Operation EPSOM (6)

[enric]

After buying units I expected a deployment phase.
At the start the flags are Allied controlled this is very odd because they are in German controlled tiles.
The 88, in place, in a light fortifications, fired and missed and missed, the moving Shermans advancing and firing killed most of them in the first engaging turn.
The moving Panther but, never misses a shot, maybe is the random, but maybe there is something different, no?.
The STUKA ZU fub don't create any explosions effects in indirect fire.
16 Shermans's 4 Firefly, 2 Sherman 105, 10 Crowwell, but nothing more, no support units, what is the purpose of the German MG's, and the Infantry, no my style, I'm sorry found bored shoot them game.

[enric]

(new beta)

42,36 a sand bag with no protection, cover rating 35%, the gun is facing in the opposite side.
45, 33 the flag, after an allied unit takes the tile still shows the German Flag.

[citizen6]

I found this stage a bit like Enric. After the initial shock of the mass onslaught, the AI failed badly and it wasn't really a challenge. Also the Allied infantry appears AFTER the tanks. This is not historical for close terrain combat. Tanks need infantry support and so they need to advance together. Also the 88mm has the same range as the tanks - not realistic. Maybe a couple less 88mm needed but increase the range to 10 so they can engage first. The AI kept moving the tanks back and forth across the field of fire to attack whichever 88 got the last hit in, again and again exposing their flank and rear to other 88s. So after a quick initial success against the first line of 88s the tanks never got any further. As it turned out I never needed half the equipment I had. And I too would have preferred to lay out my own fields of fire rather then use the default positions.

I also had the 42,36 sandbag driven over by a tank.
The defend 6 VP achievement didn't flag - I only lost one and then regained it.
The save an 88 achievement didn't flag and I had 3 (incl the Pak43) left.

Mac Version

[enric]

kill tanks in x turns don't seems a logical achievement when you are at defensive waiting for the tanks, it seems that you should go for them.
"Reinforcement have arrived showed" with an Air plane, and the zoom goes to a different place from were they appear.

[enric]

M5 icon still flicker into garbage

flicker can be reduced putting the cursor over a M5 (target) and moving the cursor on the tile where the M5 is placed.

[GottaLove88s]

Saludos Enric! The flickering M5, where it flashes between the usual icon and the blue mesh (that implies the icon is missing somehow) appears to be a fault of the current game engine, not the extension... I get that even when I'm not playing the Rommel campaign... Mac OSX...

[enric]

Saludos Enric! The flickering M5, where it flashes between the usual icon and the blue mesh (that implies the icon is missing somehow) appears to be a fault of the current game engine, not the extension... I get that even when I'm not playing the Rommel campaign... Mac OSX...

Thanks, I know that, I posted time ago, but I think it should be fixed and for this reason I'm indicating it in each scenario.
It happens also in others units icons, but no as frequently as with the M5.
Don't think is an engine issue, probably a texture, .s4f, or something like that I do not know nothing about graphics 3D.

[GottaLove88s]

Thanks for your persistence, Enric... Texture sounds likely...

[pipfromslitherine]

It's not something we can repeat here (as you say, it's been reported intermittently for a while). Is there any pattern at all (e.g. where the mouse cursor is, etc). The point is that the texture shouldn't be changing so how is it finding a missing one...

Perhaps I will add in some extra debugging in the next beta version to try and track it down.

Cheers

Pip

[enric]

The clue is the M5, has it happens always with it, even as target or as unit.

[enric]

I just tried again now, and you don't need to move the cursor, just place it over the unit and wait, the flickering will begin soon.
Maybe it is only a Mac issue, but the odd is that only happens in this units (always).
More, when is the selected unit, it flicker even if the cursor is over another unit.

[enric]

And the latest clue.

If you have no unit selected, and put the cursor over the M5 it do NOT flickers at all.
Remember this issue also happens in the M8 which seems to have a similar icon image, maybe this is another clue.

[pipfromslitherine]

Just a note to say that the additional debugging didn't make it into 2.2.2, but we will aim to include it in the next beta version.

Cheers

Pip

[mattymo]

(Mac ß2.2.2)

Seems extremely challenging if not impossible to get the 5 tanks within 4 turns without a deployment mode.

Generally, a very challenging scenario that's perhaps a bit large and thus overly long. But, given it's challenge I still found it enjoyable.

[citizen6]

It is impossible to get 5 tanks in 4 turns. The armour doesn't even come into view of my forward scouts until turn 4 and are still well outside ATG range. I still think the 88s need range=10 or 12 so that they can engage before the tanks can. This would be more accurate historically. Every time I engage I get such a volley of counterfire that the 88 dies straight away. Even if I let the tanks go past first. I might be lucky and get 1 hit (maybe) before dying. Defeats the point of having 88s - might as well have PAK40s as they are harder to hit. The infantry need to move up with the tanks - not 4-5 turns behind them. The two waves makes it too easy to deal with. Infantry and tanks together would be much harder.
I would also like to deploy my own stuff. Putting 88s in the front line is pointless and was rarely done historically as their main advantage was the long lines of fire. I would happily trade 1-2 88s for these things to make it a bit fairer for the AI.

[JMass]

I just finished Operation Epsom (PC 2.2.4) on hard settings, I lost two flags but I regained them, i was not able to get 5 tanks in 4 turns. Until now I found missions a little easier than Sicily ones.