Slitherine

Note: Link below is to current (v1c) version of the scenario. Barring any further feedback will be considered final version.

All,

I'd like to provide the following scenario and request any player feedback.

This is my second scenario (the first being Mission Boston - 82nd on D-Day) which was provided multiple years back (yes - it has been a while between projects - the ultimate goal being to fold these both into a larger campaign. . . but we will see).

I've tested pretty thoroughly and believe that the key fundamentals should be functioning and intended (deployment, movements, objectives, etc.)

I'm so close to the project now that it is difficult for me to judge the balance at this point. While any feedback is welcome I'd particularly welcome any input in terms of game play (game play balance, feasibility of objectives, RP ramp up, German dispositions). (Some final map refinement is coming but I wanted to get this in front of some folks. . . .)

I've tried to introduce a good bit of randomness into the scenario while holding true to reality. Ultimately my goal is to simulate as close as possible to historical and I have attempted to model to that end within the constraints of the overall game.

Thanks in advance!

Mission Albany - 101st on D-Day: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gy4dookphld9 ... Z2jpa?dl=0

Mission Description
This scenario is intended to simulate Mission Albany - the airborne operations of the 101st Airborne Division on June 6, 1944. The game begins at 01:30 and ends at 21:00 on 6/6/44 with each turn comprising approximately 30 minutes.

This scenario attempts to challenge the player with similar obstacles as those faced by airborne troops on D Day - specifically overcoming challenges such as the lack of unit organization, shortage of men and resources, and limited situational awareness. Outcomes mirroring those of reality are intended.

This scenario is a slow burn that builds throughout as resources become more readily available (based on the player's ability to secure and maintain designated drop zones) and as both sides become more organized in terms of disposition and orientation to key objectives.

Players: 1vAI
Turns: 40 (01:30 - 21:00 on 6/6/44 - each turn approximating 30 min)
Map: 60x60

Note - Please let me know if there are any issues with the link. . . I looked how other scenarios had been posted on the site and tried to follow suit. . . however if I've missed anything regarding access permissions, etc. please let me know.

Thanks.

Bumped into a small problem with one of the pop-ups, enjoying it thus far, though perhaps explaining how the securing of the landing zones would work at the start of the scenario would be a good idea. Obviously if its part of a campaign with other scenarios with similar mechanics that would lessen the need for an explanation, but certainly as a standalone scenario there should be a pop-up at the start or something like that at the start saying how you're going to be getting resources.

Thanks.

Fair point on the LZ RP notification. Intention was to not bombard the player with pop ups at the beginning and, by placing on T4 when all the initial troops are deployed, to mimic the passing of time needed to get bearings / orientation.
Note that the German's don't get RP until T13 or so (morning) so I've tried to "account" for confusion on both sides accordingly. I can see as a player, however, how this would be frustrating (again something hard for me to assess knowing how it all works already). Will give it some thought to try and address.

I may re-work to give the player the option to have 'historical' pop ups or not - that way those pop ups that don't truly affect game play would not need to be seen each time out (LZ notices / H-Hour notices, etc.) and it wouldn't feel so pop up heavy at the beginning. . . .

Regarding the pop ups - a fair number are scripted within and were utilized to track random triggers / other events as debugging / balance tools. Thought I'd disabled them all but obviously not. I will give it another look.

FYI if an event has no picture and no "real" description it was for debugging and should be disabled. Any that have a description but no picture is broken and I need to fix. Please let me know if you trip across either type.

First of all, thanks for sharing!
A very interesting take on "income/reinforce" in a scen.

Played on middle diff., quite hard to do a MajorVic, especially on the first try not knowing the map...
(but that may not be a bad thing, just saying)

As the previous poster stated, the very important "income" mechanic should be explained in detail during the briefing.
I don't mind "history" event popups, but those should be "voluntary" reading material and not contain any viable infos about objectives or scen-mechanics. I take my time reading the briefing, but I don't want anything crucial anymore to distract me once the battle has started. At least not every single turn...

There are still many popups that you described as "debug residuals":
- the landing zone "income-increase / timer activates" messages appear every 2-ish turns
- once you've established the supply link and it gets broken (by enemy forces), you get like 5-6 popups every turn-start until it's re-established; very annoying.

Other suggestions:
- mark the prim. obj. "open" instead of "failed", looks better
- both the 25-turn limit for the arty as well as the 20-turn limit to reach all exits are VERY tight!
- on the other hand, a "simple" victory is almost guaranteed, as you have to do basically nothing to achieve it (protect your units from being killed and wait until the reinforcements (AI controlled) take the four exits...!!!)
- I think one of the German units next to "Pouppeville" is "idle"
- add more supply sources to the north-western enemy sector, as I could cut them off very easy
- add more or fortify the southern (2 x 100) main supply hexes. I did not exploit this, but one of my units went south after taking the (sec.VP) bridge and could've taken both those supply hexes with ease, as they were not defended
- I lost more of my (very low strength) units to hidden foxholes than to enemy forces...
- Kudos: very fast AI thinking and the allied AI-faction moves and fights as it should

Thank you for the feedback! Very much appreciated. I've incorporated these and some other changes and will be updating the version in the link above soon. I'll drop a new post on incorporated changes for _v1b but wanted to offer the following to your comments (since you took the time to document I wanted to address specifically).

Thank you again and I hope you enjoyed.

GabeKnight wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:12 am First of all, thanks for sharing!
A very interesting take on "income/reinforce" in a scen. Thanks - It is difficult to simulate the 'trickling in' of forces given the game constructs - I hope it works.

Played on middle diff., quite hard to do a MajorVic, especially on the first try not knowing the map...
(but that may not be a bad thing, just saying) Actually I intended to make almost impossible - (bridges in the southwest were not actually blown on D-Day - guess I didn't make it hard enough!). (Note: If you're able to achieve I'll probably hold with what I have - with the intent of if you do achieve Major Victory them may have a different Campaign Branch if I ever get to that point - which is why I want it to be very difficult)

As the previous poster stated, the very important "income" mechanic should be explained in detail during the briefing.I've moved LZ explanation popup to Turn1 / Scenario Start - first thing you will see after Mission Briefing

I don't mind "history" event popups, but those should be "voluntary" reading material and not contain any viable infos about objectives or scen-mechanics. I take my time reading the briefing, but I don't want anything crucial anymore to distract me once the battle has started. At least not every single turn...I've added a dialog to give the player a choice to receive historical briefings. Validated functionality.

There are still many popups that you described as "debug residuals":
- the landing zone "income-increase / timer activates" messages appear every 2-ish turns
- once you've established the supply link and it gets broken (by enemy forces), you get like 5-6 popups every turn-start until it's re-established; very annoying.
My apologies on missing these on initial posting. My debugging / Testing deployment for US paratroopers don't have these so I kind of lost sight of them - and I neglected to remove before final posting - I believe I have removed all such popups

Other suggestions:
- mark the prim. obj. "open" instead of "failed", looks better Thought I'd get this - the way the triggers are designed it goes from FAILED -> OPEN (during game upon all 4 capture) -> COMPLETE (End Game Check and hold all 4). Probably personal preference but i'd rather not re-work at this point

- both the 25-turn limit for the arty as well as the 20-turn limit to reach all exits are VERY tight!As intended - and particularly so if you attempt both. One is intended to have scenario impact (Artillery) and the other Campaign (future state) impact. No changes currently in 1.b

- on the other hand, a "simple" victory is almost guaranteed, as you have to do basically nothing to achieve it (protect your units from being killed and wait until the reinforcements (AI controlled) take the four exits...!!!)
Kind of intended as designed - but certainly good point taken. To partially address:
- Short term I have adjusted the patrols to be stronger.
- Lowered the number of 101st that can be lost to 6 before failing
- I'm also planning to adjust random spawns / movements for the MG's at scenario start.
- Last I may include a new Primary objective that requires player to capture Les Forges (but not necessarily secure the supply line). Will also slow re-deployment of southern US AI troops so they won't simply do this on their own).


- I think one of the German units next to "Pouppeville" is "idle" I checked but could not see. All are set to '6 Garrison' AI Team. . . .

- add more supply sources to the north-western enemy sector, as I could cut them off very easy Thank you - Done in v1b
- add more or fortify the southern (2 x 100) main supply hexes. I did not exploit this, but one of my units went south after taking the (sec.VP) bridge and could've taken both those supply hexes with ease, as they were not defended (Done)
- I lost more of my (very low strength) units to hidden foxholes than to enemy forces...

- Kudos: very fast AI thinking and the allied AI-faction moves and fights as it should Thank you. Really worked on these. . . . I've "played" a lot of games watching the AI battle it out to test the various AI movement triggers (US Utah forces and German 6th FJM) based on in game situations.


Screenshot 6.jpg

I've updated the original link above so that the current version (Albany_Fnl_v1b) is included. Changes incorporated into v1b include:

Functionality / Game Play:
• Added Historical Popup Dialog (choose Y/N for Historical Popups)
• Changed LZ Secure PopUp regarding LZ's and Req Points to Turn 1 (vs T4 previously)
• Historical PopUps for LZ’s changed to T2, T3, & T4 (may tweak this further)
• Refined Supply Objective PopUp Notifications so that Connected / Broken notices only show once
• Target Hex for SMD Supply Obj Notice Corrected (Mission Briefing – Not Objective Functionality)
• LZ Secured / Lost Notifications removed from all LZ’s (legacy debugging popups)
• LZ Held for 5 Turns Notifications removed from all LZ’s (RP additions every 5 turns held / LZ)
• Added Supply in NW to prevent supply cuts for Germans
• Added Static def in Carentan to prevent Germ supply cuts protect main supply point
• Added bunkers / MG next to prevent south move from lock bridge

Other:
• Map rework (trade forest tiles for rough w/ decorative trees for visuals)
• Added add'l farm tiles & trees / town (decorative) for visual improvements

Updated link above in original post to current scenario version.

Last version (1c) contains updates as follows:

* Minor RP reductions for 101st (player) when holding DZ's over time (still increases - just not as rapidly)
* Minor 101st troop name corrections
* Minor modifications to 101st troop deployments / randomization of initial positioning
* Randomization of German machine gun placements (no longer static)
* DRAW conditions title updated

As noted above this will be considered final version of the scenario unless additional user feedback is received.

I plan to revive my prior effort regarding Mission Boston (82nd airborne on D-Day) and may ultimately link these into a mini campaign.

Thanks again.