Eastern Front: Soviet Storm v1.96b (Link Fixed)

[DoctorHaider]

Strange situation: Up to the turn 19 I have too few infantry and too many tanks. In reality it was exactly otherwise: relatively few tanks due the industry evac and huge losses and a lot of infantry divisions mobilised till the 1942 spring. In the mod I had almost no infantry reinforcments after September of 1941. The soviet infantry units are easy to destroy even in close terrain, so their number declined to the dangerous grade. Maybe it's worth to increase the infantry reinforcment pool for the Soviet side?

[Magic1111]

Done!. Sorry for the late answer but I am kind of busy with my personal life and Modern Conflicts.... but rest assure I will come back to work on this mod soon.
Best regards my friend.

Many thanks my friend!

[DoctorHaider]

To illustrate the situation. There is the casualties board on the turn 19 (late march 1942).

[Akkula]

Strange situation: Up to the turn 19 I have too few infantry and too many tanks. In reality it was exactly otherwise: relatively few tanks due the industry evac and huge losses and a lot of infantry divisions mobilised till the 1942 spring. In the mod I had almost no infantry reinforcments after September of 1941. The soviet infantry units are easy to destroy even in close terrain, so their number declined to the dangerous grade. Maybe it's worth to increase the infantry reinforcment pool for the Soviet side?

Maybe you "sacrificed" too much infantry units at the beginning?. . If you managed to save many tanks, it makes sense for you to have many of them.
I tried to keep a reasonable ratio among inf / tanks (and light / med / hvy), I can see in you Casualties Report that you lost a lot of infantry units, maybe thats the reason that you have impression the mod is imbalanced. And keep in mind the Soviet infantry, at the beginning of the war, was weak in comparison of their German counterparts.... so be careful how you place them on the battlefield.
Also, as the war progresses you will receive more infantry units in near the main cities, dont worry, but keep in mind that peak of the Soviet mobilization was mid 1943.

Keep posting all your feedback and suggestions!, their most welcome.
Thanks.

Best regards,
Akkula.

[DoctorHaider]

And keep in mind the Soviet infantry, at the beginning of the war, was weak in comparison of their German counterparts.... so be careful how you place them on the battlefield.

They were constantly beaten/encircled/surrendered in 1941 in reality but new infantry units were constanlty created and used as the main stopping force in the process of "permanent mobilisation". I cannot see this in the mod.

But the main reason of the such losses in my game are the frosen rivers. I placed my infantry mainly behind the river lines and on the fortification hexes, that worked perfectly when it was warm. When the rivers got frosen, the enemy units attacked on the wide front and destroyed my infantry uinits by artillery and infantry attacks (my tanks mostly survived because was deployed on the clear terrain and massed in groups and in such conditions they vulnerable to enemy tank attaks only). Maybe it would be prefferable from the game perspective to place the infantry around big cities on fortified positions, creating some "pockets' of resistance, but this is definitely not the mainstream WWII style on the European theater, thus that's ahistorical.

I may note that in reality, the rivers and lakes in winter are still serious obstacles for the WWII era armies, because an ice may be passable not everywhere, not everytime and not for everyone (passable for infantry, but impassable for tanks for example). And even if it's passable, it's still dangerous to move on ice for big groups of men and machines. Also a river may (and often have) one o both shores elevated above the water, ofthen with high-degree slopes, so the frosen river is still the serious obstacle to pass through, especially under fire. Unfortunately in PC frosen rivers magically become clear terrain.

[glaude1955]

To compare the different approach to strategy, here is the summary at the beginning of my turn 20.
I will replay the scenario using the same method but counter attacking earlier.
This scenario is really exciting.

[Intenso82]

I may note that in reality, the rivers and lakes in winter are still serious obstacles for the WWII era armies, because an ice may be passable not everywhere, not everytime and not for everyone (passable for infantry, but impassable for tanks for example). And even if it's passable, it's still dangerous to move on ice for big groups of men and machines. Also a river may (and often have) one o both shores elevated above the water, ofthen with high-degree slopes, so the frosen river is still the serious obstacle to pass through, especially under fire. Unfortunately in PC frosen rivers magically become clear terrain.

I agree.
But it is not a problem for the PZC.
I thought of it and there are three ways.
1. To make tracked move - impassable for the frozen rivers.
2. But generally light tanks could cross the frozen rivers.
Then it is necessary to divide tracked movement type on light tracked and usual tracked.
3. The most difficult. To make three new type of terrains(rivers, major rivers, lake).
Which will be passable in the winter for all types of movement. I.e. there will be two types of the rivers passed in the winter and not passable.
And to change all map. And it is thousands of hex. And dozens of hours of work.

[DoctorHaider]

I may note that in reality, the rivers and lakes in winter are still serious obstacles for the WWII era armies, because an ice may be passable not everywhere, not everytime and not for everyone (passable for infantry, but impassable for tanks for example). And even if it's passable, it's still dangerous to move on ice for big groups of men and machines. Also a river may (and often have) one o both shores elevated above the water, ofthen with high-degree slopes, so the frosen river is still the serious obstacle to pass through, especially under fire. Unfortunately in PC frosen rivers magically become clear terrain.

I agree.
But it is not a problem for the PZC.
I thought of it and there are three ways.
1. To make tracked move - impassable for the frozen rivers.
2. But generally light tanks could cross the frozen rivers.
Then it is necessary to divide tracked movement type on light tracked and usual tracked.
3. The most difficult. To make three new type of terrains(rivers, major rivers, lake).
Which will be passable in the winter for all types of movement. I.e. there will be two types of the rivers passed in the winter and not passable.
And to change all map. And it is thousands of hex. And dozens of hours of work.

The movement isn't the sole problem, frosen rivers and lakes still should make some negative combat bonus on a unit on the river hex. At first, you cannot entrench on the ice And you shold move through relatively narrow passages which are scouted and are proved to be safe enough for the troops. There is actually a lot of work for the engineer troops.

[Akkula]

I will note the frozen rivers thing DoctorHaider, it makes sense.
The frozen river is a PzC feature I didnt have in my head in the moment of making this scenario. But, as intenso82 mentioned, it can be fixed; I will try to look into it in some future update for sure (along with other things of course )

Thanks for your comments, all the feedback helps to improve the mod.

Best regards,
Akkula,

[DoctorHaider]

I've read the "War on the East" manual and noticed the interesting feature in that game. Actually, in the WITE rivers with low level of ice (1 to 4) make river crossings even harder (harder at 4 than at 1), especially inside the enemy zone of control, than in a warm season, due the unstable and dangerous condition of the low level ice. But from the ice level 5 (highest possible level when the rivers and lakes are totally frosen) the negative effects nullify, making the crossing easier than in summer. But in the WITE various river hexsides may have different ice level at the same moment, with the tendensy to more thick ice on the northern rivers/lakes.

[Yrfin]

2. But generally light tanks could cross the frozen rivers.
Then it is necessary to divide tracked movement type on light tracked and usual tracked.

And add Heavy Tanks movement type too (-200 on frozen rivers, lakes, swamp).

Increase movements cost for Medium Tanks (usual tracked) (3 on frozen rivers, lakes, swamp), except T-34 type of movements.

[Akkula]

I will work on this movement types topic for the next update for sure.
Thanks for all the ideas guys!.

Best regards,
Akkula.

[mc261209]

Which version of the game does this mod work?

[Akkula]

Hi!.
The mod was designed through version 1.26 and is compatible with the latest 1.30.
So, from 1.26 onwards you shouldnt have any problem

Best regards,
Akkula.

[mc261209]

When will you have the side of the shaft?

[Akkula]

Hello all,
for all those who are still interested on the this mod (and the Eastern Front for that matter ), I tell you I am working on a major update to be release in some weeks (or month).
It will include a lot of icons update (reworks and improvements), equipment balance, corrections and some other surprises regarding new content.
Also it will add a lot of new units, for example: the Il-2 NS37 (3500 units where built in real life), a lot of artillery units (for Germany and Soviet Union), more transports diversity for the Axis, new sounds and more.

Best regards,
Akkula.

[glaude1955]

Hello Akula,
I'm very excited to discover this update.
Regards
Yves

[rubyjuno]

Great news that you are still developing Soviet Storm Akkula, thanks for all your efforts. I only discovered Panzer Corps about 18 months ago and I'm now on the Grand Campaign, having completed the base campaign and Afrika Corps. I saw all the amazing mods/campaigns/scenarios that people had made and decided I better download them before they disappeared (although sadly some links are broken, but as some are a few years old it's understandable).

As well as playing the Grand Campaign I'm also playing your Soviet Storm v1.8 as it looked one of the most interesting (being able to play from the Soviet side appealed). I'm only on the third scenario but have to say it's an amazing creation Each scenario has been completely different and a new challenge - it's like a new game, but still with all the things that make Panzer Corps so great.

The only minor issues I have found is that one or two tiles are labelled incorrectly (for example, when the cursor is over it says "village" instead of "forest", but it doesn't affect game play and as I said it's one one or two anyway. I only noticed by accident.

Thanks again for your efforts, they are very much appreciated.

[Akkula]

Thanks for your support guys!.
I hope not to disappoint you

[glaude1955]

Hello Rubyjuno,
Try the scenario in 99 turns, it's a wonder.