Meeting with Ivan

[timek28]

I've just finished Allied Corps. The game was almost awesome as original Panzer Corps. Why I say almost. Well, the feeling of playing with allies is completely different then the one of playing with Germans. Allies lack real Tank power, while they excel in aerial power. Although there is really not a single allied plane capable of Ju87G HA 14 needed to tackle German armor effectively.

I have one question. In the final mission (well one of possible final missions), I leave Berlin to Soviets and we meet at the Elbe river bridge. There is the Ivan soviet infantry (which is pretty nice move by developers in the no passing zone. The briefing says I should avoid conflict with Soviets. However I intentionally shot the Ivan Soviet infantry and destroyed it trying to provoke conflict or play next mission. The game ended and everything was OK despite me provoking Soviets. What is the meaning than if the briefing says not to do that? Also there are some exit hexes for Germans in the southeast of the map. What is this meant to be? This two things confuse me and tell me that there is possibility for an additional mission maybe?

And one more thing. Maybe some ending animation or video would not be bad. Or at least credits or something. Plain text of few lines with satisfactory sentences is somehow unfulfilling after such a long effort by the player.

All in all great game. I'm looking forward to anything new you guys throw out that has to do with Panzer Corps. Now I'm maybe going to try out some mods, and multi player eventually )

[Egge]

Well, such a war against the USSR would result in total defeat for the Western Allies. After all, there were plans to attack the Soviet Union but those plans were deemed hazardous even if German troops were to support the attack.
Please check Wikipedia "Operation Unthinkable". I am sorry, I can't link directly. I'm too new on the forum.


Then again, a successful attack of the Western Allies on the USSR isn't any more unrealistic than a successful German Invasion of Amerca.

[ThvN]

I've just finished Allied Corps. The game was almost awesome as original Panzer Corps. Why I say almost. Well, the feeling of playing with allies is completely different then the one of playing with Germans. Allies lack real Tank power, while they excel in aerial power. Although there is really not a single allied plane capable of Ju87G HA 14 needed to tackle German armor effectively.

I like the Allied airforce more than the German one. Sure, the Germans have more specialized units which excel in some niches, but the Ju 87 is very vulnerable, so it will rarely be able to use its HA 13 (the non-SE Ju 87G has 'only' HA 13). And there are some hidden gems in the Allied lineup: if you need an Allied tankbuster, check out the Halifax Mk. III...

You're right about the armour, if not for the Churchill an average player would really struggle against late-war German tanks. But the Allied self-propelled artillery is very good, which helps a lot.

I have one question. In the final mission (well one of possible final missions), I leave Berlin to Soviets and we meet at the Elbe river bridge. There is the Ivan soviet infantry (which is pretty nice move by developers in the no passing zone. The briefing says I should avoid conflict with Soviets. However I intentionally shot the Ivan Soviet infantry and destroyed it trying to provoke conflict or play next mission. The game ended and everything was OK despite me provoking Soviets. What is the meaning than if the briefing says not to do that? Also there are some exit hexes for Germans in the southeast of the map. What is this meant to be? This two things confuse me and tell me that there is possibility for an additional mission maybe?

If I remember correctly, for a Triumph you need to leave Ivan alone, because if he is not in his hex, you cannot get more than a 'Victory' result.

And one more thing. Maybe some ending animation or video would not be bad. Or at least credits or something. Plain text of few lines with satisfactory sentences is somehow unfulfilling after such a long effort by the player.

Well, yes, it's a bit unceremonial right now, but the first thing I disable in any game is any intros, so I'm very biased. In fact, I would happily trade any intros or animations for more content. But I wouldn't be surprised if more people felt similarly unfulfilled after beating the game.

All in all great game. I'm looking forward to anything new you guys throw out that has to do with Panzer Corps. Now I'm maybe going to try out some mods, and multi player eventually )

There are many exellent mods, be sure to check them out, many nice campaigns to help you through the summer: viewtopic.php?f=147&t=39055

Well, such a war against the USSR would result in total defeat for the Western Allies. After all, there were plans to attack the Soviet Union but those plans were deemed hazardous even if German troops were to support the attack.
Please check Wikipedia "Operation Unthinkable". I am sorry, I can't link directly. I'm too new on the forum.

Then again, a successful attack of the Western Allies on the USSR isn't any more unrealistic than a successful German Invasion of Amerca.

Yes, Churchill really didn't like Stalin, and here's the link you mean, for those who are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable For me the strangest part of the plan was the idea to re-activate German divisions to help fight the Sovjets... But the biggest considerations with this type of crazy schemes are usually political, not military. Extending the war would have caused support for the (democratic) leadership to quickly crumble, which was also one of the main concerns about this little 'what-if' operation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall

BTW, I disagree with your prediction of the outcome being a 'total defeat for the Western Allies', but since this sort of 'what-if' topic quickly can turn ugly, I'll just mention a couple of things for everyone to consider, like logistics and air superiority. And I'm not saying who would 'win', as I think there would only have been losers. But that is one of the nice things about this game, I can happily play the most ludicrous scenarios (like, how did all these Germans swim across in 1945?) and still complain about 'unrealistic' outcomes.

[timek28]

THvN thanks for the mods link! I'm already playing one and it is beyond great! ))

Although some cities are named just "City"but that isn't much of a problem

Regarding everything else - thanks for the thorough info on historical facts. Also, I don't see what difference in victory of triumph makes killing or not killing Ivan, as the game ends anyways - but that isn't that important. I will try out Halifax III. Isn't that supposed to be a strategic bomber? I rarely use those, and cannot comprehend how strategic bomber is supposed to be a tank buster?

[bebro]

Well, yes, it's a bit unceremonial right now, but the first thing I disable in any game is any intros, so I'm very biased. In fact, I would happily trade any intros or animations for more content. But I wouldn't be surprised if more people felt similarly unfulfilled after beating the game.

To jump in here, end sequences could be nice, but would probably get old fast. One thing I miss from the PG series is the general's dossier though, with your performances throughout the campaign. Maybe some kind of rating too...

[timek28]

BTW is there a mod here that doesn't use the "default" PC engine - where AI spawns units in cities just to annoy you and to stop you in a cheap way? AK and AC as well as DLCs didn't use this model and it was great, however the GTPG mod (fist and pretty awesome based on first few missions) uses this model. So now in Westerplate battle I'm having to move through re-spawning Poles who are on the island. This makes no sense from the logical standpoint. How are new units supposed to appear on isolated island? And moreover, AI replaces it's units with ease although it is the Poles we are talking about. Also although the battle historically included 200 polish soldiers against some 3500 German,it seems that there is a whole Polish division on that island with 2 light cruisers. 2 submarines, air support (5 aircraft), several fort, tanks (5-6 tanks) and 2 armored trains?! I guess this is more a question for the modders then in general section though...

[bebro]

AFAIk unit spamming wasn't very popular which may be the reason why it's not in AK and later. In vanilla it might be even more serious now since the AI didn't switch at the start. Now if the Russian AI suddenly comes up with two or three 85mm AA around a VH in 1941/42 it's a much more serious thing since the AI can and does switch to AT unless you wipe them out instantly.

Hard to say which mod has this or not - best to ask the creators explicitly.

[timek28]

THvN - do you have any information which mod uses AK or AC engine or later? I'm playing GTPG mod which is really brilliant but unit spawning makes it a brutal and nerve wracking experience. To illustrate here is a screen-shot of what I mean (Norway scenario) - open image in separate window to view it as whole:



I love this game, but this is ridiculous... Bah I'll keep playing anyways...

[bebro]

I assume it is not related to the engine post-AK, but rather to scenario design which simply changed over time. If the AI has free unit slots and enough prestige it will buy more stuff in a scenario. Seems these params were set just more generous in vanilla, but later more restricted. You can check and edit all of this in the editor for each scn, btw..

(could also change with difficulty where it influences prestige)

[timek28]

So engine wasn't changed but AI prestige and free slots? Maybe game designer should verify this?

Than I might try playing on lower difficulty, colonel for example... I have no intention of changing already made mods. I just ask if there are some mods where this was done already, meaning AI doesn't have 20 free slots so it can Spam defenses left and right. It is especially problematic here in Nowray as there is rough terrain and rivers all around, and AI has in one place 6 AA, 6 AR and around 8 infantry units.

I might try to circumvent this by dropping my paratroopers next to city hexes as well as to move my tanks to cities ASAP (if there is no other campaign that doesn't have this problem).

[nikivdd]

The designer verified and uploaded an update of the mod

[bebro]

The designer to the rescue!