Holien

******************* Spoilers ************ Just finished the game as Russians vs Germans and did manage a victory but my oppo managed to lose all his infantry and in the end I walked to the touch zones and right in the last few minutes I managed to flank his forces and was on verge of taking his last two Panthers. German player must really defeat the Soviets at range and even then can suffer if the Soviets manage to mass multiple tanks vs one Panther - which I was able to do. The JS2 is a beast of a tank and despite numerous hits I was often able to re man tanks with 3 crew men and keep them moving. Good scenario, not sure how the Germans will take rear VP locations unless they can really defeat enough Soviet tanks to force a flank. Side shots on Panthers are lethal. As mentioned above I think the Germans need to aim for Victory by keeping the soviets away from the first two touch zones with a long range defence plan.

This game just gets better and better.. Nice screen shots.

**** SPOILERS **** OK so it all depends on what each side does so yes if Soviets can get close enough then Germans will suffer. But.... If Germans play to their strengths and do not have to get close to win then that favours the Germans IMO... So look at VP locations. Germans can bag the two mid ground touch objectives fairly easy without any losses if they do it right. This then forces Soviets to launch an attack and if you position the Germans well you can fend those off at distance. If the Germans lose less than 60% losses they get 100pts. While the Russian have to inflict over 50% on the Germans to get 100pts and they have to keep losses less than 25% to get the other 100pts... So weighted to make Russians attack and unless you can breach the line and get in close the Soviets do not have accuracy for long range gun duels. So yes while Soviets out number Germans nearly 3 to 1 that only counts if you can get range down to less than 1KM or shorter. Just my 2p and as with all scenarios it really does depend on what each side does. Not played vs AI but AI is I guess not coded to maximise the German advantage.

Just getting into closing stages of my HTH with this, looks like Germans have slightly easier time of it depending on what they do. So give Germans to less experienced player IMO as it could be very one sided if you are not careful.

FYI a Tank heavy scenario which is a tough challenge and has pretty large map...

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=finishdown&id=3190 In the Downloads section. I too had problems opening it so soemthing locked down to beta, but this above worked fine

Just played and completed the 1st Scenario in Blunting the Spear. Like the Original OP I thought the map and number of forces was a tad big even for an experienced CM player. HOWEVER.... After I got over that I was blown away by the whole experience!!! What a wonderful map and the scale really gives the player a whole new arena of feelings and problems. I managed to lose only 2 MKIV's and a Halftrack but my o my the Russian SMG is bloody lethal. I need to refine my tactics and learn to keep my German PBI alive. So my Hat's off to the map maker and the scenario designers and I am now looking forward to the next game. While this is not perhaps the best for a newbie to play with (qty of units), it certainly is the map to show off what the new theatre has to offer... Thank you to all those involved, this is a strong rival to the work of the campaigns undertaken by Paper Tiger and gives me the same wow factor.

Thanks for the quick response. So I will rephrase my question re Panthers... At what range would you engage a Panther Front on with an 85mm? My hits so far have ping'd but lets see if I get lucky... Ages since I have played Russian front and never an area where I had previous knowledge so I am re-learning what kills what at what range...

Sorry to ask a tangent question, but seems like as good a place as any... Question to the Grogs... Two urgent questions (well for my Pixel Truppen) Panther Armour Front on - What range does it become more than likely for 85mm gun to go through it? What range can MKIV kill a T34/85 at front on. My google fuu has failed and I stumbled on those who would know... Thxs in advance....

Well this thread answered one question... Now I prey that Mother Russia hears me...

Sorry can not answer the 1st question, but the way I play it is to try and use Arty when I really have to. PT does explain in some missions if you need to conserve. So if it is not mentioned you should be fine to use it all. Read his briefings carefully. Not gamey for your second question. Again it is key to understand and the designer is giving you hints. As for if to re-start. I can again not say for certain as I did not lose too many men. I guess if you lost 80% then re-start? It really depends on how *issed you would be if you could not complete? I guess if in doubt better to re-start sooner... But it really depends on how miffed you would be?

Hi Erwin, Just seen this and it is something that I have asked for is the ability to toggle the main campaign briefing from the campaign scenario screen's. Just would be really useful to remind where you are in the campaign arc. I found it really useful when some one posted the full scenario list and I could then check my progress on there. So a minor niggle but might be an easy fix on the system?

Only hit by the plane from my memory?

I see what you mean you referring to original move to location, if he had pressed home then, yes may have been different. Stopping and getting whacked by the plane and giving Bil time to respond and counter was another mistake. Lets hope the Panther hits home 1st...

IMO he is a worse position than standing back and launching an attack has put him into a bad position. Not that he knew what he was driving into... Again not working your forces as a whole costs you... If he had infantry support with eyes on he might have had a better chance... Ohh well live and learn...

And so it happens.... I bet Elvis is a tad surprised!!

Woot... Great action..

What a little gem of a scenario. Not really a great challenge for me, but I left it to last few minutes to exit forces off the Cross Country Route. The scenario reminded me of my 1st Table Top (Well Actually Floor) scenario with my old Airfix figures. Some fond memories triggered of getting my 1st WW2 gaming as a youngster... Nice map, good little challenge and one perhaps for new players to do as a stand alone. Some questions... What would happen if I exited forces off both exit zones? I presume I am now on a different route of scenarios so will have to come back to this point to try the main road approach? The next scenario map looks great and I am really looking forward to playing that one...

Thxs Elvis... A good summary and really helps people see what options you have...

Thxs Steve... Note to self... Russians need heads out of tank... Germans can stay buttoned... Lets see what happens..

Michael link worked OK in UK... Lots of Helo's and some armour... Lets hope everything just stays in a computer game and does not turn hot...

I think Bil is focusing on the main threat and knows he has plenty of infantry to waste... Interesting that Elvis is keeping his tanks buttoned and in some ways I might have too to keep T/C's alive. But if it really does stop him from noticing mr T34 in the flank that is going to hurt.... In other threads past there is debate on how much effect T/C's being buttoned make and I think the last I remember was that it made little difference, perhaps I need to re-evaluate this and take more risks with T/C's lives... The next few turns will be critical as Elvis does not seem to be aware of why ISU's are moving, and certainly feels that Bil is sat doing nothing with T34's. That seems to underestimate Bil, which is something I would hope I would never do...

Well that will teach me... Let me try and qualify without digging any further... What I felt was contrived was the funnel created by the map which creates a cauldron of death for the German arty. Looking at the link it would seem that perhaps the map should have more scrub than marsh terrain which would make it feel more realistic to me. (Again my language my be imprecise) Thanks for the link JonS and it just seemed there should be more advance options to give the attacker some options. Was the battle at that location? I do think the defence layout exceptionally good and it was like an onion I kept on peeling back more and more foxholes with more nasties in them. I take my hat off to the designer for making it so difficult with the defenders. I was cursing and complaining out loud at times at the accuracy. I had a German HMG team take out a jeep at very long range. It was only until I looked at map at end I saw the jeep was sat on TRP so that would explain the accuracy. I thought the Germans were uber troops as it took ages to dislodge (compared to Paper Tigers Germans) but alas I was wrong on that too, just the normal mix... The use of TRP's and mines and wire was just very well done to really stretch me. @Womble thanks re the Arty explanation, it just seemed to be coming in very quickly and often and I guess I will have to open the editor up to see how many batteries were at play with what ammo load out. If that German arty can be neutralised then it does make the Allied life a lot easier... All in all for me a good scenario and well worth getting to grips with. Again for Newbie players if you can get the hang of these you will be in a good place to play PBEM or H2H games.

So after finishing the RtN campaign by Paper Tiger I noticed that this campaign was getting some good notes and I have just finished School, of Hard Knocks School Tough Knocks End by msj_1, on Flickr This is a bloody difficult scenario and I do agree with past posters about the look and feel... However, I did manage to just pull off a victory on the last turn with my men taking the road exit and getting onto the hill. Really did not think I could make it with all the German arty!! I only used the 1st Company and engineers as the force. The HMG's and mortars were of course used. All the rest of the infantry were hidden in their arrival positions. You can win this, but you do need to spread your men and work hard at keeping them effective. When I first started I disliked the scenario but it slowly grew on me and I think while the map does not feel like a real place it does encompass a lot of elements that one might have had to deal with in an attack. My approach was to win by keeping my deaths down, and taking just the bridge and killing Germans, as the game progressed I realised I could just push it a bit further. The 50mm AT gun would just not die and was well placed. It disabled a Sherman on the exit point of the bridge, but my last Sherman was just able to pass through. Now having a look at Jon's short Cross Roads scenario... Hmmm I wonder what evil surprises he has lined up for me.. Interesting to see how this campaign plays compared to the ones done by Paper Tiger. Nice to see collaborative approach with different designers for the various scenarios. So thanks for those involved and that scenario is one of the hardest to play especially if you are new to the engine and what is possible... A quick question about AI and German Arty does it need HQ's with LOS to call in? Does Ai play by same rules?

I do think Elvis has made some poor choices. The loss of his infantry on his left flank seems to be quite a major one. (He has skated over...) Mind you even if he did stand and fight I think he would still have lost them as he has not got a good interlocked defence. He needs a co-ordinated approach and just having a group of Inf without support they are going to die... (He was just using rock in the rock paper scissors game and his opponent used all three. The result would have been the same but maybe with a few more deaths amongst Bil's forces) Overall I think his forces have been spread too thinly, and being used piecemeal. He would have been better choosing perhaps just two locations to defend. His tanks could turn it, but it does not look good.... But as ever, very easy to say when sat on the side lines.... I am looking forward to playing on this map and seeing what options there are.