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-   -   WinSP MBT: Das Reich (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=48255)

RecruitMonty June 27th, 2015 09:27 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Oh and Lukerduker123 you need to do something with your account so you can receive PMs otherwise it will be a bit tough for you to beta-test without a link.

scorpio_rocks June 27th, 2015 09:38 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Having a look now...

Wiking June 27th, 2015 09:42 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Got it, will devote the rest of the night to some first impressions and maybe a few questions. I'll also try to start a few quick scenarios :)

Wiking June 27th, 2015 09:57 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
One quick comment, after playing around with it for about five minutes: Holy crap, this is insane. The next comment would be perhaps offering an "alternate" Kasierreich styled flag for those who have issues with or cannot legally play with a Swastika in their country? Just a quick thought. The readme was very clearly laid out and easy to follow. Did not expect to have to swap out the executable but it makes sense considering the vast number of changes I suppose. :eek:

I'm going to have a blast with this, I can tell already!

scorpio_rocks June 27th, 2015 10:16 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Would you Prefer questions / comments in this thread or by PM?

Wiking June 27th, 2015 10:19 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
:doh:Just found the alternate flags, sorry for jumping the gun. And yes, it might be good to make a fresh thread to address everything at once!

scorpio_rocks June 27th, 2015 11:11 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I will hold off posting comments, etc until you get on and let us know whether you would rather it not done in public.

but...

Must say a HUGE amount of work has gone into this and it shows! Thanks!
(and dont worry most of the notes I have are very minor, nitpicks, etc)

RecruitMonty June 28th, 2015 05:42 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Hi everyone!

Glad to see the download worked! Am working on those missing icons for the amphibious mortars. Will load them up for you guys when they are done. Lets keep comments etc in this thread. With the title: "BETA-TEST".

Wiking June 28th, 2015 12:49 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

Hello Monty, I've only managed to finish a single battle so far but I have some thoughts already. I took a fairly mixed force of mech infantry and various armor, SPA, SPAA, etc. Starting at your suggested date of May 1949 (I noticed you could force the battles to start earlier than that for OOB35 but it causes oddities like the flag on the player start screen changing to the Red Flag and you can only buy support from 35 if you select something else and then 35 again). I have to say the sprite work and the sounds are utterly fantastic, as is the attention to detail. I was quite overwhelmed, and normally I like having so many choices but this time I had to spend a long while thinking about what each formation did and its role. I'm still digesting quite a lot but I wanted to say that you've done exemplary work here, and I commend you on doing your best to make the LBM's all "hang together", even if the infantry are once again given the short end of the stick in this regard, though no fault of yours I have to say! Probably not much artwork out there of alt-history German soldiers.

On that note, I actually was perusing the opponent lists thinking "This is almost too good, the only ones who can possibly fill out an interesting roster to face this would be USA and Soviets..." which I think is the only real downside to your mod. It is abundant in detail and character matched only perhaps by the Marine OOB. Makes me sad that nobody else has the time or devotion to give us some proper opponents for this. I will say though, that the situation is probably less dire for the "Police" and colonial troops: Mujahadeen, USMC and other less "heavy" OOB's will probably stack up against them and that might be a fun campaign to try out.

As to any OOB issues I have with 35 in particular: I do think the infantry companies are over-weighted, with 4 platoons versus the WW2 and Modern standard of 3 platoons. I would suggest deleting one of the infantry platoons, unless you have a particular reason for 4? I'm very curious if there is one, and I can see the rationale if you intend them to be used as the core for a campaign force. But as part of a combined arms campaign core they do soak up a lot of points and slots, leaving less room for the other goodies (oh the goodies! So many of those). On a more positive note, the weapon platoons being built into the infantry companies is welcome, as is the integral SP-AA support; considering the number of aircraft I had coming in at me last night, I definitely appreciated this addition and I feel it would be a logical extrapolation of German experiences with low level attack aircraft in WW2. I am a little puzzled at the lack of rocket artillery though I may have simply overlooked it in the huge unit selection. Was there a particular reason for this or was there just no room for it?

The sound effects, as I said earlier, are spectacular. Machine guns especially have a lot more "heft" to them now as do rifles, and I enjoy the 'hit' sounds that play when you impact armor. The classic Steel Panthers clicking sounds on the menu were a nice easter egg, appreciated that muchly. As for errors, I did notice the ones you mentioned but the only real sprite issue I came across was Icon 8167, the Me.262 HGIII-1k which has white pixels appearing below it in the encyclopedia entry. I don't know if this happens during gameplay but it was an oddity so I thought I'd mention it.

scorpio_rocks June 28th, 2015 03:09 PM

Das Reich -BETA TEST
 
Das Reich -BETA TEST

Hiya folks,

Great work! - A few points (most small niggles) from looking over the OoBs, etc.
Please do not take any of this as criticism - just my thoughts.
I have a version of cross' sound mod - I will dig deeper to find the sounds you added.

General

1. LBMs - Great job finding some of these! however seeing black borders on some is distracting, perhaps artificially enlarge the pic with white space.

2. Having both OoBs called Germany can be a little confusing (I know you are limited in characters). Following on from this; both having the same flag can cause confusion - perhaps use a variant flag for the second OoB. This becomes especially apparent if anyone (like a mad beta tester) fights one Vs the other!

3. I persume that the many duplicated units are to allow each OoB to stand alone for a campaign? If they were only ever to be used in battles & scenarios then this is superfluous.

OOB 35

1. Unit #1 "Title" - make class = 216 "No Unit". Put in dates of country and LBM of flag. This is for consistancy across other OOBs and is a good way to give info to players - If it has correct country number and No unit class it will appear in Encyclopaedia (allows info on country) but will NOT appear as a unit in purchase screens.

2. Weapon #111 "13,2cm FlMG-131" - I believe this is a typo or its a VERY big MG (1,32 cm or 13,2mm ?)

3. Icon #8246, 8247, 8248 Ju-132B - Have a black line at bottom of icon (not tested in game, yet)

4. Icon # 8167 Me.262 HGIII-1k - White pixels below icon, visible in game

5. PpPz Leopard (everyones favourite cancelled tank!) Units # 225, 227, 228 - (If germany saw no need for it in '42/'43 why would they resurrect it in 47? - That said its in my fantasy extended reich OOB :)) I would question its armour values however.
12 seems high for 50mm armour (and sides seem low). From the research I did, drawings and using the SP armour calc program I came up with a couple of options:
a) Using less armour but slope to acheive equivalence with PzKw II J armour (8,5,5,8,5,5,3)
b) from what little info does exist I got = 8,4,3,5,3,3,2 (with possible addition of Schürzen for 10 heat on flanks) - I use this in my alt WW2 OOB.
c) from drawings and "Real" turret on SdKfz234/2 = 8,4,3,4,1,1,2 + Skirts

Also If this existed would the MBT also have been called Leopard? If they were recycling names why not Tiger for the MBT? OR the "next" big cat name?

OOB 44

1. As note 1. above: Unit #1 should be "title page"

2. Gepard - same name for airborne light tank and Heavy Flak tank on different chassis? (need another name for airborne stuff Units #62 through #80)

3. Weapon #111 Believe the Mg131 isnt 13.2cm as above

All for now :)
as I said minor niggles and typos - great stuff

Will start doing some force builds and playing now

scorpio_rocks June 28th, 2015 03:36 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Suggestion:

Names "GDReich" and "ReichST" ?
(this echoes the names from Mobhack and is within character limits)

RecruitMonty June 28th, 2015 07:21 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

@ Wiking (Post #59):

I am hoping that the mod will prompt the community to develop mods for the existing OOBs (USA, USMC, GB, USSR etc). Both the US and the USSR have some interesting heavy tank projects of their own that are not in the OOBs at present. I've been modifying the Muja OOB a little myself to make them into more challenging opponents for the Colonial troops. When I'm done I'll publish it too.

I'll look at the plane.

Regarding rockets: please read section "D" of the Readme. The rockets are in OOB 44 - West Germany.

OOB 35 is useable from 01.01.1946 onwards.

Regarding company sizes: the coys. are designed with four platoons because two of them are heavier and are meant to support the other two lighter ones. It occurred to me that in this way the combat possibilities of the smaller units could be increased beyond their size.

Wiking June 28th, 2015 07:43 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I see now there's a bit of difference between them. The various naming conventions are not always clear, you may wish to update the Readme to address what they mean for those of us who are thick-headed :)

RecruitMonty June 28th, 2015 07:44 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

@ scorpio_rocks:

Thanks. Will change armour values for Leopard. Name can stay the same since the MBT is brought in when the recon tank is on the way out. Good point about the Gepard. Problem is I can't think of another appropriate big cat. I'll think about it some more. The heavy Mgs will also be renamed accordingly ;). Indeed the duplicates are for stand-alone ability. I provided an excel document so you can see which sounds I edited. Take a look in there. The coloured stuff (Red, Blue is mine). Some of the orange and yellow too.

RecruitMonty June 28th, 2015 07:48 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
@ Wiking: What would you write as a suggestion for the readme?

In the meantime, I`m off to bed. Its almost 02:00 am here and its been a long Sunday.

Wiking June 28th, 2015 07:56 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I was mostly just thinking an explanation of what the designations for each company meant. PAK, + and - are self-explanatory but what is a "B" company or an "A" company? You can somewhat guess through glancing at their layout but I might be missing obvious cues, I apologize.

RecruitMonty June 29th, 2015 07:28 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Good point. I will do that. :)

Wiking June 29th, 2015 10:07 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

I found it kind of curious that the Kasiertiger and Mammoth tanks are in service for the duration of the period, with upgrades to keep them competitive. Was that just for fun, for those who like goaliths, or was there a design intent there? They seem a bit redundant with the advent of the Leo 1 and 2, but for the time being I'm really enjoying the Kaisertiger itself. It can bully its way straight through most opposition and only determined infantry AT attacks seem to even slow it down. I imagine this will change once Soviet ATGM's start appearing and ruining my day :D

The variety and firepower of the Luftwaffe is a nice change of pace from West Germany, who when I played as would frequently have to "borrow" aircraft from the US Airforce to fulfill some of the missions asked of it. As a suggestion, perhaps a weapons lexicon could be built not just for the more obscure named air-weapons but for all the ground weapons too. Not quite asking you to write a complete alternative history for these weapons but a quick summation of what each system is and its intended purpose may be helpful for players. I did figure out what was an air launched missile and what was a rocket pod at least :)

I also see your point about the infantry companies now. I really like the variety you offer here, especally things like motorizing the Mountain troops, as that was always an annoyance to me in WW2/MBT: sure, they might fight better in bad terrain but what if you got a map with good roads? I solved that in MBT by buying them helicopters but I think this is a good compromise. Saves you on support points for sure. Regarding transports, one minor quibble I have is that sometimes its annoying to try and fit all your support weapons (MMG's, Fliegerfaust/Panzerschreck/X-7, etc) into the availible transport space for the Panzergrenadiers.

This isn't a problem for the trucks, of course, but for the IFV's I noticed that if you load them in the wrong order or too much in the wrong one the weight limit gets triggered. This is more of an MBT engine quirk than an OOB design issue though.

So far I'm loving it.

RecruitMonty June 29th, 2015 02:11 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST:

I decided to keep them on partly for the tank-heads but also because the Soviets kept their heavies for quite some time. I also like the idea of a dedicated heavy tank in the age of standardised MBTs. I think there is a niche for them until at least the 70s as they are. I may upgrade the models from the 90s on to make them more in-line with the MBTs. A re-design of both turrets. The chasis is fine, more or less. Just need some inspiration.

Have produced a manual of sorts within the readme. Will post it up with the other stuff so the link should still work.

scorpio_rocks June 29th, 2015 03:15 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
If you would like help writting unit and formation info texts let me know, glad to help out!

RecruitMonty June 29th, 2015 03:50 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Yep! There is an order that you have to stick to. First load up the infantry squads and then load up the support weapons. Which Coys. did you have problems with in particular out of interest? Can you give me a number and designation? Maybe there might be a problem there.

Wiking June 29th, 2015 05:37 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
The ones I was toying around with were formations 520 SS-GrenKp. (B/-) and 530 SS-PioKmp (B/-) Everything mostly fits into the IFV's but sometimes the specific order you load the support weapons in seems finicky. I eventually figured out how to squeeze it all together. I've had no problems with the mountain companies or motorized Panzergrenadiers because their trucks have much larger carry capacities so their weapon platoons don't need a specific load order.

RecruitMonty June 30th, 2015 08:58 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I'd like that very much Scorpio. I'll get back to you on that. Just tested a platoon of Kaisertigers - suppt. by Pz IV Js (a Plt. of five) against a few armoured Coys. of Soviets. Slaughter!

RecruitMonty July 1st, 2015 07:46 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Say, did you guys get the latest update that I pm'ed you guys with? How did you like the new flags? How is the readme now? Easy to follow?

scorpio_rocks July 1st, 2015 07:56 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Sorry mate - Yes got the update, Love the Afrika Korps flag!

I will get more time to play a couple of full games tomorrow so hopefully will have some feed back thursday night / friday morning.

Wiking July 1st, 2015 08:15 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Just got it, Monty! Looks great, much less confusing now :) I'll try to give you more feedback soon, school's just got me over a barrel lately.

Wiking July 1st, 2015 05:54 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

Had a closer look at the readme and went over all the updates in detail. Its much improved and easier to understand now, thank you. I have noticed a slight issue with some of the helicopter sprites while playing around with OOB 44 in mobhack:

Sprites 6264 - 6266 - 6265 for unit 729 (Do. H34 TTH-55) seems to have parallel lines running through the sides of its hull, like the pixels are missing. These do not appear to be on the gunship version of the H34, so I wanted to make sure this wasn't an error? It appears in the normal, winter and desert icons each.

Also, was unit 734 supposed to have a designation beyond TTH-95? It seems a bit out of place; for the moment I designed it Do. 310 as the "successor" to the 214 as that was kind of annoying me. Please let me know if you had intended an actual designation for it!

One thing that really strikes me about your release is how relatively few bugs I'm finding. Errors and things here and there, sure, but far less than I'd expected for the amount of work put into it. You really are fastidious.

RecruitMonty July 1st, 2015 06:20 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

@ Wiking:

"Had a closer look at the readme and went over all the updates in detail. Its much improved and easier to understand now..."


Great! :)

"Sprites 6264 - 6266 - 6265 for unit 729 (Do. H34 TTH-55) seems to have parallel lines running through the sides of its hull, like the pixels are missing."

Not much I can do about that I'm afraid. It shows up correctly in the game but for some curious reason it doesn't in Mobhack. Same goes for the bombers with the black lines as far as I can tell.

"Also, was unit 734 supposed to have a designation beyond TTH-95?"

I'll look into that. Must be a loose end. Although I do dimly remember not being able to figure out who was behind the real world contract. Probably EADS or Eurocopter.

"One thing that really strikes me about your release is how relatively few bugs I'm finding. Errors and things here and there, sure, but far less than I'd expected for the amount of work put into it. You really are fastidious."

Thanks! This project was (still is) my "baby" for a good number of years. Sunk a lot of hours into it. To hear praise like that from members of the community is the reward :D.

RecruitMonty July 1st, 2015 06:26 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpio_rocks (Post 830598)
Suggestion:

Names "GDReich" and "ReichST" ?
(this echoes the names from Mobhack and is within character limits)

I'll use the flags to differentiate between the two OOBs. There are already a lot of acronyms in the OOBs themselves and it would be a shame to have an acronym for a name.

RecruitMonty July 1st, 2015 06:36 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
"DASA TTH-95" is the best I could come up with. I had to go back in the producers history a bit.

Wiking July 1st, 2015 07:00 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I wondered if it was a MOBHACK quirk or an oversight, but glad to hear its just the former. I'm hoping to getting around to playing with the helicopters soon, its just been really hectic the past couple months. I pretty much haven't touched any other games except MBT so I could focus on Das Reich.

After skirmishing against the Americans, I really really really appreciate all the integral AA in the 35 OOB. I'm used to fighting third rate or second rate forces (or Soviets at worst) so you're kinda getting me out of my comfort zone with this mod!

Regarding your comment about the slaughter of a couple platoons versus multiple Soviet companies, I specifically toned down my armor usage because of that! Something interesting has resulted from it: I am using smaller companies (and in the case of the Kaisertigers I bought a company and trimmed it to just one combat platoon and the leadership element for rallying) and somehow managed to lose one against a Pershing (side shot on the turret I think). That was like 130 points lost right there! That and the loss of a Panther J elsewhere meant I was actually pushed from a Decisive to a Marginal Victory! :eek:

I'd sort of noticed this before in MBT where losing valuable units hurts more than in WW2, but I think the expensive toys of Das Reich really brought it home for me. I feel this is a good thing; you have the best stuff but replacements really are not up to snuff and its a ton of points for your enemy! Incidentally, that Kaisertiger's replacement crew is 58 experience and 60 morale! Thankfully they'll probably live long enough to improve, but infantry and others may not be so fortune...

RecruitMonty July 1st, 2015 07:45 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
"Regarding your comment about the slaughter of a couple platoons versus multiple Soviet companies, I specifically toned down my armor usage because of that! Something interesting has resulted from it: I am using smaller companies (and in the case of the Kaisertigers I bought a company and trimmed it to just one combat platoon and the leadership element for rallying) and somehow managed to lose one against a Pershing (side shot on the turret I think). That was like 130 points lost right there! That and the loss of a Panther J elsewhere meant I was actually pushed from a Decisive to a Marginal Victory!"

Yep. You have to be careful with them. That is the downside to all the tech.. Glad to hear someone can blow them up. Makes you think, eh? Those machines would have been real monsters on the battlefield. I'm thinking of designing some Russian heavies so the Russkies have more of a chance.

Wiking July 1st, 2015 08:06 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
I suspect they would have been rather less impressive if we could model all the "soft" factors like maintenance, the inability to cross wooden bridges and general reliability. But I agree, they are quite fearsome as is. I enjoy them but do not feel invincible.

I'm all for bolstering the Russians, though I actually picked the Americans as my opponents for their heavier equipment and higher morale and experience. If possible, consider porting some of the Soviet monsters you come up with to the Chinese as well, they'd probably appreciate having something more exciting than a T-54 for most of the 1960's and 1970's...

RecruitMonty July 3rd, 2015 08:29 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
BETA TEST

Update!

I've done the Russians a little favour in providing them with the IS-7. I've also revised the German tanks a little. Will provide you with the new files tomorrow.

Wiking July 4th, 2015 12:02 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
What were the changes to the German armor, if I might ask?

scorpio_rocks July 4th, 2015 01:44 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Am I just not seeing them or did the Horton Ho-229 and H.XVIII "Amerika Bomber" not make the cut?

RecruitMonty July 4th, 2015 01:30 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
One of the flying wings is included as an icon but I have not got any space for it in the dedicated OOBs. I will probably put it into the Green OOB along with a few other odds and sods that could do with being implemented but were not high priority.

BETA TEST:

"Update 04.07.2015" (see post from yesterday) is now available to download from the usual link.

Please, when you have time, tell me what you think of the Russian OOB changes mentioned in the readme and try the new tanks (four of them) out against the bigger Tigers as well as the regular German tanks. The main gun packs a nice enough punch. Penetrating the side armour on the bigger Tigers is still your best bet. The tanks can also absorb quite a bit of punishment but are not invincible.

Also take a good look at the German gun stats.

Enjoy!

Wiking July 4th, 2015 02:17 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
There's no LBM picture for the T-7M or the IS-7, not sure if you hadn't gotten one together yet or what. Thought I'd mention it :) I'll be looking this over today.

RecruitMonty July 4th, 2015 03:03 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Wiking (Post 830721)
There's no LBM picture for the T-7M or the IS-7, not sure if you hadn't gotten one together yet or what. Thought I'd mention it :) I'll be looking this over today.

Ooops! Forgot that. :doh: Posted it up under "missing lbm".

Wiking July 4th, 2015 03:05 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Thanks! :up:

scorpio_rocks July 5th, 2015 09:45 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
1 Attachment(s)
Prezzie for Mr. Wiking:

Roundel Objectives and Small ID flags for Das Reich! :)

Zip contains altered Icon0095.shp and Icon0097.shp ONLY
(you will need other files [96 & 98] from appropriate Mods)

Let me know if you have any problems

Wiking July 5th, 2015 11:09 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Scorpio, you DO rock! This is too awesome. And thankfully you still get to appreciate Monty's flag work on the battle and player select screens, so it in no way diminishes his work. Rather, it enhances it! :cool:

Wiking July 5th, 2015 12:09 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
A small request which I feel awkward making after your generosity but would it be possible to have a Kaiserreich appropriate mini-flag rather than the swastika? I'll understand if you decline but I'd much prefer it myself. :o

scorpio_rocks July 5th, 2015 01:59 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
2 Attachment(s)
Hehe - some people are never satisfied :p

Not terribly easy in only 13x9 pixels! How about one of these?

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...psmgiuvxif.png

Wiking July 5th, 2015 02:02 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Not terribly easy, but you are a wonder worker after all! I would find either quite acceptable, though the second is probably more in spirit with Monty's flags. :)

scorpio_rocks July 5th, 2015 02:11 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
1 Attachment(s)
Wonders worked instantly, miracles take a little longer :p

Icon0097.shp with flag 2:

Wiking July 5th, 2015 02:13 PM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Well, we can leave the miracles to Monty, as I'm pretty sure he is one! :up:

RecruitMonty July 6th, 2015 08:14 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Excellent! When the Beta Test is complete we can incorporate the roundels into a new thread along with the official download. Then I think everyone will be happy. I must say the roundels look very smart indeed. The smaller ID-flags too.

How is the Beta-testing going? I could do with some more feedback so we can finish up and then proceed to a general release. How are your schedules looking at the moment? I was thinking a month to test some more - July and then a release in August. Is that workable?

Wiking July 6th, 2015 09:57 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Summer school is kicking me in the *** but I'm doing my best to play at least a little bit each day. Most of my focus has been on OOB35 but I like to buy support choices from OOB44 too to get a taste of what they can do. I do have a bit of feedback that I'll share now:


BETA TEST


I have been doing a short campaign and regular battle scenarios, and I've noticed that OOB35 tends to generate Denmark battlezones against most opponents (as I kind of expected, I figured there's some kind of hardcoding going on there). But what's interesting is that sometimes it actually will say "Denmark" and instead I actually get what I would expect: a Middle East battle zone or a South-East Asian one. It seems to work "properly" most of the time, but I have had occasions where we're in the desert and the Germans are still wearing their "normal" paint schemes instead of their "Tropical" ones. I'm not sure there's much you can do about this but I thought I'd mention it.

German armor is much less overwhelming than I initally expected it to be. Sure, 11 Kaisertigers or Mammoths will steamroll pretty much anything and even Panther II's are incredibly nasty foes, but if you diversify and field StuG's, Panzer IV L's and M's or even just Panther H's and J's I'm finding that Soviet T-34's remain a threat and certainly Shermans do as well. In fact, I've had most of my heavy losses fighting the Americans, as their HVAP ammo and good crew ratings make them nasty opponents. My ultimate point is that I feel like as long as there is some moderation on the player's part, they will feel sufficently challenged. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that losing even one or two tanks can bleed you a ton of points.

The infantry and artillery, since I haven't touched on them much: They seem to hold their own pretty darn well, and I actually am glad you split platoons so that only two out of 4 squads have AT. That makes things a little bit more tactical in deciding who to place where, and these guys are just a ton of fun to use with the new sound effects. I have had some weirdness with the 8cm half-track mortars seeming to have a deadzone or being otherwise unresponsive to bombardment orders, I'm wondering if it is related to the halftrack not having the mortar as the first weapon. I've only used them once so it warrents further investigation. I thought it was very curious that the Buffalo + APC can apparently fire its ATGM's as a cluster munition? Could you explain that a little better perhaps? The towed and self-propelled guns are all quite solid and I have no complaints: one thing I love about MBT is that now counter-battery is much more practical and BATTERY DESTROYED results are an actual thing now. :)

Aircraft have actually been a great help. The West German airforce had always been anemic to the point of almost uselessness before the 1980's, and now they can really bite if used carefully. The Soviets and Americans still buy far too much AA and it can get pretty expensive to keep losing Me-262's and the like to 57mm AA guns :eek: I have not tried out the level bombers yet, I admit I'm not the biggest fan of them to begin with but I'll make a note to experiment with them the next time I have a lengthy assault or advance. You know, the Fliegerfaust 45 is kind of neat if the enemy wanders close enough to it ;) Doesn't always hit but it tends to blow them in half when it does!

One last thing about infantry; did you omit the second LMG from Panzergrenadiers for a reason? I was curious if you had a doctrinal reason you feel that practice would be abandoned after WW2. I don't think the Bundeswehr does it but that's a very different beast than this continuation. I know US Army mech infantry do have 2x SAW's.

scorpio_rocks July 6th, 2015 11:14 AM

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RecruitMonty (Post 830753)
Excellent! When the Beta Test is complete we can incorporate the roundels into a new thread along with the official download. Then I think everyone will be happy. I must say the roundels look very smart indeed. The smaller ID-flags too.

Thanks! :up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by RecruitMonty (Post 830753)
How is the Beta-testing going? I could do with some more feedback so we can finish up and then proceed to a general release. How are your schedules looking at the moment? I was thinking a month to test some more - July and then a release in August. Is that workable?

Going well, Timetable seems fine.

I have been trying a few battles using both OoBs, but have tried to stay away from the "sexier" stuff and test some of the "nuts and bolts" units. A few bits and bobs so far will continue to teast and a give a more full report at the weekend.

Have to say some great sounds - they will make their way to my "main" game. :)


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