Ostfront II

[Captain Cruft]

Thanks for the symbols, however I plan to use the generic ones and let players change the graphics if they want. It's all too much work as it is ...

[Grymme]

Counterset is now downloadable at this location. I added Staff, Partisan and Truck symbols appart from the ones in the picture. Dont really know how to depict bazookas though.

http://web.comhem.se/olvmyr/At%20mod/Bi ... ieces.html


aah.. ok. Never mind. Are you not interested in graphics at all? I feel it adds flavour to the game.

[Grymme]

What was your problem with using it as a masterfile? I just tried it on a small created scenario and it seemed to work.

[Captain Cruft]

I think the generic graphics work quite well, and players can swap them out if they want. The amount of work is overwhelming as it is and I don't want to add to it.

As to the masterfile thing, perhaps I meant that you can't use it for random games. It might be OK for making a scenario by hand, but I wouldn't be surprised if some problems manifest.

[Grymme]

Captain. I have a suggestion. I am working on the map for my own russian campaign scenario "Case Blue". When i am finished with the bare map i am going to upload it to the community somehow as just a map. This way people can use it to create their own scenarios on other subjects like the Russian Civil War/smaller battles in WWII /whatever.

Maybe you could do the same. A 300*300 map of Eastern Europe/European russia could certainly be used in a lot of different scenarios, and then people wouldnt have to do the same work all over again.

[Captain Cruft]

That's exactly what I intend to do, when I finish making it in around 2013 ... [;)]

[Grymme]

Cool. It will be a nice legacy for the forum. What map are you using to fill from? My map is 12 600 hexes. Thats 14 % of the size of your map. I did my map in 2 days. So hmm maybe in a month or so?

A couple of questions/observations etc.

Have you considered adding Motorcycle troops, penal troops and police/security troops would be cool. I am adding them in my modification anyhow.

Have you done something drastic with Staff points needed for vehicles?

[Captain Cruft]

The map is derived from the TOAW scenario Fire in the East, with a few changes. It will take several months to complete since I don't really have much time to devote to it at the moment. Just a few hexes every day ...

Yes I will be adding motorcycle troops, penal units and police etc. to some degree.

Command and control in general is something I need to think about for version II. I really can't remember what my reasons were for doing it the way I did in version I.

[jjdenver]

Hi,

I was thinking about the problem of avoiding a catastrophic end to the game before 1944/45. The balance seems to tilt one way or the other in GPW and the game ends quickly.

I wonder if it's a function of production capacity compared to losses. If for example production capacity of the Soviet far east and German heartland is quite large then maybe even large defeats wouldn't end the war. But if a few large defeats cause losses that can't be replaced quickly enough to prepare to stop the enemy, then the game ends.

The other possibility is that the effect of distance isn't simulated well enough. For example even when the Soviets caused large defeats to the Germans and vice versa, it seemed like the need to advance hundreds of miles sort of diluted the combat forward capabilities of the advancing army enough to weaken them and allow them to be stopped.

Moving in AT doesn't cause any loss of supply or temporary attrition the way it might have in WW2. For example if you advanced a panzer corp 200 kilometres east in Russia it would definitely have reduced effectiveness due to breakdowns and other issues when it met combat 200 k east. Also the supply tail might not be delivering all combat and non-combat supply that would be needed for a prolonged fight right away. In AT you can move east for a few weeks and arrive fit to undertake a long hard fight immediately.

Maybe there are other factors as well - these were just a couple I was thinking about.

jj

[03_walk_alot]

Captain
 
Was wondering why the transport plane carry weight is so low?
 
thanks
Giacomo
 

[Captain Cruft]

jj,

Several things in version II may mitigate what you describe:

1) Production only provides a small proportion of the forces, most new stuff comes in as reinforcements.
2) The need to convert rail in both directions when advancing. Armies will not be able to travel very far from the railheads and remain in supply.
3) I intend to add a readiness loss for movement. You can't simulate actual attrition though.
4) Lots of randomness. More things like the randomised production in version I.

walk_a_lot,

I can't remember but I feel sure I worked it out based on some formula from real data. WW2 transport planes did not have a great airlift capacity, other than perhaps the US ones, which aren't present.

[Captain Cruft]

Just a heads up about version I ...

Play-testing has revealed that the scenario is quite unbalanced. With an aggressive player the Germans can essentially win the game in October, and there is nothing the Soviets can do about it.

So, I am doing a version 0.98 which will attempt to fix this. It will be along within the next week or so.

Version II will also incorporate the lessons learned.

[Grymme]

Hi Captain.

How is work going on this monster of monsters

[Jay Doubleyou]

Playing the scenario against you was nice playtesting.
I love the setup, the real eastfront feeling, the different setup etc.
We have discussed (dis)balance issues to prevent the Germans from just keep on running towards the strategic goals almost unhindered if you are as agressive as possible.

Looking forward to version II.

[Captain Cruft]

Yes Jay Doubleyou handed my Soviet butt to me on several plates ... [;)] It was really excellent play-testing though.

Unfortunately I am currently on hiatus due to work and stuff, but have every intention of progressing things when I can. A version 0.98 of the existing scen will be the first objective, and this will attempt to fix the balance issues etc. Hopefully this will be before Christmas, then for the version II "mega-project" (and it is mega) I now think I will wait for the updated engine from Vic before really going for it. The map may get some attention though when I can manage it.

[Jeffrey H.]

and...

[SKY6A]

Hi all,

Newcomer to AT. Just wondering if this project was ever completed, or if it is still possible to get the original anywhere. The link in Captain Cruft's thread for the earlier version seem to be broken.

Thanks!

[Jeffrey H.]

Hi SKY6A. I think Capt. Cruft has been busy with other things, so this one is sort of stalled.

Don't know about the earlier version. There ought to be someone who has a copy, I assume you checked the scenario bank ?. I don't unfortunately. I was anticipating this mod myself.

[SKY6A]

Thanks Jeffrey,

I hadn't realized that Capt Cruft and MattyBouy are the same person, so I missed the Ostfront file in the Scenario Bank. Just grabbed it, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[Jeffrey H.]

NP and I hadn't realized that they were the same person either. It's a bit of a suprise.