Battlefield: Europe MOD v2.4

[Ceek]

Uhu, do you still play w/ the dice chess setting in achieving these aims? It's a bit of an advantage for the player and people following your strategies should know that going in.

[Uhu]

Uhu, do you still play w/ the dice chess setting in achieving these aims? It's a bit of an advantage for the player and people following your strategies should know that going in.

Thanks for the good question!

Yes, I always play it with dice chess. Even the pre-saves ones - you just need to type the "dice chess" cheat and it will work until the end of the game. Yes, I think, it is an advantage to the player, because if a given unit is destroyed by (several) engagement of extreme results, than it is a bigger loss for the player as for the AI. Because the AI has almost always unlimited resources. That effect is even stronger at late war pre-save games.
For me it is also about less frustration. Playing on Rommel and aiming extreme goals (turn 50 win, DV with Kursk, taking Moscow from Normandy save, etc.) give enough stressful moments - I do not need even more.

On the other hand I use the alternative Realistic Parachute Rules and also the Realistic Supply Rules (at taking towns behind frontline) which makes the game quite harder.

[Cataphract88]

Changes in v1.8

Thank you so much ! Glad you're back in business )

+1

[glaude1955]

Thanks for the upgrade.
It seems to me that the play of AI is more aggressive.
Very very good!

Regards
Yves

[BiteNibbleChomp]

By the way, is there any limitation on the max map size in the Panzer Corps engine itself? How big a map can be?

The game can open a 600 x 300 map - I tried that once for no particular reason.

Doesn't mean it will work well though. Honestly about what this and War of the World II (200x72) have is the effective limit.

- BNC

[GeneralWerner]

Now playing in round 17 with V1.8 it will soon be time to write the first chapter for my current AAR.

I felt the pressure from the increased number of Russian planes early. I decided to use a lot of my prestige to upgrade my fighters to the newest -A2 model. This will also make is more easy in the Mediterranean theater where I also had the feeling the enemy air force is more agressive.

Biggest surprise: The Russian winter offensive did not start as usual with the first frozen rivers. It came very late in February 42 with some Siberian troops and T34 tanks.

I still think about how best to use the new Brandenburger unit.

But again it is fun to play the mod after a longer pause.

Greetings
General Werner

[Hassanka]

In last 1,8 version, some german planes has 0/0 attack... its that intentional, or bug?
iam using them like scouts only, expendable units...

[McGuba]

I felt the pressure from the increased number of Russian planes early. I decided to use a lot of my prestige to upgrade my fighters to the newest -A2 model. This will also make is more easy in the Mediterranean theater where I also had the feeling the enemy air force is more agressive.

Hm... I do not actually think that it is a good idea to upgrade too many fighters to Fw-190. In the east the Messer is also good enough for most of the war, if it is always upgraded to the latest variant. If you spend too much prestige on this you might end up having a difficulty to upgrade the tanks to better ones during 1942. And I think the tank upgrades are more important in the east. However, in the west the Fw is a must from as early as late 1941.

Biggest surprise: The Russian winter offensive did not start as usual with the first frozen rivers. It came very late in February 42 with some Siberian troops and T34 tanks.

That's a bit strange, in my test play it also came a bit later, but mainly during Dec and Jan. Maybe some of the slower moving tanks got stuck behind terrain or other AI units for a while. But the number of Soviet tanks was reduced deliberately as historically there were not so that many:

When the Red Army counter-attacked at Moscow in December 1941, the Soviet numerical inferiority was even larger. Soviet strength returns in archives show that on 1 December 1941, the Soviets were able to muster 576,500 soldiers and 574 tanks against German Army Group Centre – which at the time had between 1.9 and 1.2 million troops with 1,800 tanks and assault guns. The Germans not only enjoyed a three-fold numerical superiority in tanks, but of the Soviet tanks employed against them at Moscow, only around 30 per cent were T-34s or KVs, with the remainder being completely obsolete tankettes.

http://www.historyextra.com/article/fea ... ths-busted

Now I think that in reality the main factors for the German retreat were the harsh weather, for which they were not prepared for, and the over extended supply lines, which just could not deliver enough stuff. Also while the average German soldier had become exhaused from the continuous marching since June, the Soviets were able to send in fresh troops all the time. Unfortunately, these factors are not simulated in the game and that's why I added the 1 point strength loss in v1.7. I was considering to add another stength point loss in v1.8, but in the end I decided that it is already harder than the previous versions so I did not.

I still think about how best to use the new Brandenburger unit.

There can be several possible uses, obviously they can help in any landing operation or they might be useful as scouts hidden behind enemy lines - e.g. can be deployed in the vicinity of a main road through which the AI sends reinforcements to the front and report troop movements. As long as another AI ground unit does not bump into them they remain hidden for the AI. Even if found by the AI, then they can retreat and disappear again if they survive the first turn. In my historical test play I just used them historically for most of the war - in anti partisan duty in the Balkans, which might be a waste of their talents, but it worked. But it shows that German High Command was also unsure how to best use this elite unit and only sent them to the Balkans as they had no better idea.

In last 1,8 version, some german planes has 0/0 attack... its that intentional, or bug?
iam using them like scouts only, expendable units...

It is very intentional, those are reconnaissance planes. They can provide invaluable recon data, thanks to their high spotting, so wasting them senselessly might be a big mistake.

[Uhu]

I'm playing the Normandy-save. I get (after the 3rd Speer-boost) 800 prestige/turn. I don't get it, how. Budapest, Bucharest, Paris, Trondheim = 200. Romanian oil = 100. 3x Speer = 300. That is 600, so where comes the rest 200 prestige?

UPDATE: ...from the naval vessels, parked on the convoy route, I just forgot it!

[Uhu]

I found three issues:
- It was already in 1.7: I got several Soviet cities occupied in the Ukraine: the major ones are Lutsk, Brest, Odessa and Minsk. I do not have Kiev or any other further east. However I get partisan interruption messages, which is not fair, because they do not threatens any of my supply lines. I looked at with fog of war, there was some at Konotop (railway) and another two south of the Pripjaty marshes. I don't know, if this can be somehow fixed. I will use the prestige cheat to counter it, as with the rainy bombings penalties.
- The Soviets tend to occupy Helsinki even, after the armistices was signed. This was earlier not the cause.
- At turn 80, a Finnish replacement unit appeared, after the armistice.
- Also Finnish units are still available to be purchased in the Finnish cities

[Ag0range]

Hi! It is sad to mention that the intro video has changed to the vanilla one. I mean, yet in the 1.6 version there was that beautiful quite atmospferical new video, but now, since 1.7, instead of that new one, the standard one is played upon the launch.

Am I missing something? Was the video supposed to be the part of the download or it used to be a standalone download?

[McGuba]

I got several Soviet cities occupied in the Ukraine: the major ones are Lutsk, Brest, Odessa and Minsk. I do not have Kiev or any other further east. However I get partisan interruption messages, which is not fair, because they do not threatens any of my supply lines. I looked at with fog of war, there was some at Konotop (railway) and another two south of the Pripjaty marshes. I don't know, if this can be somehow fixed. I will use the prestige cheat to counter it, as with the rainy bombings penalties.

That's a bit weird. The Axis should only get the penalty for the partisans if there are five or more Soviet victory objectives in Axis hands. And currently this five does not even include Brest.

- The Soviets tend to occupy Helsinki even, after the armistices was signed. This was earlier not the cause.

Yes, I guess it is because they try to reach Trondheim... But I do not think it is a major issue. And in my test play it did not happen. (And if happens, one can say the Soviets do not care about the armistice...) The large majority of the Soviet troops should still move towards Berlin and Budapest/Bucharest/Wien.

- At turn 80, a Finnish replacement unit appeared, after the armistice.

I am aware of this problem and I already fixed it in the currently released v1.8. However, I made this change AFTER my historical test play, and thus in the saves it still exists. But players who start a new scenario should not experience it. I did not really want to make a new test play only to eliminate it in the historical saves.

- Also Finnish units are still available to be purchased in the Finnish cities

The only thing I could do about it is to change all Finnish cities to Soviet at the time of the Finnish armistice. I am not sure if it would be better.

Hi! It is sad to mention that the intro video has changed to the vanilla one. I mean, yet in the 1.6 version there was that beautiful quite atmospferical new video, but now, since 1.7, instead of that new one, the standard one is played upon the launch.

Am I missing something? Was the video supposed to be the part of the download or it used to be a standalone download?

The video is still there, but was moved to another folder. It occured to me that in Panzer Corps v1.25 they moved the intro video to a new folder
(...\Panzer Corps\Expansion\pc\Video\) and I moved the intro of the mod accordingly in BE v1.7. In my version it still works fine from that folder when I install the mod. However, confusingly, in PzC v1.30 now it looks like the same intro video is still there again in the "old" place (...\Panzer Corps\Video\). So in effect Panzer Corps v1.30 has the same intro video in two places for whatever reason. And then your mod install uses the "old" vanilla intro for whatever reason.

So all I can recommend is to create a folder named "Video" in your "\Panzer Corps\MODS\Battlefield Europe v1.8" folder and then copy the "intro.wmv" there from the "Battlefield Europe v1.8\Expansion\pc\Video\" folder and then remove and reinstall the mod with GME. In this case both intro.wmv files will be replaced with the one from the mod and you should see it again.

I do not know why the game uses one intro video or the other. Has anyone else experienced the same issue?

[Ag0range]

Thank you so much for the tip. Actually I have just moved the whole mentioned Video folder to the mod's root,

(obviously, from \MODS\Battlefield Europe v1.8\Expansion\pc\ precisely into \MODS\Battlefield Europe v1.

then disabled and reenabled the mod in the JSGME and bum - done!

Probably my whole product installation is just ancient - it never got updated and its main exe is still ver. 1.22. of 18-Dic-2013. Should I expect any weird issues, is the update a must??

[P210]

The greatest interactive war movie ever!

V1.8 campaign on Field Marshal level.

I'm now just few turns away from Normandy landings. The sickening, hollow feeling in the stomach persists.

And I'm loving it

East. It all started with all out drive to Moscow. Comrades did put up more aggressive fight on the way. Eventually managed to capture the Capital. Not within '41 but in January/February '42. It was a close call that I managed to keep it. Leningrad also fell in '42. Otherwise the winter '41/'42 was manageable though did lose tank, recon and 4-5 Inf.

Then started advancing towards Rostov on Don. Despite all the effort could not capture it before winter '42/43'. During '42 the enemy was very aggressive in the land and air. This was the point when the anxiety about over extending available forces started.

North Africa. Captured Tobruk and grinded down the British counter offence without losses. Reinforced AK with DO217, AT and Inf. which I motorized. Then advanced to El Alamein line, but just could not breach it. Again the feeling emerged of being over extended against superior enemy. Then came THE onslaught. Allied armor kicked my aSS back to Tobruk in a fighting retreat. This took all my skill to survive. Positive point was the capture of Malta.

Torch landings. Managed to eliminate Allied land forces at a cost of losing couple of valuable units. Enemy air was very strong and I could not spare Luftwaffe help to Regia Marina. Thus RM did not have much of a change against superior numbers and experience of Royal Navy. RM kaputt.

East. Summer '43 and winter '43/'44. Heavy fighting. More losses. Which the Axis war machine could ill afford. Kampfgruppe North still in around Moscow. Middle in Kursk area. South not able to reach Stalingrad. Wehrmacht has to have constant Flak coverage on all high value targets. This slows all movement. Outcome of the Soviet Air Force vs. LW struggle continues to be undecided.

May '44. Cairo has been captured. Stalingrad just fell. SU will not fall anytime soon. Therefore I now have to fight on two fronts. And I really struggle to build up the defenses in France. Also the oil fields are still beyond the reach.

This might not end well...

[P210]

Hello McGuba,

Thank you for the latest refinement of the already fantastic mod.

Some comments about v1.8,

In game messages, events and added minor countries forces build up immersion to the time period really well. Highly appreciate historical accuracy and associated learning.

Prestige level seems quite good. One always needs to be careful with the prestige but personally do not feel like I'm fighting against game script but managing wartime economy and making priority decisions.

Unit movement changes feel natural. Only gripe is that Italian artillery tractor Pavesi cannot enter wood hexes and while it can enter mountains it cannot get out if surrounded by hills or woods (in good weather).

Air war in the east is much tougher now. You cannot just wipe the skies clean of enemy and then freely bomb everything that moves or don't move. And that is a historical fact.

Adjusted level bomber attack values against ships work fine. No longer you have unrealistic god like force in high numbers which can single handedly obliterate opposing navies.

Down side for me in the first game was that while naval war in Mediterranean was going reasonably well up to '42 I basically lost everything in '43. Have to try different strategy next time.

AT upgrade change also guided me to have more historically accurate force composition. More StuG's. Which is good.

More comments after the first campaign is fought to the bitter end.

[McGuba]

Probably my whole product installation is just ancient - it never got updated and its main exe is still ver. 1.22. of 18-Dic-2013. Should I expect any weird issues, is the update a must??

This mod requires Panzer Corps v1.30. Several units, which were added later to the base game like the ZiS-30, are missing from the previous versions. Missing unit icons will "appear" as ghost units with no unit graphics. This might crash the game. Also, in v1.30 you get some nice extra stuff like in game info on unit traits or move and attack planning help. Thus I highly recommend you to upgrade to the latest PzC v1.30.

Before upgrading PzC to a new version you should remove all activated mods with GME!

Down side for me in the first game was that while naval war in Mediterranean was going reasonably well up to '42 I basically lost everything in '43. Have to try different strategy next time.

Yes, naval war in the Med is harder in v1.8, but also more accurate historically. Until late 1942 the Italian and British navies were more or less evenly balanced, with both sides suffering heavy losses. However, while the British were always able to replace their losses the Italians were not and thus they slowly lost the match. To make it worse the Italian navy had serious fuel shortages which limited the use of their heaviest ships. On top of that, after Torch the US also sent significant forces to the Med which ultimately decided the outcome of the naval war. In v1.8 all these are better simulated.

More comments after the first campaign is fought to the bitter end.

Thanks for your feedback. From what I read it really looks like you have a hard time in the end.

[floplop]

where can I download v1.8?

[Cataphract88]

where can I download v1.8?

You will find the link in the first post, on page one.

[floplop]

I don't see it?!?!?

[Uhu]

I don't see it?!?!?

It is there, below the pictures. I would also suggest to put the download link to the beginning of the first comment, because it really hard to find.