[BT] Turn of the Tide - Multiplayer scenario - Beta
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:11 am
While making the scenario "Wintergewitter" I was very tempted to expand the map both north and south. North because the collapse of the Italian (and later also the Hungarian) army is what brought about the end of Winter Storm - before the Soviets got a chance to stop it "themselves". South because the Caucasus campaign has always been a peeve of mine. I've always wanted to capture the challenge of extricating Army Group A.
Anyway - instead of ruining a perfectly good singleplayer scenario I decided to make a new (huge) multiplayer one instead. I might try and make this as a singleplayer scenario aswell. But I don't think it will work. For now I need some willing friendlies to give this scenario a go: Its called "Turn of the Tide" and should be very playable (and fun). I've played it 4 times against myself and probably 20'ish times where I quit mid-game because the balance needed tweaking. Now its at that stage where strangers are needed to spot further problems. That being said: The last two full games I had vs. myself ended in stalemate. Experience tells me this is a good sign for balance. So I am fairly confident that giving this a try will be fun for whoever is up for it. I will not offer myself as an opponent as I know the scenario to well (duh...) and as such would have too much of an advantage for such a test to be viable.
Below are the scenario notes.
SCENARIO USES BASE GAME UNITS AND BLACK TURN MAP. This means that you will need to own "Black Turn" to be able to play it.
Any feedback will be met with cookies and smily's
NEW VERSION 0.99 :
Changelog:
Soviets:
Added one 4 step tank corps (the 19th) to Orel Sector.
Two Armoured Corps arrive in Orel sector around turn 7-8 (2nd Tank Army)
Three Infantry Corps arrive in Orel sector around turn 7-8 (65th Army and Infantry component of 2nd Tank Army)
3/4 Artillery steps around turn 7 (balance change)
Axis:
Added gr. Balbo near Italian sector (4 step Italian cavalry Battlegroup) - cheers to Nikdav for this addition
Victory Objectives:
Addition of Bryansk
Addition on Novorossijsk
Reduction of Taman Peninsula Value
-Various name changes
NEW VERSION 1.00: (now also on community scenarios tab)
:
Changelog:
-Changed victory point conditions
-Changed arrival of all German mechanized forces (they now arrive a bit later and start out with half of their steps suppressed)
-Added specialists to German mechanized re-inforcements
-Added Objective descriptions
-Renamed Soviet Reinforcements on turn 7: 65th Army is now 70th Army. 65th army was correct - but in the game this army is already deployed at the beginning of this scenario. However the ammount of forces needed to contain 6th army compared to reality means that it will be stuck around Stalingrad for a bit to long. So - I added 70th Army instead. This army did operate in this sector - but not until a bit later. Damn you balance!
SCENARIO NOTES
STARTING SITUATION/BRIEFINGS:
GERMANS: 6th Army is surrounded in Stalingrad! The Luftwaffe can keep it alive for the time being. But not indeffinetely. Operation Winter Storm has just begun (the three panzer divisions headed for Stalingrad from the South-east). However pursuing this operation might turn out to be dangerous as the Soviets stand ready to break through further north by the Romanians and Italians. Even further north intelligence is picking up rumors of further Soviet forces building up accross from the Hungarian 2nd Army. How will this threat be met? Army Group A - the forces in the Caucasus - has a dilemma. Does it stay and hold its hard earned ground...? Does it run to Rostov...? Does it fall back in good order towards the Taman peninsula...? Or maybe some combination of the above... Nothing is certain except that to avoid disaster a carefull handling of your forces will be required.
SOVIETS: We have surrounded the German 6th Army! It is imperative that this powerfull fascist army be held contained and then destroyed. It is up to you whether this should be achieved through starvation or force of arms. But your goals are far more ambitious than this Comrade. The remnants of the Romanian 3rd army, that held the flank north of Stalingrad, is ripe for another breakthrough. Only one or two Panzer-Divisions can offer any real resistance here. South of Stalingrad the Germans have somehow managed to mount a rather powefull relief attempt. Defeat this force and you will have a clear path to Rostov. If you are fast enough here the entire German Army Group A will be cut off in the Caucasus. Furthermore: In mere weeks your forces accross from the Hungarian 2nd Army will be ready for their offensive. If you succeed in breaking this poorly equipped Army then the hole in Fritz's lines will surely be too big for any recovery to be possible. Be aggressive commander - but do not over-reach... We have come too far to repeat old mistakes.
TURNS: 18
AREA COVERED: Orel-Voronezh-Don-Stalingrad-Rostov-Caucasus
THEATER ASSETS:
GERMANS:
Air Supply: 4 (30)
Bridges engineers: 1 (2)
Air Strikes: 1
SOVIETS:
Bridge engineers: 2 (4)
Air Strikes: 1
RE-INFORCEMENTS:
SOVIETS:
Rifle Corps: 3 (7 step veterans with specialists)
Tank Corps: 1 (7 step regular)
24 Armour Steps
68 Infantry Steps
1 Artillery step
1 T-34 step
2 AT-steps
(More has been added since this was written)
GERMANS:
Infantry-Divisions: 7 (mostly 6 step regulars)
Adhoc units: 5 (mostly 3 step regular or 5 step green)
Panzer-Divisions: 4 (one 3 step veteran and three 5 step regulars)
Panzer-Grenadier-Divisions: 4 (one 5 step elite and three 6 step veteran)
2 Infantry steps
1 AT-Step
1 Heavy tank Step
ORDER OF BATTLE:
GERMANS: Complete
SOVIETS: Mostly complete. I've had difficulty finding precise information for the Orel-Voronezh section. However any future changes here will not alter the current balance. As for now I have just "inflated" the armies that I know where there. So if I do find out which armies/armoured corps were activated/present in this area at the time - then I will just "deflate" or weaken the ones that are currently deployed. Its irrelevant to most people anyway... Just not OOB freaks like me
STUFF THAT IS MISSING:
Changes might be brought about by feedback. Otherwise scenario is pretty much done.
Anyway - instead of ruining a perfectly good singleplayer scenario I decided to make a new (huge) multiplayer one instead. I might try and make this as a singleplayer scenario aswell. But I don't think it will work. For now I need some willing friendlies to give this scenario a go: Its called "Turn of the Tide" and should be very playable (and fun). I've played it 4 times against myself and probably 20'ish times where I quit mid-game because the balance needed tweaking. Now its at that stage where strangers are needed to spot further problems. That being said: The last two full games I had vs. myself ended in stalemate. Experience tells me this is a good sign for balance. So I am fairly confident that giving this a try will be fun for whoever is up for it. I will not offer myself as an opponent as I know the scenario to well (duh...) and as such would have too much of an advantage for such a test to be viable.
Below are the scenario notes.
SCENARIO USES BASE GAME UNITS AND BLACK TURN MAP. This means that you will need to own "Black Turn" to be able to play it.
Any feedback will be met with cookies and smily's
NEW VERSION 0.99 :
Changelog:
Soviets:
Added one 4 step tank corps (the 19th) to Orel Sector.
Two Armoured Corps arrive in Orel sector around turn 7-8 (2nd Tank Army)
Three Infantry Corps arrive in Orel sector around turn 7-8 (65th Army and Infantry component of 2nd Tank Army)
3/4 Artillery steps around turn 7 (balance change)
Axis:
Added gr. Balbo near Italian sector (4 step Italian cavalry Battlegroup) - cheers to Nikdav for this addition
Victory Objectives:
Addition of Bryansk
Addition on Novorossijsk
Reduction of Taman Peninsula Value
-Various name changes
NEW VERSION 1.00: (now also on community scenarios tab)
:
Changelog:
-Changed victory point conditions
-Changed arrival of all German mechanized forces (they now arrive a bit later and start out with half of their steps suppressed)
-Added specialists to German mechanized re-inforcements
-Added Objective descriptions
-Renamed Soviet Reinforcements on turn 7: 65th Army is now 70th Army. 65th army was correct - but in the game this army is already deployed at the beginning of this scenario. However the ammount of forces needed to contain 6th army compared to reality means that it will be stuck around Stalingrad for a bit to long. So - I added 70th Army instead. This army did operate in this sector - but not until a bit later. Damn you balance!
SCENARIO NOTES
STARTING SITUATION/BRIEFINGS:
GERMANS: 6th Army is surrounded in Stalingrad! The Luftwaffe can keep it alive for the time being. But not indeffinetely. Operation Winter Storm has just begun (the three panzer divisions headed for Stalingrad from the South-east). However pursuing this operation might turn out to be dangerous as the Soviets stand ready to break through further north by the Romanians and Italians. Even further north intelligence is picking up rumors of further Soviet forces building up accross from the Hungarian 2nd Army. How will this threat be met? Army Group A - the forces in the Caucasus - has a dilemma. Does it stay and hold its hard earned ground...? Does it run to Rostov...? Does it fall back in good order towards the Taman peninsula...? Or maybe some combination of the above... Nothing is certain except that to avoid disaster a carefull handling of your forces will be required.
SOVIETS: We have surrounded the German 6th Army! It is imperative that this powerfull fascist army be held contained and then destroyed. It is up to you whether this should be achieved through starvation or force of arms. But your goals are far more ambitious than this Comrade. The remnants of the Romanian 3rd army, that held the flank north of Stalingrad, is ripe for another breakthrough. Only one or two Panzer-Divisions can offer any real resistance here. South of Stalingrad the Germans have somehow managed to mount a rather powefull relief attempt. Defeat this force and you will have a clear path to Rostov. If you are fast enough here the entire German Army Group A will be cut off in the Caucasus. Furthermore: In mere weeks your forces accross from the Hungarian 2nd Army will be ready for their offensive. If you succeed in breaking this poorly equipped Army then the hole in Fritz's lines will surely be too big for any recovery to be possible. Be aggressive commander - but do not over-reach... We have come too far to repeat old mistakes.
TURNS: 18
AREA COVERED: Orel-Voronezh-Don-Stalingrad-Rostov-Caucasus
THEATER ASSETS:
GERMANS:
Air Supply: 4 (30)
Bridges engineers: 1 (2)
Air Strikes: 1
SOVIETS:
Bridge engineers: 2 (4)
Air Strikes: 1
RE-INFORCEMENTS:
SOVIETS:
Rifle Corps: 3 (7 step veterans with specialists)
Tank Corps: 1 (7 step regular)
24 Armour Steps
68 Infantry Steps
1 Artillery step
1 T-34 step
2 AT-steps
(More has been added since this was written)
GERMANS:
Infantry-Divisions: 7 (mostly 6 step regulars)
Adhoc units: 5 (mostly 3 step regular or 5 step green)
Panzer-Divisions: 4 (one 3 step veteran and three 5 step regulars)
Panzer-Grenadier-Divisions: 4 (one 5 step elite and three 6 step veteran)
2 Infantry steps
1 AT-Step
1 Heavy tank Step
ORDER OF BATTLE:
GERMANS: Complete
SOVIETS: Mostly complete. I've had difficulty finding precise information for the Orel-Voronezh section. However any future changes here will not alter the current balance. As for now I have just "inflated" the armies that I know where there. So if I do find out which armies/armoured corps were activated/present in this area at the time - then I will just "deflate" or weaken the ones that are currently deployed. Its irrelevant to most people anyway... Just not OOB freaks like me
STUFF THAT IS MISSING:
Changes might be brought about by feedback. Otherwise scenario is pretty much done.