AK: Malta

[VPaulus]

Please post here your comments about this scenario.

[kanelbullen]

Anyone else thats get a loss in the first turn at Malta scenario? I got a loss in the first turn as german is it me thats doing it wrong or have anyone else got the same problem?

[monkspider]

Yep, this scenario seems to be completely bugged. I get a loss after the end of one turn. Seems to be a promising scenario though. I plan to use the endscn cheat to award myself a decisive victory on this one.

[dthomas561]

Me too. I hadn't even landed or dropped the para's. First turn over as a loss. I thought it was something I did or missed in the briefing. I agree this could be a very interesting scenario as I believe the reward for victory is allowing for a better supply flow that would be shown by either more prestige or more units allowed at start of following scenarios. Unfortunately I will never know until bugs fixed.

[SpeedoWoW]

Yes, very dissappointed to see loss after 1 turn. See the same issue with Palestine. Guess Dev's will fix in a few more days...

[Blitz1945]

Yup loss after turn 1.

[bulli]

Yepp, me too. Loss after 1 Turn, no chance to avoid it.

[produit]

There is an error in the scenario, in victory conditions, direct Loss. Using the scenario editor, if you add a time condition on the loss (logical is [-1,-1]), you can pursue the map. It seems that the only problem is that you need a save at the end of the previous scenario, to completely restart the scenario.

[uran21]

Yup, I messed something in campaign conditions but if you are interested in trying it until its fixed you could try playing it in stand alone mode.

[produit]

Modified the scenario as said before, to be able to play.
FM, possible DV on turn 11, wait for turn 14. Cleared the whole map.

Impressive map requiring a lot of planning, and slow advance. Paratroopers were killed really fast. On the other hand, I was able to debark my troops without a lot of damages.
I really liked the captured Spitfire... It will be really a plus in my arsenal.

Concerning the objective of killing the enemy fleet, it was not too difficult, as I had a 3 stars over-strength He177.

[sgocart6298]

Regarding the Malta scenario: After deploying my invasion force and after making the first move I am met with a "Loss". I tried a second time and the same thing happened? I was directed to the next scenario. Is there an error with the AI (Artificial Intelligence)?

[billmv44]

General level. Starting prestige 8348, ending 3386.

I played this after deploying the scenario fix, no issues with a premature loss. This scenario has a little of everything. Naval combat, air battles, amphibious assault and a short window to get the DV. I used a minimal force for the northern island. I almost lost a few units to air and naval attack before landing up there. However I did get ashore and was able to restrengthen my units and clear out the British without too much trouble. I also sank the entire escaping naval force. I'm glad I decided to add an He-177 bomber. That really came in handy. I did notice that the AI didn't really coordinate the escaping naval units. The destroyers ignored my u-boat, much to the detriment of his cruisers. The battle on the main island came down to the last turn. I was able to secure the DV but it was very close. Zejtun is a tough nut to crack. Twice the AI attacked out of cities against my infantry units. They were quickly destroyed on the next turn. I'm not sure if that's the best behavior for an entrenched unit.

All in all an enjoyable scenario. I think the balance is about right. The captured Spitfire was a nice surprise.

[Blitz1945]

Just tried this with the latest patch and it still ended on turn one with a loss.

[sgocart6298]

Did you delete the original Beta before installing most recent one?

[LostAgain]

Playing FM. Completed scenario with new patch and had no problems. I noticed that the pop ups are still a bit off linguistically. For example, the message informing that the English fleet is leaving the area states "Locate and SANK the fleet" instead of sink.

I liked this scenario and especially liked discovering that I had captured a spitfire as I've advocated capturing enemy a/c from the start! THANK YOU Gods of Panzer Corp! I also appreciated being able to actually get units ashore before they were sunk although I did lose 1 and had another reduced from 13 to 1! This is far easier to accept than losing 4 or 5 units before even touching land as was the case in Crete (Naval) scenario from '41, which would have been a fairly comparable target IMO. Before I get anybody’s hackles up I said FAIRLY comparable, not identical.

I’d like to touch on something that’s been puzzling me. Much of my dismay with the first 2 or 3 scenarios of AK is related to my confusion regarding corp units. As it is 1941 I had hoped there’d be some sort of integration of forces so that one could use units already acquired previously in Panzer Corp East. As this is obviously not the case I’m left wondering whether any units that I carry through the AK scenario will be available to me in any future DLC or must one start from scratch every time regardless of the date that the DLC starts in? CAN this even be done? As AK is a stand-alone version, (at least in beta), I can’t see how any form of unit integration can ever take place, but I know I’m not alone in hoping that it does.

[Blitz1945]

I did delete beta 1. I started over from scratch to see if it happens with a new game.

[Kamerer]

Beta 2 Malta -

Fm level, DV at 14/14 (barely!)

Toughest scenario yet. Typical amphibious scenario - difficult to plan and manage, tight time constraints. A real challenge and engrossing. Gazala and this one back-to-back make for a real increase in tempo - nice.

Picking up the spitfire capture was a nice touch. Balance of naval assets and air assets provided was right to enable player to get the job done. No problems encountered with map or units. Even bringing three Bf109's (two experienced - one a+3 and one d+3), the Spits were a handful. The two provided Ju88s were adequate for handling the naval opponents; but the Italian fighter auxilliaries were liabilities. More experienced or capable auxiliary fighters might be nice.

[monkspider]

Malta
Ending prestige 5500
Losses: 1x Bersaglieri
Marginal Victory 14//14

This was quite a difficult scenario, as all amphibious invasions are it seems! I sent my Italians to take the northern island and my German forces to the southern island. I was able to take every objective except the one at the northern tip of the southern island. It's possible that an extra turn or two could help on this one, it seems that even the players who got a DV were generally only able to do so narrowly. I was able to sink the entire Royal Navy and get the bonus prestige though and the captured Spitfire was incredibly awesome. A great scenario, I was glad to be able to play it this time!

[Tarrak]

Beta 2.0
Difficulty: General
Starting prestige: 9460.
Upgraded 4 PzIIIJ/1 to PzIIIL, upgraded the captured Grant to PzIVG, StugIIIF to StugIIIF/8. Bought a Bf109G and a Sahriana to test it out. As replacements strategy during deployment phase i used following pattern: If the unit did not lose any whole star by using normal replacements i used normal, if it were the case i used elite replacements. I did over-strength all units as much as possible. Was trying to avoid using replacements during the battle but had to do it a few times. Used mostly elite replacements during the battle as prestige seems quite plentiful.
Outcome: MV at 14/14. Was maybe two turns short from clearing out the last VH. Lost the Sahariana which proved quite disappointing imho and managed to capture a Spitfire.
End prestige: 8275.

Send a small detachment of my troops to the north Island while the rest hit the main Island. The landing was somewhat slow as the AI seems to love to block the hexes where your unit could land with their own units. After that my progress was mostly hampered by wrong core composition for that kind of scenario. My core is quite tank heavy which serves me well in desert but here with a lot more cities i wished i would have more infantry and artillery. In retrospect i should have bought two or three additional infantry units and leave some tanks home but i didn't know what to expect really the first time.

Sinking of the Royal Navy was quite easy with the amount of auxiliary level bombers. It managed to damage my navy quite a bit but went down easily and my navy was able to support the ground troops with bombardment in the last third of the scenario.

Gaining air superiority took a while but wasn't to hard. The auxiliary Italian fighters are not more then cannon fodder for the British fighters sadly but my three Bf109 supported by one Bf110 was able to clear the skies. The captured Spitfire come in to late to really join the fight.

Overall the scenario is nice and plays totally differently to the desert scenarios before. Considering most players core will probably be tank heavy this one can prove tricky. If you want to keep the difficulty then no changes are really in order. It may be hard to reach a DV here for the average player but after all this is a bonus scenario. If you want to make it a bit easier adding two or three more turns will make it a lot more manageable.

[Erik2]

Is this scenario based on any of the historical plans to capture Malta?
The German Operation Herkules and the Italian Operazione C3 should be a good (better?) basis.
I think the current scenario is kind of half-baked with the landing transports ahead of the escorting vessels. Bad planning considering the strong British naval presence.
The Regia Marina would surely be pressed into service, even with low fuel allotments.
Also the airborne contingent is largely missing, where are the Folgore Para Div or elemenets of the 7. Flieger Div?