Axis Operations FAQ and Tips

[Kaa303]

Hello,

I have just started the AO1941, got to 2nd scenario - Yugoslavia and when I saw the starting "budget" of 7000+ prestige and an army of 80 slots... I have lost my momentum - it made me doubt if this is going to be any challenge. Is it normal / intended to have so much resources at your disposal? Or perhaps I am overestimating the value of the resources and they will be quickly expended?

Going through vanilla campaign at the start of Paris scenario I have 600+ prestige - which seems more reasonable but still much compared to Order of Battle where in the Morning Sun Japanese campaign I regularly need to make decisions which units I can afford to reinforce (which I find adds to the fun).

Cheers

[Bee1976]

Is it normal / intended to have so much resources at your disposal? Or perhaps I am overestimating the value of the resources and they will be quickly expended?

Well prestige can be an issue, but normally a good player will have enough prestige, but this is depending oun your playstyle, the traits you choose and the heros you get and how you combine those heros. But it is quite "easy" to burn 7k prestige in a single scenario during AO41 and AO42.
My suggestion is, play it. If you find it to easy, unfun or not challenging:
raise the difficulty and/or choose some neg traits/special challenges. There are many ways to increase the challenge.

I think the prestige system is fine in the AO series. I pick challenges/traits and weird combinations. In most of my playthroughs prestige is an issue, and to be honest i have to call a lot of them in SCW already because im running out of prestige.

[DefiantXYX]

Indeed, 7k prestige is nothing. When you have to start to repair your tiger/panther tanks in the field you will quickly run out of prestige.
In my opinion the AOs are designed, that you collect prestige from 39 to 41, so that you have a chance in the next years.
During the stalingrad scenarios I am always losing 10-20k prestige and its gettinger harder to earn some prestige by capturing enemy units.

[Mateusz300]

Is possible to make changes in database to play without heroes? I want to play AO more realistic, without heroes in my side, in opposite side also..

[Tassadar]

Is possible to make changes in database to play without heroes? I want to play AO more realistic, without heroes in my side, in opposite side also..

Yes, it's entirely possible. To disable them on your side you just need to set the hero chance in campaign options to 0 and the just reject any offers for hero based on Commendation Point awards, that's the easy part. To disable them for the enemy however, you will need to edit lua files for individual missions (best in Notepad++) - these scripts should be quite easy to identify. Enemy heroes are placed by a script once the map loads. Try deleting that script for Seville and once you're successful (just copy the campaign files somewhere just in case), you can just do the same for each next scenario - just remember edits need to be applied to the map before you start turn 0 of it, otherwise they will not load.

[Mateusz300]

Thank you for your answer Tassadar. Of course I know I can play without heroes on my side (advanced options).

I am not good in LUA script editing, but I have to try.

Heroes abilities in PC2 goes too far...

[dalfrede]

I am not good in LUA script editing, but I have to try.

Comment out 'CreateAndAssignEnemyHero1()'
ie
CreateAndAssignEnemyHero1(22)
to
-- CreateAndAssignEnemyHero1(22)

Also check for
CreateAndAssignNemesis()

Comment out the Function Call, not the function. The function will be one line the function several.
[less chance to screw things up.]

[Mateusz300]

Dalfrede Thanks for your advice, I tried,but it's too hard for me.

[Kaa303]

A general question: does it make any sense at all to play/continue the vanilla campaign when the AO dlcs are coming out? How do same battles/operations/map compare between vanilla and AO dlc?

[brumleek]

A general question: does it make any sense at all to play/continue the vanilla campaign when the AO dlcs are coming out? How do same battles/operations/map compare between vanilla and AO dlc?

Hey Kaa.

Actually vanilla PC2 campaign an AO DLCs are both unique experience and I do recommend to play each of them. There is not a single map or scenario shared between them. It would be... ... difficult to sell to the players.

AO DLC release frequency had stretched a lot during last year, so you may quickly find yourself out of content and vanilla campaign is always a good place to return to, if you want to play with endgame stuff a bit.

[Kaa303]

There is not a single map or scenario shared between them. It would be... ... difficult to sell to the players.

Obviously:) I rather meant same operations portrayed with different levels of detail - e.g. in PC1 you had Poland'39 both in vanilla and in grand campaign - while the formar had iirc 2 simple scenarios, the latter had several, on bigger maps amd with additional objectives like destroying supply convoys etc.

vanilla PC2 campaign an AO DLCs are both unique experience

Could you elaborate on this please?

[brumleek]

There is not a single map or scenario shared between them. It would be... ... difficult to sell to the players.

Obviously:) I rather meant same operations portrayed with different levels of detail - e.g. in PC1 you had Poland'39 both in vanilla and in grand campaign - while the formar had iirc 2 simple scenarios, the latter had several, on bigger maps amd with additional objectives like destroying supply convoys etc.

vanilla PC2 campaign an AO DLCs are both unique experience

Could you elaborate on this please?

I'll try to elaborate then.

Vanilla campaign main traits:
- Relatively fast ride (~20 - 25 scenarios) through WW2.
- Several war theatre forks / choices available (for example will you fight western allies in Africa or invade USSR? What path through USSR will you take etc.) - thus some (pretty good actually) campaign replay value.
- Campaign consists of notoriously known battles mainly.
- Due medium mission count nice heroes-to-units ratio when not modified by available settings. Keeps the game ballanced.
- Enough room to play with late war german tech (Tiger, König, Schwalbe...)
- Fast paced progression through available tech. You can play through the whole campaign without using several types of units (for example I tend to pass on ATs since it gain XP slowly and taks feels more versatile). Also captured enemy equipment may not be so important.
- Some kind of closure in knowing you reached the end of the campaign. Honestly don't keep your hopes up for epic ending(s) - it is the journey that counts.

AO campaign traits:
- Long run (~15 - 17 scenarios per DLC).
- Some player choices available (mostly about player participation in ahistorical operations) but it is hard to estimate the impact since we are in AO 1942 DLC now.
- Since developers did not want to remake original Panzer Corps DLCs to new graphics only, players encounter many lesser known battles but many of the most famous battlefields also.
- Due to high mission count (when saving and continuing army core throughout the DLCs) player will face the situation, when he has more heroes than can be accommodated by his fielded units. Plenty of heroes = a lot of insanely overpowered units. And I mean: "A LOT!". This may result in unballanced (but fun as hell) game. There are several ways to face it but I won't go through the details here.
- At this moment the latest AO DLC is 1942. We are just beginning to scratch the more interesting and famous WW2 tech.
- Really slow tech progression. Sounds like a bad thing but it made me think about all available units, their role and notice their stats and price more deeply, which is actually a great thing (oh I love my ATs in AO DLCs...) It also puts a great value on captured equipment since a lot of enemy units are far more advanced that german early war engineering.
- Throughout AO DLCs developers tried several gameplay concepts. Chances are you may not be comfortable with all of them. I did not come across any show stopper personally but there are a few mechanics I don't fancy very much.

To summarize:
- I really enjoy faster pace of the vanilla campaign. It is ballanced, fun, offer both (western and eastern) war theatres and it is a complete package.
- AO DLCs made me think about the game more deeply. Huge scale of this journey allows to try, fail and try again without the sour taste in the mouth that "I wasted 3 maps on some ill concept". AO is the ultimate journey, but it is not complete now. And I presume it will take a lot of time and development for it to come to an end.
- The main factors for the both campaings (vanilla and AO) are the campaign length (directly translates into unit XP), available hero count and tech progression speed. Those factors made my gameplay style for both campaigns quite different and unique. But PC2 has so much custom settings and general traits available, it is practically the ultimate sandbox no matter what campaign you play.

[terminator]

A general question: does it make any sense at all to play/continue the vanilla campaign when the AO dlcs are coming out? How do same battles/operations/map compare between vanilla and AO dlc?

I really like the vanilla campaign. The objectives are certainly not varied but simple. The branch lines are numerous ensuring replayability.

[Kaa303]

Thank you. Just conquered France in vanilla and arrived at first branching decision. Barbarossa or North Africa? Any recommendations?

It occurred to me how much quicker vanilla PC2 game is than Order of Battle - 15 turns, one evening. After a peek at the size of the Yugoslavia map I would assume than AO is more like OoB timewise - correct? The apperance of story-like objectives also reminds me of OoB.

[Magic1111]

@ Dev Team

When is it planned to release the other DLC's? One every year, so AO 1944 comes out around this time next year, and then the final AO 1945 in 2024?

Or what is the approximate schedule?

[asuser]

Will the achievements for the DLC 1943 be added for the Steam users?

[Bee1976]

Will the achievements for the DLC 1943 be added for the Steam users?

Well my guess is, that they will be added when the "translation" update is released. So i assume coming thursday (they said 2 weeks after release).

[ldrd007]

Added 1942 Campaign Tree link

viewtopic.php?f=464&t=106295

Dear Kerensky:

Is there a 1943 campaign tree like the previous ones?

Regards,

David

[adiekmann]

Added 1942 Campaign Tree link

viewtopic.php?f=464&t=106295

Dear Kerensky:

Is there a 1943 campaign tree like the previous ones?

Regards,

David

Yes, dalfrede made one for it. You can find it here: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=109305

[ldrd007]

Added 1942 Campaign Tree link

viewtopic.php?f=464&t=106295

Dear Kerensky:

Is there a 1943 campaign tree like the previous ones?

Regards,

David

Yes, dalfrede made one for it. You can find it here: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=109305

Thanks!!!