Test AAR: Crossing the Shatt-al-Ka

[StuccoFresco]

Hi all, I've been working hard at a total conversion mod set in a fantasy world with 1940s-equivalent tech.

I've always been a modder at heart, and I came to Stalingrad for its amazing WEGO system, waiting for the moment I could create all kinds of fantastical scenarios with it.

All my scenarios are intended for Hotseat mode since imho the AI is not advanced enough to provide a proper challenge unless I seriously unbalance the scenarios and/or spend way too much time programming every single unit's paths for the entire scenario. Honestly, Hotseat is just a better choice.

Hex scale is 3km, every turn is roughly 8 hours (3 turns per day).

Units' scale goes from Brigade (size 5) to Regiment (size 4) to Battalion (size 2); hex max stacking size is 9. Regiments can split into Battalions.

Here's a test run of my first scenario (so far 4 scenarios are done and tested): a large armored and mechanized force uses combat engineers and bridging units to cross a big river against unprepared defenses. The defender's troops didn't expect a crossing and will be locked in place for several turns.

[StuccoFresco]

Here's a video of the AAR. For a test I didn't want to make a detailed AAR, but it's still neat to see the chits move on the battlefield and how the battle shapes up turn after turn.

Map graphics are entirely handmade by me: I used Wonderdraft and touched it up with Photoshop. Barbed Wire is visible only while keeping hex side graphics on, but I plan on adding it via Photoshop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUBWNfDJXQw

As the attacker, mantaining momentum and trying to slip through enemy lines before they can build a coherent line was key, and worth the risk of leaving troops in exposed positions. Maybe I focused a bit too much on eliminating enemy units, but rushing forward toward the Victory Points proved costly as the defender itself rushed ahead to prevent me from taking them unchallenged.

As a defender, timely withdrawals, sacrificing rearguards and shoring up the line with reinforcements was the only way to avoid a complete collapse. Defending against overwhelming odds and more mobile units is always extremely fun for me, even more than attacking.

All in all it was a very successful test, and the definitive version of the scenario is very very close to this one.


EDIT: I'm trying to show the video preview through Youtube but it doesn't seem to work: