Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

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KarisFraMauro
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by KarisFraMauro »

Don't worry about the language issues, getting all the folders and names and compression etcetera correct is a challenge for everyone at the start :) It soon becomes easy though!

Hearing about text issues sounds familiar. I know in multiplayer scenarios, which are really the only thing I have experience with, sometimes there's a gold star / gray star displayed next to the scenario name when I'm setting things up. If I pick the wrong colour (I can never remember what the right one is), it results in a situation akin to what you describe.
Erik2
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Holland and France

Post by Erik2 »

2v2 Holland 1940 3.3
Link updated in first post.
Free German deployment.
Replaced Belgian garrisons with MG nests.
All units start at full strength.
Replaced Dutch air strips with air bases. This should make it slightly easier for German airborne attacks and the Luftlande follow-up and British/French airborne to refuel.
Added additional construction groups.

2v2 France 1940 2.3
Link updated in first post.
Regimental armored units (infantry is divisional). More Blitz for the Mark!
German factions now have a free deployment phase.
France now has 2 AA units while the rest of the Allied factions have 1 each.
Inceased bunker/fort strength from 5 to 8.
Increased factions' RP income.
There is a 'regular' Italian RP income.
The Italians activate historically or if the French invade prematurely.
Moved German south bunkers off-road.
Added a few more Italian air units.
German air units start launched.
Unit experience:
Dutch/Belgian/Italian = 0
British/French = 1
German = 3
KarisFraMauro
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by KarisFraMauro »

Sounds fun and I look forwards to trying them, thanks! While I appreciate you having a Canadian presence in Seelowe, it seems to me it's too small. There are two ways to approach it, game balance and plausibility. Game balance is pretty self-evident from testing, although to account for differences in player ability I'd need to have another game as the Germans to be confident. In terms of plausibility...

Compare the populations of the UK, Canada and Germany. Canada is the smallest for sure, but A : they were extremely motivated at the time, they weren't THAT small and a big chunk would enlist, and B : while German losses at that stage of the war were nothing compared to what they'd be in future, they had suffered losses. Additionally there was a need to hold down captive populations in Poland, France and elsewhere. It isn't as if winning means you can automatically reassign everyone to the UK front.

So my point is, in terms of scale, I find a dozen Canadian units entirely valid. Do they arrive all at once or are present at the start? No. I'm thinking once it becomes clear the UK is in trouble, THEN the colonies pitch in, or at least pitch in more anyway. To satisfy both plausibility and game balance, have transports start showing up on the western edge of the map around turn 6 lets say. Maybe 3 or 4 at a time, every six turns? Something like that perhaps, with a few German subs to make things interesting.

Don't quote me on this but I read that at the end of WWII Canada actually had the largest navy in the world. Maybe that's due to losses suffered by other participants and most of it being merchant marine, but still, if correct it would support my idea. Heck weren't at least a few of the UK aircraft built in Canada as well? Could have a fighter or three pop up as reinforcements.

I'll also say that a failed Dunkirk evacuation makes more sense as a precursor than a defeat in the Battle of Britain. It's difficult for me to see the UK losing the BoB for a variety of reasons, not least home field advantage. If German aircraft wanted to be able to fly home they couldn't afford that much time in the theatre of operations after all, certainly not as much as the UK. Plus if a German pilot bails out he can't return to the fight. If a UK pilot bails out he can. There are a lot of things working against a German win, it was an "ambitious" operation no matter how you look at it.

Dunkirk on the other hand was really only one order from the fuhrer away from failure. Hitler thought it was a trap and ordered the luftwaffe to hold back, which they did. Even so it was a near thing, a very near thing indeed. That an organization as proud as the royal navy had to call on and accept help from civilian vessels only proves my point. They never would have done so unless it was absolutely necessary and they had no choice at all, which they didn't. Now none of that is impacting on actual gameplay for the scenario, it's a quibble on my part really. I'm only adding it for potential purposes of a blurb at the start.

Anything and everything I've already said, everyone more than welcome to weigh in :)
JoaoLuisAngelo
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by JoaoLuisAngelo »

KarisFraMauro wrote: Fri Mar 28, 2025 1:58 am (...)
Don't quote me on this but I read that at the end of WWII Canada actually had the largest navy in the world. Maybe that's due to losses suffered by other participants and most of it being merchant marine, but still, if correct it would support my idea.
(...)
From the Wikipedia article on the History of the Royal Canadian Navy, at the end of WWII it was the fourth-largest (after the US, UK and USSR) but only had two ships larger than destroyers.
Without bothering to go look for actual numbers I'm willing to venture that the RCN could be the largest "small" ship navy in the world.
On another note, "merchant marine" doesn't ever count for the strength of the "navy". The "navy" may/will include unarmed auxiliaries but never "merchant" vessels.
Brenmusik
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by Brenmusik »

Seelowe scenario thoughts.

Captured British aerodromes ought to become airfields of the "tented" type, if possible. It would help to represent a little of the chaos of the invasion, 6 slots in Kent is too much of an advantage for the Luftwaffe.

Also some of the rivers in Kent and Sussex are a little too wide for too long. Arun, Medway and Cuckmere I know the 'Map Maker' does not help, but halving the map size would allow for more nuanced river length.

Some thought given to the LDV, soon to become the Home Guard, spawning when towns are taken, and causing problems behind the lines.
Erik2
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Seelöwe

Post by Erik2 »

Changing the British airfields to German airstrip units is not trivial. A airstrip may spawn next to the airfield if the latter terrain is occupied during the airstrip deployment. But it is a good idea, I'll see if I can create fool-proof triggers.

Someone mentioned subs in one of the current game-chats ( I think). I believe subs should be left out of this scenarios as the naval part is secondary.

Currently I have brigade-sized (strength=5) Home Guard units plastered along the coastline. Spawning a few whenever the Germans capture a major city may work.

Rivers in OOB is difficult to work with creation-wise. They generally take up too much space. I wish the original game designer (adherbal) would have gone for rivers on the hex borders and not occupy a whole hex. Then we could have had parallell roads/rivers wich is the case quite often in the real world. Rant-mode off :wink: .
Erik2
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MicroMod 5.2

Post by Erik2 »

MicroMod 5.2
Added a couple of Norwegian commanders.
Link updated in first post.

New scenario:
2v2 Weserubung 1940 1.0

The German air/land/sea-invasion of Norway.
2 German players, 1 Norwegian player and 1 British/French/Polish player.
This is a large, very detailed scenario.
I have created a few challenges if you'd like to help testing the beast.

Erik
Brenmusik
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by Brenmusik »

Would I :)
KarisFraMauro
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Re: Erik's campaigns, mods and multiplayer scenarios

Post by KarisFraMauro »

I like the looks of that new scenario myself :) And wanting to keep naval aspects to a minimum in Seelowe is absolutely fair, I get that. Let me think...

How about this then? Move the British fleet farther south. Starting around turn six or so, have a few batches of colonial infantry reinforcements start showing in the far northwest of the map. This way they wouldn't be gamebreaking, it's fair for them to be latecomers as that makes sense. Just add two german subs patrolling the area to make things interesting. That's all, no more, only two. Subs did range pretty far and wide after all. I believe it would make things more balanced and fun, without taking away from the main theatre. Because the British fleet would be in the south there wouldn't be a distraction of having them chase after subs.

Also thanks for the explanation of relative naval sizes at the end of the war. However flattering my earlier, incorrect source, it felt just a wee tad unlikely.
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