Slitherine

Question to the devs regarding historical accuracy v gameplay for the DLC, how strict is the DLC going to follow the real outcomes of WWII from 1939-1945?

For example say in the 1942 DLC if the player wins a DV at Stalingrad and then goes on to buy the DLC 1943, which assumes the "historical" German defeat at Stalingrad and the player ends up fighting at Kursk in 1943 etc this may get a little frustrating if you are constantly winning battles but are ultimately destined to lose the war so to speak.

Obviously the main campaign offers the alternate reality route(s) but if you buy all DLC packs for the more in-depth campaign knowing that you can never secure an ultimate victory no matter how many wins you rack up then this can effect gameplay. e.g. you could score a DV in every battle from 39 to 45 and will still be backs to the wall defending Berlin in the final 45 DLC battle (that happened to me so far in the main campaign anyway ).

Not an issue so far for me, as I am still playing through the 39 DLC, where obviously Germany is historically winning but I can see it becoming more of a factor in the latter war years. I know there has been talk on the forum of additional alternate reality DLC and maybe that is the solution if that could be added to the 39-45 DLC.

I guess it is a fine line between reality and playability so I'd be interested in a dev's take on this issue.

I know why I would make a poor general in real life. I have spent so much time and so many battles with this army, I have to admit that I'm not really looking forward to watching my army slowly shred to pieces in DLC 43-45.

Such is the nature of war I suppose.

The initial plan for the first run of 7 DLC is to follow a purely historical path (other than the occasional 'bonus' scenario that can be unlocked, such as Dunkirk).
After that, well I can't really say much about the future plans at this time.
Rest assured that the system we have in place is very flexible with plenty of room for growth, so it is entirely feasible to see future content along the lines of historical battles in other threatres, campaigns as other nations, and of course ahistorical campaigns such as Sealion or USA.

Am guessing thew scenarios will turn a bit more defensive (thinkink on Demyansk).
A "nice" way to follow an historical path might be to reduce the amount of placeable core units, modelling the decreased amount of manpower and equipment of late war german army but not forcing losses to the players core units by increase difficulty.

I hope you guys do an optional "German+Western Allies vs Soviets" scenario at the end of GC45.

impar wrote:Am guessing thew scenarios will turn a bit more defensive (thinkink on Demyansk).
A "nice" way to follow an historical path might be to reduce the amount of placeable core units, modelling the decreased amount of manpower and equipment of late war german army but not forcing losses to the players core units by increase difficulty.

I hope you guys do an optional "German+Western Allies vs Soviets" scenario at the end of GC45.

I think the original PG had a core unit cap. You just plain couldn't buy any more core units in any way shape or form. You'd just end up finishing the game with a ton of prestige left.

I particularly like this comment, regarding historical accuracy of the DLC.

dshaw62197 wrote:(BTW, I want to mention something regarding the DLCs and historical accuracy: I just finished reading an article in World at War magazine that covered the Battle of the Buzra in Poland, 1939. As I read, I felt I was almost reliving the '39 DLC campaign: the Polish attack on the Buzra, especially at Piatek; the subsequent German attack that forced the Poles to retreat east into the Kampinoska Forest; the German assault on the Modlin fortress... talk about feeling like you've "exprienced" history! Had it not been for the PzC DLC I probably would never even have known most of these details. So, a hearty thanks for providing the DLCs... fun to play, and you learn something without even realizing it! )

I learned more about WW2 from board and video games when I was growing up than I ever learned in a history class.