Slitherine

BrucErik CSD Studio has put together a Continuation War 1941 campaign. Please beta test it and provide us with your comments and suggestions.

Cool DTA, what can I say besides "thank you" once again? I am sure glad that: 1) You hail from Finland; 2) You play OOB; 3) You participate here in the forums, and; 4) You were willing to provide all that expert assistance in developing Winter War 1939, Winter War 1940, and Continuation War 1941. All three of these campaigns are so much better because 1) through 4) were true.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_SpJQ ... sp=sharing

The image file needs to be converted to 817x485 to display properly in 8.4.1.
I've cropped/rescaled the image and put a version in your folder.

Campaign:
Waffen SS should start with zero spec points to reflect the green troops.
I made this adjustment before starting the beta.

I'm blushing because of all that praise for such a small contribution but thanks, Bru. I hope someday Slitherine/Artistocrats do the same for OoB that was done to Strategic Command -> publish an official Community Pack. Headed by the high quality products of BrucErik CSD Studio of course.

01Salla:

Great scenario!

Here are several points:

1. The most difficult sec obj to achieve, I think, it's to not lose ANY single SS unit, considering that for more than the first half of the scenario we have to rely mainly on them... It would be more comfortable for the player if he must instead not lose more than 1 SS unit (I've lost only one, during the 17th turn): like this, the player would still be under pressure, he would still have to preserve his units, but he could sustain a little mistake or a little unluck without too much consequences!

2. I really like events as the "Panzer Abteilung 40"... but then, there is no Panzer I nor Panzer II tank at all (and we can't buy any either). So, for coherence, what about spawning one aux Pz I unit and one aux Pz II unit with the corresponding name (i.e. "Panzer Abteilung 40")? Of course with the area of spawning directly highlighted when this event occurs... And of course, please, under the Germany flag and NOT the SS flag, or else it's directly more like a poisoned gift (seeing point 1)!
(Besides, although these new tanks won't probably affect much the battle anyway, it's nice due to the "rookie"/recruits aspect... otherwise not represented because the player can start with some of the best available units. )

3. You know what? I've tried to deploy some Ski troops - excellent!

4. Maybe when the Finns finally show up, what about allowing the player to use one or two recon plane(s)?

5. I've started with largely enough specs pts (importing a Finnish core army), but the "Drop Tank" and "Scrambling" specs are still blocked for Finland?

6. No reward in terms of RP if the commander is already available?
For Germany or SS, it shouldn't be a problem anyway, because I assume that the only core army that one can import within this campaign is the Finnish core from Winter War 1940... But then we should have already tons of specs pts (mainly useless for Finland) and certainly this commander as well, which means actually no more meaningful reward if this sec obj is achieved. -> So, what about adding maybe a 50 or 100 RP reward IF the player already has this Finnish commander?

7. And finally a very little detail => brief. 1/4: "Only advance elements of [...]" => "advance" or rather "advanced"?


Thanks, carry on the good work!

Thanks, guys. Please keep going. Same procedure as WW40: I will monitor the thread but will not necessarily directly reply. All comments and suggestions will be considered and acted upon eventually. In the meantime, I will work on WW40, which seems to have run its course in beta, so that we can release that one officially.

Erik2 wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 8:38 am The image file needs to be converted to 817x485 to display properly in 8.4.1.
I've cropped/rescaled the image and put a version in your folder.

Got it, thanks. Interesting. That sizing conforms to these ideals that we came up with by experience and reviewing official DLC:


Yet, the game up until now has had the ability to resize pics and show them as intended IF they are approximately in the same proportions as those shown above. That is why I didn't know there was in a problem because I am still using version 8.3.0. This is how it looked to me with the original pic:


Are you saying that the game has lost this resizing ability in 8.4.1? One more thing on the list of bugs, then.

The edited image looks virtually the same to me in 8.3.0 but it's now in the campaign, regardless:


That second fellow from the right in the foreground, carrying his rifle so casually, makes me smile. Not that these soldiers were marching in formation, but this guy looks unusually relaxed and carefree. I hope he made it through the wars in good shape.

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 2:48 pm Thanks, carry on the good work!

Will do, Colonel. Work on Free France has begun, if I am not mistaken by a peek into Erik's folders on our shared Dropbox account. It is our next project in the BrucErik Studio.

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 2:48 pm 6. No reward in terms of RP if the commander is already available?
For Germany or SS, it shouldn't be a problem anyway, because I assume that the only core army that one can import within this campaign is the Finnish core from Winter War 1940... But then we should have already tons of specs pts (mainly useless for Finland) and certainly this commander as well, which means actually no more meaningful reward if this sec obj is achieved. -> So, what about adding maybe a 50 or 100 RP reward IF the player already has this Finnish commander?

Yes, I got a bit lazy perhaps in this one. I did that in WW40 so maybe I should do so here.

But it will be 50 RPs, not 100. Erik and I had a discussion about initial RPs in terms of how much to give and how soon. He is less kind than I am, although I believe we tend to even out in the end; that is, he gives less up front than I do but awards more later. With me, it is the reverse. On the other hand, my rewards in WW40 have been 100 at at time and that may be excessive. I believe Erik had the right criteria for RP bonus awards: 50.

One thing that we have always agreed upon was RP income: 1 RP per unit, per turn. From a survey that I conducted, and Erik's experience in his own work, that seems to be the Golden Rule.

The 1 RP pr unit pr turn is good for early-year scenarios.
When we get to, say 1943 and later, the cost of repair and upgrading warrants 2-4 RPs.

01Salla:

Waffen SS core:
Inf/truck x12, hvy inf/truck x2, eng/truck x2, 232 8Rad x2, PzIIIJ x2, PzIVF1 x2, PzJg IB x4, SturmPz I x2
I went with the historical trucked units. I usually provide command points and resources for infantry without transports (except maybe hvy inf and eng). The reason is that players will usually trade 3 transports for 1 more infantry. With the movement rates of leg inf, who can blame them...

Wehrmacht core:
Inf x3, eng x1, PzIIIJ x1, PzIVF1 x1 Stug IIID x1, SturmPz I x2

The Pz Abt 40 message may not be accurate depending on what the player choose to purchase for the Wehrmacht faction. An alternative could be to provide these units as a fixed core and deduct the resources.

It was difficult to avoid the Soviets killing one Waffen SS unit, at least if you wanted to stop the enemy at the original frontline. I think this should change to 'not losing more than 2 SS units".

Quite a bloody, but balanced scenario. It ended with a number of Wehrmach and Waffen SS casualties.

I uploaded a version 0.91 just now with Erik's revised campaign image and another popup message in Karhumäki inspired by a photo that Cool provided.

bru888 wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 4:15 pm That second fellow from the right in the foreground, carrying his rifle so casually, makes me smile. Not that these soldiers were marching in formation, but this guy looks unusually relaxed and carefree. I hope he made it through the wars in good shape.

Hope he did indeed. An excellent choice for a campaign image.

bru888 wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 4:18 pm

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 2:48 pm Thanks, carry on the good work!

Will do, Colonel. Work on Free France has begun, if I am not mistaken by a peek into Erik's folders on our shared Dropbox account. It is our next project in the BrucErik Studio.

Simply wonderful!

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 7:46 pm

bru888 wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 4:18 pm

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 2:48 pm Thanks, carry on the good work!

Will do, Colonel. Work on Free France has begun, if I am not mistaken by a peek into Erik's folders on our shared Dropbox account. It is our next project in the BrucErik Studio.

Simply wonderful!

Not to hold it for ransom, but your continued testing of Continuation War 1941 would put us designers in the best possible mood for creating Free France. Do you take my meaning, sir? ( - double winks)

Yope, I'm on it! It's a pleasure, by the way!

02Kuolajarvi:

An interessant scenario, that's for sure, but right now too difficult, I think.

One of the biggest difficulty here is that the enemy flanking forces will retreat when severely beaten, then relatively quickly replenish and reorganize before appearing again on our back if we've advanced...
And shall we decide to pursue them, through dense forests (!), then our units will become disorganized, thus less effective and, anyway, very delayed from reaching the primary objectives to capture...

Therefore, I suggest: slightly reducing the Soviet income + adding more turns (maybe even up to 6! - yes, I know it's quite a lot!) + maybe change the pri obj to capture at least 3 of the 4 cap pts (and so no longer force the "4/4"; indeed, these "Crossroads" are relatively far away)...

Moreover:

-> Having seen the briefing, I would have found nice to have a sec obj related to the capture of the Hotel... But right now anyway, I think that there is no chance at all to even (safely) reach its surroundings , so...

-> Issue with sec obj counter: "do not lose any Wehrmacht unit"... is considered as failed at the beginning of the third turn, even after having sustained no loss at all!

-> What about letting us the recon plane as free aux unit? It may be useful later as well...

-> Reward: a Finnish ace, only? What about adding, again, the famous 50 RP reward in case this commander is already available?

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 2:48 pm 5. I've started with largely enough specs pts (importing a Finnish core army), but the "Drop Tank" and "Scrambling" specs are still blocked for Finland?

Okay, I've unlocked them before the third scenario, so there is no real issue here!

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2020 9:31 am -> Reward: a Finnish ace, only? What about adding, again, the famous 50 RP reward in case this commander is already available?

Yes, I have committed to them here as I did in WW40. No rest for the weary, though. ( )

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2020 9:31 am 5. I've started with largely enough specs pts (importing a Finnish core army), but the "Drop Tank" and "Scrambling" specs are still blocked for Finland?

Correct; those are based on availability dates coming due during the year, I believe.

02Kuolajarvi:

Waffen SS core:
Inf x6, PzIIIJ x2, PzIVF1 x2

Wehrmach core:
Inf x1, eng x1 ,PzIIIJ x1, PzIVF1 x1, StugIIID x1, SturmPz x1

Finnish core:
Buffalo x1, Ju88 x1

I think there should an alternative air deployment hex next to the air exit.

Overall a very difficult scenario.
You need to protect your flanks at all times and make sure supply is not cut off behind your lines as your troops progress slowly. If you rush it, you'll get hurt.
This also means that 18 turns are too short, I would probably have needed at least 24 turns.
Having the supply cut a couple of times meant that the whole offensive grinded to a halt.
So I bailed on turn 17 and nuked my way to the next scenario.

03Bengtskar:

A magnificent scenario, which also brings a certain novelty to these Finnish campaigns.


For this one, I have mainly two suggestions:

1. What about adding some real observers?
Brief. 2/5: "[...] our observer on Eteläsaari reported sightings to his west. [...] None of our other observers on Lilla Bengtskär and the other outlying islands have detected any activity."
So, for the flavor and maybe some more visibility for our coastal guns, what about adding some aux Marine Scouts (put under the Finnish flag, of course): maybe 1 unit on Eteläsaari, another unit on Lilla Bengtskär (this one useless, except for the flavor) and a last one in the pine trees on the easternmost island.

2. What about adding directly between 100 to 150 RP?
No, no , I know you have already made some calculations for this and so on, but I think that I actually do have a good reason for this one!
Let me explain this... Well, look: it's "only" the second scenario involving Finnish land forces... so, if the player has unlocked (as old core units) the tanks and some of its artillery pieces during the first scenario (as I did ), then he's screwed because these units can't be placed on this map (which is logical, by the way) but then the player doesn't have enough new RP to buy/unlock enough infantry units to make the best use of the 25 LCP available... => !
For my test, I've given myself 200 extra RP, so at least 100 to 150 may be really nice or even required! So, this explains that.

And then two smaller points:

-> Again, commander or (if already, etc. ) the 50 RP...

-> Brief. 4/5: "A battalion of coastal jaegars"... Well, I think it's actually of "jaegers", according to the other texts (unit name, event descr, obj descr).