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What is Steel Division: Normandy 44? (SD44) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_RoLSSRe5Y SD44 is a new baseless RTS game from the French developer of the successful Wargame series, Eugen. It looks to be shaping up as a worthy successor that has taken all the good things from Wargame and removed many of the frustrating negatives. It's probably going to be the most interesting RTS game for the next few years. The game is of course set during the Normandy campaign of World War Two and features many of the divisions and their equipment that was used. At the moment it's , (with free and divisions) versus divisions, but this is likely to change later with DLC's. So what's different from Wargame? While impressive looking, this bombing run probably didn't kill much, however, the town is now ripe for the taking from the demoralized defenders Morale Based "Soft Kills" I've put this at the top because it is simply the biggest difference and is quite literally a game changer. Now a big focus is not on annihilating your enemy to the last man, but instead upon destroying their organization and morale that will then cause them to become pinned, to fall back or to even surrender to you! If there is a big scary Panther G menacing your Sherman's, you can send in an air-strike to rout it, and then keep it "out of play" by having your Shermans shoot at it with suppressing fire. If assaulting a town or a hedgerow, having fire superiority and/or artillery to panic the defenders will allow you to take ground with minimal losses. The morale of a unit can vary. Some units like Ersatztruppen are "disheartened" and will take more than usual morale damage, while seasoned veterans and elite troops can withstand much more stress than their regular comrades. The morale of a unit can be enhanced by a level by having a nearby command unit, which makes them much more effective, and much less likely to surrender while under attack. A platoon of 3 rifle squads with a commander will hold out much longer than 4 rifle squads. Infantry can become pinned by overwhelming firepower, which prevents them from shooting and removes them from the "frontline" measurement, if a unit gets close enough (100m) to a routed or pinned enemy that doesn't have an unbroken ally (100m) or a command unit (200m) nearby, it will surrender and be immediately removed from play. This even applies if a unit couldn't normally hurt them, goons have made pubbie Panthers surrender to squads with just rifles already. Also, command squads are not immune to this, so if they surrender the rest of their platoon will quickly follow suit. The Front-line The front-line is a new dynamic that shows how the battle is progressing and also determines who is winning the conquest game mode where the team with the most territory will accrue victory points. It provides a passive source of recon on where you can expect to find the enemy. Units that become encircled take greater morale damage. Some units, such as scouts, paratroopers and leaders are not effected by the front-line and fight as normal behind enemy lines. Cutting off vital roads with these troops may prove invaluable. Some other units however, such as Panzershreck teams don't effect the front line, but are still effected by it, so they need protecting by other squads if they are to be anything more than a speed-bump. You should zoom out every so often to see how the battle is going outside of your sector. If the other flank is making progress when you are doing badly, it may be a better idea to switch to the defensive and stop the enemy from breaking through instead of trying to retake lost ground and potentially loose even more to a counter attack. Deck building, Divisions and the Battle Phase System The deck building of Wargame returns, but now you are restricted to the TOE of a particular division instead of having access to everything that a nation has. This is a good change as it removes the many chaff units from the deck system, allows for more developer control of deck balance and so on. The categories are all self-explanatory. Each division has a different allotment of slots that units can be put into. Each division also gets a different income at different phases of the battle. The pictured 3rd armored really hits it's stride in phase C, while a lighter paratrooper formation will start off strong but get weaker as the battle goes on. This notionally will lead to some divisions being better at the start while others can counter-attack later in the game and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The phase system also restricts the type and the quality of the units you can bring in, so you cannot start off with a King Tiger in Phase A. This is a big improvement over Wargame as now you can have some idea as to what your opponent will possibly bring and build your own deck/opener accordingly. Some units can be bought "early" but will be much more restricted in availability. You can see that in Phase-B 3rd Armored can take the M4A3(76)W for one a card, but in Phase-C this goes up to 3 per card. List of currently confirmed divisions Gameplay There are two game modes. The first of our gamemodes is Conquest. Conquest is the core game mode, but who knows if pubbies will "de_dust2" destruction into being more common. Teams set out to capture territory which gives victory points and whichever team controls more of the map will gain the difference in points for their victory point total. This gamemode leads to more free flowing back-and-forth battles as the units you send at the enemy doesn't directly increase their lead when they are destroyed. The second is Destruction, it is the classic gamemode of Wargame that we all know. The goal of the mode is to appease Secretary McNamara back at headquarters. He wants you to kill as many of the enemy as possible and to destroy as much of the enemy's equipment as possible. For every unit you destroy its value get added to your teams victory point total. The team that reaches the victory point limit wins, unless it was too close to call, then it's a draw. The scale of battle is now also much smaller than wargame, where a single half-track with an MG can be difference between victory and defeat. Or an AT gun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyWIbZD7vg Help, my units are pinned and won't run away from the approaching death wave! fuf posted:Units that are pinned down don't respond to orders but you can press "R" to force a retreat, kinda like the Company of Heroes mechanic. How to find Line of Sight Press and hold C and this should appear where your cursor is. You can also press the eye icon on the unit panel on the bottom right when you ahve a unit selected (even an enemy!) too, which then has the rangefinder locked to them unless you override with C. Very handy for setting up ambushes or keeping up on something. So what's the spergin' maths stuff I should know? Hubis posted:
Tulip posted:So I've been posting about this in the official forums, and I felt goons should have this. Playing with goons Discord http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SD44Goons power crystals posted:It's time to get random with it Xerxes17 fucked around with this message at 23:25 on May 23, 2017 |
# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:04 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 08:05 |
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Contributions to the OP are welcome and encouraged. I'll use this post to put in division overviews from goons. Quotes are the intro, follow the link to the post to read the full text.Xerxes17 posted:So, I'm going to post about 3rd Armored. Can anyone write up about the other divisions? Infidelicious posted:2e Blindee Paingod556 posted:Guards Armoured has a bit of a soft-spot for me, as they formed the backbone of XXX Corps during Operation Market Garden, and thus I experienced their battles through Close Combat 2 and in the Flames of War tabletop game (specifically Irish Guards, with All The Sherman V/VC) Formed of a mix of veteran Guards units (Scots, Irish, Welsh) who saw action in France and Africa, and newly recruited tankers originally trained to defend England during the dark days of 1941, it arrived in Normandy in late June but was held in reserve until it's entire strength could be brought across the channel. Once it did, it took part in the debatable disastrous Operation Goodwood where it suffered badly from dug in Germans with FlaK-88s and Tigers, though they were the first Allied unit to defeat a Tiger II in combat (first by ramming, then bringing up a Sherman Firefly to finish it) OctaMurk posted:116. Panzer Division “Windhund” Mazz posted:Anyways, here's the actual 2ID post Arglebargle III posted:Let me write up some good divisions because they're good and I'm a terrible procrastinator: Argle your guide is way less informative than Mazz's Xerxes17 fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jun 6, 2017 |
# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:04 |
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The game looks way better if you remember to turn unit scaling to none. The default has them quite oversized, which not only makes them look silly but seems to interact with the tracer SFX to make ugly oversized tracers. Also it makes your units appear to move slower than they are through illusion. Other than that, looking pretty good. Curious to see what decks people are using so far.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:13 |
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Remember to use your troops to screen the movement of tanks and where possible strap them to the sides as improvised armour
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:15 |
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All of the confirmed divisions are listed here, may be good for the OP https://www.reddit.com/r/Steel_Division/comments/640z4t/confirmed_divisions/
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:24 |
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Enjoy posted:Remember to use your troops to screen the movement of tanks and where possible strap them to the sides as improvised armour In close in territory, infantry AT has surprisingly long range. I'm still to used to the Wargame ranges where you have to be practically point blank to be in danger. Dynamite Dog posted:All of the confirmed divisions are listed here, may be good for the OP Added. Xerxes17 fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Apr 9, 2017 |
# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:27 |
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Good game so far, can't wait for more decks/maps though
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:37 |
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Hold C for Line-of-Sight intel should definitely be elaborated on. I've only just started using it, gotten some nice ambush kills and zero casualty withdrawals thanks to it. Also someone mentioned in the WG thread about 'fast move and unload cargo'. How is that done, and can orders like that be issued during setup? I've seen conflicting information all over about that ability.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:52 |
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What's the key to see the current orders for all your dudes at once? I'm sure I saw it on the streams. Xerxes17 posted:if a unit gets close enough (100m) to a routed or pinned enemy that doesn't have an unbroken ally (100m) or a command unit (200m) nearby, it will surrender and be immediately removed from play. This is super useful, I wasn't sure why my guys would surrender. Paingod556 posted:Also someone mentioned in the WG thread about 'fast move and unload cargo'. How is that done, and can orders like that be issued during setup? I've seen conflicting information all over about that ability. You can queue up a fast move and unload order by pressing "F" for the move order then holding shift and pressing "U". Works during setup. I don't think there's a way to get reinforcements to unload automatically - I call in the reinforcements, zoom out and wait for them to spawn, then select them all and press shift and "U" - kinda annoying.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 15:59 |
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Selecting multiple units and holding shift will show all of their orders, not sure if there's a better way. "Y" is the new "move here and unload command", so you can tell a halftrack full of dudes to put them in a building in one command by hitting Y and clicking the building. I'm pretty sure the move will be a fast move, but not 100%.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:02 |
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Alexis confirmed in one of the streams that the new 'unload at position' is a fast move + unload command.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:06 |
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I've been enjoying the beta a lot. I hope this is really successful (I'm sure it will be) so we can get an Eastern Front version (either standalone or as DLC).
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:35 |
How is the AI for this? Is it a good single player experience?
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:39 |
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WMain00 posted:How is the AI for this? Is it a good single player experience? Noticeably better than Wargame, I personally feel like on Medium I'm actually fighting a mediocre player instead of the weird conga-lines from the older games.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:42 |
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Dynamite Dog posted:Alexis confirmed in one of the streams that the new 'unload at position' is a fast move + unload command. It is, you can tell by selecting the units and holding shift to show their current order. Fast Moves actually tell you exactly where it'll follow roads and where it'll cut across fields - and the unload-at-position command uses the fast move logic. One interesting command that I don't think we have access to is the Fast-Move-Hunt command that units have when you call them in during the match. They get a road-following movement order that also stops when they see enemy units to engage. And important to remember you can give all these orders during setup (and check if they're correct with shift) - and that you can give orders then drag your units around and they'll remember the orders.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 16:54 |
I finally tried out the Luftlande division last night against the AI. Whats up with the Flak 88 and it's super short range? It seems to have less range than a standard PaK gun. Also I am very bad at this game, my RTS micro skills are terrible.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 17:07 |
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I had hoped we would not split the community over different VOIP client but I see you went along and did that.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 17:45 |
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Xerxes17 posted:At the moment only , and divisions are present but this is liekly to change later with DLC's. Poland and France will be in before DLCs too
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 17:46 |
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Units that are pinned down don't respond to orders but you can press "R" to force a retreat, kinda like the Company of Heroes mechanic.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:07 |
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Wooper posted:I had hoped we would not split the community over different VOIP client but I see you went along and did that. OK, I'll just remove mumble from the OP.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:12 |
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I loved EE and ALB but hate botes, will I like this game?
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:13 |
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apseudonym posted:I loved EE and ALB but hate botes, will I like this game? Probably!
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:18 |
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fuf posted:Units that are pinned down don't respond to orders but you can press "R" to force a retreat, kinda like the Company of Heroes mechanic. How does this work in practice? Do they try to move for cover?
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:19 |
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Wooper posted:I had hoped we would not split the community over different VOIP client but I see you went along and did that. We already were. I never showed up on mumble because I don't remember to go spin up another client just to see if there's a wargame. I'm on discord. Xerxes17 posted:OK, I'll just remove mumble from the OP. Niiiice.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:20 |
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Everyone hates botes. That's like listing 'listening to music' as a hobby.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:21 |
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Mukip posted:Everyone hates botes. That's like listing 'listening to music' as a hobby. I just miss playing ALB with goons
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:23 |
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Xerxes17 posted:OK, I'll just remove mumble from the OP. EDIT: Mukip posted:Everyone hates botes. That's like listing 'listening to music' as a hobby.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:25 |
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Pretty excited for this- I liked RUSE and the Wargame trilogy, rough edges aside, and this appears to be a happy medium between the two. We'll probably end up getting expansions set in the usual locations (North Africa, Eastern Front) but I'd like to see fronts that don't get as much attention, like Burma or Italy or New Guinea (maybe even 30s stuff like Spain and Manchuria, but I think the relative lack of variety in vehicles/arms may make that less feasible)
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:47 |
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Stairmaster posted:How does this work in practice? Do they try to move for cover? Your unit will attempt to back away from whatever's attacking it for 30 seconds. It's pretty useful if you are somewhere that can easily break visibility or fighting with a lot of friendly units nearby who the enemy will prioritize shooting instead of your fleeing unit.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:52 |
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xthetenth posted:We already were. I never showed up on mumble because I don't remember to go spin up another client just to see if there's a wargame. I'm on discord. The discord server didn't exist until 4 hours ago. Instead of having a nice overview of all the games you are interested in playing you have to check each of a dozen of discord servers for all the games you play. Never mind the fact that discord is strictly worse than mumble in every way.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 18:55 |
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Well, played two games so far. Easy victory on, well easy. Tried Medium and the AI kicked my arse with 15 minutes left on the clock. Gonna have to play a few more games to get a feel for combined arms and synergies before I want to venture online. Very pleased so far however. I'd give the game a solid 8 out of 10 grogs on the grognard scale and that's before the Campaign, extra battlegroups, etc etc are added.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:15 |
Deptfordx posted:Well, played two games so far. Easy victory on, well easy. Tried Medium and the AI kicked my arse with 15 minutes left on the clock. Same things been happening to me on Medium, feel like there is a sharp difficult bump in the AI.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:16 |
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FLX said they were pretty proud of the AI advances. I imagine that's having the dynamic frontline and unit availability being staggered help alot there. Definitely going to buy this game once I finally get a PC.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:20 |
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I really like the Frontline. Even in my brief experience, every time a red bulge starts to develop along my line, and I don't have line of sight at that moment, my brain immediately conjures an entire armoured division sneaking through that gap, rather than the bold infantry squad it actually is.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:26 |
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Wooper posted:The discord server didn't exist until 4 hours ago. Except I can chat about the game on Discord while I'm at work.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:31 |
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Personally speaking I prefer Discord because I already always have it open on my laptop (And have the app on my phone), so it's a lot more convenient to chat or see who's doing what.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:35 |
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I think the main reason people find medium AI hard is because they are playing 1v1 against AI, thus require managing multiple groups of units. Try 3v3 where I think the player density is the highest. It'll make the game much easier to manage.
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:49 |
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The much shorter ranges than Wargame are really messing with me so far. Anyone else having to adjust to that?
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 19:58 |
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wins32767 posted:The much shorter ranges than Wargame are really messing with me so far. Anyone else having to adjust to that? Yeah, I'm having a tough time making infantry work considering that one vehicle can pin down an infantry squad and basically make it useless because the man-portable AT in this game is so short-ranged. I don't know how to do much besides park them in tree-lines or towns and hope for the best, which sort of makes playing infantry-heavy decks suboptimal because I don't know how to push. probably need to get better with timing artillery combos. How do/can you drop smoke in this game like in WG?
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 20:14 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 08:05 |
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Generation Internet posted:30 pt command vehicles are great
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# ? Apr 9, 2017 20:25 |