Stalingrad: Nightmare on The Volga

[Okayrun3254]

I have been playing Tough Old Gut - Salerno, and I have been learning how to handle the company sized units. I am learning how a armored company can be powerful with the shock ability, but also vulnerable to air attack when it in a hex without other units. There have been times when I would like to break down a battalion into company sized units to defend a larger area, or on the offensive to cut off or surround a enemy unit. Its a tricky balance between unit size, scale, etc. Maybe a way to keep stack density down is to make company sized units 1.25 or 1.5 stacking points instead of 1 point. My reasoning is that even though a battalion is 3 stacking points, A hex with multiple company sized units would not be as efficiently organized into formations as a battalion unit, so there would be a limit for stacking multiple company sized units.

[bcgames]

We decided to pursue a different path in the stacking department. Players will decide their stacking pain. Generally speaking, units start a scenario "built-up"...IOW, low stacks. If the player chooses, during set-up and/or during play--a player can breakdown or build-up to his heart's content--with some constraints that have to do with dividing combat factors by three. We'll see how this idea plays out in ALPHA testing.

[BletchleyGeek]

One idea to help players manage breakdowns could be that whenever all fragments of a given unit end up a phase in the same hex, they recombine automatically. And perhaps a specific command to "recall" or "rally" detachments, so breakdowns make their way towards one of them designated by the player, could be useful too.

I for one miss very much grand tactical nuance on operational computer wargames. DW, or rather, NoV (which sounds a bit like "knob" to me but anyways), aims at filling up a very specific niche that other games just bypass by having (WitE) or address in a very generic and impersonal way (TOAW).

Godspeed to you guys, really looking forward to WEGOing across the Eastern Front.

[Saint Ruth]

Yes, could auto-recombine, though maybe that might annoy the player if they deliberately wanted them separate. At the moment, you've to explicitly order them to breakdown/combine, so we'll see how that goes. If it doesn't work, then maybe do something liek you say!
/Brian

[BletchleyGeek]

"Quality of Life" improvements are always divisive

[demyansk]

This mod is not done? Correct?

[wodin]

Ahhh.. was looking forward to lower scale 200m hex. Oh well.

Not sure how 500m will feel, I'd imagine no real difference in actual gameplay to 2500m hex except smaller units.

I was hoping for a different feel and mechanics between the two hex sizes, I imagine as I said gameplay will be si milar. my interest has taken a big hit.

City fighting I think to be of interest a hex would consist of a few houses each house if occupied by enemy would have to have its own separate attack procedure, not take say second house out of three then you have to pull back to first house, all this within a hex, unit size I'd have companies but understrength. This would overcome the feeling of boring stagnation. So you have good size hex scale however a hex can be broken down as I said maybe a hex has say ofour buildings in it that means it has four battles possibly required, or it may be a factory so just one big battle to take it.

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: demyansk

This mod is not done? Correct?

It's the next game actually. But you are correct. It is not done. We had to re-visit the design following ALPHA testing. From Desert War to Stalingrad we went from a unit-capability extravaganza with a stacking problem to a dull MRE cracker with a serious fun problem.

Working to get it right.

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: wodin

Ahhh.. was looking forward to lower scale 200m hex. Oh well.

Not sure how 500m will feel, I'd imagine no real difference in actual gameplay to 2500m hex except smaller units.

I was hoping for a different feel and mechanics between the two hex sizes, I imagine as I said gameplay will be si milar. my interest has taken a big hit.

City fighting I think to be of interest a hex would consist of a few houses each house if occupied by enemy would have to have its own separate attack procedure, not take say second house out of three then you have to pull back to first house, all this within a hex, unit size I'd have companies but understrength. This would overcome the feeling of boring stagnation. So you have good size hex scale however a hex can be broken down as I said maybe a hex has say ofour buildings in it that means it has four battles possibly required, or it may be a factory so just one big battle to take it.

Great ideas. This isn't the engine for what you describe. We have re-tooled the ALPHA. We'll see how it plays.

[bcgames]

I have just completed re-engineering the combat factors for Stalingrad. These new combat factors were driven by the results of our ALPHA testing...loss of Desert War capabilities thru generalization/up-scaling to regimental level. I am currently re-looking the Combat Results Tables; the odds results between 1 : 1 and 4 : 1 seem abit out of sorts for the Russian Front. Too much favor to the Attacker I think. Scenario list continues to evolve with my understanding of the evolution of the Stalingrad story. In the end, all the threads need to tie together. We'll see how it grows.

[bcgames]

I spent the day re-populating the existing Stalingrad scenarios with the new combat factors (it was raining on the farm). Saint Ruth is configuring a new ground CRT that brings us more in line with Lanchester/Dupuy/former Soviet Union combat attrition models; we'll see how it grows. Building the new ALPHA for the playtesters. Liking the new adjusted direction.

Onwards!

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: wodin

Ahhh.. was looking forward to lower scale 200m hex. Oh well.

Not sure how 500m will feel, I'd imagine no real difference in actual gameplay to 2500m hex except smaller units.

I was hoping for a different feel and mechanics between the two hex sizes, I imagine as I said gameplay will be si milar. my interest has taken a big hit.

City fighting I think to be of interest a hex would consist of a few houses each house if occupied by enemy would have to have its own separate attack procedure, not take say second house out of three then you have to pull back to first house, all this within a hex, unit size I'd have companies but understrength. This would overcome the feeling of boring stagnation. So you have good size hex scale however a hex can be broken down as I said maybe a hex has say ofour buildings in it that means it has four battles possibly required, or it may be a factory so just one big battle to take it.

We tried 400m per hex and came up with a dry biscuit. The next experiment is with 250m per hex...am currently building the map. It won't be Squad Leader or its modern cousins. Maybe closer to Dana Lombardy's Fire on the Volga/Battle for the Factories boardgames...'cept WEGO. We'll see.

[wodin]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

ORIGINAL: wodin

Ahhh.. was looking forward to lower scale 200m hex. Oh well.

Not sure how 500m will feel, I'd imagine no real difference in actual gameplay to 2500m hex except smaller units.

I was hoping for a different feel and mechanics between the two hex sizes, I imagine as I said gameplay will be si milar. my interest has taken a big hit.

City fighting I think to be of interest a hex would consist of a few houses each house if occupied by enemy would have to have its own separate attack procedure, not take say second house out of three then you have to pull back to first house, all this within a hex, unit size I'd have companies but understrength. This would overcome the feeling of boring stagnation. So you have good size hex scale however a hex can be broken down as I said maybe a hex has say ofour buildings in it that means it has four battles possibly required, or it may be a factory so just one big battle to take it.

We tried 400m per hex and came up with a dry biscuit. The next experiment is with 250m per hex...am currently building the map. It won't be Squad Leader or its modern cousins. Maybe closer to Dana Lombardy's Fire on the Volga/Battle for the Factories boardgames...'cept WEGO. We'll see.

Sounds great.

I've always wanted a game similar to Streets of Stalingrad (Dana Lombardy's Fire on the Volga/Battle for the Factories boardgames made into one game).

This is currently in production https://www.facebook.com/russ.schulke.5 ... 3104567033

Maybe pick Russ mind about the boardgame and dealing with that scale.

[bcgames]

Nice! I had no idea this was back on. I was very disappointed when the Kickstarter REDUX didn't make it. Glad to see this game is back in the oven.

[wodin]

Exciting eh?

The team split so this is a reworking of the original game by Russ Shulke.

The new map looks amazing. Best looking map I've ever seen.

ORIGINAL: bcgames

Nice! I had no idea this was back on. I was very disappointed when the Kickstarter REDUX didn't make it. Glad to see this game is back in the oven.

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: Grognerd_INC
...Kinda reminds me of the dual scale of the old World at War series by Atomic Games "Stalingrad".
I'll be watching this title.

I never owned nor played Atomic Games' Stalingrad. When people started to point me to it, I saw the wisdom of the design decisions made by the developers of way-back-when given the Stalingrad battle history. We came to the same place independently...so that's gotta be good. Right?

We'll see the differences purty soon.

[bcgames]

ALPHA Testers -- Sharpen Your Bayonets!

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

ALPHA Testers -- Sharpen Your Bayonets!

Who has time for this?