Mrslobodan Feedback Thread

[BillRunacre]

You are right, I will add that rail connection in, well spotted. [:)]

[Ason]

Anyone else having problem with forced march? When I do it the game crashes, making it pretty much gamebreaking. Is this just for me ?

[n0kn0k]

Just did 6 turns with forced march. No issues.

[Ason]

Hmm, might just be poblems with that one hex then or just for me :/

I moved the german unit north of the maginot line down to the maginot line(at start of the game), crashed twice...

[BillRunacre]

I've been trying a lot of Forced March with the latest Hotfix and it hasn't crashed.

If it still happens for you is it a specific movement only, or everytime you try to move a unit that way?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Hmm, might just be poblems with that one hex then or just for me :/

I moved the german unit north of the maginot line down to the maginot line(at start of the game), crashed twice...

I experienced this last night as well. Sent the report to Hubert with the exact same unit moving to maginot line.

[BillRunacre]

Yes, I've just discovered it too, it's when the Force Marching unit bumps into a previously hidden French unit immediately south of Luxembourg.

[Ason]

Currently playing latest version (xxxx.08) on expert +2 exp.

It's 30 May 1942, I did everything historically so far (took france-yugoslavia-greece, although I did get Lithuania with border revision event) and I attacked USSR in July 1941. I got a pretty nice start with barbarossa, I managed to get most of my units to the front and I took out a lot of soviets, I even managed to eliminate 3 soviet air units at the start. However in 1941 I only managed to capture Riga in the north, reach Minsk in the centre and capture Zhitomir and Odessa in the south.. There were simply too many entrenched soviets that took too long to eliminate. I'm very happy to see the difficulty increase, although I'm afraid it's now very much imbalanced to the soviets advantage..

So far I feel like there are two main problems:
1.Number of units the axis can field is simply too low. In my opinion it should be possible to build more corps than armies, not the other way around. From 1941-1942 The soviets gets a huge number of units, which is fine but the axis should be able to field almost as many at that period.
At one point (can't remember exactly when) the axis actually had more active soldiers than the soviets on the eastern front.
As time goes by the soviets should of course be able to build a lot more than the germans.

2.Efficiency of german units is way too bad.. The morale and readiness seems too drop way too fast, there's almost no point in trying encirclement operations because of how fast the efficiency drops after you passed an enemy controlled city. I think atleast the panzer and mechanized units should be able to keep their efficiency up a little bit longer.
Basically it's really hard to get any "punch" in the offensives..

Also in many cases the soviet infantry and air units seem to be equal to the germans. Many times I've surrounded a soviet corp or army with 6 units, but none of the units can make any damage.. I know this depends on efficiency of my units but I've noticed some weird situations pretty often. Same thing with air units, in 1941 almost all the time the result of fighter vs fighter is 2-2 and I have level 4 in advanced aircraft..



For example here is one (not soviet but still), this seems like a very weird situation.. shouldn't this atleast be 1 damage in my favor? Maybe it's not efficiency that is the problem, maybe it's entrenchment that is too powerful?
The UK unit is completely cut off and surrounded by 5 of my units in the desert.
(advanced infantry level is 1 on both units)

Would love to hear other players thoughts on this aswell.

[BillRunacre]

I think one big factor in the problem you're experiencing is the difference that the AI units having 2 points of experience makes. I imagine that is the key for why your Italian Corps has even odds here, and elsewhere too, such as in the USSR where the Red Army's Corps and Armies are significantly weaker, but experience is evening things out.

[Ason]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

I think one big factor in the problem you're experiencing is the difference that the AI units having 2 points of experience makes. I imagine that is the key for why your Italian Corps has even odds here, and elsewhere too, such as in the USSR where the Red Army's Corps and Armies are significantly weaker, but experience is evening things out.

Ah I see, makes sense, although this difficulty feels impossible to beat at the moment. But it's always nice to have some challanges in the future[:D]

I'll see what happens and try without exp bonus in the next game.

In any case there seems to be a huge imbalance of numbers(maybe it won't be a problem without exp though).
Anyway this is how the southern front looks at the moment, summer of 1942(!).
I have no MPP's to build new units (can still build armies but they are too expensive) I have to spend it all on reinforcing and even so I can only reinforce 50 % of the units that needs it.
It's bad enough that the soviets are equal in skill, feels like I should atleast be able to have a continuous front in summer of 1942..

But yeah, might not be that bad if I play without experience bonus[:D]

Although I'm really happy to see the AI is now forming real impressive frontlines!

[Hubert Cater]

Thanks Mrslobodan and one other factor is that with the Expert level it does give the AI a bit of a bonus in terms of MPPs per turn (an extra 20%, would be 10% at Intermediate) which can translate into some extra units for it over the long haul So perhaps it will be just finding the right balance between picking the right difficulty level and bonus Experience points for the AI.

One other consideration is that with scorched earth, it will occur that as the Germans advance quickly (initially) into the USSR they can run into the situation where they start to outrun their supply and this can drop their efficiency and readiness for a little while until their supply levels return to their maximum again.

This helps us model a bit of the historical situation the Germans faced and to ensure a little ebb and flow on the Eastern front. From past experience it otherwise tends to be an all German advance all the time and once the pendulum swings too far one way, the Eastern front can be a quick Axis victory with no hope of any sort of USSR recovery.

[sPzAbt653]

1.Number of units the axis can field is simply too low.

This referring to Barbarossa only, maybe after a state of war exists between Germany and the USSR the Axis player could get a DE to create 4-5 corps at a cheap cost that will arrive immediately but at reduced strength. I admit that 4-5 units is a drop in the ocean of the East Front, but it would help.

2.Efficiency of german units is way too bad..

The Germans were the best at operating at high efficiency when they were at low efficiency. If there isn't something built into the game then maybe there should be [unless it screws up balance].

Also in many cases the soviet infantry and air units seem to be equal to the germans.

I've noticed this also and at this early point in my experience I am attributing it to the Research advances. If the Germans don't concentrate on Tank, Air and Infantry Research, then they fall behind and take unhistorical losses. I could be wrong. [:)]

[BillRunacre]

Soviet Corps and Armies need to be one ahead of their German counterparts in order to have equal combat values with them, so I'd be surprised if that were a full explanation here.

Two experience points does however make a huge difference, and coupled with poor supply levels and the Soviets being on the defensive, i.e. probably entrenched, it seems understandable that breaking the enemy would be hard for the Axis to do here.

You might find giving the AI 1 experience point might work out better, but at least with this you've got a good challenge on your hands! [:)]

[BillRunacre]

1.Number of units the axis can field is simply too low. In my opinion it should be possible to build more corps than armies, not the other way around. From 1941-1942 The soviets gets a huge number of units, which is fine but the axis should be able to field almost as many at that period.

Rather than necessarily increasing the number of German units, I'll look first at increasing or changing the types and amount of units their Hungarian and Romanian Allies could deploy on the Eastern Front. They currently have more Armies than Corps available, so a little rebalancing here should help.

[Ason]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

1.Number of units the axis can field is simply too low. In my opinion it should be possible to build more corps than armies, not the other way around. From 1941-1942 The soviets gets a huge number of units, which is fine but the axis should be able to field almost as many at that period.

Rather than necessarily increasing the number of German units, I'll look first at increasing or changing the types and amount of units their Hungarian and Romanian Allies could deploy on the Eastern Front. They currently have more Armies than Corps available, so a little rebalancing here should help.

Sounds good![:)]

Also my heavy panzers only have 3 AP, is this a bug or can something affect the AP of units?
I've lost all my heavy panzer units because they can't really retreat, so they keep falling behind the other retreating units and being surrounded. I understand they are heavy tanks with lower mobility but I think they should atleast have as much AP's as infantry armies.
All of them lost during summer in exactly the same way.

[BillRunacre]

Upgrade them with Mobility to bring them up to 4 APs.

[Ason]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

Upgrade them with Mobility to bring them up to 4 APs.

I have mobility, lost them all with moblity upgrade.
It says they have 2 AP and when I upgrade mobility to 1 they get AP of 3.

I'm just curious what is the reasoning behind such low AP for a panzer unit?
Armies get 3 AP and 4 with mobility upgrade, why are panzers slower than an army on foot?


Playing this expert +2 exp to the end and I have to say it is a lot of fun! At first I was able to fall back and form new defensive lines, which always gave me some hope, but the soviets are pushing relentlessly, my defense finally collapsed at the Königsberg-Warzaw-Galati line. My last hope now lies in the defense of Berlin[:D]

I only wish I had a bit more units so I could actually have put up a little fight in the west also. The allies have been racing though france and western germany almost without any resistance at all.

[BillRunacre]

Ah yes, I'd taken your 3 APs as being before adding Mobility, but you are right that they start with 2 so upgrading only takes them to 3, level with Armies.

We thought we'd try this out as they are Heavy Tank units, e.g. Tigers and Tiger IIs rather than the significantly more mobile Tank units that Germany starts the war with, Mobility representing the effort required in making it so they can be as mobile as their infantry counterparts. Logistical support, efficient engines that don't break down etc.

[Ason]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

Ah yes, I'd taken your 3 APs as being before adding Mobility, but you are right that they start with 2 so upgrading only takes them to 3, level with Armies.

We thought we'd try this out as they are Heavy Tank units, e.g. Tigers and Tiger IIs rather than the significantly more mobile Tank units that Germany starts the war with, Mobility representing the effort required in making it so they can be as mobile as their infantry counterparts. Logistical support, efficient engines that don't break down etc.

In my opinion the Tank units should follow the same "pattern" as infantry units. Basically the name should indicate what size it is.
Could be:
Tank/Armoured Brigade
Tank/Armoured Division
Tank/Armoured Corps

or

Tank/Armoured Division
Tank/Armoured Corps
Tank/Armoured Group

The upgrades on the units themselves would then indicate if it is composed of light/medium or heavy tanks/equipment.

That would make it a bit more consistent.

As far as I know only a small part of german tank units were made up of Tigers or heavier stuff, and If I'm not mistaken the majority of Panzer units were made up of Pz III, IV's or other types based on chassis of Pz III's, IV's or 38(t)'s.

But anyway, just my opinion[:)]

To get back on topic I really feel like the AP's on heavy tanks should be increased a bit, maybe you can look into it and try it yourself.
Something just doesn't feel right when you lose all of them during one summer(so not because of mud) due to the fact that they are unable to keep up with retreating infantry[:D]

[BillRunacre]

I think raising Heavy Tanks APs from 2 to 3 will be necessary.