1940 GM UB HS

[Kerensky]

For my own run of the new DLC, with my own imported force, let's see how Generalissimus with new Special Challenges of Uphill Battle and Heroic Showdown goes.

General traits are Trophies of War, Terrain Expert, and Arrogant (this seems only appropriate)

Not brave enough to also turn on Manstein though. +5 enemy strength... maybe next DLC.

EDIT: Have to say, the novelty of playing this way is really interesting, but man do I not recommend 'arrogant' for normal play. I can deal with stronger enemies in Uphill Battle and hero swarms in Heroic Showdown... but having to really stop and think about every single attack instead of being spoiled by the combat prediction display... completely slams the brakes on how fast I usually play through content.

Makes you really appreciate just how important that feature is.
When I have to stop and think so much, knowing as much as I know about everything, I can't even imagine a newbie trying to grasp the game without that explanation of combat prediction coming up.

[Kerensky]

I immediately regret this decision. Being the double combination of so many unpredictable heroes everywhere combined with arrogance of no combat predictions has dramatically forced me to slow down the pace I usually play at. I have to think about combats instead of the game telling me the result, and I also have to consider all these heroes scattered everywhere.

The Oscarsborg Fortress has fricken Shock Tactics on it... it REALLY doesn't want Blucher to get away. (I should have put shock tactics on there originally, what a great idea for the AI to be able to pin a unit in combat without requiring encirclement to force immobility.

[Kerensky]

The vast majority of heroes have no effect on the game, but my ears perk up whenever I see something really crazy happen.

Units not being able to move because they got zapped by something with Shock Tactics. Or No Retaliation infantry almost destroying my Verjeda 2.

Fornebu wasn't too bad, did lose a paratrooper because of scattering my force between Fornebu and taking down that fort to get the Blucher bonuses.

[Stormchaser]

I've been thinking lately about playing a game with Heroic Showdown once my current games are caught up. It just seems so ripe for crazy shenanigans.

[Kerensky]

Preset Consolidator rolled into +Rate of Fire... and I'm 'arrogant' so I don't actually know how terrifying that damage prediction is. But 25 shots on 150% attack speed is probably instant death if this was a close terrain encounter.



More Shock Tactics artillery stalling my blitzkrieg.



This HEAVY fort rolled Double Attack. Thank goodness Eben Emael was totally disabled.... which is probably exactly how the Germans historically felt about the fortress.

[SineMora]

I had a quick look at Uphill Battle and concluded that the bonuses are only displayed in the combat log, so it's impossible to know how strong a unit is until after you've fought it. With predictions you can at least get an idea of what the bonuses are, but without them you're in the dark as to whether the unit is sitting on extra accuracy, HA, GD or all of them. I imagine it'd be pretty horrible in longer scenarios where those bonuses start to stack, as after 8 turns the Norwegian infantry already had +2 HA, GD, initiative and 10% extra accuracy... I wouldn't want to touch this until the GUI is updated.

A PzC-style Ultimate run (Rommel, Guderian and von Manstein in one) could be fun, but the DLC campaigns aren't really suitable for that given how Guderian affects them, so it'd probably need to be a Wehrmacht campaign (and involve heroes, with 5 fewer turns to work with and an extra 5 strength for all enemy units).

Oh, and that infantry unit would've easily oneshot the recon in close terrain; even w/o any bouses to HA from Uphill Battle it'd score an average of 17 kills or so, subject to initiative modificaions.

[Kerensky]

Maybe someday the DLC campaigns can properly interact with advanced modes that mess with the timers. But so far, the expanded library of mission types beyond 'capture all VH' over and over does not play nice with adjusting timers. To say nothing of what it does to training missions.

And I'm finally getting to use this KV-2 that caused so much drama... and then I put it right back up on the trophy wall instead of on the battlefield. It's just not designed for blitzkrieg. It's too slow, takes too many slots, and is quickly taking chip damage to the point of soon I can't even use it (this is arrogant's fault though to be fair)

But so often I find it is just a glorified 2 range artillery piece, because it's painful slow speed is always so far behind my panzer spearheads.

So if anything, I'm extra glad I kept it in. It's not really game breaking at all; it's just an amusing toy to play with, not a must have all powerful uber unit. That said, it's a good thing Oleh Dir is restricted to infantry... because his +move would turn the KV-2 into something absolutely insane.

[Stormchaser]

Maybe someday the DLC campaigns can properly interact with advanced modes that mess with the timers. But so far, the expanded library of mission types beyond 'capture all VH' over and over does not play nice with adjusting timers. To say nothing of what it does to training missions.

And I'm finally getting to use this KV-2 that caused so much drama... and then I put it right back up on the trophy wall instead of on the battlefield. It's just not designed for blitzkrieg. It's too slow, takes too many slots, and is quickly taking chip damage to the point of soon I can't even use it (this is arrogant's fault though to be fair)

But so often I find it is just a glorified 2 range artillery piece, because it's painful slow speed is always so far behind my panzer spearheads.

So if anything, I'm extra glad I kept it in. It's not really game breaking at all; it's just an amusing toy to play with, not a must have all powerful uber unit. That said, it's a good thing Oleh Dir is restricted to infantry... because his +move would turn the KV-2 into something absolutely insane.

Yeah, 3 Movements Tanks are hard to work with at the best of times. If there ever was a Tank +Move Hero (Pretty please? ), it would probably have to only be a +1 Movement, that way Tanks like these can now keep up better but not get too crazy. Another 3 Move Tank that I feel could be crazy with a Movement bonus is the Char 2C. Imagine that behemoth spearheading a charge.

[Kerensky]

Side note, my CORE has the most insane collection of heroes. After SCW and 1939 and now a few scenarios into 1940...

I have no combo Envelopment + Overwhelming attack.
I have no double move.
I have no double attack.
I have no 200% RoF.

However.

I have 2 150% RoF
I have 2 ignore entrenchment.
I have 4 Reduced Slot heroes.
I have 3 Zero Slot heroes.

So... my infantry are murderous and don't even need pioneer support. And my Army size is really swollen well beyond the scenario Slot limits. But otherwise, basically none of my units have much in the way of enhanced offensive power abilities. lol

[Rudankort]

I had a quick look at Uphill Battle and concluded that the bonuses are only displayed in the combat log, so it's impossible to know how strong a unit is until after you've fought it.

If you are playing with Arrogant then yes, you cannot get combat log for predictions either. Good point. I'll think where the modifiers for Uphill Battle could be displayed more prominently. Of course, they are calculated using a very simple algorithm, so if you play in this mode, you will remember very quickly what to expect each turn. It works like this:

Turn 1: no modifiers
Turn 2: +1 attack
Turn 3: +1 attack +1 defense
Turn 4: +1 attack +1 defense +5% accuracy
Turn 5: +1 attack +1 defense +5% accuracy +1 initiative
Turn 6: +2 attack +1 defense +5% accuracy +1 initiative
Turn 7: +2 attack +2 defense +5% accuracy +1 initiative
Turn 8: +2 attack +2 defense +10% accuracy +1 initiative
Turn 9: +2 attack +2 defense +10% accuracy +2 initiative
etc.

So basically, after turn 1, every turn one of these four stats of enemy units is slightly improved.

[SineMora]

Was Dir changed, because I don't recall his having a movement bonus (he did in PzC, though, and was hilariously OP)?

You could always mod the defensive scenarios to have an additional 5 turns and then use the console to bypass the soft lock, but that's a clunky solution. As far as the KV-2 is concerned, it's 4 slots with a movement of 5 with Panzer General and Master of Blitzkrieg, which isn't bad at all for what you get; just compare it with the Sturmpanzer I. Admittedly the Sturmpanzer is terrible, but it's not as if you have a lot of options for SP artillery, and unlike other artillery you can park if right next to entrenched infantry for close support. As a tank alone it's not good enough to be used (I can run a 15-strength Char for the cost of a 10-strength KV-2), but the option to switch to artillery mode makes it useful.

I'd have thought the complaints were more about the mere presence of the KV-2 and the IL-2, though; it's not so much the stats as the fact that neither of these units were in use by the Red Army at the time, much less in any other armed forces.

If you are playing with Arrogant then yes, you cannot get combat log for predictions either. Good point. I'll think where the modifiers for Uphill Battle could be displayed more prominently. Of course, they are calculated using a very simple algorithm, so if you play in this mode, you will remember very quickly what to expect each turn. It works like this:

Ah, so the bonuses all follow the same pattern? That simplifies it significantly. Out of curiosity, are the bonuses applied for individual units or just set as a blanket modifier for the scenario, i.e., will newly spawned units have their default stats or do they also receive bonuses based on how many turns you've played?

I have 2 150% RoF
I have 2 ignore entrenchment.
I have 4 Reduced Slot heroes.
I have 3 Zero Slot heroes.

...which is rather ridiculous Fortunately heroes can be turned off.

[Scrapulous]

Was Dir changed, because I don't recall his having a movement bonus (he did in PzC, though, and was hilariously OP)?

As far as I know, he has always had move 2. At least he did since I first got him; the first thing I did after getting Dir was to take the organic transport off my Azul Infanterie so they could be a five move unit.

As far as the KV-2 is concerned, it's 4 slots with a movement of 5 with Panzer General and Master of Blitzkrieg, which isn't bad at all for what you get; just compare it with the Sturmpanzer I. Admittedly the Sturmpanzer is terrible, but it's not as if you have a lot of options for SP artillery, and unlike other artillery you can park if right next to entrenched infantry for close support. As a tank alone it's not good enough to be used (I can run a 15-strength Char for the cost of a 10-strength KV-2), but the option to switch to artillery mode makes it useful.

My KV-2 is priceless; but I play with Panzer General and Master of Blitzkrieg, so it's a 4 slot, 5 move unit, like SineMora describes. Of course, I also have a Vigilant hero attached, which means the unit can't be attacked via its close defense stat. This makes the KV-2 a fantastic role player as armored city assault, with its soft attack of 20 and ground defense of 20. It plays well against other armor when it has to, and on the rare occasions when it can't quite keep up, the mode switch keeps it useful. It's very handy to have this fortress rolling around the battlefield. I also put a Field Repairs hero on it to keep the occasional dent from depleting my stockpile; this also takes some of the sting out of the slower movement, since sometimes it's more valuable not to attack and to repair instead of bombarding.

I haven't been able to bring myself to do this with the Char B2. 4 moves is too slow. 5 moves is a 1 move defecit compared to most of my armor, and careful play keeps a 5 move tank in the mix when blitzing. But 4 moves is 2 behind, and I find that's just too much. I have a Soviet AT-1 self propelled AT unit (move 4), and it's barely justifiable only because AT can provide supporting fire. If only SPAT benefited from Master of Blitzkrieg

I'm impressed by your combination of game settings, Kerensky. I don't think I'd have the patience to play that way. I think one of the strengths of the game is the way you can mix and match settings and general traits to create very different game. I look forward to reading more about how this goes.

Edit: out of curiosity, Kerensky, where are you allocating your three Zero Slot heroes? I would be tempted to bring three 15 strength 21cm Mrs 18s to every fight, but I'm a big fan of artillery.

[SineMora]

As far as I know, he has always had move 2. At least he did since I first got him; the first thing I did after getting Dir was to take the organic transport off my Azul Infanterie so they could be a five move unit.

Looking at the script it seems he's supposed to provide 2 extra move points, but my Dir clearly does not do so. I haven't actually played the '39 campaign since the beta, so perhaps this was changed for the release version.

[Scrapulous]

As far as I know, he has always had move 2. At least he did since I first got him; the first thing I did after getting Dir was to take the organic transport off my Azul Infanterie so they could be a five move unit.

Looking at the script it seems he's supposed to provide 2 extra move points, but my Dir clearly does not do so. I haven't actually played the '39 campaign since the beta, so perhaps this was changed for the release version.

That's odd. Mine definitely still gives +2 move. Although I should mention that the +2 move only applies to the infantry's native movement, not to any organic transport. So if you have a 3 foot move Wehr Infanterie with an 8 wheel move transport, then give that unit Oleh Dir, it will become a 5 foot/8 wheel unit, not 5 foot/10 wheel.

[Kerensky]

Oleh Dir's +move speed trait didn't exist until during DLC 1939's production. It was implemented specifically for that DLC, and of course for future use from then onward.

There are a lot of features constantly being added to the game, not every single one of them gets highlighted in a Dev Diary or product page, but so many new things are being made for the Axis Operations DLC. This is absolutely not a case of 'cut from base game to sell into later DLC'.

These are new systems and new features specifically being created in post launch.

[SineMora]

That's odd. Mine definitely still gives +2 move. Although I should mention that the +2 move only applies to the infantry's native movement, not to any organic transport. So if you have a 3 foot move Wehr Infanterie with an 8 wheel move transport, then give that unit Oleh Dir, it will become a 5 foot/8 wheel unit, not 5 foot/10 wheel.

Funny. Looking at the script he should improve initiative by 2 as well, and mine doesn't; he only has the Famous and Precision Weapon traits, no stat modifiers. His stats must've been updated during the beta then, after I got him. Good thing I'll be replaying the DLC campaigns

Edit: Ah yes, Dir got his portrait updated as well. No wonder my version is outdated.



Legacy Oleh Dir indeed

[Rudankort]

Ah, so the bonuses all follow the same pattern? That simplifies it significantly. Out of curiosity, are the bonuses applied for individual units or just set as a blanket modifier for the scenario, i.e., will newly spawned units have their default stats or do they also receive bonuses based on how many turns you've played?

Modifiers are applied as part of combat calculation, so they apply to all enemy units, including newly spawned ones.

[SineMora]

Modifiers are applied as part of combat calculation, so they apply to all enemy units, including newly spawned ones.

Oh, that is brutal. That means that a regular T-26 will have 18 SA, 19 HA, 13 initiative, 18 GD and a base accuracy of 100% on Generalissimus by turn 25 at the Battle of the Ebro (50% base + 20% difficulty modifier + (5% * 6) for Uphill Battle)

[adiekmann]

Side note, my CORE has the most insane collection of heroes. After SCW and 1939 and now a few scenarios into 1940...

I have no combo Envelopment + Overwhelming attack.
I have no double move.
I have no double attack.
I have no 200% RoF.

However.

I have 2 150% RoF
I have 2 ignore entrenchment.
I have 4 Reduced Slot heroes.
I have 3 Zero Slot heroes.

So... my infantry are murderous and don't even need pioneer support. And my Army size is really swollen well beyond the scenario Slot limits. But otherwise, basically none of my units have much in the way of enhanced offensive power abilities. lol

Yes, that's the interesting (and fun!) thing about the random heroes. You always feel like the ones you got are not good enough because you don't have this or that. But when you do have it it is at the cost of something else, that brings into focus how much you need heroes that support those other aspects of the game too. It's best I find to have a balance of them, and hopefully avoid getting some of the truly marginal at best heroes because some you would probably never choose if you were cheating and cherry picking your heroes after each scenario but serviceable and still helpful when you do receive it randomly (e.g. Aggressive Counterattack or Fearsome Reputation).

However, this is more in the first two DLCs. By the AO40 I can see where you have a lot of heroes and that becomes less and less. In fact, in AO40, good hero management from battle to battle is as important as which units to use appropriate to the map.

Lastly, I too found myself surprisingly using the big slow tanks far less than I expected in AO40. Of the three of them, the one I used the most by far was the multi-turreted German tank and I think now a lot of that had to do with its greater movement ability. The KV-2's other problem is the number of slots it takes up.

[Tassadar]

Modifiers are applied as part of combat calculation, so they apply to all enemy units, including newly spawned ones.

Oh, that is brutal. That means that a regular T-26 will have 18 SA, 19 HA, 13 initiative, 18 GD and a base accuracy of 100% on Generalissimus by turn 25 at the Battle of the Ebro (50% base + 20% difficulty modifier + (5% * 6) for Uphill Battle)

I'll stick to my more casual levels of self-imposed challenges then, that's some scary stuff. I don't think Panzer I's were designed to combat Tiger level tanks in Spain.