Slitherine

They look good

Modders need a break from time to time . I downloaded v0.4, unpacked the present, decide to use the custom strengthplates but i also moved the GUID into the modfolder. If it makes any difference, don't know.
I fire up the game and i am pleasantly surprised by the custom pics to chose the year when to begin the campaign. I start from the beginning, and so let's move into Slovakia. When i want to move my units north, they are hampered by obstacles - perhaps those tiles could renamed a different string instead of clear - . The core appears to be interesting and a very welcome change to the German units. A few tanks, infantry, artillery and even a AT and AA unit. Different means of transport, and their movement sounds are solid. The planes look neat but i need some time to adjust that they are not so powerful as their German counterparts. There is no mistake possible to keep the player units apart from the enemie's, they all have their camo. Up to Nizna Rybnica all goes well and the town is easily taken. Surprised to find Jasenov void of units, so i took that one in the following turn. I took Zavadka, although not necessary to take, but every prestige point counts. I vacated that place afterwards. The Slovak counterattack is announced but i held the line until the end, i almost lost my AT unit though. The mountain pass to Stakcin is defended twice and needs some tactical planning to break through. It was a relief to find Stakcin unoccupied. Overall a very nice opener and not difficult and overwhelming. It is a nice scenario to get accustomed to the Hungarian units, with their strenghts and weaknesses. There was another pleasant surprise: custom medals. One of my tanks was awarded the Fire Cross. Endprestige 602, losses none, DV 14/14. I play (as usual) on Colonel difficulty. Thumbs up!

Tested the first scenario now as well and really enjoyed it

Keep up the good work! It's much appreciated.

Northern Yugoslavia. This is a very nasty scripted piece of art! That costed me two core units lol. At first, core units were upgraded to newer models. First couple of rounds it is difficult to reach the frontline due to mud, luckily afterwards much better. Breaching the frontline reminds me of World War 1, not easy but doable when patient and the optimal use of artillery and planes. To move through the center (Szettamas) is a waste of time and resources, so on both flanks it is better to use a bridge engineer and cross. Except for Ujvidek, all objectives so far south are easy to take. I use the paratrooper to take Titel. The partisans pop up from time to time, but i can keep them at bay by guarding the primary objectives with two units. Once i take the other villages, i don't bother defending them. One counterattack east of Feketehegy was fatal for a motorised inf and the newly gifted bridge engineer (both core). DV: 17/28, 1039PP, 2 core units lost. I also liked the auxiliary reinforcements released under the player's command in steps. Another thumbs up!

Thanks to all.

decide to use the custom strengthplates

It is entirely up to the player to use it or not. Personally, when I played the vanilla campaign, I often forgot to move my bonus SE infantry in France as it has a similar colour tone as the Allied infantry, and both has the golden frame on their strenght plates. In the confusion of the battlefield I simply thought that these units belong to the enemy so I did not even touch them.
Also, sometimes I gave elite replacements to my aux units as I thought they were part of my core, as their strenght plates have the same base colour. This time I forgot to check the frame of the strenght plate...

Therefore I came up with the idea to make a mini-mod, with simpler strenght plates more similar to Panzer General, to hopefully help quick identification. Sometimes, the less is more.

For new players, who do not know the legendary original, or for those who got used to the one in PzC, THIS might be strange, so it remains optional.

i also moved the GUID into the modfolder. If it makes any difference, don't know.

It does not make any difference if you install it or not. GUID is used to identify computer software. It is like a unique signiture. Some mod makers add it, others do not. I think it does not hurt to add it, so I did. Normally, it should be a 32 hexadecimal digit code, but the name of the mod is also good, as long as there is no other mod released with the same GUID.


Slovakia

The core appears to be interesting

I like to play with a historical core and it also provides maximum versatility. The other aux forces, which will appear later, have a similar balanced unit composition based on historical OOBs. Obviously, the player can change core composition if he thinks it does not suit his playing style. Some scenarios might be difficult to win, though, without having enough mobile infantry, tanks and artillery. A towed AT can also be useful as without having effective medium tanks or Stukas, early on it is the only way of destroying enemy armour on clear terrain. A towed AA can help to deter the ever-present Soviet air-raids. Also later two multirole AA/AT units will be available which can be useful in both ways.


Yugoslavia

To move through the center (Szettamas) is a waste of time and resources, so on both flanks it is better to use a bridge engineer and cross.

I did not think about this obvious possibility, but it might be risky as well, as any river crossing.

2 core units lost

Sorry about that. Hungarian units are usually more vulnerable than their German counterparts, so they should advance with more caution. DV in turn 17 is very good, maybe even a bit too early (I finished at 22-24 in my test plays), and it might had had contributed to their loss. The WM-21 recon plane and the Csaba scout car are two good assets to clean the fog of war and to reduce the chance of unexpected enemy counter-attacks against the advancing weaker units. In the next scenarios there will always be several aux infantry units, so your loss is not fatal at all, even if you do not replace them.

Luckily, this is the only scenario with partisans attacking in the back, the rest of the campaign is more "conventional". Most testers have protested a bit against the partisans, which is absolutely understandable, but historically, in this particular offensive they made most opposition and not the retreating regular Yugoslav Army. Even though, over time, I reduced their stats and now they should not pose a real threat.

Many thanks for your feedback, much appreciated from you!

I don't mind about losing core units, i'm used to a lot worse . Last night i began with Barbarossa, so i hope to finish and post feedback this evening. I can already tell that i replaced my losses and bought 2 level bombers. They gain experience quickly and are effective in draining ammo from those nasty russian tanks. Another quick note , i must have been lucky to kill the 2 str KV-2 with the tactical bomber (11 str) in one single attack. And a gift T-26 is always nice too, despite the fact it was destroyed on the following turn.
Another note on the Yugoslavia mission. The core units i lost were actually attacked slightly from the rear while they were in their transport...but i blame it on the partisans and i did read the warning. I could have been a bit more cautious, but i could only shield the weak transports from the front, not along the sides due to lack of armored units. But no big deal really. I'm having fun and losses are part of the game. I wonder if you tested your scenarios with reform units on or off?

Hmm, they are looking very good! Thx for you both!
Has to G-14 variant purposely no Hungarian flag on it's tail to make more different form the G-6 version?
As Bebro made a very nice looking Fw189A too the Hungarian air fleet will be even bigger.

[quote="McGuba"]While there were no new units in the last release, I continue to work on the next, hopefully final version, which will conclude the campaign in March 1945, with the last major Axis offensive of the war, to retake Budapest.


1944-45
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-14
Focke-Wulf FW 190 F
Messerschmitt Me 210 Ca-1
Junkers Ju 87 D
Junkers Ju 88 A
~all these by bebro (converted by me)

Finished Barbarossa. I noticed that in all the scenarios sofar there are a rather generous amount of auxiliary units. Personally, i would like a few more core slots and less auxiliaries.
Well, this mission is pretty straightforward and needs little planning. As i wrote i bought some new units and the level bombers were indispensable in giving the russian tanks a good knock. Without that, the Toldi's would be hardly a match. The infantry are performing excellent. After leaving and clearing the road in the mountain passes Kolomea is easily taken, but the scenario gets slightly harder, the further east i move. I decided to cross the Kalush river with a bridge engineer and attack Bar from the rear. Then i hesitated a bit in advancing further because russian units were moving to the south and i didn't want to give them the opportunity to attack my soft units in their transports. I first got rid of those russian tanks, and then i took Jampil. Tulchyn was taken last without any problems. The Slovak fighter was an interesting choice but no match against the russian fighter, which i was unable to kill. I'm still getting used to Massi's tiles, because i am mixing the airfields with villages all the time. I took all flags except for Vinnita, didn't want to risk losing core units. DV 31/34, 1148PP, no core units lost (although i almost lost a Toldi).

The idea is that the player commands a motorized brigade (1939-41) or armoured division (1942-45) with the supporting air units. The core represents the Hungarian Army's creme, the best units used in the hottest spots.

Now, you might probably wonder if this was the best, then what about the worst? Well, probably they were those unlucky security units assigned for policing the occupied parts of the USSR. These were poorly equipped brigade strenght infantry formations which originally did not even have organic artillery. (High command thought that they would not need heavy weapons as they would "only" deal with the partisans. Apparently, to their surprise, sometimes the partisans had superior equipment including artillery and tanks, so these had to be reinforced in the end.)

Naturally, I could make the core bigger and add more prestige, but then the player would start to purchase tanks, artillery, and aircraft, creating a Wehrmacht-style army which would be quite unhistorical. By 1944 Hungary had managed to form two armoured and one cavalry division (also equipped with tanks), but these were never used together, only one at a time at a different theatre. But, the bulk of the army remained the 20 or so infantry divisions. The comparable Romanian, Bulgarian, and Finnish armies had the same or even worse infantry to armoured division ratio.

Therefore, there is a somewhat small (but slowly increasing) core accompanied by the aux infantry and / or German armoured divisions active in the area. The whole concept is a bit similar to Gerold Treitler's Elite Core campaign for PG, made some time ago...

As i wrote i bought some new units and the level bombers were indispensable in giving the russian tanks a good knock. Without that, the Toldi's would be hardly a match.

Indeed, the Toldis and Ansaldos of the Hungarian Mobile Coprs suffered 80-100% losses by the end of 1941, the surviving models had to be sent back to the factory for a major overhaul, which further postponed the production of the more potent Turan tanks.

Has to G-14 variant purposely no Hungarian flag on it's tail to make more different form the G-6 version?

Partly, yes. And also partly due to the fact that it was like this historically. The white cross was also abandoned from the insigna. Although I have found no evidence, but I think these changes were made on purpose, to reduce visibility, jut like in today's fighter jets.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/inde ... =307310.15

I wonder if you tested your scenarios with reform units on or off

I have never used this cheat, but I do not oppose using it. I might try it in the future, though.

@McGuba
Thank you for your extensive elaboration and motivation behind the whole campaign and the number of core units. What i also noticed is that you added a whole arsenal of medals, and the awards keep popping up regulary. It does give
the mod an extra flair. The ingame messages provide interesting intelligence of what the enemy is up to. Are there any capturable units that stay in the player's core? Unfortunately the T26 didn't.

For more information on the scale of units, and of the campaign in general, you can check the in-game Library.

As of the current version there are no core captured units, I am afraid. I know that it is an otherwise popular addition and I will think about changing it in the final version. I could only do it at the cost of historical accuracy, though: historically, RHA units did capture a few Russian tanks, but it seems that their number did not exceed 5-6 of the same type. In most cases they captured only 1, 2 or 3 examples of the same type. Some of these were used in battle, but only until they ran out of ammunition. After that they were used as artillery tractors or for liason duty, until they broke down due to the lack of spare parts and proper maintenance. Some were used for training or for evaluating its weak spots. Overally, it seems that they were used temporarily only, thus I made it aux. I do not know about the existence of an armoured company equipped with Russian captured tanks. (As opposed to the Finns, for example, who equipped their armoured division almost exclusively with captured Russian tanks.)

McGuba wrote:For more information on the scale of units, and of the campaign in general, you can check the in-game Library.

As of the current version there are no core captured units, I am afraid. I know that it is an otherwise popular addition and I will think about changing it in the final version. I could only do it at the cost of historical accuracy, though: historically, RHA units did capture a few Russian tanks, but it seems that their number did not exceed 5-6 of the same type. In most cases they captured only 1, 2 or 3 examples of the same type. Some of these were used in battle, but only until they ran out of ammunition. After that they were used as artillery tractors or for liason duty, until they broke down due to the lack of spare parts and proper maintenance. Some were used for training or for evaluating its weak spots. Overally, it seems that they were used temporarily only, thus I made it aux. I do not know about the existence of an armoured company equipped with Russian captured tanks. (As opposed to the Finns, for example, who equipped their armoured division almost exclusively with captured Russian tanks.)

Thanks for the info. I respect the historical approach and the research that went into the creation of the scenarios!

First of all, i got a MV in Barbarossa. I thought it was a DV, but didn't press end turn until this evening
I played Uman to my heart's content. Very interesting scenario, superb scripting of the AI. I bought two auxiliary german units (a StuGIII and a PzIVF) and they were their weight worth in gold. I definitely made the right choice.
The whole mission went very smooth, despite the few russian planes. I did lose one core unit but that is of no importance. I had no use for the LSSAH division when it appeared, i got Nikolayev nearly surrounded by then. The destroyer at the southern edge of the map didn't (dare to) move. DV: 24/32, 1002 PP, 1 core unit lost. Thumbs up for another great mission.

I bought two auxiliary german units (a StuGIII and a PzIVF) and they were their weight worth in gold. I definitely made the right choice.

Originally, I did not want to make German units purchasable, but finally Razz convinced me to do so, and now I see he was right. Historically there were no German tanks in the area initially, they only arrived later when they encircled Uman. But, if the player has the prestige, and if he feels he needs some more support, why not? He can spend some of his accumulated prestige to ask some help from the nearby Germans on the cost that he can spend less on the core army. This option will not be available all the time, though, after all it is a Hunganrian campaign, and not a German one.

McGuba wrote:

I bought two auxiliary german units (a StuGIII and a PzIVF) and they were their weight worth in gold. I definitely made the right choice.

Originally, I did not want to make German units purchasable, but finally Razz convinced me to do so, and now I see he was right. Historically there were no German tanks in the area initially, they only arrived later when they encircled Uman. But, if the player has the prestige, and if he feels he needs some more support, why not? He can spend some of his accumulated prestige to ask some help from the nearby Germans on the cost that he can spend less on the core army. This option will not be available all the time, though, after all it is a Hunganrian campaign, and not a German one.

I see. Then i would have welcomed the LSSAH reinforcements with open arms. Or perhaps a "solution" in between, to allow two auxiliary slots for additional Hungarian units. But you should do what feels right, you are the author afterall.

Romanian Army units

With popular support for Romania's participation in the war faltering and German-Romanian fronts collapsing under Soviet onslaught, on 23rd August, 1944 King Michael of Romania deposed the pro-Axis Antonescu regime and put Romania on the side of the Allies for the remainder of the war. Thus Hungary and Romania became enemies formally and started a bitter fight for Transylvania. While the Romanians were backed by the mighty Soviet Red Army, Germany could only provide a limited support to the Hungarians.

Earlier, dragos has made several Romanian units for PzC, mainly the AFVs and the aircraft: viewtopic.php?p=289925
but, many units were still missing from the Romanian inventory, so I decided to make these. Although, it seems that the Romanians used several different painting schemes during the war, to preserve consistency with his units, I have decided to use the same brownish khaki colour tone, for him (dragos) being a Romanian, I guess he knew what he was doing. I also used the units stats from the table he made available.

I made a new basic infantry icon with the Dutch helmet and the Orita submachine gun and modified it for the sub-classes. I also modified the necessary land transports:





The Romanians used a surprisingly large variety of guns, thanks to the fact that before the war many Eurpean countries including France, Germany, Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Italy sold them weapons for their precious oil. Luckily, most of these can be found in the vanilla game, so I only had to re-colour them. However, I had to create some new ones, such as the Skoda 100mm M1934M howitzer, the most numerous light field gun, or the 150mm M1934. I also "recycled" bebro's Japanese 75mm light field gun from his IJA campaign, as it was based on the Krupp M1902 77mm, a design which was used by the Romanian Army as well. Additionally, just like the contemporary Romanian weapon designers, I mixed the Soviet 76mm AT gun with the German PaK 40 to get the "Resita" 75mm AT gun:





I have added the missing late war AFVs, the TAs (StuG IIIG) assault gun and the AB (sdKfz 222) recon. I also added the late war Romanian roundel insigna to some of bebro's excellent aircraft replacements:

I like very much the variety of units available (specially artillery and AT guns) and the uniform look you could give to units. Very well made!

Very impressive McGuba!