Slitherine

With RC1.0, there are a total of ten of these maps now that are included with the game installer. Remember they are geared for multiplayer, the AI may lack the scripting to handle these scenarios properly. Try them out, have some fun, and leave some feedback. Most important aspect these maps should have is good balance. Do both sides have a fair chance at winning, or is one side clearly superior in their odds for success?

#1
Hunters in the Atlantic:
Bismarck and Tirpitz challenge British control of the North Atlantic.
Special rules for the scenario have been set up through game trigger mechanics:

British Objective: Land at least 5 Convoy units on the British Mainland. (Hexes have been given special strings that say "British Mainland")
OR
Sink the German Battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz.

German objective:
Sink enough Convoy transports to prevent Allied Victory.
AND
The Bismarck or Tirpitz must survive.

Fleet break down:
British: 5 BB, 2 BC, 5 CA, 7 CL, 11 DD, 2 bombers, 2 fighters.
German: 2 BB, 3 BC, 2 CA, 2 CL, 3 DD, 7 ten strength submarines, 4 five strength submarines, 2 bombers, 1 fighter.





#2
Operation Huntress
Daring British Commando raid to steal a Panther Prototype.
Special rules for the scenario have been set up through game trigger mechanics:

German win: Destroyed captured Panther Prototype.

British win: Move Panther Prototype to any map edge (hex on the map outer map boarder).
OR
Panther Prototype survives for 27 turns.

Helpful hints:
There are lots of railroads to facilitate rapid German redeployment along the periphery of the map. This can be a great way to move the SS Tiger I to a critical hot spot.
Polish resistance fighters and partisan units must be cleared out or they will interrupt rail movement severely.
There are lots of railroads to facilitate rapid British redeployment in the central part of the map.
German check points must be cleared to free up additional cities for rail connection options.
British control all main bridges and access points to the central area.





#3
Bersaglieri and the Bear
Italian forces muster their defense against a Russian winter offensive.
This is a more standard Panzer General type map. Russians are on the offensive, Italians on the defensive. Italians win if they hold at least 3 victory hexes by the end of the turn count.
Italian Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
Italian Victory:
Hold at least 3 objectives.

Soviet Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
Soviet Victory:
Capture at least 6 objectives.


Helpful hints:
Weather can be pretty snowy, which will ground the air fleets, but may also freeze the rivers the Italians rely on to slow the Soviet advance.
There are limited German units present on the map, but the Italian player cannot purchase more of them, so they must be used wisely.





#4
War Games.
Great Britain and the United States train against each other in preparation for D-Day.
This is a more standard Panzer General type map. Americans are on the offensive, British on the defensive. British win if they hold at least 4 victory hexes by the end of the turn count.

American Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
American Victory:
Capture at least 8 objectives.

British Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
British Victory:
Hold at least 4 objectives.


Helpful hints:
Both players start with lots of prestige and plenty of available core slots, so the 'mystery' factor of this scenario should be very high. An opponent may unexpectedly dump a large amount of prestige into his air force after seeing his opponent dump all his prestige into armored forces.
The careful balance to strike here is buy enough forces to accomplish your goals while holding enough of a reserve to counter new and unexpected enemy purchases.





#5
The Frozen North.
German and Soviet forces launch simultaneous offensives to control a narrow, snow covered battlefield.
New:

Old:
http://i.imgur.com/9Zo31.jpg
Another departure from the typical Panzer General scheme. The winner of this unusual scenario is the player who controls the most victory hexes at the end of the turn count. Each side starts with three, and there is only one neutral one, so there should never be a tie game here. Capturing all victory hexes results in an instant victory.

German Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
German Victory:
Control at least 4 objectives at the end of the game.

Soviet Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
Soviet Victory:
Control at least 4 objectives at the end of the game.


Helpful hints:
Both players start with lots of prestige and plenty of available core slots, so the 'mystery' factor of this scenario should be very high.
The map is very narrow, extremely snowy (45% chance for snow) which makes rivers easy to pass and air units near useless. There is limited naval action in the southern end of the map.
The careful balance to strike here is buy enough forces to accomplish your goals while holding enough of a reserve to counter new and unexpected enemy purchases.




#6
Partisan Uprising.
Italian garrison forces mobilize to contain a well armed French rebellion.
Another departure from the typical Panzer General scheme. The winner of this unusual scenario is the player who controls the most victory hexes at the end of the turn count. Each side starts with two, and there is only one neutral one, so there should never be a tie game here. Capturing all victory hexes results in an instant victory.

Italian Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
Italian Victory:
Control at least 3 objectives at the end of the game.

French Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
French Victory:
Control at least 3 objectives at the end of the game.



#7
Battle of the Bzura.
Polish forces between the Bzura and Vistula rivers attempt to break out and flank German Panzer forces driving on Warsaw.
German win: Capture all VH for instant victory.
OR
Hold 5 or more VH at the end of turn 13.

Polish win: Capture all VH for instant victory.
OR
Hold 3 or more VH at the end of turn 13.




#8
Hylan Valley
British troops battle the Wehrmacht for control of a secluded valley.
New:

Old:
http://i.imgur.com/jZKKg.jpg
Another departure from the typical Panzer General scheme. The winner of this large scale scenario is the player who controls the most victory hexes at the end of the turn count. Each side starts with 2, and there are five neutral victory hexes, so there should never be a tie game here. Capturing all victory hexes results in an instant victory.

German Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
German Victory:
Control at least 5 objectives at the end of the game.

British Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
British Victory:
Control at least 5 objectives at the end of the game.





#9
Bocage Breakout
American forces attempt to break out of Normandy while German reinforcements rush forward to block their advance.
Dual offense in the style of The Frozen North, but with a historical basis and setting.

American Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
American Victory:
Control at least 4 objectives at the end of the game.

German Decisive Victory:
Capture all objectives.
German Victory:
Control at least 4 objectives at the end of the game.



#10
Urban Warfare
The United States, United Kingdom, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics engage in all out war for control over the city of Lintali.
The largest multiplayer map at a size of 40x40 hexes, this massive battle actually takes place within the boundaries of a single city. Expect bloody street fighting as you battle block by block for control of Lintali.

Soviet Decisive Victory:
Capture and control all 11 objectives for instant victory.
Soviet Victory:
Control the majority of Lintali (25 or more city blocks) at the end of the game.

Allied Decisive Victory:
Capture and control all 11 objectives for instant victory.
Allied Victory:
Control the majority of Lintali (25 or more city blocks) at the end of the game.

Also, any feed back on Zitmor an Bastonge is welcomed.

#5
The Frozen North.



It is badly in favour of the Axis. The Panzer IV captures the mid victory hex on turn 2, then almost all the slots can be spent on defending that city.

There is a delay for new purchases, and the goal is to hold the majority of VH, not just take the 1 neutral one. If you spam buy at one location, your other VHes will be under protected.
If you think the Germans have a huge advantage, host up a challenge as the Germans and I'll play the Russians, I'd like to see this because my tests never turned out this way.
EDIT: Yea, this isn't a big problem. Soviets can buy new units at 11,11 and 13,20 and should easily be able to contest the neutral VH, or they can simply go elsewhere and grab other VHes.

EDIT:2 I've posted several challenges for each of the new maps, looking forward to getting some testing done and maybe having some fun playing too. Cya in the game!

Germans seem to need some help in Huntress. The British ability to spread out in any possible direction, amplified by the use of bridge engineers, makes containing them extremely difficult, especially if a craft British player uses his forces to attack out in multiple directions simultaneously and shifts the Panther around by rail.

@dshaw. I never thought to pass through vacant cities with units in rail transports, I generally just stop and capture each location along the way instead of passing through them.

I think we should probably not allow rail transport through neutral cities - only through friendly cities.

I am still experiencing the new MP maps and although I like the new twists to the overall gameplay some of those provide, I would like to see more historically based ones. These are either fictional or too generic in my opinion, and that makes them feel gamey for me.

Hunters of the Atlantic managed to provide both : A great historic base (with named ships and a real historic combat situation) with a new scope for the game engine. A marvelous mix. I am abit disappointed to see the new ones didn´t follow this pattern for the most part, but wish some new ones will either be officially published or fan made (like the great Crete MP scenario by dshaw I am playing now with him. that´s the hot spot for me)

Wait for Bastonge......

I'm hoping to put out three historic-based custom scenarios myself (Gibraltar 1941, Stalingrad 1943 and Crete), but they need some more polishing and playtesting. Fortunately, the editor is very easy to use, so making scenarios isn't very hard (although getting them to the right level of competitiveness is tricky).

You can add a German loss again to Hunters in the Atlantic.

I managed to sink Tirpitz, and cripple Bismarck (5), and most importantly, I landed 8 units on the Mainland.

It was a fierce battle!

Add another German loss.

I sank both Tripitz and Bismarck.

It took me five turns.


Nice day, I won 2 Huntes in the Atlantic

Very nice. Do you have any suggestions for balance, or did you feel the scenario is in a good state?
One thing I'm considering is adding another German BC, say Admiral Scheer, because experienced British players who ball their fleet are tough to fight.

Acererak wrote:I am still experiencing the new MP maps and although I like the new twists to the overall gameplay some of those provide, I would like to see more historically based ones. These are either fictional or too generic in my opinion, and that makes them feel gamey for me.

Hunters of the Atlantic managed to provide both : A great historic base (with named ships and a real historic combat situation) with a new scope for the game engine. A marvelous mix. I am abit disappointed to see the new ones didn´t follow this pattern for the most part, but wish some new ones will either be officially published or fan made (like the great Crete MP scenario by dshaw I am playing now with him. that´s the hot spot for me)

I'm considering battle for Bzura from Poland, and France 1944 Bocage fighting as possibles. If you have any ideas for historical encounters that may make good MP maps, I'm open to suggestions.

I'm considering battle for Bzura from Poland, and France 1944 Bocage fighting as possibles.

Sounds good. I'm thinking about a few myself, hope other players are thinking about creating some as well.

Kerensky wrote: I'm considering battle for Bzura from Poland, and France 1944 Bocage fighting as possibles. If you have any ideas for historical encounters that may make good MP maps, I'm open to suggestions.

Both sound nice to me. I specially like the possibility of experiencing different scenarios of historical battles not covered in the main campaign. It could also serve that way to encourage players to try the MP system since those battles could be fought only that way.

The Hunters of the Atlantic, as said, is a great example of it. And it´s amazing how good the naval system of the game, even being just kind of a simplified side system, turns out to be a very fun and playable scenario when used in it´s full potential. In this regard, maybe some other naval battles (mediterranean?) could make for fun MP scenarios. Or how about a full air battle scenario? Battle of England comes to mind first, of course.

Crete is something we were all missing and great idea for one (as Dshaw has proven). Malta anyone?

And I would love to see some Commando raids like St. Nazaire or Dieppe as well (the latest maybe my first try to the Editor if you guys don´t fancy doing it first)

Russo-Finnish war is also there yet to explore.

Malta is a possibility.
Scenarios like the Battle of Britain or the raids on Schweinfurt which are fought entirely with air forces was an idea, but in unfortunately in practice it plays very poorly. (Believe me I tried to make it work, but it just doesn't)

The plan is to include around 10 'official' maps with the game installer, so stay tuned!

Acererak wrote:Russo-Finnish war is also there yet to explore.

Except for the part where there is no Finnish units or flag or nation in the current edtior.

What about Market Garden?
It'd be fun to play around with the Parachuters

And about HitA: adding a few more German units would certainly not hurt.
Based upon personal experience.

I played 3 matches, Allies won all of them.

Kerensky wrote:

Acererak wrote:Russo-Finnish war is also there yet to explore.

Except for the part where there is no Finnish units or flag or nation in the current edtior.

Maybe is not too late to include them?

And I really like the Market Garden suggestion. I can see it would make for a great MP scenario. It´s also antoher very popular operation that would definitely attract gamers attention to MP.

The Frozen North now has custom a scenario map.