Post
by rezaf » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:29 pm
Looks like I finished the '41 DLC (for the first time) - on default difficulty.
My path was Minsk->Smolensk->Ostrov->Novgorod->Leningrad->Vyazma->Streets of Moscow->Demyansk Pocket.
A few words about each scenario:
Minsk41:
Rather easy - probably as it should be for the first level of any DLC. I thought it did a good job of giving the feeling so sorely lacking in any level of the vanilla campaign's Barbarossa - Wehrmacht overrunning flabbergasted Soviets hardly putting up a fight. Also, a pretty large and not too crowded map to provide a sense of distance. I think I actually made concerted moves to use the strategic bombers "Neutralize" behavior for the first time EVER in PzC. I'm still not entirely sure what it's supposed to be good for in most situations - however, here, it allowed me to neutralize all the far-ahead airfields ... and as usually Soviet AA was sitting on them and AA can't capture back, that meant that objective was pretty easy to achieve. All in all, a good one.
Smolensk41:
Marginally harder, but otherwise pretty similar to Minsk, minus the neutralizing. Average scenario, mainly because the last one was samey but had a gimmick to boot.
Ostrov:
Essentially still the same deal, but with a narrow map, hard terrain and more opposition, it was harder than the last two. Not a bad thing - this is how difficulty progression is supposed to work. Above average.
Novgorod:
Back to covering ground on a large map like Smolensk, but with hard terrain like in Ostrov - possibly harder. Lots of close terrain ask for careful maneuvering of tanks. Close to the finish line, a nasty surprise in the form of some quite powerful soviet armor. Above average scenario.
Leningrad41:
Closing in on Leningrad was essentially still the same deal, but the opposition was harder still with more powerful tanks being fielded by the Soviets. Through and through pretty interesting with enemy counter attacks and stuff - though technically the time alotment is more than sufficient, I ran into some bad luck in the NE which made the last few turns pretty exciting. Sinking a battleship in the harbor was one of the rare chances for my strat bombers to be truly useful. Good scenario.
Vyazma:
I hadn't known General Winters comrade Commander Mud before, but he sure was in this map.
This made progression slow and hard and limited the use of airpower on both sides. While I usually HATED muddy terrain in PG and PzC levels, this one was at least clearly designed with bad ground conditions in mind - the scenario became a true "Rush for Moscow" - though I have to admit that Vyazma actually fell FAR later, because I circumvented the city with tank attack spears north and south and left it to the Infantry to "mop up" Vyazma - which it was unable to do because of powerful Soviet tanks being present and the weather preventing the Luftwaffe to do it's job every other turn. So I finally had to recall a couple of the tanks from the spears and thus essentially made a nice pocket around Vyazma which I then rolled up from the east. I think I only finished the scenario on the last turn, which was my tightest victory in the DLC.
VERY good scenario.
Streets of Moscow:
Ah, something completely different. Fighting through the streets of the soviet capital was an exciting operation during which I took my first serious losses of the DLC (I think I lost 2 tanks and a recon unit). The winter weather thankfully didn't interfere too much, but concentrated, strong soviet forces were a definite force to be reckoned with. In the end, capturing the city in time was easier than with Vyazma, but it sure was a bumpy road.
Good scenario ... BUT.
The BUT is THE cardinal sin of any novice P&P RPG dungeon master - taking away the fruits of my hard labor right under my nose is a very ugly move. Also, it reveals THE major flaw with the DLCs so far - lack of "hypotheticals". Outstanding achievments like conquering the capital of the Soviet Union should have a MAJOR impact. It mustn't be the total collapse of the soviet union, but a simple "Been there, done that. Gotta retreat now ." doesn't cut it. Shame on the designers for making this such a hollow and meaningless achievment.
Demyansk Pocket:
The only defensive map I played in this DLC so far. While not a bad scenario, I'm not sure it worked fully as intended. I thought it was actually much easier than the previous two for various reasons. Getting the transports through was hardly a problem, because flying them over the sea to the north practically guaranteed a safe voyage. I THINK one time a decent fighter spawned there, but I quickly disposed of him.
Wasn't hard to spot him - by that time I had broken out of the pocked along the coast with two lone tanks. I also broke out to the east along the northern border of the map, and I discovered the hordes of to-be-triggered units parked there. It was surprisingly easy do dispose of many of them - special thanks to the "Surrenders" game mechanic. The various attacks elsewhere were fended off with relative ease by making use of combined arms and not getting overextended / staying put in favorable defensive positions. The AIs reluctance to attack anything covered by artillery was also a big help, I guess. Not a bad map at all, but strange as a last map of the DLC because I thought it was pretty easy. Maybe I was just lucky.
Good scenario anyway.
Bottom Line:
Varied levels and a different feel to Poland and France. Open terrain with plenty opportunity to use the finally improving german tanks, namely the later PzIII and PzIV models. Plenty of enemy tanks, too, giving plenty opportunities to bring in the tacs of the Luftwaffe to make a difference.
What's there not to like?
Well, the hollow victory I mentiond above. If you feel you cannot allow an alternate course of history because this would prevent interfacing correctly with future DLCs, you have to resist the temptation to let the player achieve the ahistorical result in the first place.
I probably wouldn't have blinked if you had pulled a "Moscow is at our fingertips, but unfortunately, we need your forces elsewhere.".
If capturing Moscow cannot make a difference (or the complete destruction of the forces at Dunkirk), put the level into a hypothetical DLC to be released seperately (probably after the regular, year-by-year DLCs).
So, other than this caveeat, I really liked this DLC - I think it's the best one yet. Thanks for making it and congratulations to all those who participated in doing do.
Edit: Good call Rudankort, I added the missing Novgorod scenario to the list.
_____
rezaf
Last edited by
rezaf on Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.