Matrix Games Forums

I just finished the campaign as the Germans. Only five missions?! Seems rather short. Overall I saw only minimal defensive movement by the AI. The occasional tank would displace that was about it. Lots of infantry routing of course. It would be nice to see some counterattack missions.

At the end it said I reached 15 miles from Stalingrad. I'm curious if this is just boilerplate or if that changes based on campaign performance. Has anyone else seen a different number?

Overall artillery was useless to me. With one exception of when I nailed an AT gun with a Nebelwerfer barrage I don't think artillery (mine or the enemy's) ever did anything I could see. Infantry was always too spread out for suppression to even have much effect. I never suffered anything from enemy artillery. Stukas on the other hand performed very well. I'd say maybe 80% of the time they killed something.

About how many hours of play time went into those 5 missions?

Finns vs Soviets? Wow
 
Oh wait, Finished campaign, not...

Hard to say how many hours because I played the first mission about five times and the next two three times each (restarting the campaign a couple times). But once you have the hang of it I'd say maybe only 10-15 hours. Depends on how well you do. Each mission can take less than two hours if you don't take too much time planning each turn. So if you double that for the Russian side I guess that is certainly a fair amount of play time.

Artillery was useless???? What are you talking about! Using purchased scouts and halftracks for recon I used artillery to wipe out every russian anti tank position I could. The first scenario I played I went without arty and lost about 80% of my vehicles. Then I replayed it and purchased some 81mm mortars and an extra halftrack platoon, I lost one tank! (And 2/3 of the purchased halftrack but so what ???)
 
Calling in the arty at range on anti-tank guns obliterated them. Meanwhile I regroupd/manuevered my other platoons behind cover while preparing for further engagement.

You are a FAR more patiant man than me. One turn delay on arty mission + 2 turns fire mission + 3 turns cool down = 1 arty shot every 6 turns under ideal conditions not to mention radio contact delays. My missions were all over in ~20 turns so I don't think I ever even fired arty more than twice a game.

ORIGINAL: trikky

Artillery was useless???? What are you talking about! Using purchased scouts and halftracks for recon I used artillery to wipe out every russian anti tank position I could. The first scenario I played I went without arty and lost about 80% of my vehicles. Then I replayed it and purchased some 81mm mortars and an extra halftrack platoon, I lost one tank! (And 2/3 of the purchased halftrack but so what ???)

Calling in the arty at range on anti-tank guns obliterated them. Meanwhile I regroupd/manuevered my other platoons behind cover while preparing for further engagement.

ORIGINAL: mbtanker
I just finished the campaign as the Germans. Only five missions?! Seems rather short. Overall I saw only minimal defensive movement by the AI. The occasional tank would displace that was about it. Lots of infantry routing of course. It would be nice to see some counterattack missions.

Yes, five missions - per side though, so you will get five different missions for the Soviet campaign and also the two skirmish missions. The AI will tend to judge if it makes sense to displace given how you are doing. I have seen it displace more against some tactics than others. It tries to keep in mind that while stationary its forces are harder to spot and shoot more accurately. I have definitely had it conduct a counterattack on an objective I took, but if you are not contesting any objectives it will tend to let you go about your business.

The first mission in the Soviet campaign starts with the AI on the attack, so give that a try and let us know how it goes.

At the end it said I reached 15 miles from Stalingrad. I'm curious if this is just boilerplate or if that changes based on campaign performance. Has anyone else seen a different number?

That is standard for players that manage to complete the campaign. Out of curiosity, what was your campaign performance like? Post a screenshots of your end campaign screen, please! [8D]

Overall artillery was useless to me. With one exception of when I nailed an AT gun with a Nebelwerfer barrage I don't think artillery (mine or the enemy's) ever did anything I could see. Infantry was always too spread out for suppression to even have much effect. I never suffered anything from enemy artillery. Stukas on the other hand performed very well. I'd say maybe 80% of the time they killed something.

We've heard very different reports on artillery, in this very thread but also from our testers. I think it depends very much on play style. I've had good luck with it myself - agree also that air support is useful..

Congratulations on completing the first campaign. Now try the second!

Regards,

- Erik

Erik,

Good news on the Russian campaign. I haven't started it yet. I didn't realize you could snap a screenshot of the campaign end page. I believe I had three decisive wins and two marginals.

I tried to upload a screenshot, but no luck. Any suggestions on how to post a finished campaign screenshot to this forum?

Click post reply on the left lower screen. That will pop up this screen.

Then check the box "embed picture in post" then click "click here to upload". Browse to the pic, etc.

ORIGINAL: Larry Grognard
I tried to upload a screenshot, but no luck. Any suggestions on how to post a finished campaign screenshot to this forum?

Also, if it's too large, the forum may not accept it. Try to size the image to 200k or smaller before you post it.

Regards,

- Erik

i think you might need to also use paint to convert any bitmaps to gifs or jpgs first too.

At this scale and time frame..defending units really didn't move except to withdraw...we as wargamers tend to want to move. A counterattack would really be another scenario in of itself. You just wouldn't counterattack in this time frame..what 40 seconds x 20 turns...  You hold or retreat.
 
I'm not big on the artillery either..although I'm pretty sure I killed a KV1 with a 150 art..which helped:)
 
 

OK...I think this worked this time. I had to convert the bitmap to gif before posting.

Well true. A 30 turn game is only 20 minutes of actual combat. But on the defensive tanks generally don't just sit in one spot. They will find a good hulldown, fire a few shots, back out and move laterally, move up again and fire a few more shots, repeat. At the very least they will start turretdown, spot, move up to hulldown and fire, and then back to turret down. Otherwise you just present yourself as a target and get zeroed in on. Of course depending on the actions of the attacker you may stay put a bit but 20 minutes is an eternity to sit and fire from one spot as a tank. You also never see the AI displacing back to a second line. Moreover, even 20 minutes is enough time for a reserve platoon/section to react to a more threatened segment of the line.

As for a counterattack I meant a 'defensive' scenario where you suddenly find your 'attack' on the defensive (technically a meeting engagement I suppose). As it is now in the German campaign you basically have total control of the battle. The enemy is fixed and just sits and fires at you when they can see you. As one fellow mentioned somewhere he just sits back and fires artillery at everything. It must make for a long game but he kills everything that way. Even without that it is easy to mass your attack in one spot because you know the AI won't flank you. Personally the only real excitement comes from putting myself under some time pressure. I'm not sure if that one scenario has the Russian tanks moving into the ravine or if they start there but that was the only scenario where I can say I was surprised by the defense.

ORIGINAL: HardRock

At this scale and time frame..defending units really didn't move except to withdraw...we as wargamers tend to want to move. A counterattack would really be another scenario in of itself. You just wouldn't counterattack in this time frame..what 40 seconds x 20 turns... You hold or retreat.

I'm not big on the artillery either..although I'm pretty sure I killed a KV1 with a 150 art..which helped:)

Larry,

ORIGINAL: Larry Grognard
OK...I think this worked this time. I had to convert the bitmap to gif before posting.

Thanks, great job - three Legendary and two Decisive victories!

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: mbtanker
As for a counterattack I meant a 'defensive' scenario where you suddenly find your 'attack' on the defensive (technically a meeting engagement I suppose). As it is now in the German campaign you basically have total control of the battle. The enemy is fixed and just sits and fires at you when they can see you. As one fellow mentioned somewhere he just sits back and fires artillery at everything. It must make for a long game but he kills everything that way.

Good suggestions, thanks. I have seen the AI displace and attack when I take an objective, though perhaps we can make it a bit more aggressive in that regard.

As far as being on the defense, try the first scenario in the Soviet campaign. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[[[I have seen the AI displace and attack when I take an objective, though perhaps we can make it a bit more aggressive in that regard.]]]

Well yes, it isn't THAT static! [:)]