Attn: Beta testers need GS v2.1 RC11+ feedback

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think it's important for you to post your experiences with GS v2.1 started with RC11 or later. We need feedback that the game balance is still there. Once we know it's not broken then we can inform Slitherine about the release.

My games are now in the Spring of 1940. And these are my impressions so far:

Case White:
Poland still falls in 2 turns and you can do the Scandinavian blitz. Blitz of Holland and Belgium in 1939 is slightly harder, but doable. So the conclusion is that Case White is working as intended

Case Yellow: Holland and Belgium fall in 1 turn if invaded in the Spring of 1940. The time it takes to kill France is the same as before. So Case Yellow is unaffected.

Sealion: ? I need your feedback here. Will the Polish fighter affect the Battle of Britain?

Balkans: ? I need your feedback here, but I don't foresee any change in balance.

Egypt: ? I need your feedback here. Will the reduced UK fighter strength affect the outcome of the battle of Egypt?

Barbarossa: ? I need your feedback here. How far east can you get with the Germans in 1941? What was tougher than before? Can you still rail reinforcements far enough east to help the invasion or do you have to "waste" turns to wait for rail heads / reinforcements to catch up with the main front line.

For all battle areas except Barbarossa I think we should primarily focus on whether you can still do what you did before and the result is almost the same. I expect the changes to be minor if any. For Barbarossa there WILL be changes due to RC11, but our job is to figure out if we can live with them or not.

The target for game balance in Russia in 1941 is that the Germans can get to Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov by the end of 1941 with decent play. The rail gauge rule should not make that impossible. Whether any of these cities fall or not is less important, but at least they should be threatened during 1941 so the Russians must defend there in order to save the cities.

Another important question we need answer to is where are the German rail heads when the severe winter begins? Are they close enough so the Germans can use truck supply to stay at supply level 4 if the front line is from Leningrad to Moscow to Rostov? If not how long does it take to get at least truck supply for the front line. Did the Germans have to withdraw from the front line because of supply level 3 there (same as they did when we had limited supply range in 1939-1941)?

If the Germans get past the Leningrad-Moscow-Rostov line then we should expect them to suffer from being out of rail / truck supply, but we would like to know how hard it was to break the main Russian line and if it's possible for the Germans to hold the advanced position through the severe winter or they get squashed.

We need this data to adjust the truck range values in general.txt if it's necessary. The range is now: 6 (clear), 2 (mud), 4 (winter), 2 (severe winter German), 4 (sever winter Russian). We don't have to replay to set new values. We can simply analyze the games and figure out what the change would need to be. Probably we won't have to change them, but it could be the values need some increase. Mainly the clear range if the Germans struggle to get supply level 4 in August / September when pushing for Moscow and Rostov.

So your feedback now is very important to get GS v2.1 finalized and released to the public. If you haven't reported about your games before then NOW is the time.

[Cybvep]

So the conclusion is that Case White is working as intended

I agree. Poland falls in 2 turns in 99% of cases and only REALLY bad luck can change that, so I think that it's properly balanced.

Sealion: ? I need your feedback here. Will the Polish fighter affect the Battle of Britain?

Landing in GB and taking coastal cities is surprisingly easy if you have good subs and air units. Capturing London/Liverpool takes some time, but it's ok. For me the real pain in the ass is the mopping up phase AFTER southern GB is conquered, as bad weather and rough hexes can slow you down considerably. However, my (limited) experiences with the Sea Lion were similar in the previous versions.

I will answer other questions later once I collect more data.

[rkr1958]

Here's a summary from the 9 samples that I've gotten from recent games. If you email me your German losses I'll include them in them in this rollup.

By the way, the one "red" data point if from my recent game with Borger.

[JimR]

With RC11+ Poland usually falls in two turns. The one time it took (me) three turns was bad luck and/or less than optimal German tactics.

[Blathergut]

I think bad things can happen in Poland if the northern mech unit is not used to hit the Polish INF along with the fighter in order to maximize chances of retreating it. If the Germans use the INF instead, there is a much greater chance the Poles won't retreat and then problems begin to compound themselves. If the mech retreats the Poles north towards Danzig, the two German INF have a chance (slim but there) of destroying the Polish garrison unit and that opens up the approach south to the German panzer unit.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I think bad things can happen in Poland if the northern mech unit is not used to hit the Polish INF along with the fighter in order to maximize chances of retreating it. If the Germans use the INF instead, there is a much greater chance the Poles won't retreat and then problems begin to compound themselves. If the mech retreats the Poles north towards Danzig, the two German INF have a chance (slim but there) of destroying the Polish garrison unit and that opens up the approach south to the German panzer unit.

I use a strategy where I don't rely upon dislodging the Polish corps in the north. Since we changed the map in Germany it means both German panzers in the south can reach Warsaw if Lodz is taken. So I send a tac bomber to Lodz and hit it with 3 ground attacks. Then I use another air unit to clear Lodz if it didn't fall. If Lodz falls I can attack Warsaw with 2 armor attacks.

So I use the panzer and mech in the north to just kill the Polish corps and cut off the other corps near the Prussian border. I move the mech and armor in a position where they end up adjacen to Danzig so they can be railed on turn 2 to the Danish border.

[Morris]

Case White:
Poland still falls in 2 turns and you can do the Scandinavian blitz. Blitz of Holland and Belgium in 1939 is slightly harder, but doable. So the conclusion is that Case White is working as intended

Case Yellow: Holland and Belgium fall in 1 turn if invaded in the Spring of 1940. The time it takes to kill France is the same as before. So Case Yellow is unaffected.

.

Quite right for your conclusion of Case white & yellow . We will see what will happen in Russia .