WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

I recently noticed that there is no Soviet Campaign.
Well consider that one wrong righted.

As always, this is very much WIP, so I need your feedback to perfect it.

Latest version on page 5.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Did anybody try it? Or is nobody interested in the poor Russians? :)

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

I'll give it a try... But it might be awhile before I post.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

The theme is even more boring that there was a Russian campaign to a very old version of Spww2.
I will try with this fun campaign, but I have no time right now.
Patience for the feedback
Regards
Yves

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

You mean the setting is boring? :confused:

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

He seems to be saying the "theme" is boring since there was already a Soviet scenario in an older SPWW2 variant. But then describing it as a "fun campaign" contradicts that. No doubt something got lost in translation.

Anyway lemme give it a try and I'll get back to you. Cheerio.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

I apologize for my poor English, Ts4EVER.

I mean it is a pity that there is now no Russian campaign when it was one russian campaign in an old version of Spww2. I had fun playing it as I took pleasure in playing your campaign Kampfgruppe Weber.
Jivemi understood that there was a problem with the translation, but I admit I did not notice the error in my answer. Again my apologies.
Regards
Yves

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

No problem. Well now it is my turn to apologize, because I noticed there is quite a big mistake in scenario 3. So please, rather test this fixed version of the campaign.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Don't worry about it Yves. I apologize for not being able to speak French. Your enthusiasm and contributions to the forum are much appreciated. Cheers, Jon :)

@Ts4EVER: Just finished the first battle. Managed to get a DV with the loss of one tank--a T-34/85 [Ouch!]--and a support squad. Was pleasantly surprised to find enough repair points to not only fix the tank, but upgrade some trucks to armored cars and halftracks. Thank you!

The German trenches seemed sparsely populated but I suppose static defenses made up for it. Was fortunate to find a roundabout approach for my armor that allowed some enfilade on the German counterattack; otherwise results might not have been so favorable. However it was still necessary to stun them with artillery and move in with both infantry and tanks before finishing them off. Overall :up:.

Glad you posted the revision. I'll install it before continuing.
Wish me luck.

As always I'm much obliged for your scenarios and campaigns. Someday I might even be able to escape from the Halbe Pocket :(!

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Just downloaded and applied the new files. Will start this up now.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Okay, I play a lot of campaigns and the first (serious) issues is that the Russian A0 is a T-34, this is bad. One shot and the HQ could be dead and the CG over. Most all CG have the A0 as a Infantry HQ. I suggest the same.

If you loose your HQ in a CG it's all over.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Not sure what the point of the first scenario is. Its an easy win, and a no move no fire thing.

On the second scenario and I like the way the map is portrayed and the line up. So far got my engineers up to the RR bridge and attempting to remove the obstacles. Two of my T-34's are damaged to those AT Gun Pillboxes.

Made a mistake on one trench line and am getting chewed up.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

The first scenario is no contest because you can't have auxiliary forces in the first scenario. So I throw in a "filler" scenario to get that out of the way.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Russia needs me. Here I am.
- Tvardovsky


- - - - - - - - - - - - -

SPOILERS - - SPOILERS - - SPOILERS - - SPOILERS

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Note: I'm going to write up a little fun story about the Motherland's finest in the core when testing it, and practice my drawing a bit, just for fun. Skip to the end of the post(s) for the scenario summary...



Scen 00 - “Tour de force”

Lt. Col Gubenko stepped out into the sunlight. The brightness of the sun hurt his eyes. He had a foul taste in his mouth. Thirst troubled him. And on top of everything else a head-ache made his life miserable.
- F**king f**k, he sighed.

http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/836/2ear.png (Lt.Col Gubenko)

In front of the small peasant house where Gubenko had spent the night stood Major Shushkevich. Tidy, as always, Shushkevich stood there with I triumphant grin.
- Group assembled, as ordered, he said without saluting.
Gubenko felt a bit like a slob. Damn Shushevich, he always had had a knack for a smart appearance, even in the field. The two of them went back a long way. Tank school at Tjeljabinsk. Stalingrad. Ponary. The Ukraine. Their regiment had been all but wiped out and the survivors brought back, moved north and reorganised into a new unit.
It was that unit that stood lined up.
Awaiting orders.
Gubenko and Shushevich, and a handful of others were all that remained of the old unit. Most were new faces. Most had not seen the front yet.

The troops were assembled in companies. First the tankers. These were Shushkevich’s men. The crews of the ten T-34s – sleek, robust, powerful machines - some armed with 85mm guns. They were Gubenko’s hard fist.

Next Makarov and his mortarmen.
Makarov was an gorilla-like man with university background. Mathematics. A lot of the mortarmen looked strong and sturdy. They had trucks to move around their 82mm mortars but it still took a strong fellow to manhandle the tubes, base plate and all that other stuff.

Finally there was Dolya and his crowd. Captain Peretz Davidovich Dolya was of small size but one of the most able and driven officers Gubenko had ever seen. Dolya was an old hand, from the original unit. He never talked much about himself but it was known all of his family had been trapped behind German lines in the summer of 1941.
The company behind him was a mixed bag. It included two motorised rifle platoons of mostly untried men. There was an engineer platoon, also motorised.
Then there was Beregovoy’s circus.

Danila Beregovoy met Gubenko’s gaze with a small nod of recognition that said “we are ready”. Beregovoy had little education - but he was intelligent, ambitious and had limited respect for authority. In war he was a great asset, in civilian life he had probably been a criminal. Outside a small ravaged village in the Ukraine last summer, Beregovoy had saved Gubenko’s bacon. Beregovoy had also supplied the HQ section with the vodka that accounted for Gubenko’s present state of thirst and head-ache. Beregovoy commanded the Recon Platoon, a collection of thugs with two unusual vehicles - one a western type, one a captured fascist half-track.

At the very end stood the Ukrainian Lyashenko with his driver. Sargeant Lyashenko was the artillery forward observer, one of the most important men in the unit. He was new to the unit but had been at the front for more than a year.

- Very good, said Gubenko to Shushkevich. Dismiss them. Ready to march; one hour.

-----

("Filler" scenario)

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Scen 01 - "Breakthrough"

June 24, 1944…

Gubenko received the signal from Dolya. “Ready to jump off.”

Infantry had been in action all morning fighting in the marshland on both sides of the railroad Gubenko had been tasked with opening. In this area the railroad embankment was the only suitable land where his vehicles could advance. His plan was simple. While artillery fire targeted the German trenches in depth his own mortars would lay down smoke to cover Beregovoy leading the Recon and Engineer platoons who where to clear German obstacles on two rail road bridges close to their jump off point. Once cleared he would send Shushkevich’s tanks punching through the German defences. He did assume the Germans would also have the bridges mined but did not expect them to have deployed many more mines. Fritz believed in mobility, not minefields.

(Turns 1-5)
In between the sound of exploding 152 and 122mm artillery shells Beregovoy could hear the racket of infantry weapons – particularly the fearsome rapid chatter of Hitler’s Saw. He hated that particular sound. A curtain of smoke, fired from Makarov’s mortars, obscured them from enemy view as his men and those of Dmitirienko’s engineers raced forward to the bridges mounted in the trucks of the Engineers.
At the bridge they dismounted and quickly cleared the German obstacles, crossed to the other side of the stream and advanced along the railroad.
It didn’t take them long before they discovered a solid belt of mines.
Damn it, Beregovoy thought. We’ll need more smoke.
Dmitrienko was on his engineers like an angry bee.
Faster, faster, faster!
If they were could out here one the smoke lifted it wouldn’t be pretty.

From the German trenches Beregovoy could hear the sound of heavy fighting.

(Turns 6-10)
Gubenko sat in his command tank with a hand drawn sketch of the area in his lap. He did not have a proper map. The infantry companies had penetrated into the enemy trenches and reported success. Dmitrienko and his engineers were working hard and had and had almost breached a path trough the obstacles and it seemed as if he would accomplish his task without great difficulty when a signal from the forward element came in:
Urgent! Enemy counterattack! Assault guns. Company strength. Request tank support, end!
With a curse Gubenko immediately radioed Shushkevich.
“Storm 3-3-3! End!”
With a roar Shushkevich’s tank company moved out along the railroad.
It was too soon.

(Turns 11-20)
Alexander Popitich could see nothing from his tank as he followed the tank in front straight into the smoke. ‘Do as I do’ was the only advice his platoon leader had given before moving out. This was Popitich’s first battle. It was also the first battle for everyone in his crew. He commanded the third T-34/85 in the lead platoon – the only platoon in the company equipped with the newer T-34 model. The others all had older type T-34s with less advanced communication and less powerful armament. He had great faith in his machine but he felt extremely vulnerable as he moved forward into the smoke. He caught a glimpse of friendly troops on the ground, engineers, as the tank raced forward along the railroad track. Things were happening very fast.
Without warning the tank in front opened fire and about a hundred meters away something exploded almost immediately, a sudden bright light in the gray-black smoke. A few seconds passed and his tank lumbered forward passing a burning German assault gun.
Then, amongst the smoke, barely visible, he saw the next one.
Over the internal communication he ordered.
“Quick stop!”
The driver responded without delay. The tank came to a halt. Good man!
“Target tank! 100! Fire!”
The gunner fired too quick. It was close but the armour piercing round went high.
“Again! Armour piercing – Fire!”
The shot landed on the enemy vehicle front, next to the man gun. Popitich saw the impact. It was a clear hit. A jubilant shout left his throat. Burn fascist!
“Driver forward! Loader, armour piercing!”
Their own tank began moving again, coming abreast with the other two tanks in his platoon. They passed only meters away from the German victim. Popitich could see that it was not a tank, but another German assault gun. It was burning. It did not seem as if anyone had gotten out.
Then, just in front, next to a half razed barn, only 50 meters away, stood yet another German assault gun.
“Quick stop!”

http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/809/d0hk.png (Popitich entering the fray...)

The tracks of the assault gun started to move. Pivoting on its own axis it brought its gun in the direction of Popitich’s T-34. He saw the enemy gun barrel swing and come to a halt. Popitich’s muscles tensed. His mind started racing while his body, without him really knowing it, prepared for a leap out of the turret hatch – but before he could move he felt the tank rock from the main gun being fired. He saw his gunner land the shot perfectly dead centre on the enemy assault gun.
There was a short delay and a hatch opened and a fascist tumbled over the side and disappeared from view.
The assault gun was dead.
He had not given any orders but the assault gun was dead. And he lived.
“Driver forward!”, he heard himself say.
They rolled forward, unstoppable - passed their own infantry, passed German infantry falling back in disarray. The machineguns fired as they raced down along a dirt road.
A loud bang ended it. The tank lifted from the ground and came to a complete halt.
It took a few seconds before he understood he had cheated death again. He was still alive. They had not been penetrated. The left track had blown off along with the two front wheels on the left side. They had hit a mine. The tank was now immobile. Infantry fire kept them buttoned up while the rest of the company motored past them on their right. Popitich counted the tanks. He wasn’t certain but it seemed as if two were missing.

(Turn 21-25)
Beregovoy was running. He had become separated from the bulk of his own platoon when the German assault guns first showed up and he had stuck with Dmitrienko’s engineers. Now he and two others were running for their lives. In front lay the enemy trenches.
50 meters to go.
It was difficult to breathe the smoke filled air.
He was sweating enormously.
His chest ached.
30 meters.
His foot slid on the edge of a shell hole.
He almost fell but stumbled forward.
Someone screamed next to him.
20 meters.
Now, now, now…
He flew forward.
And into the enemy trench.
Sub-machinegun at the ready.
There were dead Germans there. He fired a burst into a body to make sure. Behind them engineers tumbled into the German trench. He signed for his two men to follow and led them forward. They came to the opening of a bunker and to his horror Beregovoy realized that there were Germans inside.
“Flasks!”, he commanded and they readied their explosive bottles. Once lit he dashed forward and threw it into the bunker rear opening - and it was a beautiful throw. The bunker lit up. Something minor exploded. And almost straight away the Germans inside started shouting and as they came out, disoriented, some with uniforms burning, Beregovoy alone shot them. Every last one.

“All objectives taken.. Awaiting orders.”
The sound of Shushkevich’s calm voice over the battalion net declared victory.
Gubenko ordered his tank forward. Curled up inside was the political commissar who protested. Probably because he thought there might still be Germans left. Gubenko ignored the commissar. A handful of German prisoners were being marched to the rear.
They negotiated the cleared lane tin the enemy minefields and at the first enemy trench line Gubenko ordered a halt. There was Captain Dolya, Dmitrienko of the engineers and Beregovoy.
Dolya spoke.
Without emotion he declared how the operation had proceeded. How he had followed up behind Dmitrienko and the engineers who had been very efficient in clearing a path through the obstacles. Gubenko congratulated Dmitrienko. He was an able officer, the engineers deserved praise. Gubenko also noted the pistol in Dolya’s right hand and an un-naturally tidy row of dead Germans nearby, all face down with bullet holes in the back of the head. It seemed obvious what had happened but Gubenko didn’t ask any questions. Beregovoy looked like seven troublesome years.
Nearby several shot up German assault guns stood immobile. Some burning, some looked abandoned. The report was that they numbered twelve all in all. Two T-34s had been lost. It was a trade Gubenko could accept.

- - - - - - - - - - -

End battle on turn 25, all VHs taken.
USSR lost
44 men
2 AFVs

Germany lost
202 men
3 artillery (mortars)
12 AFVs (StuGs)

I used the Aux infantry companies for the heavy lifting, and advanced the core infantry on the flanks of the railroad with the scouts, engineers and inf company HQ dismounted on the railroad to clear obstacles. I expected more German AT guns and artillery but less mines. I used a lot of smoke to conceal my own troops but lost two tanks to an immobilised StuG that managed to get a clear field of fire when blocking smoke lifted. The counterattack by the StuG company size element works fine. The Begleit-infanterie (of course) quickly melt away in the artillery and machinegun fire.

There are no problems with the scenario IMHO.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Alway nice to see your work come alive like this. :D Hope you didn`t jump the gun on spending those repair points though...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Silly me. Had a nice thing going in the second battle 'til the AO got wasted by a panzerschreck from the rear. Plus my guys got a bit overextended and ultimately succumbed to unopposed infantry. The tanks wound up fighting blind without their grunty mates. Guess I'm not ready for prime time.

With a little more patience and prudence an MV might have been possible. As it was, going hell-for-leather to beat the clock led to too many casualties along the way, especially in infantry and transport. By the time the last few objectives were in sight there was hardly a ground-pounder left to spot the bad guys. I'd do an AAR but it would be too painful to recall.

Seriously, this campaign is good to go. Offbeat, creative, and really challenging. I'll give it another try once the psychological scars have healed. Thanks and have a happy.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Yikes. Hope I didn't break your spirit. I anticipated the second and especially the third battle to be kind of tricky. They have relatively small margins of error. The trick is using your recon to uncover the enemy positions, destroy those closest to the road, direct fire tank smoke at the rest and then feed your infantry through. The defensive line is not very strong, but tricky to attack without heavy artillery. Use mortar smoke on it, then close assault with engineers and infantry. This time they don't have minefields ready, so that makes it easier to overrun the trenches.

Generally speaking I like scenarios that have a certain "twist" to them. A user made campaign should not provide the kind of experience you can get from a long campaign. Of course that means that sometimes you need to try a scenario twice or change up your tactics a lot. I think I might provide some more hints in the briefing, so people don't go in blind.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Finished the second (first battle) with a Decisive Victory in 23 turns.

Loses:

Soviets
Men: 83 (11 from core, 4 from Engineers, all 7 from Tank Hunters)
APC: 1 (crew survived, M3A1 Scout Track)

Germans
Men: 257
Art: 5
AFV: 13

Ts4Ever, you really need to change the A0 from a T-34 to an actual HQ otherwise the player will loose the CG as soon as they loose that A0.

Fun little scenario, going on to the next one.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Wow!

Second scenario, total massacre (almost, lol).

Start of turn 6, lost all three of the BA-64's and my Scout Car (M3A1), and then lost an entire T-34 platoon to one ATG, and lost 2/3 of the second platoon to a StuG. So out of 10x T-34 I have 5x left.

Going to push it but looks like this scenario is a bust and I'll have not surviving tanks to make it to the main line. Going to push that H0 and A0 T-34 and see how bad it gets.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Okay end of turn 7, 2x T-34's left out of 10!

ATG took a truck fully loaded, no survivors, Scout platoon gone!

Core almost wiped out, going to try with last two T34 (H0 ad A0), lol, bloody massacre, CG will be over in 3 turns...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Start of Turn 10, just lost the Major, the entire T-34 company is eliminated. The Scout platoon is eliminated, 2/3 of both infantry platoons are eliminated, and the engineer platoon is routed, lol.

One last glorous charge with A0 to see if he can get the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Lost all AFV by turn 15.

lol

Special Battle
The HQ unit was destroyed in this last battle. Unfortunately you did not escape. This campaign is over for you.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

lol is this really so hard? :D which road did you take and how far did you get?

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

zovs66,you've asked to replace the A0 with a normal HQ several times.
I'll have to agree a T-34 HQ attracts the "kill me now" attention syndrome.
Thus ending the whole shabang.

Maybe the developer wants it that way, since it's a campaign,simply change it yourself next battle to what you perfer:)

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

My first tactic was to split my forces in two (1 set each of a Tank Platoon and Infantry Platoon, and send one up each road. It did not matter because both were ambushed by either the ATG or the StuGs and the 75 killed all three T-34 in one set of rate of fires. The StuG killed two before my surviving scout's threw a molotov on it. And then in the North when I got ambushed next to a building the Major lost. So I sent the A0 up there for the hell of it and he got whacked, end of game.

I have been playing SPWW2 and WinSPWW2 for at least 10 or 15 years, but in the second scenario the Soviets just don't have enough, even if I loaded up everything on one road I would have lost too much with any any "aux" troops on this one (yeah you got 3 BA-64s but they got smoked first, and the ATG was still hidden, when it killed all three of the T-34s.

When I drove a Truck into view it killed that no survivors and then the next two dismounted only to get shot up by the German Infantry.

That was all in the south.

In the North a measly LMG Trps killed both Scout AFV and then wiped out the scouts who were "hidden" and range set to 0.

Maybe this one needs some more support troop points added or add in two platoons of BA-64s.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Take two, sending the whole bloody company down the south road, recon reports some German 75 in some woods, lol. Plotting that for 82 MTR now...lol.

Lets see...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Turn 3, lost the 0 Recon Leader (BA-64), lol.

Turn 4, lost the rest of the Recon Patrol to that darn 75.

Turn 6, lost a T-34. Lost M3A1 Scout Car (dropped off passengers).

Turn 7, overran and destroyed nasty 75.

Turn 8, lost another T-34 (crew survives)

Turn 10, T-34 immobilized.

Turn 11, lost another T-34 to a Stlg 41 PaK 35, lost the Scout 251/1 to a 37mm AA gun.

Turn 14, AOP Truck poof.

Turn 15-19, lots of truck losses, due to ambushes by "stragglers", also lost 1/2 of the scouts.

Turn 19, lost another T-34, this time I am at the last southern trench line.

Breaking for now...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

OK so I swallowed my pride and reloaded from Turn 26 to see how things went with decent play. Besides it was fun and I wanted to continue the campaign. THIS time I was sober. (PWI--Playing While Intoxicated--is not recommended, as emotional surges play havoc with rational judgments);). With the benefit of hindsight coupled with recovered patience, an MV was achieved.

--POSSIBLE SPOILERS, BEWARE FOLKS--

As can probably be seen from the saved game attachments (hope those were done right) everybody took the paved southern route. Mostly followed Ts4EVER's prescription:

"The trick is using your recon to uncover the enemy positions, destroy those closest to the road, direct fire tank smoke at the rest and then feed your infantry through. The defensive line is not very strong, but tricky to attack without heavy artillery. Use mortar smoke on it, then close assault with engineers and infantry. This time they don't have minefields ready, so that makes it easier to overrun the trenches."

However I didn't directly assault any trenches, but snuck around and came in from the rear. At a certain point the enemy would come out to reclaim their lost VH's, at which time they'd get blasted by a covering force (at least one tank and infantry squad). Everybody else would head north, behind enemy lines, and repeat the process.

Since the scenario is fairly long and artillery (mortars) are so important for both smoke and barrage, I turned off 1 or 2 tubes on every battery to conserve ammo. Once those tubes ran out the others were switched on. Near the end smoke--including that carried by the tanks--was practically gone but there was still plenty of HE, which helped against counterattacking infantry.

First time I played from Turn 26 (sorry that turn save was lost) I underestimated the size and fury of the German counterattack. The lone StuG was no problem, but infantry kept coming from nowhere and blowing up my tanks with panzerschrecks and -fausts. Couldn't see them at all, so a number of VH's were lost to "invisible" leg units.

Next go-round I was careful to preserve infantry for support, spotting most "bad guys" before they came close. As usual combined arms was the key.

Lotsa fun and quite challenging. The next battle appears even more intriguing. Thanks Ts4EVER. :up:.

@Wulfir: Good on yer for the first scenario AAR.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Glad it worked out. However, I have to admit it is still not quite what I was going for.
Basically, there are two ways of doing it. Either the hard way of powering through like you two did right now or the easy way. In the briefing I wrote you shouldnt be afraid to bypass units. That is actually why I gave the player the armored car platoon, so he would have fast, expendable units to spring the ambushes and then find a way around.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/821/wcyq.jpg
http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/404/2euy.jpg

This route is basically unopposed. If you are afraid your trucks might get stuck in the ford, just sit your infantry on the tanks, just dont forget to dismount them before the defense line.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/27/mldd.jpg

This middle trench has no at weapons to speak of, so you can just power through and get the rest from behind.

edit: and yeah, the next one is really tricky. :D

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

OK, thanks Ts4EVER, but how is the player to determine from the briefing that ROADS are to be avoided as well as enemy units? Adding a platoon of armored cars doesn't exactly connect the dots. Likewise, how is a player to divine the single unopposed route--with a ford that can trap tanks as well as trucks--while presuming that a trench at its end "has no weapons to speak of"?

As you noted in an earlier post, "The trick is using your recon to uncover the enemy positions, destroy those closest to the road, direct fire tank smoke at the rest and then feed your infantry through." That implies moving along a road, n'est-ce pas? Which is precisely what I did, or tried to do, blowing away units along the road while masking off or bypassing the rest. So how is anybody to know that "powering through" like that wasn't what you were "looking for"?

All right, it's easy to be a critic. Your scenarios and campaigns are much appreciated. But a complex problem such as this--with various plausible avenues of approach over consider distance and numerous scattered objectives--might be expected to have more than one obscure "easy" solution based on advanced knowledge of enemy dispositions, IMHO.

End of rant :). It's a neat scenario regardless of my whining. Sorry for any ruffled feathers. Thanks for your kind attention and dedication to Steel Panthers. Cheers and carry on.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

No ruffled feathers at all, this is the kind of thing a test needs to uncover, obviously the briefing is not clear enough. I will add a line that heavy resistance should be bypassed and one should keep ones eyes open for alternative routes. Maybe I will add a small graphical representation on the map too.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Glad you're unruffled :). Didn't wanna "look a gift horse in the mouth" or otherwise display ingratitude. Thanks for understanding.

--SPOILERS, BEWARE--

It would be quite difficult to broadly hint at the perfect approach in your briefing without, in effect, verbally drawing arrows on the map and saying "Go here." It looks like you've got to take the north road before going off-road to cross the stream. Not too obvious, especially when the commander doesn't know which trench line is weakest. OTOH a hint on the map itself would probably give away the solution too easily. Not saying it's impossible, just delicate and tricky.

You could, as zovs66 suggested, add more support (I'd prefer infantry with HT's for mobility). Or reposition some defenders to equalize the MLR while thinning out roadblocks a bit. Either alteration (or both) would make "powering through" along any road a more viable option.

Then again maybe the scenario is fine as it is. You've already established yourself as a designer of original, very challenging
battles and campaigns. Why change your signature in an attempt to please everyone? After all, I DID get an MV once I sobered up and reloaded, with enough repair points to fix all but 3 or 4 of the core. There are no doubt better gamers who could score a DV by taking just about any reasonable path to the objectives. So maybe you're better off waiting for more feedback from other players before making any changes.

Enough bloviating. Thanks for reading and good luck. Cheers, Jon :up:

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

I decided to increase the number of rounds to 40 and to decrease the morale of all German forces not in the defensive line by 20 points, on account of them being beaten and retreating. I will also add a clearer briefing.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

What post has the latest release? Is it this one?

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Yes.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

BTW I will wait for the final feedback from you guys and then post a finished version. After that I reckon I might have one other campaign in me before becoming sick of winspww2 for a few months. Does anybody have a good idea for one? No more Germans or Americans please, we have enough of those.

Three ideas I had:
Greek campaign about the battle for Rimini
Romanian First Armoured Division (you could be fighting Russians AND Germans!)
Canadian Campaign, maybe with a focus on the battle of the scheldt estuary

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Well I have played through to the 3rd scenario twice now, and it's no fun on that one. The fun factor for this CG on this scenario is NIL.

Like I have said I have been playing SPWW2 for 10+ years and I mostly only play CG. This one has some serious issues.

Its now Turn 21 and I have been stopped outside the last German Trench lines with no way to win. Here are my losses with the 3rd try.

A0 T-34/85 M1943 (Dam 4)
B0 BA-64 AOP Destroyed
C1 Maxim HMG [2] Destroyed
C2 ZiS Truck Destroyed
C3 ZiS Truck Destroyed
D3 PTRD ATR Team Destroyed
D4 ZiS Truck Destroyed
D5 ZiS Truck Destroyed
D6 ZiS Truck Destroyed
F3 ZiS 42 Destroyed
F5 ZiS 42 Destroyed
G1 Tank Hunters Destroyed
G2 Scouts Destroyed
G3 Sniper Destroyed
G4 M3A1 Scout Car Destroyed
G5 SdKfz 251/1 Destroyed
H0 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
I1 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
I2 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
J0 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
J1 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
J2 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
K0 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
K1 T-34/76 M1943 Destroyed
K2 T-34/76 M1943 Abandoned
O0x BA-64 Destroyed
O1x BA-64 Destroyed
O2x BA-64 Destroyed
O3x BA-64 Destroyed

Sorry but this CG needs some work man...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

In the final version you will have more time and the Germans on the road start heavily demoralized.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Well that is good to know, those 75 ATG are very trigger happy and like to stay concealed after 2-3 T-34s go up in smoke, kind of hurts the CG when 6 of your 9 Tanks go up in smoke and you can't add to your core.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Yeah it should be easier now. ONe thing though: If the at guns stay hidden so long, wouldnt it be better to dismount infantry out of sight and move them up? THat's what I usually did.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Not if the Truck race down the road and turning into a burning wreck with no survivors (I tried that the first time), next I tried leading with the AC, and then the tanks.

I could try a fourth time with air doing recon, but after 3 defeats on the same scenario I am loosing interest.

Are you playing with all the realism options on?

Maybe I should turn down the AI (I have it jacked up a bit to make it harder)...

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

I have all realism options on, but no boni to the ai.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Ts4EVER you are awesome (and thumbs up to those of you who have given feedback).

A Russian campaigne was definately needed.

I am new to both SPWW2 nd to Shrapnel.

I would liked to try the most current edition of your creation but I am not sure where it is.

Please refer to the exchange of messages 34-36. I don't see an attached file like there was in message 8, which seemed to be an update of the origional.

This noob appreciates your time.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Thanks for the interest. I made a lot of changes since I last posted here, so this is the latest version. This actually has a completely new scenario. I added it after I noticed that your units gained veteran status at the end of the last scenario, and I mean what fun is it to not use your upgraded units? You will have to face a German armored train in that scenario.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

Got back to this campaign recently. In the third battle, where you must use a bridge to cross the river to gain the high-value objectives near the western map-edge, if the bridge is destroyed that means the Russians automatically lose, right? My core guys didn't get anywhere near the bridge so the Russian explosive charges (laid by partisans? I hadn't thought to "dismount" their crews to neutralize them)) got blown up by the Germans and the bridge was demolished. Sorry didn't read the scenario intro too closely so I want to make sure. Thanks.

Re: WIP Campaign "Za Rodinu!"
 

The idea is that the Germans wired the bridge for demolition and you have to get there before they are done setting it up and blowing them up. To simulate this the ammunition is set to the russian side and reinforces there after a certain period. If the bridge is in your hands, this is fine. If the Germans still control it, they will shoot the ammo, thus "demolishing" the bridge. So basically it is a race against time. As far as I know this is also explained in the briefing, so yeah, read those.