RED FRONT 2

[Mathieu]

Well, my campaigns as Stalin of the Soviet Union are over, eventually i was driven back to the Ural's, i was just too overwhelmed in the last two years... This was all on Emporor mode, i am going to play again on Prince

Some things i am going to do differently this time..

- Develop my Cities in the Caucasus Mountains from the start (i didn't exploit them at all last game)

- Dont just charge with what i have, but instead actually use some tactics (I was a little gun-happy and i just charged)

- Etc....

I just wasn't expierenced enough, i lost in a German Stalemate... i learned a lot playing it once though and i think i can do a lot better this time. Either way though, this again is the best scenario i have ever played... many congratulations to Captain Nemo, Alex & anyone else who helped out in any remote way, This is great guys

[Kull]

Nemo:

If we're voting, than I'd prefer the list of obscure German villages! And you ought to do the same thing for Russia. This isn't really a civ-building scenario, but I couldn't resist starting new cities in a few resource-rich areas (check out 101,39; 75,31; 79,129; 89,63; & 101,157), and had to dig out a map to get the names right.

Here's a few strategies i've found to helpful:

1) Double-Trade: Use two Supply Convoys in Baku, Grozny, and Maikop. The bonuses are almost double vs. using one convoy.

2) Amphibious Operations: Transports in your river and ocean port cities are very useful. At Voronezh in particular, I kept a large stock of T-34's early in the game. I'd load them up and sail up/down river, annihilate German units (already spotted by the airforce), load the tanks back onto the transport and return to the safety of the city. Very effective. The same tactics were useful against Finland and in the Black Sea.

3) Oil Field Roads: Put a road on every Oil Field as soon as you can!

4) Fortifications: Three in particular really helped. 66,92 (south of Moscow), 48,60 (south of Leningrad), and 62,140 (near Maikop).

5) Sea Convoy help: Rotate two bombers over 0,8 to keep the subs at bay during the first part of the journey. At the Murmansk end, keep a couple empty transports at 41,1. It effectively shortens the "kill zone" by 4 spaces, as they can move in, collect cargo, and return to the safety of the minefield.

Fortress Leningrad: Cut the roads at 39,49 and 42,56. Make sure you have veteran AA Batteries and several 57mm guns in Narva and Luga. Let the slaughter begin!

[Captain Nemo]

Kull:

Very good playing advice!

I didn't remember that those roads under the oil fields generated that much extra trade... The "double" convoys are you referring to a convoy originating and ending in the same city? (ie. No "Home City")

The river transport strategy is very inventive nad sounds effective.

I use the same technique to get my convoys through. If I can re-capture Petsamo on the Finnish/Soviet border (New in version 1.1) I can also use bombers to protect the incoming convoys at the other end of the trip. On the other hand Petsamo "straddles" the Soviet minefields so the Germans can get U-boats into the Soviet "safe" waters (I only encountered one in my game)

I also use an Atlas when placing cities during gameplay... I must be nuts!

I have added about 15 cities in version 1.1 including some of the ressource rich villages in the Urals that span 3 or 4 iron/bauxite/coal ressources. These are isolated and have a size of 1 or 2 when the game starts but can be grown with refugees and connected to the road network to generate many extra shields.

I didn't check on the spots you listed but there is one good one between Grosnyy and Tbilisi that can get an iron + an oilfield.

Did you experience any REAL threats to Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow?
I feel Leningrad is most vulnerable and I haven't been through an entire game without losing it. Moscow and Stalingrad get attacked but never seriously enough to make me worry. Rostov, Sevastopol and Voronezh are tough to hold on the other hand. The Caucasus has never been seriously threatened although the Germans always get into the plains south of Rostov and have bombed Maikop a few times.

The new version has some additional tricks to make Stalingrad a difficult battle but I will not reveal them at this time...
The most significant changes are the AI strategy, more comprehensive events in 1944-45 (Bombing raids on Germany work very well), more new units including a mean Jagdpanther V that "eats" T-34s for breakfast and all the bugs I have heard of are fixed. Small changes to terrain, graphics, cities are also included as well as a cities.txt file with German/Soviet village names.

[Mao]

Oh Captain my Captain! What can I use to beckon you forward? (read: Nemo, what's your e-mail address? I e-mailed you with the address in your profile, is that OK?)

[Overdrive]

and when is this version to be expected?

I am asking this because I have the feeling it will be new altogether and am just jonesing for this new Nemo/Alex design...

[Captain Nemo]

Hopefully finishing the scenario revision today. It's a major update but not a completely new scenario. I did get a number of E-mail requests for advance copies of version 1.1 and I will send them as soon as possible. I didn't reply to the E-mails but the address in my profile is correct. captainnem0@cs.com (Last character is a zero not an o)

[Captain Nemo]

The new virus (Ooops! I mean version) is being downloaded as we speak... RF version 1.1 is complete, although it does not yet have the new title page (Alex is working on it)

It will be posted on the Apolyton-hosted CSC site as soon as Allard comes home for the week-end (He said) For those who requested direct copies they are being sent in parallel.

The files are 5 (2 game + 3 sounds) at approx. 4MB total. I recommend deleting or moving existing Red Front files or creating a new directory for RF2 as many file names have been changed and it could get confusing with duplicate files.

Also note that the final version has NOT been fully tested, especially the last 4 seasons because it was just taking too long to retest after each little change. There may be minor bugs... but I think I have caught it all... All the major stuff has been tested. There is a lot of unit swapping between seasons (Same unit slot being used for different units in each phase of the game) and that can cause weird stuff... like flying bunkers, battleships stranded on land etc... But I haven't seen any so I think there are no mistakes.
I would really like any errata feedback, especially from the players who are getting advance copies so I can quickly fix any problems. This forum is a good place to leave it. Thanks.