BATTLEFIELD EUROPE v1.94:MP - Strategy Guide [AXIS] [Turn 95] - Allies Victory!

[Intenso82]

This topic is devoted to a multiplayer play-test in the mod Battlefield Europe v1.94
Axis side - Intenso
Allies side - McGuba

The topic is dedicated to the paired game for the Allies side here.

In general, I did not plan to do AAR.
But during the game I had about 1500 technical screenshots of the game.
And I decided to share and make AAR so that all this was not lost and that besides me maybe someone else would enjoy.

This is quite a unique content, Great strategy and Multiplayer together.

The title is "Strategy Guide" and the main reason this is to show what can be found in the BE multiplayer version of mod.
And how deep and interesting it can be.
Also show various strategies, methods of war, tactics, formations of units, some features of mod
and of course human errors and more errors at all levels

I would also be happy if this topic motivated your discussion, questions, comments.
And also maybe later you will be able to find new or improved strategies seen here and share with us your findings.

I write from one side, but since this is a multiplayer game, I would like it to be a topic for both sides.
I hope McGuba will find time to post his comments and views on his side. I will welcome this.
Otherwise, it would be limited to only one angle of view and would not be complete. Somewhat one-sided.

As for the screenshots, I mostly took screenshots on a small scale.
That on one screen all theater of operations was located. For example, in Russia everything place into 3 screenshots (North, Center and South).
But there were exceptions. When more detailed screenshots were required.
I will try to process them (trim) so that they look better.
I also had no AAR experience before (but I was inspired by excellent PeteMitchell AARs) and also English is not my native language, so sorry for possible mistakes

A warning.
Attention!! This AAR contains spoilers.
Therefore, if you do not want to know some details, consider whether you need to move on or close this page
Although perhaps this is not critical, because playing multiplayer is usually the mod is already passed in a single version(I think this is even a recommendation for playing multiplayer).
This is also test version v1.94 and maybe many things will be changed in the next version.
Therefore, do not try to directly repeat everything that you see here

A few more points.
At the time of the beginning of this topic, the game is still going.
And for the time being, I don’t know how much I can post some sensitive screenshots and descriptions (many aspects may still be a military secrets ).
Maybe later I will pause if the need arises.
Although many things written here may reveal my side "in details",
I think that after D-day when there will be a final run, it will not matter much.

I hope someone it will be interested.
Enjoy!

[Intenso82]

Table of contents

Chapter 1. 1941
0. Turn Zero. Strategic Plan 'Barbarossa'
1. Turn 1. Operation 'Barbarossa' began
2. Turn 2. Blitzkrieg
3. Turn 3. Railkrieg
4. Turn 4. Cities with chevrons
5. Turn 5. On the way to Moscow
6. Turn 6. Rzhev is ours
7. Turn 7. Atlantic
8. Turn 8. Hunting for carrier
9. Turn 9. In one step from Moscow
10.Turn 10. The Kremlin is taken
11.Turn 11. Air dancing over Moscow
12.Turn 12. General Moroz
13.Turn 13. Moscow captured

Chapter 2. 1942
14.Turn 14. Strategic plan for 1942
15.Turn 15. T-34 in the south
16.Turn 16. Lull
17.Turn 17.Fighting in the South
18.Turn 18. Advance resumed
19.Turn 19. Summer offensive start
20.Turn 20. Approaching Stalingrad
21.Turn 21. Tirpitz in Trondheim
22.Turn 22. Soviet air attack
23.Turn 23. Forward to the Caucasus!
24.Turn 24. Prepare to storm Stalingrad
25.Turn 25. The first oil field
26.Turn 26. Tobruk captured
27.Turn 27. Everything is stable
28.Turn 28. Soviets are building VP nodal defense
29.Turn 29. Landing in Dieppe
30.Turn 30. Soviet counterattack
31.Turn 31. Stalingrad taken
32.Turn 32. Cleaning the bank of the Volga
33.Turn 33. Storming Baku started
34.Turn 34. Sturm of Leningrad
35.Turn 35. Attack on Tirpitz
36.Turn 36. Torch
37.Turn 37. Baku captured
38.Turn 38. Sea Battle in the Mediterranean
39.Turn 39. Leningrad captured
40.Turn 40. Results of the 1942 campaign

Chapter 3. 1943
41.Turn 41. Strategic Plan

[Intenso82]

Operational Map.

Reserved

[Intenso82]

Turn Zero. Strategic Plan 'Barbarossa'.



To date, the High Command has declassified the first phase of the Strategic Plan.
We call it Plan Barbarossa.

In the East, we have concentrated powerful military forces in 3 army groups: North, Center and South.

Army Group North has the task of attacking with the main strike to Dvinsk. Auxiliary strike to Riga.
After crossing the Dvina River, move to the East through Velikie Luki in the direction of Rzhev.
The goal is Moscow.
Auxiliary forces should occupy Pskov and blockade Leningrad from the south.
After the capture of Moscow to begin the seizure of Leningrad.
Time to complete the task t=35 turn.

The Army Group Center has the task of approaching Minsk with two converging strikes, thereby encircle the enemy troops in the area of ​​Brest-Litovsk.
Further, the main forces move to Moscow through Smolensk.
Auxiliary forces strike in the direction of Gomel. And encircle the enemy forces in the east of Kiev.
The goal is Moscow.
Time to complete the task to 20-25 turn.

Army Group South has the task of the main forces to get through to Kiev and bypass it from the south.
Close the encirclement ring east of Kiev in conjunction with parts of the Army Group Center.
Another part of the forces has the order to capture Uman (as fast as possible) and move in the direction of Rostov.
Auxiliary forces strike in the direction of Odessa.
The main goal is Rostov.
Time to complete the task to 15 turn.

The Norwegian Army has the task of attacking with the main strike in the direction of Petrazavodsk.
Auxiliary in the direction of Leningrad to ensure the blockade of the city from the north.

The offensive is scheduled for June 22.
The remaining troops will receive their orders by this time.

[PeteMitchell]

Wow, this is great news! I am really looking forward to it! I like the map a lot as well, that's a good idea with the names! Yeah, and also thanks for the kudos, glad they inspired you...

[goose_2]

This is great great stuff color me interested and enjoying

[Intenso82]

Wow, this is great news! I am really looking forward to it! I like the map a lot as well, that's a good idea with the names! Yeah, and also thanks for the kudos, glad they inspired you...

This is great great stuff color me interested and enjoying

Thanks for these words.

[Intenso82]

Turn 1. Operation 'Barbarossa' began.
22 june 1941.
Weather: Clear and Dry.

Northern front
On the Northern front, one group is advancing towards Leningrad and has almost knocked the enemy out of Vyborg.
The other is moving to Petrozavodsk, while leading border battles.

_Intenso_t_1_Nord.jpg (279.74 KiB) Viewed 9386 times

North
Almost the entire army group North was redirected to the direction of Rzhev-Moscow.
But now they are moving towards Riga and Dvinsk.
Unfortunately, few Soviet units retreated to Kurland.
The command provides artillery support from ships.

Centre
Our goal is to quickly get to Minsk to close the encirclement.
One of our recon units has moved forward.
Aviation strikes at Soviet airfields. It is obvious that the enemy did not expect our strike.
The Brest fortress has been destroyed and our flag will be the next turn.

_Intenso_t_1_Center.jpg (441.45 KiB) Viewed 9386 times

South.
In the south, we met numerous armored Soviet units.
However, they do not have fuel and ammunition.
Our immediate goal is Uman(Which is located south of Kiev).
We also block all airfields.

_Intenso_t_1_UG.jpg (443.21 KiB) Viewed 9386 times

[Intenso82]

Africa.
In accordance with the plans of the High Command,
Most of the units are transferred by sea to the Eastern Front.
Since Africa is not our priority.
The rest will be limited operations.

_Intenso_t_1_Afrika.jpg (320.7 KiB) Viewed 9384 times

By the way, all screenshots for the Axis are done at the end of the turn.
Loss statistics at the end of the first turn.

_Intenso_Stat_t_1.jpg (64.03 KiB) Viewed 9384 times

[PeteMitchell]

Africa.
In accordance with the plans of the High Command,
Most of the units are transferred by sea to the Eastern Front.
Since Africa is not our priority.
The rest will be limited operations.

I think this sounds very reasonable against a human opponent, maybe that should have happenend in reality as well (i.e. Rommel's target of reaching the Suez Canal was way off) although/probably it hadn't made a big difference in the East back then... holding Crete seemed important due to looming Allied air strikes on the Romanian oil industry. Anyways, I am very curious to see how you will approach/handle the Mediterranean Sea and Southern Europe after 1942...

[Intenso82]

I think this sounds very reasonable against a human opponent, maybe that should have happenend in reality as well (i.e. Rommel's target of reaching the Suez Canal was way off) although/probably it hadn't made a big difference in the East back then... holding Crete seemed important due to looming Allied air strikes on the Romanian oil industry. Anyways, I am very curious to see how you will approach/handle the Mediterranean Sea and Southern Europe after 1942...

The strategy may change over time, it will be seen later in the story
Against a human opponent, the strategy must be very adaptive.
The feature of the mod is that there are several connected theaters of war on each of which has its own strategy, which can change and adapt to the actions of the opponent.
Of course the initiative is on the side of the Axis. Especially at the beginning of the game.

[Intenso82]

Turn 2. Blitzkrieg
7 July 1941.
Weather: Clear and Dry.

Strategic map

_Intenso_t_2_Strat.jpg (431.99 KiB) Viewed 9347 times

Northern front
We captured Vyborg and are moving towards Petrazavodsk.
Aerial recon near Pskov found a cluster of enemy aircraft.
A torpedo boat without fuel was found in the Gulf of Riga.

_Intenso_t_2_Nord.jpg (374.59 KiB) Viewed 9347 times

[Intenso82]

Our mobile troops ignore good tactical positions and capture flags in cities, the main thing for them is speed. We call this tactic Blitzkrieg.

North
An enemy infantry unit entered Riga.
And now the Soviets stubbornly resist us, and this slightly delays our progress.
Our main units bypass Riga to the east and move towards Dvinsk.
In Kurland our troops completed the destruction of the enemy.

Centre
Our troops approached Minsk and completed the encirclement of the enemy troops in the region of Bialystok.
Air superiority is ours, the sky is clear. But in the North were found Soviet air units.

_Intenso_t_2_Center.jpg (415.06 KiB) Viewed 9343 times

South.
We continue to attack Soviet tanks in the Lutsk area. Resistance unexpectedly stubborn.
We encounter a big KV-2 tank. It seems to be a toughie. Fortunately, the Soviets have few such tanks.
Meanwhile, in the south, Vinnitsa in our hands and our forward recon unit approached Zhytomyr
and attacked the remaining Soviet aircraft at the airfield. And the Russian tanks turned out to be in a semi-circle.

Our tank unit has also approached Uman (our first tactical task in the south).
Aviation continues to strike at airfields.

_Intenso_t_2_UG_2.jpg (576.83 KiB) Viewed 9343 times

Africa.
To ensure the safety of the transport of troops use light ships of the Italian fleet.
Our units go to Benghazi and El-Agheila.
The other half of our troops are participating in an isolated offensive in the Mersa Matruh area.

_Intenso_t_2_Afrika.jpg (304.43 KiB) Viewed 9343 times

[Intenso82]

Turn 3. Railkrieg
22 July 1941.
Weather: Clear and Dry.

Strategic map
The map shows how in Atlantic our submarine was spotted and surrounded by the enemy.
We have the first loss.
Not far from this place in Atlantic, сontact with our maritime recon aircraft was lost.

_Intenso_t_3_Strat.jpg (432.84 KiB) Viewed 9340 times

Northern front
In the North, we are moving forward according to plans.
At the airfield in the Pskov, a large concentration of Soviet aviation was observed.

_Intenso_t_3_Nord.jpg (357.29 KiB) Viewed 9340 times

[Intenso82]

Railkrieg is a modification of the Britzkrig theory, in which trains act as mobile forces!

North
We captured Riga and Dvinsk.
In the Gulf of Riga, the Navy destroyed an enemy torpedo boat.

Centre
Our railway forces were much faster than we were supposed to despite the different gauge widths.
Together with recon, they are ahead of our other units.
We went to the line Mogilev-Orsha-Vitebsk-Velikie Luki.
Brilliantly!

We note the strange activity of Soviet aviation in the border area. Perhaps this is due to the Soviet order intercepted by us, which says that Soviet aviation must attack the enemy near the border under the threat of execution or prestige loss.
It also explains the concentration of enemy aviation at Pskov.

_Intenso_t_3_Center.jpg (446.11 KiB) Viewed 9339 times

South.
We ended up with Soviet tanks in the Lutsk area and advanced to Kiev.
And they have already begun to bypass Uman.
We continue to carry out the bombing of enemy airfields.

_Intenso_t_3_UG_2.jpg (555.46 KiB) Viewed 9339 times

Africa.
Our forces stopped the demonstrative attack on Cairo and the withdrawal continues to Benghazi and and El-Agheila.
Tobruk we avoid.

_Intenso_t_3_Afrika.jpg (314.17 KiB) Viewed 9339 times

[PeteMitchell]

I like it! You are advancing quickly... Not sure but it seems the Red Army is retreating as well?
Advancing by rail is an interesting/good idea, although it can pose some risks as well...
It seems the attack on Mersa Matruh was more a deception measure...
Is there anything happening in Western Europe already as well, e.g. RAF? I guess Operation Sealion must be impossible against a human opponent.
Ah... and how is your appetite for some fresh and juicy oil?

[McGuba]

Excellent AAR! Unfortunately I did not make many screenshots so I cannot contribute by showing the other side. I only took screenshots of the losses chart at the end of each turn to compare them as we are actually playing two matches from both sides. I did take a few tactical screenshots though, but only from turn 38 and only when it was snowing so that in the next turn I would remember what enemy units were there in a given area. I did not take this aspect too seriously, but it indeed helps a lot as you will see.

But before going into details I must mention that we ran into some unexpected technical problems early on. When we first started the multiplayer game of this latest version of the mod only after a few turns I realized that the prestige allocation is not the same as it is in the single player version, even though the scripts are exactly the same. After some testing we realized that we actually got about twice as much prestige as we should, compared to the single player version, or if I tried to play the same scenario in hot seat mode. After some more thinking and testing it appeared that there is a game bug which only affects multiplayer games when the "show opponent's moves" is set to "on". In which case scripts which should only run once in a turn are actually run twice. For example there is a script which says that the Axis player gets 50 prestige points for every important city like Paris or Rome in each turn. (There are six such cities and it is one of the main prestige income sources of the Axis side.) But if the "show opponent's moves" is set to "on" in multiplayer games, then for whatever reason the script is run twice in each turn resulting in the Axis player getting 100 prestige for owning each of these cities. This would obviously distort the game balance allowing the Axis player to achieve an advantage in the early stage of the war. Besides, since there are 99 turns in the big scenario it is set that these scripts should run 99 times (normally once in each turn for the whole duration of the war) but in this case it would of course mean that the script would only run until half of the duration of the war (as the script is being run twice in each turn so it would run "out of ammo" by turn 50). And after that point there would be no more prestige, which is again a big problem.

Therefore I came up with the idea to find a work-around solution and to half the prestige amount given each time and double the script runs. So for example instead of getting 50 prestige points 99 times (as it normally happens in the single player version) there would be 25 prestige points given 198 times. And then the program can give 25 prestige points two times in a turn by using two script runs and then everything would be fine until turn 99. In theory at least...

And so we restarted the game with this modified version and with "show opponent's moves" set to "ON". For those who are unfmailiar with the multiplayer games it means that after the opponent's moves when we load the game it plays all the moves and attacks of the opponent in the same way as it happens when showing the AI moves in single player games. And it all went well for a few turns: we saw each other's moves and attacks and this time the prestige allocation also looked (more or less) good, thanks to my work-around solution. It was the beginning of the current AAR. But then unfortunately the other problem came: after a few turns (if I remember well in turn 14 in my Axis game and in turn 4 in my Allied game - or maybe the opposite) the game stopped showing the opponent's moves and attacks, and after loading the multiplayer game it immediately showed the end result of his turn, as if the game was set to "show opponent's moves=OFF". And from that point the scripts were also run once in a turn, resulting in both of us getting only half of the intended prestige allocation as I reduced it for this special version, as described above.

By the way, this unwanted switch from "show opponent's moves=ON" to "show opponent's moves=OFF" is seemingly not an isolated problem as it has been reported by several other players over time:
viewtopic.php?f=146&t=63828
viewtopic.php?f=121&t=87992
https://steamcommunity.com/app/268400/d ... 698059056/

Unfortunately it looks like an unfixed bug of the base game which (mainly?) affects larger scenarios, however some players claimed the same problem while playing smaller official scenarios as well in multiplayer.

Anyway, regardless of this issue we decided to continue this multiplayer game as in the end it is indeed very exciting and fun, and of course a lot more challenging than playing against the silly AI. But due to the above described situation now we both get half the prestige as we should normally. On the other hand it also affects prestige penalties in the same way, for the same reason, so for example the strategic bombing of the main German cities also causes half the prestige penalty. So in the end another test play would be required to see how it plays out with the normal prestige allocation. However, as it stands now, it can only be played with "show opponent's moves=OFF", which takes away a lot of the fun, as if it is started with "show opponent's moves=ON" it would most likely switch off anyway, after a few, random number of turns. And again, this is not a bug of this mod, it is inherited from the base game. Hopefully the game developer will eventually find the time and means to fix it in the future.

Neverhteless, playing a multiplayer game with "show opponent's moves=OFF" does have a few advantages as well, for instance submarines or partisans or other damaged units have a much better chance to escape when found as they can withdraw to any direction without the opponent seeing the direction of their withdrawal and then it is harder to find and destroy them in the opponent's turn.

[PeteMitchell]

Hopefully the game developer will eventually find the time and means to fix it in the future.

Neverhteless, playing a multiplayer game with "show opponent's moves=OFF" does have a few advantages as well

So unless/until there is a fix by the game developer, you suggest to play the new MP version with "show opponent's moves=OFF"?

[McGuba]

So unless/until there is a fix by the game developer, you suggest to play the new MP version with "show opponent's moves=OFF"?

Yes. You can try playing it with ON, but most likely the game will switch to OFF on its own after a few, random number of turns. It happened like that in all our test plays so far and a number of other players reported the same in much shorter scenarios. Chances are very high that it would happen sooner or later during the 99 turns. But I will try to make the next version in a way that the double script run would not affect it too much. At least I can extend the number of script runs over 99 so that they do not run out before the end of the war. But there will be exessive prestige given for a time.


As for the current AAR:
Although somewhat distracted by the afformentioned problems, in my Allied game initially I tried to slow down the Axis advance while causing them as heavy losses as possible. In the east I tried to collect most of my units for the defense of Moscow as I did not expect a too fast advance in the very south due to the numerous rivers and cities and I considered the defenses of Leningrad strong enough for the time being.

In the Atlantic I tried to locate and destroy the existing U-boat units before they could move away too far from their starting position, making their later detection harder. This fortunately led to my first success when I found one of them near the Faroe Islands which was quickly surrounded and destroyed by the British vessels in the area. A German maritime recon air unit was also located and destroyed nearby, thanks to the agressive counter-reconnaissance of the British Coastal Command air units, which got some help from the RAF as well. Locating and destroying enemy units in the vast emptiness of the North Atlantic Ocean is of course requires a fair amount of luck as well, given the limited number of Allied units in the area in 1941. But one of the greatest features of the BE multiplayer is trying to outsmart the opponent or even better, trying to figure out his thinking and being one step ahead all the time. On some occasions it is possible to do so, on others, it is not. Pretty much like in real WW2.

In North Africa my initialy strategy again, was to slow down the enemy and cause as many losses as possible in the process while preserving the limited number of Allied units until stronger reinforcements would arrive later. Therefore I tried withdrew with most of the "Battleaxe" units and managed to save at least the Matilda tank unit (and a few more, if I remember well), which I considered a success. However, the sudden withdraw of the enemy confused me quite a bit. Since I did not have enough air units in the area, I could not confirm if it was a genuine retreat or just a diversion intended to trick me to move my well dug in units out of their positions around Tobruk and so make it easier for the enemy to massacre them in the open desert. The limited mobility of the British units was also a problem, mainly the slow speed of the venerable Matilda tanks. Once it moves out it cannot retreat so easily if things go hairy. It has to take the fight and win or die where it is. But in the end, I did not worry too much as I knew that time is on my side in Africa, as the British side gets more and more units over time if I am able hold on to the victory objective cities. Here the Axis side has to take the initiative if he does not want to lose everything in the long run.

In general, intelligence gathering and deception has a much higher importance than in single player. The AI is quite predictable, and of course we all know the events and battles of WW2 and can prepare for them in time as the AI is scripted to follow these events in single player. But then playing against a human opponent we can of course throw all our previous knowledge to the bin as he will not do the favour of making the same historical mistakes.

[Intenso82]

I like it! You are advancing quickly... Not sure but it seems the Red Army is retreating as well?

Recon and air units did not detect the retreat of the Soviet forces.
They do not have many units.
I started AAR for the Allies here, you can also see from the Soviets side.
This AAR also shows another path of game.

It seems the attack on Mersa Matruh was more a deception measure...

Just probing.

Is there anything happening in Western Europe already as well, e.g. RAF?

Gradually, the number of theaters of war will increase. Important points will be shown in the screenshots.
By the end of the game, there seems to be no place left on the map where no fighting would take place!
This is truly a World WarII.

I guess Operation Sealion must be impossible against a human opponent.

In the game for Axis, I focused on the Eastern Front.
Sea Lion I did not even consider. In this version it would really be very difficult. Maybe in the next version it can be made easier
Also McGuba surpasses me in naval battles

I once posted in the topic of BE mod(about a year ago), screenshots from the last MP game, when McGuba for Axis implemented the Operation Sea Lion.
It was pretty impressive.

resulting in both of us getting only half of the intended prestige allocation as I reduced it for this special version, as described above.

It looks like both sides play on Rommel difficulty.

Unfortunately it looks like an unfixed bug of the base game which (mainly?) affects larger scenarios, however some players claimed the same problem while playing smaller official scenarios as well in multiplayer.

Also note that I tried all the methods described as helping other players. And for the time being they really worked. But in one day they stopped working:(
And it was not possible to return the replay anymore.
We found the problem of prestige allocation, but this is much more, this is due to the fact that all triggers with counters in MP work twice during
the replay of the opponent’s move and their number decreases 2 times faster. On prestige it is just visible.
So for now, the working solution is to disable the display of the opponent’s move.

In the Atlantic I tried to locate and destroy the existing U-boat units before they could move away too far from their starting position, making their later detection harder. This fortunately led to my first success when I found one of them near the Faroe Islands which was quickly surrounded and destroyed by the British vessels in the area. A German maritime recon air unit was also located and destroyed nearby, thanks to the agressive counter-reconnaissance of the British Coastal Command air units, which got some help from the RAF as well.

A good explanation so that we can understand the actions of the other side.

In general, intelligence gathering and deception has a much higher importance than in single player.

Yes, it is also good that the tactical situation can quickly change every turn, which requires new decisions.