52 and JG 54 (brought west in the winter of 41) as these are the strongest units, which have the biggest chance to survive. In notfall also JG 1 and JG 2 can assist, but use them cautiosly because they are very vulnerable and they are needed to protect the German cities from the bombers. A moved also all available AA assets in the west to the Caen - Le Havre area to protect the heavy guns, later protect the surface fleet and the invading troops. Later, I sent some if these AA's over to England, so less fighters were needed for protection and when the surface fleet were no more in direct danger, I could send all of my figters away (...mostly to Tunis to counter the Allied menace).

Hi Uhu,

How do you handle the first Russian winter? Do you try and move units back behind the starting line until the winter penalty ends, or do you just live with the attrition as best as possible?

Is it viable to encircle the Bryansk and Kiev pockets and then quickly retreat back to the starting line before the winter penalty and then when it ends, advance again to capture Moscow in 1942?

Thanks fot the question JimmyC,
let them answered points by points:

1., I earlier moved most of my valuable, or in winter not usable units (panzers, AA, Self-moving arty) back to the hinterland. Not anymore. Because of the oil crisis time is even more important! So I sacrifice this 3 runds for losses but advance further to the Soviet oil fields. Maybe there is some difference if you play on Rommel, because there you have quite less prestige to replace these winter losses. Now I played v2.2 first time on Field Marshall, but as I saw my replay, I already played in that way with v2.0 too where I still played it on Rommel - but the oil crisis was already existing.
- I still move out all light AA (self tracked too), because they are not needed in the winter.
- With good timing it is possible the move out panzers needed for the England invasion. It could be the PzIIIG's with overstrenght (if they still have). Also if you have money, several obsolote panzers could be moved backt to upgrade them to Pz IVF. So in that way several panzers will be still pulled out from the wrath of the winter.

2., It is very important to finish all the encriclements. At my first try with v2.2 I could not finish the Kiev encirclement and while I could destroy those units until the spring of 41, they made a lot of total losses and occupied my forces. I plan to publish some replay videos in the future of my advance to Russia in 1941. To the 2nd try, I could finish the Kiev pocket in turn 8, and arrive to Moscow in the last moment when it was not yet fully occupied therefore I could capture it several turns later. While I could advance still Rostov and fend off the winter counterattacks there before advancing further.

JimmyC wrote: ↑Fri Apr 23, 2021 6:06 am Hi Uhu,

How do you handle the first Russian winter? Do you try and move units back behind the starting line until the winter penalty ends, or do you just live with the attrition as best as possible?

Is it viable to encircle the Bryansk and Kiev pockets and then quickly retreat back to the starting line before the winter penalty and then when it ends, advance again to capture Moscow in 1942?

Played up to turn 14 and managed to close both pockets at Bryansk and Kiev (Kiev was really close though and i only just managed it on the last turn before they will activate). Moscow i reached the outskirts, but it was like attacking a brick wall with my fists. The Russian infantry were fairly entrenched by turn 13 and most have 2 artillery supporting them. Combined with the freezing weather and counterattacks from the north i lost 4 elite units in 1 turn (panzer 38t, fallschirmjager, brandenburger and some infantry) I was tempted to reload, but want to do this playthrough properly and just live with my errors

Now it is crisis control. I still am at the outskirts, but just repairing and trying to blunt the enemy attacks. I will need to wait until the weather penalty stops and hopefully the snow stops falling so the luftwaffe can kick in. Actually this is very historically accurate, but so painful to see my beautiful troops die.

It could be that perhaps i was too cautious, as after closing the pockets, i retreated those units back to the original borders so as to avoid the weather penalty. Maybe instead i should have moved them to Moscow area to help reinforce my army there. However those roads are so clogged with my troops that i dont think they would help so much. I also bleed prestige as my units have to repair the lost health.

Uhu, although this playthrough i am just focusing on defeating the Soviets and taking a defensive stance against the Western Allies, I think it would be useful if you could provide some tips for the North Africa/Middle East campaign. Is it still viable to do seaborn landing in Syria during bad weather? Or is it better to storm El Alamein and advance that way? What combination of units do you recommend for advancing across the desert to the oilfields?

If you cannot capture Moscow early than it is best to make a defense in the Rzev line down to Bryansk (Kaluga is a plus but not a should be), Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov and Stalino-Mariupol, or Stalio-Rostov. Kursk is good to be held, because after winter, the Don river can be faster closed down / guarded. I would take offensive operations only after the winter weather.

North Africa is a very important theater - if you want to aim for a DV. If you want just win over the Soviets than it is not so important. In the later I would still fortify and defend Sicily, because if Sicily falls, you loose all your experienced (?) Italian units. You got other new ones but still.
I will write about the ideal strategy in the Mediterrean, but it is a very complex issue so it needs time to create.
If you want play it realistically and not with infinite air transport fuel, than the Middle East drop is no more suitable. I also do not capture Cyprus as it do not have the worth. The key is an existing and surviving Italian flottila, which depends from luck and from a strong Axis air presence. I come back later with more information!

JimmyC wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:30 am Played up to turn 14 and managed to close both pockets at Bryansk and Kiev (Kiev was really close though and i only just managed it on the last turn before they will activate). Moscow i reached the outskirts, but it was like attacking a brick wall with my fists. The Russian infantry were fairly entrenched by turn 13 and most have 2 artillery supporting them. Combined with the freezing weather and counterattacks from the north i lost 4 elite units in 1 turn (panzer 38t, fallschirmjager, brandenburger and some infantry) I was tempted to reload, but want to do this playthrough properly and just live with my errors

Now it is crisis control. I still am at the outskirts, but just repairing and trying to blunt the enemy attacks. I will need to wait until the weather penalty stops and hopefully the snow stops falling so the luftwaffe can kick in. Actually this is very historically accurate, but so painful to see my beautiful troops die.

It could be that perhaps i was too cautious, as after closing the pockets, i retreated those units back to the original borders so as to avoid the weather penalty. Maybe instead i should have moved them to Moscow area to help reinforce my army there. However those roads are so clogged with my troops that i dont think they would help so much. I also bleed prestige as my units have to repair the lost health.

Uhu, although this playthrough i am just focusing on defeating the Soviets and taking a defensive stance against the Western Allies, I think it would be useful if you could provide some tips for the North Africa/Middle East campaign. Is it still viable to do seaborn landing in Syria during bad weather? Or is it better to storm El Alamein and advance that way? What combination of units do you recommend for advancing across the desert to the oilfields?

it is a very good mod with hard work to be balanced but the big problem of the mod is that there are not replayability. The player can't even buy new core units before turn 10-15 ! the player must disband units for it ! so frustrating ! and the player can't invade spain, neither swiss or turkey, so sad...

Uhu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:58 pm If you cannot capture Moscow early than it is best to make a defense in the Rzev line down to Bryansk (Kaluga is a plus but not a should be), Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov and Stalino-Mariupol, or Stalio-Rostov. Kursk is good to be held, because after winter, the Don river can be faster closed down / guarded. I would take offensive operations only after the winter weather.

Yes, i would definitely do this next time. As it was, i overextended and got badly blooded by the Russian counterattack and the massed artillery defenses at Moscow. Any of my units approaching the city outskirts got pounded by 2-3 heavy artillery and basically destroyed. A very tough nut to crack. Now it is summer and the Luftwaffe rain supreme, but i struggle to shut down the Russian armour where it is protected by AA. The German armour is simply not competitive against the T34's at this stage.

When do the Russians counterattack around Kursk? Is it in late '42 when winter arrives? Do you recommend to try and stop them getting to Kursk or else fall back and then try and reduce them as they sit still after taking Kursk?

They will attack in force in the winter of 42. Of course units will be attacking continously through the Don, but until it get not frozen, it can be managed.
It depends on your overall situation. Taking the Caucasus oil field is highly recommended and do so as fast as possible. But than you have to defend this southern flank too. But it will be attacked not so hard, most Soviet units attack in the Rostov - Kursk direction. Where the Stalino - Mariupol - Orel line can be defended, the region west of Voronezh is really hard. Even, when your best units fight elsewhere. I try to capture Tula still in the summer and fortify it, than the northern flank is mostly secured. In the middle east-southeast of Kursk I use every object (hill, forest), place AT's, German inf on the plain field, minor Axis inf on hills, forest, everything backed up with arty and have place to retreat. Also leaving some reserves to swap the depleted units for fresh ones. Then, when the Tiger and the free StuG is available, I move them here. The goal is to try advancing back again to the Don, so when summer comes, the river could be closed again from Soviet units. The Soviet attack is less critical IMHO at the Rostov region, but because of the strong enemy units it will last longer, until it can be neutralised. Upgradig to late version of the Pz IVG is also advised. Be aware that from 1943 the Soviet air force will be very strong!

JimmyC wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:01 am

Uhu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:58 pm If you cannot capture Moscow early than it is best to make a defense in the Rzev line down to Bryansk (Kaluga is a plus but not a should be), Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov and Stalino-Mariupol, or Stalio-Rostov. Kursk is good to be held, because after winter, the Don river can be faster closed down / guarded. I would take offensive operations only after the winter weather.

Yes, i would definitely do this next time. As it was, i overextended and got badly blooded by the Russian counterattack and the massed artillery defenses at Moscow. Any of my units approaching the city outskirts got pounded by 2-3 heavy artillery and basically destroyed. A very tough nut to crack. Now it is summer and the Luftwaffe rain supreme, but i struggle to shut down the Russian armour where it is protected by AA. The German armour is simply not competitive against the T34's at this stage.

When do the Russians counterattack around Kursk? Is it in late '42 when winter arrives? Do you recommend to try and stop them getting to Kursk or else fall back and then try and reduce them as they sit still after taking Kursk?

I replay it since v1.0 and I always find new challenges... There are harder difficulty, the historical saves are giving even more challenges and immersion. Not to speak about multiplayer mode which gives a massive fun and a total different gameplay.
There is no need to disband any units - every units has its purpose. You can even transform some strat. bombers to fighters if you want. You want buy new units only if you find the game to hard - but than the solution is to play it on easier difficulty.

jeffoot77 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:38 pm it is a very good mod with hard work to be balanced but the big problem of the mod is that there are not replayability. The player can't even buy new core units before turn 10-15 ! the player must disband units for it ! so frustrating ! and the player can't invade spain, neither swiss or turkey, so sad...

no i just want to play differently. it is impossible. All is done to prevent player having choices. The main key for me in a game is the numbers of choices. The more choice the player has, the more fun, the game is. Even in this great mod, it is linear .

Thanks for the tips Uhu. By the way, should focus be placed on reaching the Caucus oilfields rather than taking Leningrad? Leningrad seems mostly static, so I was thinking to just ignore it for the most part and instead work to reach the oilfields, as well as preparing for the winter counteroffensive you discussed. What is your opinion on this? In previous paythroughs I found it is easier to take Leningrad once you have Panthers. So maybe better to wait until late ’43 to assault it.

Uhu wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:51 am They will attack in force in the winter of 42. Of course units will be attacking continously through the Don, but until it get not frozen, it can be managed.
It depends on your overall situation. Taking the Caucasus oil field is highly recommended and do so as fast as possible. But than you have to defend this southern flank too. But it will be attacked not so hard, most Soviet units attack in the Rostov - Kursk direction. Where the Stalino - Mariupol - Orel line can be defended, the region west of Voronezh is really hard. Even, when your best units fight elsewhere. I try to capture Tula still in the summer and fortify it, than the northern flank is mostly secured. In the middle east-southeast of Kursk I use every object (hill, forest), place AT's, German inf on the plain field, minor Axis inf on hills, forest, everything backed up with arty and have place to retreat. Also leaving some reserves to swap the depleted units for fresh ones. Then, when the Tiger and the free StuG is available, I move them here. The goal is to try advancing back again to the Don, so when summer comes, the river could be closed again from Soviet units. The Soviet attack is less critical IMHO at the Rostov region, but because of the strong enemy units it will last longer, until it can be neutralised. Upgradig to late version of the Pz IVG is also advised. Be aware that from 1943 the Soviet air force will be very strong!

I suppose that when making the mod, McGuba wanted to try to keep it as realistic as possible, which not only includes the units you have (relatively historically accurate), but also which countries you can attack. Whilst you can change your unit composition by disbanding or upgrading units out of series, it is costly and generally not worth it.

About involving other countries, such as Switzerland/Spain, etc., I agree with you that it would be a lot of fun to have those options. But I feel that should be a separate mod, rather than this mod which is much more focused on realism.

My personal opinion is that this mod has a lot of replayability regardless, as you can try different tactics and this will greatly alter the outcome later on.

jeffoot77 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:47 pm no i just want to play differently. it is impossible. All is done to prevent player having choices. The main key for me in a game is the numbers of choices. The more choice the player has, the more fun, the game is. Even in this great mod, it is linear .

This is a very interesting discussion, thanks Uhu for starting it!