Ideas for fixing the Stalingrad BV problem?

[willgamer]

Having run through the campaign, the single biggest turn off is the Brilliant Victory requirement at Stalingrad to unlock one of the subsequent scenarios.

It is very discouraging to see Game 89% completed, but not to be reasonably able to complete the game.

I would speculate that many gamers will choose not to repeat this scenario as many times as it takes to achieve a BV and will be frustrated enough to move on to other games.

I really am enjoying this game and want to see future expansions, so I would hate to see potential customers fade away.

Here's one idea... I'd hope others will be posted up as well.

How about campaign game option that defines three levels of difficulty: Hard, Normal, and Easy.

Hard = the way it is now, except multiply the final victory points up by 50%.

Normal = any Brilliant Victory condition becomes a Decisive Victory condition; victory points are untouched.

Easy= any Brilliant or Decisive Victory condition becomes a Victory-victory condition; final victory points are halved.

Criticisms welcomed!

[Tomislav Uzelac]

I don't think the BV in Stalingrad is a problem in itself, but we did discuss adding an "easy" mode this morning actually.

It would involve adding a +1 shift to all of your attacks, plus turning off some AI capabilities. It would be called easy though, as opposed to normal. The AI is still much weaker than a competent human player

This is still on the drawing board as an idea, still early days. Feel free to weigh in...

[Danielefc]

I dont mean to be arrogant here - I'll admit that I'm a bigtime wargaming geek - but stalingard isn't that hard...

I've only gotten less than a BV once and even that was a DV. All you need to do is four things:

-Don't outrun your supply by more than one hex
-Destroy as many Enemy units as possible (note units not steps)
-Only attach fresh supply points to the northern sector
-Make 6-7 big elite divisions in the north to lead assault every turn

[gst]

Actually I have found the way to win the Stalingrad scenario without much problem. So I think that nothing is needed.

[carbondioxide]

I don't think the BV in Stalingrad is a problem in itself, but we did discuss adding an "easy" mode this morning actually.

It would involve adding a +1 shift to all of your attacks, plus turning off some AI capabilities. It would be called easy though, as opposed to normal. The AI is still much weaker than a competent human player

This is still on the drawing board as an idea, still early days. Feel free to weigh in...

I think something is needed. I'm stuck at Stalingrad. After I finish it, my campaign is over. I know there are unlocks but I can't unlock them! For me this game is finished.

[Sixthe9th]

Hello just to add to this comment.

I am actually looking for a way to unlock all 9 scenarios in the campaign. I was able to finish the Stalingrad on DV (only by using the GD, otherwise it is a nightmare and it must be rather a question of incredible luck to be able to get near Stalingrad with vanilla units). Then I finished the Astrachan scenario on BV, it took me few hours to do so, but to my dismay, both victories were practically no use to me as this is the end of the line, what a disappointment. So what is the official requirement to see the rest of the scenarios ? I saw 3rd Charkov in the Scenario list, which suggests that next scenarios are the fighting retreat of the German Army after Stalingrad defeat, so why I can't access it when I made it to Kavkaz ?

If it is really a question of BV only, then you made this game accessible for a really tiny handful of players who are second Mansteins

Thanks a lot for the answer

Mars

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Hi,

the DV/BV requirements to progress in the campaign are shown in the lower right part of the screen. When you're playing Stalingrad, it says something like ">>> Kuibyshev", meaning you need a BV to progress there, and ">> Astrakhan" meaning a DV is enough.

3rd Kharkov is a bonus scenario, even in the campaign, and it doesn't count towards the completion percentage. You get to play 3rd Kharkov when your performance in the campaign is historical (broadly speaking), so you get that historical "rebound" battle.


Cheers!

[Sixthe9th]

Thanks a lot for the answer, however this raise another question. What is meant by the historical perf. ? So I take it I must complete 2nd kharkov, Voronez and then Case Blue on BV, then complete edelweiss and then fail at stalingrad ? )

[RambOrc]

IMO a BV in Stalingrad is fairly easy given that the AI doesn't really try to recapture supply depots. Just break out in the North and capture the two supply depots on the railway lines (most suitable task you can give the two motorized Italian units). You can also easily capture the Southern supply depot any time with the two mobile units you receive in the area (just dig in a full strength infantry unit on your side of the bridge and all the Romanian units along the river, and you won't have to worry about attacks in the South).

Using this strategy, you won't need the elite unit nor much in the way of specialist units (a few on key units in the North make things easier). Important is to neither outrace your Northern supply depot nor let the enemy cut it off.

I ran a test using hotseat so I controlled both sides taking turns, even knowing that the German side was trying to cut off supplies I could only delay but not completely stop this, as I didn't have too many units to spare. I also had to realize that while two infantry units could hem in the German motorized on the South supply base, they couldn't destroy it. While I could stop the German side from a BV, it was still a DV in 11 turns.

If even with this strategy you only get a 9 or 10 turn victory, try saving up all your prestige in the early campaign and buy both reserve units as well as all specialists and reinforcements. On my first campaign, I could achieve an 8 turn BV by only cutting supply in the South and buying stuff for 500 prestige or so.

[Tomislav Uzelac]

Thanks a lot for the answer, however this raise another question. What is meant by the historical perf. ? So I take it I must complete 2nd kharkov, Voronez and then Case Blue on BV, then complete edelweiss and then fail at stalingrad ? )

Well, on this scale, an ordinary victory at Stalingrad is supposed to represent what the Germans actually achieved there - they did capture most of the city in fact. DV and BV represent a German success in taking the city "on the march", especially the BV which corresponds to the moment when German panzers cut off the city to the north very early on in the battle.

You do need to complete "Edelweiss" in order to complete the historical course, though, and for that you need a DV (not BV) in Case Blue. You only need a BV to progress from Stalingrad to Kuibyshev, and the idea there is that you really really need to do something special to open this very ahistorical scenario.