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FrancisFukyomama
Feb 4, 2019

huh, microprose is back

didn’t they pretty much own every strategy ip in the 90s, with civ, xcom, master of Orion and master of magic and somehow still managed to bankrupt themselves

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John Charity Spring
Nov 4, 2009

SCREEEEE
I played the hell out of that B-17 game when it came out. Will definitely keep an eye on this.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy


I guess my aim needs some more work

The game was very no-fuss to start and to jump into the bombing training mission - the draw distance and detail is still somewhat constrained by its age so I had a bit of trouble identifying the target from afar, but the AI helped and I only took over control once we were closer to the target. What I will really commend is:

* the ability to click on the manual button from Steam, have it open in the other monitor, and then use it to reference the instructions for the bombing-run in real time, which worked.

* the game just instantly recognized my plugged-in controller as a joystick, and I was able to use it for controlling the bombsight

EDIT: apparently there is a bug with the bombing training mission where the Norden bombsight rate-tracking doesn't stick, which would explain why I had some trouble with it, but apparently it works properly during full-up missions.

gradenko_2000 has issued a correction as of 13:25 on Jan 26, 2024

BadOptics
Sep 11, 2012

FrancisFukyomama posted:

huh, microprose is back

didn’t they pretty much own every strategy ip in the 90s, with civ, xcom, master of Orion and master of magic and somehow still managed to bankrupt themselves

They've been back for about 2-3 years now; lots of good releases as the games have opted for being focused and WYSIWYG. Regiments is amazing in my personal experience and Second Front is good from what I've heard.

oscarthewilde
May 16, 2012


I would often go there
To the tiny church there

KomradeX posted:

gently caress COG, Nazi propaganda bullshit. Men of War was better

https://youtu.be/Gu06Yt1_Sr4?si=jGBixMVRM9YxvUla

no other game has understood that one's aim ought to be in the reach zone

Typo
Aug 19, 2009

Chernigov Military Aviation Lyceum
The Fighting Slowpokes

gradenko_2000 posted:

https://twitter.com/micro_prose/status/1750809951893696572

Of the multiple different B-17 simulations that Microprose has in the pipe, the first one has come out on Early Access, which is a modernization of the original game from the year 2000.

I played the original

it's pretty repetitive but fun for the first batch of missions

it's also a game which would benefit from some sort of co-op

Lostconfused
Oct 1, 2008

Minenfeld! posted:

Relic largely comes up with interesting concepts and fantastic art but aren't really good at making games.

sullat
Jan 9, 2012

gradenko_2000 posted:



I guess my aim needs some more work

The game was very no-fuss to start and to jump into the bombing training mission - the draw distance and detail is still somewhat constrained by its age so I had a bit of trouble identifying the target from afar, but the AI helped and I only took over control once we were closer to the target. What I will really commend is:

* the ability to click on the manual button from Steam, have it open in the other monitor, and then use it to reference the instructions for the bombing-run in real time, which worked.

* the game just instantly recognized my plugged-in controller as a joystick, and I was able to use it for controlling the bombsight

EDIT: apparently there is a bug with the bombing training mission where the Norden bombsight rate-tracking doesn't stick, which would explain why I had some trouble with it, but apparently it works properly during full-up missions.

Problem with the Norden bombsight? Glad to see they're going with historical accuracy.

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

sullat posted:

Problem with the Norden bombsight? Glad to see they're going with historical accuracy.

I was just reading a book that argued that the Norden bombsight did work, and the Americans tried to be, and were, more accurate and "humane" than Bomber Command, but... I'm really not sure about that at all.

Zeppelin Insanity
Oct 28, 2009

Wahnsinn
Einfach
Wahnsinn

FrancisFukyomama posted:

huh, microprose is back

didn’t they pretty much own every strategy ip in the 90s, with civ, xcom, master of Orion and master of magic and somehow still managed to bankrupt themselves

It isn't so much back as the brand name is back.

Apparently they offer a really poo poo deal to the devs (source: friends who have been offered deals), so only really small teams take it. Does lead to some good games.

Regiments, for example, was one dude.

Noosphere
Aug 31, 2008

[[[error]]] Damn not found.

Hazamuth posted:

CoH1 is good. I find the second installment has a very good multiplayer component after extensive updates during the years. The third one has had a rocky start, but is allegedly getting better, so I will check it when it is on sale at some point.

As for Total Annihilation, while a personal favourite, it is really starting to show it's age. Unfortunately after Supreme Commander 1 (with FA) the tries at that flavor of RTS have been somewhat middling. Sequel was hot garbage, and both Ashes of Singularity and Planetary Annihilation didn't really manage to click.
On that front, both Sanctuary: Shattered Sun https://store.steampowered.com/app/1699050/Sanctuary_Shattered_Sun/ and Beyond All Reason https://www.beyondallreason.info/ look promising as projects, but the first won't be out for a while and the second I haven't had the time to test (and alphas are what they are)

I've played a bunch of Beyond all Reason. Honestly, it's impossible to tell it's an alpha. Works great, plays great. It's a very enjoyable change of pace from Age of Empires 4.

Going back to Rise of Nations, I adored that game as a teenager. It's quite sad that the Steam version didn't fix the netcode, as I've never been able to get a multiplayer game going.

Tankbuster
Oct 1, 2021

John Charity Spring posted:

While CoH2 had many flaws (the nazi apologist campaign being a big one), its biggest sin was not having the Soviet rifle squad say "Comrade, tie your loving laces"

the soviet conscripts were really charming and had wide eyed optimism. They also sounded like the slav meme going "bobr."

sullat
Jan 9, 2012

Frosted Flake posted:

I was just reading a book that argued that the Norden bombsight did work, and the Americans tried to be, and were, more accurate and "humane" than Bomber Command, but... I'm really not sure about that at all.

My understanding is that it worked well enough as long as it was maintained by skilled technicians and wasn't subjected to vibrations, turbulence, adverse weather conditions or smoke and haze.

Complications
Jun 19, 2014

Hazamuth posted:

CoH1 is good. I find the second installment has a very good multiplayer component after extensive updates during the years. The third one has had a rocky start, but is allegedly getting better, so I will check it when it is on sale at some point.

As for Total Annihilation, while a personal favourite, it is really starting to show it's age. Unfortunately after Supreme Commander 1 (with FA) the tries at that flavor of RTS have been somewhat middling. Sequel was hot garbage, and both Ashes of Singularity and Planetary Annihilation didn't really manage to click.
On that front, both Sanctuary: Shattered Sun https://store.steampowered.com/app/1699050/Sanctuary_Shattered_Sun/ and Beyond All Reason https://www.beyondallreason.info/ look promising as projects, but the first won't be out for a while and the second I haven't had the time to test (and alphas are what they are)

To summarize: Beyond All Reason feels like Total Annihilation with most of the serial number filed off. However, it is a modernized, polished RTS with significant improvements in all aspects and especially QOL. If there's a button or shortcut that would minimize unit-by-unit or building-by-building makework micro Beyond All Reason probably has it, and if it doesn't the developers are inclined to add it. It is also very well optimized. The same sort of 8v8 that would slow down to almost nothing in Supreme Commander runs perfectly start to finish in BAR, and with two dozen observers along for the ride to boot. The devs every now and then host ridiculous 25v25s with ridiculous numbers of observers that actually function... albeit as a powerpoint as the number of units on the field cross 8k or more. But. It runs without crashing or desyncing. No, seriously.

It's definitely worth checking out. And it is completely free.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

sullat posted:

My understanding is that it worked well enough as long as it was maintained by skilled technicians and wasn't subjected to vibrations, turbulence, adverse weather conditions or smoke and haze.

yeah they were really dang accurate at 10,000 feet with zero wind conditions bombing a practice target in the middle of Arizona

Hazamuth
May 9, 2007

the original bugsy

Noosphere posted:

I've played a bunch of Beyond all Reason. Honestly, it's impossible to tell it's an alpha. Works great, plays great. It's a very enjoyable change of pace from Age of Empires 4.


Complications posted:

It's definitely worth checking out. And it is completely free.

Well, the weekend seems like a good time to delve in. Thank you for recommendations and assurances!

Megamissen
Jul 19, 2022

any post can be a kannapost
if you want it to be

FrancisFukyomama posted:

huh, microprose is back

didn’t they pretty much own every strategy ip in the 90s, with civ, xcom, master of Orion and master of magic and somehow still managed to bankrupt themselves

i vividly remeber the microprose splash screen that showed up when starting civ 3

the modern era music in that game was really good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyqTPqVRoBk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2b7TQpyQY8

Megamissen
Jul 19, 2022

any post can be a kannapost
if you want it to be

Complications posted:

To summarize: Beyond All Reason feels like Total Annihilation with most of the serial number filed off. However, it is a modernized, polished RTS with significant improvements in all aspects and especially QOL. If there's a button or shortcut that would minimize unit-by-unit or building-by-building makework micro Beyond All Reason probably has it, and if it doesn't the developers are inclined to add it. It is also very well optimized. The same sort of 8v8 that would slow down to almost nothing in Supreme Commander runs perfectly start to finish in BAR, and with two dozen observers along for the ride to boot. The devs every now and then host ridiculous 25v25s with ridiculous numbers of observers that actually function... albeit as a powerpoint as the number of units on the field cross 8k or more. But. It runs without crashing or desyncing. No, seriously.

It's definitely worth checking out. And it is completely free.

hows the ai opponents?
and how big is the file size

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-1JCRguZ0

in parallel with the B-17 news, the long-delayed "Masters of the Air" TV series, based on the fantastic book by Donald L. Miller of the same name (I'd read it, shoot, nearly a decade ago) is finally releasing this weekend. It's set in the same cinematic universe as Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

I still tear up whenever I watch this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZeME80Q_ow&pp=ygUVbWVtcGhpcyBiZWxsZSBsZXR0ZXJz

Mantis42
Jul 26, 2010

Could be quite good but it does look a little overly dramatized compared to the more grounded Band of Brothers.

Hazamuth
May 9, 2007

the original bugsy

Megamissen posted:

hows the ai opponents?
and how big is the file size

My install size seems to be 1,76 gigs so very reasonable. However it seems that it does not download everything, so it seems that maps or scenarios need to downloaded as needed. First scenario seems to be something like 121 megs, but didn't have time to delve deeper than that yet.

Complications
Jun 19, 2014

Megamissen posted:

hows the ai opponents?
and how big is the file size

The raw game is about 2GB, but the maps will balloon that file size if you're a ridiculous collector like me and don't cull them now and then. Currently BAR sits at about 16GB on my hard drive, but this includes the 174 maps currently on my system. I play about half a dozen or so, and map size can get up to maybe 150MB for the absolutely largest ones. The game will download maps from inside the client from the Skirmish screen or when picking a multiplayer game though, so don't worry about needing to front load to have some fun. Ultimately I think the devs could probably do something about the map sizes, but that's probably way down on the to do list.

The game comes with several AIs, but the skirmish one that's meant to be entertaining is the BARbarian AI. It's somewhat better than Total Annihilation's unmodded AI but will not be winning awards. It benefits heavily from BAR's significant unit pathfinding improvements, and works on every map I've played right out of the box. I have a lot of fun with playing with a bunch of AI allies and enemies and generally pew pewing around.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

gradenko_2000 posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-1JCRguZ0

in parallel with the B-17 news, the long-delayed "Masters of the Air" TV series, based on the fantastic book by Donald L. Miller of the same name (I'd read it, shoot, nearly a decade ago) is finally releasing this weekend. It's set in the same cinematic universe as Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Lol the American WW2 extended universe

John Charity Spring
Nov 4, 2009

SCREEEEE
the trailer is really bad tbh, and I say that as someone who thinks Band of Brothers is pretty good in spite of the Ideology throughout

Stairmaster
Jun 8, 2012

the planes dont look real 0/10

Tekopo
Oct 24, 2008

When you see it, you'll shit yourself.


imagine Das Boot but all the outside scenes are CGI instead

also i just remembered about the film u571 and now ive forced you to remember as well

Tekopo
Oct 24, 2008

When you see it, you'll shit yourself.


i just checked the wiki for that film and the "historical inaccuracies" section is bigger than all other sections combined

Bro Dad
Mar 26, 2010


idk how anything is gonna beat the sledgehammer half of the pacific

:nws:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMbHvPmEjKk

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

Stairmaster posted:

the planes dont look real 0/10

There's a reason films can't use flying B-17s for their footage anymore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVqg-pCb6o

The same is true for quite a few WW2 warbirds that were in flying condition.

Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


Those things had enough accidents back when they were brand new; I think CGI is a lot safer for everybody.

Scale models would be cooler though

Mister Bates
Aug 4, 2010
also the ones that are still 'intact' and in flying condition are often in truly dire shape maintenance-wise, on account of being maintained intermittently at best, by volunteers, using manuals that are often missing large sections or simply no longer exist, and dwindling supplies of spare parts that haven't been manufactured in decades

they also mostly weren't really built to last to begin with, they were built with the assumption that they would get shot at and shot down and so you needed a lot of them very quickly. longevity was not a major design concern, especially not 80+ years of it. even the famously durable B-17 isn't going to survive sitting in a warehouse for the better part of a century unscathed.

the one warbird I've seen in truly pristine condition, that I would actually feel comfortable flying in, was a P-51 that was actually destroyed in a crash and then salvaged and almost completely rebuilt, and is thus basically a brand new airplane except for just enough bits to make it technically the same.

there are a couple of exceptions - DC-3s/C-47s are exceptionally rugged aircraft that will last forever if you have even semi-competent mechanics - but by and large they just weren't designed with 'after the war' in mind

Mister Bates has issued a correction as of 21:52 on Jan 27, 2024

BearsBearsBears
Aug 4, 2022
Just in case anybody hasn't watched these WW2 training cartoons, featuring Mel Blanc.

This one is for B-17s and B-24s
Hitting a Moving Target for World War 2 Bomber Gunners (1944 - Restored)

This one is for the more sophisticated gunnery computer and remote turret of the B-29s.
" GUNNERY IN THE B-29 " ANIMATED B-29 SUPERFORTRESS CREW TURRET COMPUTER TRAINING FILM 19584

BearsBearsBears has issued a correction as of 03:39 on Jan 28, 2024

BadOptics
Sep 11, 2012

Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm
Scenario: Once More Unto The Breach
29 July 1989, 1900hrs, Germersheim, Germany
French (PBEM opponent) vs East-Germans (Myself)



“After a tactical pause and re-grouping, the East-German lead unit, the 7th Panzer Division, had now seen action against Americans and West-Germans, attacked in tandem with the Soviets, tried to link with the Czechoslovakians and, finally, crossed the Neckar in support of the Soviet 35th Guards Assault Brigade’s attack. Now a spent force with very little capability to overcome the French Forces opposing them, they began to prepare defensive positions.

All would change with the thundering dep strike of the Soviet 1st Tank Army. As the Soviets crashed through NATO defenses and striding deep into NATO’s rear echelons, the East-Germans received marching orders…

Rebuilt with forces from other regiments, 7th Panzer was directed to secure the north flank of the advance while simultaneously threatening the NATO forces in central Germany. 7th Panzer and the French 5eme Reg de Cuirassiers would meet with the similar goal of controlling the B272 highway; hopefully pinning French forces in the area for the former or preventing a roll-up of the flank of central NATO forces for the latter.”





Airspace: Contested Air Superiority (no CAS assets however)

Weather: Overcast, light rain, visibility 10km, cloud ceiling 150m.
- Dusk is @ 2139 hrs
- Rain will break from 2100-2200 hrs
- Expecting 0% illumination at night due to rainfall
- 16-18 degrees Celsius
- Wind: W 13 mph
- Wind strength is going to make use of smoke less effective. Will both help and hurt us as the French don’t have as many (if any) thermal imaging equipment compared to the US or West Germans – while we can’t blind them as effectively, they also can’t do the same back to us.

Our current Command Cycle length is 48 minutes

OOB:



pre:
HQ 7.Panzerdivision
 |-- HQ PR-16 (Tank Regiment of x3 Tank Battalions, x1 Mot.Schutzen Battalion, x1 Recon Company, and x1 SPA Battalion)
     |---- HQ I./PR-16 (Tank Battalion of 30 MBT’s and 3 AD vehicles – divided into 3 companies of x10 T-72Ms and one AD platoon for the 9K31 Strelas)
           |---- 1/I./PR-16
           |---- 2/I./PR-16
           |---- 3/I./PR-16
           |---- 1.AA/PR-16
     |---- HQ II./PR-16 (Tank Battalion of 30 MBT’s and 4 AD vehicles – divided into 3 companies of x10 T-72Ms and one AD platoon for the Fla-SFL 23/4 “Shilka”)
           |---- 1/II./PR-16
           |---- 2/II./PR-16
           |---- 3/II./PR-16
           |---- 2.AA/PR-16
     |---- HQ III./PR-16 (Tank Battalion of 30 MBTs – divided into 3 companies of x10 T-55AMs)
           |---- 1/III.PR-16
           |---- 2/III.PR-16
           |---- 3/III.PR-16
     |---- HQ IV./PR-16 (Mot.-Schutzen Battalion – 2 Companies of x13 SPz BMP-1[T][M], x9 mech infantry, x1 Heavy MG team, x2 PKM teams, x1 Strela-2M MANPAD team, and x1 HQ. x1 company of x6 120mm mortars and x6 Ural-375 trucks for transport)
           |---- 1/IV.PR-16
           |---- 2/IV.PR-16 
           |---- Mtr/IV.PR-16
     |---- HQ RC/PR-16
           |---- Rdr/RC/PR-16 (recon section of x2 BRM-1[T] – equipped with Ground Search Radar or GSR)
           |---- MSZ. RC/PR-16 (platoon of x3 scouts in x3 SPz BMP-1[T][M])
           |---- 1.RC/PR-16 (section of x2 scouts in x2 SPW-40P2s)
           |---- 2.RC/PR-16 (section of x2 scouts in x2 SPW-40P2s)
     |---- HQ SPA/PR-16 (2 companies of x6 2S1 Gvozdika – A and B batteries. Also includes two recon sections of x2 MT-LBu[m])
           |---- A/SPA/PR-16
           |---- B/SPA/PR-16
           |---- 2/SPA/PR-16
           |---- 3/SPA/PR-16
 |-- HQ III./MSR-7 (Mot.-Schutzen Battalion – 3 companies of x10 SPz BMP-1[T][M], x9 mech infantry squads, x1 Strela-2M MANPAD team and x1 HQ. x1 company of x6 120mm mortars and x6 T-34T trucks for transport)
     |---- 1/III./MSR-7
     |---- 2/III./MSR-7
     |---- 3/III./MSR-7
     |---- Mtr/III./MSR-7
 |-- HQ 1.HS/KHG-3 (1.Hubschrauber/Kampfhubschraubergeschwader-3) (That name!)
     |---- 1/1.HS/KHG-3 (x2 Mi-24D Hind-D)

Reinforcements:
  • HQ 7.PD in 20+ minutes in hex 3815
  • HQ 1.HS/KHG-3 in 40+ minutes in hex 4223.





Overall notes on force composition:
• T-72M’s should do well against the French AMX-30B/AMX-30B2.
• Our mechanized infantry unfortunately do not have any sort of ATGM teams (Malyutka, Konkurs, or Metis) – will need to depend on Malyutka-M’s on the BMP-1 transports. This means that either we will need these vehicles to use the “support passengers” SOP, and therefore increase the visibility of our units, or have them hide and set our SOPs for close range ambush.
o One benefit is that during the daylight hours our infantry will help our AD units with their organic MADPADs.
• The battalion of T-55’s is a bit of a weak spot. I don’t think they will be able to go toe-to-toe with the French armor due to the shorter effective range of their 100mm cannon. They are also deployed essentially on their own to the west of the AOR.
• Two companies of both mortars and SPA, while not as plentiful as other Warsaw Pact resources in other scenarios, should serve us well. I do wish we had Akatsiyas with their 152mm gun over the Gvozdika’s 122mm.
• Having the BRM-1’s with the GSRs will be nice and should amplify the power of our SPA/mortars.

Intel on French forces:

• 10-20 recon units
• 1-10 helicopters
• >80 tanks
• 50-60 IFV/APCs
• 30-40 infantry units
• 20-30 AT units
• 30-40 HQ units
• 1-10 AD units
• 10-20 SP Artillery
• 20-30 utility vehicles and 1-10 depots

NATO command cycle length is 36 minutes. Concern will be that the NATO commander will be able to react within our OODA loop – we could possibly even this gap by eliminating HQ platoons/sections.
Having looked at the in-game data on the AMX-30B/B2, it doesn’t seem like they come with any thermal imaging equipment like the US M1A1’s, so fortunately for us when night falls they will be as blind as we are. Both of us will be using IR searchlights and similar tech.

Plan:

Recon elements will advance into good covered positions to be able to observe any French movements along B272. I also have my BRM with it’s GSR in a central location in order to see through the orchards to the north/northeast of the VPs.

III./PR-16 will advance to Zeiskam, Lustadt, and Niederlustadt in an effort to take control of these urban locations before the French mechanized infantry can – if my opponent can get Milans into those locations and dug-in my tank companies will not have a good day trying to root them out. I also only have one full battalion of Moto.-schutzen and an understrength battalion, both of which are not in the best position to take these areas as I’m expecting the French to be further forward than the intel briefing is claiming. III./PR-16 is also my older T-55AM’s which aren’t going to have the best range finding or stabilizers, so getting them in good stationary positions is also a consideration. I also want to make sure they are somewhat geographically close to my other tank formations; the goal is to have the French be engaged by as many of my forces as possible and avoiding each battalion fighting it’s own little battle by themselves.

II./PR-16, III./MSR, and I./PR-16 are going to take up positions to the south and east of Weingarten in order to create a killzone for French forces moving along B272. After the initial contact and depending on how many resources the French commander sends to take Weingarten and the VP next to Schwegenheim, I./PR-16 and II.PR-16 will link up and push either into the French rear areas or help roll their flanks using local fire superiority + enfilading fire. My single flight of Mi-24D’s will support the destruction of enemy forces and then the advance of my T-72M’s in keeping with my goal of creating as much local fire superiority as possible.

I have an initial barrage by my self-propelled artillery set for Hochstadt’s VP and the hex south of Freisbach hoping to catch hastily moving French forces piled up to cross the bridge into Weingarten.

Finally, I’m a bit concerned about my left flank as my opponent may be tempted to push through some forces along the K40/L542 roads into my rear echelons. As I’m already planning on having III./PR-16 defend forward into the three towns to the north of their starting positions, I went ahead and assigned IV./PR-16 the objective of screening our rear at Bellheim. The moto.-schutzen battalion will also act as a reserve force if the French decide to not advance down the far western roadways.




Note: I’m actually about to start the 2nd command cycle this evening, so I wrote some of this with the thought process I had at the time – I would say that some of my planning worked out well, and a few other parts did not – either due to my opponent “having a say” or through some poor estimation with unit Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) settings made prior to scenario start.

I'm also using the "FPSS Colored Counters Mod" from here. I did have to dig up the tank encyclopedia photo for the T-55AM/T-55AM2; for some reason the creator used an image that really didn't match the others. I also like wargame counters that have the faction/nation flag on them, so I've added that as well (plus the DDR/CSSR counters in this game have a similar look of Red + a grey bottom).

BadOptics has issued a correction as of 06:30 on Jan 28, 2024

BadOptics
Sep 11, 2012

Also, hats off to all you effort posters/LPers; I probably spent more time on that post then actually drafting up the plan and orders in game.

Shout out to gradenko_2000 as well for the ShareX recommendation; it made drafting up the arrows/labels on my screenshots a lot easier than if I was using something like Paint.

BadOptics has issued a correction as of 06:25 on Jan 28, 2024

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

:siren:New JTS Title Aimed Squarely at Gradenko:siren:

In 2023, we released two new Panzer Campaigns titles, Philippines ’44 and Orel ’43. Our next Panzer Campaigns title is in testing currently and expected to be ready for release in the next couple of months. That title is Panzer Campaigns Spring Awakening ’45.

For those that are unaware, here is the description from Wikipedia:

Operation Spring Awakening (German: Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary on the Eastern Front and lasted from 6 March until 15 March 1945. The objective was to secure the last significant oil reserves still available to the European Axis powers and prevent the Red Army from advancing towards Vienna. The Germans failed in their objectives.

The Spring Awakening operation took place nearly two months after the engagements covered in the Panzer Campaigns Budapest ’45 title. As Wikipedia mentions, this is the very last large-scale attack launched by the Germans in World War Two. The battles occurred west of Budapest around Lake Balaton. Only the eastern most part of the lake was included in the prior title.

Spring Awakening ’45 is the very first official title for Wargame Design Studio by talented modder César ‘Indragnir’ Moreno. César has created several large, and detailed variants of campaigns in previously released titles, adding new forces, additional details, and his own innovative twists. He was finally convinced to do something a little more official, and we are happy to start sharing his first project.

Spring Awakening ’45 will ship with over sixty scenarios. These come in various sizes ranging from very small to a very manageable, ninety-eight turn campaign covering all the actions during the operation.

The orders of battle are at the usual level of Indragnir detail, and for the Axis include German, SS, Luftwaffe, and Hungarian forces.

For the Allies, there are Russians, Russian Guards, Bulgarians, and Yugoslav combatants.

As this is a (very) late war title, there is a real range of different quality levels across the various nationalities. The Axis forces, reflect the loss of manpower after a catastrophic multi-year engagement and the knowledge for all involved that the end of the war is nigh.

Players will find both sides have significant challenges and nuances to tame.

We hope to have Panzer Campaigns Spring Awakening ’45 ready for release some time in the next three months, all dependent on testing and final production.






Frosted Flake has issued a correction as of 16:15 on Jan 28, 2024

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Frosted Flake posted:

:siren:New JTS Title Aimed Squarely at Gradenko:siren:



it's so beautiful...

BadOptics
Sep 11, 2012

I have NGP '85 & Fulda '85 and while I know it's a grog game, I hate how the counters on the map have only the NATO symbol for information. Looks ugly and you have to manually cycle through stuff to see vital information.

Edit: being able to move units of the same org together with a single click is pretty nifty though

Tankbuster
Oct 1, 2021

Stairmaster posted:

the planes dont look real 0/10

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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

BadOptics posted:

I hate how the counters on the map have only the NATO symbol for information. Looks ugly and you have to manually cycle through stuff to see vital information.

I went off on a bit of a rant in the other thread about this:

quote:

I went back to Second Front to try and see if I had gotten any better and the first American scenario, "A Town Too Far", still completely smoked me twice. The first time because I was moving too fast, the second because I was moving too slow. I guess the nice thing about this is, I can hit the "Just A Few More Turns" button at the failure screen and keep on playing - I continued my second attempt and managed to clear out the entire map of Germans by turn 11, or twice the allotted time for the scenario.

I do think I get now why [Lock N Load Tactical] seemed more intuitive: it exposes all of the dice rolls and dice modifier mechanics to you, and it does it all in plain english. Second Front is riddled in iconography that feels unnecessary. Wtf does the clenched fist mean? Just say "No Effect!". On top of that, by sticking with a strict representation of chits-on-a-board, [LNLT makes it] somewhat more obvious what's going on in the map. At least twice in my Second Front playthroughs I was tripped-up by thinking the German squad was in an adjacent hex and not the one I was looking at, or vice versa. And that also applies to administrative chits denoting units having moved or having fired, as opposed to Second Front's teeny little green-line indicators, or the small crosshair icons to denote defensive fire capability that's in the corner of the chit, on the corner of the screen.

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