RED FRONT ROCKS

[Captain Nemo]

Good to find out what is happening so version 2 can be even better.

I am already working on a revision. So far I added the Red Army converting to Guards in December 1941. But it's tricky because the two units look identical and have the same name so there should be no way for the human player to distinguish them from eachother...
I also moved a couple of units around so the NKVD has the rifle sound and the Naval Infantry the machine gun - petty - but I want perfection!

Now regarding the comments:

The movement of units from the Ural region to the front should be facilitated by the "suburbs" along the main roads. I may add more to make it faster. I will consider raising the road multiplier to 2 in the winter as opposed to 3 in the summer but that gives the Soviet tanks almost as high mobility in the winter as in the summer...(2x7 vs 3x5) maybe make it 2x6 vs 3x5.
The Germans would also have increased mobility (2x4) so their offensive might not stall in December as it does now...

Regarding Murmansk convoys, I thought it was too easy to get the convoys through... I moved up along the left side of the map then cut acroos the top. I moved along a number of destroyers and cruisers which I had criss cross the area for U-boats. I killed a lot of them and the convoys got through without many losses (Maybe 5-6 freighters sunk for 15 or more that got through) Of course I grouped the freighters together before the run across the area North of Norway so I usually had 10-12 ships going through at once and I made sure that I never
had more than one ship per ocean square to avoid losing a whole stack. I keep the freighters along the top edge of the map and destroyers/cruisers one row below. The Ju-88s from Narvik and Hammerfest usually hit the escorts and I rarely encounter more than one sub so the losses are acceptable. With the "Convoy" wonder the ships can make it from safe ocean to the protection behind the Murmansk minefields with only one stop in the "Kill zone".

My game isn't going as well as it should either. I stopped the Germans in the winter of 1941-42, built very tough defenses around Leningrad and Stalingrad (Minefields) so both cities held. Rostov fell late summer of 1942 so I had to contend with lots of Germans in the Caucasus threatening all the oil fields (Didn't capture any though)
Sevastopol fell in the winter of 1942-43 as did Kerch so I have Germans infiltrating the Caucasus region over the Crimean straight too.

The counter-offensive in the winter of 1942-1943 which should have dispatched Paulus and the sixth army West of Stalingrad stalled mostly because my own minefields prevented direct attack (Had to go North through Voronezh). So right now it's a stalemate in the summer of 1943 with the Soviets holding the line Leningrad-Moscow-Stalingrad with only small enclaves towards the West at Kholm, Narva and Kursk and the Germans holding Luga, Kharkov and Rostov. Kaluga changed hands 4 times during the winter-spring 1943. By not winning the battle of Stalingrad the "Zhukov" wonder is lost which slows research, but the Soviets are starting to inch ahead economically and militarily with new T-34/85, Katuysha launchers and IL-2 planes.

My conclusion is that the Stalingrad battle can't be won by an average player in the winter of 1942 unless I give the Soviets a boost (Maybe a new Guard tank division,with 12 veteran units appearing near Stalingrad when the text about the Zhukov "counter-
offensive" comes up?)
Or should I leave that as a tough challenge?

To "destroy" the 6th army the Soviet player must slice through the bulk of the German army south of Voroshilovgrad and destroy the Fieldmarshal (Paulus) unit located in it's center and protected by multiple rows of "hedgehog" units... Did anyone succeed?

Back to the spring of 1943...awaiting operation "Citadel" and the first Panthers and Tigers to show up at Kursk.

[Mao]

OK, I heard Red Front was very good. I don't have ToT, but is ToT worth getting for the Red Front scenario?

[Black Dragon]

Ummm... how DO you stop the inital onslaught?

[mrtemba]

Mao - It doesn't require TOT. I think its FW.

I like the Elite Guard idea, I think it should be used. I haven't done much playing as one turn takes about 5 minutes, but I look forward to when I have the time.

[Civfan]

Mr Nemo, how much time was spent in making this scenario?

[Unspeakable Horror]

The siege mortars were used in Sevastopol and destroyed mi defense, but i managed to counterstrike with some tanks, and in Leningrad they appeared but didn´t attack.

[Captain Nemo]

Just misc. answers:

In 1941 the Soviets could not stop the Germans... Same happens in the scenario. The best that can be done is salvage the best Soviet units to defend Moscow and Leningrad, fight rear guard actions to slow down the Germans, try to make each move as costly as possible for them with tough city defenses and sacrificial counter-attacks against their best units, selling off city improvements before the Germans capture them and move as much of the population as possible to the East (Refugee units). Only when winter comes, in December 1941 the Germans advance stalls by itself... and the Soviets can go on a limited counter-offensive, spend the winter consolidating positions etc...

The scenario took about 6 months to make... and a lot of time. There is probably 500 hours or more into graphic work between myself and Alex. For example, it took me 6 hours to make the "winter-forest" pictures alone. An average unit takes 2-3 hours some as much 4 or 5 when I had to restart from scratch.

The game is made for the FW version of Civ-2

The new version in the works has no Guards until December 1941 then all surviving veteran Red Army units are promoted to Guards. There are a few more NKVD units from the start of the game to make up for the lack of Guards early on. Another new element is that the 2nd Panzer Army (Guderian) now has it's own tougher, faster units for the summer of 1941. This should make the pressure on Moscow in October-November 1941 a real threat. I am also adding many new events for 1943 and 1944 and incorporating several of the suggestions in the thread.

Thanks for playing!

[techumseh]

CN, wil you keep your original idea of 2 slots for the red army units? If not, won't all your garrisons in the rear will be promoted to guards? Wil you still be able to produce red army units?

BTW, I've figured out how to use the convoy system. Once you've built the wonder, it works fine.

[Overdrive]

Why not add a few Heroes (generals, famous units etc...)for the soviet player, it always feels more personal!
I am going to start all over on deity mode...even though I never succeded in pushing the german Forces further West than Helsinki-Talinn-Vellikye L.-Minsk-Kharkov- Stalino-Sebastopol on emperor. But now I know how to react.
I never met any von Paulus though!
[This message has been edited by Overdrive (edited November 23, 1999).]

[Captain Nemo]

Yes, I am using 2 slots for the Red Army, when I said "veteran" units I meant units that have been around since the beginning of the game... I replayed the first round and it's even worse than before. Without the guards to stop them, the Germans really move fast!

I would love to add some special "character" units to the Soviet side, like Zhukov, Vasilevski, Rokossovsky and Budenny. And maybe some "Aces" like Pokryshkin and of course a Zaitsev sniper unit...but where do I fit them? The unit slots are all used up and I have already been creative in "re-using" some slots. For example the I-16 to La-5 conversion, the Guderian panzers later being used as "Elephant" units and now also the new T-34/85 Guard regiments appearing by 1942 in the obsolete T-26 slot.

[Captain Nemo]

A little more insight into the game... March 1944 the turnaround is really slow despite very little event help to the Germans.
I managed to punch through at Kholm, Velikiye Luki, Daugavpils and retake Kharkov but it is incredibly costly in units because the Germans have Panthers and Tigers at hand and a massive number of hedgehogs blocking all the roads...

Operation Citadel (Kursk) was twarted in the summer of 1943, really showing how poor the AI is once the Soviets have decent units: He sent wave after wave of Tigers and Panthers against Voronezh defended by a handful of KV-1's. The attack self destructed very quickly, but it was a nice "tank battle" seen from the Soviet side.

I should probably give the Soviets some mobile anti aircraft gun with attack capability since the Germans keep those fighters airborne over their units during the whole winter! I tried to give them only one move but then the entire Luftwaffe crashes...Maybe changing them all to role 3 with one move will make them go home... Any insight?

There is still a problem with the Germans overflowing their finances, has anyone noticed it? By 1943, capturing a city gives you plunder of -29,000 gold.
I have added "Concentration camps" costing 50 to maintain (I used SDI since there are no nukes) and the Germans build them in every city... Maybe I need to up the maintenance cost to 75 or 100!

One interesting feature I discovered, the trade routes! When those Supply Convoys from England arrive I was originally using them to build wonders or disbanding them to build units/improvements but then I tried establishing a trade route... Since the units have no home town they use the arrival town as trade origination town also so you get 2 trade routes in one shot and they are the biggest trade bonus I have ever seen: Baku-Baku produces 2 x 48 trade arrows!! (Of course Baku is the highest trade potential town in the game). By using a few of the lend-lease convoys that way I got research interval down from 7 turns to 4 turns.

[Mao]

Oh my GOD! It's for FW!? I was getting depressed that everyone had this scenario and I couldn't play with because I didn't have ToT. I had scenario-envy . Downloading now...

[Captain Nemo]

Overdrive:
Getting the JS-2 in the winter of 1943-44 is 100% historical (I just had to check to be sure) By December 1943, 103 JS-2 were operational and by the spring of 1944 the Soviets had nearly 1,000 of them... By May 1945 they had produced almost 4,000 (Nothing compared to the 44,000 T-34s, though). The Germans should have Tigers by December 42, first Tiger saw action on the Eastern front in February 1943, Panthers by June-July 43 just in time for Kursk.

[Captain Nemo]

Overdrive:

I'm very happy to see someone enjoying my scenario enough to play it twice in a row! I think it's quite addictive myself, having played it 10-12 times to various points.

Some version 2 updates:

The siege mortars now work consistently.

I stopped giving the Germans "free" aircraft by the winter of 1942-43. It was just too much help and it seems I lost all Soviet planes in the first turn of each spring.

I tested the Volksturm units and they are really awesome! They are land-based "suicide" units that will jump out of the German cities and kill adjacent tanks/troops. Right now they only appear when the Soviets capture Warsaw (Preparing to invade Germany)

Making the German planes single turn airborne, role 3 and 0 attack worked perfectly. They returned to base and weren't seen until next spring.

Soviet air power still seems weak by 1944. The Germans still have approx. 80-90 planes and the soviets only 10-12. The La-5 fighters are incapable of defending airborne bombers adequately against Me-109s so the bombers are on "suicide mission" every time they hit German units. Should the La-5 automatically upgrade to a Yak-3 in the winter of 1942-43 to indicate the improvements in Soviet pilot training?

New Soviet Tank Guard regiments appear just before Stalingrad and give the Soviets a real boost and a realistic chance to win the battle of Stalingrad.

New winter uniforms were added by Alex for the last few units that didn't change between winter and summer.

I could simulate a German collapse late in the war by giving the Germans a technology that causes some of their units to become obsolete, for example on the fall of Berlin issue an tech that would make the Wehrmacht SG obsolete (The AI immediately disbands obsolete units).

[techumseh]

Nice game! I finished mine, with a decisive defeat to my credit. I held Moscow, recaptured Leningrad and only got as far as Grozny. The Germans penetrated as far as Magnitogorsk in the south-centre. It was a stalemate at the end, having lost so many cities, my production was insufficient to defeat the Germans.

Next game, I will try:

-build fortifications at strategic points in the rear right away

-put as many units with good defense factors in them as possible, force the Germans to lose units attacking them. Meanwhile build up the next defense position farther to the rear.

-withdraw ALL good troops to the east right away to a line in front of Leningrad, Moscow, Voronezh, Stalingrad, Grozny, and Sevastapol.

-airlift units from UK to Soviet airports.

-use the British freight units earlier to build various wonders. Build suitable wonders in the UK using the freight units.

-research propellants early to build Katyuska rocket launchers; they are the most effective and reliable offensive weapon.

I'm ready for a rematch!