Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
This is going to be a journal of sorts sharing my experience and impressions of V&V as I have time to play through it.
My Background
I’m a 62 year old American teaching English at university in Japan. Prior to coming here, I taught history and computer science at a private high school in Silicon Valley. I’ve been a wargamer for over 50 years, starting out with AH games in JHS and quickly moving into miniatures, WRG Ancients and Napoleonic Empire in HS. I played Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader when they first came out and went through the whole Squad Leader series, but never got into ASL. My last year in university, I bought a Commodore-64 and subsequently got into computer wargaming in a big way, playing mostly SSI’s games, but also a few AH conversions and a smattering of stuff from other companies. In particular, I played a lot of Kampgroup and Panzergrenadier and their successors. Later I got a PC and played a lot of other stuff. I naturally got into Steel Panthers when it came out and have played thousands of hours of it since. In short, I have a pretty extensive background in both the history and gaming related to World War II.
Introduction to V&V
I read a little bit about V&V on the Slitherine forums and a number of Field of Glory 2 players made some favorable comments about it, so I decided to check it out. I read through forums on Matrix and Steam to get a sense of issues and feedback from players. I read a number of reviews from gaming sites around the web. To be honest, my first impressions from these were not altogether positive. It seemed the game was still a work in progress, user base was a bit low, and that it might be a bit more abstract than what I was used to playing. However, I did have 38% off anniversary coupon from Slitherine good for only a month, so I went ahead and splurged and pick up the whole V&V bundle when I purchased the latest FOG2 DLC to finish off my collection. I downloaded and installed everything and picked up some additional user made scenarios and mods. I also downloaded the rules PDF and read through that to get a better grasp of what I was getting into.
Getting Started - a Somewhat Random Beginning
I played through the tutorial, following the prompts and lost.
I thought I’d start in historical order so, next played the first scenario in Shield of Cholm. I’m not a big fan of the Russians, so played as the Germans defending. As units were already deployed in fairly decent defensive positions, I simply left my guys in place and awaited the red onslaught. The Soviets slowly advanced and took out one or two of my outer placed units. I eventually shot up one or two stacks that tried to cross the open, but the Russians never got close to the objective hexes. I won, though I’m not sure I would’ve done any better than the AI given the broad avenues and plaza one needs to cross to reach the objective.
Next, I thought I’d give the random generation scenario option a go. I chose to play Germans vs Russians. It generated a city fight; I was defending with a handful of units scattered in a not very well organized manner. The Russians had a pair of tanks and quite a bit of infantry. I was allotted no tanks nor any AT guns. I played a couple of turns and gave up as it was a hopeless situation; the tanks with infantry support were easily dispatching my ill-deployed outposts.
A Planned Progression
I decided I would attempt a play through in the order of release; I would start with the Normandy scenarios and work through to the Arnhem ones. Given how poorly reviewed the AI is in attacking, I decided I would play the attacker in each scenario, regardless of my normal national preference. I would play with FOW and would not review scenario OOB before hand to maintain the element of surprise.
Game 1 Alamo
I needed to pin or eliminate all the American paratroopers. I didn’t seem to have many guys, so I cautiously began my sweep of the town, keeping my units together so I could combine fire. I pretty quickly found a couple of half squads and dispatched them, but then ran into the defensive core towards the middle of the map and it went downhill pretty quickly from there. The paratroopers had a pair of -2 leaders which proved too much. Despite being in the middle of the street without cover, I did little more than pin some of them down. They, in response systematically gunned down my guys shielded by buildings. My leader led close assault clearing a building cost me most of my stack, and the survivors died under a hail of paratrooper fire shortly there after. According to the after action screen I wiped out half the paratroopers. I guess the Alamo was for the Germans.
So far, I feel scenarios are not very well play balanced and the time limit forces the attacker to be more reckless in order to achieve the objectives. The lack of smoke and artillery support also are a bit distressing, I made considerable use of those when playing Steel Panthers, particularly when running infantry heavy forces.
Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Moderators: Matrix Games Staff, MOD_Valor & Victory
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 2 Moch’s Battalion
I needed to secure 3 victory hexes. I had a lot of squads and several leaders including a -2 plus a couple of half tracks, so I was feeling more hopeful about this one. Alas, I didn’t look so closely and misjudged where one victory hex was, thinking it was further to the rear rather than a lone isolated and heavily garrisoned building holding down one flank. My infantry moved through some central woods and behind a building or two to avoid any defensive fire, then used assault moves to shift into LOS of the central buiding which turned out to be held by half a dozen squads. I swung my half tracks around on my left, bringing them up to support range but staying out of bazooka range initially of the central building. The enemy heavy machine gun on my left got a few really lucky rolls and took out a few troops, but otherwise was mostly just an annoyance. The firefight in the center went very poorly. We slowly flanked the building and moved into the street with assault moves with supporting fire from other squads. However, a string of poor rolls mostly nurfed our initial assault. I got a bit carelesss and advanced the half tracks into bazooka range and they both were one shot, one killed. Surprisingly, the AI launched an assault out into the street, leaving the security of the building. It did wipe out a squad or two and a leader, but was in turn destroyed by concentrated fire the following turn. We were thus able to mass everything and finally wipe out the remaining stack and capture the first objective with 3 turns left to secure the others. We moved up behind buildings and trees to the rear objective and found it also well defended. We whittled down the defenders a bit with fire but not enough to storm the place and as I had unintentionally bypassed the HMG stronghold which was the third objective anyhow, there wasn’t any way we’re gonna win this one. Losses were 69% to 67% in my favor, though as I had a bigger force, I obviously lost more guys.
Again the lack of smoke and artillery was annoying. It’s way too difficult to pin troops relative to the number of squads firing at them and as the effect is removed almost immediately, it’s a very time consuming process to wear down the enemy enough to risk assaults against troops in buildings. I thought the bazooka fire was way too accurate, considering I was sitting at maximum range, though that could’ve easily been avoided if I’d paid closer attention and held my ground rather than inching forward. The time constraints make it seem impossible to carry out anything other than rushed wave assaults which would only lead to more losses. I’ll push on through a few more scenarios, but at this rate, I’m not sure my attention will hold.
I needed to secure 3 victory hexes. I had a lot of squads and several leaders including a -2 plus a couple of half tracks, so I was feeling more hopeful about this one. Alas, I didn’t look so closely and misjudged where one victory hex was, thinking it was further to the rear rather than a lone isolated and heavily garrisoned building holding down one flank. My infantry moved through some central woods and behind a building or two to avoid any defensive fire, then used assault moves to shift into LOS of the central buiding which turned out to be held by half a dozen squads. I swung my half tracks around on my left, bringing them up to support range but staying out of bazooka range initially of the central building. The enemy heavy machine gun on my left got a few really lucky rolls and took out a few troops, but otherwise was mostly just an annoyance. The firefight in the center went very poorly. We slowly flanked the building and moved into the street with assault moves with supporting fire from other squads. However, a string of poor rolls mostly nurfed our initial assault. I got a bit carelesss and advanced the half tracks into bazooka range and they both were one shot, one killed. Surprisingly, the AI launched an assault out into the street, leaving the security of the building. It did wipe out a squad or two and a leader, but was in turn destroyed by concentrated fire the following turn. We were thus able to mass everything and finally wipe out the remaining stack and capture the first objective with 3 turns left to secure the others. We moved up behind buildings and trees to the rear objective and found it also well defended. We whittled down the defenders a bit with fire but not enough to storm the place and as I had unintentionally bypassed the HMG stronghold which was the third objective anyhow, there wasn’t any way we’re gonna win this one. Losses were 69% to 67% in my favor, though as I had a bigger force, I obviously lost more guys.
Again the lack of smoke and artillery was annoying. It’s way too difficult to pin troops relative to the number of squads firing at them and as the effect is removed almost immediately, it’s a very time consuming process to wear down the enemy enough to risk assaults against troops in buildings. I thought the bazooka fire was way too accurate, considering I was sitting at maximum range, though that could’ve easily been avoided if I’d paid closer attention and held my ground rather than inching forward. The time constraints make it seem impossible to carry out anything other than rushed wave assaults which would only lead to more losses. I’ll push on through a few more scenarios, but at this rate, I’m not sure my attention will hold.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 3 Rudder’s Rangers
Objective was to pin or eliminate all the enemy. We could see some barbed wire and foxholes on the map, so figured we’d find the enemy centered there towards the middle right. Some woods screened the approach so we headed for them first and were surprised to find a small enemy outpost almost on our edge in building next to the woods. Fortunately, we didn’t suffer any losses and eliminated that pretty quickly. From the far edge of the woods, we discovered another strong point in a building between the woods and the wire, beyond which were a few squads in the foxholes and a gun. We deployed a firing line along the edge of the woods and pushed out some squads into shell holes a bit beyond and another group skirted the right flank and into a small grove. Somewhat surprisingly, the Germans advanced their squads from their foxholes behind the wire and into some woods along their left, which made it easier for us to get at them. Our superior numbers gradually wore down the Germans, though we were hampered by some pretty mediocre shooting and a turn or two of really good German shooting. The net result, one half squad and the gun survived, so we lost again. Losses were 75% to 50% in our favor, though with the larger force, it was more like an even swap I think.
Again, the short time limit really makes any wide swings in rolling pretty fatal to the attacker. Even with a little better shooting, I don’t think I would’ve reached the gun without simply rushing from the start instead of being more methodical. I continue to be unimpressed with play balance of time and units. If you’re going to set shorter times, the attacker need a more overwhelming advantage in firepower to be able to dispose of the defenders following realistic tactics.
Objective was to pin or eliminate all the enemy. We could see some barbed wire and foxholes on the map, so figured we’d find the enemy centered there towards the middle right. Some woods screened the approach so we headed for them first and were surprised to find a small enemy outpost almost on our edge in building next to the woods. Fortunately, we didn’t suffer any losses and eliminated that pretty quickly. From the far edge of the woods, we discovered another strong point in a building between the woods and the wire, beyond which were a few squads in the foxholes and a gun. We deployed a firing line along the edge of the woods and pushed out some squads into shell holes a bit beyond and another group skirted the right flank and into a small grove. Somewhat surprisingly, the Germans advanced their squads from their foxholes behind the wire and into some woods along their left, which made it easier for us to get at them. Our superior numbers gradually wore down the Germans, though we were hampered by some pretty mediocre shooting and a turn or two of really good German shooting. The net result, one half squad and the gun survived, so we lost again. Losses were 75% to 50% in our favor, though with the larger force, it was more like an even swap I think.
Again, the short time limit really makes any wide swings in rolling pretty fatal to the attacker. Even with a little better shooting, I don’t think I would’ve reached the gun without simply rushing from the start instead of being more methodical. I continue to be unimpressed with play balance of time and units. If you’re going to set shorter times, the attacker need a more overwhelming advantage in firepower to be able to dispose of the defenders following realistic tactics.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 4 Securing St. Laurent
We needed to secure several victory hexes on the far side of a town. I had 2 tanks for the first time, though with the narrow city streets, I wasn’t sure how decisive they might be. There were two long streets leading to the objectives with Germans visible at the far end of each with commanding fields of fire. One had a HMG, so I was sure not going that way. Most of my squad began creeping forward building by building along each street with the tanks hanging back and tasked with blasting the Germans at the far ends. One squad I sent on a flanking move along the right side of town and surprising made it almost to the victory hexes without encountering any Germans. The left flank push stalled as the Germans brought up a stack into a building opposite and a prolonged firefight began. My left tank blasting the HMG was cursed with low rolls till almost the end of the game, so didn’t help matters on that flank. Meanwhile, on my right, I concentrated a couple of stacks and got off a couple of lucky shots which eliminated the strong point guarding the right. My right tank rolled about average and managed to destroy the squad covering the street from the far end. My lone right squad hanging out in the woods then pushed forward into the victory hexes and found them deserted. My right flank enveloped the Germans guarding the left and the remaining squads and tank moved up and secured the victory hexes and finished off the HMG strong point about the same time, thanks to my left tank finally figuring out the range. So, we finally won a game, decisively no less, by destroying all the enemy and securing all the victory hexes - but only on the final turn.
The tanks proved very helpful, overall, though they didn’t shoot so well early on. I kept them out of bazooka range and screened by my infantry, so they were never in any danger. The AI continues to advance out of probably a better defensive position which led to those squads demise and an easier win. If I hadn’t had a really good string of shooting rolls with my infantry all in one turn on my right which wiped out the strongpoint there, I’m not sure I would’ve made it to the victory hexes on time.
We needed to secure several victory hexes on the far side of a town. I had 2 tanks for the first time, though with the narrow city streets, I wasn’t sure how decisive they might be. There were two long streets leading to the objectives with Germans visible at the far end of each with commanding fields of fire. One had a HMG, so I was sure not going that way. Most of my squad began creeping forward building by building along each street with the tanks hanging back and tasked with blasting the Germans at the far ends. One squad I sent on a flanking move along the right side of town and surprising made it almost to the victory hexes without encountering any Germans. The left flank push stalled as the Germans brought up a stack into a building opposite and a prolonged firefight began. My left tank blasting the HMG was cursed with low rolls till almost the end of the game, so didn’t help matters on that flank. Meanwhile, on my right, I concentrated a couple of stacks and got off a couple of lucky shots which eliminated the strong point guarding the right. My right tank rolled about average and managed to destroy the squad covering the street from the far end. My lone right squad hanging out in the woods then pushed forward into the victory hexes and found them deserted. My right flank enveloped the Germans guarding the left and the remaining squads and tank moved up and secured the victory hexes and finished off the HMG strong point about the same time, thanks to my left tank finally figuring out the range. So, we finally won a game, decisively no less, by destroying all the enemy and securing all the victory hexes - but only on the final turn.
The tanks proved very helpful, overall, though they didn’t shoot so well early on. I kept them out of bazooka range and screened by my infantry, so they were never in any danger. The AI continues to advance out of probably a better defensive position which led to those squads demise and an easier win. If I hadn’t had a really good string of shooting rolls with my infantry all in one turn on my right which wiped out the strongpoint there, I’m not sure I would’ve made it to the victory hexes on time.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
A hearty welcome to you on the forums! And thanks for the in-depth treatment of the game.
- Mike
- Mike
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 5 St Marie
Another city clearing mission with a number of objective hexes scattered across it. A big town, a fair number of Germans in outposts visible on the outskirts. We skirted to our left, using some woods and buildings to screen our advance from most of the Germans. We took up positions behind some walls, and in woods and buildings and began reducing the strong point covering the approach from the left. A few squads we swung wide with to try to bypass while the firefight raged. The Germans shifted some squads to their right to counter and that slowed us up as we had to deal with these as well. Our flanking squads ran into a small blocking force on the German right and that took a couple of turns to deal with. The major strong point holding us up on the left finally fell to assault and we pushed our squads forward faster on the left. The Germans however also shifted more squads and our assault bogged down after capturing the first victory hex. We sent a couple of squads wide right, hoping to sneak in behind the shifting Germans, but had left a rear guard, and there was another small stack which reversed course to support it, so that gambit failed to materialize. Time expired with final losses about 70% to 49% in our favor, but with most of the hexes still beyond our grasp.
Same old story; mediocre shooting and lack of time leads to coming up short.
Another city clearing mission with a number of objective hexes scattered across it. A big town, a fair number of Germans in outposts visible on the outskirts. We skirted to our left, using some woods and buildings to screen our advance from most of the Germans. We took up positions behind some walls, and in woods and buildings and began reducing the strong point covering the approach from the left. A few squads we swung wide with to try to bypass while the firefight raged. The Germans shifted some squads to their right to counter and that slowed us up as we had to deal with these as well. Our flanking squads ran into a small blocking force on the German right and that took a couple of turns to deal with. The major strong point holding us up on the left finally fell to assault and we pushed our squads forward faster on the left. The Germans however also shifted more squads and our assault bogged down after capturing the first victory hex. We sent a couple of squads wide right, hoping to sneak in behind the shifting Germans, but had left a rear guard, and there was another small stack which reversed course to support it, so that gambit failed to materialize. Time expired with final losses about 70% to 49% in our favor, but with most of the hexes still beyond our grasp.
Same old story; mediocre shooting and lack of time leads to coming up short.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 6 The Bridge
Had to capture two objectives on opposite edges of the map with just 9 squads with six enemy squads immediately visible plus a HMG in a central building which could cover just about every avenue of approach. We dispatched 3 squads north behind a screening woods and six south behind cover of another woods, thus avoided any initial unpleasantness with the HMG stack. Our southern assault crept up to the edge of the woods and began a firefight with the opposing stack of infantry in the nearby building, which blocked LOS to the HMG stack, keeping it out of the fight. Unfortunately for us, these guys proved tough, gaining valor on almost their first shot and subsequently proving almost invulnerable to our fire after that. We pushed one stack across the open and naturally got shot up a bit, but managed to reach the shelter of the buildings and then crept further south and captured the undefended southern objective, while our other stack continued to come out on the short end vs the valorous stack across the way. Meanwhile, our northern force crept up to the edge the woods and spotted a stack in a nearby building and in a short firefight, with some lucky rolls on our side, dispatched them. They then dodged across a short open space, the HMG stack thankfully rolling high, and worked their way cautiously north to the last objective, just reaching it on the final turn – though our initial squad we pushed on to it got killed by long range LMG fire, snake eyes yet again. Thus, we won decisively, though the casualty count wasn’t so impressive 49% for us vs 45% for the Americans.
If we hadn’t gotten lucky in the northern firefight with a couple of consecutive good rolls, we wouldn’t have reached the northern objective within the time limit. Again, I feel the balance in numbers is way off for the attackers to have much chance of success on average, especially using FOW and not initially knowing how many or where the defenders may be. Still not seen any smoke or artillery made available.
Had to capture two objectives on opposite edges of the map with just 9 squads with six enemy squads immediately visible plus a HMG in a central building which could cover just about every avenue of approach. We dispatched 3 squads north behind a screening woods and six south behind cover of another woods, thus avoided any initial unpleasantness with the HMG stack. Our southern assault crept up to the edge of the woods and began a firefight with the opposing stack of infantry in the nearby building, which blocked LOS to the HMG stack, keeping it out of the fight. Unfortunately for us, these guys proved tough, gaining valor on almost their first shot and subsequently proving almost invulnerable to our fire after that. We pushed one stack across the open and naturally got shot up a bit, but managed to reach the shelter of the buildings and then crept further south and captured the undefended southern objective, while our other stack continued to come out on the short end vs the valorous stack across the way. Meanwhile, our northern force crept up to the edge the woods and spotted a stack in a nearby building and in a short firefight, with some lucky rolls on our side, dispatched them. They then dodged across a short open space, the HMG stack thankfully rolling high, and worked their way cautiously north to the last objective, just reaching it on the final turn – though our initial squad we pushed on to it got killed by long range LMG fire, snake eyes yet again. Thus, we won decisively, though the casualty count wasn’t so impressive 49% for us vs 45% for the Americans.
If we hadn’t gotten lucky in the northern firefight with a couple of consecutive good rolls, we wouldn’t have reached the northern objective within the time limit. Again, I feel the balance in numbers is way off for the attackers to have much chance of success on average, especially using FOW and not initially knowing how many or where the defenders may be. Still not seen any smoke or artillery made available.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 7 Southern Block
A single victory hex to secure behind wire and a bit of open ground. We have a pair of tanks and a couple of stacks of infantry, which seems a bit light as I figure there are at least 3 stacks of infantry and probably more based on past scenarios. In addition the tanks are trapped by buildings so can only go forward into likely bazooka arc. So, I start by using my tanks as a firebase and begin blasting the infantry stack in the objective hex while shifting one stack of infantry to scout left behind cover of woods and buildings and the other stack to scout right behind cover of buildings towards some woods. My tanks prove total busts, not hitting the broadside of a barn while the infantry is scouting. My left wing finds an enemy stack at point blank range in woods just beyond the buildings. My guys get slaughtered in a very one-sided set of dice rolls. My right wing finds a half squad bazooka covering the road and a supporting stack behind it aways in buildings and tries to kill the bazooka team for turn after turn. We take some losses from the opposing stack but finally kill the bazooka. We pull back to support the tanks vs the nearby infantry who slaughtered our left; we get pulverized by long range LMG fire and only half make it. The tanks move up a little, now that the bazooka is gone and finally do a little damage to the stack on the victory hex, however more squads appear out of the woods on the left and now they have a bazooka, which wasn’t there in the earlier infantry firefight. Our tanks again can’t hit the broadside of a barn and the bazooka stack gains valor while blowing up one of our tanks. At this point we have just two squads of infantry left and time expires. We lost 70% and the Americans 23%.
Again, very poor balance in numbers, no smoke, no artillery, no time.
A single victory hex to secure behind wire and a bit of open ground. We have a pair of tanks and a couple of stacks of infantry, which seems a bit light as I figure there are at least 3 stacks of infantry and probably more based on past scenarios. In addition the tanks are trapped by buildings so can only go forward into likely bazooka arc. So, I start by using my tanks as a firebase and begin blasting the infantry stack in the objective hex while shifting one stack of infantry to scout left behind cover of woods and buildings and the other stack to scout right behind cover of buildings towards some woods. My tanks prove total busts, not hitting the broadside of a barn while the infantry is scouting. My left wing finds an enemy stack at point blank range in woods just beyond the buildings. My guys get slaughtered in a very one-sided set of dice rolls. My right wing finds a half squad bazooka covering the road and a supporting stack behind it aways in buildings and tries to kill the bazooka team for turn after turn. We take some losses from the opposing stack but finally kill the bazooka. We pull back to support the tanks vs the nearby infantry who slaughtered our left; we get pulverized by long range LMG fire and only half make it. The tanks move up a little, now that the bazooka is gone and finally do a little damage to the stack on the victory hex, however more squads appear out of the woods on the left and now they have a bazooka, which wasn’t there in the earlier infantry firefight. Our tanks again can’t hit the broadside of a barn and the bazooka stack gains valor while blowing up one of our tanks. At this point we have just two squads of infantry left and time expires. We lost 70% and the Americans 23%.
Again, very poor balance in numbers, no smoke, no artillery, no time.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 8 Collerville
Objective was to wipe out the enemy. A big city map, so I was really worried about time in this one. I had a tank and about a dozen or so squads for the job. Worried about ambushes, I started by probing left and right with a single squad, finding nothing on the left initially, but located a strongpoint with a HMG covering access on my right. So, I pushed a couple of stacks forward carefully on the left and the bulk of my infantry to the right supported by the tank to take out the HMG. While we were grounding that down, a couple of half tracks appeared, one on each flank and my left squad scout bumped into a whole lot of German infantry moving down the buildings and on both sides. We hastily pulled back our left flank squads into buildings across the street while our right finished off the HMG nest and dealt with the half-track. We then shifted our right to envelop the advancing German infantry and detailed a bazooka team and our tank to deal with the other half-track which and shifted from our left to our right. Our growing numbers, ground up the advancing Germans, especially those in the street. Our AT efforts paid quick dividends and we shifted our tank to support the firefight. Our flanking units caught the Germans in the street and made short work of them. We pressed on with all our infantry and crushed the last few surviving German squads with time to spare. Final losses: 16% for us and 100% of the Germans.
The AI is not overly bright when attacking, it advances out of stronger positions and gets slaughtered. The scenario would’ve played out much differently if they’d simply held defensive positions and forced me to dig them out.
Objective was to wipe out the enemy. A big city map, so I was really worried about time in this one. I had a tank and about a dozen or so squads for the job. Worried about ambushes, I started by probing left and right with a single squad, finding nothing on the left initially, but located a strongpoint with a HMG covering access on my right. So, I pushed a couple of stacks forward carefully on the left and the bulk of my infantry to the right supported by the tank to take out the HMG. While we were grounding that down, a couple of half tracks appeared, one on each flank and my left squad scout bumped into a whole lot of German infantry moving down the buildings and on both sides. We hastily pulled back our left flank squads into buildings across the street while our right finished off the HMG nest and dealt with the half-track. We then shifted our right to envelop the advancing German infantry and detailed a bazooka team and our tank to deal with the other half-track which and shifted from our left to our right. Our growing numbers, ground up the advancing Germans, especially those in the street. Our AT efforts paid quick dividends and we shifted our tank to support the firefight. Our flanking units caught the Germans in the street and made short work of them. We pressed on with all our infantry and crushed the last few surviving German squads with time to spare. Final losses: 16% for us and 100% of the Germans.
The AI is not overly bright when attacking, it advances out of stronger positions and gets slaughtered. The scenario would’ve played out much differently if they’d simply held defensive positions and forced me to dig them out.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 9 Rangers Hold
Needed to capture a cluster of objective hexes. Two stacks of Rangers visible guarding outer edge. I had a half track and about a dozen squads for the job. A large woods and a few buildings presented a mostly screened approach from the left, so we went that way with everyone. Used the half track for an extreme flank end run. Moved up through the trees and wiped out the first outpost after a few turns of fire followed up by an assault. Second Ranger stack shifted to oppose us and we wiped that out and occupied the remaining VP hexes on the last turn.
Surprised there were so few rangers, but still just made it by the skin of my teeth. One series of bad rolls and I wouldn’t have made it on time.
Needed to capture a cluster of objective hexes. Two stacks of Rangers visible guarding outer edge. I had a half track and about a dozen squads for the job. A large woods and a few buildings presented a mostly screened approach from the left, so we went that way with everyone. Used the half track for an extreme flank end run. Moved up through the trees and wiped out the first outpost after a few turns of fire followed up by an assault. Second Ranger stack shifted to oppose us and we wiped that out and occupied the remaining VP hexes on the last turn.
Surprised there were so few rangers, but still just made it by the skin of my teeth. One series of bad rolls and I wouldn’t have made it on time.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Game 10 Eagles
Need to capture a single victory hex. I have 9 squads and a pair of mortars. First time to get those so curious to see how effective they are. I can see about 6 German squads so the numbers are not promising. A HMG completely covers all approaches so will need to be taken out before we can realistically reach the objective. Sounds like the ideal test of the mortars. There’s a lone farm house half way there that we can use to screen an advance of a stack to get closer to HMG as well. We set off with most of our infantry that way and try probing along the right edge only to get shot up by the HMG, so pull pack with the survivors. Mortars prove to be almost worthless waste of time in about 24 shots we only hit once. Our lead stack takes up in the farm house and eventually, single-handedly wipes out the HMG and accompanying squads. A lone surviving leader manages to shoot up a squad I try to sneak past. We finally dispose of him and our surviving squads move through the woods up to the farm house while our mortars. and HMG attempt to wear it down. Again, the mortars. are pathetic, hitting once out of 16 times. As we line up opposite the farm house to begin our assault efforts, another stack of Germans appear out of the woods from the north, and we run out of time again before we can realistically attempt an assault. Final losses were 25% us vs 38% Germans.
Sorry, 2 out of 40 shots hitting is simply ridiculous performance for any kind of mortar, I don’t care what kind of cover is involved. Again, numbers and time factors poorly balanced for what is expected.
This concludes my Normandy run-through; I’ve no interest in playing through similar scenarios with the Brit’s based on what I’ve experienced so far. I’ll move on to the Russian front next.
Overall, I am underwhelmed by the poor play balance through out the scenarios. Many of them are essentially impossible to win as the attacker without very good luck.
Need to capture a single victory hex. I have 9 squads and a pair of mortars. First time to get those so curious to see how effective they are. I can see about 6 German squads so the numbers are not promising. A HMG completely covers all approaches so will need to be taken out before we can realistically reach the objective. Sounds like the ideal test of the mortars. There’s a lone farm house half way there that we can use to screen an advance of a stack to get closer to HMG as well. We set off with most of our infantry that way and try probing along the right edge only to get shot up by the HMG, so pull pack with the survivors. Mortars prove to be almost worthless waste of time in about 24 shots we only hit once. Our lead stack takes up in the farm house and eventually, single-handedly wipes out the HMG and accompanying squads. A lone surviving leader manages to shoot up a squad I try to sneak past. We finally dispose of him and our surviving squads move through the woods up to the farm house while our mortars. and HMG attempt to wear it down. Again, the mortars. are pathetic, hitting once out of 16 times. As we line up opposite the farm house to begin our assault efforts, another stack of Germans appear out of the woods from the north, and we run out of time again before we can realistically attempt an assault. Final losses were 25% us vs 38% Germans.
Sorry, 2 out of 40 shots hitting is simply ridiculous performance for any kind of mortar, I don’t care what kind of cover is involved. Again, numbers and time factors poorly balanced for what is expected.
This concludes my Normandy run-through; I’ve no interest in playing through similar scenarios with the Brit’s based on what I’ve experienced so far. I’ll move on to the Russian front next.
Overall, I am underwhelmed by the poor play balance through out the scenarios. Many of them are essentially impossible to win as the attacker without very good luck.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Stalingrad
Well, it’s on to the Eastern Front. I’m hoping things improve in this next DLC. Again, I’ll play the attacker in each scenario and hope for the best.
Game 1 – Bridgehead
A couple of victory hexes on the far edge of the map, never a good sign when you have a rather open village to fight through to get there. I have 4 half-tracks and 3 tanks, a couple of mortars and about a dozen squads. At first glance, I can see 4 light AT guns, a couple of mortars and at least 9 squads deployed in buildings or trenches in about a three layered defense. I don’t think I’m going to make it in six turns.
I move up squads into the first line of building to face off vs the first layer and use my mortars to start working on some of the guns. Move up the half tracks to provide some fire support on my left and the tanks to do the same on my right. Mortar and AT fire kill a couple of my tracks almost right away. Likewise, my tanks evaporate under AT fire within a couple of turns; I didn’t think light AT would be that effective vs my frontal armor, but oh well. My mortars prove as ineffective as ever; I never hit anything the whole game; what a waste. My infantry fire teams eventually take out the middle of the first layer and advance to occupy buildings, but by that time the game is over. Final losses 70% us 30% Russians.
My half-tracks had absolutely no effect on infantry in buildings, even when I rolled as low as 3. I simply gave up on them after that. My tanks killed nothing before they died. My mortars, as mentioned, hit absolutely nothing. The balance of numbers and time continue to be irrational IMHO. I think I’m going to take a break from this series for awhile as I’m really getting fed up with it.
Well, it’s on to the Eastern Front. I’m hoping things improve in this next DLC. Again, I’ll play the attacker in each scenario and hope for the best.
Game 1 – Bridgehead
A couple of victory hexes on the far edge of the map, never a good sign when you have a rather open village to fight through to get there. I have 4 half-tracks and 3 tanks, a couple of mortars and about a dozen squads. At first glance, I can see 4 light AT guns, a couple of mortars and at least 9 squads deployed in buildings or trenches in about a three layered defense. I don’t think I’m going to make it in six turns.
I move up squads into the first line of building to face off vs the first layer and use my mortars to start working on some of the guns. Move up the half tracks to provide some fire support on my left and the tanks to do the same on my right. Mortar and AT fire kill a couple of my tracks almost right away. Likewise, my tanks evaporate under AT fire within a couple of turns; I didn’t think light AT would be that effective vs my frontal armor, but oh well. My mortars prove as ineffective as ever; I never hit anything the whole game; what a waste. My infantry fire teams eventually take out the middle of the first layer and advance to occupy buildings, but by that time the game is over. Final losses 70% us 30% Russians.
My half-tracks had absolutely no effect on infantry in buildings, even when I rolled as low as 3. I simply gave up on them after that. My tanks killed nothing before they died. My mortars, as mentioned, hit absolutely nothing. The balance of numbers and time continue to be irrational IMHO. I think I’m going to take a break from this series for awhile as I’m really getting fed up with it.
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Hello Karvon,
I know you know this, but the game editor is easy to use, and even adding a turn or two takes a couple of seconds.
I bought the game on-release and have yet to play a vanilla scenario, as I can design better stuff on my own!
It's obvious that you have already invested a large amount of time into the game and hate to see you go away frustrated.
There are also several user scenarios available, including this one:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=377422
Best wishes,
Mike
I know you know this, but the game editor is easy to use, and even adding a turn or two takes a couple of seconds.
I bought the game on-release and have yet to play a vanilla scenario, as I can design better stuff on my own!
It's obvious that you have already invested a large amount of time into the game and hate to see you go away frustrated.
There are also several user scenarios available, including this one:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 0&t=377422
Best wishes,
Mike
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
My objective was to try the game out as designed. I realize you can easily change scenario length. Once I finished my planned play through, I'll have a better feel for how much longer I think a game should run.
I'm not interested ATM, in editing scenarios. I have downloaded a number of community made scenarios, but wanted to sample the official ones first.
I'm not abandoning the game, just taking a break as I played it almost every day this week. I don't have lots of free time for gaming, so there are other games I want to spend some time with instead.
Karvon
I'm not interested ATM, in editing scenarios. I have downloaded a number of community made scenarios, but wanted to sample the official ones first.
I'm not abandoning the game, just taking a break as I played it almost every day this week. I don't have lots of free time for gaming, so there are other games I want to spend some time with instead.
Karvon
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yobowargames
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Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
Hi Karvon
I'm sorry I did not see this thread earlier. Too many forums to monitor.
I am very interested in your playthroughs and your impressions.
I am looking to slightly amend the Normandy scenarios as they were created before we had many of the features we have today in the game and added as we released each DLC.
I'm sorry I did not see this thread earlier. Too many forums to monitor.
I am very interested in your playthroughs and your impressions.
I am looking to slightly amend the Normandy scenarios as they were created before we had many of the features we have today in the game and added as we released each DLC.
YOBOWARGAMES – “BRINGING THE JOYS OF BOARD WARGAMING TO THE PC”
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
I'm too busy with FOG2 tournaments and MP campaigns to play V&V atm. I may resume in a few months when the current league season wraps up.
To be honest, I can't see the casual gamer sticking with V&V after a few frustrating outings.
Karvon
To be honest, I can't see the casual gamer sticking with V&V after a few frustrating outings.
Karvon
Re: Karvon’s Valor & Victory Play Through
I understand a lot of your frustrations if I'm honest but in my case I'm not only used to quite heavily dice-based resolution systems(I've played blood bowl...) but actually find they give me that long sought after 'edge of the seat' feeling that I wouldn't pass up for the world.
I recently played a solo game(playing both sides via hotseat) using the 'Guards Counterattack' mod and the feeling of being diced was notably absent. This may have been because I wasn't rooting for either side, but I remember as I was playing thinking, 'wow, there's not actually a noticeable difference in the dice rolls after all'. It was quite the epiphany at the time and I'd recommend it if only to see if you have a similar experience, after all, it was only the one game I played this way so it could have just been a fluke.
Anyway, I enjoyed your reports here. Thanks.
I recently played a solo game(playing both sides via hotseat) using the 'Guards Counterattack' mod and the feeling of being diced was notably absent. This may have been because I wasn't rooting for either side, but I remember as I was playing thinking, 'wow, there's not actually a noticeable difference in the dice rolls after all'. It was quite the epiphany at the time and I'd recommend it if only to see if you have a similar experience, after all, it was only the one game I played this way so it could have just been a fluke.
Anyway, I enjoyed your reports here. Thanks.