Post game analysis:
We have a tie for the leaders 5A and 5E. I'll figure out a tie breaker soon, standby on that.
My personal thoughts on the various listings:
1A. This was part of the plan because no games ever go and visit the Channel Islands. But not only are we going to the Channel Islands, it is a never before seen scenario type: a training mission. I think this is far more interesting, and useful in a Grand Campaign environment, than a fictional invasion. We already have that coming in...
2A. Sea Lion is part of the DLC, and attacking radar stations made it in as a bonus degree of victory objective. A full four scenarios are dedicated to Sea Lion, which is why the DLC scenario count inflated to almost 20. It's the biggest content DLC so far. Even without the tiny training scenarios, it's 17 full sized battles, and some of those battles are bigger than the biggest battles we've seen so far. Ebro sized affairs for sure.
3A. One of the defining moments of the invasion of the Low Countries. Even though original Grand Campaign had a dedicated Eben Emael scenario, new supply and encirclement mechanics of Panzer Corps 2 make revisiting this scenario a very different experience. So you can look forward to that for sure!
4A. Not being able to capture aircraft through the surrender system hasn't changed. But stocks of captured aircraft introduced in the hidden depot and Commendation Point system is a no brainer. Players ask for captured aircraft, and we can deliver them.
5A. The shocking surprise prediction, because I don't recall seeing the Battle of Hannut in any game. Even the original Grand Campaign missed this one, instead focusing on the Albert Canal. That's a shame, because apparently it was a huge tank battle. How could we miss a huge tank battle in a game with the word 'Panzer' in the title. It was a travesty that needed to be rectified, so Hannut was absolutely in the plan. By the way, internal testing shows this is a crazy hard battle, so good luck. Instead of the usual scenario full of fodder you roll over... this battle is basically a French CORE force vs your CORE force. A large collection of elite, OS, hero units acting in unison and not spread out piecemeal all over the map. Have fun!
1B. This, plus Hannut, was inspiration to start the game. No one has seen Hannut in a game, and Rommel everyone knows from Afrika Korps, not so much from France. For both of these to be predictions that were part of the plan long before the prediction game started... Really felt like the content was moving in a good direction and in sync with the players. More details on Rommel coming in next announcement.
2B. No more puzzles where you have to tip toe around enemies. But the idea train hasnt stopped, the new idea is (optional) Training Scenarios!
3B. Our first prediction that didnt make it. A shame, because we have the aircraft model that was involved in this incident in game. It's a BF 108 Taifun, the transport aircraft you used back in the Spanish Civil War. Just couldnt fit an interesting scenario involving a single aircraft and nothing else into the game. It woulda been a very bizarre puzzle scenario if anything.
4B. Calais was in the original Grand Campaign, and that was a huge negative against it returning to the new Axis Operations.
5B. Just too early for Eastern Front, too much needed to cover in 1940, and East Front is going to dominate the future content, if the original Grand Campaign is any indicator.
1C. This is sort of in game, but not implicitly so, so I marked it as a red prediction. This battle was running at the same time as Hannut, and the Sedan scenario actually contains French counterattacks in it. Maybe I should mark it black? Not sure thats fair so I left it red.
2C This was on the table, and seriously investigated. It almost became a Forbach style 'aux only' bonus mission where you control Italians and scramble to grab French equipment depots for your main force to use captured equipment with. But alas, it wasnt looking very interesting, and being Forbach style means its something we'd already done before.
3C This is a panzer light battle, which is interesting. Definitely dont see a lot of that content, but its a sideshow compared to the Valkenburg Raid mission, thats a real 'no panzers' battle there.
4C How can you have 1940 without Sedan? This was a given, but we've mixed it up somewhat. This is the largest map so far in the entire Axis Operations...
5C I guess I hate Finland, because they didnt get their own Winter War content in 1939, and continue to not get it in 1940. Well there's still the Lapland War coming up in 1944, maybe I'll catch them there!
1D Going to Sea Lion means plundering British airfields means acquiring Spitfires.
2D Just too far removed from all other content, going to Asia is a bit too far. It doesnt fit in with anything before or after.
3D Another staple of the original Grand Campaign, but the new Arras is hugely different from the old Arras. Old Arras is slightly embarrassing in its lack of historical accuracy, now that I look back at it. Old Arras was a West East battle, historical Arras was a North South battle... whoops? Perfect opportunity for a much more historically accurate Arras though. And there's that little extra point about Rommel showing up too now, certainly didn't have that last time around.
4D Had this one in the original GC as the final battle of 1939.
5D A huge surprise that this was a prediction people had, and the amount of votes it got. Guys, the game has 'Panzer' in the title. Not 'Luftwaffe'.
Even more surprising is that this battle actually made it into the content. Mechanically it works, so it made it into the content. Turns out if you set no deploy hexes and have no supply hexes, you can still operate aircraft from airfields.
Thank rudankort for this scenario though. Before the forum game started, there were discussions about the 1940 content plan. He was opposed to
4 scenarios worth of Italy in the Balkans, and part of the negotiation on the content was to put a historical air only battle into the game instead. Then later when the forum game started and someone predicted 'aircraft only battle'... well that was just swell.
1E Wasnt on our radar for Dutch content, too busy looking at a revamped airborne operation and the Grebbeburg. Missed this one.
2E and 3E these two, plus Channel islands, could have all been part of the Sea Lion scenarios, but they're just a bit too far flung, too obsure and fictional to had made it into the drafts
4E I'll let a store page quote answer this one:
WESTERN EUROPE AFLAME
From Norway, to the Low Countries, to France, Britain, and the Balkans, players can again expect to encounter a huge variety of adversaries in this campaign. Plenty of different battlescapes await, as does the ongoing opportunities to capture and field enemy equipment as your own.
And watch out for the return of the Nemesis system, as a certain French tank commander named Charles de Gaulle may prove to be quite the thorn in your side!
5E After the feedback from Finland, and because basically no WW2 games visit Albania/Greece in 1940 this had to make it into the content. It was originally going to be 4 scenarios, which is huge, but that was trimmed down. I assure everyone there are Italian units on these maps, not just your Germans alone as they were in the fictional 1939 Finnish scenarios.
It was 4 scenarios not just because these battles are so rarely covered, because they explain so much about what happens next year in 1941 with Marita. Everyone blames the failure of Barbarossa on its late start because of the Balkan sideshow... but no one really talks about why the Balkan sideshow was even a thing. This is a great opportunity to explain and set up for the future instead of just being dumped directly into Marita with no context or explanation.
