New 1.02.21 Public Beta Now Available!

[HybridSpyda]

Greetings Everyone!

There's a new public beta update installer (v1.02.21) available from the store/My Page download areas.

If you prefer to use Steam, then you will need to opt into the changes by selecting the beta branch from the games Properties menu, listed as "beta - Open Beta". You can opt out at any time.

Changes since v1.02.13:

v1.02.21 – 20th February 2022
• The baseline chance a displaced/relocated HQ will lose a leader was changed, from 15% (50% if isolated), as follows:
o June 1941 – 5% (10% if isolated)
o July 1941 – 10% (15% if isolated)
o All other dates – 15% (30% if isolated)
o Note: in-game loss percentages, on average, appear to be slightly higher than these baseline values.
• No more than one leader may be killed, per player turn within any given HQ, due to HQ displacement/relocation.
• HQs that have lost a leader due to displacement/relocation may suffer an additional MP reduction at the start of their next logistics phase.
• Added Living Manual v1.10.pdf file in the \Manuals folder. This is up to date with changes through game version 1.02.21.
Data and Scenario Changes
• OB file – Removed recently added Reduced Rifle Division Shtat OBs from showing up on build menu (they are not intended to be buildable in-game)
• Changes in ac file (update include one corrected aircraft symbol file):
o 0004 Bf 109E-4/B - changed to TacBomber, upgrades to Bf 109E-7/U1, ends 9/41, air profile change to GE Light Bomber
o 0013 Bf 109G-4/R3 - camera changes
o 0016 Bf 109G-8 - camera changes
o 0019 Bf 110C-5 - upgrade changed to Ju 88D-1
o 0021 Bf 110E-1/U1 - extended to 2/42, added small import from Bf 110E-2
o 0090 Fw 190A-3/U4 - ends 1/43, upgrade changed to Bf 109G-4/R3
o 0247 Bf 109G-8(HU) - camera changes
o 0440 Bf 109E-7/U1 - moved forward to 9/41, imports doubled to 200
o 0442 Bf 109G-6/R2 - camera changes
o 0445 Bf 110E-3 - air profile changed to GE Tac Recon, change camera options
o 0446 Bf 110G-3 - air profile changed to GE Tac Recon, change camera options, remove upgrade
o 0453 Bf 109G-2/R2 - camera changes
o 0454 Bf 109F-4/R3 - camera changes
o 0458 Ju 88S - bombload raised to 3000kg, some weapon set changes
o several German bombers now use LMB mine instead of LMA as naval loadout

v01.02.20 – 12th February 2022
Bug Fixes and AI Improvements
• Many ferry hexes are showing as Soviet controlled when they should not. Fixed.
• Air transport mission op losses were lower than other air mission op losses. Fixed. A part of the normal op loss formula was missing for air transports. With this fix, you will see much higher transport op losses (still low in daytime good weather missions). Op losses in bad weather will be noticeable. Op losses at night will be bad. Op losses at night in bad weather will be horrible (don’t do it).
• Units ordered by the player to move from a TB (including reserve) to the map during a campaign game have their vehicles zeroed out. Fixed.
• Changing red color value for Set Formation Color does not work when using in-game scaling over 100%. Fixed.
• AI – Improved AI to reduce chance the AI will launch a very weak/bad hasty attack.
Data and Scenario Changes
• Gtype file – Changes in air group profiles:
o FI Fighter changed from 36-12-4 to 40-10-3 (some units had 4 operating flights of ~10 each)
o FI Bomber changed from 36-12-4 to 18-6-3 (some units had three operating flights of ~6 each)
o FI Recon changed from 36-12-4 to 18-6-3 (some units had three operating flights of ~6 each)
• CityOwner file – Added city capture dates for some cities in the Balkans.
• OB file – Minor additions/adjustments to OBs, primarily for expansion scenarios.
• Device and ground files - Fixed the 20mm vz.36 and added a Bulgarian Air Support element (1596).
• Photos for ground elements 0242 and 1596.
• Leader file - raised the values of some Italian leaders (including Messe)
• Multiple map data files with changes in Finland for future scenarios. Also relocated maptext for Kiorstovo.

v01.02.19 – 31st January 2022
Bug Fixes and AI Improvements
• Defensive ground support often totally misses the target. Fixed.
• Fixed several corner cases where isolation was being applied to hexes where it shouldn’t due to ports having a connection with in supply ports (in the southern Caucasus and the Baltic Islands).
• Pressing F12 during a ground combat will freeze the game. Fixed.
• Made adjustments to the drop down engine code in an attempt to reduce the chance of rare/random game crashes caused by use of drop downs.
• Game crashes when viewing air units in the TBs. Fixed.
• Intercepts of air transport missions deep behind enemy lines are happening again. Fixed.
• AI Air Assist - Puts Ostsee aircraft into JG77 when FKIV is set to naval ops. Fixed.
• AI – German AI withdraws from Leningrad area prematurely and also doesn’t defend its flanks near Leningrad in C41. Fixed.
• AI – Minor improvements to AI in small scenarios.
Data and Scenario Changes
• OB file – Minor additions and changes primarily for future expansion scenarios.
• Leader file – Changes to Soviet Allied leaders.
• Photos – New photos for Soviet Allied leaders.
• Campaign 1941 and C41 Early End :
o I./1st Hun. Ftr Grp - remove disband
o fixed name of LXXXXIX Corps
o fixed setup of Wismar/Elbing airbases
o fixed setup of LW Kdo East/Luftflotte 6

v01.02.15 – 15th January 2022
Bug Fixes and AI Improvements
• Areas that should be in supply via ports are showing as isolated (Baltic Islands, cut off ports like Odessa – new bug created in 1.02.14). Fixed.
• Leaders in HQs forcibly displaced were not being killed as often as they should (15% non-isolated/50% isolated). Fixed.
• AI - Axis AI freezes at 33% of movement phase. Fixed.
• AI – Improved Axis Attacking AI so it should not leave large gaps in its lines at the end of its turn.

v01.02.14 – 10th January 2022
New Features and Rule Changes
• Several additional changes to flak. Flak during the air execution phase had inadvertently been increased in a recent update. This change was removed. The chance for flak hits was also reduced across the board in all phases.
• Increased the chance of intercept of air transport missions. You should now see air transport missions close to the front line and especially over enemy territory being intercepted. Given this change, along with the air transport fix noted below once again allowing escorts, be careful with flying unescorted transports near the front line. Intercepts well be limited far into enemy territory.
• Theater boxes (including the reserve) are now limited during the logistics phase in that they will never use more than 2/3 of the trained pilots that begin the replacement phase in the pool. 1/3 of the trained pilots are reserved for air units on the map, which receive their replacements after the theater boxes.
• Added details about non-afv fire in the combat report at high combat message levels (6 and 7).
Bug Fixes and AI Improvements
• Note regarding the Losses screen: The ‘Current Turn’ column losses by reason (A2A/flak/ground/operational) are often incorrect. Several reasons for this were fixed in this update, but there are still cases where these losses will be incorrect, too high or too low. The Total column losses are correct, as are the losses by aircraft type, and the losses on the left side of the screen losses by aircraft model. We will continue to try to improve the losses by reason (and the total that appears in the Current Turn column), but for now, you have to use the losses by aircraft type to get an accurate view of current turn losses.
• Destroyed units that rebuild are arriving in the reserve set to 100 Max TOE. They should arrive set to 0. Fixed. Note, players will have to consciously increase the unit’s Max TOE for it to receive replacements.
• Not able to assign escorts to air transport missions. Fixed.
• Access to Inland Port is not preventing area from being isolated. Fixed.
• Axis Allied nationalities are not importing captured equipment. Fixed.
• Interdiction caused by Ground Attack/Interdiction is much higher than by Ground Attack/Unit missions that switch to interdiction. Fixed.
• Entrained static units come out of static mode automatically at no AP charge. Fixed.
• When air groups is sent to TB/Reserve aircraft loss is not recorded when damaged plane is destroyed. Fixed.
• Game crashes during AI Air Assist in the air planning phase. Fixed.

Happy Gaming!

[AlbertN]

Good for the leader changes. Alas no fixing the insane vvs ground support capabilities.

[DarkHorse2]

several German bombers now use LMB mine instead of LMA as naval loadout

very nice. ty.

[Erik Rutins]

Good for the leader changes. Alas no fixing the insane vvs ground support capabilities.

Could you provide a specific example and save for the above?

[AlbertN]

@Erik:

I've stalled one of my Axis games and still is up on the Server. We just did T1 there.

It's easily replicable anyhow via T1 and I quickly adapted it in my Soviet game when the Germans advance and outrange their fighters.

Su2 and Il2 are pretty much lethal for the artilleries and tanks too.
I've posted screenshots in the VVS thread about latest Beta Patch too as examples already some time ago.

Anywhere the Germans advance AND the Soviets have ground support on AND the Bf109 do not fly there is a bleed of artilleries.
In T1 that is easily replicable with any default start in battles around Minsk for instance or outside the fighter cover - where there are surviving Su2 (due to be too far for airstrike ranges, etc).

Here a screenshot from my game that I posted in the other thread. By now we moved on though on the server game.
Anywhere the VVS can operate unopposed it can pound the Germans, while the Luftwaffe is not even remotely close.
Plus VVS planes seem about immune to Flak - all the losses above are OPS ones.

[Torben23]

Hi, I am a big fan of WITE, having played WITE1 for years. I bought WITE2 some weeks ago, and unfortunately as long as the known German tank issue - Panzer divisions lose almost all their tanks when engaging enemy armor divisions - this game is not realistic and not really fun to play. Waiting for the patch to correct this - any news here? Thank you! Best, Torgen

[56ajax]

Vs Axis AI

2.20 - 6 soviet generals killed on T1

2.21 - 2 soviet generals killed on T1

fyi

[56ajax]

Good for the leader changes. Alas no fixing the insane vvs ground support capabilities.

I dont think this is anything new. Back in like 2015? playing WitE 1 I posted on how brittle the 37mm AT Gun was to air attack (I would bomb every front line unit to produce losses greater than a land assault - can't do that no more).

Looks like GS still produces the same results, if the bombers get through.

[Stamb]

I confirm that AT guns and arty are dying like flies vs VVS. And it is under LW cover!

[Joel Billings]

@AlbertN

Several updates ago there was a flak reduction and several related adjustements/fixes, and there was at least one ground support bug fixed, IIRC. The combination has increased the effectiveness of ground support, which was intended. If you think it went to far, it helps greatly for us to see specific saves that we can use to replay battles. It is true the VVS can be quite effective with it's large air force when unopposed by German fighters (when opposed, it doesn't stay large for long in 41-42). If someone has some saves to post, please open a new thread and attach them or send them to 2by3@2by3games.com. Thanks.

[dgrimes]

I am not sure if the issue with the effectiveness of the air force is real, or if the ground losses report is simply incorrect, at least with respect to the number of elements disrupted by air attack.

Here is a summary of ground support by Soviet in very first ground attack in Stalingrad to Berlin campaign. The 3rd air army is attacking the 2/3 luftwaffe field division. I am comparing the air support results found in the first 196 lines of the excel file with the ground losses summary report.

The 3rd air army ground support attack included 170 bombers, of which 169 actually attacked the ground forces, 1 was reported destroyed by flak during ground attack phase in the excel file. In my game, 15 bombers are reported lost by flak and operations according to the attack summary report. One possible change to reduce the effectiveness of air force would be to exclude damaged bombers (or at least severely damaged bombers) from attacking ground troops. Under current rules they are now allowed to attack ground forces even if later they are reported as destroyed.

According to the excel file the 170 bombers (169 attacking) made 111 hits on German forces: 3 hits destroyed German forces and 4 hits damaged German forces. These 7 hits exactly match the ground attack summary report, including the elements that were damaged or destroyed. But the excel file indicates that there were only 104 disruption attacks on German forces, while the attack summary report shows 230 air disruption attacks on German forces. The excessive number of disruption attacks occurs in all categories of elements. For example the excel file reports 30 air disruption attacks against support elements while the attack summary report shows 55 disruption attacks, and with respect to the 50mm antitank gun, the attack summary report shows 28 disruption attacks while the excel file shows 7 disruption attacks.

Anyway the excessive effectiveness of the Soviet air force may only be a reporting issue, not an actual problem with the game's performance. On the other hand, the game designers may want to allow flak damage to limit the ability of bombers to engage in ground attack.

[dgrimes]

One other observation. The ground element attack results in the excel file appear to be exactly the same as the combat summary report, although there may be more shots fired than shown in the combat summary report, at least by some artillery units. The only significant discrepancy between the excel file and the combat summary report is in air attack disruption attack counts.

[Joel Billings]

Thanks for taking the time to look at the excel reports. I have a few questions now for Gary. The numbers of killed and damaged elements is not excessive in this one battle. What kind of a/c were you using? The few times in the past where we have seen very large killed/damaged elements from air attacks it was from tac bomber units.

[dgrimes]

The ground attack used 19 PE-2, 103 IL-2, and 48- IL-2M

[dgrimes]

Note that the Germans had not moved during this attack, thus they were protected by forts. Once they have moved they are not protected by forts so you will undoubtedly see more successful ground attacks (damage and destruction as opposed to disruption) on German forces who have moved. Again one adjustment someone should look at beyond the reporting issue is for flak damage to be more effective in deterring bombing attacks.

The 19 pe-2 had a total of 6 hits, all disruption
The 151 (150 attacking) IL-2's had a total of 105 hits, including 7 damaged or destroyed.

Given a full-load out this implies that less than 10 percent of bombs and rockets hit something. I do not know if this is too high or even too low a percentage.

[dgrimes]

One other observation (off-topic). There have been several posts about the relative uselessness of the Romanian forces. I noticed in this same battle (1st turn Stalingrad to Berlin), that the Romanian Calvary appear to be very bad shots. They rarely hit anything, even when compared to the Romania infantry. That seems a little odd, perhaps one way to boast the performance of the Romanian forces would be to increase the accuracy of the Romanian Calvary.

[Joel Billings]

Thanks for the info on the air. Here's what we know are true and WAD:

1) The intensity of the defending flak decreases bombing accuracy.
2) Yes, few a/c are destroyed outright before the bombing happens, but the full impact of the flak damage is calculated later and leads to the final number of losses due to flak.

Here's what we think but are not sure of:

1) Damaged a/c still get to bomb, but Gary doesn't remember if it further decreases accuracy in addition to the reduction of the flak fired at the aircraft. It's very possible that it does, but he's not sure.
2) The big disruption you are seeing that is not in the excel spreadsheet is probably due to the part of the game that says that the mere fact that there are aircraft flying ground support causes disruption to the enemy. We're going to confirm this, but we're pretty sure that's what's causing the extra disruption. We don't remember the details, but the number and I think type of bombers flying ground support is a factor, and there are possibly other factors as well. So in addition to the hits you get in the system, you also get a general benefit in degrading the enemy ability to fight by having ground support bombers in the battle.



As for your other point, Romanian Cav in in StoB are given very low morale/experience compared to what they are in 1941. I assume that's what has them performing poorly, with is WAD in StoB. There could be more going on, but that's one big reason for them not hitting much.

[Rollerman]

Multiple map data files with changes in Finland for future scenarios. Also relocated maptext for Kiorstovo.

Any more news or information to share about this?

[Denniss]

Multiple map data files with changes in Finland for future scenarios. Also relocated maptext for Kiorstovo.

Any more news or information to share about this?

Some work to help the Finland mod made by a user. Plus you'll never know what comes out of this if we ge the Ai to work for Finland in localized scenarios.
BTW I just started to work on the map again with further requests coming from the Finland mod creator and I spotted some issues in the NOR/FIN border areas.

[Rollerman]

Multiple map data files with changes in Finland for future scenarios. Also relocated maptext for Kiorstovo.

Any more news or information to share about this?

Some work to help the Finland mod made by a user. Plus you'll never know what comes out of this if we ge the Ai to work for Finland in localized scenarios.
BTW I just started to work on the map again with further requests coming from the Finland mod creator and I spotted some issues in the NOR/FIN border areas.

I understand. I had my hopes for a official Finland expansion/scenario.