Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

I finished the Campaign finaly. The scenarios were quite challenging to me but there were some easy ones too. I used up all my repair points but never managed to fix all the units in the core force. It might have been good to give 200 or even 250 repair points after the battle at Brest. That way the player would have enough points to reapair the whole core force and possibly upgrade some units to different ones. Or then its just me sucking at this game. :D

The last mission of this campaign was also very hard. I noticed that the map had been set to Winter status so the infantry moved quite slow. With the mud and mine fields I could not capture all the victory locations in time and the battle ended in a draw.

I think the best strategy for that final scenario would probably be to attack the Southern bridgehead with one comapany and the Northen one with two. Still A dificult task with the slow movement, mines and heavy enemy artillery. I will have to try it again someday.

All in all I did enjoy this campaign it was difficult but fun. :up:

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Thanks for the feedback!
About the last level: You still did better than history, in reality the 116th attack was stopped cold by artillery.
Did you play the old version with 16 round limit or the longer, new one?
Also, was there any level that "stood out" to you, either positively or because it was no fun at all?

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

I played the version with 32 turns. I believe the problem was that I diverted all my troops to the North and then I just did not have enough turns to reach the Southern victory hexes. The enemy artillery was devestating. With a better strategy I believe I could have captured all the victory flags.

I think these were my favorite scenarios in the campaign:
- St Andre
- Setterrich
- Julich Counter Attack

I did not find anything majorly wrong with the other scenarios either. Here are just some small things:

In the scenario Task force sugar where you had to destroy the German Graf Spee battery I found it almost impossible. The battery is at the map edge with victory hexes under the bunkers. One would need to use alot of smoke and advance the infantry along the map edge to get behind the forts to destroy them I guess?

The trucks in the core force were not very usefull and most of the time I just deployed them in the map corners and did not use them. Only scenarios that I think I used them were:
- Fontenay
- Task Force Sugar
- Montbarey

The most anoying enemy units to me were the snipers, the small LMG troops and Scouts. These were so hard to spot and ofthen sneaked right next ty my troops and caused casualties. The Scouts and LMG units are size 0 so that makes them so hard to spot. As for the snipers I would avoid the expensive cost ones since they are so overpowed.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Yeah, smoke is the key for the task force sugar scenario. If oyu use smoke from the 60mm mortars and the heavy arti on the trenches you can easily overrun them with the Rangers, since the infantry units are understrength and really bad.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Hi Ts4EVER. Just came back to Spww2 after a few months' hiatus. Was going to finally begin the hedgerow scenario but then I saw you came out with the "final" version.

Question: Is this save compatible? No big deal, I'd like to complete the campaign regardless, but if I install the latest version will it screw up the remaining scenarios? If so, I'll just continue with the current version.

Thanks and sorry for the delay. Your efforts on this campaign are much appreciated.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Frankly, I'm not sure, I never tried it. What kind of changes would make it incompatible?

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Heck, I dunno. I'll just install it and see what happens!:D

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Maybe make a security backup before.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Hi Ts4EVER. Just finished the first bocage scenario (campaign battle #5) with no problems getting to the next.

Got a marginal again--about 3,050 to 950. Captured all the VH's but lost six Shermans in the process. Still, even without losing even one there wouldn't have been enough for a decisive (8:1 ratio, I presume). Seems like I was also a bit careless with the groundpounders. I need to balance
my focus on mission accomplishment with more consideration for casualties--with only one(!) fix point some of my core guys won't be around for the next battle.

Truly a marvelous challenge. Your devilishly clever placement of AT guns once again caught me napping. Didn't expect a 7.5cm Pak40 to be placed out of the way (but on high terrain)in that dead zone in the south center (hex 43,48). It got two kills from distant side shots, one tank to the north and a second to the southeast part of the map, before I finally figured out what was going on. Serves me right for being too lazy about scouting the map for likely locations!

It's too bad Spww2 engineers can't blow holes in hedgerows, but you found a good solution with obstacle hexes. One little quibble: Some hexes that looked like hedgerows were in fact clear terrain, but since it helped save time I shouldn't be complaining, eh?

Definitely had a good time. As a former Spwaw devotee it's taking awhile to get used to a different (but more realistic IMHO) system, and scenarios like this make the learning process an enjoyable experience. Hope the next one's just as fun.

Thanks again for taking the time to make this campaign available. Have a great day.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Thanks!
Yeah I don't know how the problem with the hedgerows happens. Just assume your guys found an unexpected opening.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

You bet. Give me a centimeter, I'll take a kilometer...

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

OK Ts4EVER, just finished the sixth. Got another marginal since there was only one fix point going into it and nearly half my core had been destroyed along the way. They counted against me in the score, otherwise would've had a decisive since I got all VH's and lost only one tank this time.

Also going into the seventh there's only one fix point. Is this the way it's supposed to be or is the installation of the final version screwing them up somehow? It's practically impossible to get a decisive unless the core is replenished. Or am I missing something?

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

IIRC you will get more repair points after the next scenario. I wasn't aware that unreplenished casualties from the previous battle counts against you. I guess I could try to balance that out by making enemy units more expensive or award more points for victory hexes.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Sadly, the surviving core--along with most of the relief force--was overwhelmed in the last (seventh) battle and the HQ lost, so the campaign's over. At least they got a few Panthers and Stugs before going down.

It was fun, although a lack of fix points meant I was going into most battles already a couple hundred points or more behind the eight-ball. Maybe you need to do something about that, I dunno. Rosollia made it all the way without fully replenishing his core so no doubt sloppy play on my part was the main culprit.

Overall yeah, it's a great concept and a real challenge. Thanks for sharing it with us and I wish you best of luck in the future. Cheers and happy gaming!

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Thanks for playing! Yes, it is certainly possible to beat the campaign, but it is more important to conserver your force than get all the flags in some scenarios.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Btw Ts4EVER, in that last battle my defending units were not entrenched (or dug-in). That was an assault for the Germans, right, so shouldn't my units have been entrenched automatically?

According to Mobhack:

"In an assault game, every defending unit gets an entrenchment, whether you press the E key or not. It's a function of the save or the load code that ensures that they do.
The assaulter's infantry and soft arty etc also get entrenchments as well. Bar a few oddities.

The entrenchments are not "optional" in that mission, about the only ones that do not get one are units deployed in a building hex, and also I think some others like swamp hexes."

No big deal, just wondering if maybe switching to the latest version mid-campaign might've screwed things up. Thanks.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

I think it's a german advance.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Right, in which case I should've entrenched my units manually during deployment, n'est-ce pas? That would've almost certainly gotten me through for some needed repair and replenishment. Pretty dumb, huh? :doh:

Also, I'm probably wrong about destroyed/damaged core units counting against you in the next battle. That didn't seem to happen during the Kursk campaign, and I can't see how yours could've been any different. Sorry for the bum steer. :o

Finally, had I known about "selling" unwanted core units for repair or changing core units it might've made a difference. Gotta try that the next time.

Thanks again for creating this challenging campaign Ts4EVER. Happy gaming! :)

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Recently downloaded the new SPWW2 CD, latest version plus latest patch... played the first game in the 29th Infantry campaign, earned a draw, but could not advance to the next scenario... this is the second time this has happened. Is there a glitch?

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

There was a mistka made when the patch was created. This should fix it:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=49678

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Thanks, have downloaded fix, begun new game and hopefully will be able to move into the next scenario after first game finished. Appreciate prompt response... Bob

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Did a playthrough of your campaign in 2022, based on in-game available version.

Its generally good, I like touch to detail, but it has... flaws. Let me focus on these. I also intend to play the remainder of your campaings, not sure how much these will apply to the other:
1) Scenario length in total: scenarios have too little available turns. Player has a constant feeling of deadline ahead. This forces very aggressive tactics, often resulting in rushes onto enemy positions, and this means mounting casualties. If you wish careful battalion maneuver management you should add at least 10 turns for each scenario to effectively allow this. This follow on with...
2) DRAMATIC limitations on replacements between battles that make this campaign more like a struggle for survival rather than properly suppored American advance to the Rhine:
a) First of all, there are no indications of how long you are about to fare without replacements what heavily complicated planning as mentioned in 1).
b) Also, you give no ability to skip scenarios so you fare with extremely damaged battlegroup for most of the time. Remember this epic French campaign you made for me? We could steer on when my force is pulled into reserve, but you cannot do this here.
c) About 3/4 of the campaign time I fight with reinforced company. I was NEVER able to fix my AT gun platoon, mostly eliminated by Axis artillery - you barely can outmaneuver that. Same applies to 81mm mortars mostly destroyed during St. Lo outskirts counterttack AFTER my few remaining infantry was wrecked by rear advancing Axis (so not like they were left unprotected);
d) So player should either know that he will not be reinforced for eg. 2 more battles AND should be warned on planned reinforcements allocations. 25pts is waaaaay insufficient if you take about ~80 casualties per battle, some being formations KOs;
e) Not sure how the others, but know that I am playing WITHOUT any form of z-fire against the AI. I was doing some recon years ago and players prefer limiting z-fire as much as they can. Not sure how you playtest, but obviously z-firing would make this a whole lotta easier. If you planned this for zfire, you should clearly inform players about it;
f) Fun fact: deadline was so bad I NEVER EVER dismantled any hedgerow, just attacked right ahead on the roads :P
g) If there is intel on what sort of enemy force we are facing, there should be at least a limited indication on spotted enemy deployment. Its good we know that a battalion of Volksgrenadiere is deployed on our sector. Cool, but where? We gotta know from somewhere this this force is here, right?
h) One more thing with reinforcements. I see that you like - which is a nice touch - to counter my losses with diminshing Axis numbers within squads. Indeed many German units often have only like 6-7 men (as in reality) and depleted equipment. However mind that Axis squad having 6 men out of 10 is considered full if edited in manpower section. That means they get no penalty for losses in action points. That means German 6 men out of 10 men team fights better than my 8 men out of 12 men squad. Because my squad is listed as damage, not manpower. This effectively badly supports the opponent, and SPWW2 does not allow me to transfer troops between squads. For example, I cannot recreate Bazooka Teams by moving from my rifle squads and effectively I cannot reinforce my AT capability. I hope you see the problem as I paint it;
i) One more flaw, but I am unsure of this one. Axis gets weird bonus points other than artillery stack throughout most of campaign. I believe Axis benefits from any of my destroyed units even if these were destroyed in prior scenarios. This means that I get penalty for losses over and over and on many occasions I am pushed into draw even though I have clearly scored a minor win. I do not make campaigns though, so I am not sure if works like that;
3) Final scenario - attack on remaining Ruhr pockets from Korslar - is incompletable. It is December already and game counts the map as winter one. Even though there is nos now, just grass, I get movement points halved and only make 2 hexes on roads. It is quite impossible mathematically to even reach the flags, let alone break the resistance. This scenario requires AT LEAST 30 turns of time;
4) Deadline stress often forces tactics to force AI into counterattack. I do not believe it is a planned matter on your behalf. You are playing for Axis to dislodge from their positions to wreck them (expect of one Normandy scenario where it is directly suggested). Mind that Ai counterattacks are generally retarded. I myself consider them unwanted unless specifically scripted and rely on turn 98 mechanics a lot. Good example is assault on Korslar and Bourheim (night attack). I rushed the assault with aux units on Bourheim and completed it somehow in like 14 turns. I reached the flags and triggered counterattack. I waited for about 4 turns and only then at turn 18 (out of 27 I think) I moved my core force onto Korslar. I destroyed like 2 platoons of outpositioned VlkGren while remaining ~2 companies were happily en route to Bourmeim avandoning the primary defense position. This ingenious rule allowed me to save my precious 25pts replacements points and thus I had 5 instead of 4 platoons of combat capable force. I even managed to recover one M1017 section destroyed in July 1944 and opened a cold beer from pure happiness imagining on how it is to have an MG in my battalion as I nearly forgot this <3

I hope this comes in helpful :V
I will try with other campaigns, too.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Now this is a blast from the past :D This being my first campaign, I don't doubt I could do better now. In fact, I was itching to get back into the SpWW2 scene. Maybe remaking this campaign could be a good summer project... I could use venhola now as well for more accurate maps.

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

Yes please make me another generated we gonna play for like 3 years <3
Romania or Hungary? :3

Also please fix tracer in AP ammunition in M13/40 in FH2 as it is not possible to determine where main gun rounds land over distance (or slightly adjust backblast exhaust).

Re: WIP campaign 29th Infantry division (testers appreciated)
 

I was rather thinking about making a remake of this campaign, maybe scenario by scenario together with you. Regarding the M13/40, I will pass it on, not really my area.