Slitherine

Starting a campaign with the intention of losing ... or rather following history!

That's what I did recently. I just want to play the Ardennes with my core units from 1939 instead of starting with the 1943 West campaign.


Could you imagine a "follow history" campaign mode?
I know a lot of players who did this in Panzer General. Intentionally losing or only achieving minor victories to get to a certain campaign path.

This suggested mode would require a certain minimum victory condition for you to progress but achieving major victories would not lead to the hypothetical scenarios ending with the conquest of England, Moscow or even the USA. While this removes the direct effect of your efforts on the development of the war/campaign I can see the appeal of this game mode especially for players who already played the usual mode.

The problem with intentionally losing in both Panzer General and Corps is that you don't enter the next scenarios with a battered and beaten army but a core army that is usually in a much better than expected shape. Maybe a "follow history" campaign mode could take this in account. But that sounds like a lot of work, unfortunately.

This mode could be unlocked after your first campaign victory. I know the Panzer Corps team is trying to keep the game nice and casual friendly and doesn't want to confuse new or casual players too much.

Anyways, looking forward to the Ardennes scenario!

So what you're suggesting is that marginal victories (or losses) lead to less prestige and even fewer core slots?

As you have already correctly identified, new players need MORE prestige if they lose or make marginal wins. This crutch is of course completely unhistorical, but equally obvious is that the game as a game really really needs it.

Honestly, I believe this is best handled by a custom campaign, rather than trying to make the game engine fix the current campaigns for you.


Cheers and good luck with that Ardennes Offensive,
Molve

While not a perfect solution, you can download my modded campaign, where it is very easy to follow a historical path.

You just have to restrict yourself to marginal victories all the time (just let enough rounds pass before achieving the last objective), and lose at Italy and Overlord (the 2 historical invasions, again just let the rounds pass).

So you dont have to check back every time the campaign tree, to see how you must end the scenario.
A second best solution.

Here you find the mod:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2865453

Molve:

No, I suggested nothing like that.
I was also talking about something entirely different and not about more pampering to the "fun, casual" gamer. That's your obsession and I already told you that it can end in a totally watered down experience for everyone.

I used to do it quite often in PG, always fun getting all the way to Berlin and trying to hold against the western allies and the Russians!

Haven't done it in PC yet as I'm still on my 1st campaign but I'm sure I'll try it at some point

I know what you mean I`ve done the same thing juast to play the scenario with my core units!

I am another old PG player who would lose for the reason you described. Additionally I enjoy playing as many scenarios as possible in a campaign. With that in mind I was on the lookout for modified extended campaigns for Panzer Corps. You are probably aware several have already been posted. Rezaf converted the original PG 39 campaign and maps that "replaces" the Panzer Corps 39 campaign. I am in the process of editing his campaign.pzdat to include as many scenarios as possible. The path is finished and working. I am now adjusting the prestige awards for play balance. I made the outcome of any given scenario marginal victories(for simplicity) which I will later adjust.

Once Rezaf's mod is installed all that is required is to edit the campaign path. I use MS Excel so all is lined up in columns. It is a bit tedious but not difficult. It is even possible to include Panzer Corps scenarios in the mix. It is some work but the results are well worth the effort.

If one could watch replays of some of my poorly played campaigns, one might come to the conclusion that I was purposefully trying to lose