Barbarossa update: Play as the Germans against a strong Soviet AI

[johnnyjal]

I'd rather play a strong German ai or human.
IS that doable???

 

[Uncle_Ted]

I'd rather play a strong German ai or human.
IS that doable???

You could play the original version of the scenario by Rocoteh, but as far as a special German AI version, one does not exist (yet?).

 

[Uncle_Ted]

Week 50:

Moscow falls!



The arrival of the Yak-9 has substantially decreased the effective range of my airpower, but for the Soviets it's a case of "too little too late".

I'll probably take the rest of the cities west of the Urals, including Stalingrad, but not Murmansk, Sevastopol, Archangel (and possibly Baku). After that, if I haven't already met the victory requirements, I'll call it a game.

 

[gringoesteban]

Moscow falls!

Did you take it on the first attempt or make several assaults?

Did you reload from a save if the battle turned ugly? The reason I am asking is that, in my game, I actually reloaded from a save because pulling back my remaining units to heal and then re-attacking Moscow would have taken a couple hours. However, given that the preserve random seed option is turned on, my ability to "cheat" the random number generator was quite limited.

I'll probably take the rest of the cities west of the Urals, including Stalingrad, but not Murmansk, Sevastopol, Archangel (and possibly Baku). After that, if I haven't already met the victory requirements, I'll call it a game.

Yeah, there comes a point where it gets kind of monotonous. If the Soviets are left with only 8 or 9 cities, spending several hours moving your artillery around the map to take their few remaining strongpoints would be somewhat pointless. But you will probably satisfy the Domination Victory Condition of 41% territory & 85% population if the Russians are down to only nine cities.

Please let me know if you have any additional comments or recommendations. This morning, I pretty much wrapped up my revisions to the BIQ, Civilopedia, and PediaIcons file to make version 2.0 ready for release. I have incorporated all your comments thus far, as well as some of my own ideas after playing the Scenario myself. Version 2.0 will have new units, new Wonders, new buildings, and a couple new technologies. The beginning of the campaign will be slightly easier for the Germans, but the end will be substantially more difficult, with the Soviets getting over 35 free units per turn. I will hold off posting v2.0 until I can tweak the files based on your final comments about v1.1.

 

[Uncle_Ted]

Please let me know if you have any additional comments or recommendations. This morning, I pretty much wrapped up my revisions to the BIQ, Civilopedia, and PediaIcons file to make version 2.0 ready for release. I have incorporated all your comments thus far, as well as some of my own ideas after playing the Scenario myself. Version 2.0 will have new units, new Wonders, new buildings, and a couple new technologies. The beginning of the campaign will be slightly easier for the Germans, but the end will be substantially more difficult, with the Soviets getting over 35 free units per turn. I will hold off posting v2.0 until I can tweak the files based on your final comments about v1.1.

I didn't find any serious bugs, but I only made it about halfway through the tech tree. One thing I did notice though is that the 1943 version of the German TD batt. has an attack of 35, which I think might be a mistake -- currently the progression in attack from 1941 - 1945 is: 25, 26, 35, 33, 36. I also noticed that the graphic for the 1942 TD batt. appears to be the same graphic as the SS Pzg. (or is that intentional?).

I think your idea for slightly tweaking down the strength of the SS Pz divisions by one or two points is good.

The only other ideas I had were:

(i) give the Ju-87 lethal bombard from the beginning, but offset that by reducing the bomb strength and/or the ROF, and

(ii) give the Soviets an intermediate range air-intercept fighter by extending the operational range of the Yak-3 from its current value of 7 (same as the Yak-1) to 8 (still less than the Yak-9, which has a range of 10).

Not sure how much these would affect gameplay though.

 

[general-jcl]

Thank you for this interesting scenario

If you like the eastern front, you can soon test my Barbarossa version.
Preview there :
http://z10.invisionfree.com/SOE_forum/index.php?act=idx

(you have to log in)

 

[gringoesteban]

Uncle Ted, thanks for the feedback. Version 2.0 includes many changes. Here are the changes that specifically relate to your comments earlier in the thread:

- fixed the bug preventing the Axis Powers from building the German Security Division

- Yak 3 range extended from 7 to 8

- Knocked 1A and 1D off the SS Panzer Division units

- Raised cost of Panzer Divisions and all SS Units

- Tank Destroyers now have defensive bombardment

- Gave JU-87 Stuka lethal land bombard ability. To offset this benefit, I raised the shield cost from 220 to 245, lowered the bombard from 30 to 27, and reduced the ROF from 4 to 3.

- Workers are no longer indestructible. They have 1D and a -3 HP penalty. The Soviets may not build them, because otherwise they might be used by the AI as defensive units. Workers now cost 2 pop and have half the worker strength as before (50 rather than 100). It will take twice as long to perform all tasks. On the other hand (and against your advice) I used the concept from Civ4 and gave Workers 2 moves. I figured that the 2 pop cost, lower worker strength, and the fact that they can now be killed would offset the extra movement point.

- To represent logistics difficulties, railroads may not be built in this Scenario.

Regarding your questions above:
- The German TD Bn. 1942 and SS Mechanized Infantry 1942 use the same icon because both are equipped with Marder II tank destroyers.
- The German TD Bn. 1943 is the Ferdinand/Elefant tank destroyer, the heaviest tank of the War. In the revised version, I lowered the attack rating by one and substantially raised the shield cost. However, unlike the other German TD Battalions, in v2.0 the Elefant has only a -1 HP penalty rather than -2.

 

[gringoesteban]

Version 2.0 is up. See first post.

This will likely be the final version unless someone discovers a major bug. Compared to v1.1, this revised version has additional resources, new Wonders, new buildings, new units, and minor map updates. The beginning of the Scenario is slightly easier but the end (after, say, the Kursk technology) gets quite difficult. If you cannot achieve a Domination Victory, try to hold as much territory as you can. Wait for a Points Victory after time expires on Turn 140 and the Germans and Soviets declare a ceasefire.

 

[gringoesteban]

I just found a major bug in v2.0. The Axis Powers cannot build the Worker unit. I looked at the biq and I cannot figure out why. The Germans have the appropriate technology (Extra 10) and the Worker requires no resources. If somebody has time to take a look at the biq and figure out what I did wrong, I would appreciate it.

 

[Uncle_Ted]

I just found a major bug in v2.0. The Axis Powers cannot build the Worker unit. I looked at the biq and I cannot figure out why. The Germans have the appropriate technology (Extra 10) and the Worker requires no resources. If somebody has time to take a look at the biq and figure out what I did wrong, I would appreciate it.

I'm not that handy with the editor, but it looks like that instead of building a new german worker unit, you might have just replaced the default worker unit. Don't know if that's causing it or not.

 

[gringoesteban]

I fixed the Worker bug and posted the version 2.01 files in the first post. Things seem to be functioning fine now.

The problem seems to have been that I made the Worker unit require Extra Tech 10 technology, and I gave that Technology to the Axis Powers as a starting technology. However, Extra Tech 10 is in the fourth stage of the Tech Tree. I am thinking that the program did not recognize the Germans as having that tech since they had not yet reached the 4th age of the tech tree. In any event, I changed the unit to require Basic Industrial Infrastructure, another Axis Power starting tech, but one from the first age. That worked.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Please let me know if you find any other issues.

 

[Uncle_Ted]

I haven't had enough time to complete the first turn yet, but so far I like the changes.

I noticed that it's nearly impossible now to bomb cities. The bombing animation doesn't even trigger (unless the attack "gets through", which happened very seldom). I only thought that happened if there is a SAM in the city that "intercepts" the bombing mission but fails to shoot down the bomber, but I didn't notice any SAM's preplaced. Was that a change?

 

[gringoesteban]

I noticed that it's nearly impossible now to bomb cities. The bombing animation doesn't even trigger (unless the attack "gets through", which happened very seldom). I only thought that happened if there is a SAM in the city that "intercepts" the bombing mission but fails to shoot down the bomber, but I didn't notice any SAM's preplaced. Was that a change?

The Soviet Wonder "Anti-Aircraft Defenses"(?) places an AA Practice Range in every city. Rather than being buildable upon discovery of the Barbarossa Campaign technology, as in the previous version, that Wonder is now preplaced in the city of Asbest. Since the AA Practice Range gives its city AAA defenses, that is probably the change you are noticing, since before the cities had no AA defenses until the 5th or 6th turn of the Scenario.

The AA Practice Range spawns a Mobile AAA Gun unit every 14 turns. I made the change so that the second spawning would occur on turn 28, concurrently with the Soviet discovery of the Harsh Soviet Winter technology when each city has a Guards Rifle Division spawned. The way things are now, when the AI throws all those Guards Rifle Divisions at you, the stacks will contain numerous Mobile AAA Guns which will make it more difficult to slaughter the infantry with your bombers.

 

[Hammerwise]

When I attempt to load I get the missing pedia note, something about BLDG at the 30% upload point..

Any idea what I uploaded wrong?

 

[gringoesteban]

Version 2.1 FINAL has been posted on the first post of the thread. This will be my last update to the Barbarossa_Germans Scenario.

Version 2.1 FINAL will be more difficult than the previous v2.01 version. Most of the 38 changes listed below either handicap the Player or aid the AI, especially during the second half of the Scenario. The Player’s production will drop more quickly than it did previously, German cities will see their population decline as casualties mount on the Eastern Front, the stats of each Soviet “super unit” have been improved to make them units even more deadly, the Soviets will receive more “free” spawned units, etc.

Change control
v2.01 --> v2.1 FINAL

previous setting --> new and improved setting

Units
•Ju-87 Stuka: ROF 3 --> 2, bombard 27 --> 25, shield cost 240 --> 260
•Added new Axis Power unit -- Civilian Evacuees. The Player can use this unit to move population between cities after discovery of the End War Tanks tech
•SS Motorized Inf. Div. (1941): pop cost 1 --> 0, shield cost 245 --> 255
•SS Panzer Division (1942-43) unit: pop cost 1 --> 2
•Panther Division unit: pop cost 1 --> 2
•Pzg. Division (1943-45) unit: pop cost 1 --> 2
•SS Pzg. Division (1943-45) unit: pop cost 2 --> 3
•SS Panzer Division (1944-45) unit: pop cost 2 --> 3
•Ferdinand/Elefant unit: A34 --> A33, D11 --> D10
•FW-190 fighter unit no longer becomes obsolete upon discovery of the Me-262 jet fighter
•Me-262: 350 shields --> 375 shields, HP bonus +1 --> +0
•All six Soviet “super units”: +1A, +1D, +3 hit point bonus, +1AA defense
•Guards Tank Army unit: AA defense 4 --> 5, enslave Guards Rifle Division --> enslave Soviet Tank Brigade (1944-45)
•Partisan Band units now enslave Partisan Bands rather than enslaving nothing
•Workers now upgrade to Combat Engineer Battalions
•Combat Engineers can now perform the same functions as Workers
•Soviets start with five additional Worker units
•Deleted one city garrison unit from Helsinki, Tornio, and Kosice
•Soviets start with five additional Local Defense Force units (one each in the five cities east of the Ural Mountains)
•Luftwaffe Feld Division: 95 shields --> 105 shields
•Updated civilopedia definition for the 2nd SS Panzer Korps (Hausser) unit to identify the specific divisions that the Korps contained
•Renamed "German Mountain Division" to "Gebirgsjager Division"

Buildings & Wonders
•German Mobilization Wonder: shield cost 660 --> 990, unhappy people in all cities 1 --> 2, now has additional benefit of halving unit upgrade costs
•Food Supply (Granary) now becomes obsolete with discovery of the Manpower Losses tech rather than lasting the entire game
•Yak 9 Fighter Factory city improvement: requirement Advanced Factory tech --> Caucasus Campaign tech, spawn Yak-9 fighter every two turns --> every single turn
•Guards Tank Army Wonder: spawn Guards Tank Army unit every two turns --> every single turn
•German Factory I city improvement: Production +50% --> +75%
•German Factory II city improvement: Production +50% --> +25%
•T34/85 factory city improvement: now this improvement never expires
•Katyusha Rocket Artillery Factory Wonder: 1 happy in its city --> 2 happy in all Soviet cities
•Medical Center (Hospital) city improvement: Maint. $0 --> $1
•Dresden: preplaced Medical Center (Hospital) in the city

Technology Tree
•Early Tanks tech: research cost 135 --> 150
•Lend Lease Tech: research cost 245 --> 265, requirement Early Mech Infantry tech --> Early Tank Destroyers tech
•Increased research cost of Kursk Campaign, Specialized Units, Manpower Losses, German Retreat, and Factory Mobilization technologies by 5% each
•Renamed “Domestic Reconstruction” to “Ceasefire and Reconstruction” to emphasize that the Scenario ends upon discovery of this technology

Map
•Galatz terrain: Major Defense Line --> Defense Line
•All five Soviet cities east of the Ural Mountains now have the Electricity resource in their city radius so they can all build an Advanced Factory

Government
•Nazi government cost per unit above free unit limit $6 --> $7

 

[gringoesteban]

When I attempt to load I get the missing pedia note, something about BLDG at the 30% upload point..

Any idea what I uploaded wrong?

Hammerwise, take a look at the installation instructions at the bottom of the first post of this thread. The first step in the installation process is to install Barbarossa v1.2 Art& Text from the original Barbarossa thread (the link to that file is contained in the installation instructions).

But good news... I just updated the files in the first post to v2.1. If you have not already been successful in installing the previous version, then you can download and install the new and improved version 2.1 instead.

Please send me a PM if you have further difficulties with the installation.

 

[leonidas 1982]

This scenario looks very interesting I enjoyed the initial barbarossa scenario but as you said it did become to easy I will download in next few days. what are the soviet superunits you mention?

 

[gringoesteban]

This scenario looks very interesting I enjoyed the initial barbarossa scenario but as you said it did become to easy I will download in next few days. what are the soviet superunits you mention?

The six Soviet superunits are spawned at specific times during the game to represent historical events. I included them to help offset the AI's inability to properly use Armies. Each superunit has high attack and defense values, blitz ability, radar, antiaircraft defenses, enslave ability, 4 or 5 moves, and massive hitpoint bonuses (from +15 up to +20 extra HP).

The six Soviet superunits are....

1) West Front (Zhukov): spawned on turn 29, week 2 of 1942, to represent the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive that drove the Germans back from the gates of Moscow. (Note that on the prior turn, namely turn 28, every Soviet city will spawn one Guards Rifle Division and also one Mobile AAA Battalion. On turn 29, concurrently with the spawning of the single West Front (Zhukov) superunit, fifteen Soviet cities will spawn a Soviet Cavalry Divisions. This massive influx of units coincides with the Stalin's transfer of 80 divisions from Siberia to the area around Moscow after he learned that the Japanese had no intention of invading the Soviet Union).

2) Stalingrad Front (Eremenko): spawned on turn 52, week 48 of 1942, to represent the encirclement and capture of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad.

3) Central Front (Rokossovskiy): spawned on turn 68, week 28 of 1943, to represent the Soviet forces that defeated the Germans at Kursk.

4) Ukranian Front (Konev): spawned on turn 80, week 52 of 1943, to represent the Soviet forces under Konev that drove westward following the Battle of Kursk.

5) 3rd Belorussian Front (Chernyakhosvksy): spawned on turn 96, week 28 of 1944, to represent Operation Bagration.

6) 3rd Guards Tank Army (Rybalko): spawned on turn 100, week 32 of 1944, to represent the Lvov-Sandomierz offensive.

 

[leonidas 1982]

Thanks for the informative reply. That sounds like a good plan to give the player some headaches. The superunits work pretty well in rise and fall of the roman empire. Where are the superunits spawned? I assume zhukovs at moscow and stalingrads pretty obvious! is it realistic for the human to capture the cities before the spawning? I would like to avoid doing so and defeat the units properly.

 

[gringoesteban]

Thanks for the informative reply. That sounds like a good plan to give the player some headaches. The superunits work pretty well in rise and fall of the roman empire. Where are the superunits spawned? I assume zhukovs at moscow and stalingrads pretty obvious! is it realistic for the human to capture the cities before the spawning? I would like to avoid doing so and defeat the units properly.

RFRE is one of the best mods out there, particularly for those (like me) who are interested in Roman history. The Hannibal and Attila superunits from RFRE are what gave me the idea to include superunits in my Barbarossa_Germans scenario.

The six superunits are spawned by Wonders that are preplaced in the Soviet city of Asbest, east of the Ural mountains. The Player will be unable to capture that city before the six spawnings occur. I would have preferred to have the spawning occur in the correct place (e.g. Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, etc.) but like you mentioned that might impact gameplay if the Player captured the city too soon.

Along the lines of RFRE, I included strategic resources to ensure the AI builds things in the right place. For example, the Lend Lease resource is in Archangel, the Relocated Factory resource is east of the Ural mountains, etc. In vanilla Barbarossa, the AI often built Wonders in western cities that could be overrun by the Player. Oh, also, all Soviet Wonders and special buildings require the "Stalinism" government, so even if the Germans somehow overrun them, the Germans receive no benefit from them.